The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-09-13
General SIgeiin Fridays and saturAsy,s
BatIle0.q u,a at -


General sIxeiin Friday,sI and saturAay,s
/. Sigel's generslship is not flower Of sudden
bloom. At the beginning Of our struggle he
was already veteran, fully experienced in the
arts Of active warfare. We are not surprised
therefore, Of the prominent position which he
assumed in the critical battles Of last Friday
md Saturday. 1t was no slight token Of con.
fdence in'his leadership that at such time he
should have been entrusted with such respon-
abilities. In the entire conduct of the actions
of those two days General sigel appears to be
the master mind, originating the plans and con-,
trolling the movements to which whatever sue.
cess We had ID to be attributed. zsv 81 b!:av
roi General Sigels tactics on this occasion were
40 admirable that they make the battles in
which he engaged intensely interesting, even
apart from those other conditions which give
them such momentous Significance 1t will be
Remembered by our resders that he had just;
come up from the Rsppahannock, where he had
for four days held the advance under heavy
fire, sad where tor he Asd displayed such
marked traits Of generalship, "a have, rarely
been shown in this wars Foritwo days he has
been upon the march; and, then. after rest Of
only four hours, he sgain took the advance in
the most momentous struggle which our arms
have wsged with the rebellion %
No precsution was overlooked ~ him which
might guard against defeat or ensure success
The General was not miles In the rear, ready
to come up only after the engagement was over,
70 congratulate his troops and 70 pen . brilliant
dispatch; he was on the field, aequainting him.Y
self with every important position: and long be-d
fore the light could reveal His operations 70 d
willy foe, every batter wss stationed under his,
own eye and BY Ills own direction. The enemy
received NO warning save that given by the roar
made at random; scouts, were sent out in every
direction .nal.a day long they gsnttorth and
to their General, who found time for
caution even in ths utmost fury OF the contest.
His march Vas rapid, but at every step his
troops were undeYacoySrio Of their ARTILLERY. -
When the enemyoBas engaged, his bsttalions
we're broygh: mp in perfect order, and precise.
" at the time and place, they were most needed.
Uader such leadership there was no tfaltering. 7
BY skillful msntgement one brigade relieved
aH6ther, and nothing WAS lost BY delay At
night, although the enemy fought under cover
gained upon hl' position and
Nor Svss sigepse management on SATURDAY.
any less 'creditable than oniths previous day,
although the enemy had been heavily rein,
forced. Unfortunately, through mistaken or
wilfal disregard Of General Sigel' instructions,
Gsnsral Mcdowell advanced improperly upon
the enemy, and was, compelled to suffer q ter.
rible repplse Sigel's orders we're that our
forces SHOULD maintain their position and await
the attack; but Mcdowell, ii sissaid, did not
heed theseinstructions, and thus the repulse of
. whole division; the slaughter, of Slocum's
brigade, the necessary reinforcement of Nc
Dowell from Porter's division, tended to weak.
en- and sdisarrange our admirable position at
the beginning. 10 let the result of the days bat
tie was far more satisfactory than Was at first
believed; and only q slight advantage over us
was gained by the enemy. Now that We have
been strongly reinforced, even this advantage
is wholly lost toithem. For the delay which
eur retreat upon Csntreville occasioned, while
it was, fruitful of benefits TO ourselves, was
ruinous to the rebel forces, hemmed in as they
are between our army and the mountains, at
distance from their sources Of supplies. 4
s Our, German adopted citizens may well be
proud of their representative; nor will the fact
that he is foreigner by birth either lesson or
chill the native admiration of his qualities and
services. Even if sigel were At The head of
our armies, the amour sproprs of Americans
would not be much disturbed. The military
hero of France was q Corsican, The man Who