, 1864-10-07
4 scathing Review Of tue CAM
paign on The Peninsula. i,
Gen. McCle:ian's Irreso|ution and
Cpwardics -His Untruthiul
Report His Felse Aacusa~&.
ticn5 6gsinst The
President.
The Supreme Elunder at
Gaines naill-Cen.. Tc'
Clellan's Hchange OF
Hase'' and HIS
Refuge in a
: Gunboat.
BY Brig. Gfn J. G. Barnard. Chief
Engineer Of The ARMY Of
the Potomac.

Tie following observations upon th5 Chick
ahominy camp,ig2 are taken from recently
published volume entitled "The Pealosula
Campaign aud Its AntecedeDts "a developed
ty the Report Of Maior General Geo. .,
Mcclellan and other Pobtic Documents" By
j. G. Barnard, Lieutenant Colonel Of Eust
nccrs ard Drigadisr General ef Volunteers,
and Chief Engineer In the Army Of the Po-
tom.c from its organization to the close of
tut Peninsula Campaign New Yors: D..
VanNostrand, i92 Broadway:
+ x-'-~* +
We ehall net pauee here to d1'ell upon the
battle OF Wriiiatrsbr1e. Thata fierce btttle
was fought ut poiut EneEe there was 4
strong probability that suca a 1econtre would
occur, der 1t Was rtas onable to suppose that
the Inv ms would require further time to &C.
cure Lis retreat and save bis tratas. and here
was fortified position perfectly adtpted to
such temporary st1ud.) that It occurred
without foresight, preparations or ord6rs,
and that there Ras utter confusion with re.
gard to the command and direction Of the
t1oops, that the Comm anding General him
sell, though only L miles dissaut, was ;.com-
plelfDg the preparations 1or the departure OF
Gen. Franklln's troops by water, aud making
the necessary arrangements with thc naval
cammander for his cooperation" that We
lost 2,ee86 men in an affair in which we gain.
cd nothfre and which need not have cost uR
mar, lis all now well understood.
"1NTERFERENcE OF THE ADMINISTRATION -
Neither shall we dHc11 on the extraordI-
rary 6luggishness Of the march from VIII
lIamebprg 10 the Chlckahomioy, folio wing
the Commanding Generals boastfQI declafA-
tion that be should push the enemy to the
wall" "a dispatch, BY the by, which le has
suppressed In this report We shall cnly
SECRETARY OF War Of May 18th, (p. 9G,) and
to the lloRipg comment Of General Nc
Clellan: 1T Mill be observed that this order
rendered It Impossible for me to use the
James River as line Of operations, and
fo1ctd me to establish onr depots on the
Pamunkey, and to approach Richmond from
the north.
had advised and preferred that reinforce
ments should be sent by water, for the rea
son that their arrival would be moro safe and
cf1taiu, and that would be left ffee to rest
the army On the janis River whenever the
LaE}gation OF thtt stream should be opened.
''TLc land Increment Obliged me to ex-
poee my right In order to secure the juno.
1itn, and as the order for Zen. McOo wells
march Was soon couatermanded, incurred
great risk, OF which the enemy finally took
advantage: and fsnstrated the plan Of the
campsign."
We here remark that 1t was 1T Ropes'a
<u4cu, hucIc tuG ellA| h4e ou lne 4lt0 0l
May, that it was necessary to decide hether
We would cross the ChIckahomiuy near that
place and approach the James fthen open to
uB By the, destruction Of the Merrimac,) OF
continue on the Williamsburg road to Rich.
mond4. The great mistake Of nut takisg the
| james Rger route was made eight days pse-
tio1ss 70 tGe da<e Of shIs order, ana Was dus to
Gen AcClella1's total ignorance of the to.
! po3rsrby Of the county he Was operatiug
| in. to bis want OF any due appreciation OF
j The fhpe1ior value Of the James a. baae,
AZ MT to an orter received eight days lsteE
In his esgerpeea to make this grave charge
againtt the War Department, and to manu-,
tacture excuses tor his own oversight, Ito
use very u4ild tttm,) he has forgotten bis
| own evidence, given uucer oath, bef,re the
Committee on The Conduct OF the War, as
| follows:
Qutuion-Con1d not the advance on Rich
ef &c James as R1
| er than by the route pursued, mud what were
| tie reasous for taking the route adopte3:"
