Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-11-02
Correspondence Of the Chicago rmss-l
WAsHrScroS, October "a.


Ended.
Especial Correspondence Of the Chicago Tines
WAsHISeToS, October "a.
The movement of the Army of the Potomac
which is now m progress, and which has been in
progress during the whole of this week will re-
suit in nothing but disgrace to our arms. For
the movement itself, and for its consequences,
Gen. Meade is in no wise responsible. IL is
movement ordered to be made by Mr.. Lincoln
alone. and on his sole responsibility. On Sunday
last the President sent Gen Meade peremptOry
order "to find Gen. Lees army and attack il at
once, and lie (Meade) should have all the glory
OF the victory, II he won one, and that be Mr..
Lncoln) would assume all the responsibility of q
possible defeat" Think for a moment of the
independent assurance of man like Abe Lin
coin sending an order of this kind to Gen. Meadei
and of the consequences of obeying the order.
Mr.. Lincoln has no more conception than child
of what would result from the attempted execu-
ton of this order. Ii emanated. in the first place,
from those advisers of the President whose per-
ncious counsels have always exercised such a
baneful influence over the Executive mind; who
procured the PRONUNCIATION of the emancipation
proclamation; who are. at best, mere party poll
tisans; who make no pretensions to knowledge
OF military affairs; but who urged this step upon
the PRESIDENT the same as they had before urged
upon him to issue the emancipation proclama-
ton, and TO remove General Mcclellan
from his command in the army. Yielding to their
persuasions, he always does and always has
done, Mr.. Lincoln has issued this unfortunate
order, and the army sas been engaged 10 attempt
ing to execute il for the last FIVE days. 1t is an
order TO do the very thing that the administration
papers have been cOngratulating the country that
Meade was no longer to do. When Meades
army retreated with such precipitation from the
Rappahannock to Washington, the administra-
ton papers, under the inspiration of the War De-
partment, made haste to assure the anxious coun-
try that it was all right; that the reTrogade
movement was being made in pursuance of Or
ders from the War Department issued two weeks
before; that the government had become con-
WINGED that it was impracticable to keep the army
on line so far from the capital as the Rappahan-
mock, because TO DO so required an army of itself
| to maintain the long line OF communication be-
tween the Rappahannock and the capital, "a line
consisting of single-track. rickety railroad. 80
miles long, liable &c be cut and broken at any
time, to say nothing of the extreme difficulty and
! terrible expense of transporting army supplies to
such a distance This WAS sound reasoning
But this order OF the President commands Meade
TO do the very thing that is here so wisely
demned impractcable. The advance of Gen.
Meade's army to the Rappahannock in August
last, and his fruitless campaign there during that
and the succeeding month, only added one more
proof to those already existing of the impractical
bity of the overland route to Richmond. Yet
ia view of that campaign and of the shameful
retreat with which it closed in the middle OF this
month, the President now orders still another
campaign TO Richmond by this same overland
route. The movement, which began Monday
last and which still continues, will only result in
a fresh disaster. But what shall be said Of an
administration that hastens to place the III used
Army of the Potomac in the very position of
| peril from which Meade so skillfully extricated il
only week or two SgOl
In obedience to this silly order of Mr.. Lincoln,
our army has already advanced as far as Warren
ton, and our cavalry as far as the Rappahannock.
Mr. LincOn's order cannot be executed unless
| the army crosses that river In order to decide
| the question whether or not to cross the Kappa
hammock, Gen. Meade left the army at Warrenton
and came up here to consult the President on the
22d 1t is stated that Mr.. Lincoln was not
pleased at this step of Meade's, and ordered him
to the front at once and carry out his order liter
ally and without delay. Certain it is. General
Meade went back to the army yesterday, and the
whole force of the construction bureau Is hard at
work rebuilding the Orange and Alexandria
Railroad This work effectually destroy
ed by Gen. Lee that the engineers say it would
be far less work to make an entirely new railroad,
and il would cost much less, than to repair the
old one The bridges and culverts are all blown
up and burned; six or eight Of the deepest cuts
have been filled up with the whole trunks of trees
covered with EARTH and the rails, for dozens of
miles have been heated red hot and twisted out
of all shape.
Imagine twenty thousand men engaged in this
work OF destruction for week. and you can
have some idea of the amount of damage done.
Till this road is in perfect order, the army can
not be fed; and the road cannot be repaired for
three weeks at the very least. Yet Mr.. Lincoln
shrieks to Gen. Meade. go on at Oncel Find
the enemy and fight him"
Lncolu's order is perfectly characteristic of
the man. He assumes that Meade has nothing
to do but march to the spot where Lees army is
supposed to be, and that Lee will stand still and
permit Meade TO fight him. 1t would seem that
Abe Lincoln is the only person in the country
who has not yet learned that, long the
seat of war remains in Virginia, battles can only
take place at such times General Lee selects,
and upon ground which be has chosen for that
purpose.
1t is heart sickeriing to turn from the contem-
pation of this Idiotic movement OF Mr.. Lincoln
to the contemplation of what might be done if
statesmen ana real generals we're al the head of
our national affairs. instead of pitful politicians
and sixth rate lawyers In order TO overwhelm
Grants army at Chattanooga, all the available
Confederate troops in Virginia have been sent
to the West and JEFF. Davis himself is there to
, superintend the work. Richmond is left with no
troops except the gunners IN the tortncatioDs.
The long railroad from Wilmington to the rebel
capital, il is said instead Of being guarded by
35 900 troops, as it only few weeks ago. is
now left in charge .! only 10000 men. The
Administration never lad so favorable an oppor-
tunitv for the capture of Richmond if the proper
route be selected. as the present. But this OPP
portunity. like all other real opportunities for
ending the war, will be thrown away by the Adj
mnistration, whose aim il is. not TO terminate,
but to protract the war. y.
Rank of Major Generals of voIun-