, 1863-12-28
Ql)tfa9a Gribnl1e.
MONDAY, DECEMBER eee, 1858.


hALLECN VS. kUSE1NANSs
Gen. Halleck's len column report OF tn
military operations Of tie past year con
sists Of q narrative of victories won whcn
his orders we're obeycd and Of reverse
where they were disregarded. Nearly eV
crybody from President down comes in fol
q share Of LIS ccnsure, but himself absorth
nearly NIL the praise that is awarded. The
loss Of the battle Of fChancelloryille he puts
to the credit Of the President md General
Hooker. The triumph at Vicksburg he di.
vides between himself and Gen. Grant
modcstly taking the lions share The blame
OF the loss of the bloody battle of Chickn-
mnugua he lays on Gen. Rosecrans, who
comes in for hcauy weight Of blame, for
his military management And right here
we propose to stick peg.
Vicksburg capitulatcd On the 9th Of July,
and get at liberty for olher.epcrations q vet
eran atmy Of 100000 men. The battle Of
Chiclsamaugua was fought Sept, 1920, being
nearly three months afterwards Why did
not Gen. Halleck order rcinforcements
from Grants unemployed force to Rose
crans' armyf He knew, at least the pub
lie knew, tliat the rebels were reinforcing
Bragg, It was plain common sense for
them TO do So The newspapers published
from day to day accounts of rebel brigades
and divisions hastening from Richmond
and Mobile and Jackson, Miss, under
Longst1eet, Hardce, and Joe Johnston to
reinforce .Bragg's army. What was the
wise, selfsuflcicnt Halleck doing mean
while with Grants immense ar1nyP The
files of the TRIBUNE bear witness that We
urged and entreated that strong column be
at once sent to the assistance Of Gen. Rose
Grams 10 enable him to strike a crushing
blow at Bragg army. Several of our1eading
contemporaries advocated the same thing.
Military men with whom we consulted said,
Now is the golden moment to strike a deci-
sive blow at the vitals OF the rebellion.
But no reinforcemeats were sent to the
army Of the Cumberland But the armv
Of Gen. Grant was broken into fragments.
and sent on worthless expeditions. One
part waded through the swamps of Louis
lana; another part encamped On the
hayous of Arkansas. A column was sent
to discover the Sabine Pass, under General
Franklin, and found it Another division
went off to the mouth Of the Rio Grande.
and another sailed along the coast Of Texas
and landed at Natagorda Bay, capturing
seven spiked cannon and an abandoned
fort. Another division penetrated into the
morasses ndmazes of the Tcche country,
and had the head Of the column ambushed
and captured; and thcremaindcr Of Grants
great army fingered on the banks Of the
Mississippi, until the combined rebel forces
fell on Gen. Rosecrans's unsupported corps
and almost crushed it by their overwhelm-
ing numbers. The failure to concentrate
the Western armies, in July and August,
was the greatest blundcr Of tho war. It
was worse than a blundcr: it was q great
crime against the Union cause. That Grim
1nal neglect cost the country the bloody
1epn1sc at Chickamauga, put the whole Of
Kentucky and Tennessee in peril, and has
protracted the war six months, at cost
of three hundred millions Of money. and
fifty thousand lives.
Had Halleck promptly sent to Murirecs.
colo l0i'y or my thousand OF the Vicks-
nurg heroes, in July last, with or without
Grant ut their head, the Army Of The Cum
berland, thus reinforced, would have swept
down into Georgia from Chattanooga,
capturing Atlanta, and cutting the last
line OF rebel railway connecting the Gulf
with the Atlantic States. Nothing could
nave resisted the march of that army or