Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1864-02-11
General McClellan,s Report.

of extravagance,' IL will be because of the
publication Of General McOle!lap's repoyt.--
We are afraid to give an estimate ofthe ex-
psnse, lest il should shake the confidence of
the peoplc.in our ability to pay the ma
tional debt; but we must say that had the
same money been given by the Government
to any of the valuable tract societies, entire
heather countries might be civilized at once
Had il been given to the poor, the poor
would cease to be; had it been generously
given to the Democratic State Central Com.
mite, last October, it might have elected
Mr.. Justice Woodward; had it been used to
present General Mcclellan with new
sword as testimonial Of his distinguished
services, it would have supplied tho most
costly ornament that over hung in Gensr-
ais sash. But il really seems wasted in the
publication of library; for this report is
not one book, but many ..
1t is an autobiography in a startling mum,
Der Of volumes, and like the Braminlcal
record of the Hindoo mythology, cannot be
read in lifetime. We shall read the be-
ginning, but only our grand-sons shall get to
the end. Thus it will take three genera.
tions Of readers to find out of what General
Mcclellan has to complain. 1t is true that
he wrote this colossal lament in less than
three years; but writing and reading are not
equally easy. Correspondents send us poems,
written in an hour, that we really cannot
read in months. In the old days, when men
lived nine hundred years, such report as
Gen. Mcclellan has so industriously com
piled might have found a public reading;
but now he must despair, for Methusaleh is
dead.
Some one, however, cropping in this mass
Of documents and comments, hes found
passage which is enough to indicate the
character of the whole work. 1t is quo
ted from letter written by General Nc
Clellan to the Secretary Of War, and dated
June %, 1862. 1t reads thus: "If save
this army now, | tell you plainly that owe
no thanks to you, or to any other person IN
/, Washington. You have done your best to
sacrifice this army" Really, it seems hard
that SO much money should be spent to pub.
lish an accusation that might have easily
been made in the newspapers for nothing;
for the gentleman we have employed to
read up as much Of the report as he could,
stated just before he was taken sick, that
so far as he had gone it was simply huge
complaint cf the want Of men, the wicked
: ure to appreciate the distinguished services
Of the author. He further states that the
report is so completely taken up with the
crimes Of the Administration, that it give'
r comparatively little information Of its pre-
tended subject, and that it should be prop
erly entitled, Advice to the President; or
, Putting Down Rebellion Made Easy, IL
, five hundred difficult volumes" Thes'
, statements explain the long delay befor'
: the wooden guns at Manassas, the masterl.
= inactivity before Yorktown, the patient oc
q cupation Of the Chickahominy swamps, ant
. entirely exonerate General Mcclellan; 70
Z no man could at once fight successful
a campaign and write such a report as this. =
J. The crushing reply to the Generals detrac
i tors will be: "What! do you suppose tina
;. he could govern the country, teach tn
f President his duty, denounce the Secretar
d ofWar, refute the arguments Of Senate
!. Wilson, prove the confscation Of rebt
T. property illegal, ridcule the abolitionists
10 oppose the people, defy the Administration
n and take Richmond, all at the same time
y Certainly not Yet this was what he al
!. General Mcclellan was not employed
d govern the country, but only to take Rict
,e mond, is so clearly inspired by jealousy I
r. his popularity as Presidential candidat
A that it will only be heard with derision. .
n With equal derision, of course, will tt
e- declaration that General Mcclellan did nj
ss save the Army of the Potomac be received
Yet it has been made. People, oenvious
his triumphant march upon Manassas ar
upon Yorktown, when those places were d
serted by the foe, say that he led magni
cent army Of one hundred and eighty thou
and men up the Peninsula, and placed the
We in pestilential swamps for weeks, whe
d. thousands died, while he wrote to Washin
lie ton for more men. They will say that tn
On was not saving an army, but destroying
he They declare that he had every man tn
en could he spared, and enough, if proper
Is used, to have accomplished work, not
EN- difficult as that of Vicksburg, or the rout
at Bragg's triumphant army at Chattanoog
as They declare that when this army, scattey
TO over line of twenty miles, cut in two
tn rebel cavalry, and weakened by long wa
ID ing and sickness, was driven back by I
o, that had not dared to stand before it a L
IN weeks before, it was not General McClel
,le that saved it. They say that this army,
all its retreat, was saved by its own splend
If fighting, and the skill of It's corps comma
IS, ders that where strategy failed, hard bio
mt succeeded; that whenever regiment
or, attacked by the enemy it fought the enem
ID. and that so fighting for seven days and ia
lct ing back this great army was not under t
nt- control Of one mind, but directed by Hu
Ter cock, Reynolds, Meade, Hooker, Couc
ch Sedgwick, Sumner, kearney, CrawfoT
er- Stevens, and their peers. Then these en-
en- Gus people, who never wrote report
ms long that it could not be read, say that
r General did not save the army, but that I
. army saved the General. II was not un
II, it reached Harrison's Landing, they auo
~. ciously assert, that he had any real pow
"a over its movements Nay, they do not st
a., do here; they say that Richmond was not say
au by the skill Of its defenders, but by the Ion
~ dreary, weary delay ofGenoral MeClells
~, who buried the golden opportunity in
he swamp, with thousands Of Union sol4iers
~ =. make glorious its grave. But these are Z
,',, vious opponents ofa Presidential candida
A'' who are answered by the plain fact III
General Mcclellan could not control t
-, Government and take Richmond at the 50,
,a' .a time They are reminded that Gen. \
-. Cellan has said that the Secretary OF w
lu did his best to ruin the army, and must
~ convicted on the assertion Of q man sma
,a ing under defeat And uselessly will th
,as answer that Mr.. Stanton reinforced that
,o' ,o my until il excelled the largest army .,
, ,st known on this continent, and equipped it