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ith him at the most critical periods of his active service, I feel that I owe it to him to bear attestation to the unselfish and untiring devotion he always gave to the service in which he was enlisted. He was not a soldier of the first rank like Lee, lacking some of those essential grander elements which give success to a commander in the field; but he possessed qualifications such as, rightly directed, would have made him great in the Confederate army as Moltke in the Prussian. Sidney Johnsility, and to comprehend remarkable accuracy of detail as well as clearness and precision. In both the engagements named, he attacked boldly on the flank; at the former on the left, and the latter on the right; but, in the supreme moment, when Lee or Jackson would have made his victory complete, he failed in the power to modify his original plan, and lost from his tendency to adhere inflexibly to his predetermined line of action. ... But in the matter in which General Bragg has been mo
e arms in the State arsenals were nothing more than common percussion muskets, and the cartridges proved almost useless, being filled with very old, common, large-grained blasting powder. Our ports were blockaded; the North had free communication with Europe; exchequer we had none; our opponents could raise millions at home or abroad; our leaders were few, of inferior rank and little reputation; our foes had one at their head fondly called by themselves the greatest general of his age. Save Lee, Johnston, Beauregard, and Cooper, we had riot one single officer of note; and the first-named was only a colonel of dragoons in the old United States service. It is true that several officers (among them Van Dorn, Longstreet, Ewell, and Evans) in the Indian countries, or on the Border, immediately threw up their commands, and joined the fortunes of their respective States; but little was expected of them, since they could only be regarded as men of theory, with but little experience in warf
antcolonel; Beauregard had been major of engineers; Evans, Longstreet, and others, did not rank higher than major of cavalry or infantry, and had seen but little service, except on the frontier among the Indians; Bragg was a retired captain of artillery; T. J. Jackson was professor of mathematics and of tactics in the University of Virginia; D. H. Hill was a lawyer; Polk, an Episcopal bishop in Louisiana, etc. This was all the talent we had, and much of it was only said to be promising. General Lee was at Richmond, acting as Secretary of War; General Cooper was there also as adjutant-general; Bragg and Polk were in Tennessee, and Johnston in the Valley; Beauregard was alone at Manassas, having Evans, Ewell, Longstreet, and a few less known names, as subordinates in the approaching struggle. Of Beauregard I knew little, but had heard much. He was continually moving about from place to place, his appearance and escort being so unostentatious that many met and passed without knowi
Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buell, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Opening Battles. Volume 1., Responsibilities of the first Bull Run. (search)
new ones: Cooper's being dated May 16th, A. S. Johnston's May 28th, Lee's June 14th, J. E. Johnston's July 4th, and Beauregard's July 21st. so many honorable men. He states ( Rise and fall, I., 309) that General Lee, when ordered from Richmond to the South for the first time, askofficer cannot know his duty if ignorant of his rank. Therefore General Lee always knew his rank, for he never failed in his duty. Besides,to be found in the Official Records, is the one of June 7th from General Lee, in which he says: It is hoped that you will be able to be timelen. The last instructions on the subject received by me were in General Lee's letter of June 7th. Official Records, II., 910. On page 34. See Official Records, II., 924, 935, 940, 973, 976-977. And General Lee, writing [from South Carolina] to Mr. Davis, November 24th, 1861erations proposed to him by the general, and desiring to know of General Lee what those plans were, and why they were rejected. On the 1
ng, my fifty or sixty Yankee prisoners were turned over to me by Colonel W. H. F Lee at his camp, and at noon I reached the Potomac near Shepherdstown, escorted by aor you, and you must be off at once to make your reports to Generals Jackson and Lee. I used my thirty minutes well, and had just taken my place opposite a very prenking me much for my report, he said that he would himself ride over to General Lee's headquarters at daybreak, and thus save me the ride there for the present; thad by a hearty breakfast, I again rode along the highway towards Winchester. General Lee's headquarters were exactly in the centre of our army in its encampment, abo had forgotten the fatigues and hardships of the recent campaign. I reached General Lee's tents in the afternoon, and was cordially greeted by my comrades, the offict for him in case of emergency, and to keep up frequent communications with General Lee. With how much pain and discontent I received this information, I do not ca
