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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1907. 11 IN TWO INSTALLMENTS—PART I. FEDFRaVc Y MEMOIRS OF A CON- FEDERATE. By General E. P. Alex ander. (Charles Scribner's Sons.) L ' 1 P • Alexander, a native of f'~ Rfaduate of West Point, lieu- “ f , United States army, captain of engineers of the Con- e . army; a chief or artillery of 1 i h ? t " nfcd . era te army; later a success, lul railroad operator and business man. a,wa ya a. Southern gentleman, has S K Ve ? *° W0r *^ a most credlt- thi e on , the c,v!l war * entitled the Military Memoirs of a Confed erate. General Alexander is one of the* few survivors of the civil war hlgher-oftl- ,? n « pt the moBt distin guished of all living Confederates. He bon I Washington. Ga.. May 26, 1836, and therefore is In his 72d year, ill, graduated at West Point In 1867, he served In the West as lieu tenant of engineers until the out break of the civil war, when he re- signed from the United States army in order to join the Confederacy. In one of the most interesting incidents in his superior book. General Alexander tells of his conversation with Lieuten ant McPherson, U. S. A., then In charge or Alcatraz Island, San Francisco har bor. General Alexander, then a lieu tenant in the United States army, had received orders to report to Lieuten ant McPherson. General Alexander had decided that he must resign from the United States army and offer his services to the Confederacy. He re ported to McPherson and asked that his resignation be forwarded to Wash ington and at the same time a leave of absence be given him, which would allow him to go home and await the acceptance of his resignsthm there. General Alexander says that while Mc Pherson proved himself afterwards to be a great soldier, he was also one of the most attractive and universally Be loved and admired men he had ever met. General 'Alexander’s description of the conversation -had with Lieuten ant McPherson is so striking, and in view of subsequent events, so like a prophecy in Its foresight, that the fol lowing extracts are given: "His affectionate kindness appealed to me very deeply. I have always re membered the conversation vividly. He said: ‘If you must go, I will give you the leave of absence and do all In my power to facilitate your going. But don’t go. These urgent orders to stop you here are meant to say that if you are willing to keep out of the war on either side, you can do so. They mean that you will not be asked to go into the field against your own people, but that you will be kept on- this coast, upon fortification duty, as long as the war lasts. General Totttn likes you and wants to keep you in the corps. That-is what these orders mean This war Is not going to be the ninety days affairs that papers and politicians are predicting. Both sides are In deadly earnest and It Is going to be fought out to the bitter end. • • • God - knows what may happen to you Indi vidually, but for your cause there can be but one-result—It must be lost. Your whole population is only about 8,000,000, 8,000,000 are slaves who may become an element of danger. You have no army, no navy, no treasury and practically none of the manufac tories and machine shops necessary for the support of armies. • * • Your cause must end in defeat and the indi vidual risks to you must be great, etc., etc.’’ . Lieutenant McPherson then went on to show General Alexander the won derful opportunities there would be for him, by remaining on the Pacific coast. He would have been the ranking en gineer on the coast, with chances of rapid promotion. General Alexander’s reply can be condensed Into that of so many of other noble sons of the South, when he said: "I must go with my people.” In addition to the ordinary Interest of the above conversation, it will be recalled that Lieutenant Mc Pherson was rapidly promoted in the Federal army, became a major general, won high distinction and was killed at Atlanta In July 1864. There Is a monu ment commemorating his death near Grant park, in Atlanta, also Fort Mc Pherson, a regimental post near this city, named In his honor. General Alexander arrived In Rich mond, Va., June 1, 1861, and received his commission as captain of engineers In the Confederate urmy. He was first put in charge of a factory of signal apparatus, such as torches, poles and flags. He was told that he would be ordered to arrange for Instruction all of the armies in signal practice. Gen eral Alexander, while in the United States army, together with Assistant Surgeon A. J. Myer, U. S. A., had per fected a system of flag signals, which has since been known as the "Wig wag" signal system and adopted by the war department. General Alexander gives a very In teresting account of the correspondence between Washington and Major An derson at Charleston, before the be ginning of hostilities. The attack on Fort Sumter by the Confederates has always been spoken of as the first hos tile act of the war, whereas General Alexander shows explicitly that the first hostile act was the transfer of the garrison of Fort Moultrie into Fort the night of December 26, 