Evening star., 1897-01-06
A Dispatch Said 4F' Longstreet to
Have Settled the War.
FORESTS MESSAGE TO BRAGG
Gen. Boynton sh5S9i~'s 4 !, That It Was
Based on WroFg; Conclusions.
SOME INTERESTING HISTORY

A dispatch written by the confederate
general Forrest, dated September q, 1868,
during the movements of troops about
Chattanooga. has recently been brought to
light. Much importance has been attached
to this document because Of the opinion at
tributed to General Longstreet that it con-
tanned the instructions which determined
the fate of the confederacy. The dispatch
Is brief one, dictated by General Forrest
Under most exciting conditions, signed by
him, and addressed to General Polk, who
was asked to forward 1T to General Bragg
At the time the message was written Gen
eral Forrest, it is said, was making obser-
vations high up in tree on Missionary
Ridge. He had been sweeping the great
battlefield of Chickamauga with his glass
es; he believed he saw evidences of an at
tempt on the part of General Rosecrans and
his army to escape from the trap in which
the confederates supposed they had shared
him, and in which they expected to capture
him and his whole army. He, then, calling
down from the tree, dictated the dispatch
In question to his adjutant, who wrote it
upon sheet of dingy blue paper with
lead pencil, using an upturned saddle stir
rup as writing desk. This dispatch an
rounced to General Polk General Forests
belief that the enemy were evacuating
Chattanooga and his opinion that the con-
federate army ought to press forward as
rapidly as possible.
What Became of the Document
According to Holland" the New York
correspondent of The Philadelphia Press,
the subsequent history of the dispatch was
follows:
"As soon as the dispatch was written it
was sent to General Polk, who, as request
cd. sent the information to General Bragg.
who was the commanding officer After
this was done General Polk put the dis
patch In his dispatch box and years after
1t was found by his son, Dr. Mechlenburg
Polk, who is now practicing physician in
New York city. Knowing that Dr. John A.
Wyeth was collecting material for a life of
General Forrest, in whose command DR..
Wyeth served when a mere lad, DR.. Polk
loaned to DR.. Wyeth this dispatch.
In some way the War Department heard
mat Dr. Wyeth was in possession of this
hitherto unsupported document and most
urgently requested that 1t be committed to
Its care, as 1t was dispatch of the utmost
Importance, and should therefore be kept
IN m a place OF permanent safety. Drs. Wy
eth and Polk We're Of the opinion that the
request should be granted, and sent the dis
patch to the War Department after having
caused eau ssd, facsimile of it to be photo
Recently DR.. Wyeth sent to General
Lcngstrect fac-simile, bf this dispatch.
and 1t was this which brought from Long.
street day or two asp a letter Of acknowI-
eogment' IN which he says: That dispatch
also added that with. that as a guide he
should write magazineI article explaining
why, In his view. this was the document
cause" ~ int
Effect of ths Dispatch.
Concerning the effect of the dispatch
Holland" says: oS
1T suggested to Bragg an opportunity
10 crafty certaiuc vanity and love of
display, which was"%a, Conspicuous trait
of. his character. He saw that 1t gave
MIN chance, as he supposed, to march
into and through Gha3tanoosa with all
the pomp and ceremony Of II conaueror.
He therefore abandoned his plan and
undertook to pursue and destroy Instead
OF to head off and surround Rosecrans.
General Longstreet says that the delav
caused by this change Of plan gave Rose
Grams an opportunity TO rally, swiftly to
throw up 1ntrenchments and, by reason
OF the firmhess with which Thomas held
MS position-which caused that superb war
rior to be called The Rock of Chicka nau-
gao maintain himself until relieved.
Longstreet wondered why Bragg had aban-
doned his plan. Forrest and Polk could
not understand the sudden change in Rose
Grams movements. They did not realize
that the delay had given Rosecrans an
secure and of which he was quick to take
advantage, and such advantage as in the
opinion of the confederates, saved his
army. Longstreet could not have known
of this dispatch of General Forests, or
II he did know of 1t. could have had no
clear understanding of what was in it,
since the copy which was sent to him re-
Gently seems to have been the first that he
ever saw His friends have known that he
mas felt that the great moment for the
confederacy, Its supreme hour, when its
destiny was decided, was that moment
when General Bragg abandoned his plan
of attempting to cut off the retreat of
Rosecrans. 1t may be that Longstreet
knew that Bragg came to that determina-
tion because Of information which he had
received from Forrest. At all events, thir-
ty-three years after this battle General
Longstreet, the survivor of all the ADLER
generals of the confederate army, expresses
the deliberate opinion that This dispatch
fixed the fate of the confederacy.' In that
opinion he does not agree with some of
the other military leaders. Whether the
military historians will agree with him
or not the fact remains that the discovery
Of this dispatch and Longstreats opinion
that 1t contained the destiny Of the con-
federate states will be accepted as q most
valuable contribution to the military his
tory of the civil war;.
Gen. Boynton's Comments.
A Star reporter brought the views at
tributed to Gen. Longstreet concerning the
Forrest dispatch to the attention of Gen.
II. V. Boynton, who as soldier, took
conspicuous part in the Chattanooga cam
paign, and who is recognized as perhaps
the best living authority on matters re-