The National tribune., 1898-04-21

Il
| ton of the two armies. and also the field of
| operations of the renowned guerrillas Nor
| gan and Forrest
Col. Grenfeli called again. and ar
| ranged to visit the outposts with him on
l Tuesday. He spoke to- me in high terms
OF Bragg. Polk, Hardee, and Cleburne: but
| he described some of the others as "politi-
| cal Generals and others as good fighters
| but isiiterate and somewhat addicted to
liquor. He deplored the effects of politics
| upon military affairs very injurious in
the Confederate army, though not so bad
| as il is in the Northern.
1 travelled in the cars to Wartrace, in
company with Gen. Bragg and the Bishop
| OF Georgia. We put into a baggage
car, and the General and the Bishop were
| the only persons provided with seats Al
though the distance from Shelbyvile to
Nartrace Is only eight miles we were one
| nour and ten minutes in effecting the trajet,
In such miserable and dangerous state
were the rails.
On arriving at Wartrace we were enter
tanned by Maj.-Gen. Cleburne. This officer
gave me his history He is the son OF a
doctor at or near BallincOlig At the age
oil IL he ran away from home, and enlisted
I'm her MajestyS 4iSt regiment Of foot, in
which he served three years private and
Corporal. He then bought his discharge,
| ana emlgrated to Arkansas, where he
studied law, and, eschewing politics, he
got good practice as a lawyer.
| AT the outbreak Of the war he was elected
| captain OF his company, then Colonel of
his regiment, and has since, by his dis
tinguished services in all the Western cam
paigns, been appointed to the command OF
a division 10000 en)-the highest mill
tary rank which has been attained by a
foreigner in the Confederate service.
He told me that he ascribed his advance
. ment mainly to the useful lessons which
he had learnt in the ranks of the British
! army, and he pointed with a laugh to his
Generals white facings, which he said his
, 41st experience enabled him to keep
! cleaner than any other Confederate Cen
eral. The 41st regiment wears white fac
ings; so do the Generals in the Confederate
army NJ. de Polignac has recently been
| appointed Brigadler; he and Cleburne
| are the only two Generals amongst the
| Confederates who are foreigners.l
He is now 30 years of age; but, his hair
| having turned gray, he looks older. Gems.
| Bragg and HaTdee both spoke TO me OF
him in terms of the highest praise, and
! said that he had risen entirely by his own
| personal merit.
| | was present at a great open-air preach
| ing at Gen. Woods camp. Bishop Elliott
preached most admirably to congregation
| composed of nearly 3,0C0 soldiers, who
listened to him with profound attention.
| Gems. Bragg, Polk Hardee, Withers, Gle
burne, and endless Brigadiers, were also
| present.
II is impossible to exaggerate the respect
| paid by all ranks OF this army to Bishop
Elliott; and although most of the officers
| are EpiscOpalianS, the majority Of the sol
diers are MethOdists, Baptists etc. Bishop
| Elliott afterwards explained to me that the
reason most OF the people had become dis
| senterS was because there had been no
| Bishops in America during the British
| dominion; and all the clergy having been
appointed from England, had almost with
| out exception stuck by the King in the
l Revolution, and had had their HvlngS
forfeited.
l dned and slept at Gen. Hardee's, but
| spent the evening at Mrs 5, where
heard renewed philippics directed by the
| ladies against the Yankees.
| | find that it is a great mistake TO sup
! pose that the press is gagged in the South,
as | constantly see the most violent at
| tacks upon the President upon the diff
4 ferent Generals and their measures.
To day | heard the officers complaining
I bitterly of the Chattanooga Rebel for pub
fishing an account OF Breckinridge's de-
parture from this army to reinforce john
5 ston in Mississippi, and thus giving early
: intelligence to the enemy.
1 June I've all went to review of Gen.
t Liddells Brigade at Bellbuckle, a distance
5 of six miles. There were three carriages
full of ladies, and l rode an excellent horse,
the gift of Gen. John Morgan to Gen. Hardee.
: The weather and the scenery were de-
lightful.
: Gen. Hardee asked me particularly
whether Mr.. Mason had been kindly re-
ceived in England i replied that L thought
he had by private individuals l have
often found the SOutherners rather touehy
on this point.
Gen Liddells Brigade was composed OF
, Arkansas troOps-five very weak regl-
ments which had suffered severely in the
different battles, and they cannot be
easily recruited on account OF the blockade
, of the Mississippi.
The men were good sized, healthy, and
we'll clothed but without any attempt at
uniformity in color or cut; but nearly all
were dressed either In gray or brown coats
and felt hats. | was told that even II q
regiment was clothed in proper uniform
| by the Government, il would become Partl-
colored again in a week, as the soldiers
preferred wearing the coarse hOme-Spun
Jackets and trousers made by their mothers
| and sisters at home. The Generals very
| wisely allow them to please themselves In
this respect, and insist only upon their
arms and accoutermentS being kept III
proper order
Most of the officers were dressed in uni
form which is neat and servIceabie; VIZ,
a bluish-gray frock-coat OF a color similar
to Austrian yageTS. The infantry wear
blue facings, the artillery red, the doctors
black the staff white, and the cavalry
| yellow: so it is impossible to mistake the
branch of the service to which an ofhcer
belongs-nor is it possible TO mistake his
rank Second Lieutenant, First Lieu
tenant, and Captain, wear respectively
one two and three bars on the collar
Major aforementioned, and ColCnefs
wear one two and three stars on the collar.
Before the marching past OF the brigade,
| many of the soldiers had taken OH their
coats and marched past the General I'm
| their shirt sleeves, on account OF the
| warmth Most of them were armed with
Enfield rifles captured from the enemy.
| MANY however had lost or thrown away
| their bayonets which they don't appear to
value properly, as they assert that they
have never met any Yankees who would
| wait for that weapon.
| L expressed desire to see them form
square, but it appeared they were mot
| drilled to such manuver Except square
two deep) They said the country did not
| admit of cavalry charges.
| Each regiment carried a battle flag,
| blue with a white border, on which were
inscribed the names Belmont" shiloh"
'Perryville," Richmond, Ky" and 'Mlur-
freesboro" They drilled tolerably well,
and an advance in line was remarkably
| good but Gen Liddell had invented several
lodges OF his own, for which he was re-
proved by Gen. Hardee.
The review being over, the troops were
harangued by Bishop Elliott IN an excel
lent address, partly religious, partly patrI-
otto He was followed by a Congressman
of vulgar appearance, named Hanley, from
| Arkansas who delivered himself OF long
and unnteresting political Grafton, and
ended By announcing himself as a candi-
date for reelection. This speech seemed
to me (and to others) particularly lll-timed,
out of place, and ridiculous, addressed as