The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1863-01-02
Able Defenss ef Burnside. Plan.

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The Philaaclphia North American IN an
sblo article openly end"rsrs ihe course pur-
sucd hy Burnside at Frede, icksburg us the
Il ue way OF making war. We quote from
the article as tolluws. confident that our
readers vii be- Interested 10 it;
Burnside Wa unsuccessful in his at.
tempt. but Nnput on was equally unsuc.
sssstui al Aspen and Z .sling, aud his failure
al Waterloo was awful Burnside made no
hlundrr. H,s 2ian was worthy OF the beat
Grncra' IN Europe. Hs bad used il hetnre
With skill aud success st Hosnuke Island
and Sc~bern. and although he failed in the
present case that does not pio,e that tho
plan iiseif vas defective. Tho main feat urea
ot his UiiIi,bry System serIts to be 60 attack
always in column. Some Of tho very wne
men sho think tho PiesIdent anu Csbinu,
ought TO reign, urge that both these ideas
were wrong. that ,hr progress of tho agc
has exploded them. We do not bolioSe u
word al this. aud We will say why.
We have already stated that both at Ro.
snokc lslaud aud At Nowbern, these two
EapoleohIc ideas wo,e used by Burnside,
and were tho leading ieHtutrs Ot his opera
tions. He paid n" attention 10 ouiposts. TO
napklng ffnr,s, eic. In thus he was right.
Baron Jon,iIi expressly says. in hrs sum
mary 81 tho Art at War. that these hankIng
operations inperil sn army BY making IT'S
liue TOO ihin aud weak. 80 that un attack by
the enemy may easily break u, aud u the
fauking party is separated aud sent by u
detour TO make roar diversiun. it 10 very
apt to TAI, through u mistake of ruaus, or
delays OF various kinds. and II encountered
by tho oneuss ia foicp. is sure 10 be ennihi.
l..f. fh l.,,ff <xf No.
field, Slgris fank attack was disastrous
failure. and his whole division was cut up,
despite the great skiil at the General, snd
his iiied ability on many u weil-foUgnt Gsid.
In wat. tho most obvious aud o, dinary
Of oil efforts by Generals. of every grade
aud talent, 10 to ou fa,k The enemy Ma
poleou achieved Tho gre atest aud most won.
dcriul ot all his suceetsts by avoiding TINS
harkneycd made uf operations. aud risking
his whole iorce on a single desperate attack
OF tho center. Perhaps IL will be said that
overy General is not Napoleon. aud
therefore such risks ought 10 DO avoided.
To this we reply that in every battle wher.
thcso fearful attacks If tho centcr proved
successful he was on thu very brink OF do.
siruc,ion. IL he nrsi signal vict"ry ai Ma
rengo. the batrle VAS actually lost; his ar
my was thoroughly bes,on aud fl,mg IN all
dir, q liOns. wbcn Dessaix arrived. lie. ton.
Thought the field lost; bur Napoleon re
nowod the contest with tho fresh troops,
aud won tho day by his attack on the cen.
tor. WagrHm was u memorable instance OF
this riifc risk. aud tho terrible slaughter
Of MlDOnaId's column ia tho decisive charge
still causes tho readur of history to thrill as
no ponders on it.
Our soldiers at Fredericksburg wero not
whit worse than those pt Napoleon. HIS
troops recolled in many = battle before tho
awful fire OF tho opposing army, and the
bost iro0ps IN tho world sometimes tai. in Il
charge. The British s,ormirg party fail' O
at the R-dan before Savastopoi They had
like sheep at Bunker Hill aud New Orleans.
EapO'eon's voierans ir0m hundred battle.
fields wsro scattered TO tho winds at Water.
loo. IL is idle to expect that men with
reasoning facultirs will not recoi befure
such horrors ss our troops encountered NJ
Frcdrrcksburg. IL may be said that il
this 10 true, tho charge in column and on
the center must bo an error. But hero 10
Just tho point where modern military scisncs
shows itself most tIiumpnantIy.
Napoleon knew that tho risk OF such n
charge was awful, and that rs in d great war
it must always be- increased by the taos that
most OF the troops in the feld are new lev.
ies. aud, therefore, to n certain extent un-
tfustwort y, means mutt DO found 70 guard
against tho possibility of ttiei- being able 10
take 10 fight. To do this he made his
charging columns always very heavy. that
however great tho slaughter might be in
front, no one could turn and tiae, as the
vast multitude pressing forward IN tho rear
prevented il. McDonald's charging column
ut Wugram started out some Sightesn thou.
sand slroHR, aud when IL reached The Aus.
tran lines had only eighteen hundred laft
But II broke the enomy's line and gained
the victory.
"some'6lpg of these tactics was resor,ed
TO by Burnside In tho late battle. When
Meade'g division, after its successful charge,
brpke before The fearful his Of tho enemy
Birnes's division was Immediately pushed
forward, and drove back the ebemy and
took several hundred prisoners. THIS meth
I'D Of attack 10 now tho sccopted ane in oil
tie European armies. The Russians used
II at Inkerman. aud despite the dreadful
slaughter, they would undoubtedly hssssuc.
ceeded but tor the timely arrival OF the
French. Napoleon Ill used il Nc Magenta
and BolfsTin0 and tho carnage was 80 great
that for months after these eonhicis the
Blnperoris nerves were completely unset.
lied, and his mind filed with morbid images
Santa Anna adopted 10 at Buens vista. and
one time, Notwithstanding she bravery Of
our tFoops. aud she strength OF ons pnsisiou.
10 came near succeeding. But Taylor ~.
rived 81 theoppoF,uns moment, and renewed,
the battle with Rrssg's army. 0Hnens hayl
ing been Loaf.
..IIels is just the perIlous point. This
rsati,,d uf ailnck IA never N thing witbous