The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-02
Letter to The Editor
rss T. .,ls Mon.A q Deeember. lsss.

| the Month of December, 1882.
 Editor The Advertiser:
 wrote that he had never heard of any any sreSl victory of Confederate troops Ss sr vioksburg.' brings to my mind a srai Dhnsoie Dshn Dook. written by Gen s.uoent or the military history of Gen. Saepnen D. Lee. becomes conclusive
 The military operations of the Gov ernment at Washington, after McClei- lan's Failure Ut Sharpsb urg: in the early ,am ,ana of 1882. briefly stated. were ins senaed , 70 push Burnside to Richmond crans over Bragg at Murfreesboro: and 70 capture Vfcksburg and Mobile by Grant. all these grand strategic move M lnenss 70 some on In the month Of De-
 First in order, Burnside crossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, and sfosses er6ss tss battle of day movement of the grand campaign.
 lew days later, General Grant marched out from Memphis with 2 Northern Mississippi to vicksburg. He had already collected enormous stores at Holly Springs. Upon these stores Tsn t5 ,oTss sos 5000 strong with masterly tactics, slipped into Holly Springs and burned the entire stores. worth a million dol-
 
 of his expedition that he had instructed Mrs. Grant to follow the trains to Holly Springs. She was there when Van Dorn attacked and he gave her her residence the proper guard. etc. General Grant at once perceived that if his sto, es could not be protected in given position from Van Dorn he could not hope to forage on the coun- | try while Van Dorn lowered on his hanks and rear. So he turned back M%pAd ssM dsys a s.r Utter arah tarnss S, back on vicksburg, the last of the three component parts of Halleck's grand December invasive movements. effect The day after Christmas, 1882, General Rosecrans moved out of Nash- vile with magnificent army of 60,O0o
 General Bragg had been at Murfrees- boro sincef his return from Kentucky, that is, about three weeks. His army was in fine fettle. Polk. Hardee. Breck- McNafr, Withers, Hanson, Pillow were with him and many other general ofn- cers and officers of the line whose names are written him on the temple of Southern fame in arms. General Wheeler commanded Bragg's cavalry, some 5000 strong.
 Rosecrans seemed to have little ap- RrsSehsson R%itS his march. ae ssnt his army for ward over four bikes, each column separated several miles from the oth- CTS.
 Wheeler struck one of the columns of advance and then another, forcing them in turn to halt and form line Of battle. Thus he delayed the advance 30. On that day withers's division of Folks corps, received the attack of Rosecrans's right wing and repulsed 1t: Tuesday night Bragg, g.san having gg.saasd .neaasdd to drive a powerful column against Polk at daylight Wednesday, December s1. hurried Hardee from his right to his left with Cleburne's Division. Me- Gown had just arrived from Knoxville. Bragg's line of battle was formed by midnight Tuesday Hardee on his left, Polk his center, Breckinridge his right. McCown's division was Hardee.s front, with Cleburne in support; Wtthers's Division was Folks front with Cheat ham in support, Breckinridge on the right stood division front, with no sup rear of the enemy on both Hanks.
 At the first ray of dawn, McCown rushed upon the foe, engaged about their fires cooking breakfast The en- emy were driven pell -melf. By mid day they had reformed, at right angles to their line of the morning, upon their left wing Rrsgg ag .hes hed the bst sS M as sna fruitless victory at fearful cost
 Now. We are ready. to go with sher- man to the vicinity of Vicksburg, Grant ln Cn&BTlA uuIElCu E9nGAlLAdA tAo river from Memphis. He landed a large force on the Yazoo intending to go to Vicksburg. Brigadier General $. D. Lee met him, fought him with great est yalor and utterly defeated him. So fell each and every movement of the December campaign of invasion.
 General Maury. Tn his beautifully written book says he was ordered to hasten to Vicksburg, to take command He arrived in the early night on the train from Jackson. Immediately he mounted his horse. in the rain, and started across country to find Lees headquarters In the field. It was pitch dark and he knew not a foot of the country. Procuring the guidance of a plantation negro he pursued his way. Long after midnight he found Lee. Lee told him of the days battle and de- scribed his plans for the expectant TO- newal as day broke. Maury declined to take command. He was more than satisfied with his subordinate. The day broke but the enemy was not there General Lee published in late years a pamphlet account of this campaign.
 Had General Bragg been as success full In the centre of the Confederate line as the Army of Northern Virginia at one end and Van Dorn and Lee at the other, "War of Secession" would never have been written to mislead in derision.