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[174] Meade's numbers) in protecting communications, guarding supplies, &c., in the rear. So Stuart had 6,000 or 7,000 cavalry at Gettysburg. The Confederate infantry and artillery numbered 64,159 less the small losses in the battles about Winchester, and the far greater losses from the exhaustion of a march of two hundred miles. These losses have been variously estimated at from 5,000 to 11,000 men. So far no returns have been found that would fix the latter with exactness, but it is very evident that Lee's infantry and artillery “present for duty” July 1st, did not reach 60,000 men, and that 66,000 or 67,000 men of all arms, “present for duty,” is a liberal statement of his force. The Confederate returns had no column for “present for duty equipped,” hence this estimate of Lee's force is to be compared with Meade's 106,283 “present for duty” of all arms. The above sample of the way in which General Doubleday has dealt with the numbers of the combatants is not calculated to give a favorable impression of the impartiality with which he has treated his subject. His book is, however, a useful contribution to the annals of the war, though the author has not been able to lay aside the partisan sufficiently to rise to the true level of history.
Richmond, VA. 1882.
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