The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-13

aidu NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. not Sill IcO MS OWE
sion from our pivotal right, the point Q (;
efecting concentration where was most
needed tho momentum of his splendid
firing line" presence II might never have
fallen to his lot to deplore /. the morning
halt IL rlarlyss advance; and certainly
no evening rout. His attack on his COM
nander must not be permitted to divert
attention from General Gordon 8 morning
mistake, and Its influence upon his even
Ing mishap: II ain confident the SCR
Vices Of the cavalry on the left flank
cannot be ot,erestifiatcd.'' 1t was this
check. duly given, that enabled Sheridan
to form his franks for tho evening as
sault and Victory,
-rIIbR1I rs THE MAN ENTITLED TO
YOUR CHEERS.
Tho attempted conviction Of General
Early. for the Cedar Creek disaster,
which Is 50 unfairly and stren.lousiy
at cured In .Gordon's WAR. Rernihis-,
cencee. = ls Is renewal OF attacks that
appeared In Richmond papers of the
with inst Lighting them. and they q,lar-
relied. Tho controversy was cam > talk,
Intensified as IT was by an order read
to the regiments In which General Early
bitterly reproarhed them for the loss OF
the victory byfmisconduct In his report
1t is char gcd that $50 many of our men
hud stopped in the camp TO plumber, IN
which am sorry to say that officers
participat ed In the order referred to-,
which may be found In tho old Ricf-.
mond files Of newspapers, he was much
more severe. mi no said, 8 recalled IN
substance By memory, that the general
officer who details guard over Il cap
tured suffers wagon Is as guilty as the
private who plumbers a knapsack.' This
reference applied to a certain casereport-
cd by tho offlceriSot the quartem,aster's
department who was ordered to bring or
the captured wagons. y supplies. etc.
which was we'll calculated to anger Gem
eral Early. But All, sure that he was
mistaken as Il to tho plunderlng. This
did not, so to the extent OF materially
weakening the battle line. AS to Kerr
lshaws division I speak from knowledge
Moving to the attack on the Nineteenth
corps after tho rout Of Crook ITS me
OF battle ewept through the deserted
camps Astounding in all that our soldiers
lacked, without a man leaving ranks.
General 4aarlyS spoke in heat. and much
allowance IL due him. His brilliant VIC
tory had been thrown away,,nnd his rep.
utation ruined by tho panic OF the even
ing ~ .e34t .ast.
2 Covered as he was with the cloud OF
defeat, a popufara hue and cry was raised
his loss OF Il popular confidence. But
among the officers and soldiers Of Cedar
Creek there was q strong feeling that
fate had dealt most untustly with him.
This was my belief then, and 1t has been
changed Ito positive conviction by read-
ing the eports Of the record, Il was,
certhiniy,%the, common opinion among
the officers and ,!nEn OF. KershaW,s. d lvl-
sion, which had Its full, share OF the
fighting. The Twenty-frst NJ ssissippiS to
which belonged, suffered mo re heavily
than amy. OF .one hundred. = RAM d a nc M
ile, seven teen were buried nysthe heidi
thiity-four wounded, and ninetc teen, miss
ins. Few, III .Anyr OF ours command con-
sidered Early culpably responsible ZOE
the defeat. After the close of8the fight.
Ing In tho morning he rode across our
brigade front with Kershaw. our galmnt'
and trusted division commander IN the
cheering with4Rhlche they were greeted,
Kers hav, 8 tnamorcwas called..S Drawing
rein ana turning to the line, he pointed
to tEurly and said : There Is the man
entitled to your. Cheers For. fair and
dispassionatei Judgment of Cedar g Creek rec
testimony FROM Is ershaw's division pos
sesses peculiar vHlus; II S1t did not. belong
Mch1nondI al. d xsinf brcement in the yal:s
ley operations. After a months stay
It was ordered back. But, oyertaken at
Cu1peper' 81 nA%g3 * the winchester de-.
feat. itzwas returned again to the, Val;
ley. a On re Joining J; Darly KershaW,s
men were impressed by the loss Of con-
fidence in him among his troops. ms
seemed as severe and unreas onlng las
the Generalization, incident % 1T; was
s,lrpr sing and 9upprece Tented In the Army
OF Northern Virginia Butt did not
infect kershaw's division " 81 3s ~
GENERAL LEES HIGH ESTIMATE OF
t.aeaf GENERAL EARLY.
That General Earlys unpopularit and !
loss 81 confidence was due ito /, repellant
manner and the foment OF personal III
Will, more than military mistakes or
lack OF capacity. there can. be no doubt,
In the month between his Winchester,
ard Cedar Creek defeats opposition to
him took shape in an effort for his dis
placement from command Of the Valley
forces, This was urged upon General Lee
through Governor Smith,, who had com.
manded a brigade In n Early's division.
The correspondence between them appears
at page So3. ct seq. Part Vol KILL ~
Rebellion Records. The Governor passes
his request for Early's removal from
command OF the Valley army, on "a
letter from an officer who has m y entire
confidence" The following Is quoted
from the letter: General Early's ap 7
pearance along the lime Of march exc a1Ass
no pleasure much less enthusiasm and
cheers. No salute IS given. He is not no
greeted at all by private or officer, put
is allowed to pass pc therS receiving nor
taking notice The army once believed
him q safe commander and felt they
could trust to his caution. but unfonu-
nately this has proved a delusion and they
cannot do not, and will not give him
their confidence Ho was surprised at
Winchester. He did not expect a gen
cral engagement that day. This Destroy
ed the confidence In lfsm and FISHERS
Hill was the terrible sequence.
General Leo replied, asking the name 1il1r'e
of the ofilcer quoted-tbat Hjustlce to
General Darly required that he should be
Informed Of the accusations against him
and the name Of hiss accuser." !. This IN
a second letter Governor Smith stated
he did not feel at liberty to furnish. But
he resumed the request for q. change Of
commanders and rehearsedS the charges
on which the request was based Mt much
length In General Lees response ne DC
Tended General EARLY with yigor.t " ms
conduct at Winchester lie sad: GEN
n tuO's