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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.
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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
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