The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-10-20

uuiS were tnOSe OF Rah
Pines. Who had command there Is SHOWN Oy
the following:
onost;on Who had command at the bat
AZ - Ell Oaks or Seven Pines? They are
the same thing under those two names, un-
derstand. .ho,, ,no.o A..
places. The battle in which l commanded
pn Saturday and Sunday was at Fair Oaks
The battle of Seven Pines was separate hat
lie. some miles from Fair Oaks. Gen. Heintzel-
man was in command at Seven Pines.
Question. Where was Gen. Mcclellan dur
ing these battles? -, q
Answer. Gen. Mcclellan came over to me
at Fair Oaks about IL o'clock on Sunday The
action OF Sunday had then ceased. 1 asked
him at once if he had any orders to give. He
said, no; that he had no change to make;
that he was satisfied with what had Deen
done.
On page 1894, In the course of his narrative
Gen. Sumner speaks of Gen. Heintzeimans
retreat at a certain point " with MS wnoi0
'corps, leaving me to fight the battle OF oas-
SAGE station with Franklin's corps and my
."own." He continues
"Sbortly afterwards latter the battle OF Saw
ace Station received orders from Gen. Nc
ClelIan, who was some distance IN he ddpdnce
on THE RETREAT, to retreat across White
Oak Swamp.
Sumner obeyed orders, and the next day
brought portion of his command into posi-
ton to cover the bridge at White Oak
swamp with the residue of his command in
position at Glendale, where" says he, Seen.
Mcclellan was in the forenoon of that day
she left, think, about noon. Shortly after
II was attacked in that position" Z
We come now to MalUern Hill. In relation
to this Gen. Sumner says:
The action at Malvern commenced on the
left, about ten O'Clock in the morning. Gen.
Mcclellan had deemed it necessary to go down
to Harfison's Landing to determine the point
to schich the troops icere to retire. there
fore found myself, by virtue of my seniority
of rank, in command of the army, withou
having been invested formally with that com
mand, or having received any instructions in
relation to it. / received a note from General
Marcy, Gen. McClellan's chief of staff, to This
efect-that any orders gave on the field
would be approved.
In answer to question Gen. Sumner said
Mcclellan was about two and half to three
miles from where the battle was going on.
An attack was expected on Hooker, but was
not made. Says Sumner:
"There was pause in the action. Some
time afterwards Gen. Mcclellan came on tc
the field. He stopped and conversed with me
some time, and then went down towards he
right, 10 the direction Of the river. DID
Nut SEE HIM AGAIN THAT DAY. About
o'clock that af ernoon a very furious ATTACK
was made on our left again. Abou
IL O'Clock that night an order came from Gen.
Mcclellan again to retire to Harrison's Land
ing"
Question. How far was Harrison's Landing
from the battlefield? l
Answer. About seven miles. The retreat
was accomplished, and we reached Harrisons
Landing about eleven o'clock the next day.
The mud was actually ankle deep all over the
ground. did not see Gen. Mcclellan that
day at all did not see him from the time
he Lett me on the field at Mdtuern until the
day after zoe reached Hdrrison's Landing.
Question. Where was he during your sec
ond fight at Malvern? frrs.Fsr
Answer. do not know. presume be
was at his quarters. l do not know of his
| being on the field. ~ In the fore parl
of August Gen. sMcC lellan ordered an advance
under Gen. Hooker upon Malvern Hill. i
was taken with little or no resistance. y
The second day afterwards was or
dered to advance with my corps and cover
Rockers retreat, which / did, the enemy,
however, making no attack during thatmove
ment.
s Question. How came you to abandon Nal
vern Hill the first time, seeing you were vic
torious In both battles there?
Answer. That is a question / cannot an
swer. do not know. should have been
very strongly in favor of holding it if my
opinion had been asked about it, and was
particularly DESTROYS that the General should
hold it after he had retaken it in August, be-
cause that was resuming the offensive again
| after lying as long as we had basking in the
sun at Harrison's Landing.
Question. When the enemy had retreated
after the battle of Fair Oaks, what military
reason was there for not Immediately follow
ing them up to Richmond? E
Answer. know of none. And from what
Information we obtained afterwards, / do be-
! lieve that, if the General had crossed the
! Chickahominy with the residue of the army,
and made general attack, with his whole
force, we could have carried Richmond.
Question. During the Peninsula campaign
aud all those fights, was the commanding
general ever with you on the field in an actu-
al engagement?
Answer. He lvGs not ,cith me in any ac-
ton there.
Such is the testimony of the senior in COM
mand under the general-in-chief. 1t is too
late to say Mcclellan had no confidence in
him, and that he was forced upon him against
his will. McClellan's conduct at Fair Oaks
and at Malvern Hill shows that he did con-
ide in him. He left him in command with
out orders; he sent word to him that his or
ders would be approved, and after the battles
were fought he suggested nothing that he
would have had different N
According TO Summers testimony McClel-
Ian was absent at Williamsburg till the battle
was over; at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines he
was away on the other side of swollen river !;
at Savage Station he was in adcance of the
retreat, at safe distance from the danger;
at Malvern he was absent selecting place
to retreat to, and actually ordered "a retrea
a splendid victory and covered themselves
and their commands with glory. At Fair
Oaks he would allow go advance, and at Sew
en- Pines he called Hooker back, though it
vas the conviction of all engaged-Sumner
and Heintzelman, Hooker aid Casey, Howard
and Jameson-and so far as we can learn dis
credited by none, that Richmond was within
our grasp, and might easily have been occu
pied by the Federal forces, and been mad
submissive to the stars and stripes. McClel-
Ian alone held back. He had plans different
from all others. He was always behind in the
advance movements; ahead on retreats. He
secured place for retreat before the battle
commenced; after it was over and the field
gloriously won he refused to follow up or
even to hold on to his advantage, but yielded
It to the enemy, while his army were ordered
to retreat through mud ankle deepl
Ex-JUDeE RIcE.-The argus and Adoe,.-
ttser have both spoken of ex-Judge Rice, the
Dsmocratic orator at the City Hall last even
n a rnor h. L