Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1864-10-20


the simple setting forth of the text OF
the series Of kilograms that passed be-
tween headquarters and Gen. McClel.
Ian, though / shall be forced TO draw
from many dispatches which Gen. Mo
Clellan, for reasons best known to him
self, has not seen fit to re- produce III
his SO called Report. 5@ Say
Y. The 27M Of Augusf--At 10 4. NJ,
General Halleck telegraphs McClellan:
"Franklin's Corps should march in that
direction Manassasl rs soon as possible"
At 1920 Gen. Mcclellan replies:
II have sent orders to Franklin to. pre-.
pare to march, and 10 repair here lAlexsn
! drial in person, 10 inform me as TO lis means
4 Of Transportation. -,
At noon General Halleck reiterates,
with emphasis, his order to Franklin
to march:
"Franklin's corps should move out by
forced MARCHES, carrying three or fsur days
To this Gen. Mcclellan replies at
lis P. NJ: 'r =.
"Franklin's artillery have no horses, ex.
cept for four guns; and adds: lido not see
that zee hare torce enough IN hand 10 form a
connection tciM Pope, phose erdct position
zee do not kno,o." - #,
Is it not very strange that in order
that Franklin should march with his
corps, Gen. Mcclellan should begin by
calling him away from it? If Frank
Inns artillery lacked horses, why did
he not take horses, which were in abund-
pnce in Alexandria That tlris was so,
shall presently establish conclusivefy;
and shall also show that neither Nc
Ctelian, nor .FronkIin,r ever applied for
transportation to the Quartermasfer's DE.
partment, which ~as ready iassantly tc
furnish IL.
! The 28th Of Augasf-On the morn
ing of the 2sth, Halleck telegraphs di-
rectly to Franklin /. -, =.
! 'On parting with Gen. Mcclellan, about
. o'clock this morning, il was understand
that you were to move with your corps to.
day toward Manassas junction, 10 drive the
enemy from the railroad I have just
4 learned that the general has not returned tC
Alexandria. IL you have not received his
order. act on this" 'u. &C..
| To this, at ] P. NJ, Mcclellan, no.
| Franklin, replies: .F't -
"Your dispatch to Franklin received.
have been deiBg al possible to hurry artil
lery and cavalry. The moment that Frank
lin can be started with reasonable aurnun,
} Of artillery he shall go. **
1 Please see Barnard. and be sure the works
toward the Chain Bridge are perfectly ne
cure. look upon those works, Ethan Al
len and Marcy, as Of the first importance. .
At $3.50 P. NJ, Halleck impatiently
telegraphs Mcclellan: +
mot n moment must be lost in pushing a,
large force as possible toward Manassas
80 as to communicate with Pope before tn,
ene,ng as re entorccd.1 ,,t ...,.....'.. ,...
To this Mcclellan replied at 4:40 p M
Gen Franktin Is ,oith me here vii
know in few minutes the condition of ar
tilery and cavalry. We are not vet in
condition to move-ndy be By to-morro,,
morning"
At $40 P. NJ, Halleck still more
imperatively telegraphs: -.
There must be no further delay in NOV
ing Franklins corps toward Manassas; they
mmsi 90 to moryo,o morning, ready or no.
rendy. live delay too long to get ready,
there will be M necessity 10 20 at all 10,
Pipe ,ciW either be detaIted or victorious ,cith
ont our aid. Ifthere is u wnnt Of wagons
the mon must carry provisions with then
till tho wagons can come to their relief.
To which Gen. Mcclellan replies al
10 P. NJ:
''Yorr dispatch received. franklin
corps has been ordered to march at 6 o.
clock to morrow morning. Sumner has
about II 900 infantry, without cavalry OIL
artillery, he,e."
These dispatches give the history of tn,
2Sth of August. Not one Of these is pub
iished. .Jy Gen. Nc C2ellan in his Report :
They show the reiterated orders Gen. Nc
Clellan received to send reinforcements tc
Pope, and the imminence of the crisis tha
was upon that General They show on the
part Of Mcclellan the shallow subterfuge
he employed to avoid obeying these orders
In this whole series of excuses, there is hui
one that presents even the sho,O of substan
tiality--namely the supposed lack of trans
p0rtation, hut the utter baselessness of this
pretence is made manifest by dispatch o
Gen. Halleck day or two afterward, il
which he says: II learned last night (29u b
tuut tHe WuuH
have given him Frank lih) plenty Of trans
p,rtation If he had applied for Il any tin,,
ancshis arriral at Alerandra."
The 29th of August AT length, two
whole days after the imperative order wa
given to Gen. Mcclellan tn have Fraaklir
''move out by forced marches" he ia ahl,
TO say. s'Frankliu's corps is in motion" T.
be sure, Gen. Mcclellan confesses that hi
repeated promises throughout the two pre-
vious days to send Franklin forward were
all sham. for he says: II should not hav,
moved him but for your pressing orders o
last night" Still he 10 at length under way
and there is yet possibility that he vii
reach Pope in time. Vain hope! He halt
Franklin at Annandale and coolly telegraph
to Halleck: s3rt
"Do you ,oiM the movement of Framkin
corps 10 coafiaueP He is without reserve am
munition and without transportation"
Gen. Halleck must be very mild man
nered man, for he simply replies:
II ,oant Fuakiia's corps to n,ore fin
enough 10. find out somethiag aboutthe caen,y
Perhaps he may get such information N
Annandale rs tu prevent his going further: