Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 04.djvu/252

244 {| border=0 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0 width=100% This shows a decrease of 1,615; but that in Hoke's and Smith's brigades was caused, mainly, by the absence of three regiments from those brigades left to occupy Winchester and guard the prisoners taken there and at Martinsburg back to Staunton. The decrease in Hays' and Gordon's brigades was 679, of which, 163 resulted from the loss in the fighting at Winchester, leaving the net loss in those two brigades, from exhaustion, foot-soreness, and straggling, 516. Their aggregate strength on the 10th of June, was 4,024; so there was a loss of a little more than 12 per cent. in those two brigades from other causes than casualties in battle, from the 10th to the 20th. They were composed of as good and well-seasoned soldiers as any in that army, and I think I can certainly assume that there was, at least, the same per centage of loss in the entire infantry of the army from the 31st of May to the time it crossed the Potomac. Twelve per cent. in 54,356, gives 6,552, which being deducted, leaves 47,834 as the strength of our infantry when it crossed the Potomac, without deducting my three regiments that were left behind, or the loss sustained in Ewell's corps in the fighting at Winchester and Martinsburg, which amounted to 269.
 * | In || Hays' brigade, for duty ||  ||  | 119 || officers. ||  | 1,281 || men.
 * || Hoke's      "       " || ||  | 96 || ||  | 1,225 ||
 * || Gordon's  "       " || ||  | 175 || ||  | 1,860 ||
 * || Smith's      "       " || ||  | 97 || ||  | 758 ||
 * || || || | 487 || ||  | 5,124 ||
 * || || || || || | 487 ||
 * colspan=5 | In all, exclusive of division and brigade staff || | 5,611 ||
 * }
 * || || || | 487 || ||  | 5,124 ||
 * || || || || || | 487 ||
 * colspan=5 | In all, exclusive of division and brigade staff || | 5,611 ||
 * }
 * colspan=5 | In all, exclusive of division and brigade staff || | 5,611 ||
 * }
 * }

Add the entire artillery and cavalry without any deduction, and our whole force would be only 61,830. But the fact was, that the cavalry had had a very severe engagement with that of the enemy near Brandy Station, on the 9th of June, and several other severe engagements near the Blue Ridge before it crossed the Potomac, in which, if Hooker's telegrams are to be accepted as correct, our cavalry was very badly handled, if not almost destroyed; but I take no account of them.

It is well known how rapidly cavalry diminishes from loss of horses in action or on the march—in fact, much more than from loss of men when there are no means of replacing the horses, as