Dabney Herndon Maury

“ No good man can see much of him without feeling affection for him and absolute confidence in him.
Of all the commanders of the Army of the Potomac, McClellan alone inspired his troops with enthusiastic love for him; and this was never so manifested as in the campaign so ably discussed by Mr. Curtis—a campaign in which McClellan evinced the very highest capacities of a general—by which he saved the Federal cause—and on the achievement of which he was deposed from the command of his great and devoted army, and retired forever from the service of the government he had saved. ”

“ Our march had been along the main Telegraph road from Bentonville to Springfield, on which, in our front, lay the enemy's army, Van Dorn had learned from McCulloch of a road by which we might turn off to the left from the Telegraph road, make a detour of eight miles, and come into the Telegraph road again in the enemy's rear. We therefore halted, as if for the night, just at the junction of this road; and as soon as it was full dark, the army was moved out upon this road to the left, leaving a force of 1,000 men to cover the movement, and occupy the enemy. ”

“ The mistakes into which General Andrews has fallen are natural and almost inevitable. His real desire to write fairly is evinced by the handsome compliments he pays to Confederate officers on several occasions, as in case of Lieutenant Sibley, who, with six men, boldly attacked the wagon train of Canby's army, brought off his spoils, and created a little flutter of alarm all throughout the post. ”

“ I think there was no day on which they would not have attacked and beaten a superior force of the enemy.
During the fourteen days of siege of Spanish Fort, the daily loss of the garrison in killed and wounded ranged from fifteen to twenty. During the eight days of the siege of Blakely, the losses were from twenty to twenty-five daily. The only officer of rank killed was my Chief of Artillery, Colonel W. E. Burnett, son of the venerable ex-President of Texas. He was a man of rare attainments, of extraordinary military capacity, of unshrinking courage, and pure character. ”

“ History records few examples of greater fortitude and endurance than this army has exhibited; and I am commissioned by the President to thank you in the name of the Confederate States for the undying fame you have won for their arms. Much as you have done, much more remains to be accomplished. The enemy again threatens us with invasion, and to your tried valor and patriotism the country looks with confidence for deliverance and safety.
Your past exploits give assurance that this confidence is not misplaced.
R. E. Lee, General-Commanding. ”

“ It is true he did enjoy the rare privilege of having before him Lee's orders for the movements of his army, which were so explicit that McClellan was enabled to direct the movements of his own with absolute confidence and accuracy.
In summing up the results of the battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg, Mr. Curtis has had but little regard to historic accuracy, and it is surprising that a writer so intelligent and industrious as he should not have availed himself of the abundant authentic documents accessible to all historians of these times. ”

“ My dear sir—I avail myself of your permission to narrate to you the history of the last great military operation between the troops of the Confederate States and the troops of the United States.
Immediately after the battle of Nashville, preparations were commenced for the reduction of Mobile. Two corps which had been sent to reinforce Thomas at Nashville were promptly returned to Canby in New Orleans, and the collection of material and transportation for a regular siege of Mobile commenced. ”

“ In front of the tent, a huge fire of logs had been burning for more than an hour, heating the ground and the air of the tent, the doors of which were thrown wide open to receive the genial warmth. We were soon enjoying, in a wearied soldier's slumber, all of these judicious arrangements, and awoke next morning in prime condition for anything before us. ”

“ But his impetuous valor induced him to attempt a sort of charge upon Seigel's veteran infantry, with his wild men on wilder horses. Siegel met the attack with a volley or two, which scattered McIntosh's horsemen in every direction, and then resumed his rapid march.
We pressed on in pursuit, but the road led along a narrow canyon shut in by steep rocks and hills, and we could only follow Siegel, who, whenever he passed a favorable point, placed a battery in position to check the head of our column as we reached it. ”

“ The battle of Elkhorn illustrates the danger of co-operative attack. Had Van Dorn adhered to his original plan and fallen on the enemy's rear with all the forces of Price and McCulloch, the disasters of the day would have been averted. We may fairly conclude that it was lost through want of discipline and cohesion in our army. Had we marched at the hour appointed in the order on the morning of the 4th, we would have cut off Siegel at Bentonville; even had we moved as rapidly as infantry should march, we must have met him there. ”

“ Had Canby landed on Dog river, west of Mobile, and invested the city, he would have found his work shorter and easier, and might have captured my whole army. The city was level and exposed throughout the whole extent to fire from any direction. There were near 40,000 non-combatants within its lines of defence, whose sufferings under a seige would soon have paralyzed the defence by a garrison so small as ours was; and the early evacuation would have been inevitable, while it would have been exceedingly difficult of accomplishment. ”

“ But we shall never forget the noble comrades who have stood shoulder to shoulder with us until now; the noble dead who have been martyred; the noble Southern women who have been wronged and are unavenged ”

“ After Blakely fell, these two little outposts remained close to the centre of the army of the enemy (50,000 men) , who were continually opening new guns upon them and increasing their fire; still they replied not. On their right lay the great Federal fleet; ten miles to their rear was their nearest support—in Mobile—and a waste of marshes and water lay between. At last came to them the long looked for order: "Open all your guns upon the enemy, keep up an active fire, and hold your position until you receive orders to retire." ”

“ At 11 o'clock, the whole business of evacuation being completed, General Gibson sent a white flag to the fleet to inform the enemy that he might take quiet possession of Mobile, since there was no Confederate force to oppose him. Soon after midday Canby marched in. Six thousand cavalry had been sent up the country from Pensacola to prevent my escape; but they could not get across the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, which with their bottoms were flooded, and I reached Meridian with my army unopposed. No active pursuit was made. ”

