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6 THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1 907. Gen.E.P. Alexander’s Great Military Memoirs artour v p1ndennis, jr Part II. MILITARY MEMOIRS OF A CON FEDERATE. By E. P- Alexander. (Charles Scribner’s Rons.) The review of General Alexander's great "Military Memoirs," the first In stallment of which appeared In last week's magazine supplement of The Georgian, dealt with the period before Petersburg when General Grant, by a forced march of his army, was able to mystify General Lee, os to his move ments. General Grant crossed ' the James river at Wilcox's Landing, ten miles below City Point, entirely out of General Lee's observation, moved on Petersburg and was busy In Its siege for three days before General Lee would admit the correctness of the re ports made to him of General Grant's successful strategy. These things Involved a feat In trans porting troops which had never been equaled and might well be considered well nigh Impossible. However, all of this was accomplished, and In such on Incredibly short time, and without any mishap, that General I.ee refused for three days to credit the achievement. During these three days, June 15-17, General Grant's army was arriving at and attacking Petersburg, which at first was only defended by Beauregard, with about 2,500 men. General Lee, with Longstreet's and Hill's corps, for these same three days lay Idle In the woods on the north side of the river, only replacing some of Beauregard's troops taken to Petersburg from In front of Butler. But for this delay It Is believed that Longstreet's corps might have been In the entrenchments of Pe> tersburg when Grant’s troops first nr rived, and It Is not too much to say that Grant's defeat would not have been any less bloody and disastrous than was the one at Cold Harbor. Thus we are told by General Alexon der that the last, and perhaps the very • best, chance for Confederate success wns lost, not In the repulse at Gettys burg nor In any othe^ battle men tioned. They were lost during three days of Idling In camp, believing that Grant was hemmed In by the broad part of tho James river below City Point and that there was no chance for him to leave his position except to attack the strongly entrenched Con federates To quote General Alexander further: “In brief review. It must be said that Grant successfully deceived Lee as to hts whereabouts for at least three days and thus at the most critical period of the war saved himself from a second defeat more bloody, more signal and more undeniable than that of Cold Harbor. Por If Beauregard alone with only 11,000 men was able to stop Grant's whole army oven after being driven by surprise Into temporary works, what would Lee and Beauregard together have done from the strong original lines of Petersburg? Grant personally was«t that period not abstemious and that his troops knew of It (perhaps sometimes exaggerating facts In speak ing of It) was known even to the Con federates from the stories of prisoners DRINK A BOTTLE every where: captured at Cold Harbor. Such a de feat In case of any disaster with such rumors afloat would have cast a bale ful back light over the car to Bpottsylvonla and the He was now able to base a quasl-clalm to victory In establishing himself with in the lines of Petersburg. But all the odium of repeated defeats would have been heaped upon his campaign had It terminated with a final and bloody re pulse." General Alexander's book and oil others concerning the Civil and other wars bring thinking people to the point where they wonder what must be the general final verdict on those men and those events. Putting it briefly. It can not be denied that battles were not al ways won through the greater genius of the victor, but through the stupidity of the vanquished. Time and again the generals on both sides of the great con test lost their opportunity to deliver a crushing blow. This might have been expected or excused In the earlier years of the struggle, when officers and men were alike unaccustomed to war. But General Alexander and nearly all of the fair-minded men who have written and spoken about the Civil war tell us that this stupidity on one side or the other continued to the end. General Alexander’s first service under the Confederacy was as captain of engineers under Beauregard at the first battle of Bull Run. He was then promoted to lieutenant colonel and served until November. 1852, with Gen eral Joseph E. Johnston and General Lee as chief of ordnance and chief sig nal officer In the army of Northern Virginia. He was again promoted to colonel of artillery and commanded "Alexander's Artillery" battalion at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsvllle and Gettysburg and later Longstreet's ar tillery at Chtckamauga and Knoxville. General Alexander was wounded at the siege of Petersburg and surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox, re tiring from the Confederate service with the title of brigadier general. Krom this It will be seen that any ac count of Incidents and battles of the splendid army of Northern Virginia by General Alexander Is certain to be nut only Interesting, because given by participator In those great fights, but tukes on added Interest, due to the hon esty of the narrator. The book of "Memoirs" Is dlscrimtnatety divided, and thrilllngly described are the great Incidents and battles under the fol lowing heads: “Prom the United States Army Into the Confederate States Army." "The Battle of Bull Run (July 1881).' "F*all and Winter of 1881." "Yorktown and Williamsburg." "Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks." "Jarkson's Valley Campaign." "Seven Days Campaign—Thk At tack." "Seven Days Campaign—The Pur suit." "The FUcape. Battle of Malvern HIIL' "Cedar Mountain." "8ec»nd Manassas." "Bonnsboro. nr South Mountain and Harpers Ferry." "Hharpsburg, or Antletam.” "Fall of 1882." "Chancellorsvllle.