Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-09-24
From the n. z. Journal Of Commerce.
Hiram Ketchum Oh McClaIlan - Letter
from FitZ John Porter.

The vide spread notice which the able arti
cles of Mr.. KetObum have received, oonyiooes
us Of the great amour. Of good beJ have al.
ready effected. Calmly sritter, weighiog evi-
dence with the eoolness Of u b0rouehly ball
anced end unprejndioed mind, they ntcrfsuily
carry conviction TO The readers intsleCt The,
remain auswered, aud no mao Who has rep.
utatloD to lose, viii venture TO attack their In
pregnablo logic.
TIE following letter, from one Of tbe brayest
aud best Of our soldiers, will be read with In.
terett, aud is valuable for the purpo,e Of bis,
tory: r..'
- MORBisTowS, N. J I Sept. l2, 1883.
. NY DEAR SIR: Five read with great inter-
est your ee,les OF arllclss published iuI the
Journal Of Commerce, on General Mcclellan.
Having been with the Army OF the Potomac
during the whole Of the PeDintnlar oamusjgp,
I bear cheerful testimony to the accuracy
Of yonr statements In reviewing ,bs op-
erations of this campaign, and 10 the soHnd-
ness OF Jour conclusion 10 the tiege of
Yorktown, 10 the capture OF Hanover Court
House, In the battle of Gsines's NJ n, and 10
the battle OF Malvern, 'it became nv duly to-
bear q part someRhat conspicuous i have not
the slightest hesitation In he ex ress on Of my
opinion tha: the course pussued in besIegnR
yorktown, instead Of making an Assault upon
the enemys lihesy vac not only Justified, g6ut
demanded by the. circumstances existing az the
time our army reached Yorktown, Ind I-have
no: seen or heard anything sincs Inc enemy
evacuated that post which sould Induce me to
alter that opinion. 81. g.. 7 ... 1859
II ! had ,btsO. Joined BY Gen. McDowells
force at Hanover Court House, Oh May 27ib,
1862 OF Within a week thereafter, there Is very
little doubt that our army, thus reinforced,
could have made a successful assault on the
at Riohmond.. E-.-. .-.t-r,l
Bat what 10 luces me to address this note to
you al lbis time, Is your recent review Of the
baltic Of Gaipes's Mill Our forces, which
amounted to ibiriy..wo THOUSAND men, were
uuder my command 10 that battle. Ths ftrce
OF The enemy b'ought against us vas more
thsn double cur numbers II, iu this bs.tls, y
had ht On reinforced 10 time With fifteen thou
sand flesh troops, the sDeny, who was repulssd
three times, would bave been fn,Ily driven
back, ard the battle won on our side.
So, too, at Malvern, where commanded the
Fifth Army Corps; Il at the termination Of that
battle We had had reserve Of fifteen thousand
or twenty ihousaOd fresh troops, have little
6cubi that we oOuld have marched inlo RIoh-
mond; but rs u vas, We were too much ex
hansted 60 make an aggressive movement after
the enemy was repulsed.
You are perfectly right 10 stating that all
We wanted TO ensure success before RIchmoui
was the reinforcemehts which had been repeat
edly called for by General Mcclellan, and
which, by vigorous aud prompt effort, could
have been supplied But Que thing vas iuily
demonsrited 10 tbe baalea before Richmond,
and that wac tbis; brave and desperate as the
soldiers OF the enemy proved themselves, they
were oysr'matched BY our loyal troops, q
am sir, With bish respect,
.rag.E 'rS l'Your obedie ! servant,
-I-0a -'s r-1F N T. ], PORTER.
HIRAM KEroHUM, Esq New York City.
II will be remembered that Roohepter's l3 b
fought 10 al these bstlles under the brave ED
distinguished Porter. t