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DESTRUCTION

AND

RECONSTRUCTION:

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE LATE WAR.

BY

RICHARD TAYLOR,

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
549 AND 551 BROADWAY.
1879.

PREFACE.

These reminiscences of Secession, War, and Reconstruction it has seemedto me a duty to record. An actor therein, accident of fortune affordedme exceptional advantages for an interior view.

The opinions expressed are sincerely entertained, but of theircorrectness such readers as I may find must judge. I have in most casesbeen a witness to the facts alleged, or have obtained them from the bestsources. Where statements are made upon less authority, I have carefullyendeavored to indicate it by the language employed.

R. TAYLOR.

December, 1877.

CONTENTS.

PREFACE

CHAPTER I.

Secession.

Causes of the Civil War—The Charleston Convention—Conventionof Louisiana—Temper of the People.

CHAPTER II.

First Scenes of the War.

Blindness of the Confederate Government—General Bragg occupiesPensacola—Battle of Manassas—Its Effects on the North and theSouth—"Initiative" and "Defensive" in War.

CHAPTER III.

After Manassas.

General W.H.T. Walker—The Louisiana Brigade—The "Tigers"—MajorWheat—General Joseph E. Johnston and Jefferson Davis—AlexanderH. Stephens.

CHAPTER IV.

Opening of the Peninsular Campaign.

McClellan as an Organizer—The James River Route toRichmond—Army of Northern Virginia moved to Orange CourtHouse—Straggling—General Ewell—Bugeaud's "Maxims"—Uselessnessof Tents—Counsels to Young Officers.[Pg 6]

CHAPTER V.

The Valley Campaign.

The Army moved to Gordonsville—Joseph E. Johnston as aCommander—Valley of Virginia—Stonewall Jackson—BelleBoyd—Federals routed at Front Royal—Cuirassiers strapped to theirHorses—Battle of Winchester—A "Walk Over" at Strasburg—GeneralAshby—Battle of Port Republic.

CHAPTER VI.

"The Seven Days around Richmond."

Clever Strategy—The Valley Army summoned to the Defense ofRichmond—Battles of Cold Harbor, Frazier's Farm, MalvernHill—Ignorance of the Topography—McClellan as a Commander—GeneralR.E. Lee—His magnificent Strategy—His Mistakes.