The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-17 00:00:00

The Wilmington Failure—General Butler's
Explanation.

At a meeting at Lowell General Butler made the
following statement in regard to the Wilmington
failure :

" His Honour the Mayor, my friends and neigh-
bours, I propose, with your leave, to recall to your
minds what has happened to the army in the field,
and especially what has occurred within the nar-
rower circle where I have endeavoured to serve the
interests of the country since I left you a year ago
last November, called by the partial kindness of the
President to take command of the Department of
Virginia and North Carolina. Upon reaching
Fortress Monroe, and looking about to see what
duties devolved upon me, I found therein, in the
first place demanding immediate attention, 80,0t00e
freed men, women, and children, who had escaped
from slavery, and thrown themselves as wards upon
the guardianship of the United States. There was
no departmental organisation for their care, main-
tenance, protection, and education. My first duty,
then, upon assuming command, in the absence of
active military operations, seemed to be toward the
helpless beings thus cast upon our hands. I knew
what you would have said ought to be done under
the circumstances, and I did as I thought you would
have done. I established system, order, and organi-
sation of labour, so that the freed man who would
work could work, and those who would not work
might find means whereby they should work, and
o that every free man, woman, and child should
have what, thank God, we always have had in Mas-
sachusetts for all—food and raiment and protection
from the inclemency of the weather." (Appla .)
After reviewing the system of exchange between the
two Confederacies, the general continued :—" On
the Ist April last two large armies lay face to face
opposed to each other -on the Rapidan. A small
army of about 18,000 men, 6,000 of whom were
negroes, lay in and around Fortress Monroe ;
20,000 men more were ordered from the department
of the South to join that little army. Looking
over the whole field it seemed to me to be the part
of wisdom to move that army upon Bermuda
Hundred, and establi.hing there a base for opera-
tion as strong and as easily available as Fortress
Monroe—a base not to be interfered with or lost
while the war lasted—and where the army lies with
its hand fastened upon the throat of the rebel capital.
(Great cheering.) This proposition was submitted
to Gen. Grant and approved by him. This was done
on the 4th day of May, the Army of the James,
35,000 strong, with its artillery, its cavalry, and its
supplies for 30 days, was put on board ship, and
seemed at first to threaten the enemy up the York
River, within 30 miles of the capital, but within 24
hours that army was within 12 miles of Richmond,
where it has held its position ever since—a position
to -which it advanced without the shedding of a
drop of blood. On the same day the Army of the
Potomac, under the command of Gen. Meade, more
than 100,000 strong, started from the Rapidan, also
towards Richmond. I need not repeat what you all
know of the march of that army ; but I have a right
to say, because now it has passed into history, that
the intention with which that army set out on its
march was to move round the north side of Rich-
mond, above Mechanicsville, strike the James River
above the city of Richmond, and there, forming a
junction with the Army of the James, which was to
move up towards Richmond on the south side of
James River, get around the city on the south side,
and thus cut it off. Now, perhaps you can understand
what may have slightly puzzled you heretofore, why
the Army of the James was demonstrating toward
Drury's Bluff on the 16th of May, while the Army
of the Potomac was coming down from the Rapidan
on the north side toward Richmond. But the Army
of the Potomac never reached its destination on the
north side of the James, nor did the Army of the
James succeed in reaching the James above Rich-
mond on the south side. Indeed, there was no call
for the Army of the James above Richmond if the
Army of the Potomac could not join ; but if the
Army of the James failed to accomplish all
that it hoped for, at -least it met with no
disaster. We held the lines that we took up from
the Appomattox to the James, and we hold them to
this day—the advanced lines of all the armies ope-
rating against Richmond. (Renewed applause.)
Beside doing this, after fortifying our position, the
Army of the James sent 17,000 men to the aid of
the Army of the Potomac, and saved the battle of
Coal Harbour. Pass with me now to the next
movement of the Army of the James—the attempt
to take Petersburg on the 9th of June. Upon that
occasion the orders of its commander was not obeyed,
and the projected assault on Petersburg was not
made; but you will observe, if there was failure there
was no disaster. On the 15th of June the column
of the Army of the James having returned from the
relief of the Army of the Potomac, another move-
ment on Petersburg took place, which resulted in the
capture of the outer, and at that time only line of
defensive works around Petersburg, which works,
held by the Army of the James, are the advanced
lines of the armies operating upon Petersburg to
this day. The strongest of these works was cap-
tured by a skirmish line of negro soldiers, and no
troops have advanced a step beyond their position
in that direction, after seven months of siege. On
the 29th of Sept. the Army of the James crossed the
river in two columns, one at Varina, the other at
Deep Bottom. One attacked Battery Harrison, the
skirmish line being gallantly led by a Lowell boy,
Col. Donahoe, who fell wounded. That column
captured Battery Harrison, the strongest work of
the rebels in their 60 miles of entrenchments around
Richmond. On the same day, crossing at Deep
Bottom, the -10th Corps, under the lamented Bir-
ney, advanced its negro division, 3,000 strong, and
a column of the division with muskets right-
shoulder-shift' with not a cap on a single cbne of a
gun, charged through a swamp over a breastwork
covered by double lines of abbatis like a flash, in the
face of 800 rebels, who never stopped running for
five miles. The question as to whether the negro
would fight was there settled before the eyes of every
doubter in the army, and their masters from that
time forward asked not the question, " Will the
negro fight ?' but Will they fight for us ?' I have
thus enumerated all the assaults that were ordered
by the commander of the Army of the James
—one against a strong but ill-defended work,
Fort Harrison, and another against a very stormy
and well defended work. The assault made by
negroes was ordered for the high and noble purpose
of demonstrating for ever the capabilities of a race
in arms resting under every prejudice. The com-
mander of the army felt that for such a cause he
could take the responsibility of risking the loss of the
men by the assault, as they lay there as he rode past
them with their faces upturned to God in mute ap-
peal for His approval of the necessary sacrificein so
A
holy a cause. (Cheers.) And thus, my friends, I
felt that I had a right to say when I left the Army
of the James, I have refused to order the sacrifice
of such soldiers uselessly,' and I think the declara-
tion ought not to be taken as a criticism upon any
One, but simply as a statement of the facts of my
owu manner of conducting operations. On the Ist
October Gen. Lee, concentrating his forces, made a
very fierce and savage attack upon Battery Harrison,
in which the whole of a North Carolina brigade
was swept away, seven regiments being entirely cut
to pieces in a vain effort to retake what our forces
2
had captured on Sept. ,so that the Army of the
James lies safely entrenched
within
six miles
of
Richmond, which again is the
th
advanced position of
all our forces operating
against the rebel
capital.
best movement of the Army
of the James, except
that of Oct. 27, when it made a demonstrationanes, l
to-
ward Richmond, for the
purpose of holdinge
Po
enemy in their trenches while the Army of th
tomac attempted to turn their left at Hatcher's Run-
was that which has caused some little discussion in,
the community of late—the attempt on Wilmington
—to some of the leading points in regard to which
I now wish to direct your careful attention. As
early as August last a fleet under Admiral porter
commenced to assemble at Fortress Monroe. Imme-
diately upon the appearance of the fleet in Hampton
Roads, instead of any attempt being made to keep
the expedition secret, there commenced a flourish of
trumpets about it which is only equalled by the
cackling of a hen when she is about to sit on a single
egg. (Laughter.) So that nearly every man in