Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-06-07
SCHURz DESCRIBES
CHANCELLORv|LLE.
SPEAKS MIND IN REGARD TO
GEMS. HOWARD AND HOOKER.
Gives Graphic Description of the
Defedt-In June MCClureS In
Stdllment of His "reminiscences
Time Was Forty Years Ago
the Second of May.

Forty years ago, IN the afternoon
of the second of May, number of deer
and rabbits came bounding out of the
woods in front OF the Eleventh corps
of the Union army at Charlottesville.
Behind them came the dashing Stone
wall Jackson with rs, 600 men, and in
one hour and half his great thanking
force had telescoped the Eleventh
corps with it's 5000 men and driven
them back IN retreat. 1t happened that
they had no reserves and that the
Eleventh's line was facing the front
instead of the west flank. Gen Carl
Schurz had foreseen the flank attack
and he had begged Gen. o. o. Howard,
who was the Eleventh corps c"mman-
der, to be allowed to rearrange his
line and face 1t west and to place
reserves in anticipation of this very
flank movement but, Gen. Howard
Thought" Jackson was retreatlne and
would not give orders for change
of front.
Four days later the Eleventh corps
and large part of the army of the
Potomac retreated to the Rappah an
mock. There Schurz' brave soldiers
found the newspapers full of "the
frightful story of the unexampled con-
duct of the Eleventh corps and their
tales of the "cowardly Dutchmen who
had at the first attack thrown down
their guns and fled in disgraceful
flight without firing a shot. - Not
general except Schurz tried to correct
the false statement. Schurz's report
of the whole action, his request for
an investigation by which he could
easily have cleared his neZ of the
dreadful Islander, were pigeonholed by
authorities in Washington.
"In the June McClure's instalment
OF his "reminiscences SchurA tells
the whole tale and shows that his men
bore the brunt of the fighting and
afterward bore the whole blame, and
that they were "elected as scapegoats'
to shield those who blundered. Schurz
frankly speaks out his mind III regard
to Gen. o. o. Howard and Gen.
Hooker. 1t is graphic description
of the defeat of Charlottesville.
He writes:
"There has been much speculation
as to whether those who accused Gen.
Hooker, of having been intoxicated
during the battle of Charlottesville,
were right or wrong. The weight of
the testimony of competent witnesses
is strongly against this theory. 1t is
asserted, on the other hand, that he
was accustomed to the consumption of
a certain quantity of whisky every
day, that during the battle of Chan
cellorsville he utterly abstained from
his usual potions for fear taking too
much inadvertently, and that his
brain failed to work because he had
not given it the stimulus to which
it had been infatuated Whichever
theory the the correct one. certain it
is, to all appearances Gen Hooker's
mind seemed, during those days, In a
remarkably torpid condition. On no
such theories can we explain Gen.
Towards failure to foresee the coming
of Jackson's attack upon our right
fank-for he was man of the sober
est habits. How he, In spite Of the
reports constantly coming in, in spite
of what, without exaggeration, may
be called the evidence of his senses,
could finally conclude on the End of
May that Jackson, instead of intend
ing TO attack, as IN full retreat, l
have never been able to understand,
except upon the theory that his mind
simply failed to draw simple concIu-
sions from obvious facts