The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1864-11-17

EiAPilNN w cNll~ 4l@bliliduf GADlNili-
ing his situation, and his utter inabil-
ity to defend the posts in question with
his limited means, and received the
following rcply--not hint at re en-
forcements, but simply this:
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, Is0l-10P. N.
To Brig Gen. W.T. Sherman, Louisville:
How near to Louisville is BucIlner?
Is he moving on Louisville? Has he
crossed Green River? Is the bridge
over Green River repaired. Can lie
cross Green River in face of McCook I?
If lie was on the North side of Green
River, how long could McCook hold
him out of Louisville. holding the
railroad, with power to destroy it, inch
by inch? How many guns has Nc
Cook? ESigncd.1 I #-...
G. b. MCCLELLAN, .
Major General.
The dispatch, in effect, gives upKcn-
tucky. 1t gives up our small forces
there, their arms and munitions Of
war. 1t cOntemplatcs that McCook.
with five thousand mon. should de-
fend the passage Of Green River against
a force OF ten to one: that he sh 1uld
defend the railroad and destroy it. inch
by inch, in the presence ofsuch over
whelming force, and when the last
inch was captured, nothing remair ed
but to surrender the little army under
his command, and to surrender Louis.
vile, making the Ohio river the boun-
dairy When he found the dispatch
which necessarily involves the con.
struction and consequences applied to,
and deduces from it as above, he was
in snug quarters in Washington, had
10000 men, lying on the banks of the
Potomac, none Of whom he intended, if
we are to judge his purposes by his
acts. should shoulder u gun or point Il
cannon, except in reviews, within the
coming winter. There he lay with
100000 men consuming precious time
and military stores, watching the cbb
and flow of tide in the Potomac, till
Sherman, sick at heart, requested to be
relieved from his command. He was
replaced by General Buell., who was at
once furnished with troops to enable
him to maintain his position, but not
enough to warrant him in making an
aggressive movement.
But during the winter and early
spring Mcclellan still held the troops
on the banks of the Potomac. In the
meantime the rebel General, quite at
his leisure, removed his army, his can
non, his munitions Of war to Il more
remote & convenient position, & in this
delicate movement he lost not man
or gun or mule. General Mcclellan
discovered it some week or ten days
after he had made the movement, and
BADLY took possession Of his aban,
dencd camp. .......... .......
Let no one suppose that view his
conduct at that time in less forcble
light because he is now q candidate
for the Presidency. | rive now the
opinions which ! formed as the events
were passing, and am prepared to
vouch by cotcmporaneous papers. /
refer to two letters which | wrote on
the 9th and 9th Of April 1S62-one to
the President and one to the Secretary
of War. In order to understand the
first Of these letters, it should be borne
in mind that we had, in the meantime,
gained victories-not won by Nc
Clcllan or in his presence that the
Union arms We're in the ascnndan t,
| read from my letter book deter
press copy: ".
"The Hon. z. ". Stanton, Sec, dc:
"DEAR SR:-Thc secession Gene,
rails will now attempt to retrieve
their fallen fortunes by stroke Of gen
eralship. They cannot defend the
long line which is threatened, but
must and will abandon almost every
thing else and attempt TO break our
centre in Tennessee, by bringing be-
fore that single point an ovcrwhelm-
ing force. They will melt away from
Virginia like snow before q south
wind, and Mcclellan, with his 100000
men, will not fight II battle or strike Il
blow; simply occupy deserted camps.
He ought not to be permitted TO hold
such Il large part of our best disci-
plincd troops inactive. Fifty thou
sand of them ought to be sent at once
to re-enforcc our centre in Tennessee,
and to help to fight the great battle.
This letter, dated the 9Th, was writ
ten, though not mailed, on the 9th of
April, which was Sunday. While Twas
writing, Gen. Grant was fighting the
great battle which I was anticipating.
On the 9th | wrote to the President
a letter, from which / read an extract:
"LANeAsTER, ONO, April 0, 1862.
"SIM Strong doubts are entertained
of McClellan's loyalty, and, as think,
with some reason. lie commenced his
career with unbouhded popularity.
Our public here bore with his inaction
long and patiently. One excuse after
another was urged and admitted until,
at last, the retreat of the rebel army
from Manassas, with their mighty arm
aments and munitions of war, has con-
vinced those who were his friends that
he is false or strangely incompetent,
cannot, f)r myself, conceive it posi-
bic that their retreat could have been
effected without his knoledge. The
like was never heard of in the history
of the world. j. x * i
| .IInhnr oil TIM cirGflmstnnnns