New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-10


long and faithful service.
Fortunately for the Raccoon Rouehs Gov
ernor Moore OF Alabama consented to enroll
them. and with Joy they entraIned for Mont.
gomery. The pictures General Gordon draws
OF the enthusiasm and patriotism that marked
the journey are all too brief One OF the charms
of his work is it's word painting, subdued, sym
pathetic, convincing The human note prevails
at all times moulding the authors style, and II
the conventionalities of the literary workshop ara
now and again so disregarded as to cause a
gentle SILVER to pass down the spine Of tina
critical reader, that reader will surely be I'M
PEELED to silence by the reflection that as 1t
stands the work Is alive with spontaneous
whole souled enthusiasm Chivalry and the fear
of God. not cant, but quickening religion
breathe from this record OF deeds long done.
Coupled with praise of the women of the South
and in particular of his wife. who bravely jour-
neyed to the front with him and herself wit
messed many Of the horrors OF the war-we find
the greatest admiration for the soldiers OF the
South. and. should not omit to say. for the
soldiers of the North also. Vigorously General
Gordon combats Shernan's famous "War In
hellr' far the phrase involves justifca-
ton OF license, and cites case after case to up
hold his view. Not 1logically he has censurs
for Hunter and Sheridan. quiet censure, II Is
true but none the less caustic- Ingenuousiy he
observes: Truth demands that say of General
Sheridan that his style OF conversation and
general bearing. while never discourteoua were
far less agreeable and pleasing than those Of
any other officer OF the Union army whom Ii
was my fortune to meet" With warmth he de-
tends his own troops from charges OF footing.
and it is in this connection that Of the most
important portions Of his work Develops
According TO him Sheridan's ride would have
baar, f11fi1a md fada TO ing
of Cedar Greek would not have been turned by
nightfan into Confederate defeat had not Early
halted his men in their attack on the Sixth
Corps. The plan Of battle had been General
Gordon's. and il remains his conviction that the
proposed concentration upon the brave Sixth
Corps would have completed the Generalization
already effected Early in his report to Lee, in
sisted that 1t was the bad conduct of the VIC
torious Confederates that necessitated the aban-
Comment OF the attack the troops not restrain
ing their desire for plumber. This General Cor
don vigorously controverts and earnestly pleads
for correction IN the records He had sharp
contention with Early this point. and adduces
strong evidence to prove that he right and
Early wrong. His own official report OF the bat
tie. he points out not published, and he
feels called upon In Justice TO the living and the
dead to defend the Southerners from the impu-
tation placed upon them by the records 1T
would SEEM" he remarks pithily, that my re-
port never reached General Lee. Otherwise It
would have been among his papers. and assur-
edly have found its place in the volumes issued
by the government" BY whom it was sup
pressed he does not much hint The loot
ing he finds it amounted TO this:
These men at Cedar Creek were heroes de-
scended from heroic sires, inspired by heroic
women. trained tC self-denial and self-sacrifice
through four years of the most heroic Of wars.
and battling through cold and heat and hunger
against heroic Americans. Were these the men
TO abandon their places in front to plumber in
the rear? Who. then. were the men in the capt
ured camps who were reported to General
Early? They were men without arms. the par
tally disabled. whom the army surgeons had
pronounced scarcely sturdy enough for the long
and rough night march and the strenuous work
of the battle These half-sick and disabled men
had come along the smooth. open pike at their
leisure when they learned OF the great victory.
They CIme thinking il robbery to supply
themselves with shoes and trousers and
coats and blankets and grub from the vast
Accommodations purchased that morning By the
toll and blood Of their able bodied comrades
from the stores which the richly provided Fed
erals, in their unceremonious departure, had
neglected to take away.
This Is not the first time we ind him taxing
sharp issue with Early. In the battles OF the
wilderness he forbidden by the latter to
attack Grants unprotected left. and is convinced
that this fatal error. His conviction is
sustained by the fact that toward nlghtfau
when Lee had learned the state OF affairs and