The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-01-23

needed-that TO gradually wear out the
south by battles. by attrition, de de-
stroying its armies
Rev. DIR. j. William Jones, of Vir-
ginia, replies to the article of Mr. Chap
man in heConfederate Veteran for De-
cember last. He shows ~conclusiveiy
that General Lees army was not only
greatly inferior TO General Grants. but
was woefully insufficient, although OF
the very best material, never surpassed
in modern warfare DR.. Jones relies
upon the very best authorities for his
statement Of the relative forces of Lee
and Grant in the campaign of 1864. We
can only give some citations But be-
fore doing so, we may mention that the
northern Historian Swinton shows how
very strong was Grants army when he
assaulted Lees army On the same bat
tie field on which Lee defeated McClel-
Ian. Grant moved to the attack four
deep, and in one hour 1900 of rants
killed and wounded lay before Lees
extemporized earth works with the
thinnest of line behind them-so thin
that in places a soldier lying down
could not feel his right or left man by
extending his arms. Probably not
more than 80, 900 men repulsed the four
deep onset of 1000 or more.
DR.. Jones relies upon the following
authorities:
ID a careful study of the field re-
turns themselves; CD the report Of Sec
retary Z. NJ. Stanton; CD General j. A
Early's triumphant reply to General
Badea in the London Standard, re-
published in the Southern Historical
Papers, Vol. IL, PIP. 81; ca Colonel
Walter H. Taylor's Four Years with
Lee (5) the address of Colonel Charles
S. Venable, Lees able chief of staff,
before the Virginia division, A. n. V.
Association, published in full in Jones
Army of Northern Virginia Memorial
Volume;' co General r. E. Lee him.
self, who wrote Colonel Taylor hat the
statement of our effective strength at
the chief battles'-which was prepared
for Colonel Taylor by Mr.. Thomas
White, chief clerk in his %adjutant gen-
erals Office appeared to me larger at
some points than 1 thought"
What is the sense of the testimony as
TO the strength of the opposing armies?
Grant had under his command and
within reach of him 27S,S32, all availa-
BILE. DR.. Jones says:
Early takes the official reports of
Stanton and Grant, and shows that
Grant began the campaign with 141, 160
officers and men under his immediate
command, AZ, 900 in the department of
Washington, 5,627 in the middle depart
ment Cat Baltimore), 59,139 in the de-
partment of Virginia and North Carroll
ma, and 30,7S2 in the department of
West Notwithstanding a total force of
27S,S32 Immediately available for his
campaign, besides what could be drawn
from other quarters where there was
no hostile force to confront Early then
oh0nrC DIV fIoA oil 90 hAca
troops were sent to the front before
Grant reached his lines about Peters
burg, and that 50, 900 hundred days
men, rendered by the governors ofOhio,
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin,
were used in supplying the place of
garrisons of veterans who We're sent to
thefront or some of them by their own
choice went to the front themselves.
(See Southern Historical Papers Vol.
H., PIP. IL, 12.)"
General Early shows beyond all doubt
that General Lee lac but sc, 1000, all
told. within call" Afterwards he re-
ceived reinforcements before he reach
ed Petersburg that barely covered his
losses, land did not at all compensate
for the detaching of Ewell's corps Gun
der Early and Breckinridge's division
to meet Hunter at Lynchburg."
ASS, "iiDS Gil 10 os liOAiy-
nous with honor and truth, always
said that he fought Grant with less
than 0,0O0 men including I.ongstreet's
force. In a letter to Dr.. Jones, still
preserved, the great peerless confede-
rate commander, said on 18th March
1866: "It will be difficult to get the
world to understand the odds against
which we fought" and he has since in
nlrSOn assured ma that the estimate t
made of his force in a published letter
written from Havana in December,
1865, and in my published account of my
w operations for the years 1S64-65,
which was Sc, 1000, exceeded theactual
efficient strength of his army"
("Southern Historical Papers," Vol. IL,
pp. Is. 16.)
Colonel Walter H. Taylor, Lees ad-
jutant general, in his -Four Years
With Lee" puts "the total effective of
all armies" in the several battles
fought at the Wilderness-'infantry;
s $500; cavalry, 5000; and artillery, 5000
making a total of 81, 500. But, as we
have seen, General Lee insisted that
this estimate was too large, and placed
it himself at less than so, 900. On page
154 Colonel Taylor gives General Lees
statement to General Meade, after the
surrender, that he had along the Rich
mon dand Petersburg lines before the
final break up '33,0 900 muskets,' and Col
oneI Taylor confirmed his estimate, and
on page 160 of his book gives, in his
table of returns for April 1, 1865, infan-
try, $4,000 cavalry $500, artillery 1000
making a total of AZ, 500. Remember
that General Lee pronounced these
figures too large. and that they evident
ly include all of the troops then in Vir-
ginfa and some who had been sent I'M
der Wade Hampton to meet Sherman"
DIR. Jones writes:
Northern writer's have exhausted
their ingenuity and skill in seeking to
lessen Grants numbers and increase
Lees, on this great campaign in which
our grand old chief showed his vast su-
periority in military genius to the man
VINO never m~aneuvered,' and who ex-
pected to win. ard did finally win, by