COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

If you were a soldier during the War of Northern  Aggression
the  last  thing you wanted was to be taken as a prisoner of
war and put into an 19th  century  POW  camp.   Confederates
particularly  wanted  to avoid the worst camps where disease
and death ran rampant along with  the  bitter  cold  of  the
North.   Soldiers  in  these camps perished not primarily by
their captor's lack of resources  (like  Confederate  Camps)
but  because of spite and outright cruelty.  It is estimated
that of the 214,000 Confederate POWs, 26,000 died in  prison
camps.   That  is  about  12%.  One camp in particular, Fort
Douglas, became known as "Eighty Acres  of  Hell."  Although
not  as  well  known  as  some  of the other northern prison
camps, it was just as deadly if not worse.                  

Originally a training camp for Union soldiers, Camp  Douglas
was  located  in  downtown Chicago and was named in honor of
Stephen Douglas, the Northern Democratic statesman  who  ran
against Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election.  Douglas,
who died in early 1861, originally owned the marshy property
on  the  edge  of Lake Michigan.  As the war progressed, the
number of prisoners taken by the  Yankees  started  to  grow
rapidly.   Finding  a  place  to  hold captives became a big
problem.  Already established camps like Camp  Douglas  soon
became holding grounds for the captives.                    

Originally  designed  to  hold  up to 6,000 men, over 12,000
Confederate POWs were crowded in this horrible  place.   The
barracks,  which were about 70 x 25 feet, each held over 200
prisoners.   They  were  so  crowded  that  three  men  were
assigned  to each bunk.  Tents were later erected to try and
relieve some  of  the  overcrowding.   The  poor  souls  who
occupied  the  tents were subjected to sub zero temperatures
without the aid of additional clothing or blankets.  Security
at the camp was also in bad shape.  In the early days of the
prison, it was somewhat  easy  to  escape.   However,  after
larger  numbers  of  prisoners  started  to  disappear,  the
government clamped down and gave the guards total control of
the prison.                                                 

Chicago  was  one of the North's most radical cities and its
residents  believed  that  the  Confederates  needed  to  be
punished  and  brought  into  submission  by  whatever means
necessary.  In  their  eyes,  captives  were  not  POWs  but
traitors  and  rebels  who  should be treated as such.  This
attitude  along  with  the  total  control  given   to   the
inadequate  number  of  guards  at the camp was a recipe for
brutality.   Rations  were  withheld  as   retribution   for
southern  victories  on  the  battlefield.  During the artic
winters prisoners were made to stand or sit naked for  hours
in  the  snow without moving.  Those who moved or passed out
were beaten over barrels with whips and belts.  Another form
of punishment was called the "mule." It was constructed with
four wooden legs and a  center  beam  with  the  sharp  edge
turned  up.   The  mule  was fifteen feet high and prisoners
were made to sit on it bare back with weights and buckets of
sand  tied  to  their  legs.  Many a soldier could no longer
walk after "riding the mule."                               

An observation tower for the curious citizens of Chicago was
soon  erected  after the first soldiers arrived to the camp.
From  the  tower  people  would  heckle  and  yell  at   the
prisoners.  Guards would randomly shoot into the barracks to
keep the prisoners on edge.                                 

Disease flourished.  The marshy  swampland  never  had  good
drainage  and  the  waste  from  the  over crowded camp soon
contaminated the drinking water.  At one point  cholera  and
small  pox epidemics erupted in the camp.  Medicine was sent
by the South to help with the treatment of the sick but  the
medicine was withheld as contraband.                        

The  only  way out, aside from escape, was to pledge loyalty
to the United States and agree to fight for the Union.  Many
soldiers  took  this  oath and were sent to fight Indians in
the West.  At the end of the war, only prisoners who  agreed
to  take  the  oath  were  given train fare home.  Those who
still refused were forced to return home by their own  means
which  often meant walking across several states.  After the
war, the camp was discontinued and the infamous barracks and
other buildings demolished.  Today, modern condominiums fill
most of the site.                                           

It is estimated that 6,000  men  died  at  the  prison  camp
although   1,500  were  reported  as  "unaccounted."  It  is
believed that  many  of  the  bodies  were  dumped  in  Lake
Michigan  or  sold  to  medical schools for experiments.  In
1867 what was left of the remains were  removed  from  their
paupers'  graves  and  buried in a one-acre plot at the city
cemetery with an obelisk marking the spot.  A  monument  was
erected by the families and sympathizers of the dead in 1893
and reads, "To The  Memory  Of  The  Six  Thousand  Southern
Soldiers  Here  Buried  Who  Died  In  Camp  Douglas  Prison
1862-1865." The  obelisk  lists  the  name  of  every  known
soldier who perished.                                       

These  brave men deserve to be honored and remembered.  They
stood up for a cause in which they believed,  were  tortured
and  died for it.  Although they have been largely forgotten
by history, we need to  keep  their  story  alive  so  their
struggles were not in vain.                                 

					Taylor

ADJUTANT'S REPORT

Congratulations to our associate member Joe Wright upon  his
election as Inspector of the Virginia Division.             

Andy Keller was inducted into the Longstreet Camp at our May
meeting.  Andy's wife, son, and daughter were with  him  for
the ceremony.                                               

The Camp mourns the passing of Phil Cheatham on May 5.  Phil
suffered  much  in  the  last  few  months  of   his   life.
Fortunately,  his  son  Randy was able to assist him in this
extremely difficult phase of his  life.   Phil  was  a  very
private  person with a number of talents.  He was a precise,
methodical woodworker, who made for  the  Camp  the  lectern
which  we use at each meeting.  Reverend Deborah H.  Carlton
of Gayton Road Christian Church mentioned in her comments at
Phil's  memorial  service  that  he  made  for  the church a
container in which communion  elements  could  be  taken  to
shut-ins.   A  plaque  on  an interior wall as you enter the
sanctuary states that Phil made a contribution in memory  of
his  wife,  Ann,  which  enabled  the  church to pay for the
organ.                                                      

Phil and I were co-workers  at  the  same  bank  (originally
State  Planters,  United Virginia when Phil retired, Crestar
when I retired, now SunTrust) for 30 years.   We  worked  in
the  same branch for awhile.  His most productive years were
his last, when he served as liaison between the branches and
the  operations  folks.   He was nationally recognized as an
expert on safe deposit operations.  Our friendship continued
after  he  retired  from the bank in 1987.  Phil was an avid
fisherman and invited me to bring  our  sons  to  a  fishing
clinic conducted by a fishing organization of which he was a
member.  Phil was an Eagle Scout and served his country as a
U.   S.   Navy  officer  in  World  War  Two.  Phil's cogent
letters to the Richmond Times-Dispatch won him at least  one
award for correspondent of the day.  I shall miss him.      

The  Times  Dispatch  recently ran an editorial which stated
that the War Between the States  ended  141  years  ago  and
asked,  "Why  continue  to  fight it?" My answer is that the
Confederate battle flag has  been  under  continuous  attack
since  at  least  1991 and is worthy of being defended.  The
latest unworthy attack on the flag came from a board  member
of  the  Valentine  Richmond  History  Center.  Preposterous
comments by her husband questioned the  objectivity  of  the
incoming  chairman  of  the  Valentine  because he flies the
Confederate flag, along  with  the  American  flag  and  the
Virginia flag at his home.  That gentleman, who had just led
a  large  and  successful  fund-raising  campaign  for   the
Valentine,  resigned  from  the Valentine's board.  I salute
him for standing up for his heritage.  Two  letters  to  the
present   chairwoman   of  the  Valentine  board  have  gone
unanswered.                                                 

The campaign for United States  senator  from  Virginia  has
included  attacks  on the flag and on Confederate ancestors.
Senator George Allen is taken to  task  for  having  worn  a
Confederate  flag  lapel  pin  as  a youngster.  James Webb,
candidate for the  Democratic  nomination  in  the  June  13
primary,  is  blasted  for  talking about the bravery of the
Confederate soldier.                                        

There  were  military  miniature  figures   of   Confederate
soldiers  carrying  a Confederate battle flag and a Virginia
flag in the Guards Museum in London  during  a  visit  there
several years ago.  There was also a short poem:            

  "Just a moth-eaten flag on the end of a pole;             
  It wouldn't seem likely to stir a man's soul.             
	
