The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-27
"ANOTHER DANIEL
COME TO JUDGMENT"

his misery has been ungenerouS enough
IN lead his friend, Gen. E. p. Alexan-
der, into trouble.
Gen. Alexander writes to Sidney
Herbert on Nov. IA: Il am sorry to
hear that you have been held up to
ridicule for saying on my authority
chat Gen. Bob Garnett was killed at
Rich Mountain, when, in fact, he was
l,ued at Carricks Ford, Va. Your
critic has opened his mouth and put
his foot in it. Minute accuracy not be-
inc in our random correspondence
snolxe of Rich Mountain as q. general
rerm to cover the little campaign of
several small combats within three
avs and perhaps forty miles of each
cher (the days or the combats?) none
Of them of enough Importance to be
Generally known. Carricks Ford was
enc of these, the casualties being thir-
teen killed and fifteen wounded. But
cen. Garnett was not among either
me- killed or wounded. His small force
was retreating before much larger
one and was delaying the enemy at
every ford and defile. After safely
crossing and leaving Carricks (but
with loss of some of his wagons) he
was killed at a nameless ford mile
or so beyond. He had stopped with
only ten rifiemen behind a pile of drift
wood. to enforce a little pause on the
mart of the pursuers, while his main
force took a fresh position to defend
short distance further to the rear.
He exposed himself freely to give ex-
annie to his men, and he also detain-
ed the enemy longer than was pru-
dent. for just as he started to with
draw he and one of ten men were
killed, and his body fell into the hands
of the enemy. These are the facts
from the records of that time" Well,
LET us see about that. Gen. A. l.. Long,
who was military secretary to Gen. r..
E. Lee and afterwards brigadier gen.
eral and chief of artillery Second
Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, in
his Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, says
that Gen. Mcclellan having a greatly
SUPERIOR force, he made it his first OBJ
iect to attack Garnett before that
general could be reinforced (Col. Pc
cram with a considerable detachment;
one regiment and one field battery be-
ing defeated by Gen. Rosecrdns with
a part of McClellan's force, and Gar
nett was obliged to, retreat in order
10 save the rest of his little army.
Mcclellan pursued, and, overtaking
the rear guard at Carricks Ford, a
skirmsh ensued, in which Garnett was
killed"
Now was there, saw the whole thing
and will tell it, not from hearsay as
Sidney Herbert did, from a man who
was not there, and is not familiar with
the record In the latter part of June,
1861. while Gen. Robert Garrett was
encamped at Laurel Hill in Northwest
ern Virginia, with Gen. John Pegram,
guarding his left flank at Rich Noun
tain, twenty-five miles away as the
crow flies. and fifty via Beverly the
wagon route. Mcclellan suddenly con-
fronted him with 10000 troops, intend
ing to sweep him out of his way on
his march to the rear of Richmond in
aid of McDowaIs attack thereon from
the direction of Washington.
After a days skirmishing with NC
Clellan's advance guard, news was re-
ceved by a courier de bois that Col.
Pegram and his entire command mad
been captured, and that the Beverly
pike. the only route back to Staunton,
had been blockaded and Beverly occu-
pied by the force which captured Pc
gram Nothing was left for Garnett
to do but take rough country ROAD
up the Cheat river valley, leading into
MONTGOMERY county Maryland, and
thence down the eastern side of the
mountain range to Monterey. Garrett S
army left Laurel Hill after midnight,
but the enemy lost no time in taxing
up the pursuit and pushed it with such
vigor that in the afternoon OF that
day the rear guard consisting of com
pany "a of the First Georgia Infan-
try, Col. James N. Ramsey of Column
bus, Ga, commanding, was overtaken.
At Carrick's Ford the enemy hove IN
sight and our boys rapidly crossed the
nd r1ncifin the ODDO~
site bank. Three horses attached to the
foremost wagon being shot, it blocked
the exit from the little river and all the
wagons fell into the hands OF the en-
envy. Word was sent by courier 10
Gen. Garnett, who was in advance
with the army, to know what shouio
be done. In a very short while he came
at a rapid gallop, with his staff, almost
to the river bank, seemingly to see for
himself what was best to- be done, and
was killed Where did the ten rihemen
come from? How could they have kept
up with him? What was the necessity
to bring them when there were 200 on
the spot? Why would a brigadier in
command of an army endanger his HE
to encourage ten riflemen to do their
duty in the face of an approaching
army of $4,000 men. Bosh, rubbish, rot!
Gen. Alexander says he used RlCh
Mountain" as a general term, ETC. Now
why should he select the Insignificant,
little known Rich Mountain for his il
lustration and not the more important
and well known Cheat Mountain? Sim
ply because he knew nothing personally
of the affair and precious little histori-
Cally.
These two men are getting too old
10 remember, and too inert to read up
on the history of the struggle. They
write to each other of what they heard
some one say that some one else said
and get badly mixed.
"A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep or touch not the Pyerian
Spring.
John w. Tench.
Gainesville Mo Nov 1Q09