The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-08-26
'VALL.E|:Y'|'CANPA|.I.|.G||N'|I|
QFGEN | /. / ] 4. n ri.
Was One#of Most Brilliant and; a11d
Stubbornly-F ought Of the he .I
Entire War.
DED OR + L DUR M 0NT. 4.

n Correspondent VINO WAS Loiis
With Famous General Pc: De
scribes His Personality.
ssaSi "a Few days after the disastrous battle
81 Cedar Creek, Va, fought October ~,
q 1874. i was shown q letter by g enerals
a Early from, General Lee. answering ms ,fsl ~
M rlv,s Re port. II G eneral Leo In this le t-sss
n ter 2I;,ased 10 EARLY account no blame for
the defeat but assured him in the KIND ms l
N est manner that lie had accomplished IN
his campaign all and more than he L ex-s
rs nectedI TIe also assured him that he con-
Z aid cred tho movement n forl o l ~ Pr
smade for the p urpos Sc OF SwlthdrsalN%llNhB
from his front and overhead army |3a ~
many men as possible. In this respect pee !, ~
was emfnently successful as u co1npeileu
% {, ene,al Grant to send to the Valley tliireeS
Of his best corps Of infantry anu
man s superb cavalry. HI al .S "
5 when tho second corps Of the Army olS
Northern Virginia left Its winter quar- Il,
VI ters3 on the south bank OF the Rapida
&: tho5'4th@ Of May, 1864, u Il was commanded
by Lieutenant-G encral 1oWell and and 81 lf! {
4 10000 men on duty, fully ofllcered ~ "
fought Grant on tho eth and 9Th Of ~ LAY ay
at the wilderness on the stil ana y :. w
Eat tie river Ioo e, and on the $S Ill ~ -
u Snotsylvania Courthouse, where Is$ y 9 cK-
IA so,r: old division, with It's tllerY q
sixt ecn pieces was nearly destro %ets g Ata
the a,Bloody Angle by II Hancock s G c1ps,
i 8 fought again at the North Anna ls
and 4 gain at 81 thesda Church or second Is
e Cold EIarbor.S g,3I VI, i, /, !, !,
When General Early a assumed connh ~
nnf, was ordered to IIynchhurg with Inns TN
y - ms. liz ranks had been sreducetl TO less
than5 & 600 effective men. It was not an
nv. III was a Gisorganizeq rabbie-dl-j
}}SvisIons commanded by colonies; pr GO t
IN ma jors, regiments by captains : no 40
companies by sergeants and q 81 ia ia, lsSY
number or officers we're serving II 4 s.t F'
I ranks carrying muskets III, X
55%S r eceiyed Reinforc ements.
%88A At Iynchburg Early was reinforced by
General breckenridge wit " harton1'. IN = I 81
vision Of infantry, Jenklns and Vaiu l =,
mounted Infantry, lillian Id ac ,i' sons SO =
and Morgan's cavalry lis VINO VINO oie3 , ole'.
then numbered 10000 infantry and \ about
Y 5000 cavalry. IIe was further reinforced
4 byg Kershhw's division Of infantry and
Iitzhuglr i lee 81 cavalry before the battle
sao OF Cedar Creek, October&19. 1861. a At no
time had his army more than 10000 In,
fantry ana 5000 cnyalry.\ With this dis
y organized force, he. fought and Ilcfe aten
..esf Wallace at Fred erick5 CT y. n JnlY 9th,
.5fand arrived IN front Of Washington on
Tulv ;1lth, about IL NJ, making his head
quarters atESiver Springs, tile Residence
h OF Hon. F'rtAatis Rlair. Being In the
enemy's cauntry,- he had to- march by
\ brigades each defending its own wagon
s5 train, and 1t being exceedingly hot !
was nearly dark before he could make
demonstration against Fort Stevens;'
4 and. when It was done IT was found that
~ = Ia, of
5 best troops there In Its defense After
consultation. General Early determined
to Withdraw his troops again to Win
Fl chester. i * III Az VI SSSSss
\. The burning OF the home OF Mont
gomery Blair was wholly an accident.
caused by Its being funocoupied and at
~ the mercy Of struggling soldiers. Gen.
4 Early, during his entire stay protected
&8 private property to the full extent OF
3 his power and never gave an order 10
destroy Rlair's home, s -s, X Pf5
Gen. Fairly however. concluded not 10
stay at Winchester, but proceeded down
the Valley to New Market IIe, however.
left Major General Ramseur with hia
command, with positiyoiJ instructions
not TO bring on fight. Ramseur took
dinner with Mr.. Phil. cambridge. and
~ when the enemy made n demonstration,
started his command to chnstise them.
Feeling pretty good. no doubt, from tho
wine at dinner. he WAS careless in hia
mot ements, and when four miles north
OF Winchester. ran into an ambuscadc,
which came near annlh!la:'ns his COM
II mand. He lost his battery or artillery
f73 and several officers and men. ana but
vi for William H., Jackspl's Cavalry which
8 was IN his rear unmountcd tho entire
ss commnnd would have been captured. Tn
this fight Lieutenant y. Galloway, aide
l8{to General Ramsenr was shot through
the stomach, receiving u wound from
Is which only one In q thousand RECEIVERS
Early remained ct New Market bu.
few days. returning to Winchester
ma pnampcd his army nlong the VALLEY
w Tgrnpilte as far north as Mprtlnsburg.
sS Sheridan MT this time had his command
ss strung out along the Berryyille TurnpiE,
from Charleston 10 White Post. Sherl.
dap's command consisted Of three corp,
Of Infantry. So 900 rne,n < sher!dan,i
superb cavalry Of over 10000. While Earl.
had only, $4,000 all told Hero these com
niapds Tested for six weeks, sheridu,
during the whole time making no dc
monstration, while his command wa
thne times as large as Early's. Early
howayer was not idle. He ordered Gen
erals Bradley Johnson and Mccausan
10 meet him at Williamsport 4. #
Orders Issued.
On the hill overlooking the town Ger
erai Early ordered me to write the fo
lowing with pen and ink
& 4 To General Bradley Joansd,1, II 5 n
General ]. A. aIccauslandt Y Comma nd y
4 W. Cavalry: ~ s t}g Il
',You arc hereby ordered to proces
with your commands al once to Chan
bersburg, Pa, ard In consideration OF Il
Y \ destruotlon5b by General David Hunter
the residences CT Edmund T. Lee, Ale'
ander r. Boteler and Andrew Hunter