Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1862-12-16
DEMOCRAT 4 NEWS
The keieoryl Or General
VIC CIellNte.
OPINIONS OF THE ENCLlsu PRESS

!
is = melancholy commentary on the sys
TEN which may result in enthroning 10
position Of such immense responsibility
40 obscure and halt educated man lik.
the lawyer Of 1llineis. The. issue o
the notorious proclamation within /,
fortnight after his address to the Chica'
60 deputation was Of itself IN unparsl
Ieled proof Of his weakness and unfit
ness to rule. Mr.. Lincoln has now CON
mitted blunder almost equal TO his last
and likely to prove moro fatal. He ha.
superseded General Mcclellan. This j,
. terrible mistake, both in . military
and political point Of view. 1t 10 The
universal opinion Of Europe that Nc.
Clellsn is the most capable man among
the northern commanders.
Unlike most OF them he has received
military education. and he bad looked
on at real battles before this civil Wal
broke out. He is the only General in
tho North who has engaged with the
South on something like equal ,erms.
lie nearly won great battle At Sharps.
burg; he withdrew bis army in . very
skillful manner from the Yorktown Pen.
insula. Had it not been for McC Iellau
the war would have been over before
this. lie created, by the hard labor OF
over six months, . formidable army out
OF an undisciplined rabble. His Fabian
tatics may be blamed; SO were those OF
Wellington in the Peninsular war; but
this General, 90 popular with his troops,
90 unpopular with the New Workers who
sit at homo at ease and criticise the con-
duct Of canpa'Sns which they know
nothing about, has ct al events kept at
bay tho inevitable Issue Of war.
We confess, also. thst it weighs some.
what with us that General Mcclellan il
not only soldier, but christian and
gentleman. Ito permits no spelling VIC.
!cnce; he is no anti slavery propagsnd
isl, no tyrannizer over women, no muir.
dcrer OF prisoners. Neither do wo put
any trust in the reports Of his ambition,
in his designs to interfere in the civil
contests in the North. His circular to
his soldiers, agitated by the news Of the
great party conflict, in which he told
them thst it was simply their duty to
obcv the government, is couched in Ian
guage that does him infinite credit. This
leader Of no mean ability, this nearest
approach to leader tina, the North has
yet pr,daccd,is now contempt ously di.-
IN ssed-anJ why? Because, forsooth,
General Halleck is displessed with him
-aiawyer turned into bad i'm tation
Of soldier, who. having first tried fight
ing in Tennessee and has been souudly
beaten there, is now, by the inscruta-
bic wisdom of the government, INSTALLED
at Washington as ControlIer-in-Chief OF
al the northern armies. Halleck order.
ed Mcclellan, on October i, to cross
the Potomac and give battle to the foe.
Mcclellan declined to do 80 as he was
short OF supplies. Besides, 1t is notori.
Qua that his army has been so cut up and
denoralized at Sharpsburg, that to give
battle just then would have been SIM
ply t. court . defeat. Who can be SO
good . Judge Of these things as tho
General in the field, who alone is held
tor the failure OF bis opera
tons! Mcclellan is gone, and Burn
eide regns in his stead. The results OF
this policy IL is not difficult to forsee.
The results Of the policy recommended
by General Hslleck were seen in tho
disastrous defeats Of Pope and Mellow.
ell. The Northerners want great vic.
tory they will get great defeat.
From tho London Times. Nov. 22.I
The defenders Of Mcclellan have q
great deal Oh their side. Whatever he |
may be, it is certain that he has fougat
The only successful battles between the
main army Of the Federals aud Couted.
crates. Not only did he transform the
molly crowd which fled At Bull Run last
vesr into decent army, but, after the
disastrous retreat to the Potomac, un
Ter Gen. Pope, he took the command Of
he shattered troops, made Washington
'afc against an attack, marched against
he Confederates with rapidity v; ich
disconnected them, forced them to fall
pack on the Potomac, and, finally,
ought two battles, which ended in the
Of Maryland ty Gen. Lee.
It is nothing to say that tho victory
Was claimed by both sides. 1t is often
difficult to define what is . victory, and
u this case, though the Confedcrates
held their ground With success iu the
main encounter, fighting with fury un-
surpassed during the war, yet this vas
undoubtedly owing to their know edge
hat unless they did 80 they would be
destroyed, 90 skilfal and rapid had been
The operations Of Mcclellan. II, then,
We compare him with any other Federal
ieoeral, be does not suffer by the com
parison. Carthage itself could not have
been more impatient snd irritable with
ts Generals than Washington. Nc.
Do.ell, Mcclellan, Halleck, Pope, and
lhcn Mcclellan again, called in a mo-
nent Of agony. have successfully com
manded the Army of Virginia. Nov
Mr(,lal.o, 80