The Portland daily press., 1864-10-13
Mcclellan amongst the Soldiers.
PORTLAND, Oct. y, 1854

PORTLAND, Oct. u, 1894.
To the Editor Of the Press
A communication signed Democratic
Daughter" in yesterdays Argus, has prompt
ed me to give your readers the Soldiers, true
opinion of Gen. Mcclellan. s'--s,.'ss-a
when aIittle Mac" took command of the
-emnants of the armies about Washington In.
1852 he found everything at loose ends. The
soldiers were suffering for clothing and food
Nobody seemed to care for them, and conse-
ouently they became dispirited.
The general at once saw the evil and COM
menced vigorous measures to repair it. He
caused fine camp grounds to be selected, is
sued new tents and clothing to the men, sup
piled them with plenty of good food and the
means to cook it, and brought order out of
chaos and inspirited the soldiers. @&daG s.
He would disguise himself and go among the
camps and talk with the men about their ra-
lions &C., and if any officer was found UNI
worthy his position the General would re-
move him. By these, as well as many other
acts of the same kind, he endeared himself to
When he had completed the organization of
his army, he instituted series Of reviews, at
which he would appear in gorgeous array,
with brilliant staff, and always accompanied
by scores Of carriages containing the beauty
and fashion of the metropolis. he praised
our noble bearing and fattered our pride. He
was a dashing little soldier on parade, and we
| all loved him. We wrote our friends at home
about him. The newspapers teemed with his
praises. He was the idol of the country. In
due time that army went forth to- battle. 1t
1 followed him blindly. lighting as men never
fought before. Wherever Mcclellan showed
himself he was greeted with shouts. We
won victories, but no advantage was reaped
from them 1t made us feel bad, but no one
blamed "Little Mac, because all believed he
knew what was best to be done. That grand
army lay in the Chickahominy swamps dying
by hundreds, and in the last gasp the soldier
would cheer his beloved General. The en-
thusiasm tor Mcclellan was only equalled by
that for Napoleon by his soldiers. At last the
army was driven from its position, "pell nell,
to Harrison's Landing, broken and dispirited
the Peninsula was evacuated, and only one
third of that grand army returned to Wash
ington. But the soldiers did not blame Nc
Clellan. Why? Because they had no "crite'
rion" whereby to Judge him.
Matters have changed materially since thai
time. We are not recruits now, but war
worn veterans, capable. of judging who is ts
blame for failure, and the sold soldiers" who
served in that first Peninsula campaign havt
had the scales lifted from their eyes and nov
know and feel that it was the incapacity 0
Gen. Geo. B. Mcclellan himself that cause.
that army to linger and die in the swamps O
Virginia. instead of being led VIGOROUSLY in
to Richmond. We could not see it then, bu
we can see it now, since Gen. Grant ha
forced himself into the very gates of tina
stronghold itself. Gen. Grant has lost thou
sands, but he has inflicted an equal los
on his enemies, while Gen. Mcclellan los
most of his men by disease and without an
i equivalent. Which. think You is the create
General in the soldiers eyes, Grant or Nc
Clellan,-the General who, with an Orderly
rides out on his picket post and makes hi
!
own surveys, and keeps going ahead, or tn
General who lived luxuriously in his tent, dc
pending upon everybody else for the positio
of the enemy, and never showing himself ez
} cept attended by great "foreign staff" rs
splendent in jewels and foreign gewgawsf
The soldiers follow Grant with confdenc
that "Little Mac never inspired in his palm
lest days. There is great deal of diffsrenc
between loue for man and confidence j
him. 50 uen ssfhad no
< The fact is the soldiers have weighed M,
= Clellan in Gen. Grants balance and he is foun
9 wanting. his reputation as great gener
+ has passed away. Now as to the General
r political creed, asse
t If anything to crush out what littl
e respect was still entertained for "Littl
+ Mac" his acceptance of the Chicago nomins
t ton has done it completely. Does any one SUI
pose that soldiers who have periled their live
for three years to defend their homes and her
tage against traitors, intend to vote for a pa
ty that is controlled by men who have bee
most persistent in opposition to the war
Who say the war is a failure, when the deaf
: rattle is heard in the viper Rebellion's throa
!, tsee JEFF Davis speeches at Macon, etc.,
: party who cries for speace and is in dire
: sympathy with the leading traitors of IL
: South? Not much! Geo. B. Mcclellan
- political record is worse even than his militia,
record. 9 smooa sispa adi8a Y
y The soldiers will vote to go ahead with ii
war at all hazards. No peace, no armistice Il
= the rebellion is crushed and all its armies an
strongholds Internationally surrender to Ge
I Grant. The only way they can produce tt
: desired result is by throwing bullets at the r.
Y bels and their abettors, and ballots for Lincol
J, and johnson. Having served as COMM
stoned officer in the Army of the Potomac Il
! three years, subscribe myself, 41qys
: aag ONE OF THE "McCLELLAN'' LOVERS.
r Who made the War,