''Ans,eer.-I do net think that TIE nary at
Uhdtt 1ras IN q condition to make tie l;Ee Of
T. .,atts H:y Tpez5fetly *nrs jor onr sapp!sS'.
yantages in that respect The place Was in a
| better position to effect junction WITH any
| troops that might move from Washington
on the Frederick s0uEg lne: rememheg
| that the idea Of moving on the James River
Ees stncus.y olseussea ~ 'nat nas. naI
~ .,ases t,a,, s~;.tss eSa eoata
t.,s, e r1seqeS ,uas -, 1s"t thtns tt.e
Mtz1imac was destroyed while ne were AZ
williamsburg"
1 Next 10 the taking away Of McDowelps
eoaps 'as moss - ~. e. epscssson xp.oac11e..
hs .nS vn5ad raon 10 ~ enmnasuen Il
Gas NJ afie'ian ane ~ bssa h;nae;f p.n ~" ".
| York anu Pamunkey Rivers, instead OF the
ena r. - ,ieTis,,s,, ~ nimac1f aoea nj scrnnia
4na uen. :. ttn... T., ~ an;as nHs ~
| ~ ~, tnor6.' - o. oo, ~ =
etta9,tanahtL na,nah1a M w eEa.T 1aue ~
~ ttrpa ,rbn ~ e..s;iJ3.Ft .,,t,, -.
The The mapch @ Of Of events event Of g. tbs ] c.mpatsn~is rs
mere n'aoe Pa4paoie 10 me general 1eaoef.
1fEXcUsAbLE DELAY IN cRoos1Sa TIE H1cK-
AuoMISf.
On the 18Th OF MAY our depot Vas hrnl5
established en- the York Rtyer. The army
| was well nigh a to tae Ch1ckehomlny, Ihe
right wirg or the New Bridge road, the LETT
wing on the BQesom's Bridge road
Gen. Barnard has given IN his report con-
| ciEe description Of that now we'll known
stream, calling 1t zone OF the most tormioa,
bic military obstacles that could DC oppossa
70 the ADVANCE Of an arny :san 4 opstaele to
siaefaple fa aa Dasnifaae compsratiSely slight
Formidable as 1t vas, Gen. =. 1nftaes fe'
| marks, IT be barrier Of the Cotckahomlny
being lett uDguarded at Bottoms Bridge, nc
time should have been lost 10 making use o1
the circumstance to turn end scize the pas
esge Of New Fridge. which might have been
done By the 2sth, and even EARLIER, had mea.
enres been pressed for taking It,"
In reference to the came period and tue
zane obstacle We flpd iu the report before
ne, (p 10O, lst par,) "1n view Of the pecu
liar character OF the Cbickahom!ny, ana IN:
liability OF its bottom land to suddenianndaF
ton, 1t became necessary 70 constf4ct ne'
tween Bottom's Bridge ana Meenanlcgllte
eleven {1D new bIieges, all long and dill
cult, with extensive log way approaches"
1t may htre be remarked thaI we knew RI
little OF the "peculiar character OF tu'
Chickahcminy' md I" the liability OF IT.
bottom land 10 sudden 1nundatlops' as W
conIts idly did ct the topography and ROAD
ard physical character Of this whole regtol
nothing at all-
Inc eleven rev hrioges, t.assna'oS IL II
TOMS Bridge and New Bridge,) arc here em
pha'icslly mentioned as If at that date, (Ma]
.41n,} IL was as Necessary ~ co'e.euc: d, q,
Ind been part ofthe programme. preliminary
to my further notion II this IL nos assert
ed, the adss is coDve3ed bs tee lst par, 2
Ivy; alo c1nnfmEo Py t.s5 sue osu aa nao .o,n otn
aanea ane ~ moan nnce uRv En. M KY
oy leItleIee ~ ~ ~ 1t,s ,,ar,9d fs1f ~
"H pc seen ,na. ~ ias n fr,nt 1'
Ronts Rs,It LIT @ oasosss af "e +he ernv ~ near "See
Ine Lgl. "nS ~ t.if mile ahnvs another
bfaoEe, VIZ s.etsaaa W. ha1nT the .sNes
the zane o1s.anee Ne p,;dee ,fsel,
BIlcge.. ana sa an' +ba crossin; of tn
me iat'ef ~ mss .a raon,red 1o NOR
!nsnpiA9, @ en1 - t,vo ~ Wo1k in throwing
|