Show HOWARD AP CIIANCELLORSVILLE IIopu spring eternal In tho human breast and that it docs Is proen by tIme following admission from General O O Howard who commanded tho lociith Army Corps at time battle of Chancellors villa in 1SOJ ns it appears over his onn Bignature in tho Ccnttirt for September Somebodys guns thundered away for a few short minutes and then came the fitful rattle of musketry and beforo It could again tl got into this saddle there arose the ceaseless roar of the terrible storm I sent out my chief of stall Colonel As musson who was tho first officer to mount rIms firing Is In front of Devcns go and BOO if nil is in order on the extreme right lIe instantly turned and galloped away I gt offa7gra mounted at < 1 set off for n prominent pines in ronr of bohnrzs line so as to change tnifth hl t f bC 9g front to the northwest of every brigade southeast of ibm point of attack if 1 the attack extended beyond Devons right I Hank for it was divined nt once that the enemy was now west of him I conld l seo numbers of our men not the few stragglers that always fly like the chaff at tho first breeze but scores of them rushing into tho opening some with arms cud somo without running or falling before they got behind time cover of Devons reserves and beforo General bohurz waiting wait-ing masses could deploy or charge lbs noise and tIm smoke filled the air with excitement ex-citement and to add to it Dieckmnnnsguns and caissons with battery men scattered rolled and tumbled like runaway wagons and carts In a thronged city The guns and the masses of the right brigade struck the second lies of Devens before McLeans front bad given way and quicker thnn it could iJ ihlt l bo told with l till the fury of the wildest hailstorm hail-storm every thing every sortof organization that lay in the path of the mad current of Enulo stricken men had to give way and be broken into fragments ily own horse seemed to catch the fury bo sprang ho rose high on his bind legs and fell over throwing me to the ground My aide decamp Dessaner was struck by a shot and killed and for n few moments I was ns helpless ns any of tho men who were speeding without arms to the rear liut faithful orderlies helped me to remount I rode quickly to the reserve batteries A Btift officer of General Hooker Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson joined me there my own stnff gathered around me I was eager to fill the trenches which Barlow would have held l JJuschbockg second line was ordered to change front there His men kept their ranks hut at first they appeared slow Will they never get there Dickinson said Ob General see thoso men coining from tbut bill way off to tIle eight and theres tho enemy after them Fire oh firo at them you may stop this 1IIi W ittiNo No Colonel said ii will never firo on my own men I The hopo alluded l to was that Homo tiling would l some day appear to the sight of the men who survived 1 that murderous mur-derous and ghastly htone and en ihln them to fully understand how it was that Jackson so easily routed tho lovonth corps and fell like II whirlwind on the I Third corp comas tlireo miles In rear of tho Lleyonth It has come at List IIrllll j is contained in the last eight words of I I tho abovoosctriet For oars writers of all classed military und dvll Imvu handled tho matter all of them blamln 1 Ifetvardomd 1 justlv tllofor aJvancm where his Hanks score in lime air or assay from support and then parmlttlnx hU men to stack their inns and light fires when he know tint the Ihirl Corps with hieklm iris limmg 1 on its arm lilly tlueu miles III Ins rear or a full mile below liaiieellonivillu House on limo pi ink road but l thu best amid < I must of these writers could 1 oimly Burniibo how it was Hut JuckhunH nun could walk over ground eoverol b > HOIIKI of the best iirtillor of limo iiniiiy ind fall on Berrs 2d Division ot bicklus Corpi with such impetuous force as to almost break down hU formation nil complete the rout ot tIme whole ttntiiy It was bu cause Howard would not lire on his own men The nude will lear in mind th I it Howard held the advance of the Union line on the left the line being horseshoe shaped both ends of tho shoo resting on fits river bank This only means of retreat re-treat vveio three very in ecnro pontoon bridges over tho fords ill the center of tho rear of the shoo and 05000 men with immunition trams and nrtlllcr wero coo > cd up In a spico of live square miles It is true tint Hooker had published pub-lished his grand inifcsto which stated that the enemy must 1 come out and fight him on his own ground or Inglorl ously fly and tint it had n very reassuring reas-suring effect on the troops but it Is doubtful whether it should be the same on the corps commanders If any part of the line was successful pirrcud ron fusion nnd retreat must follow lId It would 1 put tho whole aememy ill danger of capture When Howard was routed In the morning ho knew just how tIme field was disposed nnd that utter ronto must follow the loss of his position 1 ret ho saH ho would not fire on his own men though by doing qo ind killing kill-ing some of them hn could have avoided Iho ruthless slaughter of Berra and Birncys divisions which followed his refusal so to fire War is cruelty but it could l hardly bo called cruelly to kill somo of his own command who wero in full retreat nnd rushing panic stricken on tho Third Corps in order to save tlio slaughter of tho flower of that Corps and tho position and fate of the whole army and tIme National cause Howard is and was in able and intrepid commander but this admission by him will lead to many pore blows from tho pens of sur ivors of tint butcherv rendered necessary to check the flight of men whom ho could not otherwise control Ills words form this historians connectIng connect-Ing link nnd posterity can judge on whom should fall tho blame for that das error |