  But what great deeds were done 'neath this moth eaten rag,
  when the pole was a pike, And the rag was a flag."        

The Henrico County Library has 27 items by  Lewis  Grizzard,
but not his Southern by the Grace of God.  On page 4 of that
delightful book that incomparable Southern philosopher wrote
about  men  who  took  up arms for the Confederate States of
America: "Whatever their reasons, there was a citizenry that
saw  fit  to  fight  and die and I come from all that, and I
look at those people as brave and gallant, and  a  frightful
force until their hearts and their lands were burnt away."  

Copyright  notice  in  the  front gives permission for brief
quotes used in connection with reviews written  specifically
for  inclusion in a magazine or newspaper.  This is a review
written for a newspaper.  Get the book.  It was published by
Longstreet   Press   of   Atlanta   and  is  available  from
Amazon.com.  Read it.  It'll make you laugh and weep.       

We in the  Longstreet  Camp  can  hold  our  heads  high  in
displaying the flag and in honoring our deserving ancestors.
At Douglas S.  Freeman High School's senior honors night  in
June  we  will  present,  for  the  fourth  year, a one year
scholarship grant to the outstanding history student.   This
grant was the idea of our late commander Chuck Walton and is
named the Buck Hurtt Award in honor of  Chuck's  Confederate
ancestor  who  served  as  a  private  in  the 26th Virginia
Infantry and died in the notorious prison  camp  at  Elmira,
New  York.   A  Confederate  flag  flies  in the Confederate
cemetery in Elmira.                                         

We need to wear our pins and fly our  flags  in  recognition
and  memory  of  our Confederate ancestors who served in the
military forces of their nation and their states in  a  time
of crisis.                                                  

				Walter

GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247

NEXT MEETING-TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006

ROMA'S RESTAURANT
8330 STAPLES MILL RD.
LOCATED IN "THE SHOPS AT STAPLES MILL"
TURN LEFT AT FIRST STOPLIGHT NORTH OF
THE WISTAR SHOPPING CENTER

DINNER - SOCIAL 6:00 PM

WE ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE  THAT  THIS  WILL  BE  A  JOINT
MEETING  WITH  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES CAMP, SONS OF UNION
VETERANS!!

BE SURE TO COME TO THIS MEETING TO GREET  OUR  FRIENDS  FROM
THE OTHER SIDE!!

(Editor's Note:)
(KNIVES, FORKS AND SPOONS ONLY. NO 
MUSKETS, BOWIES OR CANNON ALLOWED!!)

JUNE PROGRAM

Our speaker for June will be our  good  friend,  A.   Wilson
Greene,  the  Executive  Director of Pamplin Historical Park
and  The  National  Museum  of  the  Civil  War  Soldier  in
Petersburg.                                                 

Will has a new book coming out in October from University of
Virginia  Press  entitled  Petersburg,  Virginia  1861-1865:
Confederate City in the Crucible of War and he will speak to
us on aspects of Petersburg's wartime experiences.          

Don't miss this opportunity to hear one of the real  experts
on  Civil  War  history  address the subject of a city whose
loss had an enormous effect on the failing Confederacy!     

MAY PROGRAM

Michael C.  Hardy, of western North Carolina, said that  his
interest   in   military   history  was  stimulated  by  his
experiences as a re-enactor.  This  led  him  to  spend  six
years  finishing his first book, a history of the 37th North
Carolina Infantry, an outfit in which 800 men out  of  2,011
died.                                                       

That  regiment  got  him  interested  in  its performance in
Virginia after its arrival May 4, 1862.  The 37th  was  part
of  Brigadier  General  Lawrence O'Bryan Branch's Brigade of
Major General A.  P.  Hill's Light Division.  Branch had  an
interesting background.  A tutor of his was Salmon P.  Chase,
later Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury and  Chief
Justice of the U.  S.  Supreme Court.  After graduation from
Princeton in 1838 (at the age of 18), he edited a  newspaper
in  Tennessee.   He  studied  law  and  was  admitted to the
Florida bar while still under age.   He  returned  to  North
Carolina,  serving  in  Congress  from  1855 until 1861.  He
became colonel of the 33rd North Carolina Infantry  and  was
promoted brigadier general 16 November 1861.                