* "Gettysburg—Ths First Day." "Gettysburg—Tho Second Day. "Gettysburg—The Third Day." "Rattle of Chtckamauga.” "Battle of the Wilderness." "The Movement Against Petersburg.” "The Mine." "The F’ntl of 1888.' From the above, It cap be seen that It would be well nigh Impossible to give In a review anything like a fair Idea of this really great contribution to mili tary literature. The book Is Interest ing from beginning to end, not only to Civil war veterans but to all lov ers of adventure, of high-bred men and of heroes who fought and died for the cause they believed was right It Is more than a pleasure to read In General Alexander’s statement ot •The Point of View," which he uses as a preface to his valuable book, In which be says that the book was not "Felicity," by C. E. Laughlln. and recently reviewed In The Georgian. written to glorify tho valor of the Con federate arms nor the skill of the Con federate generals. He states that the object of his criticism of each cam paign Is the same as one would criti cise a game of chess, "only to point out the good and bad plays on each side, and the moves which have Influ enced the result • • • put It Is Important that It should be attempted even approximately, not only for the benefit of general history, but more particularly for that of military stu dents and staff officers.” It can be said with truth, however, that tho reader will not find It necessary to become a "military student" nr a "staff officer" to be thrilled with Interest In Oeneral Alexander's entertaining book. And there 1s one thing he says In his Point of View” that will gladden the hearts of all Southern men and women, when ho speaks for them all, and says: "As to the causes of the war It will, of course, be understood that every former Confederate repudiates all ac cusations' of treason or rebellion In the war, and even of lighting to preserve the Institution of slavery. Tho effort of the enemy to destroy It without com pensation was practical robbery, which, of course, we resisted. The unnnlmlty and the desperation of our resistance, even to the refusal of Lincoln’s sug gested compensation at Fortress Mon- Awnings ■tores. Offices, R donees, Public lings, etc, manu factured and put up. All work guaranteed Lowest prices. Phone or write for estimates. J. Mi HIGH CO. Atlanta. Go. TAX NOTICE Stale and County Tax Books now open. Make your returns at once and avoid the rush. Books will close in a few days. T. M. ARMISTEAD, Tax Receiver. roe, nfter the destruction had already occurred, clearly show our struggle to have been for that right of self-gov ernment which the Englishman had claimed and fought for as for nothing else, since the days of King John. It has taken many years for these truths to gain acceptance against the preju dice left by the war, even though ft has been notorious from the first that no legal accusation could be brought agulnst anyone, not even Mr. Davis. With the adoption of this view by lead ing English authorities, not to mention distinguished Northern and Republican authors, the South may be content to leave all such questions to the final verdict of history, admitting Itself too close to the event to claim Impartiali ty.' All of which Is very true, but books such as General Alexander’s great “Me moirs" will speed the day when history will put the Southern side and the men of that -great conflict In their proper place of well-earned fame and glory. "Military Memoirs of a Confederate" Is a great contribution to Civil war his tory, and General Alexander deserves, as he no doubt will receive, the thanks of both the 8outh and the North for his fair, unbiased, clear-cut history of the great times of '81-'65. From the outline given above, one can see what a great opportunity Gen eral Alexander hod, and which he ac cepted, to cover practically the whole period of existence of the army of Northern Virginia. During this time of carnage and death appeared the great warriors, I^ingstreet, Stonewall Jackson, Jkb Stuart, A. P. and D. H. Hill, J. K. Johnston, olso Meade, McClellan, Hook er, Pope, Burnside and Grant. General Alexander deals With these personages, from a critical. Interesting, but un prejudiced point of view. The author's unbiased views arc shown when he writes of Stonewall Jackson's part fn the Seven Days' fightaround Richmond. He says: "He nowhere even distantly approached his record as a soldier won In his every other battle, either ' before or afterward. As one reads of his dilatory performance day after day and recalls what he hod always been before and always w^p afterwards, ono feels that during these Seven Days he was really not Jackson. He was a dif ferent Individual. He was under a spell. Nothing that he had to do was done with a vigor which marked all the rest of his career." This quotntlnn Is used from General Alexander's ‘‘Memoirs" to show that he has written, ns his profiles states, simply from the standpoint'of a fair critic ot battles won and lost. The author has Just as many good things to say about both the South and the North when the soldiers on either side de served his approval and commendation. "Military Memoirs of a Confederate” Is a great book. It Is n splendid con tribution to Civil war literature. —The— NOVELTY HABERDASHERY Allen M. Pierce Co., 38 NORTH BROAD STREET, OPP. EMPIRE BLDG. THE DEVIL OF TODAY Ills work In the Home, Cbsrrb, go. dangers found In nil conditions or lire. I’ltralla, and methods of escaping them. A wsrnlng not* to are young men and women front wreck and ruin. Thin book Is baring an Immense sale. We want agents to sell the shore book with n full lino of Standard Mibucrip- tlon Hooka, Red latter Family und Teachers' Bibles. Catalogue will be sent free. This is yonr opportunity to make mon ey and worth yonr Investigation. We barn agents who hare been with os 20 years. Write today. D. E. LUTHER PUBLISHING CO. 12-14-16 Trinity Ave., Atlanta, Ga. SOUTHERN STORE FIXTURE COMPANY —MANUFACTnitBU8 OF- 8I10W CASKS. PECO 8T0U11 AND BANK FIXTURES. Interior wood work s specialty, esti mates and prices on application. Office ami salesroom. 68 West Mitchell Street. Factory 2Triple/ Avenue. YOUR GIRL Will Appreciate a Vlalt to the V. D. L. Company’s Soft Drink Parlors. The Prettiest and Most elaborate or Its kind in the South. 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