The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-08-18


or hH ever saw in all his life an Of
hcial roster of that famous regiment.
What is right in tho half-coiumn ne
wri~ = about the regiinont has been
know IN to even the general reader
Sine' the infancy OF Noah. lie starts
on "ith grave blunder and ends with
oonsensicel ilmaratiou that will
ma l''c West Pointers" But his am
81 arthority,' ass u ono had inquired
o. am oracle Of God and his easy fu-
mlh urity with his beitcts are deliciOus
fhe senior major he says. wv. j..
Hai vice. had boon recently promotrd 20
tho lieutenant cOlouolct OF the Fourth
90 tn'-rly tine Sirst Cavalryp. ,hus
eia s,ting Thomas to the position OF
seiuor major Not one word OF this
is true iiardee had not been "re-
oei iiiy promoted az thc time ,ueu-
nc eled. nut as FAR haeS as 2Sti. june,
lS - (seven months holoro lee left
for Wasninrfoil, De-. was promoted i'm
- the firtt Cavalry. which ala not
be 11me the Fourlh unul more than
Year after be entered BID. and nnal-
~ his promotion ala not elevate
! tomas 10 tile position OF senior ma
10 r. ~ the cavalry So -yice There
W eve stii two majors senior 90 Thomas.
~ u Emory sud John Sedgwtck.
Il .nory thus became lieuteu nt-colonel
oi, the "FltSt when Hardc- resigned.
r. John SeGgwick became lieutenant
olonel 81 Thonla. reeiment lsecondl.
When Loo WIS promotes colonel or
the FIRST tAiarcN rs. SsiJ Thomas
ram remaining major This is surely
-. fine array oil hlundcr5 for Va officer
% be gan with, Who ends up his Sec
.bnd-hand knowledge with the nam-
aoyant boast. "rhese are the official
pacerds To be known Co (sicj all men.
tDaok. J fear the true Official rec
brds VIII never De known to" the
traJor.
Events were now moving fast doc
fid not reach Washington until Aiarc1
1l. and Thomas yonder ia Sew York.
1yhNom Triumphant seceasioulst' at The
mess table DO Texas Began to "con-
slider" though ne haa not yet changed
& his strong inclination, amounting 70
purpose. 70 FOLLOW his State" All
oil MS bioE~aphers Ia. stress on his
cautious foresight cool Judgment
untouched OF sentiment, and his native
shr ewdnsss. Southern officers we're
every where res!sung and he had but
TO "s!t tight" 10 attain the coveted
promotion thus practically offered him
Lee had but 10 resign and Sedgwick
would become colonel and Thomas
Northumberland Emory mao but 20
resign and Thomas would become col
ouei.
IN such nero han6ful Of cavalry
field officers each man knew the other
and had almost certain knowledge Of
what action each officer wound take.
y. TN Albert Sidacy Johnston and Leo
arll Emory out Of the wa, Thomas
would necessarily become colonel All
three did resign, inons n Emory re-
siEnatlon tne was then marching
honlawards from the Piains). wnicn
NJ had left wiki a relative IN case
Maryland sece4ed. and which had boon
sent in prcmatur-iy. was recalled and
c&ylained ana he was -cinstated in
tnc army But the Secretary OF War
was angored by bis resignation. w ich
Nvus received at the War Dep-i tneut
May and accepted Mey 9. or when
date letters OF promotion" were is
sasd TO Thomas. promoting him 10 be
li.utena at colonel to date from April
- md colonel to date from May g.
respectively. AL this IS now TO the
major. because Il IS not in any OF
tn, books ne has reyd. hut Is in the
70 cords Emory wap roinstated on May
"a. but only as lieutenant colonel.
Thomas had been selected" in his
place. II is an Interesting story. but
100 long 10 set down mere.
The majors "nonsensicai nlustra-
ton" u, prove thas Thomas had
somewhat hard MEASURE meted out 10
him is ;hut "he (Thomas' was not pro-
NOTED IN the permanent ESTABLISH
merit until tho latter part OF lS63.'
tobsorve the exclamation point TO mark
tie hardship Why, Sherman. Iar
more distinguished officer than Thomas
In every way. did not set MS pro no
tion on the permanent esta bills hment'
until 1859, and the same is true OF
score OF other officers OF high volun-
teer rank. ! fear tho major has bat
q supcrhottl Acquaintance with his
Cullums Register"
What ofcini Records Prove.
Then the major comes out strong"
as 10 the personnel Of the Second
Cavalry. in order further 70 prove
Thomns's "stalwd-t and unswervlng
loyalty" In standing like adamant
against the pro-southern feeling IN
the regiment.
I have under ny hand as I write
the Official Army Register for 1861
issued by the Adtutant- General OF the
United states Army. January 1. 1851.
and September |. 1861. There were in
January. 1861. eleven officers in the
Second who had heen appointed from
States absolutely Southern, twelve ap-
pointed from Northern and Western
states ana iou.ieen from Border
Siates-in all thirty seven officers.
When the momenious crisis came.
nineteen Of these officers took the
Northern side (though Lieutenant
Withereu OF Michigan was drowned
before the regiment left Texas. and
Thus saw no seryice), ana eighteen en-
tered the Confederate -Armr Poor
major. how these really official rec
ords" Knock into a cooked hat hts
tawdry rhetoric about Thomns's "un-
swervins loyalty" Gle stood alone
says PiattD
c. Then comes real bonnie bouche
OF lovely myth, which he quotes
from president James =. Garheld's
brilliant Grafton on Thomas in
which Garfield records (paee le) that
when comrade asked Thomas what
he would do II Viz sinia should vote to