The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-10-04

the rioht tn wbataver direction you may
move bowavar strange my actions may APP
pear To Won. ever bear In mind that my Irte Is
linked with yours, and that all 10 Is 70 Drlng
YOU where know you wish 10 oe, on tne de-
cisiye battle field. 1t is my business TO place
1o, there am to watch you as parent
,,o,ches his children, and you know that your
General loves you from the depths of his heart.
r. shall be my care-it ever has been-to gain
success with the least possible bloodshed. But
know that If it is necessary, you will follow
me to your graves for our righteous cause
God smiles upon us. Victory attends us, vet
/ would not have you think that your aim is
to be obtained without manly struggle.
will not disguise it from you, that you have
brave foes to encounter, foemen well worthy
of the steel that you will use well. shall de-
mand of you great heroic exertion, rapid and
long marches, desperate combats and priva-
tons perhaps. We will share all these togeth-
er, and when the war is over, we will all re-
turn to our homes and feel that we ask no
more honor than the proud consciousness tnat
we belong to the army of the Potomac.
(Signedj GEORGE B. McCLELLAN.
General Commanding.
A few DAYS following this highfalutin ad-
dress we find the army embarking for Fortress
Monroe. en- route for Yorktown and Rich
mond. Let no one say in the light of the
above that anything had been withheld which
the ability of the Government could supply to
make it efficient. The address above quoted
settles this point. We soon find him before
Yorktown with more than 100000 strong, op
posed by mere handful of not over 10000
rebels. Instead of going to work at once and
clearing out that place, weeks of inactivity
follow-inactivity on our side-and the rebels
are reinforced by an immense accession. Or
their Own accord they go off as they had
come. Mcclellan stays behind with Fitz John
Porter, while Sumner and Stoneman and
Hooker press forward and attack the retreat
ing foe at Williamsburg. Discounted and
cut to pieces they retreat from that battle de-
moralized, but the general-in-chief, instead OF
following up the advantage gained by his
corps and division commanders, spends anoth-
er three or four weeks without result.
| Passing along the battle of Fair Oaks was
fought, and but for the awkward position OF
the army, divided by swollen river, there
would have been no possible excuse for not
taking Richmond. AS it was Hooker pene-
trated within hearing of the church bells, and
would doubtless have gone into the city had
not McClellan's peremptory order recalled
him. 1t was the general opinion of the Of
hcers engaged, that the rebel capital was then
at our mercy. 1t was the opinion of Hooker,
of Casey, of Heintzleman, of Howard, the
Havelock Of the army, of the dashing Jane
son and the gallant Berry, both now gone to
the soldiers rest.
Nearly one month later were fought the six
days battles, and the mastery retreat was
conducted to Harrison's Landing 1t was
during this period, that Mcclellan wrote te
the Secretary of War, that insolent letter
from Savage's Station. June 2Sth, in which he
said, referring to the battle of the preceding
day, Il know that few thousand more mel
would have changed this battle from defea
"to victory. As it is, the Government mus
mot and cannot hold me responsible for thu
result. If / save this army now
81 tell you plainly that l owe no thanks t.
"you, or any other person in Washington
"You haze done yuor best to sacrifice thi
"army" --- .eA as
Such was the insolence of man, solicitou
for his own reputation, towards government
that has left no stone unturned to make hi
campaigna success. Mr.. Lincoln richly de
served the trouble he subsequently, experienc
ed from Mcclellan for not displacing him a
once. He, a general in the field, charging tn
government with design to sacrifice the al
nyl Nothing could more emphatically dis
prove such an allegation than the forbearanc
of the government, and its consent for hin
longer to occupy position which he had s,
signally failed to honor.
But we wish to call special attention to one
fact In this same snarling letter from which
we have quoted, he says, "Had twenty (2O
000,) or even ten thousand 100000 fresl
troops to use tomorrow, / could take Rich
| mond."
| Think of the absurdity and transparency O.
this claim "A month before, at Fair Oaks, with
| 10000 more men than he now had fit for duty
and with the enemy mnch weaker, and Rich
mond comparatively undefended, and his own
troops flushed with victory, he did not attempt
to take Richmond, and called back his com
manders who were anxious to take it, but now
with defeated, dispirited army, he can d.
that job with 10000 fresh troops! Who be-
lieves he would have attempted anything oil
the KIND had the troops been forthcoming
The truth is, he had allowed his army of al
least 10000 strong to dwindle down to less
than half that number; he had 40 900 missing
and undccounted for; he had suffered the
golden opportunity to escape; he had seen his
army becoming demoralized and driven back
and, knowing that fresh troops could not DOS.
sibly reach him short of two weeks, it was
| perfectly safe for him to tell what he could dc
tomorrow if impossible aid were granted him
He said this to cover his defeat; to change the
responsibility, and to protect reputation fas
becoming bankrupt in the estimation of mill
tary men. If with 10000 more men he coult
SO soon have gone into Richmond, it is reason
able to suppose he could at least, with thu
force he had, have held his position; but instead
of this we find him falling back, back, back
until the morning Of the fight at Malvern
when he actually went down the river before
the fight commenced, to find a place to retreat
to, and after his subordinate commanders had
won the day, and the field was theirs, from
his gunboat headquarters Mcclellan ordered
them to fall back six or seven miles to Har-
rison's Landing, which order was reluctantly
obeyed by the victorious commanders, and
thus ingloriously ended the peninsula cam
paign. t1L
Deaf, Dumb and Bliud.
The Governor and Council of this State, Wis
tied the Institute for the Blind, at South Bos-
ton, and the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb,