I agree that the OR's both Army and Navy can be suspect at times, and that is what this whole discussion has been about regarding the PONCHARTRAIN. However, they are still the base reference to any study of the American Civil War. And as such have been taken as Gospel by many writers of inaccurate accounts. And then these accounts are repeated by later writers.

We must always remember that the OR's are usually first person accounts, in which the writer is often forwarding his information or making his comments with a limited perspective of other factors, and events that may have been going on right beside them. This is the same rule that we must apply to any other accounts, such as personal letters, and journals and even officials communications such as telegraphs and reports. Army commanders, even today, often transmit information that is in error, because they are not fully aware of the situation.

The last part of this problem is that many people read what they want to into these records and are not objective in their research.