Michael  pulled  no  punches in describing luminaries of the
Union.  McClellan  was  a  bombastic  idiot  and  Stanton  a
backstabber.   The  Union  Army  was  a good fighting force,
except for its commander, McClellan.                        

When McClellan became sick, Lincoln discovered that  he  had
told his subordinate generals nothing of his plans.  Lincoln
was  terrified  that  Washington  would  be  taken  by   the
Confederates.   McClellan's  original  plan  was  to land at
Urbanna, but that was  thwarted  by  Joseph  E.   Johnston's
moving  the  Confederate Army to Fredericksburg.  Little Mac
landed at Fort Monroe on the peninsula.  He  allegedly  left
75,000 soldiers to defend Washington.  The actual number was
closer to 25,000.  Lincoln ordered Irvin McDowell to stay in
Washington with 30,000 men.                                 

Branch's  Brigade  was at Gordonsville attached to Stonewall
Jackson.  On May 19 Joe Johnston ordered Branch  to  Hanover
Court  House.   He  arrived  three  miles south May 24.  His
headquarters was at Slash Church.                           

The Yankees moved out at 4 AM on the 27th in deep mud.   The
28th  North  Carolina  Infantry,  commanded by Colonel James
Henry Lane, charged the 25th New York of Brigadier  John  H.
Martindale's   First   Brigade  of  the  First  Division  of
Brigadier  General  FitzJohn  Porter's  Fifth  Corps.   Four
regiments  of  Brigadier  General Daniel Butterfield's Third
Brigade came up and forced Lane from the field.   Lane  lost
lots  of  soldiers.   Porter ordered Martindale to disengage
and come to the Court House.  Martindale said,  "The  Rebels
are  here.   The  22nd Massachusetts had burned a bridge, so
Martindale had to wait.  Branch ordered the 37th to  take  a
battery.  The 33rd North Carolina never became involved, and
the 37th was caught in a cross fire.  The 37th and the  18th
North Carolina were forced to retreat.                      

May  28 was devoted to burying the dead.  After the shooting
was over, McClellan  inspected  the  field  and  declared  a
glorious  victory.   McClellan  did  not  capitalize on this
defeat  of  the  Confederates.   He  continued   to   badger
Washington  for  more  reinforcements.  The win was a morale
boost for the Union.  Joseph E.  Johnston saw how easily the
Federal Army could maneuver.                                

This battle took place between McClellan's slow March up the
peninsula and the later ferocious fighting of the Seven Days
and  has  been  overshadowed by both.  Some want to classify
battles a "major" or "minor."  To  me,  it's  like  surgery.
Minor  surgery  is  that  performed on someone else.  To the
soldier in the battle, it's major,  no  matter  the  numbers
involved nor what others may say.                           

				Walter

2005-2007 CAMP OFFICERS
LONGSTREET CAMP #1247
Commander: Taylor Cowardin                   356-9625
1st. Lt. Cmdr.: William F. Shumadine, III    285-4044
2nd Lt. Cmdr.: Michael Kidd	             270-9651
Adjutant/Treasurer: Walter Tucker            360-7247
Judge Advocate: Richard B. Campbell          278-6488
Quartermaster: R. Preston Nuttall            276-8977
Chaplain: Henry V. Langford                  474-1978

PUBLICATIONS
Webmaster: Gary F. Cowardin                  262-0534
Website: longstreetscv.org                           
War Horse:  David P. George                  353-8392

LONGSTREET'S FIRST CORPS

The following is a cumulative listing of contributors to the
upkeep  of  “The  Old  War  Horse” for the period July, 2005
through  the  current  month. As you  know,  our  cumulative
listing starts in July of each year.                        