“ McCulloch's corps was much disorganized, and when it was found there was no fresh supply of ammunition for Price's troops, all idea of resuming the attack next morning was abandoned. Van Dorn decided to await attack on the ground he had won, and meantime to put his wagon trains upon a road towards Van Buren, and to make the best dispositions for a defensive movement in the morning. Our line was formed about 1,200 yards from the Elkhorn tavern, south of it, and was under command of General Henry Little, one of the best and bravest of the Missourians. ”

“ Every avenue of approach to the outworks or to the city of Mobile was guarded by submarine torpedoes, so that it was impossible for any vessel drawing three feet of water to get within effective cannon range of any part of our defences. Two ironclads attempted to get near enough to Spanish Fort to take part in the bombardment. They both suddenly struck the bottom on Apalachie bar and thenceforward the fleet made no further attempt to encounter the almost certain destruction which they saw awaited any vessel which might attempt to enter our torpedo-guarded waters. ”

“ His very presence and manner bespoke a man of lofty nature, worthy of all the love and admiration in which he was held throughout that army. Only a few minutes before he fell he rode out of the line to give some explanation in person to Van Dorn of the condition of affairs, and as he concluded his brief interview, and turned his horse to gallop back to his place, we exclaimed, "What a noble looking fellow he is." Ten minutes after an aid-de-camp reported, "Colonel Rives is down, sir." ”

“ During Sunday, the day after the evacuation of Spanish Fort, the enemy was continually moving troops from below towards Blakely, and Sunday evening about five o'clock he assaulted the centre of the line with a heavy column of eleven brigades (about 22,000 men in three lines of battle) and carried the position, capturing all of the material and of the troops, except about 150 men, who escaped over the marshes and river by swimming. On the loss of Blakely I resolved to evacuate Mobile. ”

“ So great a number of unburied dead as 2,700 is inconsistent with the facts that during the 17th and 18th the Confederate army buried many of its dead, which, added to 2,700, would have swelled our casualties to such a number as would have included nearly all of the men in Lee's army. Northern accounts at the time put the unburied dead at 2,000. The most authentic estimates of all of Lee's casualties on the field of Sharpsburg will not exceed 8,000. ”

“ Canby organized his forces in Mobile bay and at Pensacola. Two army corps rendezvoused on Fish river under the immediate command of Canby; another army corps assembled at Pensacola under General Steele. The whole expeditionary force against Mobile consisted of fifty thousand infantry, seven thousand cavalry, a very large train of field and siege artillery, a fleet of more than twenty men-of-war, and about fifty transports, mostly steamers. ”

“ It makes no difference whether a ship is of wood, or is tin-clad, or is iron-clad, if she gets over a torpedo it blows the same size hole in the bottom of all alike, which I found on an average to be just twelve feet by eight square. ”

“ When we remember that the white population of the Confederate States was only about 5,000,000, and of the United States 16,000,000, the War Department reports show the men enrolled in Federal armies, 2,600,000; men enrolled in Confederate armies, 600,000 ”

“ Mobile contained nearly forty thousand non-combatants. The city and its population were entirely exposed to the fire which would be directed against its defences. With the means now left me an obstinate or protracted defence would have been impossible, while the consequences of its being stormed by a combined force of Federal and negro troops would have been shocking—my orders were to save my troops, after having made as much time as possible—therefore I decided to evacuate Mobile at once. ”

“ The editor seems to act on the principle that historic accuracy is a matter of small importance where only "Rebels" are concerned, and that he is under no obligation to correct misstatements made concerning them. We cheerfully give place to the article, in the hope that some of our friends on the other side will now see its force, and that future generations will be more ready to do us justice. ”

“ General Taylor agreed with me in the opinion that ten thousand men in Mobile would compel a siege by regular approaches, would occupy the Federal troops in the Southwest for a long time, and would be as much as the Confederacy could spare for such objects. ”

“ The garrison was the noble brigade of Missourians, Elisha Gates commanding, the survivors of more than twenty battles, and the finest troops I have ever seen; the Alabama boy-reserve brigade under General Thomas, part of Holtzelaw's brigade, Barry's Mississippi brigade, the First Mississippi light artillery armed as infantry, several light batteries with about thirty five pieces of field and siege artillery, besides Cohorn and siege mortars. The whole effective force was about 2,700 men under General St. ”

“ By two o'clock, Price had forced the enemy back along his whole line, and Van Dorn sent orders to McCulloch to press the enemy vigorously in his front, and he would close in upon him with all his (Price's) force, and end the battle.
Just at this moment a staff officer, Colonel Edward Dillon, galloped up, with disaster on his face. Riding close up to Van Dorn, he said, in a low tone, "McCulloch is killed, McIntosh is killed, Hébert is killed, and the attack on the front has ceased." ”

“ Van Dorn knew the enemy was occupying three detached camps, and the design was to strike the main body at Elkhorn before the divisions of Siegel or of Carr could join it. He ordered the army to march at 3 A. M. of the third, hoping to reach Bentonville before Siegel, with his 7,000 men, could pass that point and join Curtis in Sugar creek canon. But the enemy was up before we could get the troops to move ”

“ Every man was brought safely off, with his small arms and ammunition—they dismantled their batteries before they abandoned them—and it was nine o'clock Wednesday morning before they left the wharf of Mobile for Demopolis. ”

“ The two withdrawn batteries were in a little open field in rear of the line, when, to our surprise, the battery of Captain ——— appeared galloping out of the battle to the rear. Van Dorn asked what was the matter. He replied he found the fire so severe he could not stay in it any longer. Van Dorn arrested him at once, and published an order striking him from the rolls for cowardice. ”