Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-12-22
Especial corre-pondence Of the ch'e.go Times
WARRINGTON December If


WASHINGTON, December Ii.
OF ali the reports sent 10 Congress a this time
that OF Gen Halack IS by far the most import
ant Il = tie work OF a iawyer rather than Of
soldier. ard u makes four a good for the
GeneraI-in Chief The array Of facts, however
is unans~erabe: and these facts prove beyond
all dOuot that two of our most serious reverses-
those at fredericksburg 10 December of last
year, and AZ ChickamauSa. IN September last
we're owing directly to the interference of the
President with Gen. Halleck's plans. and 20 the
fact that the President upheld certain General
in positive disobediencs ~ the orders Of the Gen
erAl-in Chief. Singularly enough this disobedi-
ent General the same in both cases namely:
the butcher OF fredericksburg II ever there Was
a title we'll bestowed this Is the one. and Burn
side is the man 70 weir IL. The lOss Of life on
part of our brave soldiers. caused by these two
acts of insubo rdin alton OH the part OF Burnside,
il absolutely frightfu At Fredericksburg our
loss in killed and wounded was Is 900. although
the official statement made It only l2,OOO. at
Chickamauga our loss IN killed and wounded
was fully 20 600. although the official figures as
reported to Gen. Halleck and stated by him, are
ONLY l6 $50 Here, then. is the blood OF 3o.OOO
men, uselessly. needessIy slain by the obstinacy
and unfitness for command OF one man
Nv letters Of December Of last year and Janu
ary 1863. and those of September ~ and 70 aud
November l6 last, contained the facts which
proved that, il Burnside had obeyed General
Hallecks orders. neither the defeat at Fredericks
burg nor the defeat NJ Chickamauga wond
have occurred This repor, OF General Halleck
now confirms the statements in those letters in
every particular.
the statements set forth in this report as facts
are really true. there is reason TO doubt, il
is easy 10 see that there has been constant tri-
angular fight here, during the whole year, be
tween Lincoln, Stanton, and Gen Haleck, the
former two sometimes pulling together, but both
Of them always pulling against the General-n-
Chief, countermandipg his orders, and uphold
ing those Generals in the field who disobey we'd
him. Aud il is easy to- see, too that, whenever
success has attended our arms. or even when we
have made a successful retreat il has been when
Gen. Hallecks orders have been Obeyed, and
those of Lincoln and Stanton disregsrded; while
on the other hand. whenever Lincoln's orders
hrve been carried ont and Gen Halleck's orders
have been disObeyed. defeat and disasters To our
arms have invariably ensuei. On the 1lth Of
June Gen Halcck telegraphed to Gen Schenck
and Gen. Milroy. ordering the instant evacuation
OF Winchester; obedience 10 which order ~ould
have saved the 5000 troops and the three mil
lions OF dollars worth of cannon and stores
which fell into the hands Of the enemy But
Schenck and Milroy. being on intimate terms
with Lincoln. disobeyed this order, and on the
18th Winchester and all il contained (even the
wives of the Union officers. whose husbands and
protectors ingloriOusly fed were captured. Hal
leck complained OF this act of disobedience and
its consequences and with reason; but the Pres
ident cast his protecting arms around both the in
subordinate officers. and shielded them from all
harm Schenck was allowed to leave the army
and is now here in Congress. Milroy was brought
TO trial before packed court martial. But the
facf VIII hay Tod wa
suppressed bv order Of the President. and MIroy
was sent back TO his command. Both of these
men shining lights among the abotionists.
On the 10Th of July last, the Union and Con
federate armies both retreating from Gettysburg
toward the Potomac, found themselves on oppo-
site sides OF the famous Antietam Creek On
that day. Gen. Haleck telegraphed bis orders to
Gen. Meade to attack the rebel armies immedi-
ately, and nv no means to allow the latter to get
across the Potomac without battle In obed
ence to these orders. Gen Meade had series of
share skrmishes on the It'll, and on the 18th he
forced the passage of that stream and occupied
Funkstown and Hagerstown. The latter place
had been Gen Lees headquarters only the dav
before. Gen. Meade intended TO attack the rebel
army at Williamsport ON tie 18th. But on the
morning of that day he received an order by tele
graph from the President, saving that the troops
which had been sent mp by Gen. DIX from Fort
ress Monroe then route from Baltimore
and would Join him by the next day the 18th. and
requesting him not TO attack Lee until these
troops arrived IA il was important not to risk a
defeat of the army Of the Potomac Gen Meade
obeyed this order and the consequences were
most fatal. During the whole of Monday the
18th, Gen Lees army was engaged in crossing
the Potomac River into Virginia General Lee
himself had crossed in person Oh Sunday evening;
and all day on Monday, he saw the long columns
of his troops defile before him on their way to
Winchester If Gen. Meade had made fhe ut
tack on the 18th, as Gen Halleck had ordered,
he would have easy victory. The rebel
army was then divided by the river. and was in
the very act Of crossing Although line OF bat
tie was mainttined all day. yet it mere
show of force and an attack would have proved
it mere she'll On the 18th when Gen Meade
did advance 10 the attack. the enemy were gone;
and a swollen river yawned between them.
This instance where obedience to- LIN
coins orders positive benefit To the rebels.
The recent instance of Gen. Meade's disobedi-
of Lincoln's order TO fight the rebel
my saved both the Union army and the capital,
as have heretofore shown: although ii did not
occur ill two weeks after Gen. Halleck's report
was written
Ii is difficult to see: in the light of this report
how, after the lapse of this time. Burnside
can escape a court martial for his unaccountable
conduct in November and December of last year
When be superseded Gen Mcclellan. he was or
dered 10 execute and carry out the orders tina,
had been given to Gen Mcclellan only few
DAYS before; the substance of which was TO move
the army Immediately after the retreating rebels
Gen. Mcclellan had been doing this rapidly and
effeciually, during the preceding two weeks. He
had moved the army Of the Potomac across that
river the Goth OF October. and by the 9th of
November the army had reached Warrenton
Gen. Lees army bad crossed the Blue Ridge at
Thornton's Gap and were At Culpepper If Gen
Burnside. when he succeeded To the command
on the It'll had obeyed Gen Hsleck's order and
continued the movement, so energelcally com
menced by Gen. Mcclellan. for only twenty four
hours II would have resulted in a great battle al
Culpepper else in the continued retreat of the
rebel army 10 Richmond In the first case the
rebel army would have been defeated, for our
army vastly superior both in numbers and
discipline In the second case there can scarcely
be doub, that our army would have succeeded
ia getting back 10 their old works before the
walls of Richmond. which they had lett only
three months before.
But Burnside disooeyed the orders OF General
Halleck He appealed TO the President and
begged the great Rail Splitter to allow him To
move the army away from, instead of towards
the enemy: to allow him To move a small part OF
mock TO Falmouth promising that he would throw
the main BODY across the head waters OF that
rsam at SUI phur Springs. and move them dc vn