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did not doubt that
General Patterson had invaded
Virginia for that purpose.
But, unwilling to assail greatly superior numbers in a town so defensible as
Martinsburg, with its solid buildings and inclosures of masonry, and convinced, at length, that we were waiting to no purpose, I ordered the troops to return to
Winchester, much to their disappointment, for they were eager to fight.
Our effective force, then, was not quite nine thousand men, of all arms.
General Patterson's was about twenty thousand, I believe, instead of thirty-two thousand, the estimate of the people of
Martinsburg at the time.
We overrated each other's strength greatly, as was generally done by the opposing commanders during the war-0probably from the feeling in
Gil Blas, which made his antagonist's sword seem d'une longueur excessive.
In a letter, dated July 10th, the
President said:
. ... Your letter found me trying by every method to hasten reenforcements to you. ...
Colonel Forney's regiment will, I suppose, get off in the morning, if not this evening, and more shall follow as fast as the railroad will permit. . ..
And in another, dated the 13th:
. . .. Another (regiment) for the war came yesterday.
It was fully equipped, and to-day has gone to your column .... I could get twenty thousand from Mississippi, who impatiently wait for notice that they can be armed.
In Georgia, numerous tenders are made to serve for any time, at any place, and to these and other offers I am still constrained to answer, ‘ I have not arms to supply you.’ . . .
The rich country around us furnished abundant
