The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1862-04-03

THURSDAY
Gen. Prevent.
While the friends of Gen. Fremont reioic,
with soberjoy that he Is. It length justified
BY the act of the Administration, they ar
ready with reasons for the faith that is il
them It has never wavered. Two scriou.
charges, which cover al minor ones, hav,
bsen brought agains: him: extravagance
and Incompetence. They are easily An
swered.
Gen. Fremont was in command Of tn,
Western Department just one hundred days
He spent in money $4,000, 900, and he lef
behind him, according to the report Of /,
committee appointed to examine into hi.
expenditure, $40. .OOO, 900 more, making al
together $l4, 200, 900 for the whole period
Of his service. His time was almost entirely
. time Of preparation. Of the creation of ar
army, when the expense. is greatest, and in
aregion remote from the seat of Government
where he Was compelled to rely entirely upon
the resources Of his own genius. His com
,nand included quite one-half of the whole
area to be defended against the rebels. Now
the average expenditure for the whole army
has not been less than So, 600, 900 day, or
5000, 900, 900 for one hundred days. x0f that
two hundred millions Fremont expended
fourteen millions. We believe that had he
had ten days longer, he would, as. we will
show presently, have brought rebellion in
the West to precisely the point it is to-day.
But whether he would or not, the army he
created and brought into the field has, under
other generals, driven rebellion south of the
Arkansas line and down the Mississippi
nearly, fnot quite, to Memphis. His ex-
penditure is to the expenditure in tho East
ern Department, as fourteen millions of dol
lars is to one hundred and eighty-six millions.
Was he extravagant? And where, may we not
ask, would the rebellion be, had it been dealt
with on this side the .Alleghanies, as it has
on the other, in accordance with the plans Of
Fremont. and with the material which he
created We do not care for de ails, but
are satisfied with the grand result and the
measure Of his success.
Was he inefficient He was recalled
from his command at Springfield, and there
was not at that moment rebel in arms
north or east Of him, while Price and his
army were in that corner of the Missouri
whence Curtis has just driven them into
Arkansas and cut them in pieces. Would
Fremont have done the same thing What
might have been the chance Of battle we
know not, but this we do know-that Price,
believing him to have at his command only
about 10000 men, was about to attack him.
when he had thrice that number, and his
generals and troops, eager for the fray, were
Of victory. On the day that Hunter
took command he called . council Of war,
and every one Of his Brigadiers voted to ad-
vance. But Hunter, believing himself bound
BY orders from Washington, retired. Many
Of his troops went into wintass quarters
Price returned upon his footsteps, and again
ravaged all Of Western Missouri. Halleck,
who succeeded Hunter, was compelled to
take the field and do over again the work
that Fremont had done before, chasing Price
through the state, down to the precise spot
where Fremont had overtaken him two
months earlier. The army that Fremont
has followed Price into Arkan-
sas, dispersed his force. and driven it for
shelter into the fastness Of the Boston Noun
tains. Would not the same men have done
The same thing under their beloved leader I?
Was it efficiency or opportunity that Fre-
mont wanted
But it was not merely to deliver Missouri
rom Price that Fremont intended. That he
might 60 down the Mississippi, seize Mem
phis, and rescue Kentucky and Tennessee
rom the grasp Of the rebels. was . part Of
he plan ofhis campaign. The uselessness
IF the gunboats he had built made one OF
he charges Of extravagance and want Of
wisdom against him. These boats lay at
Cairo absolutely without recognised own
n after his retirement from command. The
would not resume them the
would not assume them, and
hey seemed destined to lie there rs useless
nulks. What they have done since, the
country has seen and we commit, We hope,
no breach Of confidence in saying that We
know that Gen. Fremont has, under the hand
of Commodore Foote, an enth lsiastic &C.
acknowledgement of his foresight. Fremont
seized Paducah, thus removing the line of
rebel defense tar inland. He would, had he
been permitted, have seized Columbus, in
like manner, and never have permitted that
to become . rebel stronghold. Had he CON-
tinued in command, he would have been by
the 1st of January as far down the Mississip.
pi - Halleck was in March, with the gun
boats that Halleck has used tor that expe-
iition. We say soould, for we believe that
The rebels who have fed before our arms in
February and March, would have fed in
November and December, all the more swift
y when they had no tarrying places at Dom
olson and Henry, at Bowling Green and
Island No. 10. which they had not then
time to fartify.
We touch lightly and cursorily on these
things, in passing, not caring to dwell on