The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1862-03-14
ccn. rrc,nont,. pctcMsc.

' N
mo, In orhcr to present, unhrokcn the de-
r,Ssp ol Gen. Fremont against the chnrg- .
rs nal nnputations of which he has been
Inc TARGET and which he has hitherto re-
cciyed in perfect silence. This defense
was made IN obedience to rcquisition oi
the Joint Committee Of the two Houses
OF Congress ON the Conduct of the War,
aud was originally submitted TO that Com ]
mittcc. Thrrc Gen. Fremont rested,
trus ting thet sense of justice would sug-
gcst 30 the Committee or 10 Congress the
proprioty oC ordering its publication. -
This hone hes ,h"s "a hv'n u's"pPulhteu
and. he remains to this day, in the eyes
Of large proportion of the COM
muniy, Major General suddenly and
p,rcmptprily stripped of his command,
dcpriycdof all opportunity for service, aud
officially accused of the greatest errors I
ard bl,,ndcrs. yet who has not word to- |
say IN his own Vindicaton
And, 80 long NJ the contest for National
existence scCmcd doubtful one, he felt
il his duty TO suffer in silence, enduring
rcproachcs that he knew to be unjust,
and loaded down with imputations which
a mere exhibition of public documents
would dissiputc. But the recent glorious
successes oi the Union arms would seem
to have dispellcd all necessity for lur-
thcr reserve. especially since he vlndlca-
ton is not based on the Impeachment OF
any one else. He arraigns no other CONF
lmender; blnmcs no one; hut is content
with showing that he did the best that
| the means at his command would allow,
and that the rcpulsc and death of Gcncr
al Lyon near Springfield, and the cap
turc OF Nplligan ut Lexington, occurred
lundar circumstances that placed their re-
lief entirely beyond his power. lie pln-
ccs the official doc mcnts so fully aud
clearly before the reader that his adversa-
rics, ii such there shall be after reading
his statement, will fnd in those docu.
mgnts n the data required for full elu-
cidution of the subject. Let us briefly
Illustrate:
The battle of Bull Run was fought Ju-
lly 2lst, and its rcsuls were known to sew
lcn-cirhths of the American People be-
fore the next sunset. The Unionists
were profoundly dismayed aud depressed;
the Sccessionisis and their sympathzcrs
were cxtravagantly clatcd. The latter
irstinctively rushed TO arms in every
lauar,cr, confidently expecting 10 drive
the Uniunists out of the Slave States and
Federal District forthwith. In Missouri,
they numbered thrcc-lourths of the men
nc ccustomcd TO the use OF arms, with the
| Governor ut their head, aud the full Mili-
tury strength of Arkansas, under Ben.
. McCulloch, mastering q their aid.
l Gen. Fremont left New York to take
J, command of his Department the day uf.
c ter Bull Run. lie reached ST. Louis on
the 25th. The thrcc-month's men who
formed the bulk of his forces were lust
dispensing, their term Of enlistment hav-
b z expired or being about to expire. Ma
+ my il not most OF them had never seen the
$ face Of a paymasiCr; few were inclined
to re-cnlist at that gloomy crisis. Heavy
rebel forces were threatening Cairo
Springfield, and other important places,
? with tho confident expectation of soon
: capturing, not only Jefferson City Tut st.
Louis, which was itself a hotbcd of bare
, ly reprcssed treason. There were not AT
p, that moment half so many troops at his
command as there were rebels pressing
I upon him; while arms, munitions, trans.
: portation, were not to be had ON any
terms.
Thousands of brave soldiers lay fol
weeks in camp idle and useless for wan
of arms and equipments, while positions
: were abandoned and rcvorsos sustsnct
for the lack of their services. The vcu
arms which Gen. Fremont he'd purchas,
in Europe, and which arrived at this por
after his departure for tho Wtst, were di
: verted to Washington by his superiors
y leaving him weaponlcss. To have suvct
Lyon with the force at his command, hC
must have riskcd and probably sacrificed
: both Cairo and ST. Louis. In the midst
u oillis efforts to relieve Col. MulignD ant
n save Lexington, he was ordered, by tclc
a. graph, TO send FIVE of his best regiments
to Washington, and had no choice but o.
bcdience, though that was like tearing
4 out his hcart-striDgs. The forces whicl
he ordered from all directions TO the re-
, lief of Mu!ligan were unable TO move ol
y failed to arrive in season; in some in
stances, his orders were not received un
d ill long after they should hive been
G And finally, when he had created an ei
fectiye army, and taken the field agains
Price, who rctreuted before him, and had
J. / defiance of the sanguine predictions o
his professional detractors, crossed th,
!. Osage and pursued The flying rebels /,
d Springfield, he was superseded just as h,
was on the point of bringing Price TO 1
battle, and ordered TO report himself n
Q st. Louis without delay. Thus endeC
T his command and his campaign.
I by the great body Of our Wcst-Point.
graduated officers, Gen. Fremont wus
prcjudgcd and foredoomed to fail; while
portion Of the Press pursued him from
. the outset with u rancor which it seemed
| impossible TO augment; yet, after the
publication of his Proclamation proffcr.
, lug freedom to tho slaves of rebels 10
arms against the Union, IL was augment.
ed. No other commander has been pur-
sued with such implacable malcvolcnce
"a hostility which even his removal has
not sufiiced TO satinte.
The letters and dispatches appended Ia
, Gen. Fremont's defense are a perfect
magazine for the future historian. II
S ems imp sible, even to us, whose cxpe,
rence is so recent and our recollection
so vivid, to realize the Valley OF the Shad-
ow of Death in which we were cropping
in August and September last God
grant that days so dark msy never again
lower over the American Republicl-N
Y. Tribune.
a. n.