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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 8, 1963)
Lg MONDAY. JULY 8. 1983 ee Escapes From Gettysburg MEDFORO MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OREGON By MERTON T. AKERS UPI Correspondent Lee stole a march on Meade after the battle ol Gettysburg. All day on the Fourth of July 1863 the Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, and the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. Lee, Jay exhausted on the parallel hills of Cemetery Ridge and Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg after three days of fighting. Both were con. tent to call it a day and to sort out the wreckage, hu man and material, of the Civil War's bloodiest battle. The weather was rainy. A smog lay over the battlefield, POWERFUL PLUNGER CLEARS CLOGGED TOILETS in ajiffyl NEVER AGAIN that licit follr whan your toiltt overflows TOILAFLEX Toiler alUHQuI Pfungr Unlike ordinary plunger. Tbilitlei does not permit compressed air or mmy water to sptaah bock or escape. With Ibilaflex the full pressure plows through the clogging mass and swishes it down. Can't misst otsioNtD to nrx at any anolc RECESSED RIM TRAPS AIR WATER CENTERS ITSEIF. CANT SKID AROUND TAFCREO TAIL GIVES AIR-TIGHT f IT Canulna Toilaflax AT HAIOWADI nOlIS (VKYWHIM part gun-smoke, part natural fog. It was no day for light ing and everyone seemed grateful. (Tomorrow the first of the never-ending line of tourists would arrive at the Gettysburg battleground on an excursion train from Har risburg. Pa.) Lee and his army were in a tight spot. He had lost th biggest and climatic battle of the war a fact not fully realized at the time. But as he had done at Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lee defiantly held his army in battle posi tion for a full day in the face of superior numbers before he began to retreat on the night of July 4-5 through the mountains of south central Pennsylvania and western Maryland toward the Po- tomac. Short of Ammunition As the crow flies he had about 35 miles to go to reach the river at williamsport, Md., about five miles south west of Hagerstown, Md. He was short of ammunition and provisions. He was burdened with wagon trains of wound ed. His losses at Gettysburg about one-third of his force and straggling and desertion had thinned his retreating army to little more than 35 000 men. His problem was to reach and cross the river before Meade, moving parallel, could cut him off. His chances of doing so seemed slim. The Potomac was running high and the rains were making it higher. . Meade mover his army cautiously and slowly. He was under orders from Washing ton to fight on the defensive and to keep his army between Lee and the capital. He had two choices. One was to chase Lee's army west through the mountain passes, which likely would be fortified and de fended. The second was to slant to the southwest through Maryland and cut off Lee around Hagerstown. On the basis of scanty in formation about the position of Lee's army, he chose the second route but lost a full day in making the decision Lee made the most of Meade delay and pushed his army hard through the mud and rain. Suffering of the Confcder ate wounded in the convoy of wagons was intense. Brig. Gen. John D. Imbod den, commanding the convoy described the trip: The column moved rap idly, considering the rough roads and the darkness, and from almost every wagon is. sued heart-rending wails of agony . . . Scarcey one in hundred had received . ade quale surgical aid , . Many of the wounded . . . had been with-out food for 38 hours. Their torn and bloody cloth ing, matted and hardened, was rasping the tender, inflamed and still oozing wounds. Very few of the wagons had even a layer of straw in them and all were without springs. Convoy Attacked The convoy was attacked several times by Federal cavalry. At one point citizens set upon the wagons with axes and cut the spokes of the wheels. At another point 100 wagons were captured. When the convoy reached Williamsport, Imboden forced every family in town to cook for the wounded. By July 7 Meade's army was slogging southwest through the mud and rain along the same -roads in Maryland that they , had marched north over in the dust only a week or so before. That day Meade rode into Frederick, Md., where he had assumed command