, 1864-10-07

I
iDie needless Delay inyo1yed-a delay vo1un
tarily incurred in q fa1ze and dangerous posi'
II, TSe rs6nptnees of SIMMER, and the intel
| 1!gent foresight he Displayed. enab1ed him t.
reach tbe field :nd to turn defeat into yscto'
~. His columns were formed and thet,
beads pushed up to the bridges, th>t, Eheu
Rt cree In Eotion. Thereafter the battles
| which. ersued tcek the nsul course.
| zen. Sumner, thu highest officer Of the
army next 10 Gen. Mcclellan, arrived
late 10 the day. With tart of his corps, to
neet the cIeDy on ground he had neyer seen
tiops Of which Re knew 1othips OF. Right.
| fully, after his arrival, he coucgodej on the
bztile. f.ld, but neither he nor Gen Heint-
| zelnan encountered each other nor could
| act with intelligent reference to each Others
3xsltion. No supreme head, knowing the
whole ground, gave unity to SETON or cohe.
1e0te to the masssB. On the second dag,
work OF TIE cay was ended, made his ap'
peaIance.
The enemy, bling finally 1epulsed, at au
carly honr on Sunday, (June 1st} the "onlY
available means: OF uniting our forces at
Fair Osss Tor an advance on Richmoud, aod
thus to obtain some results from our victory
was not to march them twenty three miles,
az described P. liz. IA considerable exsgger-
alton Of the necessary average march Of The
army BY the route descFlbed,) but 10 move
| force from Summers command to take pos.
eession Of the 1eishts near Garnest's and
Mrs. Prfce's houses, sud then to bring over
onr right wing by the New Bridge, (actnally
mode and pasfahlc for troops and artillery ut
Sis a. H., On the morcins of June 1st) 4
SINGLE division could have cleared thos!
heights.
TIE FRUITS OF VICTORY LOST.
Gen. Mcclellan states (p. 113:) "Io short,
the idea Of uniting the two wings OF the
army In time to make vigorous pursuit ol
| the enemy, with the prospect Of oyertakiug
him before he reached Richmond, only five
miles ltEtant IRON the Held OF battle, Is slm
ply absurd, aid was, presume, never for 9
moment seriously entertained By any one
An IL genfous evasion OF the real point at
| iskRe- 1t was not to 11oyertske the enemy
before he reached Richmond" but to .fo4o,l
him Up Into R:chatond, that constituted q
ntskfng adTantage'' Of the victory Of :. Fair
Oaks. ," That we might have entered Rlct-
mond, al1 the Information sincs obtained
goes 10 prove. Vim Henry Hurlbert says
The roaos into Richmond were literally
crowded with st1asglers, s6ms throw.
Ing asoy their guns, some breaking
them on tie treee-a1l with the same
story, tlet tl,eir regiments had been
|
eTarmtpg on the Chickahominy like bees,'
| aLd lighting like >deylis.' In two days Of
tie succeeding weeks the Provost MarshaVs
guards collected between 1900 aud 5000
stregGlels and sent them, into camp. What
had BECOME OF the command no one kne E.''
Gen. Heintzleman states that 'safter the
en- envy retired, be gave orders to pursue
them p that he ''countermanded" the order
! On Sunday, in consequence of Gen. Kearney'a e
fuegeAt!on md allegation that 'General afc'
| Clellon r Hould order general advance In no
or three days." The next morning, on learn.
coItus:on, be eeLt bis troops forward, and
they got within about four miles OF Rich
| mopd;" but, on stnditg word Of 1t to Gzn.
McClel1ar, be wss ordered to '*atop md iast
back to the old linss.''
Gen. Summer testifles: TT we had at
tackled with our whole force. We should have
sweps every thing bsfore us y mud II thlnk
the minority Of the othce,s who ware th:re
Il ink 60 now.n
Gen. Eeyes tessif1es: "After the battle Of
6evtn Pines there Was another t1me when 1
think, II tie armyhad pressed on after the
enemy NTH grtat Tleor. We should have
gone to NlchnoLd, snd, In connectiln with
this lstt, am compelled to state that think
Gtn. Mcclellan does not excel in that quality
which etablts him to know when to spring" !"
We baye, titus positively. the opinion OF
fbe comGandess OF the three corps engaged
| In tic battle.
