The National tribune., 1902-09-18

| Confederacy. and we knew that our north
front had been turned and that the
Eleventh Corps had been swept from its
position. For us there was but one thing
to do, and we must do it quickly. From
our position Gettysburg was 100 yards
southeast of us Il have since measured the
| distancet. The Chambersburg Pike was
wide ard smooth and down hill all the
way, and we made good use of it. The
artillery had the right of way by virtue
of the power to possess it, and they drove
| their horses at a pace that would have
surprised John the mad driver of old The
| retreat must have been going on for some
| time while we were repulsing the last
| charge of the Confederates on Seminary
| Ridge, for Gen. Doubleday, who command.
| ed our First Corps, in a little book that
| he wrote on this subject few years after
| the war says:
II waited until the artillery had gone,
| and then rode back to the town with my
| staff. AS we passed through the streets.
pale and frightened women came out and
| offered us coffee and food and implored
us not to abandon them. The
First Corps was broken and defeated. but
not dismayed. There were but few left,
| but they showed the true spirit of sol
diers. They walked leisurely from the
| Seminary to the town. and did not rum
1t would be interesting to one old SOL
der to know where Gen. Doubleday
| waited until the artillery had gone" I
did not wait a second. but dashed down
the Chambersburg Pike and while run
ming my best the artillery passed me. but
l did not see Gen. Doubleday and his
staff waiting along the pike. OF course,
1t stirs the heart Of an old soldier to have
his General speak in words of cOmmenda-
tion Of himself and comrades; neverthe-
| less, l must conclude that some of us left
Seminary Ridge sometime after our Gen
| eral, for when we arrived in the town.
there were no pale and frightened women
on the streets" with coffee and cookies
for us. They had exhausted their supply
before our arrival and had gone into their
houses, as any sensible "pale and frighten-
ed' lady would have done under the same
| circumstances, to prepare fresh supply.
In fact. the streets were no places for
women then.
1t was all right, and good thing for the
First Corps and the army, that Gen
Doubleday did not remain too long. for he
was good soldier, and the country needed
his services, and is one of the facts OF
history that we lost in prisoners taken by
| the enemy that 1st day of July from the
First and. Eleventh Corps about 1000
men, most of them captured in the town
| after Doubleday had ridden through and
out uf it.
hO poyo sdiu SoL tuHSltu uD ii
the names of the brigade commanders Of
the Third Division of the Eleventh Corps
Gen. Won Schimmelfennig and Col
KrZyZanOwski; but that was soldiers
joke. We became badly tangled up, all
the same, and many a brave man went to
Richmond and to his death on account
thereof.
When we reached the town the Con-
federates were already in possession of
| the northern and eastern portions Gems.
Howard and Doubleday were then on
Cemetery Hill, where they should have
| been, reforming their shattered lines to
meet Lees expected attack on their posi-
tiOn there; but had they, or either of them
taken the precaut;on to plant few pieces
of artillery in positions to sweep the
| streets of Gettysburg, supported by de-
tachments of infantry, under officers with
staying qualities, to cover our retreat
many of our men might have been saved
from captivity, who, conditions being other
wise, were lost. When l reached the
town the Confederates were having every
thing their own way. Those of us who
could get through rejoined our commands
on Cemetery Hill, and those who were
headed off and picked up by the Confed-
crates went to Richmond. 1t was 4:3O
O'Clock p. M, and the battle of July / was
over.
LEES GREAT MISTAKE
Lee was a man Of genius, a great man.
Great men are apt to make great mis-
takes. The pages Of history are replete
with illustrations of this fact, and the
great Confederate commander was no ex-
ceptiOn to the rule. HOnored by the peo-
pie, educated at the expense Of the Gov
| ernment, made great by the Republic, he
had drawn his sword against her in the
hour Of her peril and had become her
greatest adversary. This was the great
mistake of his life. A n2n who could
foremost in progressive civilization and
| leader Of the world In the arts Of peace,
to swear allegiance to decrepid old Vir.
ginia, the mother of the abOmination of
| the age and the breeding ground of hu-