en a few carbine-shots had been exchanged. This squadron had come from Harper's Ferry, along a by-road which struck the turnpike at a point about midway between Kearneysville and Smithfield, which point they had reached just ten minutes after General Lee with a very small escort had passed by. Our Commander-in-Chief had thus very narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the enemy, and I thought it necessary to despatch a courier at once to General Stuart to inform him that the road was not cvisited the place in our absence would have supposed that any change had occurred in the interim. The Federal army, after considerable fighting the previous day, had recrossed the Potomac, their rearguard being badly cut up by a dashing charge of Lee's cavalry. The Federal newspapers called the movement a grand and successful reconnaissance in force, and it had evidently been undertaken to counteract a little the effect, and abate the ill-feeling, that had been produced all over the North by
Heros von Borcke, Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, Chapter 10: (search)
wing of the Federal forces, by a strong demonstration towards Harper's Ferry, made a show of invading Virginia from this point, but the great bulk of the army crossed the Potomac about fifteen miles lower down, near the little town of Berlin. General Lee, having been opportunely informed by his vigilant cavalry of the enemy's operations, had commenced, in the mean time, a movement on the opposite side of the Blue Ridge, in a nearly parallel direction towards Front Royal, being about a day's m being permitted to profit by this plenty, we had been compelled for the past two months, through the mismanagement and want of experience of the officials of the Quartermaster's Department at Richmond, and against the earnest remonstrances of General Lee, to draw all our supplies from the capital, whence they were sent by rail to Staunton, there to be packed into waggons and deported beyond Winchester, a distance of more than one hundred miles after leaving the railroad. The subsistence which
Heros von Borcke, Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, Chapter 20: (search)
hom Scheibert delighted by his excellent pianoforte-playing, to say nothing of the amusement they derived from his original practice with the idiom and pronunciation of the English language. On the 28th, Stuart and the members of his Staff, including our visitor, dined by invitation under the roof of an old widow lady, a very particular friend of mine, who resided on a pretty little plantation close to Culpepper. Mrs S. was a poetess, and had exercised her talents to the glorification of Lee and Jackson, so that when, after dinner, she asked permission to read a new poem, we all naturally expected that it was now Stuart's turn. What was my astonishment, however, and embarrassment to find myself the theme of her eloquent and touching verses, wherein my praises were most flatteringly sounded! Blushing, and transfixed to my chair with stupefaction, as I heard the loud applause which greeted the conclusion of the piece, for a moment I was at a loss how to behave; then suddenly rous
Heros von Borcke, Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, Chapter 21: (search)
om my reveries, to summon me to new scenes of death and destruction. All was bustle and activity as I galloped along the lines, on the morning of the 2d, to obtain, according to Stuart's orders, the latest instructions for our cavalry from General Lee, who was located at a distance of some miles to our right. Anderson's and McLaws's sharpshooters were advancing, and already exchanging shots with the enemy's skirmishers-the line of battle of these two divisions having been partially extendemy's lines that the stroke of axes, mingled with the hum of voices from their camps, was distinctly audible. Thus commenced the famous flank march which, more than any other operation of the war, proved the brilliant strategical talents of General Lee, and the consummate ability of his lieutenant. About two o'clock a body of Federal cavalry came in sight, making, however, but slight show of resistance, and falling back slowly before us. By about four o'clock we had completed our movement w
The Annals of the Civil War Written by Leading Participants North and South (ed. Alexander Kelly McClure), The Morale of General Lee's army. (search)
o parallel in all history. Our noble old chief (General Lee) was a Christian, not merely in profession, but iworld has rarely witnessed such revivals as we had in Lee's army from the autumn of 1862 to the close of the wa in constant intercourse with our officers, from Generals Lee, Jackson, Ewell, Stuart, A. P. Hill, Early, J. Bork. I have dwelt at such length on the morale of Lee's army, because this was the key to its discipline. Ieer him. And they would make the welkin ring with General Lee to the rear, while they counted it all joy to figGeneral Hooker was certainly right in testifying that Lee's army had acquired a character for steadiness and efessage to his loved and honored chieftains: Tell Generals Lee and Jackson that they know how a Christian soldion elicited high praise from A. P. Hill, Jackson, and Lee, arid, at the early age of twenty-two, fell on the ily of their deeds as they marched, and fought, and suffered, and counted it all joy to be members of Lee's army