The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-04-18

promptly met III my I0QuSLClONS u IA[ y
Iclothing Il conoerneda' Our departments II
not at fault. Il It provides as ! soon as the
notice is given. 7 foresee no time when az
army Of over 10000 men will not call fol
clothing and other articles aaL
SIN regard to Gen. McClellau's means ol
promptly communicating the wants of his
army to me, or to the popular bureaus Of
the War Department, repeat that, in ad.
dition to the ordinary mails, he has been in
by, telegraph.
1T is due to Gen. Meigs that should
submit herewith q copy Of telegram re-
ceived by him from Gen. Mcclellan. ISee
documents.]
Every respectfully, your obedient servant
"H. w. HALLECK, General-in- Chief.
Hon. E. M. STANTON, Sec, of War"
MCCLELLAN STILL DELAYS.
| On Oct. q, Gen. Mcclellan informs Gen.
supplying his army with the clothing alb
solutely necessary for marching. He COM
plains, however, of his want of cavalry,
and concludes:
without more cavalry horses our COM
munications, from the moment we march,
would be at the mercy of the large cavalry
force of the enemy, and it would not be
or to obtain the necessary information OF
the position and movements of the enemy
In such way as to insure success. My ex-
perience has shown the necessity of q large
and efficient cavalry force. Under the fore
going circumstances, / beg leave to ask
whether the President desires me to march
on the enemy at once or to await the recep-
ton of the new horses, every possible steI
having been taken to insure their prompt
arrival
To this Gen. Halleck replies on the same
day, at $3.50 p. M:
"Your telegram of IL m. has been sub
mitted to the President. He directs me te
say that he has no change to make in his
order of the 9Th inst. IF you have not been
you will be able to show such want o.
ability. The President does not expect i'm.
possibilities, but is very anxious that all
this good weather should not be wasted in
inactivity
On the I'D of October Gen. cClellan tel
graphs:
latter full consultation, have decided
to move upon the line indicated by the
President in his letter of the 18th inst, AND
have accordingly taken steps to execute the
movement. will inform you, from time
to time, of the occupation of Leesburg
Hillsborough, Snickersville, &c. shall
need all the cavalry and other reinforce
ments you can send me from Washington
On the I'D Gen. Halleck replies:
''Should you move as proposed in your
telegram of yesterday, can send you
about 1000 men from Washington to rein
force you"
| ABOUT CAVALRY. oa..
On the 18th of October Gen. Mcclellan
transmits to Gen. Halleck report of Col
Robert Williams, commanding a detach-
ment of cavalry, in which it is stated thai
nearly half his horses were unsound, from
''sore tongue, grease, and consequent lame.
ness and sOrebacks," and that "the horses
which are still sound are absolutely broke en-
down from fatigue and want of fiesh."
| To this the President replies to Gen. Nc
! Clellan on the same day:
II have lust read your dispatch about sore
| tongue and fatigued horses. Will YOU par
don me for asking what the horses of your
| army have done since the battle of Ante
tam that fatigues anything?''
Gen. Mcclellan replies on the same day:
I'm reply to your telegram of this date, ]
have the honor to state, from the time this
army left Washington, on the 9TH of Sep
| TENDER, my cavalry has been constantly
employed in making reconnoissances,
scouting and picketing. Since the battle OF
| Antietam six regiments have made a trip
of 200 miles, marching SIS miles in one day,
| while endeavoring to reach Stuart's caval-
ry. Gen. PleasantOn, in his official report
states that he, with the remainder of our
| available cavalry, while on Stuart's track,
two remarkable expeditions, our cavalry
has been engaged in picketing and scouting
$50 miles OF river front since the battle. OF
Antietaln, and has made repeated recon
noissances since that time, engaging the
enemy on every occasion, and, indeed, ii
has performed harder service since the bat
tie than before. 1 beg that you will also
consider that this same cavalry was brought
| from the peninsula, where it encountered
| most laboriOus service, and was, at the
commencement of this campaign, in low
condition, and from that time to the present
| has had no time to recruit. If any instance
| can be found where overworked cavalry
has performed more labor than mine since
! the battle OF Antietam am not conscious
Of it." s...f
The following is the reply of the Presi-
dent:
'Yours, in reply to mine, about horses,
is received. OF course, you know the facts
better than I. Still, two considerations re-
main: Stuarts cavalry Outmarched ours,
having certainly done more marked service
on the peninsula and everywhere since
Secondly, will not a movement of our army
be a relief to the cavaly, compelling the en-
envy to concentrate instead of 'foraging' in
squads everywhere?' g.
MORE MEN WANTED. .a..
On the 9th Of October, General Mcclellan
| telegraphed to the President:
"Your Excellency is aware of the very
great reduction of numbers that has taken
place in most of the old regiments of this
command, and how necessary it is to fill up
these skeletons before taking them again
into action. have the honor, therefore. to
request that the order to fill up the old re-
giments with drafted men may at once be
issued" ~
To this the President replies as follows on
the same day: @ .-..#ef -.
"Your dispatch Of 3 P. NJ, of to-day, in re-
gard to filing up old regiments With draft
ed men, is received and the request therein
shall be complied with as far as practicable.
''And now ask distinct answer to the
question: Is it your purpose not to 30 into
action again until the men now being draft
ed in the States are Incorporated in the old
regiments?' e e7I
The following is Gen. McClellan's reply
after referring to previous communications
in relation to filling up the old regiments,
he says: s5ss .H. -.
"In the press Of business, then called
an aid, and telling him had conversed
with you upon the subject, directed him
to write for mo dispatch, asking your ex-
cellency to have the necessary order given.
1 regret to say that this officer, after writ
/ afaI,