New-York tribune., 1909-05-30
I0ndon, Nav Il. III

u Gift Of command which belonged 70 Mr-
g had not descended upon Mr.. Cay; it never
-, descend: but he was capable Of a quick de-
f.,,r and when. having returned that morning
-, A-tie,ar1. [ saw him in the afternoon, he
a., . rlanag agjng-editor state Of mind With
.s firm Kindness Of manner he suggested that
e,,r5 start that evening to rejoin the army. L
res. because. in my inexperience and in my
80 awe Of my superior officer, I did not
s.ov- What else 10 say. And I took the night
+rain 70 Washington
-z-fb the discomforts of the night railway ser
-. between New York and Washington I had
,.as5v made acquaintance They Were consid-
III hut less than they are now. There was
-, no overheated Pullman car: there was no
.,ortssr5ng coloured porter to patronise YOU
- ., T,rr.sh the dust from other peoples clothes
.,+o YOUR face. and TO heat the furnace-oy
s,icf, T mean the steam heated car-seven times
.o+.er. there was no promiscuous doTmltory.
vbsn Lord Charles BeresfOrd was last in Wash
4,g+on four or five years ago. he told me one
ef+e-noon he was going 10 New York by the
-,i57igbt train. When I suggested that the day
&c was less unpleasant than the night he
answered: 'Cls. II doesn't matter to me. 1 can
-, on 2 clothesline'' There spoke the sailor
led Of whom there are still traces in the great
5roirsI OF to-day. I have never tried the
rlo,pez1fre. but I had lately been sleeping for
many nights together on the sacred soil Of Nir-
i,ia or the perhaps less sacred soil Of Mary
Ian5 thinking myself lucky if I could borrow
+r,o rails from q Virginia fence to sleep be-
tween I am not sure whether 1 liked the stiff
seats Of the old-fashioned coach much better,
bYt I am quite sure I should prefer the open air
and The sacred soil and the Virginia rails TO the
luxurious stuffiness Of the modern sleeping
car. The only real luxury I know Of in Ameri-
can railway travel is the private car.
However. I might as well have stayed in New
York for [ was soon invaliGed back again with
& camp fever. and then remained in the office
10 write war editorials and others
But I was To make one more journey 10 the
field. and once more to see General Hooker
General Mcclellan. thinking It over for a month
and more after Antietam had finally crossed
the Potomac. davvdled about little, and been
ordered 10 Trenton, New Jersey. well out Of the
vav of further mischief General Burnside had
succeeded Mcclellan: had fought and lost the
hattie Of Fredericksburg. with the maximum Of
fncompetency, in December 1862: had McClel-
lanised Till January %, and had then yielded
ID the command OF the unhappy Army Of the
Potomac 10 General Hooker. Fighting Joe spent
some three months in getting his army into good
fighting order: then tried his luck against Lee
and Stone7aH Jackson at Chancellorsville- Luck
=
took Jackson out Of his way: but Lee. perhaps
FOR the first time, showed the greater qualities
Of generalship, and Hooker. at the end Of a three
days battle. was defeated. the Union forces
recrossing the RappahannocI1 on the night Of
May !.
I must apologize for restating. even in the
briefest form, facts which everybody knows.
DO il because. soon after Charlottesville, was
sent again to the Army Of the Potomac on a
mission Of inquiry. It was almost the blackest
period Of the war. the darkness before daWn-a
dawn which was 10 come from the West as wen
from the East. The army was demoralised;
was public opinion; So I think, were the
military authorities in Washington; and nobody
knew where to look for a commanding officer.
There remained not one in whom the President
the Army Of the Potomac had faith. They
were cropping for q General and cropping. so far
the East was concerned. in the dark. Ny
business was TO throw such light as I could on
the causes Of Hooker's defeat and to find out.
If could, whom the Army Of the Potomac want
ed as q leader And I was given 10 understand
that the results OF my inquiry would be pub
lished in The Tribune
They never were. I spent rather more than
week with the army. at one headquarters or
another General Hooker. to whom / of course
presented myself in the first instance. very
kindly asked me To be his guest but that was
impossible I could not be the guest Of the man
whom I was 10 Investigate. ] told Hooker my
erranc- As General commanding, he had the
right 10 order me out of the lines, which would
have brought my mission to an end. Instead.
he oaered me aH facilities consistent with his
duty. IF 7 am to be investigated" he said,
rathe~ grmir 1T might as well be by you as
anEoody" Indeed. he had n kindness for me
and rad offered me. or tried to offer. after An
tIetan1 a place on his staff. which military reg
ustons did NOT permit It was not necessary
Il tell aim had every wish he might come well
cut Of the examination But I had.
So went about to one general and another
end from one corps 10 another and talked with
men cf ali ranks and of no rank l knew Gen
eral Sedgwick best and went to him first He
vas q man Il action rather than words. and was
Reluctant 10 talk Besides, his share in the
oatte had been greater than anbodys but
Hooker himself He told me what his orders
had been and how he had tried to carry them
out Up 70 q certain point he had been sue
oesstui he had crossed the Rappahannock in
lhf carly morning Of May Sd. carried the
heights near fredericksburg by noon. advanced
toward ChanceHor's. with intent 10 turn Lees
rear iii he brought Up against an immovable
Aeeel force late in the afternoon He held his
losieon an night and during most of the leXt
car The 4th. Then Lee. who was at his best.
Drought up more troops. and forced Sedgwick
osek across the river al night. He had lost
5000 men
From what Sedgvviclz told ne and from what
Others told ne ] gathered that this was the
c.laeal point Of the battle II Hooker could
laH have kept these Rebel reinforcements
Oag ELSEWHERE, or have strengthened Sedgwick
afAer in the dsy. the Rebel lines would have
~ broken or turned, and the battle won
1' he ~as outmanoeuvred by Lee. here and
essw3ere
Thai is ,-ta.-erlors,-il.. n, q nutshell Hooker