The New York herald., 1862-11-13
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posterity will review this portion of the work
and do him justice. No matter what his de-
tractors may assert Mcclellan has already
justified all that his friends have claimed for
him, and proven himself one of the greatest
military geniuses and purest patriots of the age.
quickly from subordinate to supreme COM
mand No man, from Cincinnatus to Washing
ton, ever relinquished that command more
nobly or more grandy sacrificed all personal
feeling and selfish ambition upon the altar Of
his country McClcllan's farewell to bis army,
50 graphically described by our correspondent
yesterday was one Of the most touching scenes
in the annals Of the world.
1t is no mere rhetorical phrase that likens
Mcclellan to Cincinnatus and Washington.
Like Cincinnatus, he was called from his pri-
vate pursuits to save his country, and he has
succeeded. Cover up this fact beneath senseless
abuse and er-po'te criticisms as you may, it is
still fact and cannot be refuted. There may
be those who now remember to forget the in
spiritiag and encouraging effect Of McCleilan's
dashing campaign in Western Virginia, where he
won the first Union triumphs Of the war, and
reported his victories in such rapid succession
that the people were excited to the same patri-
otic enthusiasm which animated his little,
valiant army. There may be those who forget
that terrible crisis of the country when our
forces, under Mcdowell, were retreating from
Manassas, and the capital Of the nation was in
the power of the rebels, and who forget also
that Mcclellan rapidly reorganized our routed
and miscellaneous army, and soon surrounded
Washington with system of impregnable for
tiications. There may be those who forget
that, when radical intrigues had before dis
graced Mcclellan and withdrawn him from the
peninsula, Pope and bis army would have been
captured and Washington lost had not McClel-
Ian reinforced him with veteran troops and
protected his retreat to the Potomac There
may be those who forget that Mcclellan, recall
ed to command, took this mutinous, this shat
tered, this disorderly remnant of an army,
marched Immediately upon the victorious rebels
under Lee, organized his forces as he went, de-
feated Lee at South Mountain and Antietam,
delivered Maryland, and for the third time
saved the capital and the nation For
getfulness cannot obliterate the record of his
tory, however. We, like other republics, may
now be ungrateful, and the members of the ad-
ministration, who, but for Mcclellan, would
now be Gagged at Richmond, may doom
our best generals to retirement; but the verdict
Of the world speaks in the Prince de Joinville's
admirable pamphlet, and vindicates Mcclellan
from all our ignorant consumers.
Nor is Mcclellan unlike Washington in this
that he Is great general and perfect patriot,
and that he has been most falsely and basely
maligned and abused. Washington, however,
was not forced from his command by his enc
mics, though at several periods such misfor-
tune seemed probable. There were ignorant.
foul-mouthed radicals during the Revolutionary
war, just as there are during this contest. Nc
Clellan has his Horace Greeley; but Washing
ton had his Tom Paine. Greeley only initiates
Paine when he derides and assails Mcclellan.
Paine found fault with Washington's military
skill, demanded his removal, styled him
"Mistsr" instead of General Washington,
charged him with connivance with all sorts Of
crimes, and, in short, originated that style Of
attack which Greeley now so poorly plagiar-
ICES. What is the reputation Of Washington
now, and what is that of Tom Paine, his de-
tractor? What will the reputation Of McClel-
Ian bo fifty years hence, and what will be that
Of Greeley, the Tom Paine Of this era? Patri-
otism endures when fanaticism and political
hatred are annihilated. Mcclellan is still very
young man, and can afford to wait. He will
outlive his accusers and their accusations.
And, after all, Of what is be accused! Simply
Of being conservative. The order for his re-
moval was dated on the day when the ews Of
the results Of the late elections reached
Washington. General Hallecks letter re-
bearses the details of certain difficulties
about supplies; but these difficulties
were removed, and they did not remove McClel-
Ian. There are rumors of orders issued in
October which Mcclellan disobeyed; but his
removal did not follow for over a month after,
and his disobedience had long since been can
celled, If it ever happened, by his subsequent
activity. 1t is said that he was too slow; but
long before his removal he had begun to move
with remarkable rapidity, and when retired he
was within week of Richmond Besides. If he
were too slow, why appoint the cautious Burn
side in his stead, and not the fast Pope or the
faster Fremontf No; the removal of Mcclellan
was a political, not military necessity, and
was intended to Offset the conservative triumphs
at the elections.
In the course Of time this political necessity
will pass away, and Mcclellan will either again
lead our armies or be at the head Of the nation.
Such man as he cannot be crushed by SLAM
ders any more than the sun can be extinguished
by q breath. That he is great military genius
Is proven by his deeds, by the unanimous testi-
mony Of European military critics, and by the
affectionate esteem and devoted love of his SOL