Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/280

 272 Soutln ,-n Hislnri'-.il Snrictif

his brigade was larger than Walker's, making the strength of this division less than 3,200.

With the exception of the brigade last mentioned and the two brigades of A. P. Hill's Division, which are estimated, the following recapitulation is established upon indisputable and contemporaneous authority, being nothing less than the testimony of the commanding officers, as shown by their official reports made immediately after the battle:

Jackson's Command, - 5,000

Longstreet's Command, - 6,812

D. H. Hill's Division, 3,000

R. H. Anderson's Division, - 4,000

A. P. Hill's Division, -. - 3,400

McLaws' Division, - 2,893

J. G. Walker's Division, 3,200

Total effective infantry, 28,305

The cavalry and artillery have been generally estimated at 8,000. They certainly did not exceed this. The returns of the Army of Northern Virginia for October loth, 1862, shows an effective force of these two arms of the service of 7,870 men.

The figures given above can be verified by reference to the official reports of the operations of the Army of Northern Virginia, pub- lished by authority of the Congress of the Confederate States and also contained in the records of the Union and Confederate armies. Series I, Vol. XIX, Part I.

It is an abandonment of the argument to contend that the ranking officers in General Lee's army made their reports without knowledge of such important facts, and it would be a suggestion unworthy of notice to intimate that such men, in such a matter, would make any statement that was not true. In the one case, it would be a reflec- tion upon their intelligence; and in the other, a denial of their integ- rity.

With the official reports of his subordinates before him, General Lee, in his report of this battle to the War Department, says: " This great battle was fought by less than 40,000 men on our side, all of whom had undergone the greatest labors and hardships in the field and on the march." The figures given in this statement will allow ample margin for probable discrepancies and yet be found within the numbers as reported by General Lee.