, 1864-01-14
nYcCLELLAKsS LETTER TO EaE
= PRESIDENT.

Saturdays issuc Of the In1EuSE contained |
an abstract Of Gen. McClellan's report OF Ills !
ope,ations while in command Of the Potomac |
Army. The original document-tle joint
work Of Mcclellan, Porter End others-makes
a book Of ono thorsanl printed pages. No
General eince wazs bcgan, ever issued such !
mass OF stuff, in thc shape OF "rcport-" 1t
Is almost as long rs Waller Scott's Life Of
Eapoleou. or Napier's Peninsula Campaigns,
and all about what lc did and what he didn't,
willie he employed the army digging bitches,
and In rttrcating frem them Not one man |
In ten thousand will ever take the time TO ]
wade through, or incur the expense OF pnr-
clssipg, this enormous mcse Of apology and
justification for unimprovcd opportunities.
But there is ono page in It tlat has been dug
out Of tic surrounding rubbish hy come ps-
ticut end pe,fcyeEing letter writer, that viii
be r1ad By many. We refer to Lis letter to
President Lincoln, written from Hor1ason's
Landing, July z, as02, just after his disastrous
rcpulsc from Richmond, and while his army
was in a most deplorable plight, battered.
bruised and bleeding, melting under tropl-
cal heat, eickcning By thousands, and saved
from capture or destruction by the gunboats.
IT was under this condition Of things that
Mcclellan inditcd to the President letter,
tnstructing him In his political duty, md
threatening him, in effect, with the breaking
up and dissolution of The arny, unless
he adopted as guide Tor his Ponn-
cal course the programme laid down o5
the "grcvc-diggcr Of the Chickahominy. ,
That letter VIC refer TO now, lest some Of our
readers may have neglected to pcrusc 1t.
The epistle reads Just like the New York
Herald editorials published ut tie time. True
It avoids the vulgar swagger Of the He'zl'd,
but contains the same train Of ideas, and pre-
scribcs the eamc coppcrhead method OF con-
ducting the war, md It Was doubtless from
that dirty and disloya1 fountain that McClel-
land imbibed his war policies.
It Will strike the " common people" as
singular specimen Of military subordination
for the general Of an army to undertake to
dictate 10 the commander-in-clief the pol}ti-
cal management Of thc rebellion, and hold
out 10 him threats that unless 1c does thus
and SO, on the slavery question, "our present
armies will rnpidly disintegrate,'' and the
- effort to replace them will be hopeless.''
Read the following samples taken from
this lecture Of tic subordinate to his chief
:. They arc decidedly cool:
This rebclion has assumed the character Of war !;
ae euch it ttorld bc regarded. and it should be
conducted on .he highest principles KNOWN to
Chrisllnp civilization. 1t should Not 1sc a war
looking to the sub3ut alton OF tho people OF any
State on any event. il should not b. at all war
Iticai organization. NeiIer coaJasoatton q prop
ges! y fssssoes es os q n & ss
: err, ehould be CENT tcUplated for moment
Military power should not be allowed to interfere
w1th the r1lot:ons Of stsrtude, either by support
ccpt 1or rspreesfng disorder, - In other cases.
The right Of the Government to appso ariate per
rnnueutly DIS own service claims OF slnSc laboE
Fhould BE asserted. dnd the tight Qf the osrntT
roznnensdfton therefor should be recognized
Uujces the principles governing the tuture COT
dnet Of ons struggle shau oe faoaS kfeMa ang r
9,rOted the eGofI to obiou requisite FORCES Will o.
nimosll hopeless. 4 declaration Of Fadiedt ristca
especially Upon slavery, will rapidly dlsln1egrat
our present alniee.
The first of these, commands to tho frcs'
dent. In eject, assumes that the war had no
been conducted on "principlcs Of Christa
civilization" but had been waged On orr ra1
. after the manner Of barbarians. It Is at leaa
true THAT, up to that period IL had been condut
ted according to the copperhead policy an
none but copperhead generals vert cntFuste
With important commands
But Hthcre must be no connsca1ou OF tn
property Of rebels, and the relation OF 6er'
1pao must not he impaired" lhe 10Y