The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-12-24

| When we sent Blazer and his band OF
J prisoners to Richmond they would not
| have admitted that they ever hung any
! body. Major Richards refers to Grants
| orders 10 destroy subsistence for an
| army. so as to make the country unten-
! able BY the Confederates. and patheu-
| caIIv describes the confederation. He
| ought TO know that there had been burn
| ing OF mills and wheat stacks In IOudoun
| two years before Grant came to Virginia.
| Grants orders were no more directed
against my command than Early's. Au-
| gusta and Rockingham were desolated,
| where we never had been. But / can't
| see the slightest connection between
| burning forage and provisions and hang
ing prisoners one is permitted by the
| code OF war. the other is not. After
/, General Lees surrender 1 received a
| communication from General Hancock
| asking for mine. I declined 10 do so
| until / could hear whether Joe Johnston
| would surrender or continue the war We
\ agreed on a Eve days armistice. When
| II expired nothing had been heard from
! Johnston. met a flag OF truce at
| Wildwood. and had proposed an extension
| Of ten days. but received through Ma
| ior Russell a message from Hancock
! refusing it. and informing me that unless
surrendered Immediately he would
proceed TO devastate the country. The
reply I sent by Russell was; "Tell Cen
| eral Hancock. he is able to do it," Han
cock then had 10000 men at Winchester.
The next day / dis5anded my battalion
10 save the country from being made a
desert If anyone doubts this. let him
read Hancocks report. II 1t was legiu-
mate for Hancock to lay waste the coun-
try after / had suspended hostilities'
surely it was eually so for Grant 10 do
g..fs. no
my power to his army Stanton warned
Hancock not to meet me in person un-
der q flag of truce, for fear that ! would
troacherously Kill him. Hancock re-
piled that he would send an officer TO
meet me lie sent General Chapman.
The attention Grant paid to US shows
that we did him a great deal or harm.
Keeping my men in prison weakened
us as much as TO hang them. Major
Richards complains of the "debasng
eplthets" sheridan applied TO us. j have
read his reports. correspondence and
memoirs. but have never seen the cpl
thets In common with all northern
and many southern people. he called Us
guerrlllas. Although have never
adopted 10, ! have never resented as an
insult the trem guerrilla" when applied
TO me Sheridan saws that my battalion
was "the most redoubt1ble' partisan
oxceptioD to that He makes no charge
of any act Of inhumanity against us. The
highest compliment ever paid 10 the
efficiency Of our commend IS the state
ment I'm Sheridans Memoirs, that while
his army largely Outnumbered Early s.
vet their line Of battle strength was
about equal on account Of the deidch-
,nents he was compelled to make 10
guard the border and his line of com
municatiOn from partisan attacks. ours
was the only force behind him. At that
time the records show that In round
Plumbers Early had 1900 present for
! duty. and Sheridan had $1,000 The word
guerrilla" is n diminutive Of the Span
ish word guerra WAR. and simply means
one engaged in the minor operations OF
war
had only five companies Of cavalry
when Sheridan came in August. 1861. TO
the Shenandoah valley. sixth was
organized In September. Two more COM
panies Joined me in April 1860 after the
evacuation of Richmond They came
inst in time TO surrender I don't care
n straw whether Custer was solely re-
sponsible for the hanging Of our men, or
Jointly with others. II we believe the
reports of the generals none OF them
ever even heard of the hanging OF our
men. they must have committed suicide.
Contemporary evidence is against Gus
ter. I wonder If he also denied burning
dwelling hotses around Berryville.
Restopchin. the Governor of Moscow,
claimed the credit Of the burning OF II
when it was thought to have been the
cause of Napoleon's retreat, but AFTER
ward it became known that 1t was not
the cause Of It, to escape the odium, ne
denied all responsibility for it and de-
ht
for plumber.
once called at the White House I'm
1S76 TO see General Grant: sent him my
card. and was promptly admitted. When
| came out Of his room one Of the sec
retaries told me that General Custer had
called the day before, but that General
Grant refused 10 see him. The incl
dent is related in the Life Of Custer.
few weeks afterward Custer was killed
in the Sitting Bull massacre.
"Our acts our angels are-or good or III
our fatal shadows that walk by US still"
Major Richards further says that there
was scarcely a family in all that section
that did not have some member in Mos
hv's command " If that is true / must
have commanded "A larger army than
sheridan. l didn't know it. He de-
scribes the pathos of the scenes that
might have been If the Severe and cruel
order" had been executed 10 transfer the
families from that region to Fort Nc
Henry and says It would have para
lived" my command. II so, that would
have been a more humane way Of get
ting rid of IL than killing the men. Now
I have never considered women and chill
dren necessary appendices TO an army;
on the contrary. ! would rather class
them with what Caesar, in his Com
nlentaries. calls impedimenta. Homer's
heroes were not parayzed when Helen
was carried off 10 Troy, II only aroused
their martial ambition. Sheridan knew
that If he did anything Of the kind 1t
would stimulate the activity of my men,
so he didn't try II. As for our lieuten-
ant-colonel, who. as Major Richards says.
married in that section. I think that If
Sheridan had captured his wife and
mother-in-law and sent them IN prison,
instead of going into mourning. he would
have felt all the wrath and initiated the
example of the fierce Achilles when he
heard that Patroclus. his friend. had
been killed and his armor had been cap
tured Now perish Troy! he said,
and rushed to fight"
Very truly YOURS,