The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1899-05-18
SOME NAY MEMORIES.

From the New Orleans Picayune.
The fact that the Confederate vet
Grams, in the present month, thirty
eight years after the first gun Of the
war between the States had been
fred at Fort Sumter, are going to
hold their reunion at Charleston is
an event of more than passing in.
terest.
May, the month Of flowers and Of
love, has been a season when many
of the most bloody and eventful bat
Ties in the annals of human warfare
have been fought. Alexander, Gaze
sar and all the great captains of the
modern world have fought fateful
combats in May, probably because
that month has found the earth suf-
ficiently dry, after the winter and
spring rains, to bear the movement
Of armies which have awaken from
their winter inactivity.
Many Of the great battles Of the
Civil war, including Charlottesville,
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and
some others, were fought in the
month Of flowers, and those men,
toned were extremely bloody and
terrible in their various features, and,
what is most strange, they were all
fought in the wild and tangled thick
cts, almost iungles, near the Kappa
hammock River, in the northern part
Of spottsylvania county, in Virginia.
After the first rude and damaging
repulses suffered by the Federal
armies in the open field, the Federal
commanders thought to approach
the Southern foe in Virginia under
the cover of dense forest under
growth. The open roads to Rich.
mond were oil abandoned, and routes
through tangled swamp and dell
were chosen. Gen. Hooker inaugu-
rated this sort Of approach when he
essayed the fatal route Of Chancel-
louisville, and Gen. Grant followed it
up through the Wilderness, Spott-
sylvania Gold Harbor, to the swamps
of the Chickahominy.
Advance by such a route was diff
ficult, but it had the advantage OF
forcing fighting in detail and under
cover, and not exposing a beaten
army to rout and ruin, as would have
happened in an open country. But
for the friendly cover Of the iungles
OF Charlottesville, there might have
been experienced scenes Of whole.
sale decentralization and confusion
like those Of Bull Run and Waterloo.
Gen. Hooker's May campaign Of
Charlottesville cost him more than
1900 men in killed, wounded and
prisoners, while Gen. Grants en-.
tailed a loss Of nearly $4,000 mon,
almost, if not quite, as great . mum.
Der as composed the entire army Of
Gen. Lee during the entire campaign,
showing that each one Of the Con.
federates in that campaign killed OF
wounded or captured his man, a fact
which has no parallel in modern his
tory where there was no Wholesale
surrender Of large armies.
Lees duel with Grant during the
whole Of the month Of May, 1864,
was made up Of almost daily desper.
ate assaults by Grant with $4,000
men against Lees $4,000 at the be.
ginning of the campaign, but rapidly
diminished by daily losses, while
Grant was heavily REINFORCED by
W. F. Smiths division from Buffers
army and from other sources. The
only strategy possible to Lee, under
the circumstances, was always to be
ready to forestall Grants movements
BY q counter move, always to pre-
vent any assault upon his TANKS,
and always to be ready to repel every
attack and defeat it. This was done
L. q