Today in History:

792 Series I Volume XII-II Serial 16 - Second Manassas Part II

Page 792 OPERATIONS IN N. VA., W. VA., AND MD. Chapter XXIV.

Question. Have you served elsewhere? If so, state where.

Answer. I have served here in Virginia, but most of the time I have been drilling new troops in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Question. Did you serve in South Carolina, or somewhere in that region?

Answer. I was there a short time with the First Massachusetts Cavalry.

Question. Will you state what was the condition of the horses of the cavalry that were at Winchester?

Answer. It was very poor, indeed. The horses were run down, in the first place, by transportation from here to Winchester, and then by using them before they had got fairly rested, and not having proper forage for the first two or three days, having white corn, which was very had for them.

Question. Were you able to mount any but a small portion of you command suitably for duty?

Answer. No, sir; I never was. At times I have not been able to turn out more than 60 men out of the two companies.

Question. Was there a sufficient force of cavalry suitable mounted at any time during of stay at Winchester to do more than just patrol the immediate vicinity properly?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. Could any reconnaissance be made with prudence to any distance?

Answer. No, sir; never while I was there.

Question. Were you not usually met by superior forces of the enemy, if you attempted it?

Answer. Always met with them, or my scouts reported them in my immediate vicinity, so that it was not safe for me to go a great ways from camp at any time.

Question. On the night of the evacuation, or the day and night, could any reconnaissance have been made to any considerable distance without taking infantry and artillery? Would it have been prudent to have done so?

Answer. No, sir; it would not. I went out on the afternoon of the evacuation; I was sent out at 2 o'clock, and went as far as Middletown, which is 12 or 13 miles, and there had to rest, because at that same time there was a large body of cavalry to the left of me.

Question. Nearer to Winchester then you were?

Answer. Yes, sir; we run the risk every minute of being cut off.

Question. Did you hear anything from scouts or other sources of a large body of the enemy moving in that direction at that time?

Answer. A day or two before that, by your order, I sent some cavalry down to the gap below Front Royal, just the other side of the town. They reported to me when they came back that large bodies of the enemy could be seen down the valley and beyond the gap, cavalry and infantry.

Question. Will you state to the court, if you please, weather the evacuation of Winchester was conducted in an orderly or disorderly manner, and whether proper means were used to secure all the Government property that it was possible to transport?

Answer. When I returned to camp, which was at 11.30 o'clock at night, the trains were standing on the hill in front of the forts. There was no disorder then surely, and I saw none at all; and, as far as I can judge, I should think that every precaution was taken and everything carried away that could be under the circumstances.


Page 792 OPERATIONS IN N. VA., W. VA., AND MD. Chapter XXIV.