Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-11-21

assembling Of Alexandria. At last khey we
a assembled, and the5ofder came TO embark. Bl
mere new misunderstanding awaited the Gel
etai 40 had been promised transports whit
, could convey hfty thousand men at . time. 4
,o9na Veassls hardly equal to the, eonyeyance
aalt tnat number. Instead Of moving at once,
McSlelian had intended, o Whole army, with /
eauipage, number Of trips he'd to be mad
Ine em6arkstiou began March II. The fore
Spnslstee Of eleven vdlyieions of infantry, eigl
tnousand TO ten thpnssnd strong; one divislo
of regulars (infsntry and cavalry, six tbousap
artillery. il,.'1.. "a .
1.-THE total effective force may have been on
hundred and twenty thoussnd men. At th
moment OF departure whole diyision vac d.
tached. We know not why, to form an indepsnd
ent command under Gen Fremont, Ia Oh
mountains OF Virginia We shall Gee the Po
tomac army undergo other not less inexplicab
diminutions. But we anticipate At .sF .,
"a fortnight was required to move the srmI
20 Fortress Monroe. This point was chosen be
cause the spparltion of the Merrimac, and he
tremendous exhibition Of her strength, hat
made IL imptssible to regard the Federal nav
as absolutely mistress of the waters of Vii
hMlh. u % 43sV as 4sfl t-s.s .,if + an ~
The Pfince then shows how the presence o
the Merrimac, BY deprivlng US for a shorttiin
OF the absolute commend Of the waters of Vfr
ginis, converted sure and rapid moyemen,
into long and dangerous campaign. OF sub.
sequent operations he says.
"We were here twenty four miles from York.
town, and we could nct learn what wofksstlie
enemy had thrown up, nor what was his force
within them. This was the more amazing, thai
Fortress Monroe had always been heldlby q
strong garrison, which ought to have been able
to obtain some Information or make some re-
connoissance In this direction. Bot By G etraDge
alteration, this fortress, nov became the base Of
operations Of the army OF the Potomac, had
been specially seques!ered from the command of
Gen. Mcclellan, together with Its garrison, al
though the General In command OF IL was his
Inferior In rank. Hence arose military suscepti-
bilities, which we're by no means favorable to
the exchange Of confidential Communications.
$50 the army Of tho Potomac moved on 10
tho dark toward Yorktown Wewere twodays
o the fosd. The column Of the Genefal.in-
Chief had passed come fortified positions aban-
doned by the enemy A few hofsemen were 90
casionally seen at rare intervals. No sooner
had We come under the walls Of Yorktown, ),
than we we're arrested by the, cannon" :,
The difficulties OF tbe situation caused by
the flooding Of the country by the rebels ore
described, but with these facts oar
readers have been familiar long since. We
are then afforded an insight into Ger. McClel-
lane plans, and their arrangements by the blum
deriDg of Washington Offlcials The Prince
says: .. r7 -.a.issa .e. T..
SIN order 10 gain time and Ayoid the tedium
Of siege, Gen. Mcclellan had thought out the
neaus of turning the petition. The edemy
held the James with the Merrimac and his Run-
boats; the York was closed by the Yorktown
and Glouchester Point batteries Nevertheless,
~ q decentralization on the Severn, beyond
we might carry the latter position
md open the way OF tho Federal gunboats into
he river York. Asubsequent movement up the |
eft bank, In the direction of West Point, would
put ~ so far in the rear Of the army charged
With the defense Of the lines of Yorktown, that
{ would have been in q perilous position. This |
the ContedeFates must have
Gloucester, and fallen back hsS,ily |
lpon Richmond: The execution of tho coup de |
main had been LETT to corps Of she army com.
msDded by Gen. Mcdowell. This corps was 10
De the last TO embark at Washington, and itUas
that IL ought to reach yorktown In |
body on Its transports at the moment when
he rest OF the army moving by land should an
'sar before the post from Fortress Monroe
"lnstead OF finding is, We received the inex-
,lioable and as yet unexplained intellieeuce
hat this corps, thirty-Hve thousand strong, had
een sent to another destination. The news
7as received In the army with stupefactioni al.
hough the majority oould not see the deplora.
lie consequence Of the step taken, IL mus. be
opposed, with no evil intention, but certainly
nth an inconceivable reckleasnees. Fifteen
ays before, this measure, although Il must al.
rsys Have been Injurious, would have been
iuoh less 80. We might have made arrange
rents upon new basis. Taken when II was n
eranged whole system of machinery fairly
{ work. Among the divisions of McDoweIl's
orps there was one, that of Frsnklin, which
'as more regretted than all the others, as veil
u account Of the troops themselves az of their
The General in Chief had be.
towed special pains on lie organization during
be winter, and earnestly demanded its restora.
lon. II was sent back to him without word
{ explanation, precisely as It had been detached
'on him. This fine division. eleven thousand
;rong, arrived, and for moment the General L
fought of intFusting to 1t alone the Gloucester
xpedition. But this intention was renounc.
l." l,1s aIa3 na ar =. s.IT
A regular siegc Of @ YolktoFn nov became
eceasary, but we omit the details of this as
lready familiar to the public. The Prince
bows that General Mcclellan was aiways spx.
'us to bring on decisive battle, as he regard.
victory as q, necessary means to secure
esce. -..
The constant interference to bis designs TO
lis end, induces the belief that there existed a
ominant power In Washington which favored
OF she war, and therefore thWartedl
10 intentions Of the General In this respect, by
ippling his resources and weakening bis com
and. ffa lar.
The battle Of Williamsburg, and the con.
lct Of General Hooker, who is euloRised
J can admirable lsoldier,n and then desctib-
and full merit 10 awarded to General
carney After the battle, the siege of
ichmond fairly commenced, and of the stu.
ion at thisetime we And the following: Il
"Cavelry recoBnoissances pushed 10 ali direc-
,ns demonstrated that nearly the whole hostile !
my had crossed the Chickahominy, and J
indicated that We should meet a |
,eperate resistance under the walls of, the
onfederate capital. Prisoners had been taken
ho belonged TO corps which had up to thisl
ne been stationed opposite General Burnside
North Carolina. 10 was plain that this corbs
ined the Army Of Virginia We soon learn
Of the evacuation of Norfolk. Il was man.
est that Davis could only have made this sac
fice in order to bring Huger with his eighteen
oussnd men to Richmond. Finally the Con-
derate chief had ordered a levy en- nasss oil
'ery man able to bear arms. ell
!" The result of all this threatensd the army
tae Potomac in lite only superiority, that Of
lmbers. Unhappily, too, while the enemy
10 concentrating and Strengthening his forces,
fs were fading away We have alteady seen
Alexandra ? division detached and seq. to
DE- 4 llI I