The Price de Joinrille eays "some per.
sons thought, and think stu, that II, instead
o1 Summer aione, MI the divisions Of tho
right wig Fad teen ordered to cross the
river, the order would have been executed.
| It Is easy to see What must have bapp .nsd IL,
lDeteat Of II, eco, q, 600 men bad been thrown
| upon JolEEon's hank. But Summers bridge,
I NO doubt, would not have sutlced for the
| passage OF such force at midnight the rear
Of his column was still struggling slowly to
cross Ills rude structure, against all the dan
| culties II Roadway ltrmed of trunks,
which slipped end rolled under the horses
tett, Of muddy morags at either end, aud
| OF pitcby dark night rendered darker still
by the density Of the forest. But several
| other bridges were ready to be thro wn across
at 9th er points. Not moment should have
been lost In fixing them, aud no regard
sh.uld have been paid to The efforts OF the
tIcnJ to prevent this from bling done.
| Johnstou had paTaded . brigade o5tsntatIous-
j., ss g. sort Of ecarecrow, at. tue points
the ceea5a e Is
unexpected apd 60 favorable for striking a
deeislye blow, that 10 onE Judgment nothiag
tempting this operation at eyeEy risk. Here
egain 1t paid the penalty Of that American
| taIdine IS Viii h Is more marked In the char.
acter OF The army than III that Of Its
ltsder. It Was not till seven In the evening
that the res olution was taken OF throwing
srm!E over hy esydreak 10 the right bank.
| It was too 1atei"
The Prince here labors urtier that excnsa.
BILE confusion OF ideas which artists from an
amiab1e unH fllingness to Garry his own con-
victiobs TO logical conclusion SIT was
ticu Was taken,'' &c. Now the army had
been vaftt1 e for several day. for that Hreso,
lptinn'' TO be taken. The moment it was
tsken the bridge building commenced. The
| riEipg food and the darkness Of the night In,
terftTed with any progress till daylight
ing one bIldge was finished, and the Passage
practicable for all arms, during the day "a
other passages became practicable for 1pfan'
t1y. So Tar from being too lite, the bridges
| were rfady Just in time.
The Ptince further says: "What might not
ftsb troops on the other bank Of the Chicka
hominy could have APPEARED upon the flank
q thi5 diselde1ed army, after passing ths
r. General as Rsnat.", 5asnara ststes ssst E. ::
site OF Nes Bridge was complete and practt
:cbh1e for infantry, cavalry >ard artillery
About noon the supper t1estle BRIDGE was
practicable 1or infantry. 1swas not till nigh
That a practicable brjuge Tor Infantry was Oh
tanned at the 'tower trestle BRIDGE" HI
Of the Bottom lands, the two last bridgel
could lot he Ioads practicable for "cavAls;;
or artillery" without extenive corduroy1ng
He further remarks: *'there was one way
however, to unite the army on the other side
It was to take advantage Of victory ut Fat
position opposite Eew Br1ige, and stimuli,
1eous]J TO b,ipg over by the New Bridge, ,
with which, re remark, raf=ed ,urnpik'
ccmmunlcatrd,) Hour troops Of the righ
wing, which carlld then have met With lit!l
CT no resistApce.n
"Our firet bridges carried off or rend.re.
impossible" {a!luded to P. 1907 were ta
1wo bridges made By Gen. Sumner wtt:4
were :, too remote to have been countc
on for the close connection OF the parts Q
| The a1mr. No bridges, .ans designed or cuul
menced, were eyes carrjed a8ay. Tor non
Bottom's Br1tge, it fs true, became "iGpas
sable" but this YVES never counted on to
movements OF troops, being too remote
The railroad bridge Confined passablc, al
| supplied our army, and by Its means also IL
ta1iTy, in unlimited numbers, could pass.
The true statement Of the case is, that til
favorable Lime for iorctug 3 passage at th
NEW Bridge" {bysfar the bess croessog 9
the Chickahomfny, AID oEe which no innu
| dation could seriously IMPAIR having bee
t trttied away, as has already been shown, au
the opportunity Of selling this passage .,hic
4 the battle OF Far Oaks otered having bee
lost, then the heavy lebors Of bridge ou,1dtol
commenced, and the inundated condition {
The swamp necessitated the 1abortous and e.
| reps,ye structures called 81 Woodbury. an
Alexandef's'' and t'Duane's" bridges, beside
two or three foot bridges, which require
little labor. Then, too, in pros:
cutipg the upper and slower tressl
bridge" corduro5s, "opr men were expose