Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-04-08

mac after they are uncovered BY our armyI
I think moi"
To this General Halleck replied on the
18th, thus:
ain your letter of the 11th you attach
toe little importance to the Capital. I as
sure you that you are wrong. The capture
of this place will throw us back six
months, if it should not destroy us. Be-
ware Of the evils now point out 10 you.
You saw them when here but you seem to
forget them in the distance. No more
troops can be sent from here till we have
fresh arrivals from the North
In regard to the battle Of Antietsm and
the delay which followed it, General Sum
ner testified that had certain plain move
ments been executed " All escape for the
enemy would have been impossible.
General Burnside testifes that Mcclellan
would have had no difficulty in sending
him from thereserve, the,,5, 600 fresh troops
which he needed to renew the attack. Gen.
Franklin testifes that McClellan's delay
in renewing the attack "gaVe the enemy
an opportunity to escape.
OF McClellan's purpose after this battle,
the record is interesting. He proposed
waiting to attack the enemy "shOuld he
attempt to cross to the northern side Of
the Potomac.
An extract from letter from him to
Gen. Halleck, written on the 29th of Sep
tember says:
When the river rises 50 that the enemy
cannot cross in force I purpose concentrating
the army Somewhere near Harper's Ferry, and
then acting according to circumstances.
To this Gen. Halleck replied that the
army must naOUs. It must follow and pun
ish the enemy. He says "There is de-
cided want of legs in our troops. They
have too much immobility and we must
try to remedy the defect On the 9th
of October General Halleck wrote to Nc
Clellan as follows:
al aminstructed to telegraph you as fol-
lows: The President directs that you cross
the Potomac, and give battle to the enc
my or drive him South. Your army must
move now, while the roads are good.
On the 18th of October, after Stuart had
made the complete circuit of our army,
Mcclellan wrote to Washington for more
cavalry. To this Halleck sends the fol-
lowing sharp rejOinder:
"Your telegram of 7 P. NJ. yesterday is
just received. As have already informed
you, the Government has been and is
making every possible effort to increase
the cavalry force. Remounts are sent to
you as rapidly as they can be procured
The President has read your telegram, and d.
reefs me to suggest that If the enemy had more
occupation south Of the Tiver, his cavalry
ivould not be so likely to make raids north Of
It,"
On the same day, the President wrote
to Mcclellan a plain practical letter of
suggestions, from which we take two para
graphs:
again: one of the standard maxims
Of war, as you know, is, 10 operate upon
the enemy's communications as much as
possible without exposing your own
You seem to act as if this applies against
you, but cannot apply in your favor
Change positions with the enemy, and
think you not he would break your COM
munication with Richmond within the
next twenty-four hours You dread his
going into Pennsylvania. But if he does
80 in full force, he gives up his commune
cations to you absolutely, and you have
nothing to do but to follow and ruin him;
if he does SO with less than a full force,
fall upon and beat what is left behind all
the easier.
Exclusive of the water line, you are now
nearer Richmond than the enemy is by the
route that you aud hv must luxe. Uny
can you not reach there before him, unless
you admit that he is more than your
equal on a march His route is the arc of
IL, --l-il~ yVul9 10 tlIO Ullvld. Thv
roads are as good on yours as on his"
Amongst other communications, we find
that on the 25th of October, Mcclellan
complained of the fatigue of his horses
and men as an excuse for not obeying the
orders to advance which he had received.
To this the President replies:
az have just read your dispatch about
sore tongue and fatigued horses. Will
yOu PdiuOA mS IOE asking WnaJ Ine nOrSeB
Of your army have done since the battle Of
'Antietam that faigues anything"
Mcclellan replies that they have been
engaged in scouting.
This ends the main portion of the re-
port which relates to Mcclellan. No man
after carefully reading the report, can do
otherwise than believe that Mcclellan
was not removed minute too soon for
his cOuntry's benefit.