Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-11-20
Why Mcclellan was Removed.

IL is stated, some Oi tue fcdsUho WHY tho
president has concurred with his military
advisers in making the recent important
change in the command of the army Of the
Potomac.H teiv .ztivo4g aaii -. '3sfau 1
~ WAsHrSaroS, October %. 1862.
Hon. E. NJ. Stanton. Secretary of War
SIN: In reply to the general interroffato
ries contained in your letter of yesterday,
have the honor to report. First. that req
uisitions for supplies to the army under
Mcclellan. are made by his staff officers on
the chiefs of bureaus here-that Is. the
quartermaster supplies. by his chief quar-
termastcr or qnartermaster- general. for
commissary supplies by his chief commits
sary on the commissary general. saes
No such requisitions have been. to my
knowledge, M made upon the secretary of
war. and none upon the general chief.
Second On several occasions Gen. Nc
Clellan has telegraphed me that his army
was deficient in certain supplies. All
these kilograms were Immediately reported
to the head OF bureaus, with orders to re-
port; it is ascerteined that in every instance
the acquisitions have been Immediately
filled, except where the quartermaster- gen
eral had been obliged to send from Phila-
del ohia certain articles of clothing, tents.
&c. mot having full supply here. There
has not been, so far as it could be ascer-
tainct,, any neglect or delay in any de-
pa,tment or bureau in issuing all the sup
plies asked for by Gen. Mcclellan or by
the officers Of his staff Delays have oc-
Cured in forwarding supplies by said road
on account Of the crowded condition of
railroad depots. or Of a want of a suffi
cient number Of cars. but whenever noti-
fled Of this fact agents have been sent out
to remove the difficulty. Under the excel
lent superintendence Of Gen. Houpt. think
these delays have been less frequent and of
shorter duration than is usually the case
With freight trains. ~ s.. .rn ~
An army of the size of that under Gen.
Mcclellan will frequently be for some
days without the supplies it has asked
for on account Of a neglect in making
timely acquisitions for them and unavoid :
able delays in forwarding them and dis
/ tributing them TO tho different brigades and
regiments. From all the information that
can obtain. am of the opinion that the
ieouisitions from that army have been fill
ed more promptly. and that the men. as a
general rule. have been better supplied than
in the case Of our armies operating in the
West. The latter have opperatei at much
greater distances from the source of sup
plies. and have far less facilities for trans
portation. In fine. / believe that no ar
mics in the world in campaigning have
been more promptly or better supplied
than ours.
Third. Soon after the battle Of Antie-
tam. Gen. Mcclellan was urged to give
me information of his intended movements,
in order that il he moved between the ene-
my and Washington the reinforcements
could be sent from this place. On Octo-
Der 1st. finding that he purposed to ope-
rate from Harper's Ferry. urged him to
cross the river at once. and give battle to
the enemy. pointing out to him the disad-
vantages of delaying until the autumnal
rains had swollen the Potomac and inn
paired the roads. ...f. ..-..f.
On the 9th of October he was peremp-
torily ordered to cross the Potomac and
give battle to the enemy. or drive him
South. l said to him, "Your army must
move now. while the roads; are in good
condition." 1t will be observed that three
weeks has elapsed since that order was
given. ''''
Fourth. In my opinion there has been
no such want of supplies in the army un-
der General Mcclellan as to prevent his
compliance with my orders to advance up
on the enemy. Had he moved his army
to the south side of the Potomac he could
have received his supplies almost as readi-
ly as remaining inactive on the north side
| = Fifth. On the seventh of October. in a
telegram in regard to his intended move
ment, Gen. Mcclellan stated that he would
require at least three days to supply the
1st, 9th, aud 9th corps. that they needed
shoes, and other indispensable articles oI
clothing as well as shelter tents. No
complaint was made to me that his army
requisitions had not been filled. and il
was inferred from his language that he
was only halting for the distribution oi
his supplies. On the ]1th of October he
telegraphed to me that portion of bis
supplies. sent by railroad, had been delay
ed AS already stated agents were being
sent from here to investigate this COM
plant. and they reported that everything
had gone forward. On the same date,
the 11th. Gen. Mcclellan spoke of many
Of bis horses being broken down by To-
tigue. On the 18th of October. he com
planned that the rate of supply. was only
$50 horses per week for his entire army,
there and in. front Of Washington.
Immediately directed the quartermas-
ter general to inquire into this matter. and
report why larger supply was not fur
nished to Gen. Mcclellan. Gen. Meigs
reported to me on the 18th of October, that
the average issue OF horses to Gen. Nc
Clellan's army in the field and in front OF
Washington. for the previous six weeks
had been l. .459 per week. or 8.454 in all.
In addition he reported to me that large
number Of mules had been supplied. and
he number of these animals with Gen. Nc
Clellan's army on the Upper Potomac. was
over 3. 100. He also reported to me that
he was then sending thai army all the hor-
scs he could procure. 49,.
On the 18th of October, Gen. McClel-
Han stated in regard to Gen. Me;gs' report.
that he had filed every requisition for shoes
and clothing: That Gen. Meigs may have
ordered these articles to be forwarded. but
they might as we'll remain in New York or
Philadelphia. SO far as my army is con-