The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-01-30
rlee Letter Letter. odf President T. Lincoln to
: -n Gen., Mcclellan. q ia


In some respects the most remarkable
document which the late courts of inquiry
and courts martial have brought out, is
the Presidents letter to General MoCtEL-
Ian, on the arrival of that general at Fort
ress Monroe with his reduced army! Read
ing it without any knowledge Of the facts
referred to than it gives in its own sem
fences, one falls into a state of wonder
ment over the remarkable exhibition here
presented OF a gentleman from Illinois,
with a thorough experience as a lawyer
but none as a soldier, who had a few
months previously become President of
the United States, assuming the military
knowledge OF veteran and at a distance
of some hundreds of miles from the army,
without particle of information as to the
condition OF the enemy, assuring the Off
Ger in command there that it was the pre-
else time to strike blow" What is the
meaning of that cant phrase, "strike a
Blow? What means the President by tell
ing a general on distant field of opera
tons that 'tit is indispensable" for him to
''strike blow, that 81 think it is the
precise time for you to strike q blow p"
It can mean nothing else than that the
President takes political view of times
and seasons, and wishes the general to do
the same. 1t is Of course plain to man
of ordinary sense that General MCCLELLAN
was the only proper judge of when and
where to engage the enemy in battle. No
President at Washington could possibly
know as well as he, or render him any
service by advice.
But in the light Of facts now known to
the public, the comments of the radical
press Oh this portion OF the letter seem
curious, not to say ridiculous. We have
heretofore shown that the rapidity of Nc
Cellan's movements after landing at Fort
ress Monroe was without parallel in the
history of wars. Let US recapitulate some
of the facts on this point; and we cannot
better do this than by repeating what we
said in November last =
When General Mcclellan organized that
campaign there was no expectation of the ne
ccssity of besieging Yorktown. On the con-
trary, had he been permitted to pursue his
plan, the only plan on which the General had
laid out the campaig n-had Blenkers division,
and Mcdowell, and the Fortress Monroe con-
tingent, been under the orders of Mcclellan
on the Peninsula rs he had expected, there
would have been no battle at Yorktown, none
at Williamsburg, and within twenty days after
landing at Fortress Monroe, there is now no rea-
son to doubt the Union army would have rOut-
ed the enemy before Richmond and entered the
capital in triumph. But all this was prevented.
1t became necessary to establish the siege OF
Yorktown. For this purpose the heavy artille-
ny of the 1st Connecticut Artillery regiment
was brought into requistion.
A comparison may be instituted between the
siege of Yorktown and that OF ScbastOpOl. The
battle Of Alma having been fought, it was
twenty-seven days thereafter before the British
Opennd fire on SebastOpOl. The British had
brought their siege train with the fleet, and had
the harbors Of Kamiesch and Balaklava in
which to land it. The fleet which brought the
artillery to the Crmea was one of the nOblest
of war fleets, with all the appliances for lifting
and hadling guns, and with all the skill and
ability which long practice in the great for
tresses of Gibraltar, Malta and COrfb could
in moving and manOeuvring heavy artillery Of
all the armies of the world. The heaviest ar
tillery used by the English were the GS-pound
guns, weighing 10.Gi0 pounds, and the sea-ser-
vice mOrtars of II 800 pounds. The French
used mortars Of 9,G15 pounds, and cannon Of
TO- 100 pounds The first siege train placed in
battery by the English before SebastOpol was
seventy-twO pieces.
The First Connecticut Artillery, under Col.
Tyler, was the only regiment of heavy artillery
in the army of General Mcclellan, and the guns
of this regiment won Yorktown. Their guns
were those abont which so much anxiety was
felt during the PeninsuEir campaign, especially
during the seven days battles. Their siege
train consisted Of seventy-One guns and NOR
tars including two 200-pOlmd Parrots, five 100
pound PARROTS, and ten 13-inch sea-service
mOrtars. General Mcclellan was heard to re-
mark one day, as he rode by to the battery No.
/, that this battery was the heaviest ever used
in siege. The 200-pounders weighed $50
pounds each, and the thirteen inch mortar H.
12O pounds. 1t thus appears that the First
Connecticut Artillery had heavier work to do
at Yorktown in landing and placing their guns
in position than the British had at SebastOpol.
Nevertheless it was just % days. from the 18th
April to the Sd May which they occupied i'm
landing and placing their batteries. This work
was probably never surpassed in military his
tory. The weight of material for the service
were II OF in number. weighing in all Sj6, All
pounds, besides powder and stores OF various
kinds. The transportation from Cheeseman's
Landing to Fort Grafton was 126 wagon loads;
that from the fort to the batteris GI3 loads.
The roads were in the most horrible condition.
and much of the distance was through swamp.
Miles OF corduroy were constructed and kept
in constant repair. Frequently several hun
dred men were called on to man the ropes and
draw gun out Of the mud. Much of the work
was done in the night during heavy rains, and a
large part Of it under the euemys tire.
1t is unnecessary to recite the final sue
cess OF the General in driving the enemy
from his chosen position. The siege of
Yorktown will be brilliant affair in the
history OF wars, and indeed is now re-
garded in Europe as among the most
splendid of military operations. The
whole Peninsular campaign had been
changed by the acts of the President,
of which, it appears, Mcclellan had COM
planned, and the reduced army accom-
plished its work, and ''struck its blow" in
the only way known to military science.
Had Mcclellan retained Gems. Blenker,
Mcdowell and Wool under his orders,
the Peninsular campaign would have as
sumed a different aspect. The Presidents