The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1862-08-28

Johnston in front of me in strong force, probab
greater good deal than my own. Hancock hs
taken to redoubts and repulsed Early's brigade b
a real charge with the bayonet, taking one Colon,
and hundred and fifty prisoners, killing at lea.
two Colonels and many privates. His conduct wa
brillia It in the extreme. do not know our exat
loss, but fear Hooker has lost considerably on on
lett learn from prisoners that they intend di:
putting every step to Richmond. shall run tn
risk OF at least holding them in check here, Will
resume the original plan.
My entire force is undoubtedly considerably ir
feror to that of the rebels who will fight well bu
VIII do all can with the force at my disposal.
g. b. MCCLELLAN
Major General Commanding.
He wonld try to "hold them il
check! He could not hold them. Fl.
would not stop his eager troops from
chasing them. After a small fraction
Of his army had whipped their entire
force and had been chasing them for
hours, he penned that dispatch and
sent it to the Secretary of War, and il
| remember Alright, it was read in one
of the two Houses of Congress. As
You may suppose from that dispatch,
there was no great eagerness in fol
lowing mp that victory. Three Michi-
gan regiments were not only decimated,
they were divided in twain, in that
bloody battle at Williamsburg. They
fought there all day without reinforce.
ments. One Michigan regiment went
into the trenches and left sixty three
dead rebels, killed by the bayonet,
weltering i'm their blood. But who has
ever heard, by any official communica-
ton from the head of the army, that a
Michigan regiment was in the fight at
Villa msburg? ! do not blame him
for not giving credit where credit is due,
for do not believe he knew anything
more of the Fl ght than you or /.
When that battle was fought and
won, all the enemy's works were
cleared away, and we had an open road
To Richmond There was not a single
ratification between Richmond and
Williamsburg. All we had to do was
to get through those internal swamps
march up, and take possession of Rich
mond. What did we do? We found
the worst swamp there was between
Richmond and Williamsburg, and sat
right down in the center of it and went
to digging. We sacrificed thousands
and tens Of thousands of the bravest
troops that ever stood on the face of
Gods earth, digging in front of no
and before q whipped
army of the enemy. We waited for
them to recruit; we waited for them to
get another army. They had levy
en- nadsse. They were taking all the
men and boys between the ages of FL
teen and fifty-fve, and magnanimously
We waited weeks and weeks and weeks
for them TO bring these forced levies
into some sort of consistency as an
army. The battle of Fair Oaks was
fought. There the enemy found again
A little fraction of our army, very much
less than half, and they brought out
their entire force. ] have it from the
best authority that they had not a sol,
tary regiment in or about Richmond
hat was fit to put in front of an enemy
hat they did not bring to Fair Oaks
and hurl upon our decimated army.
Again the indomitable bravery of our
roops, (nf the men, Of the private
'oliiers' indomitabe energy Of Michi
gan men and New Jersey men-but l
will not particularize, for all the troops
onght like lions and the fighting ca
,acity of our army not only saved it
iromb eing utterly destroyed by An over
force, but gave us triumph
mt victory. The enemy went back to
Richmond pell nell. i have been in
ormed by man who was there at the
ime, that two briga,les of fresh troops
could have chased the whole confedt rate
,rmy through the city of Richmond
md into the James river, SO utter was
heir rout and confusion.
And what did we do then? We
ound another big swamp, aud we sat
lown in the center of it, and went to dig
ying. We began to throw up intrench-
nents when there was no intrench-
nents in our front, no enemy that was
rot utterly broken. We never took
advantage of the battle of Fair Oaks.
A gain Michigan soldiers were cut to
,ieces by hundreds. Goin,o Judiciary
square hospital in this city, and you
will find more than half the occupants
are Michigan men who were shot at Fair
Oaks and Williamsburgh, men who
,tood until regiment of "a thousand
men was reduced To one hundred and
i've and even then did not run. Sir,
hese men have been sacrificed, uselessly |
.acriticed. They have been put to
lard digging, and hard fare, and hard |
lceping, and if there has been any |
,ard fighting To do they have been put
o that and, besides all this, at night
hey have hal To guard the property Of
ebels in arms. They have been SO
acrificed that two or three OF the Mich
ran regiments to day cannot bring intv
he field two hundred and fifty men
ach out of a thousand with which they
tarted.
Fair Oaks was lost; that is to say we
ION brilliant victory, but it did us no
God; we did not take advantage of it.
)f course it would have been very
nf;air to take advantage of routed
rmy; laughter; it would not have
zen according To our strategy"
We magnaninously stopped and com
lenccd digging There was no army
our front; there was no intrench-
rents in front but we did not know
hat else to do, and so we began to
ig and ditch, and we kept digging and
il fcLi,,r Null the rebels had impressed