Weekly Trinity journal., 1862-11-15
General George B. Mcclellan.

mac. No man ever had so splendid an opporu-
nifty presented him to achieve imperishaole re-
nown, as this young General, aud no man, per-
haps, ever improved the golden moment to SO lit
tie purpose.
AT The age Of ttirty six be was raised by the
PRESIDENT iror. a subordinate position to the su-
preme Command of the grandest army the world
ever Eaw. The act was applandrd by condding
Patton, and he at once became the idol Of twen-
| ty millions of people. To him they looked with
hope and confidence to organize, discipline and
lead to victory the six hundred thousand brave
men who voluntarily crowded the ranks of the
Union army, aud cbeerf lily offered their lives in
defense of the flag of their country, then being
ruthcssly dshonorcd by traitor hands.
Up to the time Mcclellan was placed in COM
mand of the Army of the Potomac, his fame
rested upon bis success in Western Virginia In
that portion of the State the prevailing sentiment
was in favor of the Union. The rebel forces
were inferior in numbers to his own, and in no
instance voluntarily gave battle to McClelan's
subordnates-ior Gen. Mcclellan himself was
present at no battle in Western Virginia. The
battles at Phillippi, Rich Mountain. Laurel Noun
tain and Cheat river, were all fought and won
by his Generals in his absence, and some Of them
without his knowledge or orders. Several thou
sand prisoners were taken by them aud imme-
datey released by Mcclellan, to the great vexa-
| tion and disgust of his subordinates, who could
not see the point Of going through the farce of
swearing traitors and then turning them loose
to pile perjury on treason. One day soldier
brought rattlesnake to a captain in one of the
regiments under Mcclellan. and inquired what
he should do with it. "Oh, swear it," said the
captain, " and let it CO."
From July, 1861, to the appointment of Mr..
Stanton, Gen. Mcclellan had the control Of all
war movements. With a splenddy equipped
army of over two hundred thousand men. he for
many months permitted the insurgents with less
than half his number to blockade the Potomac
and belcaguer the Capital. Deceived by the
promise that a grand movement was about to be
made, his troops were prevented from erecting
winter quarters and compelled to habate il
canvas tents, while the rebels lived in comfort
able log houses.
Secret orders were communicated to all the
commanders by the President to go forward on
or before the 22d of February. In the West
which Mcclellan could no longer control, battles
and victories followed in quick succession Ken
lucky and Tennessee were quickly cleared OF
rebels. Bnt soon the hero of Donelson is ar
rested for driving the rebels from Nashville, by
} that great General of mastery inactivity
Don Carlos Buell., but Immediately promoted
and restored to his command by the President
At this time the troops under Gen. Mcclellan S
immediate command, was two hundred and thirty
thousand the rebels opposed to them was less
than eighty thousand Gen. Mcclellan was not
ready o obey the Presidents order, but opposed
the advance before the middle Of April. The
President finally gave the peremptory order, and
on the 10th OF March Mcclellan cautiously ad
y0noed under pr D[otest ten:ed HI d iqHd9a qgHd9a it aA &
tn', n1onnted with "Quaker guns anu .i
comn n collection of smoky ruin of this bar
dent faalin----iss vrrreoted an advance upon Rich
| mOnd, but left the plan of operations TO hi,
"young Napoleon" After two weeks Of vacil
lation had allowed the Confcderatcs to perfect
their retreat unmolestcd, Mcclellan announced
the startling plan Of reaching Richmond via
Yorktown. Though Disappearing the plan. the
President yielded upon the ASSURANCES of McClcl-
Ian that by this route he needed but one hundred
This number he took with bin, and forty thou
sand more followed as reinforcements. When he
| reached the peninsula Yorktown was held by
| seven thousand rebels, and instead OF moving at
once upon their works, as he was tclpgnphcd to
do by the President aud Secretary Of War, he
sat down and beseged it one whole month.
AT length he moved into the swamps of the
Chickahominy (not unlike the tnles of Sacra-
| mento,) where he saw the ghaslly spectacle of
his soldiers at the rate Of a regiment day lifted
delrious from the trenches they were compelled d
! to dig, the General doubtless being too tender of
rebel rights to permit their property in the shape
! of contrabands TO be used for such an unconsti.
! tutional purpose. In all not less than thirty five
! thousand died aud were prOstrated by the fevers
! of those swamps. Then came the battle of the
Seven Pines, but the commander of the army
was not present The Generals who had fought
and won the battle were anxious to advance at
once upon Richmond but were 0verruled by
Mcclellan. 1t subsequently appeared that the
rout of the rebels was n complete panic and had
they been pressed Richmond would have fallen
without resistance. Here the General held his
army in check till the rebels had concentrated
all their veteran forces, and then by sacrificing
thirty-fve thousand more of his best troous
much Of his artillery, and millions of Govern.
ment stores, succeeded in " changing his base of
! operations" OF the one hundred and siXtv
thousand he took to the peninsula he returned to
Washington with less than one hundred tbou,
sand. Then follow the successive battles of
Manassas in which Pope, with seventy thousand
men, is left to contend with the whole Confcder.
ate army, unsupported by the forces of Mcclellan.
In September comes the bloody but undecisive
battle OF Antihlam, both sides claiming the vic
tory. The rebels recross the Potomac with all
their plunder and stores unmolested, and nearly
two months more is spent by Mcclellan in get,
ting his army across the river aud advancing to
Smokers Gap, to find that the enemy had again
entirely eluded his pursuit Aud it was here ON
| the 9TH Of November, 1862, in obedience no doubt
to the demand OF a disappointed nation, the
President is compelled to issue his order reliev,
! ing our hero OF command
! The continuous failure to gain any decisive
victory or advantage over the enemy, no doubt
is less the fault than the misfortune of McCel-
Ian in being mistaken for great military genius,
when he is not, The President has certainly not
been Influenced in making the change by any po-
litcal considerations, as Gen, Burnside belonged
to the same school of politics as Mcclellan, both