Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-04-20
From the Special Correspondence of the Chicago Times
WASHINGTON. April ~.

oOme OF the newspapers are beginning 20 IN
quire what plans for the campaign OF the coming
simmer have been arranged upon. and whose
plans they aref ALI such inquiries are bootless.
There are no plans, and none of the men in au-
thority have had capacity enough to form plans.
The war is to be continued during this campaign,
as it has been waged for two years ~'past-blindly
and obiectless. Mr.. Lincoln has a dim and
vague idea that by sending armies into the South,
he can uproot the institution of slavery, rob the
Southern people Of their property. burn down
their houses over their beads, and turn the South
ern States into a desert; and that is just what the
men who are his masters here, want him to do.
So he will ''peg away, keep pegging away'-to
use his own elegant and refined expression-until
dozens of other plans share the fate of Freder-
icksburg and of those beautiful towns in Florida,
which were given up to the plumber of his sol
diers, a few days ago; until thousands of other
families are rendered homeless and reduced to
poverty; and until the soil of all the Southern
States is enriched by the blood andbOnes of other
thousands cf our brave young men who have
been lured away from happy homes by the delu,
sive idea that they were fighting for the Union.
But, as for any plan of the campaign in a mil
itary sense, / repeat i, there is none. Some
months ago, after consulting with Stanton, Lin
coin announced his intention to conduct the war
himself in future; and he has done so. His ad-
visers have been Stanton, Sumner, Ben. Wade,
Chandler, Horace Greeley. and Wendell Phillips;
and he has done whatever they advised, and
made whatever movements they have recon-
mended. He has entirely ignored Halleck, who
has been a complete cipher for at least six months
past. The whole country has been convulsed
with laughter at the idea of six civilians from
Congress-Chandler, Wade, Gooch. Covode,
Odell and Julian-presuming to pass grave judg-
ments upon the military operations in the PENN
sula. But the spectacle is not half so l~udicrous
as that which is presented by Abe Lincoln direct
ing the military operations of gigantic war; and
doing 1t, too, according to the views and IN ODE
djence to the wishes of Stanton, Chandler, and
Horace Greedy This !. the explanation and
the key to the hitherto unexplained enigma ofthe
defeats and reverses of the last six months. With
500. 900 troops and countless millions of money,
we have been bafflei at every point, and are now
kept at bay by the South, with barely 400, 600
troops with an empty treasury. Why is this
1t is because the war is conducted on the part of
the South by soldiers. and on military principles;
and on our part By politicians and for political
ends. See what the results have beer.
Instead of injurDg Mcclellan in the least,
the Republicans were "hoist by their petard, "
when they published the report Of the Commit
tee on the Conduct of the War. That report,
while it will not detract one iota from the reputa-
ton of General Mcclellan, is damaging in the
u VI " ohA ~ Otts
above all. to Halleck. 1t shows that, after Gen.
eral Mcclellan had taken command of the
"troops for the defense of Washington" after
he bad left for Frederick City with the Army of
the Potomac after he had actually commenced
his campaign in Maryland against General Lee /;
after every Confederate soldier that General Lee
could command had been massed near Frederick
City. General Halleck fully shared the puerile
and hysterical fears of Lincoln and Stanton for
the safety of their capital. and instantly all their
troops were withdrawn from richmond and the
Peninsula, and transported with RAILROAD speed to
the Rappahannock near Warrenton, by way of
Gordonsvi!le and Culpepper. Precipitating them
selves there OF Pope's army. they totally routed
that vain braggadOcio, and followed close on his
heels to Manassas and Centerville. When Hal
leck determined to withdraw Gen. McClellan's
army from before Richmond, and bring it up to
Washington. he entirely overlooked the impor-
tant fact that the euemv held the interior line be.
tween the two cities, and could move their army
over to it, while we would be obliged TO move all
the way around by exterior lines. Mark the re
suit.
On the 25th day of July, HalIeck accompanied
by Burnside visited the Army of the Potomac
entrenched at Harrison's Landing. If he had
had the eve and the brain of a great General, he
would have seen there Gen. McClellan's IS 900
veterans in an impregnable position within %
miles of Richmond. with "A debOuche on both sides
of the James River. while the river itself and its
navigation were commanded by a fleet Of iron
clad steamers; and that enforcement to the
amount of 50,nn0 troops, which were easily
available, were all that was necessary to enable
Gen. Mcclellan to take Richmond and virtually
end the war. But Halleck has proved TO the
world that he has neither the eyenor the brain of
a great General. He could see nothing of that.
After his return to Washington on the Sd of
August, he sent to Gen. Mcclellan a formal and
peremptory order to evacuate the Peninsula.
That order was known to the inmates Of the Elk
ecutivo Mansion, and to several other persons in
Washington; and ON the 9TH of that month, it
was known by the Confederate authorities at
Richmond On the l4th of August, the Rich
mond newspapers stated that the troops compos
ING Gen McClellan's army were leaving Harri
sons Landing. which was the case; and. on the
18th, the last regiment of that army had arrived
at Fortress Monroe.
The Confederate army that was then defending
Richmond was then moved from Richmond TO
CuIpepper, by way of GordOnsville-the move
ment being executed on The 18th. 18th and 18th
of August. the distance being one hundred miles,
and the troops being for the most part conveyed
bv,railroad. The trains ran up in six hours
On the 18th, General Lee crossed the RapidaII
| and advanced towards Pope at Culpepper. On
the 18Th. he came up with Pope at Brandy Sta.
ton south of The Rappshannock, and defeated
him there. On the Doth, Pope retreatec across
the Rappahannock. On the. Dist, General Lee
crossed az the upper fords, and got in Pope's
rear. On the 22d, Pope's baggage was captured
by the enemy, at Manassas, and Pope was de-
feated by General Lee at W-frenton. BY this
time General McClellan's army had got over the
exterior line. which was the only route by which
they could reach Washington. and had begun to
arrive nj Alexandria. General Kearney's divis-
ion was mt once dispatched to Pope's aid and met
him. in full retreat, near Greenwich. But by
this time. the whole of General Lees army,
thanks TO his interior line, had arrived at War
rentoux aud General lee. on the 25th. sent Gen
eral bongstreet's whole division up the west side
of Bull Run Mountains, in order that he might
march down through Thoroughfare Gap. at a
village called White Plains. Rockers division
had arrived and Joined Pope, and Summers corps
had begun TO arrive at Falmouth. On the 9th,
General Longstreet's division marched through
Thoroughfare Gap. and, on the 18th, defeated
Mcdowell who had been sent there by.POpe =
On the, 29th, Pope was himself defeated at Bull
Run. On the Doth. General Frankiin's division
had arrived to within two miles of Centerville,
but without ammunition or ammunition wagons;
and Summers corps was also near, but without
any subsistence for either animals or men. On
the 3lst, Pope was at Centerville, supported by
Sumner and Franklin; but on the LIST of Septem-
Der, he retreated towards Washington. and the
BATH. of Chantilly took piace, in which General
Kearnev was killed. On the 2d of September,
Pope's whole force was massed ON the rieht bank
of Difficult Greek, about twenty miles from
Washington, between Germantown. Flint Hill,
and Fairfax.
But, by this time, General Lees whole army
was at.his heels. and General Halleck ordered
him to retreat to the shelter of the Washington
forts. He did so his retreat being covered 10y the