Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-11

General Lee had no troops to spare.
/ vet il was absolutely necessary TO re-
siSt the movement of General Hunter
toward Lynchburg. II WAS time, too,
/ for prompt action. General Grant was
J rushing matterS on the south side, with
I the view OF scizinc Petersburg before
! General Lee could get there. To re-
/ ducc our ovcrtaNcd army ut such a
/ time was a severe trial, but there was
no alternative.
AS | stated In my letter OF Julv rs
on June Is. 1864, General Lee detached
the second corps. under command OF
General Early. General Eweil being
very i'll ut the time. to check General
I hunters raid upon Lynchburg. the
! troops marching to Charlottesville and
going thence by rail [, LynchburE.
DASH OF GRANT
Is UNSUCCESSFUL
General Grants dash to capture Pc.
tcrsburS on June - was unsuccessful,
owing to some delay in the movement
! Of his own troops, but more especially
20 the heroic defense of tho city put up
bv Generals BcaurcGard and Wise. with
the comparative small force a, their
command. consisting in great part Of
home guards.
The details and incidents of that de-
Tense have bceo fully set forth by
! those who were participants in the
struggle. and tn record of their
E
brightest pages in the history Of the
! war
Before | conclude my letter j wish
to give to my readers some personal
/ "reminiscences Of General Stuart. Dur
/ ing the Seven Days Battles around
| Richmond, the cavalry under General
/ Stuart that had seized the York River
/ Railroad on June IS. 1862. had pro-
/ cccdcd under the orders of the COM
handing general down that railroad
10 ascertain IL there was any move
mcnt of the enemy in that direction.
General Stuart reached the vicinity of
the White House on June % without
the enemy destroyed an immense guam
iity of stores accumulated at that
/ point and rctrcatcd toward Fort Mon
roe. General stuart then proceeded
with the main portion of tho cavalry,
I in compliance with his orders, to guard
the lower bridges of the Chickahominy.
ON June 80 he was directed to rccross
! the river and move to cooperate with
General Jackson. and rca chcd tho
scene OF operations, at Malvern IIill. at
the close of the engagement at T.
NJ on July /.
ON the morning of July il was dis
covered that the enemy had retired
during the night. leaving his dead and
wounded on the field and other un-
! miStakablc evidence Of decentralization
and haste. Pursuit was ordered imme-
| nlatclH. The cavalry under General
Sluhrt being In advance. General Stuart
put his column III motion for lIaxalrs,
4 hopinE To intercept the enemy there
! ms advance soon reached the River
ROAD, IN rear OF Turkey Creek, where
many prisoners were captured and a
| "ooE OF MS men reached the vicinity
"i haNaiIa and became satisfied that
! the enemy was not there He thcp
endcarorcd To gain the fork of Tho
roads near shirley but found ,h,,
position well defended 10y the cncmy'a
/ infantry, but. from what was Learned
! from the prisoners captured. il was
'Nl"th, mat the retrcatinE army had
gone below that point MeanwbiIe
"a part Of his fore" w,s cn,,,nI 3;
haraSSinS tn" "ncmys rear and i'm col
i''tinS prisoners and small arms abau
""med by the rctrcating Tcderals.
iha' night squadron of cavalry
WIN u howitzcr. under Captain pei
nam, was sent toward Wcstoy,r vi,,
orders, 10 reach the immcdia,. yic;ni,,.
oi the river. road below. so ,s ia el,oi,
". II the enemy attempted Ia re,r,,t
| that night.
during tn" night Captain Pelham re-
ported 10 General Stuart that the on
''hs hia taken position between Shjr-
anu "cstorcr. and indicated the
/ huNh ntaSc to be gained by ocCupyinr
hv"linston Heights. II plateau from
| "hlch tue ,chcmy'S camps could bc
/ completely commanded
'ch"ral stuart. in his report. said.
found Evelinrton Heights easily
S"'"'a. squadron in possession VA
Gated without much hesitation. r.trc,,-
ins NJ III" road, the only route IL,
Which u could reach MISSIONER. nwinn
!" IN" impasSability Of Hcrrilir's t'r.eI;
below Howlnnd's Mill. Colonel Mar
,'n was sent around farther To tho
i'it' ana the howitzcr brought into oc
'loh IN the river road. 10 fire upon the
I th'ihN camp. Judging from the great
."h'hotton and excitement caused he
low. II must have had couSidcrablc Of
i''', We soon had prisoners from VA
tl"uS corps and divisions. ana from
thcif statements, as we'll az thosr of
|',""hS. learned that the cneny'a main
p""N was 'hcr" but much reduced and
arth orailzc kept the commanding
s'i'i"i appraised Of my movements and
soon learned from him that Generals
'-"hSStrc"t and Jackson were en- rou,e
!" nay support. held the ground from
about /? y. NJ. until IT, A., when tbr
enemy had contrivcd to gct one bat
'"FS IN position on this side of the
creek The nrc. however. was kent IN
ahtil body of infantry was fuund
approaching by our right flank. had
TO approximations however as I fol,
SUR i-nhSStrcct WAS near by and al
though Pelham reported hui two
rounds IF ammunition left. 7 held ont
hhowinI now important it was 10 hold
ibr ground until Lougstrcct arrived
ihc "ncinrS infantry advanced. and
Inc battery kept up it's tire | inst
th"n learned that LongStrcct had taken
INC wrong road. and WAS ut Nanccs
Sh"p, SIN OF seven miles off pelham
iir"d MS last round, and the sharp
shooters strongly posted in the skirt
Il /. H..
haustcd every cartridge, and had n,
last Ia retire"
GENERAL LONGSTtET:T
~ FURTHER DELAYED
The progress "f the Confederate IN
fantrN, meanwhile. had been greatly
retarded by q heavy storm and by OBJ
StacicS places in tho road by the re-
treating enemy. I.ougstrcct was FUR
ih"r delayed 10y the necessity for coun-
t"rinarchinr his command. having been