, 1864-03-28
Mcclellan and the Army.
/. The following extract is from the private
letter Of IN officer Of the army;

= WAsu1Soros, March 15, 1861.
"four speaking Of Mcclellan leads me to
mention some things that heretofore had
omitted to speak Of. From what I can hear
the nomination Of Mcclellan By the Demo-
cratic party, as Its next Presidential candl-
date, had been determined upon months ago.
No secret is made Of it here-you NAV rely
upon It The whole thing is cut and dried.'
Fon have read McClellan's report, or his
history Of the Army Of the Potomac. So
have That he has succeeded In presenting
Q good case is unquestlonablc. That he has,
for the sake Of making political capital; de.
Iberately misreprcsented facts, Is equally
80. The report Of the Congressional War
Committee, containing the sworn statements
Generals FRANKLIN and Ftx John Porter, d.
rcctly eontradicts many Of MeClellan's'a1le-
gations, and prove him to be better arguer
Up to The time Of the appearance Of Nc
clcllan's Report had supposed that a mill
nent Of facts, unsupported By rhetorical
flourish and uncolored BY q mistaken preju-
dice :; but Mcclellan has enlightened the
world upon this as upon his other fact, that
masteEly retreats arc better than actna1 vic-
tories. He has shown us that report
defence, and an arsaignment Of lis superior
officers. Ambitious of the Presidency, he
has capped the climax Of his military blum
ders b. giving us military stump speech
and calling It report ] have no time or
points In his speech, but I will content my
eelf with simply sayipg that the IPor'd, when
It states that the Report was mutilatcd By
the War Department, knows that it ibs. All
the dispatches arc not there 1t is true, but oil
arc there that Mcclellan saw TT to introduce
: hrn ~
the dispatches that passed between the Ad-
,ninfstTation and Mcclellan are omitted.
The report. as Mcclellan wrote 1t. has
never been altered ia my respect; what de-
sratehes Were left out were omitted BIZ nc.
Clel1sn for reasons best known to himself, :
Many, probably, were not introduced because
Of their comparative unimpbrtance, but many
because they might Aayc interfered with Nc
Clel1an's interpretations Of passing events.
lou speak Of what you suppose know, yiz:
tTLe devotion OF the soldiers for Mcclellan;
upor. this let me speak one honest word:
When ! Joined the army, year and q half
ago. shortly after the retirement of McClel-
Ian be had opposers among both officers and
men, the yast majority were for some reason
or other--certainly not on account Of success
strongly for Mcclellan. But assure you
been almost universai;. Mcclellan; has
meet with one who upholds
linn or who would vote for him ii nomi
mated. can nccount for this change only In
tyo ways: First. Many men arc carried away
by show, others run with tile majority. The
people took for granted, without waiting for
actual proof, that Mcclellan was q seoond Ma
poleon, and 1t mas difficult to disabusc them
Of the idea. Tho men In the army Of the
Potomac read the papers md believed
what they eaid. Moreover Mcclellan was
continually having reviews, parados aud mil
itary exhibitions an oI Whici. tended to i'm
rrees the minds OF his followers. Now all
this artificial excitement has gone. The hero
has disappeared, public opinion has chnnged,
and, as was natural, the army has changed
with It We're Mcclellan to return, possibly
he might regain lie former popularity, but 1 !
think not; Secondly. The union o! Mcclcl-
Ian with the politicians. The lc tcrhc wrote
support of the Democratic candidate
Woodward, md against the Administration.
damaged him Immensely. sYou have
no idea what an Excitement the matter Great
ed. McClellan's popularity, already on |
the wanc, was ruined entirely by, this |
open alliance y it'll the enemies Of the gov |
ernmcut. People may say what they please, |
but the army believes In Abraham Lincoln: !
and when nominated he will carry it's votes, !
Mcclellan never was popular out West. The |
Western army, much larger than ours, will /
yote AGAINST our Report in solid body, and |
the army of the Potomac ne,r1y 60. What I |
think Of Mcclellan, and hare always thought !
of him since his disastrous failures on the |
Peninsula, you we'll know; but what I have |
stated as TO his popularity In the army of !
the Potomac is strictly true. If you were /
here you would see the chaugc yourself