The National tribune., 1904-08-11
LEES srREHGrH At PETERSBURG.

Il
He places the number Of men that Lex
had in the defenses of Petersburg and
Richmond at $1,000 Where he got the
| information for this statment puzzles us
Of course, after the war the rebel Generals
minimized their forces to the utmost, but
this is an astonishingly small number fol-
any reputable authority to state. On the
other hand. We have the authority of Maj
| Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys. Chief OF
| Staff of the Army of the Potomac, and
| the Commander of the Second Corps. for
placing Lees number at about double
what MT. Swinton gives. There can be
| no better authority than Gen. Humphreys.
He was an accomplished soldier in every
way. spared nothing to gain information,
| and was exceedingly careful in what he
| stated. He has given us the morning re-
port of the Army of Northern Virginia
for Feb. 20. 1865. which is as follows:
MORNING REPORT OF FEB. 20. 1865, ARMY
OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
Longstreet's. First Corp-Pckett's s
Division, 3O4 officers, 4.761 enlisted men {:
Fields Division, 341 officers. 4.436 en-
listed men; Kershaws Division, 2O6 Off
GERS. 2.967 enlisted men: total, S51 Off
GERS, 12,l64 enlisted men. Gordon's. Sec
gade. York's Brigade, Evans's Brigade.
200 enlisted men; Grimes's Division.
Cox's Brigade. Grimess Brigade. Doles s
Brigade. Battles Brigade. 1922 enlisted
men: Walkers Division, Toon's Brigade.
Lewis's Brigade. Lilly's Brigade. 2,22?2
listed men. Hills. Third Corps-Ma-
homes Division - 300 enlisted mon. Heth'S :
Division, 4.324 enlisted men; Will
cox'S Division. 1888 enlisted men; total.
SG5 officers. 1866 enlisted men. Ander-
sons Corps-JohnsOn's Division. All Off
GERS. 6.5O3 enlisted men. Total, 2603 Off
GERS. 1850 enlisted men. Cavalry-W.
F'itz Lee. 96 officers, 1926 enlisted men !;
total. 2S1 officers. 500 enlisted men.
Field Art.-Pendleton, 244 officers, 5.133
enlisted men.
This report does not include a great
many important bodies of men whom
everybody knows were present On the Goth
of March. To begin with. there was
Wise's command, fully 1000 strong. There
were also the troops in the Department of
Richmond, under the command of Lieut.
Gen. Ewell. How many there were of
these will never be known, but we know
that Gen. Custis Lee, who was under the
command of Gen. Ewell. had 200 in
fantry, March 20, 1865.
Besides these were other regular COM
mands. and many thousands in more or
less effective organizations of clerks. me-
chanics, and other employees of the Gov
ernment Departments at the rebel Capt.
tal There were also considerable bodies
of heavy artillery, and one great effective
men-of-war. ROsser had a cavalry diri-
sion. which certainly took part in the de-
fense at Petersburg. The same is most
likely true of Gary's brigade of cavalry.
Summing up all these. Gen. Humphreys
arrives at the conclusion that Gen. Lee
had. Feb. 20. not less than 1850 effective
infantry, 5000 field artillery. and 5000
cavalry. This makes a total of not less
than $500 veteran troops, exclusive of
the local militia which was used in the
defenses, the heavy artillery, the naval
forces, and Walkers Brigade. Lees army
was certainly not diminished any after
Feb. 20, 1860. He foresaw clearly that
the decisive struggle would come as soon
as the weather permitted the Army of the
Potomac to move. and he and the rebel
Government strained every nerve to get in
all the troops possible to hold Richmond
and maintain the Southern 'Confederacy.
The Conscripting Bureau was relentless in
bringing in men to fill up the ranks, and
therefore this warrants the belief that Lee
could not have had much less than 10000
men when the Army of the Potomac broke
camp. March 20, for the final struggle.
This is proved by the number that sur
rendered at Appomattox, which was
2S,356. This was what was left of Lees
army after the terrible losses which it
sustained in the final break around Peters
burg, in the decisive fighting at Sailors
Creek. Farmville and High Bridge, where
several thousand were captured, and the
many thousands more who in that long
race of 100 miles became discouraged and
deserted. All reports concur in that all the
country between Petersburg and Appomat-
tox was filled with men of Lees army, who
saw the futility of any further fighting.
and left the column to make their way
home as best they could. At Sailors
Creek alone Lee lost 6,OOO prisoners, be-
sides 1000 killed and wounded.
On the other hand, Gen. Grant had on
the night of March 81, the following eff
fective forces:
Army of the Potomac
iuLdHITJ .OJ,UUO
hTtHIery O,OOD
1Otai. .l4,OOU
Army of the James
lnidHtIy .0I,WU
AItHleTy 5,UU
ACta ;'''''..'..... 90, lOO
Grand total ............... .124, 700
This was not an astonishing preponder-
ance of forces to assault between 10000
and $4,000 men, the strongest works ever
constructed. and to head off and capture
them after leaving the works. The won
H. -. al,