Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/124

 118 Southern Historical Society Papers.

at South Mountain would probably have rendered the battle at this barrier unnecessary. Two days' delay would certainly have relieved Lee from all necessity of defending the passes, and would have ren- ilered possible the concentration of his army anywhere in the Hag- erstown Valley in time for battle. There seems to us no reasonable room for doubt that the lost dispatch cost Lee these days, and per- haps several others. The rapid advance of McClellan threw Lee on the defensive, forced him to fight at South Mountain or permit Har- per's Ferry to be relieved, and compelled him either to give battle at Sharpsburg with a march-worn and depleted army or to yield the prestige of victory without a struggle. He succeeded in capturing Harper's Ferry and all it contained,, but a few days' delay would have enabled him to concentrate his army without forced marches and the straggling produced by them, and would have placed him in condition to give McClellan battle instead of receiving it. He might even then have failed, for, as General Lee once said, " no man can predict the result of a battle." But does not the wonderful skill, ability, and courage with which the Confederate commander extri- cated himself from the dangers that threatened him after the capture of the lost dispatch show what might have been expected had not an untoward accident prevented the execution of his original plans ? We regret the tone in which General Longstreet speaks of Vir- ginians, of the great leader under whom he served, of the gallant colleagues by whose side he fought. Virginians can never forget on how many of their fields General Longstreet won imperishable lau- rels. They can never forget the true, brave, skilful soldier who shed his blood upon Virginian soil. They will ever gladly turn away from his carping criticisms to recall the leader who, in conjunction with A. P. Hill, struck so splendidly at Frazier's Farm, whose ability was so conspicuous in seconding Jackson at Second Manassas, whose name is indissolubly associated with Sharpsburg, Marye's Hill, the Wilderness, and many other noted fields ; who was ever ready to strike great blows alongside ot his Virginian colleagues and under the leadership of his great Virginian commander.

McDonough, Maryland, July 26, 1886.