tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067579820246795126.post7681004912801934697..comments2023-10-29T00:42:56.138-07:00Comments on Crossed Sabers: Bates letters - July 10, 1862Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02981364424576706674noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067579820246795126.post-14181888700590145742007-11-27T10:34:00.000-08:002007-11-27T10:34:00.000-08:00Eric,Yes, I noticed the same thing when I checked ...Eric,<BR/><BR/>Yes, I noticed the same thing when I checked the book this weekend. What I found interesting was that Bates was never even on that side of the river, so everything he reports is hearsay. And he commented on the 6th Pennsylvania but not how badly the 5th US Cavalry (and at least 5 members of the 6th US) fared in their charge.<BR/><BR/>The other Regulars were probably already starting to respect the 6th PA, but I doubt this squadron of the 4th US would have seen much of them, since they'd only worked as McClellan's escort through the whole campaign. To this point in the correspondence, Bates has yet to see a live, armed Confederate soldier. <BR/><BR/>By the next year, these guys had finally rejoined their regiment in the western theater. I try not to read ahead in the letters too much, but they see a lot more action then and I think Bates has a little different perspective.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for stopping by, I'd hoped you would.<BR/><BR/>DonDonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02981364424576706674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8067579820246795126.post-7991085441149423822007-11-26T12:04:00.000-08:002007-11-26T12:04:00.000-08:00Don,Those same allegations were leveled in the new...Don,<BR/><BR/>Those same allegations were leveled in the newspaper accounts. Am unidentified member of the Lancers responded pretty vociferously in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I address that episode in my regimental; if you have the book, you will find it in the chapter on the Peninsula.<BR/><BR/>It bears noting that only a PORTION of the Lancers made the charge, and it also bears noting that Philip St. George Cooke praised their performance pretty strongly, so they can't have done too badly.<BR/><BR/>Bottom line: at that period of the war, the Lancers were pretty commonly referred to as Lancers Rushes or turkey drivers by the Regulars, who had not yet come to respect them. A year later, their tune had definitely changed....<BR/><BR/>EricEric Wittenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12593195379278302156noreply@blogger.com