Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1862-02-13

hNiy ~ NbHy " an iiVt Hlh'ict UtIWllot uN
order came from ,cad4uarters here, not TO
advance. This is charge rs sweeping
rs IL IS erouDdlegs. do not care who
IS his authority, / question it here and .
now. Ny colleague reads certain tele- 2
graphs which have strangely come into
his possession, TO show that Lauder and
Kelly dispatched that they could take the
rebels, and all that was wanted was an
order; and presto here they arc. We
have a good many sueh successes in an
ticipation. J believe we hal one at Pike
ton. 1t 10 said that Gen. Lander telc- ,
graphcd and Gen. Kelly sent a messen-
ger TO apprise each other Of the obsolute
certainty Of success. Con. Lander all I
mire for his caution and intrepidity but
l will state the facts to which / suppose 4
my colleague refers. state them cor.
rectly. Gen. Lander went to re icye Gen
Kelly at Romney-KelIy being sick. He
reached Hancock on the 5th Of JANUARY.
he found the enemy on the other side Of
tiIe river, in considerable strength--say
fifteen or sixteen thousand The enemy
had driven few Of our troops aero - the
/ river. When Gen. Lander reached his
post, the enemy were sheliing, or aboutto
/ shell, Hancock. Gen. jackson summon
ed Gen. Lander to surrender. Lander
declined. jackson shellcd away at Han
cock without effect. Lander sent for re-
Inducements. Gen Mcclellan ent one
Of Banks brigades, by forced marches at
once. While there Gen. Lander sent
two or three long dispatches, suggesting
various movements to cut off Jackson -
Gen. Jockson lad a shorter distance 10 re-
turn to Winchester than Gen. Banks Rad
10 march 10 cvt of Jacksons retreat, be-
sides the river which il would take forty
eight honrs to cross, as they had no
means Of crossing. Gen Mcclellan re-
fused to trust q command to cross the
riverunder these circumstances, with no
chance ofretreat provided Gen. Lander
then sent anoiberhspatch to Gen, Banks, !
criticising he President, Banks and others, 4
to which Gen. Mcclellan replied that
Gen. Lander was "too suggestive and
critical" l think here is the rub Nc |
Clelian bad seen enough Of the Ball's
Bluff business-that affair, whi.h | do
not refer to except to say that no one at
taches the responsibility to General Nc
Clellan for that terrible disaster. He
knew what the gentleman from n. York
depicted SO graphically, that to cross the
river in the face OF the enemy, and with
no means of retreat, was almost insanity.
He did what prudent general, having
his own plans matured, ought to have
done; and here | distinctly say that
Gen. Banks wrote letter, in which,
from his stand point, he entirly com
mended the action Of Gen. McClellan.-
And now, and here, we have our general
arraigned by my colleague on facts not
! authentic and when, SO far as ne can
see, my colleagues military experience
does not reach SO far as to teH, by prac-
tice, the rear rank from the front, or the
breech from the muzzle of inusket
Having replied to the complaints of
Mr.. GHrley in detail, Mr.. Cox next con-
sidered the general complaints Of no
movement.
1t is complained that Gen. Mcclellan |
has not moved, that nothing has been
done, and that nothing is about to be
done that he does not let curious people /
know what lie is about If he is doing
nothing, as they allegc, be has moth
ing to divulge to these curious gen
tlenan. If lie is doing something, the
very way to undo it is to let them know
it, for they are as leaky as tile present
weather, or Oregon, whore it is said to
rain 6fty-two weeks of the year.
He declaimed that Mcclellan had done
all that he could safely lie has perfect
ed the defenses Of Washington and the /
Potomac, and as a Richmond paper sas-
serts, has held BeauregMd and his array
as in vice and that too when the enc. ,
my have all the advantage of an equal
army, railroad for concentration in thes
rear, and a power of combination im pos.
sible for our general.
But he bas delayed too long here; and
he is taken to task now because he does
not move his army to a certain destruc-
tion. by assaullng apsenemy equal in
number TO his own, and that too, in their
intrenchments.
My answer to this queruIous question
ing is, first, that my colleague himself
gives reason why no nouement .cogld
have been made the past three weeks be
cause he says the artillery would 60. I'M,
der the mud. Very we'll does he want
that done Had the roads been on the
2lst of July last as they are now, my
colleague would not have been able to
have escaped the companionsip Of my
friend from New York. Second, when
Gen. Mcclellan took command here-I
say it without any desire to reflect on
General Scott--he found things disor-
ganized, and no combinations between
different parts Of this grand army. He
had to construct intrenchments, and
make the army effective in many details
This he has done. 1ndeiatigable even
unto sickness, h has accomplished what
my colleagues "brave Wade" could new
er have done, had be studied tactics and .
war for q century. And third, he never
contemplated movement on the enemy's /
intrenchments. 1t is not too much to !
say here that he intended first to have |
General Buell get the Tennessee road
that for this end he has given all his en-
ergies to aid him and hasten bim in this
purpose. All that Buell. asked foi.--alms,
transportation, troops-haye been tar
nished. When Gen. Buell. took COM
mand, he found his troops Struggling
and scattered. He had to gather them,
and concentrate and form them in dNi-
sions. He has had bad roads ami bad