RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FIRST BULL RUN.
255
“ Yery little experience, or a fair amount of modesty without any experience, would serve toprevent one from announcing liis conclusion that troops could he withdrawn from a place orplaces without knowing how many were there, and what was the necessity for their presence.”
The refutation of this is in General G. W. Smith’s memorandum of the dis-cussion : “ General Johnston said that he did not feel at liberty to express an
opinion of the practica-bility of reducing thestrength of our forcesat points not within thelimits of his command.”On page 452 [referring topossible minor offensiveoperations. — Editors ]Mr. Davis says he
“particularly indicated thelower part of Maryland , wherea small force was said to beravaging the country.”
He suggested nothingso impossible. Troops ofours could not have beenferried across the broadPotomac then. "We hadno steamer on that river,nor could we have usedone. Mr. Davis says (“ R.and F.,” I., 452):
“. . . Previously, GeneralJohnston’s attention had beencalled to possibilities in theValley of the Shenandoah, andthat these and other like thingswere not done, was surely dueto other causes than ‘ the policy‘stonewall” jackson as fikst lieutenant of artillert, u. s. a. 0 f p,,, Administration.’” . . .
FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE TAKEN JULY 19, 1848.
Then he quotes from a letter to me, dated August 1st, 1861, as follows:
“ . . . The movement of Banks 1 will require your attention. It may be a ruse, but if a realmovement, when your army has the requisite strength and mobility, you will probably find anopportunity, by a rapid movement through the passes, to strike him in rear or flank.”
It is matter of public notoriety that no incursion into the “Valley” worththe notice of a Confederate company was made until March, 1862. That the
I By orders dated July 19th, 1861, General N. P.Banks had been assigned to the command of theDepartment of the Shenandoah, relieving GeneralPatterson in command of the army at Harper’s