Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1861-08-03
THE CABINET AND GEN. SCOTT.

max. Al. Cabinet unit upon It, If the Bairs and the
reeleye and the radical contemners OF experience and
science in military matters, are to bear sway, let be
uudispued Let them have full possession Of the Gov
ernment and take all the responsibility OF n ruin. II
not let them retire and give place 10 Of cooler temp
or and OF wiser heads The worst thing the President
can do In this crisis 10 hesitate and allow things to drift
at random, as they are now doing.
INCOMPETENT oTYIcERs
What is done now must be done wisely, az well as
promptly. The army must not only be collected, but
raniIsd Offered and disciplined II is not enough that
men with epauletes at the head of regiments. half
the disasters Of Sunday is due to the fact that Colonies.
Captains and Lieutenanis we're utterly unfit for their
places In many cases they svinced the most shame
u cowardce and in others the entire ignorance Of
their duties 1t indispensable that the Army should
have officers capable Of doing their duty, and in whom
the men conGde Without this without that habit Of
dscipl ned obedience which instruction alone can give
the Army will continue 10 be little better than mob
organized at the outset but converted into lying
upon the first revese Officers must be appointed here
alter for their military qualifications exclusively mot
for their local popularity their political services.
REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS.
stated in certain quarters that one result OF the
defeat at Bulls Run has been to intensity the dislike Of
gulaI officers to volunteer troops. We believe this TO
be srossy unjust There were comparatively few regu
lars iu the action of Sunday but far can learn
from personal observation the information of OTHERS
'ney ne'o Ho' ~ a - ~ hat;oI -. =; III;
esgerness TO go out In the affair Of Thursday the
airy composed Of regulars quit their positions twice with
an''niu6 III ~ .I - ~; -" - -; -
W. w. p;,..n, 49, Ia .s ror, ,ba
'no "s", - A.. .,.a.s 80 90, n;at, n,n,aorar
about dozen of these regulars the first to reach
the guard nearest Arlington aud IL they had not
been very properly stopped by the guard desarters
.ney Nouiu nA'o oe'N AH'oNS '"s "''' ~ y" a'D'
hg'o"' . ....,...
No.. - TIE ". Va 49,, ,...
den fas'erson Is sau " nave written PrNA's eV'
,SeuPanng' OF u!Is W e1'upa'e ninseh run uai,
IN permitting uen johnston 70 reufe from MS ro1' au
reach Manassas whereby the fortunes Oh tne uay IN Tue
recent battle were tuihea tue cneu o'aes ine
points oil deiehee OF tnis rennSyi'ania ueherai are
follows; uenera' johnston was strongly in'ieScneu u.
Winchester he had recently oeen reinforced oy troops
,aa ae HI. srmv IN IA Oo0 man be,ides 600 yir.
g;ni. militia making total of 40 600 men. On the
other band Gen. Patterson says he had less than 20 600
men, and OF these, nineteen Nere Nis" I
days Oh Tue u tnei, ,;t W anu ~ -
four o, these hau pTIi oee''nsa ~ sy oGs
onu tHs, ~ ..,.s ~ og.as;.a a,,,nds md
took wnehS ne could eAsily fske care or the
remnant Of his dissolving army
We give Gen Patterson the full benefit OF his state
ment. We hope, on q thorough investigation into tho
facts, there may be found reason to relieve Union Oh
so high In command and Entrusted with so important
department. from the general belief in his cowardice
or incompetsncy that now prevails. But we must say
that the excuses he is said to have offered do not carry
conviction 10 our minds III Ten Johnston was strong
y intrenched ut winchester when did he become so
Aftsr Cen Patterson had crossed the Potomac aud oe
cuped hartinsburg IL he bad then followed M john
ston, with the prestige Oh success "a success which he
wa: prompt 70 otoh 70 inc country cy eeg,aph, ana
Hncn zen oeo' was sVeA'eu feee,iug 'a' NC "aAe.
Tue rrssloeh1 up 70 .. num- NC Nou'u nave Preven'eu
tener d. DunEer ni'' "Hefe h''' e'opPeu' VI Suo'e
quShuy ~ "'n.nesN. ,,., 49,. A.,
"a =, Loro 49, .aoo;..S ~ az.
Iobns,on Sving him ,n ,rmx If Az GOO men Gen J.
conIJ have spb.,ted no mich srmv A. HE e,m,Ntbsrs
wa, no military reason for sanding such an srmy to
Johnson-and the withdrawal of Johnston to Manassas Is
evidence that the mass of the army of the Copfederaes
was needed elsewhere.
IRON me Nc" YORK world
BKrrrR OFFICERS.
The general order Of the War Department subiecting
all ofcsrs Of repimens IN an eramin atinn nv military
board strikes pontbsnk At the very WORT feature Of our
volunteer army The two late engagements demonstrated
most ncontestably that the officers in the main are not
a. well I'D 10 their mark az the soldiers to theirs Some
proved greatly deficient in military knowledge some in
noolne,t. ann. in decision and pyomn,iudr, some We
Ashamed 70 saw in con,age batteries were charged
directly in the front instead Of beno turned at IN.
Regiments were tbsown into the most exposed situations
without ,ny definite object Orders were given out of
time or held back altogether when absolutely necessary
In soma instances reckless impetuosty wa, shown in
others anchine that was posi,iyel, dseraoeful The
real wonder in fact is that these new volunteers fought
40 we'll aud accomplished so much. when 20 mapy Of
them we're poorly led.
This inferior character Of tho officers told worst on the
occasion of the panic II doe, not appear that the ma
io,i,v of th,m made scrons .,rt IN reassura Thai,
,roons and keen the r,nk, unbroken fsr were actin.
liz ,ba s., 40 80 90 siah, TIL, - u,,I. =, H., -