Ben Baird
Harry Boyd
Lloyd Brooks
Brian Cowardin
Clint Cowardin
Gary Cowradin
Ron Cowardin
Taylor Cowardin
Raymond Crews*
Jerold Evans
Kitty Faglie*
Richard Faglie*
David George
Charles Howard 
Chris Jewett
John Kane
Frank Marks
Lewis Mills
Joe Moschetti
John Moschetti
Preston Nuttall*
Ken Parsons
Joey Seay
Bill Setzer
Austin Thomas
David Thomas
Walter Tucker*
John Vial*
David Ware
Harold Whitmore*
Hugh Williams

In Memory of Chuck Walton-Anonymous
In Memory of Chuck Walton-Ben Baird
In Memory of Hef Ferguson-David George
In Memory of Tom Lauterbach-Harold Whitmore

Legend:                                    
* - Multiple contributions                 
§ - Visitor Donation                       
+ - in memory of Past Cmdr. Tom Lauterbach 

The Last Roll Call

Our Compatriot, G.  Philip Cheatham, answered  to  his  last
roll  call  on May 5, 2006.  He was preceded in death by his
beloved wife, Ann P.  Cheatham.                             

Phil  was  a  longtime  member  of  Longstreet   Camp,   The
Jamestowne  Society,  American  Legion  Post  125,  the Navy
League, The Virginia  Anglers  Club  and  an  Honorary  Life
Member  of The American Safe Deposit Association.  He was an
Elder Emeritus of The Gayton Road Christian Church.         

Phil served in the Navy in World War II  as  an  officer  in
communications  and  was  an Amateur Radio Operator for many
years.                                                      

He retired as a Vice-President of United Virginia  Bank  and
was   nationally   known   as  an  expert  in  safe  deposit
operations.                                                 

He is  survived  by  two  sons,  Randolph  G.   Cheatham  of
Richmond and Christopher R.  Cheatham of Homosassa, Florida;
a sister, Mrs.  Louise H.   Chandler  of  Victoria,  Va.;  a
granddaughter,  Mrs.   Melanie  C.   Campbell  of  Richmond;
grandson Michael R.   Cheatham  of  Clarksburg,  WVA  and  a
great-grandson, Connor H.  Campbell of Richmond.            

The  service  was  held  at Gayton Road Christian Church and
Phil was interred in Crewe Cemetery at Crewe, Virginia.     

We shall miss him.                                          

"The grave itself is but a covered bridge
Leading from light to light, through a
brief darkness."
					          Longfellow

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

THROUGH 2006
Confederate Navy Exhibit, featuring ships, commanders, naval
technology,   paintings   and   artifacts.   Museum  of  the
Confederacy,   Richmond.    For   info:   (804)649-1861   or
www.moc.org

THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2006
"Art of the Confederacy" at the Museum of  the  Confederacy,
Richmond.  Showcasing the Museum's collection of wartime and
postwar    oil     paintings,     watercolors,     sketches,
prisoner-of-war  art  and  photographic art.  Includes newly
restored oil paintings  by  Conrad  Wise  Chapman  and  1867
Triptych   by   French   artists   depicting   Mosby's  1864
"Berryville Wagon Raid." $7 adults, $6 seniors, $3  students
over age 6.  For information, (804) 649-1861.

JUNE 23
History at Sunset: Clara Barton, Walt Whitman and the Bloody
Legions:  Chatham as a field Hospital: at Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania National  Military  Park  with  Park  Historian
Donald Pfanz7 p.m.  For info:, www.nps.tgtov'frsp/vc.htm

JUNE 24, 25
10th Annual Civil War Weekend at Pamplin  park,  Petersburg.
Battle  field  demonstrations,  Civil  War  medicine, music,
encampment.  Special guided tours throughout the  day.   For
info: (804) 861-2408; www.pamplinpark.org

JUNE 30
History  at  Sunset:  Granite  Shadows;   A   Walk   Through
Spotsylvania  Confederate  Cemetery  at  Fredericksburg  and
Spotsylvania  National  Military  Park  with  Historian  Mac
Wyckoff, 7 p.  m.  For info:www.nps.tgov'frsp/vc.htm

JULY 1
Two hour Brandy Station Battlefield Tour of  Fleetwood  Hill
from Graffiti House, Brandy Station.  Focus on the fight for
Fleetwood Hill, the most intense  and  prolonged  combat  on
June  8,  1863.   No  reservation  required, $5 over age 12.
Sponsored  by  Brandy   Station   Foundation.    For   info:
(540)547-4106,                          bsfjune91863@aol.com
www.brandystationfoundation.com

