Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-11-24
Special Correspondence oftAe Chicago Tines.
From washington.

Result Of General HaAeck's Strotegy-Hor he
Could hare Prercnted Lees Escape 10 Rich
mOnd-Sublnnsly Ridiculous Spectacle Of 7OO..
200 Union Troops Scattered 10 The -Four Winds.
WAsHISeroS. November Is.
When the history of this Administration comes
to be written (and it piH be written) il will be
seen that there have been two periods when the
war was particularly mismanaged. One was
when Mr.. Lincoln undertook 10 manage il him
self, commencing by the proclamation Of his silly
and bombastic War Orders" The other has
been during the whole Of the last four months,
under the management of the present General
in-Chief. During the first period. the country
witnessed the brilliant episode of the Peninsula
campaign; campaign, the fruits Of which were
snatched away BY the wretched imbecilty and
irresOlution which controlled the head of the army
at Washington Just at the moment when they
were within McClean's grasp
Gen. Halleck's management Of the army could
not De worse than that, but il Is nearly as bad
By sending Pope to take Richmond By a route
which his military education ought to have taught
him is implacticable, he WAS the primary cause
of the defeat of Popes army, and of placing TIE
capital in that imminent pc I'll from which Nc
Clellan alone extricated it. II. instead of doing
this, he had sent POpe's army down TO Harrison's
Landing TO reinforce Mcclellan, the rebels would
not have dared to send a single regiment towards
Washington, while Mcclellan, reinforced by
Pope's troops, would have taken Richmond ana
ended the war. When the full history OF this
war comes to be written, these iscts will be
made manifest
With the GOO 900 troops that have been at his
disposal ever since the battle of Antietam, what
has Gen. Halleck done? Literally nothing A
second time he had the opportunity of annihat-
4 ing the whole rebel army and ending the war;
and second time he permitted the opportunity
to slip from him. HowI Take the map and see.
After the battle of Antietam, Lee marched his
army between Harper's Ferry and Winchester,
west of the Shenandoah, 40 miles from Rich
mond in straight line, but l70 miles from Rich
mond by the roads There we're no troops of
any consequence between him and Richmond.
The brave Sige was at Cen;erville. From Gen.
terville, nearly due west there runs an excellent
road, at that time and for weeks afterwards in
splendid order, through Warrenton, across the
! Blue Ridge, through Lurav across a I'd of the
Shenandoah, to New Market 60 miles from Cen
terville. Admitting that Gen. Mcclellan HAD
10000 troops, what was there to prevent Gen.
Haleck from sending another 100 900. out Of the
500 OO9 at his disposal, to New Market over this
route. scarcely four DAYS march, Positively
nothing. Between this force on the south and
McC.ellan's army on the north. Lee would have
been ground to powder as surely as the grain is
stone. "hen indeed Lee could not have escaped
to Richmond
But Gen. Halleck cauid not see this He waited
till October. BY that time Lee had built his
three roads to Richmond. had opened his COM
municatOns and lines of retreat. and ready
TO fight Mcclellan, or to run. as he deemei most
expedient Then, early in October Halleck or
dered Mcclellan to advance on Lee and fight him.
Remember that Mcclellan had lost Is 900 of his
best troops at Antietam and South Mountain. and
that he had been necessarily calling both for re-
Inducements, and for shoes and blankets for his
destitute soldiers. And remember that Gen.
Grithns division is STILL without these articles,
in this bitter cold weather) He KNEW. for he
had diScernment. that no General could FORCE Lee
to fight. When the advance took place, Lee did
exactly what any General who knows his business
would have done He unanswered his army in
such a wav as to draw the enemy as far away
from his base, and to his OWL, as possible.
/ have shown that it had been in Gen Halleck's
power to have prevented him from doing so.
Well, what has he done with the 500 900
troops, admitting now that Burnside has 200, OOOI
Mitchell failed at Savannah for want Of troops.
! Foster has just now made big failure in North
Carolina for want of troops Nothing be
done at New Orleans for want of troops. Buell.
, conducted the campaign in Kentucky admirably,
in spite of the sneers OF his enemies He drove
, Braggs army out of the State. and would have
q, |
cept him long before he reached the Cumberland
Gap, but-for want of troops; Knoxville, where
the rebels are turning out cannon and shells in
vast quantities. might have been in our posses
sion months ago, but-fo- want of troops
Where. then, are the troops? Where have they
been sent to, and what are they doingf Above
all. what have they done?
Thy erist. Be sure of that When General
Haeck was placed in command. there were
9 900 men the rolls, but Of these only
100000 were effective. There are now on The
rolls 700 600 electives, all drawing their pay.
. Where are they and what they doing7 The
secret can be told in word They scattered
and frittered away just where there is no need
for them. and there has been no concentration for
: great purposes. Gen. Haeck may understand
the art of war. but the results Of his campaigns.
: compared with the enormous means at his dispo-
sal, do not indicate that fact. Y.