The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-07-19
LEES MEN WERE NEVER
TOO HUNGRY TO FIGHT
Rntious So short They Almost starved,
but Always Covered With Glory
In Battle.

The undersigned was surprised, mild
~ so, perhaps. when MIR. Gould, Of
Bridgeport, Conn, challenged his claim
that In the campaign of 1861 General
Lee had SO managed to make his
enemies believe that they had seventy
five rebels lighting them when the
correct number was thirty-five. But,
Sir. when our New England friend
comes now quoting the Confederate
coinmissary general to show that Cen
eral Lee was not very short Of
food for man and horse during that
cventful year. he surely must be jok-
ing! The rations General st. John
had in March and April, 1868, to which
attention Is called. were doubtless just
about all the Confederate commissary
had At that time. The hospitals. the
Yankee prisoners. Johnston's army and
Lees, all had TO be supplied out or
that store. for sherman and his crowd
had fixed Georgia and South Carolina
SO that the crows down there were
compelled 10 travel equipped az were
their kinsmen in the Shenandoah VAL
ley.
In March. 1864. General Lee wrote to
Longstreet in East Tennessee that If
needed, horses could be obtained for
Longs treets army, where was forage
10 come from? Soon after the war
General Harry Heth wrote as follows
TO the Philadelphia Weekly Times: In
1864 the ratious of general oflcer
was double that OF n private and so
meagre was that double supply that
frequently 10 appease my hunger \
robbed my horse. What must have
been the condition OF the private?'. \
few OF us still can recall To mind what
the private's condition" was then,
Sir, he was hungry. hungry. hungry.
and then some! No sugar. coffee or
tea did he ever get unless he cap
tured 1t from those people" as Gem
eral Lee called the Yankees Corn
meal. often tainted, with a very lt,,e
meat. occasionally a little rice. whic.,
NirSinians usually trader ror NEAR
with our South Carolina friends, once
or twice lot OF Australian canned
what? IL was called mutton on tho
cans. but the boys insisted that n mis-
take had been made in selecting the
animals. that the packers did not un-
derstand how to divide the sheep from
the goats, Very few OF us could eat
the stuff after day or two! We were
so much IN presence OF the enemy dur
ing the whole year that the cornmeat
had TO be cooked, three days rations
of 1t at time. and brought with the
meat, uncooked, from the wagon train
camp, and this distributed To the men
on the lines! These men fried the
meat and added water To give Ii bulk,
then the stale cornbreaG was broken
up in the mixture, and there resulted
the delicious and Dalatable 'coosh":
Ar English officer. on a visit to Cen
eral Lees camp. expressed surprise at
the poverty of his soldiers in rations
and uniforms. Yes. general" said
Lee. I'VE would like to provide better
for them if We could. But YOU should
see my men fight. We are not ashamed
of and for them when they are in bat
tlc!' How many victories would our
army of this day achieve on "coosh"
made from stale corn bread?\
But, Mr.. Editor. enough of this.
have a sneakinG schoolboy feeling of
having been telling tales out Of school.
General Ice was afraid the world
would never realize the truth as to the
odds against which the South had
fought Some OF our Northern friends
are beginning to get glimpse of il.
isut even such an author the Mas
saChusetts man, who has given us the
fine study. Lee, the American" has as
yet only seen through the glass dark
~" A careful Northern historian has
found that "undeniably. the onion
armies outnumbcred those of the Con-
federacy in all cases as two, commonly
as three, and during the entire period
that General Grant was our command
err liz chief. as four to one" In the
department of subsistence the odds
was much greater against General
Lee.
THIRD UOWITZER