JULY 8
Soldier-led tours of Fort Ward  Museum  &  Historical  Site,
Alexandria,  10  a.m.  and 2 p.m.  Including history of Fort
Ward, construction of  Civil  War  forts,  soldier  life  in
Defenses of Washington.   Free.   For info:   (703) 838-4848
www.fortward.org

JULY 14
History  at  Sunset:  The   Red   Badges   Bloody   Morning;
Chancellorsville  May  3,  and  the Red Badge of Courage, at
Fredericksburg and  Spotsylvania  National  Military  Park's
Chancellorsville  Visitor  Center  with  Park Historian John
Hennessy  and   Greg   Mertz.    7   p.    m.    For   info:
www.nsp.gov/frsp/vc.htm

JULY 15
Two hour Brandy Station Battlefield tour of Buford Knoll and
Yew  Ridge  from  Graffitti House, Brandy Station, 10 a.  m.
Fighting that took place later in the afternoon of  June  9,
1863,  between  General  John  Buford and General W.  H.  F.
"Rooney" Lee's brigade No advance reservation  required,  $5
over  age  12.  Sponsored by Brandy Station Foundation.  For
info:      (540)       547-4106;       bsfjune91863@aol.com;
www.brandystationfoundation.com

JULY 15
"Stuart's Ride Around McClellan"  Tour  with  Michael  Moore
from  Lee Hall Mansion, Newport News, 9-5.  Follow the route
of J.  E.  B.  Stuart's famed ride around the  Army  of  the
Potomac.    $45  per  person.   For  info:  (757)  888-3371;
www.leehall.org

JULY 19
"No  Army  Without  Music;  The  Songs  of  the  Civil  War"
featuring  NPR host Michael Laser at Chrysler Museum of Art,
Norfolk.  Free to members, non-members $8.  For info:  (757)
664-6200; www.chrysler.org

JULY 21
History at Sunset: Echoes of Struggle: Voice From the Bloody
Angle," at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military
Park's  Spotsylvania  Court  House  Battlefield  with   Park
Historian  Stacy Humphreys & living historians., 7 p.m.  For
info; www.nps.gov/frsp/vc.htm

JULY 21-23
145th Anniversary Reenactment of First Manassas  (Bull  Run)
at  Cedar  Creek  Battlefield  in  Middletown.   Limited  to
12,000, 45 cannon on  each  side.   Over  age  12,  $25,  no
walk-ons.    Proceeds   benefit   Cedar   Creek  Battlefield
Foundation.      For     info:     (888)     628-1864     or
www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org

JULY 28
History at Sunset:  An  Elegant  Place  Bedraggled:  A  walk
Through   Civil   War   Falmouth   at   Fredericksburg   and
Spotsylvania National Military Park, from Belmont with  Park
Historian    John    Hennessy,    7    p.m.     For    info:
www.nps.gov/frsp/vc.htm

JULY 29
Two- hour Brandy Station Battlefield Tour  of  Beverly  Ford
and  St.   James Church from Graffiti House, Brandy Station,
10 a.m.  early morning June 9, 1863 fighting  between  Union
General John Buford and General William E.  "Grumble" Jones.
No reservation required.  $5.  Sponsored by  Brandy  Station
Foundation.      For     info:     (540)     547-4106     or
www.brandystationfoundation.org

LEE TAKES THE OFFENSIVE

The following excerpts from two letters show  the  beginning
of  Lee's  thinking  about  taking the offensive against the
North rather than remaining in  a  defensive  posture  after
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.                        

"(Confidential.) HDQRS. Army of Northern Virginia           

						June 8, 1863

Hon. James A. Seldon                                        
Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.                             

Sir:                                                        
...As far as I can judge, there is nothing to be  gained  by
this  army remaining quietly on the defensive, which it must
do unless it can be reinforced.  I am aware  that  there  is
difficulty and hazard in taking the aggressive with so large
an army in its front, intrenched behind a  river,  where  it
cannot  be  advantageously attacked.  Unless it can be drawn
out in a position to be assailed, it will take its own  time
to  prepare  and  strengthen  itself to renew its advance on
Richmond, and force the army back within  the  entrenchments
of that city.  This may be the result in any event; still, I
think it is worth a trial to  prevent  such  a  catastrophe.
Still,  if  the Department thinks it better to remain on the
defensive, and guard as far as possible all the  avenues  of
approach,  and  await  the  time of the enemy, I am ready to
adopt this course.  You have, therefore, only to inform me. 

