OUR PERSONNEL--VISITORS
On duty again, recovered--Army refreshed and in good
condition--Reorganization--First and Second Army Corps, Longstreet
and Stonewall commanding--Divisions composing them--Cavalry under
Stuart--Visitors to our camp in Valley--Three Englishmen, Wolseley,
Lawley, and Vizitelly.
Within the fortnight I was returned to duty, rather stiff but quite
fit, and pleased with the hearty welcome of my brother officers.
Walton's wound proved severe and he was sent to a hospital at Richmond.
The army had picked up wonderfully, stragglers were back in ranks,
the lightly wounded were again ready with their rifles, rations were
abundant; some clothing and shoes had come, for a small part of it, and
we were just eager for Burnside or any other fellow. Our General, like
his army, was high in spirit and controlling absolutely its destiny.
Its devotion for Lee and unfaltering confidence in him had never been
surpassed. It was now that he found it necessary to reorganize its
various commands. They were all comfortably camped in the Valley,
except a small detachment sent to the vicinity of Fredericksburg, and
covered a good deal of ground. The enemy was silent and showed no sign
of movement, but we could guess where he was likely to strike next.
Somewhere about Spottsylvania or Fredericksburg, Lee divided his army
into two great infantry corps--the First Army Corps under Lieut.-Gen.
James Longstreet; the Second Army Corps under Lieut-Gen. T. J.
Jackson. The First had five divisions under Pickett, McLaws, Hood,
Richard Anderson, and J. G. Walker; all had from four to five brigades;
except Walker's, only two, but it was known that his command was to be
but temporarily with the Virginia army. Jackson's Second Army Corps
had also four divisions under A. P. Hill, R. S. Ewell, D. H. Hill, and
Jackson's old division under Taliaferro.
The strength of the two great bodies was thus about equal. To each
division there was a battalion of artillery of four batteries, and to
each corps a reserve battalion of six batteries. Longstreet had two of
them, the Washingtons, and Alexander's battalion.
There was also a strong body of reserve artillery to the army under
command (and indeed he claimed some authority over the rest) of
Brig.-Gen. W. N. Pendleton. This officer had graduated from West Point,
had changed his uniform to the cassock and was rector of an Episcopal
church in Western Virginia. He was an especial friend of General Lee,
and leaving his pulpit brought a good battery to Jackson's command. A
well-meaning man, without qualities for the high post he claimed--Chief
of Artillery of the Army.
The cavalry under Stuart completed the good organization of that
wonderful army. An excellent body of horse it was, in fit hands, and
its commander, true body and soul to Lee, was already a great cavalry
leader. It was not, however, until next year that he rose with it to
its high-water mark of strength, efficiency, and renown.
While camped there in the Valley we had all at once three interesting
visitors, Col. Garnet Wolseley, of the British Army; Hon. Francis
Lawley, correspondent at the South for _The London Times_, and
Frank Vizitelly, Southern correspondent and artist for _The London
Illustrated News_. Wolseley was on duty in Canada and had just slipped
across the border and the army lines to have a look at the Confederate
forces. He was a small, spare man, modest and soldierly. It was from
Lawley that we learned more about him, and that he had distinguished
himself while a subaltern in the Crimea and was considered a rising
officer. It fell to me to make better acquaintance with Wolseley and we
have kept up some communication since. It has, therefore, been good to
follow his "steps" and note the more than fulfillment of the favorable
expectations of him. Commander of the Red River Expedition; general
in charge of the Ashantee War; severe, successful service in India;
command in Egypt and defeat of Arabi at Tel-el-Kebir; operations in the
Soudan--these have been some of his various services up to five years
ago, when he was made commander-in-chief of the forces, his tour of
duty having just ended. We had a review of one of our divisions, gave
him a good mount, and he rode well with Longstreet, admiring with an
experienced eye the hardy material of our soldiers. In a day or two he
returned to Canada. He has attained the rank of Field Marshal, and is
Viscount Wolseley in the Peerage of England, with many high orders of
merit.
This distinguished officer has written well and often of his
Confederate observations. He places Lee in the first rank of generals
of the English-speaking race, with Marlborough and Wellington; and his
admiration for our leader is constant--of the very highest. A letter
pointing to his interest in Confederate autographs will be found in the
Appendix.
Frank Lawley, tall, handsome, and of distinguished appearance, had
started in English political life with everything in his favor. A
fine University education, natural aptitude, and a polished pen aided
him in becoming secretary to Mr. Gladstone when Chancellor of the
Exchequer. Soon, however, a shadow fell on Lawley. He gave up his post
and political life, taking to writing, for which he was well fitted.
_The Times_ had sent him South, and he was about Lee's army nearly two
years, making many friends. He is now one of the principal editors of
the _London Telegram_, with a great salary, which, as of old, does not
go far with him.
Frank Vizitelly (Italian family, for centuries settled in England)
was a burly-looking, reckless "Bohemian," of many accomplishments. He
could write, could sing, could draw and paint, could dance and ride,
could tell good stories (good only in the telling, not in the matter)
by the hour, and, finally, could drink like a fish, and did so. He made
spirited drawings of battles, persons, and all sorts of scenes during
the two years he was with us in the South, and managed to get them
through the blockade to his paper.
When Vizitelly left us he served his paper all over the world,
whenever there was war; and finally joining Hicks Pasha's Expedition
for subduing the Soudan, perished in the complete massacre of that
ill-fated column.
His name, with six other war correspondents who fell at their several
posts elsewhere, is carved in a tablet set in the walls of St. Paul's
Cathedral, London. I never thought Vizitelly could possibly come to
such respectable distinction.