Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-12-18


BE enc WIS reads the voluminsus rspsrt1 of
Sestl's campaign in Mexiss can fail Co observe
the frequency with which special honorable
mention is made Of three ysung officers Of the
engineers. In bis first Dispatch giving an ac-
/ ceuRf Of tie capture Of Vera Cruz. Gen. Scott
| after sscribing the success Of this operation
mainly to the engineer 81hcers, sayss " If there
be anything in the form, position and arrange
/ ment Of the trenches and batteries, or in ths
msuRer Of their execution, il is dIs 70 the sbil-
/ ity devotion and unrsnitting zeal OF these
I officers" Prominent among these specially
named are, Csptsin r Z. Le, First Lieutenant
/ P. G.. T. y BsRuregaTd and BrsVet Second Lieu-
/ tenant Geo B. McCiellsn
! Lee seems 70 have been the spscisl fsvorits Of
the veteran geasrsl, and there is hardly single
/ dispatch in which his name is not h0nOraaly
mentioned. Perhaps this may be owing 70 the
/ fact that as he was the highest in rank the
direct execution Of the mere important duties
was committed to him. In the reports Of sub
/ ordinate officers, the names Of Bsssregard and
/ Mcclellan, with special eommsudstisns sf thoir
/ zeal sad sbiity, appear with about equal fre-
I qusHcy. We hays noted nearly thirty Instances
/ of honsrable mention Of each Of their naueg=
and that Of Lee is found qgits as frequsndy
mentioned, mainly BY Scott himself
In reading the reports Of the battles IN Mex
leo, aEd Temsmbeiugthep positions now occupied
.
dsuces are f0and Thus, AaerUder gives esDs-
cial credit to Summer, and Joseph Johnston IS
warm in his commendzti0n Of Reno. After the
battle Of CberubuscO, Major L5ri1g reports 10
bis immediate superior, Earl Van Dom: The
rifles were accompanied throughout by the dis
tinguishFd young lieuterants Beauregar3 smith
and Mcclellan, the two latter in command Of a
portion Of the engineer corps al, I am happy
to say, bore themselves with the greatest gal
lautry"
At Cherubusco 3IeCieIrn was under tie in
mediate command Of Lieutenant G. ". smith
subsequently, street commissioner in New York.
and now one Of the generals, the highest rank
in the Confederate service, superior TO maj5r-
general, and nearly corresponding 10 marshal iu
the French army. Smith is especially warm iu
bis commentator Of Mcclellan. He says
'' Lieutenant Mcclellan, frequently detached,
and several times il command Of the engineer
company, is entitled to the highest praise for
his cool and daring gsllantry on sli occasions,
in the actions Of the 18th and 2Jth" And
again;
TIE Rites. with Capt Lee, Of the Engi-
neers, were accommodating the same works, and
had gone TO our right considerably further from
the battery than we were" Mcclellan vas d.
rected to ascertain the posture of STARS, and
reported thst Lee was engaged with s superior
force. Il ordered Lieut.. Mcclellan" i" continues
Smith. TO report the result Of his operations 20
Gen. Twiggs He did so, and en- the recon-
mendation OF Leuts. Stevens and McCisllar.
in which concurred, the 1st regiment Of artil-
lery was ordered 70 support the Rifles. I have
every reason to be more than satisfied with the
daring gzIanry Jt Lieuts. G. 3. Mcclellan aud
J. G. Foster, and am much indebted to them
Tor the efficient manner in which they performed
their arduous duties on the I9,h and 2Jth Of
August"
Al CheJu5uscJ, Mcclellan was also under the
immediate command Of Smith who in bis re-
port to Capt. MackzlL, the Confsderass General
Maekal, We suppose, who was killed near Cor
inth,) says 80 Lieut. G.. B. Mcclellan Of the
Engineer company, am indebted l5r most i'm
p0rtsnt services. both as An engineer and com
paay officer. Ills daring gsisniry, always con
splcUJUs, was never more clearly snOWu than
on this occasion. Operating most Of the time
separately, l relied implicitly on his Judgment
in all matters where / was not present. and am
happy 70 ,aY that the result in every case jlsti-
fed his decisions"
The careful reader Of tbs whole series of dis-
patches respecting the calpaign in Mexico, VIII
come TO the conclusion that the three men who.
after the veteran c0nmanilng general, displayed
the highest military talents were the three
young officers Of engineers-Lse, Bssurerar1.
snd McClellan BsaErsgsrd has not, on the
whole, justified his early promise ia ss high q
degree as the others though 1t may be dlubted
whether the reason is not to be found IN the sal-
ousy Of the ConfsjsTa.e Authorizes rather than
in sHy want Of capacity on bis part. Lee and
Mcclellan are virtually at the head Of the tT0
armies Of the North and the South, snd By the
almost unanimous consent Of both sides, they
are the most capable men to I'LL these posts. So
far as We can now judge, from the combined re-
suit # the whole series of Opsrsti0ns in which
they have been Pittsd against each other, Ne
Cellan has shown himself the superior His
campaign in the peninsula resulted Unfsyorsbly,
it is true, but the unanimous verdict Of ihe
country IS thar this vas owing to his plans being
thwart-d by men without any competent mill
tary knowledge. The success Of his operations
in Maryland, where he has bad urc9lH0lIed au-
th0rity vindicstss tie highest claim for military
capacity which bis friends have ever advanced
for him.-H1yBsr's Wssdg.