The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1862-12-17

G ,nsral thought of intrusting to it alens
the Gloucester expedition. But this in
tention was renounced."
A regular siege of Yorktown now be-
came necessary, but We omit t!e details of
this as already familiar to the public
The Prince shows that General Mo Clellan
was always anxious to bring on decisive
battle, as he regarded victory as neces-
sary means to secure peace.
The constant interference to his de.
signs to this end, induces the belief that
there existed dominant power at Wash
ington which favored a prolongatioE of
the war, and therefore thvarted the in
tentions Of the General, in this respect, by
Icrippling his resources and weakening
his command 5iyio
The battle Of Williamsburg, and the
conduct of General Hooker, who is eulo-
gised as "an admirable soldier" are then
described and full merit is awarded to
General Kearney. After the battle, the
siege of Richmond fairly commenced, and
of the situation at this time we find the
Following: sri
"Cavarly reconnoisances pushed in all
directions demonstrated that nearly the
whole hostile army had crossed the Chick
ahominy, and everything indicated that
we should meet desperate resistance un-
der the walls of the Confederate capital
Prisoners had been taken who belonged
to corps which had up to this time been
stationed Opposite General Burnside in
North Carolina. 1t was plain that this
corps Joined the Army of Virginia. We
soon learned of the evacuation of Nor
folk 1t was manifest that Davis could
only have made this sacrifice in order to
bring Huger with his Is, 900 men to Rich
mond. Finally the Confederate chief had
ordered a levy en- nsasse of every man able
| to bear arms. X X * 4 X
"The result of all this threatened the
Army of the Potomac in its onlysuperiori-
ty, that of numbers. Unhappily, too,
while the enemy was concentrating and
Strengthening his forces. ours were fading
away. We have already seen at Alexan-
dria division detached and sent to Ere
mont. Before Yorktown we had lost two
other divisions under Mcdowell We
had since left gerrisons in Yorktown
Gloucester and Williamsburg. We had
lost men under FIRE and by disease, as well
as by struggling. Nothing came to fill uI
the gaps. When an. American regiment
marches to the war it goes as whole, ant
leaves behind it no depots of recruits tt
restore its ranks as they are wasted away.
i After the news of the ruin of the Mer
rimac and the evacuation of Norfolk, tn,
Prince thinks that General Mcclellan
might perhaps advantageously changed
its base to the James river; but herr
again the evil of depriving him of thu
supreme command by precluding any cor
Z dial cooperation Of all the forces became
!, manifest, and rendered the success of tn
movement more than doubtful. Besides
| it was impossible for General Mcclellan
to foresee the juno freshets, or thateight
thousand men would be detained idl
around Washington and not GO operate i
: any way for the reduction of Richmond
On this subject the Prince De Joinyill
f speaks in indignant terms, and we com
!: mend the following to the especial attsn
9 ton of our readers: rs r..
d But here the responsibility is far fro1
e belonging to the Chief or to his army
S Who were the men who, driving them int
Q an untimely campaign, had so.revealed
9 the enemy operations not yet ripe for exc
), cution? Was Mcclellan responsible fc
) that want of unity in the ends and in th
! action of the Government which had tran
! meled the movements of the army sine
4 he had been deprived of the chief con
n mand and supreme direction of the al
It mics? Was Mcclellan responsible for tn
q Esystematic diminution of his forces, whic
il in the face, of the agglomeratioa of tf
l. forces Of the enemy, had successfully d,
e prived him.. since The campaign had oper
/ ed, of the division of Blenker and of twt
/ thirds of McDowelps corps, without SEM
le ing him one solitary man to fill up IL
y gap made by sickness and by the cannon
Is In. spite Of all these obstacles he hs
1T reached the walls of Richmond, but |
it had no longer the means Of striking Il
N great blow which probably would ha,
le ended the war. In a hostile country VIII
ID appears simple reconnaissance may Oft
n prove serious and general attack. The
. a large force is needed to guard again
le surprises and still larger force to secu
n lines of communication which cannot
g, broken without danger. Reinforcement
n. were needed Whence should they com
IN General Wool. from Norfolk, Burnsid
Id from North Carolina, might send son
ne men, but very few, while around Was
10 ington, more than eighty thousand we
n collected. OF these about ons-half we
rs making head against jackson in the Va
j. ley of the Shenandoah. The rest we
'n collected under Mcdowell at Frederick
r. burg, sixty miles to the north of Ricl
IN mond. They had rebuilt tho railw,
IN bridge over the Rappahannock and
ae three or four days they might have join'
as the army Of Mcclellan, They cover,
re nothing at fredericksburg, and were
IN notorieusly useless to the Federal eau
Of that in the Confederate journals they we