Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/195

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Relative Numbers and Losses at Cedar Run.
183

less 3,000, or nearly 45,000 men. Of this force there was present at Cedar Run—

Banks' corps... 8,000
Bayard's cavalry... 1,200
Rickett's division of McDowell's corps... 7,000
  16,200

Rickett arrived at nightfall too late to prevent the defeat of Banks, but in time to stay the further progress of the Confederates.

Now as to the Federal losses, General Pope says: "No report of killed and wounded has been made to me by General Banks. I can, therefore, only form an approximation of our losses in that battle. Our killed, wounded and prisoners amounted to about one thousand and eight hundred men, besides which fully one thousand men straggled back to Culpeper Courthouse and beyond, and never entirely returned to their commands. He also states that on the 10th Banks' corps was "reduced to about 5,000 men." Thus Pope puts the loss at from 2,800 to 3,000 men including stragglers, the larger part of whom returned to their commands.

General Gordon, following Strother, gives the Federal loss as 1,161[1] killed and wounded, and 732 missing, of whom half were prisoners and the remainder stragglers. This would give an actual loss of about 2,000.

Medical Director McParlin says: "In the Second corps (Banks'), which was principally engaged, the losses were 280 killed, 1,346 wounded, and 241 missing. This report underestimates the full number of wounded and missing." By this estimate the total loss in Banks' corps was over 1,867.

The Surgeon-General (Federal) reports the total loss among all the troops engaged as—

Killed... 450
Wounded... 660
Missing... 290

In this report the "660" is evidently a misprint, and was probably intended to be "1,660." If so, the loss by this report would be 2,400. As Jackson captured 400 prisoners, the above estimate seems under, not over, the mark.

Taking all these estimates together, it is evident that Pope's loss was over 2,000.

This letter is too long to add anything in reference to the second Manassas.

W. Allan.

  1. Correction per Col. Allan's subsequent article, p. 217 this volume.