Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1863-01-27
A Curious Letter.
Washington. Jan. .Ie.

Washington, Ian. l6.
The following important letter from the
President to Mcclellan, which forms part
of the correspondence between them, and
for which Congress has called, was brought
out to-day in the Mcdowell Court of In
quiry.
Its Importance is so great that we trans
nit ii in full.
THE PRESIDENT TO GEN. MCCLELLAN.
Washington, June 9, 1862.
Major General Mcclellan:
My DEAR SIR: Your dispatches COM
planning that you are not properly sus.
tanned, while they do not offend, pain me
very much. Blenker's division was with
drawn from you before you left here. You
know the pressure under which | did it,
and as | thought acquiesced in it, certainly
not without reluctance.
| After you left / ascertained that less
than 10000 unorganized men, without a
single field battery, were all you designed
to be Left for the defeuse Of Washington
and Manassas Junction. A pant of them
were to 90 to Hooker's old position. Banks
corps which was designed for Manassas
junction, was divided and tied up on the
line of Winchester and Strasburg, and
could not leave it without again exposing
the upper Potomac and the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad line.
This presented, or would present when
Mcdowell and Sumner should be gone, a
great temptation for the enemy to turn
back from the Rappahannock and sack
Washington. My explicit direction that
Washington should, in the judgment of all
commanders of corps, be left entirely Sc
cure, had been entirely neglected.
Il is precisely this that caused me to de-
tain Mcdowell.
do not forget that | was satisfied with
your arrangement TO leave Banks at Ma
nassas Junction, but when that arrangement
was broken UP, nothing even substituted
for it, of course | was not satisfied. | was
constrained to retqin something for it my
self, and now allow me to ask, do you think
| should permit the line from Richmond
via. Manassas to tbs city to be entirely
open, EXCEPT what resistance would be pre-
sented by less than 10000 uncrganized
troopss This is a question which the
country will not allow me to eyade.
There isa curios mystery connected with
the number of troops now with you. l
telegraphed you on the 9th, saying at
you had 100000 men with you. had
just obtained from the Secretary Of War
statement, taken as be sad from your
own returns, making 100000 then with
you and en- route to you. Now you say
You will have but $4,000 when all en- route
TO you have reached you. How can this
discrepancy of $4,000 be accounted for?
As to Woods commard understand il is
doing for you precisely what like number
Of your own would have TO d. if the com
mand was away.
suppose the whole force whic1 has gone
forward 10 you is with you by this time,
ard if SO, | think it is the precise time for
you to strike a blow. By delay the enc
my will readily gain OF you. That is,
he will gain faster by for,ifcations and
reinforcements than you caa by reinforce
ments alone. And once more let me tell
you it is indispensable to you that You
strike blow.
am powerless to help you. You will
do me the justice to remember that al
ways wished you were not going down
the bay in search ola field instead off ght-
ing at or near Manassas, as only shifting
and rot surrounding a difficulty, That
we would find some enemy and some
equal entertainments at either place.
The country will not fail tonote, is not
ing now. that the present hesitation to
move upon the entertainments of the enc
my is but story of Manassas repeated. |
beg TO assure you that have never written
or spoken in greater kindness of feeling
than now, or with fuller purpose to sus-
tain you, SO far as in my most anxious
judgement consistently can, but you must
act. Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.