The Washington times., 1901-10-27

| ReaureSard, James Lougstreet Stephen
| d. Lee, Sterling Price, Leonidas Polk.
E. Kirby Smith, ]. B.6Hood. James r.
| Chalmers, Samuel Jones, r. S. Ripley
| a. 2. Stuart, and William Steele The
former President of the Confederate
| States, Jefferson Davis, during his life
| time, and his widow after his death,
afforded the Government access to his
papers relating to the date war, and
| from this source were obtained copies
| OF archives of the greatest historical
| value. oaa
At an early date it was decided not
| TO admit to the records the contribu-
tions of officers who desired to rewrite
after the close of the war. The neces-
| sity for making this ruling was illus
trated by incidents. A Union colonel
| applied for permission to retract a
statement that it developed afterward
he had never made irr his report of the
battle of Balls Bluff. A general officer
complained of the garblDs of his report
Of the battle of Shiloh, whereas his
original report was acknowledged by
MIN to be correct. A Confederate gen
eral having repudiated remark attrib-
uted TO him, 1t was found in his own
handwriting. Two Confederates claimed
TO have commanded the same brigade
| at the battle of Gettysburg.
When Lieutenant Colonel Scott died.
In 1887, twenty-five books had been pub
lished. Col. II. NJ. Lazelle succeeded
him in charge of the publication, and
In 1889 the work was put in charge of
board consisting of Major (now
Brigadier General and Judge Advocate
GeneraD George b. Davis and Leslie ].
Perry and Joseph w. Kirkley, civilians.
Major George w. Davis, Eleventh Uni
ted States Infantry, succeeded to the
military position on the board and held
1t until the outbreak of the war with
Spain, when the task was given to Brig.
Cen Fred c. Ainsworth, who has com
pleted it,
Voluminous as is the completed pub
lication. it nevertheless fails to convey
an adequate conception of the magni-
tude of the labor involved In Its COM
pilation and preparation. The majority
of the papers printed exist in duplicate,
II not in triplicate-originals sent and
.. necessary to examine with great care
In order to guard against omission and
TO ascertain the authenticity of docu-
| ments selected for publication. The
published papers form but a small frac-
uon OF the myriads that were rejected,
but all of which required careful con-
sideration. The papers examined were
counted not by documents or boxes, but
by tons, rooms full or the contents of
buildings. The volunteer records of dis
continued commands (being the books
and papers turned in by volunteer Off
GERS when mustered otis) filed large
four-story warehouse; the Confederate
records alone crowded an entire three
story building; the papers to be exam
ined in the Adjutant Generals office oc-
cupied a third of the old War Depart
ment building; military kilograms were
almost countless, a single collection of
Union dispatches alone containing over
100000. In addition, thousands of in
dividual contributions of original docu-
ments of the war period were received.
In all such cases Thorough examination
and consideration We're required to pre-
vent duplication of matter and to estab-
lish not only the accuracy of copies but
the authenticity of original documents.
Missing links had to be traced by ex-
| haustive correspondence and other re-
search TO secure completeness of the
work as each volume appeared.
During the progress of the work the
Department has received many COM
munications inviting attention to Sup
posed errors or discrepancies in the
published records. In some cases the
alleged errors were manifestly those
of the compiler, copyist, proofreader or
printer, and all these have been correct
ed. But in nearly every case it has
been found that the errors if errors
they are, that have been discovered in
| the published records, exist in the orig
| inal papers themselves, and these the
Department has refrained from chang
ing or correcting in any way. The
papers have been published as they ex
| isted during the war, all errors and dis
crepancies included, in order that the
reader may have before him the exact
/ udlei upbn Nlltl tilt leii llNipdt III lllt
| war based their action.
Since the first order by Congress for
| the printing and distribution of the re-
| bellion records TO the number of 10000
| six other Congresses have provided
| further editions, but the total number
issued is not mentioned in this histori-
| cal preface to the index volume. Secre-
| tary Root paws a very high commitment
to Joseph w. Kirkley, whose name has
| been most closely associated with the
work since its inception. Each of the
many volumes has passed under his
| personal inspection, and large meas
| ure OF credit for the high standard of
| the publication is given TO hirf
PLENTY OF SHAKESPEARES.
| The Name Common in the History of