The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-12-01


incidents that came directly under my
rcrS nal observation not all Of them,
but only Il i'N. especially in reference
to G,n. l.rr
viii premise whn' have to say
with q hricf reminder Of the chief
inl- 81 that brilliant campaign that
cccc,icd the battle aud ! think the
military critic will agree with me in
saying that ibis campaign alone would
,.ltillc Gen Lee to rank as first
class General ! speak now Of what
is known as the first Maryland cam
raign. 1t is true that We came out Of
Maryland discounted. but the most
perfectly conceived and brilliant plans
.as Watcrlool may fall from minor
causes Lee had marched from the
the cnyirons Of Richmond northward
TO meet Pope: had struck him at Man.
assas, and shattered his army, sending
it -kurrying to Washington. Then
was conceived the brilliant plan Of the
invasion Of Maryland. lee with the
main army was to cross the Potomac
at I.ccsbur-, sending Jackson in the
meantime to take Ilarpcrs Ferry by IL
coup dc main. and then to join him as
he lcisurcly journcycd towards the
upper Potomac. will state just here
that my company d., 9Th $. G.. cav
alryJ was detailed as scouts and cou-
ricrs for t;cn. Iongstrcct We had
seen considerable amount Of staff
duty Of the kind with Gen. Johnston
and Gen. Ice. AT present Gen. Lee
and Gen. Longstrcct, being always
together. VIC acted rs we'll for Gen.
Lee as for Longstrcct, and being at
cached to the staff, we frequently had
personal intercourse with not only
these two Generals, but with all Of the
subordinate commanders, and became
personally acquainted with them.
Our position as couricrs Of the com
mandcrin-chicf gave us better
knowledge Of the movements of the
army; of its personnel and strategy
than was possessed by any Major
General. y large number Of the pri-
Yates Of my company were graduates
of the South Carolina College, and
fully capable of approaching and util-
izing the splendid military training
"ndc: Gen. LEG Our old professor,
Charles S. Venablc, was member of
the staff, with the rank of Colonel.
l always thought, from what I obscrv-
ed, that Col. Venablc was Lees most
intimate and trusted aid.
Blu: to return. We lost no time
after the battle of Manassas, (sccond,)
but marched direct to Lccsburg, where
we divcsted ourselves of NIL superfu-
Gus baggage and "impedimcnta, and
entered Maryland with grand cclat,
amid flying banners, the playing Of the
bands, and the huzzas of AN army.
We marched Immediately to the beau
tiful Frederick City: where we sup
piled ourselves with many good things
by purchase-camped day, and
then took lcisurcly march westward
over magnificent roads, through Mid
dletown, Boonsboro and the South
Mountain, and entered Hagerstown,
where we camped to await Jackson.
During the next day we received news
Of heavy attack on D. H. Hill at
South Mountain Pass, (Boonsboro.)
Now it had not been tho intention Of
Gen. Lee to defend South Mountain
Pass no longer than to allow Jackson
to join US, but Jackson had been de-
layed in the capture Of Harper Ferry,
and moreover Mcclellan seems to have
recovered from his confusion as to our
movements, and. abandoning the de-
fcnsivc, had marched directly on US,
so it became necessary to hold this
pass at least a little longer. i;en.
Lee hurried his immediate command
back to the pass by forced march.
and reached it some hours before sun
down.
And now occurred the apparently
slight error that decided the first cam
paign into Maryland and sent our
troops back across the Potomac dis
comti.cd. Instead of putting the
troops Immediately into line of battle
on the mountain, which, by the way,
is most impregnablc position for de-
fence, Gen. Lee, on reaching the foot
of the pass, had halted his troops on
the road for several hours, within
half mile Of where d. H. Hill was
holding the pass against the whole Of
McClel!an's army. At last, towards
sunset, longstreet was hurried up the
pass, but it was too late to get into
line Of hattlo tho rbo1o Eodorol ,rn,y