1860, the guns of Moultrie having been spiked and their ammunition destroyed. Gen eral Alexander pointedly states and show’s to Major Anderson's great dis credit that it was a military, measure which utterly changed the status quo. The .author emphasizes his position in this episode very clearly and certainly places Major Anderson in a very unen viable light; shows disobedience of President Buchanan’s order and at the same time makes clear and positive a point which has been under dispute for many years. While at work on the signal duties, General Alexander was ordered to organize in the latter part of June, 1861, five batteries of artillery and prepare them for the field. While engaged in this latter duty General Alexander was ordered to report for Rignal duty with General Beauregard at Manassas. There he was ordered to Install the system of signals for use In the expected battle, for, as he says, "It was certain that a battle nust be fought soon.” From his position of sig nal officer for the Confederater at Bull Run (the first real battle of t :e war), General Alexander was able to view very closely the mistakes and delays of his first battle, now so generally understood, and to make an excellent description of them. General Alexan der says that the first battle of Bull Run was a long series of blunders on both sides, but the North blundered the most, and, therefore, lost, although their chances were best at the start. Delays that should have been fatal to the Confederates were neutralized by still more disastrous delays on the Federal side. For four days and a half —from sunrise on July 17, 1861, until the aftejnoon of the 21st—McDowell had Beauregard at the mercy of his superior forces. It was only through "monumental mismanagement,’’ aided by "colossal misinformation’’ gleaned from his scouts, that McDowell'hesi tated to strike until the Southern rein forcements were well on their way and arrived; in fact, Just in time to save the day. General Alexander speaks of one unwise precaution in especial, which had practically demoralized Mc Dowell’s brigade commanders. McDowr ell’s instructions to his brigadiers stated that it “would not be pardona ble In any commander to come upon a battery or breastwork without the knowledge of its position." This cau tion, so states General Alexander, meant more to the brigade command ers than appears on Its face. The au thor then goes on to show how the newspapers, with an appetite for sen sations which he Intimates "still dis tinguishes the craft," had made a great bugbear of "masked batteries." The term originated at the attack on Fort Sumter, where a certain battery was constructed, masked by a house, which was destroyed Just before opening fire. After that time, "masked batteries" figured on every field and In every mil itary event. He says that when Ben Butler was repulsed at Big Bethel "It was maked batteries that did It. When Schenck’s railroad reconnoissance from Alexandria, on June 17, accidentally ran Into Gregg's reconnoissance from Manassas at Vienna and was fired Into by Kemper’s six-pounders, the myste rious 'masked batteries’ got the cred it" Soon—to have read the newspa pers—one might believe that the woods were Infested with such bat teries, "not to mention the ’Louisiana Tigers' and 'Black Horse Cavalry,’ two other scarcecrow names which had caught the reporters’ fancy and been made to do enormous duty.” After the Federal army had been routed at Manassas, "Stonewall" Jack- son was the only Confederate officer who realized or who at least gave ex pression to his opinions, namely, that if the victory was rapidly followed up, the Federal demoralization would spread and might involve the capital Itself. "Give me 5,000 fresh men," he cried, when Jefferson Davis appeared on the field. Just as the tide had been turned, "and I will be In Washington tomorrow morning.” But the presi dent spent the precious hours of day light still left in riding with Beaure gard and Johnston over the battlefield. Just as Napoleon lost his opportunity to crush Wellington at Quatre Bras by wasting hours In riding over the field of Ligny. General Alexander then goes on to show how General Jacksontf worthy suggestion could have been fol lowed up. "No hard fighting would have been needed. A threat upon cither flank would doubtless have been suffi cient, and when once a retreat from Centerville was started, even -lilank cartridges fired behind it would have soon converted it Into a panic. • • • Never did an enemy make a cleaner escape out of such an exposed position after such an utter rout." In Just this lack of pursuit of the enemy, after a victory on the field, did McClellan and Meade on the Fed eral side, respectively, after Antietam and Gettysburg forfeit the opportunity to bring the war to a speedy close, by not following up the enormous advan tages which they had gained. General Alexander holds that It was a blessing in disguise to the Confeder ate cause when General Joseph E. Johnston fell wounded at Seven Pines. "Besides the lack of cordial relations between the president and Johnston, the latter’s effort to handle the array in battle had been an utter failure." Johnston orders were given, he says, "for the concentration of twenty-three McClellan's left wing. Yet nowhere were ever more than four brigades in action at’ one time.” Johnston’s re tirement led to the appointment of Gcnorui Robert R Lee t«> the command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Gen eral Lee had not. up to that time, com manded an army, and his accession did not &t once Inspire popular enthu siasm. An idea had arisen which was fostwed by the amateur « riti.