R. E. Lee                                                   
General"                                                    

"Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia                     

						June 10, 1863

His Excellency Jefferson Davis, Richmond                     

Mr.  President:...Conceding to our enemies  the  superiority
claimed  by them in numbers, resources and all the means and
appliances for carrying on the war, we have no right to look
for  exemptions from the military consequences of a vigorous
use of these advantages, excepting by  such  deliverance  as
the  mercy  of  Heaven  may  accord  to  the  courage of our
soldiers, the justice of our cause, and  the  constancy  and
prayers  of our people.  While making the most we can of the
means of resistance we possess, and gratefully accepting the
measure of success with which God has blessed our efforts as
an earnest of His approval and favor, it is nevertheless the
part   of  wisdom  to  carefully  measure  and  husband  our
strength, and no to expect from it more than in the ordinary
course of affairs it is capable of accomplishing.  We should
not, therefore, conceal from ourselves that our resources in
men  are  constantly  diminishing,  and the disproportion in
this respect between us and our enemies,  if  they  continue
united  in  their  efforts  to  subjugate  us,  is  steadily
augmenting.                                                 

The decrease of the aggregate of this army, as disclosed  by
the  returns,  affords  an  illustration  of this fact.  Its
effective strength varies from time to time, but the falling
off in its aggregate shows that its ranks are growing weaker
and that its losses are not supplied by its recruits.       

Under these circumstances, we should  neglect  no  honorable
means  of  dividing and weakening our enemies, that they may
feel some of the difficulties experienced by ourselves.   It
seems  to  me  that the most effectual mode of accomplishing
this object, now within  our  reach,  is  to  give  all  the
encouragement we can, consistently with truth, to the rising
peace party of the North.                                   

Nor do I think we should,  in  this  connection,  make  nice
distinction    between   those   who   declare   for   peace
unconditionally and those who advocate it as  a  measure  of
restoring the Union, however much we may prefer the former. 

We  should  bear  in  mind  that the friends of peace in the
North must make  concessions  to  the  earnest  desire  that
exists in the minds of their countrymen for a restoration of
the Union, and  that  to  hold  out  such  a  result  as  an
inducement is essential to the success of their party.      

Should  the  belief  that  peace  will  bring back the Union
become general, the war would no longer  be  supported,  and
that,  after  all,  is  what  we  are interested in bringing
about.  When peace is proposed to us, it will be time enough
to  discuss its terms, and it is not the part of prudence to
spurn the proposition in advance, merely because  those  who
wish  to make it believe, or affect to believe, that it will
result in bringing us back to the Union.   We  entertain  no
such  apprehensions, nor doubt that the desire of our people
for a distinct and independent national existence will prove
as  steadfast under the influence of peaceful measures as it
has shown itself in the midst of war.                       

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,            
R.E. Lee,                                                   
General"                                                    

INTERESTING FACTS

CONFEDERATE LOSSES AT GETTYSBURG

UNIT NAME		TROOPS		CASUALTIES	 %

CORPS                                                       
Longstreet's 1st Corps	20,706		7,661		37.0

Ewell's 2nd Corps	20,666		6,603		32.0

Hill's 3rd Corps	22,083		8,007		36.2
____________________________________________________________
TOTALS			63,455		22,271		35.1


DIVISIONS                                                   
Hood's			7,375		2,371		32.1

McLaws			6,924		2,217		32.0

Pickett's		5,473		2,904		53.1

Johnson's		6,433		1,936		20.1

Early's			5,460		1,476		27.0

Rodes'			7,983		3,116		39.0

Heth's			7,461		3,358		45.0

Pender's		6,735		2,392		35.5

R. Anderson's		7,136		2,158		30.2

Stuart's		6,621		286		 4.3
____________________________________________________________
TOTALS			67,601		22,160		32.8

GRAND TOTALS		131,056		44,431		33.9