The National tribune., 1908-05-21


A private letter from Gen. Double
day gives his condition after the battle
as illustrative of that of the rest of
the army after its week of struggle
with the mud, briers, the thickets and
jungles of the wilderness:
Il am so cut, scratched and bruised
that 1 can hardly hold a pen in my
hand, My limbs are covered with
swellings from the bites of insects and
torn from forcing my way thru briers
and thorny bushes; my eyes close in
voluntarily from lack of sleep and ex-
cessive fatigue. My legs are cramped
from so much riding. and / have not
yet succeeded in getting rid of the chill
caused by sleeping on the wet ground
in the cold rain. My clothes. up to
last night had not been taken off FOR
a week. AS 1 lay down every night
with my boots and spurs on. my feet
are very much swollen. I ought 20 be
in bed at this moment instead of at
tempting to write"
Everyone had been called upon to
make the most exhausting efforts, and
it is noted particularly that Gen. Gou-
verneur K. Warren, afterward to rise
to command of the Fifth Corps, exerted
himself beyond what seemed to be the
limits of human endurance in trying to
make tire battle a success. and particu-i
larly to bring about concord of action
between those portions of the army
under Hooker and Sedgwick.
Richard Is Himself Again.
Once back on the north side of the
Rappahannock, without Lees bewilder-
ing pounding at the heads of his col
umns. without the responsibility for
100000 men in immediate touch with.
the enemy, Hooker's mind recovered
its balance. and his old swelling conf
%.
the fore. He was voluble in his blame
of his subordinates for the loss of the
battle, and tried to make his structures
on Sedgwick, Howard and others fully
obscure his own monumental mistakes.
He was insistent upon the roseate view
that he had not been defeated. but had
merely sustained a check in carrying
out his plans. and had withdrawn his
army to renew the attack under more
favorable conditions.
A ConEratulntory Order.
Hooker embodied this view in a con-
gratulatory order which he issued i'm
mediateiy upon re-establishing himself
in his headquarters at Falmouth:
Headquarters, Army of the Poto-
mac, Camp near Falmouth, Va, May
., 1868.
General Orders, No 49,
THE MaJor-GeneraI commanding
tenders to this army his congratuIa-
tions on its achievements of the last
seven days. II it has not accomplished
all that was expected, the reasons are
well known to the army. 1t is suffi-
cient to say they were of character
not to be foreseen or prevented by hu-
man sagacity or resource.
I'm withdrawing from the south
banks of the Rappahannock before de-
Iivering general battle to our adver-
saries the army has given renewed con-
fidence In itself and its fidelity to the
principles 1t represents. In fighting at
a disadvantage we would have been
recreant to our trust to ourselves. our
cause and our country, r,.,fs-f,,,s..
Profoundly loyal and conscious OF
its strength, the Army of the Potomac
will give or decline battle whenever its
interest or honor may demand. 1t will
also be the guardian of its own fame.
by our celebrity and secrecy of
movement our advance and passage of
the rivers were undisputed and on our
withdrawal not a rebel yentured to fol-
low.
THE events of the last week may
swell with pride the heart of every Off
Ger and soldier of this army. We have
added new luster to its former renown.
We have made long marches, crossed
rivers. surprised the enemy in his in
anu We ndHt
fought have inflicted heavier blows than
we have received.
1--WE have taken from the enemy
5000 prisoners; captured and brought
off seven pieces of artillery, Is colOrs;
placed hors de combat 1000 of his
chosen troops; destroyed his depots
filled with vast amounts of stores; de-
ranged his communications, captured
prisoners within the fortifications of
his Capital. and filled his country with
fear and CONSERVATION.
I'VE have no other regret than that
caused by the. loss of our brave COM
panions, and in this we are copsoled by
the conviction that they have fallen in
the hottest cause ever submitted to the
arbitrameO of battle.
by command of Maj.-Gen. Hooker.
'S. Williams. Assistant Adiutant-Gen-
eral."
Revival of Genernlship.
His mind again working clearly
Hooker resumed that course of able
administration which had so distin
guished him prior to the battle. He
had an excellent conception of the sit
uation, and. as before the battle, his
measures were well timed and appro-
pirate. His army suffered severe
diminution in the discharge of some
80. 900 two years and nine months men.
while, on the other hand, Lees army
received strong reinforcements in the
arrival of Longstreet with his three
divisions from the siege of Suffolk Be-
sides this, the Confederate conscrip-
ton law was being enforced with the
most drastic severity, and every avail
able man sent to swell the Confederate
army on the Rappahannock. There
was much disappointment in the South
that the battle had not been decisive
one and the Army of the Potomac de-
stroyed, but everyone agreed that Lees
management had been brilliant in the
extreme. and the victory of his inferior
force was a strong confirmation of the
Southern belief in the nature and in
vincibIe superiority of their men to the
Northern soldiers.
While there was not the depression
in the North which had followed the
shocking disaster at Fredericksburg.
yet the ill-success of the war so far
furnished only too much reason for the
Copperheads to increase their venom
Gus activity. and insist upon the i'm
possibility of conquering the South. The
defeat at Charlottesville only added to
the long and almost unbroken series in
which the disasters of the Peninsula.
the second Bull Run, Fredericksburg
and Chickasaw Bayou stood up as
startling monuments. There had been
no signal. conclusive success won by
the Union army since the capture of
Fort Donelson. The bloody conflict on