Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 01.djvu/429

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Strength of Gen'l Lee's Army during the Seven Days Battles.
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chanicsville." The other brigade commanders do not give their strength. Field's brigade was a small one, Gregg's not large, and Anderson's and Branch's were perhaps about the size of Pender's. Give the latter 2,500 each, and Field and Gregg 2,000 each, and we have for A. P. Hill's strength 12,628—say 13,000. Lawton's brigade was 3,500. Whiting's strength is not given, but his brigades were small—give 2,000 for each; and then, with Jackson's and Ewell's 8,000, we will have: Longstreet, 9,051; D. H. Hill, 10,000; Magruder, 13,000; Holmes, 6,573; Huger, 8,930; A. P. Hill, 13,000; Whiting, 4,000; Lawton, 3,500; Jackson and Ewell, 8,000. Aggregate, 76,054.

Stuart had six regiments of cavalry, two small commands called "Legions," and there were five companies of the First North Carolina cavalry. One of the regiments is shown to have numbered only 200 present, and 2,500 would be a large estimate for the whole. Pendleton had four reserve battalions of artillery, the other artillery being counted with the brigades to which it was attached; 1,500 for the reserve artillery would be high. Add the whole together, and we have 80,000, covering the whole of General Lee's strength. This estimate is probably too large by several thousand; and Holmes' division really was of very little avail in the battles.

Let us take another mode of testing the result that has been reached. General Lee's losses in the battles were as follows: In Longstreet's division, 4,429—page 128; in A. P. Hill's division, 3,870—page 179; in Jackson's command, composed of his own division, including Lawton's brigade, Ewell's division, Whiting's division and D. H. Hill's division, 6,727—page 307. [In the statement furnished on the page referred to, the loss in Elzey's brigade (afterwards my own) is put for that in Ewell's entire division. Correcting this according to Ewell's statement on page 189, and then adding the loss in Ripley's brigade at Mechanicsville before Jackson got up, and we have the entire loss in the troops that were under his command as above stated.] In Magruder's command, McLaws gives his loss at 654—pages 160 to 164; D. R. Jones gives his loss at 832—page 172; but Magruder fails to give the loss in his own division; taking the average for it, and it may be put at 750, which will give a total loss of 2,236. In Huger's division, Ransom gives his loss at 630—pages 365 and 370; Wright's was 634, pages 386 and 397, and Mahone's loss was 415, pages 371 to 377. Armistead gives only a partial statement of his loss—taking it at 450 and we will have the loss in Huger's division 2,129. The loss in Holmes' division was 51, in Stuart's cavalry 71, and in the reserve artillery 44. The whole loss sums up as follows: Longstreet's division, 4,429; A. P. Hill's division, 3,870; Huger's division, 2,129; Jackson's command, 6,727; Magruder's command, 2,236; Holmes' division, 51; Stuart's cavalry, 71; reserve artillery, 44. Total, 19,557.

Mr. Swinton, the author of the "History of the Army of the Potomac," examined the Confederate returns in the Archive Office at Washington, and in June, 1876, published an abstract from