One hundred fifty years ago, on November 25, 1863, Albert Demuth of the 8th Missouri Cavalry (U.S.) critiqued official reports of the battle at Fourche Bayou: I read an account of the fight at Little Rock, or rather the reports of Steele, Davidson and Col. Glover, of the Second Brigade of our Division. Steele’s account may be well enough, as he did not see us at work. Davidson, of course, favored Glover, as he, (Glover) is Davidson’s pet, but Glover’s report did our Brigade gross injustice when he says we did not support him properly. It was the Tenth Illinois, of his Brigade that lost the Artillery, and disgracefully ran, and yet he says they did their duty. Col. Merrill, commanding our Brigade, and Gen. Davidson, are in the same Regiment in the regular service. Davidson being a Major and Merrill a Captain. Merrill is considered one among the best Cavalry Officers in the Army, far superior to Davidson and the latter gentleman is afraid the former will be promoted to Brigadier General, so you see he must not make any reports in his favor. There is too much of this spirit existing in our army, I am afraid, to do us any good. We will never end this war until we get men at the head of our armies with just enough ambition to win victories for the good of the country, and not everlastingly looking for promotion every time a bushwhacker is killed by a private in their ranks.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 12:00:00 +0000
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