of the army, to the plaudits of the loyal citizens and went to a hotel for a bath. Then he wrote to his wife: "From the time I took com mand (July 28) until today (July 1) I . . . have not had a regular night's rest, and many nights not a wink of sleep, and for several day did not even wash my hands and face, no regular food, and all the time in a great state of mental anxiety, in deed, I think I have lived as much in the time as in the last thirty years." He also asked her to send him two pairs of eyeglasses. Wagon trains from West minister, Md., the Federal supply depot, brought in new uniforms, shoes and other equipment and important sup. plies of ammuntion. The federals pushed on over the mountains west of Frederick and by July 11 be gan to skirmish with the Con federates south of Hagers town above the old Antietam battlefield. Washington was prodding Meade to hurry and strike Lee's army on the north side of the Potomac. President Lincoln applied the spur. Peresident Anxious Mai. Gen. Henry W. Hal- leek, overall army command er, telegraphed Meade: 'The President is urgent and anxious that your Army should move against him (Lee) by forced marches." That was what Meade was doing but his caution and lack of information slowed him down. "My Army is and has been making forced marches short of rations and barefooted," Meade replied testily. On July 12 Meade had his army placed around Williams port for what he hoped would be the decisive blow. Late in I the day he was ready to at tack when a heavy thunder storm broke. About supper time the attack was called off. Meade met with his corps commandeis that night. He favored attack the next day, Only two of the commanders went along with their chief, Mai. Gen. James S. Wads- worth of the I Corps and Maj Gen. O. O. Howard of the XI Corps. The ultimate decision of the council of war was for more reconnoitering. The day before Lee had formed his army in an arc protecting the river crossing site at Williamsport. The Po tomac was still too high to wade. Lee handled the position ing of part of the army him self. 'I never before, and never afterward, saw him f thought visibly anxious over an approaching action," Col. E. P. Alexander, artillery of ficer, wrote, "but I did on this occasion." All day on the 13th Meade sent his troops probing into the Confederate lines in keep ing with the council of war decision the night before Too Lata For Action Late in the day General Howard sent word that he feared "Lee was getting away. But by then It was too late for action. Meade determined to strike the next day, the 14th. He did, but Lee was gone he had crossed the river on the night of July 13-14. Some of his men went over on an improvised pontoon bridge covered with branches to deaden the sound of marching feet. It was a rick ety bridge but it was good enough to carry two corps and the artillery. The other corps waded, the tall men standing in the deep part of the river and passing along their shorter comrades. Only a small rear guard was cut off and captured. Lee had escaped from Maryland again, thanks to the one day the Federals had dal lied as the river receded. Springfield Man Dies Aboard Boat Reedsport-IUPD-A heart at tack claimed the life of Gain Robert Ingle, 56, of Spring field Saturday as he was deep sea fishing off Winchester Bay. Ingle was fishing from an 18-foot outboard - powered boat when he was stricken. Two companions, George Sturgis of Eugene and Glen Taylor of Springfield, brought the boat back into the bay under Coast Guard escort. A doctor pronounced Ingle dead here. Agents Search For More Counterfeiters San Francisco - (UPD - Se cret service agents, working with soft spoken, machine- line efficiency, continued their search Saturday for more members of the nation's largest counterfeit operation. A series of quick arrests last week revealed that mil lions of dollars in bogus bills, described by agents as "near perfect," were run off on a small offset ipress in the base ment of the girls' gymnasium at Alameda State college across the bay. The Family Council tartar's no: The Pamirs' council consists ef J"de; tnychlatrlst, three clercymen, three editors and women s editor. Barn arUtle- U a summary of a JamUy dlsaireement presented to we Council. Tie Council deals with problems, major and minor, enc.unterod by guidance counselors and social workers. Edited