The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1863-05-07
HISTORY OF BLENDERS
The peninSular Camps tEm..TeS
!. tlnlOny Of Cen. iIOOker.

The PeninSular Calnpatgm..TeS
/. tlnlOny Of Cen. Hooker.
The following testimony given by
Gen. Hooker, before the Committee on
the Conduct Of the War, possesses a
good deal Of public int crest and histor-
ical value;
WASHINGTON, March II, 1868.
Mai. Gen. Joseph hooker, sworn AMI
examined by the Chairman
Qncs,i,n--To what do you attribute
the failure of the Pcniusular campaign.
Answcr--l do not hesitate to say
that II Is 10 lie attributed to tie ,cant of
yenerdlshp on the part cfhte comman
der.
9 Were you consulted upon the
subject of the line of the Pen,csula in
preference to one dircc: to Icl monl.
Al was never consulted on the
subject.
O-What was the condition Of things
ut Yorktown when our troops first Ian
ded ut the peninsula, AS regards the
strength If the place, aud the relative
strength Of the opposing forces?
Al did nGt go down for some
three weeks after Gen. Mcclellan went
down. lie went down with the army
from Alexandria, and the return vessel
stopped at lluld's Fccry, where was,
and took my division down. Gen
Mcclellan took down about 10000,
AID when I joined him | took II 900
down to Ma. l did rot see tile returns
but that was the understanding there
Franklin afterward joined with his d.
vision. At the time that Gen. Nc
Clcllan landed with this large army,
there was something between 5000 and
5000 at Yorktown. haye heard i,
estimated as low as 5000 and as high
AS Is 900.
Q.-What course would you h"vc
advised ut the time Of the landing on
the Peninsula un,ler circumstances /:
A-Wnat l subsequently did will, l
think convey an answer to that qnes-
ton. | attacked with my single di.
vision, Hne Of ,oorks at Williams
burg stronger than tie line across the
f'eninsulu at Yorktown. Al Yorktown
long after l joined, [ nevor could I'm:
derstand why | was required to send
one half of my number on dnty, day
and night to dig to invest the place.
coull only conclude that Il siege had
been determined upon some whore in
he programme, before ever having tel,
to see whether We had an enemy in front
or not, an a great N my Others felt SO
too. From nay examination OF the
works ut Yorktown, and reaching away
beyond the position that occupied, |
felt that their lines could he pierced
without any considerable loss by the
corps with wlich | was on duty, Helm
,zelman's corps. We could hsve gone
light through and gone to the rear OF
The enemy. They woall run the mo
ment We got to their rear, and we could
have picked up the prisoners. Right
there at Yorktown the enemy had OK
pended great deal Of labor, but
would have marched right through the
rclnubts which were pa,s OF the eor.loh
they had, ard got ON the load between
Yorktown and lschnond, and thus
compel the enemy to ti.h, me on my
own gronn', aud not have fought them
on theirs.
Q-Surpose that Gen Mcclellan had
thrown hi. army between Yorktown
and Williamsburg, with as much "a
pi.lity as he could, what would have
been the effect
Alt would have resulted IN the
capture and destruction Of the enemy's
army.
Q-Do know any reason why thai
could not have been done !?
Al do not.
After describing his part in the bat
tie at Williamsburg, General Hooker
testified.
During the night the enemy cvacua-
ted Williamsburg. have since learn
cd, from most reliable sources, that
when the news Of that battle reached
Richmond, jefferson Davis and Gov.
Lc,cher moved their families out Of
Richmond. removed the archives and
their libraries, and every citizen VIII
could command vehicle had his goods
piled on wagons, and prepared to
abandon the city. They only returned
Chose who had left when they found
that tho pursuit ceased-I almost say
was abandoned