The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-22
LETTERS TO EDITOR.
Confederate Generals.

To the Editor of the Age-Herald:
 Sir: Your liberality with topics of his- tory is of moro permanent importance than the amusement of your readers of today, for there Is a law on the statuts books of Alabama which requires files of your journal to be preserved in a state department-the department of archives and hstory-and the object is to enlarge and ennoble the general scheme of pub lie education. So far the object is a signal success.
 The Age-Herald of Sunday, January r. instant, Is placed in the archives of this department with the authority of referee, to the extent of the law of deposit. The the motive of the law depend of course, equally upon the literal correctness of so solemn lodgment of printed words. On page P of the issue named, a reprint from the Nashville American calls for timely correction. The reprint Is mlslead- ing in the statement of the relative rank allowed to the five original appointees to the highest grade-the grade of general land it is an interesting and important error) in the confederate army.
 While the congress sat at Montgomery an act was passed March providing for four general officers. all of the rank of brigadier general The next week a fifth brigadier was allowed by additional act. The final military establishment consisted of five grades of general officers. The general-in-chief, filled by Lee; the general commanding an army; the lieutenant gem eral, commanding corps of several divi- sions; the major general. commanding division of several brigades, and the brig adler general, commanding a brigade of several regiments The president was all lowed to assign a general officer to the post of adjutant and inspector general. Accordingly he commissioned Samuel Cooper to be the ranking general at that time, with orders to assume the duties of adjutant and inspector general, headquar- ters at the capital Cooper was native of New York. He had been on duty at Washington in the same capacity, with the rank of colonel, and was an intimate friend of MT. Davis. General Nelson A. Miles. in one of his later official reports. highly exalted the organization of the
 
 ticular that the adjutant and inspector general was the ranking officer The United States has now copied that reform from the confederate states.
 I come to the error intimated. It is stated in the article that Joseph E. John ston was commissioned general August 13, 1S61.' In order to understand the force of the msstatement it is necessary to re- member that itais correctly stated in the same place that Beauregard was commis- stoned general on July 21. preceding. a compliment to his services on the field of Manassas on that day. If these two dates are correct. Beauregard must have ranked Johnston and the military student be- comes inextrcably involved in the contra dictions of the history of the war, from first to last President Davis order to General Johnston to reinforce Beaurs- gard at Manassas Is dated July 20 l561.' and the order recites that Johnston. being a general, and Beauregard a brigadier general only, the command of the united armies would devolve on the formei. Beauregard was with Johnstoa in North Carolina in April. 1865, when Johnston surrendered his army, including Beaure- gard, to sherman
 In fact, Joseph E. Johnston was com- mssioned general in the same month of July. seventeen days before the date of Beauregard's commission. and not on August 1s (See Johnston's Narrative. p. 1.)
 The reprint alleges that of the eighty one major generals 'forty-three were West Pointers" :" but fails to enumerate Major General Jones M Withers of Ala bama as one of the list of West Pointers. withers graduated at West Point In the class of 1885 and was commissioned seer. end lieutenant of draRoons. He yves one