The National tribune., 1903-07-23
SABINE CROSSROADS.
The Disastrous Red River Campaign and
the Officer Responsible for the Failure.

EDITOR NATIONAL IRIBUSE:-f1eaSc
permit me through your columns to answer
the criticisms of Comrade Cashier. 9th
Mass. Cav, and Comrade Crandall, Co. +,
23d Wis, on Sabine Crossroads, in The
National Tribune of May IA and 2S, re-
spSctively.
Comrade Cashier says: "The troops that
bore the brunt of that contest seldom ap-
pear in print"
TOO bad, comrade. You are too modest
by half. According to this the fighters
never become writers. While l do not
pretend to be n Murat Halstead or II. V.
Boynton, L cannot resist the inclination tn
scribble now and then when the signs ap-
pear to be about right, but it seems l
must have looked at an old almanac this
time, as there seems to be something
wrong. l wonder what induced William
]. Landram to say anything about Sabine
Crossroads, for he certainly had some
thing to do with ''the brunt of that con-
test" and I am sure l have read several
articles from his pen on the subject.
The comrade gives it as his honest Opin-
ion that the Sixteenth Corps did not put
down the rebellion. Well, | am not going
to quarrel with him about that. for l am
inclined to the same way of thinking; but
they did their share and did it honestly
and well, and for all of which the Lord
made the rest of us truly grateful. Contin-
uing, the coElrade says: "As we of the
mounted force generally understood the
case. Gen. Lee, in command of the Cavalry
Division, was accounted responsible for
bringing on the engagement prematureIy.
| know there was determined fighting be-
fore infantry arrived on the field" l know
it is the generally accepted opinion that
Gen. Lee was to blame. and as l said in a
former article. he got it in the neck" as
his share of the honor of getting licked,
but the one and only man responsible for
the disastrous results of that day was
Gen. n. L. Banks. Gen. Lee was an ag-
gressive fighter, and if Gen. Banks had
held him in check Mt the ''old milr' instead
of sending brigade of infantry forward to
his support and thus encouraged him to
press forward, all would have gone well.
but Gen. Banks was anxious to sleep in
Mansfield that night, and urged him and
the small infantry force with him forward.
Here is what Gen. w. J. Landram, whose
troops were sent to his support, has to say
on this point:
Upon arriving at Pleasant Hill. infor-
nation was received that the cavalry had
been checked some six miles in front, with
a considerable loss. that Gen. Lee had
called upon Gen. Franklin for brigade
of infantry to go to his support: that this
request had been repeated and refused,
Gen. Franklin directing him to fall back
upon the infantry if he could not maintain
his position. Application being made to
Gen. Banks. the order was given, Gen.
Franklin directing Gen. Ransom to fur
nish the brigade from his corps. stating
in the order that it was done by the direc-
ton of Gen. Banks"
BANKs's MISTAKE.
In another place Gen. Landram says:
''The mistake was made by Gen. Banks
in directing a brigade of infantry to the
support of Lee, as it emboldened him to
push on beyond support. This | foresaw,
and i'll conjunction with both Ransom and
Franklin demonstrated with Gen. Banks,
but to no purpose. Regarding the ad-
vance from the old mill, the opening of
the battle and who did the fighting, there
seems to be Il difference of opinion on that
point also. l will again quote from Gen.
Landram:
AN order was received at II o'clock at
night, directing me to take command in
person of the First Brigade of my Divi-
which l did, and found his advance skir-
mishing with the enemy, who had disputed
the crossing of q small creek near an old
mill. | was requested by Gen. Lee to re-
leve his cavalry, take the advance, and
push on as rapidly as possible, saying he
must protect my fanks with his cavalry.
Gen. Lee, from the time of
my arrival, seemed to lose sight of the
fact that he had any cavalry, and rode by
my side, as though lie had nothing to do
but urge me to push forward with my
small force, regardless of consequences
What became of the 5000 cavalry from
that time on was then, is now, and prob
terry. Gen. Banks was on the
field one hour before the attack was made.
and was duly notified of the position of
affairs. During the entire EN-
saw nothing and heard notll-
ing of the operations of the cavalry OF
Gen. Lee, except a portion under the COM
mand of Col. Lucas. If this
large body of mounted troops had been
properly handled they would have assist
ed materially in preventing the disaster
that occurred during the engagement.
Brighten. Cameron, with four or five
regiments, came up and held the enemy in
check for short time, but it was too late,
and he was compelled to fall back with
loss"
The five regiments mentioned above
the entire Third Division, Thir
teenth Corps. and were the 24th and 18th
Iowa, Doth Wis, 46th Ind. and 56th Ohio.
and numbering, all told, not to exceed
] SEQ men, and FIVE companies of the 29th
Wis, were ON train guard.
'The cavalry fel! back in great disorder.
The immense wagon train of Gen. Lee,
which blocked up the road, prevented our
getting off the artillery, and Minis Bat
terry, four guns; the Chicago Mercantile
Battery, SIX Rodnan guns; hlauSS S Ind.
Battery, four guns, besides some small
iield-pieces with the cavalry fell into tie
hands of the enemy"
In concluding Gen. Landram says:
Before the close of the battle there
were two MajorGenerals and five Briga
dicrs of the Federal army upon the field,
which caused me to remark that what |
needed was fewer Generals and more
men,"
In another place Comrade Cashier says:
''He, too, Oiartin) reaches out far beyon
his personal knowledge. He tells us of an
engagement at Atchafalaya, La, where
Gen. Mower with 1900 men fought Il s,l-
perior force, and was obliged to retreat"
l have the article before me and fail to
find anything of the kind. l am afraid,
as Comrade Wellman would say. that
Comrade Cashier is not n close reader 1t |
makes all the difference in the world how
you read, and where you stop. What |
did say was this, and | am sure the COM |
rade will agree that it does not admit of
the construction he puts upon it: Mower |
beat them back, only to be again driven by |
them. The rebels charged twice with |
infantry, but We're repulsed with
great loss" This was only quotation |
the cOmpOsitor failed to make it |
such. The same authority says: yellow |
was reached in the afternoon May |
I'd, and haste made to get the |
Thirteenth and Nineteenth Corps over be- |
fore dark. The rebels were close up and |
firing. The two corps got over
and went into camp"