Pickett or Pettigrew? An Historical Essay

by W. R. Bond

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Mr. O. W. Blacknall, of Kittrells, in a letter to the News and Observer concerning the ceremonies at Winchester last Friday, pays a high compliment to Capt. W. R. Bond’s book, “Pickett or Pettigrew.” Mr. Blacknall mentions Capt. Bond’s book as being one of the documents placed in the pocket of the corner stone, and adds:

“I will say in passing that the scholarly and profound brochure of Capt. Bond—‘Pickett or Pettigrew’—has never received the acknowledgment so eminently its due. Therein he clearly shows the manner in which history was shaped to North Carolina’s detriment. The Richmond papers seeking to please their patrons, chiefly Virginians, to put it mildly, laid great stress on the services of Virginia troops and little on their failures. They killed and made alive the reputations of men as they saw fit. Pollard and other historians writing from the Southern stand-point followed largely the Richmond papers, and thus history was miswritten to our apparently irretrievable harm. Capt. Bond’s pamphlet should be widely read and its substance preserved in history.”—Scotland Neck Commonwealth.

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LONGSTREET AND N. C. SOLDIERS.

We copy a brief communication that will serve as an eye-opener to Longstreet’s real claim upon North Carolina sympathizers. Our correspondent writes:

“There are some old soldiers from North Carolina, who have always liked and admired Gen. Longstreet and they regret to see the strictures upon him in a recently published pamphlet. If they will read carefully the following facts from the official records relating to the Sharpsburg campaign, they may feel that their partiality has been misplaced.

“General Longstreet had in this campaign nine North Carolina regiments, whose killed and wounded averaged one hundred and four. In his corps there were eighty regiments from other States and their average was sixty-four. In the eighty there were twenty-two Virginia regiments and their average was thirty-two. The 48th North Carolina had more men killed and wounded than any regiment of its corps. The 3rd North Carolina, of Jackson’s corps, had more men killed and wounded than any regiment in the army. In fact, more than the entire brigades of Generals Armistead and Garnett combined. At the conclusion of his report of the operations of this campaign, General Longstreet mentions the names of thirty-eight officers, who had distinguished themselves for gallantry. In this number there is not one brigade or regiment commander from North Carolina.”—Messenger.

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REGIMENTAL LOSSES.