Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-12-29
eES. M'DowELL TO stcRErAKT STANTON.
HEADoUARTERs DEP'T RAPPAHASSocKl
NJ. d Ilcsl


May "a. 1862.
Hon. L H. Stanton. Seer,fGry Of War:
The Presidents order has been received and Is
in process of execution. This is a crushing blow
TO Us. Lawn McDowEII. Major General.
GEN K'DowELL TO eKS. MCCLELLAN.
HEApoUARTERs DEP'r RAPPAHASSocKl
Manassas. June ~, 1862.
Major General ~ b McClellan, Commanding
Department Of Virginia before Richmond:
The delay of Msjor General Banks 10 relieve
the division OF my command in the valley beyond
the time | bad calculated on, will prevent my
joining you with the remainder OF the troops am
TO take below at as early day as | named. Ny
Sd division (McCalrs) is now on the way
Please do me the favor 10 place il chat il
may be IN position 10 join the Others as they
come down from fredericksburg.
lRvIS MCDOWELL.
Major General Commando
GENERAL M'DowELL TO GENERAL MCMILLAN
JUSE 10, 1862
Major General Mcclellan. Commanding Depart
ment of Virgins, befOre Richmond:
For the third time / am ordered TO join you,
and hope this time TO get through. In view of
the remarks made with reference TO nv leavin
You and not joining you before. by your friends,
and of something | have heard coming from
you ON that subject, ! wish 10 say 20 with she
greatest satisfaction, aud hope TO arrive with my
main body in time TO be of service Mccall gees
in advance by water | will be with YOU in ten
days with the remainder 10y way Of Fredericks-
burg. IRvIS Mcdowell
| Major General Commanding.
Gurowski's diary, of Nav, SAYS: "The Pres
ideut took il into his head to direct himself bv
telegraph, the military operations from Freder-
icksburg to the Shenandoah. The country sees
with what results. The military advisers of the
President seem no better than his civil advisers
Seward, Blair 4 Co." But the President acted
against the judgment of his advisers. On this
| point correspondent of The Boston Daily Ad-
verti>er Republican, relates a conversation be-
tween the Secretary of War and his informant.
IN which Mr.. Stanton attributed the disaster in
the Shenandoah Valley to the Presidents viii
fulness; that those persons who we're consulted
unanimously pointed TO him the danger at
tenddnt upon taking Shields brigade away from
Banks. and represented that Fremont. who had
nothing in particular to do, could spare Blenker's
brigade. That the President said, NO; that he
had promised Fremont n command; thai a CON-
mand meant men, and. therefore. upon no high
er ground. ordered that Shields brigade should
be taken
The evidence then is that it was the panic
fright of the President himself that divided the
army in the first instance, and so led to the
bloody. protracted and exhausting campaign of
/ the peninsula, ana that withdrew one corps from
the field of operations afterward at the critical
moment
We have repeatedly said that Mcdowell was
not responsible for this ingorious and disastrous
defeat; but had protested against il. Ii might
well have been the ambition of his life TO have
marched into Richmond with Mcclellan, at the
head of his column sharing in tie final victory
without having encountered the terrible ordeal
o. the advance from yorktown
We have thus little broken light shed upon
the history of the campaign. Give more Are
not the people entitled TO know the truth in re-
gard to war to which they have given their
hearts blood and their treasureg Why does the
Administration renist IN suppessng the lrnlhl
BY the glimmer of light accidentally afforded
us, we see some of the guilty figures covering in
Washington. whose trepilatiOn aud blind alright
opened the way to JacksOn's army on the PENN
sula and paralyzed the column of Mcdowell. and
placed us so far back that Burnside's perilOus
campaignGD the Rappahannock, even if crowned
with brilliant success. does not restore US to the
psSition we then lost. The chapter in history
which We have accidentally come into possession
of, vindicates not only Mcdowell, but Mcclellan.
Ii is tardy and imperfect act of justice, but it
explains the silence of the latter General who
could only defend himself by inculpaung the
President, and who, with magnapimity not APP
preclated fOrebOre to do so.