-s «,f the Southern press that he lacked aggres siveness. This was strengthened when General Lee’s first care was to select a line of battle and begin to fortify. To the amateur critic this seemed little better than a confession of cowardice. When General Lee had been in com mand of the Army of Northern Vir ginia for about two weeks. General Alexander had an Interview with Col onel Joseph C. Ives, of President Davis’ staff, which impressed him very forci bly at the time and which proved to be quite a prophetic estimate of Gen eral Lee as a commander. "I had a long ride with Ives about our lines one afternoon, during which he referred to these newspaper attacks and asked if I thought they in any way Impaired the confidence of the army in Lee. I had seen no such effect and told him so, and then went on to say: ‘Ives, t?ll me this. We are here forti fying our lines, but apparently leaving the enemy all the time he needs to accumulate his superior forces and then to move on us in the way he thinks best. Has General Lee the audacity that is going to be required for our Inferior force to meet the enemy’s su perior force, to take the aggressive and run risks and stand chances?* Iv6s' re ply was so Impressive both In manner and matter that It always has been re membered ns vividly as If today. He reined up his horse, stopped In the road, and turning to me, said: 'Alexander, if there Is one man In either army. Con federate or Federal—head and shoul ders above every other in audacity. It Is General Lee. His name might be Au dacity. He will take more desperate chances and take them quicker than any other general In this country. North or South, and you will live to see it, too!'" It is needless to say General Alexan der and many others did live to see It many times over. Yet, as General Alexander states It, even General Lee blundered. He himself confessed his blunders at Gettysburg. About a year later he allowed General Grant to steal a march on him after the crushing Federal defeat at Cold Harbor. .There was a week of indecision before Grant made his first move. It appears that General Lee had expected that Grant would merely cross the Chickahomtny and take position on the north side of the James river, at Malvern Hill, ad joining Butler, on the south bank of the Bermuda Hundreds. This would unite the two armies at the nearest point to Richmond and they would have had the aid of the monitors on the river in a direct advance. But Grant did not. do this, he determined to cross the James river at Wilcoxs Landing, 10 miles below City Point, and entire ly out of General Lee’s observation, and to move thence on Petersburg with his whole army. In this way he would pass In the rear of Butler and attack the extreme right flank of the Confed erate line, widt h Grant felt sure would at that time be held by a very small force. (The concluding installment of this review of General Alexander's "Mili tary Memoirs" in next Saturday’s Georgian.) THIS ’SQUIRE A CZAR. Minnesota has a Justice of the peace who is proud of his knowledge of the theory of common law. If he was called on to decide a law suit involving the ownership of a pig he would nfcver omit to mention In his opinion the "Magny Charty,” the Bill of Rights, the "palladium of liberty,” the papers of the Federalist and the speeches of Dan iel Webster. Two young lawyers, now both fa mous men, were trying a case before him. When it was done the 'squire closed his eyes and began to deliberate. He rambled all over the world in de livering his opinion, his eyes still closed. One of the lawyers became exas perated, and when the ’squire Hald something that made him think the case was going against him, he ex claimed: * "Cut It short, 'squire, decide the case and I will appeal It." The 'squire opened his eyes, sat up straight, looked at the presumptuous limb of the law and yelled: "Durn ye, 1 was goln* to decide this case In yer favor, but owin’ to yer Im pudence I now decide It the other way.'* —New York Sun. Paderewski, tho great pianist, is it keen poultry faucler, his wife being equally en thusiastic over the fnd. Mnte. Paderewski hits a big poultry farm at Morgen, on I<nke (Jenevn, and keeps no fewer than fourteen distinct varieties of tho very best. 8ho Is the president *of the Poultry Club of Switzerland and both she nud her noted husband ore rnrely at a loss as to the Auer points of birds. BumterTstealthily accomplished durhuLLof our twenty-seven brlcadcs asalnst GRADUATING DRESSES —FOR— COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES The dainty garment you are now planning. 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