The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-28


kfes' ciose In OK them. on front flank
and on rear. rhoy fought and fought
well, until that fact was plainly ro-
vealed to them: and then they broke
and ran out OF tho trap" That
charge on our left and centre Cfront
Hank and rear) was mado about
J.. NJ Up to that timc no "nghting"
worth speaking of occurred In tina,
section OF the field at all. Moore's Ala
barna and Batcs's Tennessee Brigades.
with some OF our batteries nsvcrthe-
less made splendid resistance In the
centre. And even after the charge
was Developed there was little ac-
tual "hghting." For our men saw tho
trap and refused to stay IN 1t. do not
blame them. To realize how literally
true this Is. Dana, Lincoln's Attorney
General, who was back near Chat
tanooga watching events. says in his
book that the frontal attack began Mt
T. Nj. and took just thirty minutes
tby his watch held open In his han,D
To gain tho crest, They met with no
resistance. Our men were preparing
to leave that trap. That frontal at
tack would never have gained the
crest, except that our men knew that
force nearly. IL not quite, twice their
number was already in their rear.
These facts explode the commonly
accepted idea that missionary Ridge"
ohttIa was magnificent illustration
OF Yankee hcroism" Beyond losing
their breath in going up the steep
ridge several hundred feet high. the
| chargers suffered little Inconvenience
The slight casualtlos reported (slight
Tor such an army and such charger
tell tho story; also. the absurd short
ness of tim" TO gain the crest
And again say our men did right
in leaving such a palpablo trap.
Was there no blame" anywhere
then: Oh. yes. The blame was on
our general. for cgregious blunders
committed, eliminating In getting his
army in such position. Bragg indeed.
AFTER ChickamauSa seemed to lose his
head. The whole two months after
wards were marked by blundcr after
olunder. Far better would II have
been had lie evacuated Missionary
Ridge and Lookout Mountain without
Z fight ut ali
While our left and centre" were
thus defeated. what was our right
wing" doing7
We come now to the only creditable
part OF the battle of Missionary Ridge.
inc right wing" was held by Har-
dces Corps. and the most of II (about
5000 men was commanded my Major
General Pat. r. Cleburne in person.
This force formed the extreme right
of the right wing. and held the
crucial position. which the enemy did
his best to turn. General W. T Sher-
man commanded the enemy here In
person e
book. He buried these thousands
against us in charge after charge all
day long. but they were routed every
time with heavy loss In some places
they got TO our lines. and our men.
out OF ammunition, fought them back
with stones. clubs and muskets. and
ran them down tho hin and captured
about loco prisoners. The canteens OF
their dead and wounded were filled
win whiskcy, except what they had
firunk (Which possibly explains their
recklessness. When night came we,
on the right" We're rejoicing over
our great victory" not Knowing what
had befallen our centre and left"
About 10 o'clock that night we wcro
told we must fall back and form the
rear guard of the rest OF the army
which had been defeated. The enemy
was between us and them. SO we had
to mako n great detour and march all
y,
We did so. saving them thereby and
most of the wagon train. The energy
followed, but tmidly. On the carly
morning OF the .Sth q thinls) they
grew holder. and at Ringgold we gave
them n bad and bloody beating After
that they let us alone. We stayed in.
places for hours. offering battle. Then
In utmost leasure, after wagon traIua
and army were perfectly secure we
retired 10 Tunnel Hin. Ga. where we
spent the whlter. the army itself being
six miles behind us at Daltan, Ga.
Such IL the plain unvarnished ac-
count of missionary idge." Tho truth
as to that shameful disaster Is TINT
General Bragg, and not his army, was
10 blame. 1t was case OF glaring
outGeneralsh,p as to our commander:
not of oowardice as TO our men. Bragg
was n good officer in some respects,
but had not military genius" ..or
capacity for handling great bodies of
men. He was brave, and n C..ristian
gentleman, but Il routine" man, not
equal to emergencies
only few months after, in May,
1864, General Joseph Il. Johnston took
that same army. terribly dcmoralized
by sickness. hardship, humiliation and
shame over defeat. and with IL Fought
the superb, unsurpassed Dalton-At-
lanta campaign against an enemy two
and one-half times his size, inflictlng
losses on him equal to the strength
or his whole army, and defeat after
defeat upon him.
Pardon my length. could not avoid
1t and do justice. You are OF the few
of the young people OF the South who
take any interest in the War Between
the States. In the name of every old
confederate veteran. and of the 500 of
the state that bore you. the sod soaked
with their sacrlfcial blood, sued free
1y for you. take OFF my hat to you!
I thank You.
Sincerely and affectionately
p. D. STEPHENSON.
EX-Private (1) Company X. Thirteenth
Arkansas Infantry, Govart's Brigade
Clcburne's Division. (2) Fifth COM
pany Washington Artillery, New or
leans, La, both of Hardee's Corps.
Army OF Tennessee, c. s. A.