oy Mrs. Ainu Denny. (Copyrlfht General restores Corp.) Mrs. B. Y. - At 72 he wants to buy the house we live in Mr. B. Y. - After twenty years here it spells comfort to me. Mrs. B. Y. - We are a re tired couple with modest savings and an adequate in come to continue living as we do now. The one-family house we rent is comfortable and wunin our means, but my nusrjana would perfer to own it. That's a wild idea what with school taxes and other charges going up. We have no school children. Why tie up our funds? Mr. B. Y. - Every nook and cranny of the house just fits us by now. It would be tor ture to have to move. Mv wife lust doesn't want to face the fact that if we don't buy the place, the owner will put it on the market and we'll be forced out. How will we ever find a place half as comfort able, near our friends? And we re so proud of the garden. 9 9 The Council - Is there anv- ming enmess, Mr. y., except time itself? Granting then that your present idyllic set up can't continue indefinite ly, the question is what's your best move to minimize the jolts when they come? We feel that buying the house you live in isn't it. You may be preserving those comfy corners for cushioning old bones, but you'll be taking on twinges where none now exist - namely new head aches. There's more to home ownership than holding the deed. Even though you use your savings to pay cash and have on mortgage interest to worry about, you enter the demon-world of taxes, insur ance premiums, maintenar-e bills, and assessments. While this may not faze you at 72, it may turn into a Dracula-mons-ter in five or ten years . . . Inasmuch as you arc free, why not look around? There must be other nice neighborhoods. Have an alternate house-and garden up your mental sleeve. Any lucky landlord who gets you for a tenant should pare the rent in return for what you, your green thumb, and your artistry do for his land. HEAD FOR HILLS Numata, Japan - IWD - So many Japanese mountain climbers swarmed Sunday over Mt. Tanigawa that po lice with walkie-talkies help ed direct the traffic. With thet climbing season at its sum mer peak, an estimated 5,500 persons were on the slopes of the 6,380-foot mountain 70 miles northwest of Tokyo. The mountain has claimed eight lives this year. stopfiad Breath Sweetens Mouth-Stomach 3 Tlmuv Faster Chew BeM-tns tablets whenever you think your breath may offend. Belt-ins neutrsliia acidity, sweeten mouth and stomach Ilka magic. No harmful drugs. Get Bell-ins today. 35C at druggists. Send postal to Bell-arts, Orangeburg, N. Y., for liberal fret umpia. C i w CLIFF ROBERTSON The Man Who Portrays J. RK. J. The actor who is playing the President of the United States is a young man who turned to the sea as a youth to escape the life of an orphan. Read the fascinating profile by Peer J. Oppen Jieimer of Cliff Robertson who is finally making it big by portraying John F. Kennedy as a young naval officer in the film "PT 109" in the coming JULY 14TH Weekend lssv of JFajmily TVeelcIy . . with yew copy of th Med ford Mail Tribune BIG Y MEATS ARE FRESHER D BD10GMA V-.. 'U J I USDA CHOICE Tasty Brand Any Size Piece Chuck Steak 49' Smoked Tenderized Shoulders Picnics 39 Kr...Ji6oL' 69 Grade AA Medium O dox. $ 1 00 IjJ for Pichwiet All Varietiei Frozen Dinners ..39 Pictswaat STRAWBERRIES Vkf' 5 for 99c Pictiweer LEMONADE 6-0.. Tin 8 for $1.00 ICECREAM Rogue Maid All Flavors ViGal. 69e FIESTA ICE CREAM Jorgensen's J2 Gallon TOMATO JUICE Stokley's California 46-oz. tin 5 for ELBERTA PEACHES Valley Bloom 2Vi tin SPRAY STARCH Ey.o ,5.o,r,39e ROOM DEORDOR ANT Air-Wick Req. 59c tin 19c We Give & Redeem SILVER DOLLAR Stamps; OPEN EVERY DAY 9a.M. to 9 P.M. WHITE SATIN SUGAR 25 $335 mm Sweet Juice Size BfG'Y' ifefKing of Tarts Iviryttiinf liked D A l C K I Rif hr tn th Stor . . . Not Frth Daily . . . Frash Hourly L CARNATION CREAMERY . 1 1 M W IW" mV m'-m jr" iu.,y .. APPLE SAUCE CUP.-CAKES a PERFECT DINNER ROLL POTATO ROLLS TANOY CHEESE BREAD FAMILY SIZE APPLE SAUCE CAKE FLAKEY CRUSTED HUCKLEBERRY PIE do, I9 1S-OI. of 29 97 49 X BUTTER i-i.nv.59 FLYING CLOUD CANNED nUSHROOMS o , 4 S1.00 ZEE TOILET TISSUE ... 39c GOLD MEDAL ENRICHED FLOUR ... ... 99c DEL MONTE TOMATO CATSUP 5 SI. 00 MARKET FANCY LONG GRAIN RICE .79e doz. REDUNER-JUICY FREESTONE PEACHES 1S LARGE SIZE BING CHERRIES .29' FIRM RIPE TOMATOES 29 SWEET FRESH CORN B-3&
