Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-06-01
west Point SoIdiership vindicated.


In the early part of the rebellion good deal
of fault was found with the policy of the gov
eminent in assigning nearly all the high COM
mands to the graduates of West Point 1t was
maintained that the crushing of the rebellion
did not depend SO much upon science as upon
promptitude and energy; and the slow progress
made was with considerable plausbty, attrib-
uted to the precise and stiff habits of mind that
are too apt to be superinduced by book training.
1t became a sort of popular demand that some,
at least of the leaders should be taken fresh from
the people, and should be allowed to operate
with all the popular fire and energy Thus,
Patterson, Banks, Butler, Fremont, Sickles,
McCook, Lewis Wallace, McClernand, Prentiss,
Shields, Carl Schurz, and other civilians of less
note, were made Major Generals 1t is curious
to note the result of that popular delusion.
Not civilian, of whom SO much was then
hoped, fulfilled expectations and many of them
are responsible for some serious damage to the
cause.
To Major-General Patterson, more than TO
any other man. was attributable the loss of Bull
Run. His failure to move his eighteen thou
sand men upon johnson, and thereby prevent
the junction of the latter with Beauregard, was
what mainly produced our defeat. Maior-Gen-
eral Prentiss it was whose division was so badly
surprised by the first attack at PittSburg Land
ing and the terrible losses of the first day
were largely due to the failure of Lew Wallace
TO get up his strong division, eight miles distant.
until nightfall 1t was Maj. Gen McCooks and
Cnttendens forces that gave way at Chicka-
manga, and prccipitated upon Us that dreful
disaster. To the failure of Maor-General Nc
Clerland TO come up to time was chiefly due the
calamitous result of Grants first great assault
upon Vicksburg. BY the same sort of failure
Major-General Shields lost us the battle of Port
Republic. 1t the division of Major General
Carl Schurz, of the Eleventh Army Corps, that
first gave way in panic at Charlottesville.
which occasioned the general retreat. Major
General Sickles, according to the official reports
OF General Meade, commanding. and of General
Haleck, General-n-chief, seriously misplaced
his corps at Gettysburg, and thereby came near
bringing on general defeat Major-General Ere
mont all admit, never accomplished anything of
value, though it is disputed whether this was
due to any fault of his. Major General Butler
made very serious mistake at Great Bethel
and has seen little military service since until
this last expedition south of Richmond the zen
eralship of which has vet TO be proved. Of
Major-General Banks, probably, more was ex-
pected than of any other civilian who received
the double stars. The great executive abilities
which he had shown in civil life-his energy, his
quickness of PERCEPTION, his methodcal direct
ness, his great power of adaption-created an al
most universal belief that he would speedily be-
become prominent military commander
The manner in which he was surprised, and in
which he managed his retreat up the valley of
the Shenandoah in the summer of 1862, began to
excite doubts in the minds of the discerning
The needless and bloody attack upon the fast
nesSeS of Cedar Mountain increased these doubts.
The assaults upon Port Hudson in like manner
needless and bloody, flor Port Hudson was
bound TO fall of itself as soon as Vicksburg
SbOult 4 oh info n
very decided opinion. And now at last the over
throw in Louisiana has made il very plain to
everybody that Maj-Gen. Banks is practically |
no general at all
All this tells very badly against civilian COM |
manders West Point officers have made their |
mistakes but nothing in like proportion; and all
the great achievements of the war have been per-
formed bv them alone. The great confidence |
which every one has in the successful consum-
nation of Gen. Grants great campain, springs
from trust not only in his superb military science,
but in that of all his corps commanders, who are,
without exception, West Point graduates 1t Is |
felt that science as well a courage, rules every
movement of that splendid army. This is an
advantage II has never before enioved. Civilians
have always before held the leadership of some
important portion of il, and unscientifc general
ship in any portion may bring disaster 10 the
whole.
IL Is noteworthy how remarkably the expert
ence of the rebels in this respect has corespon-
ded with our own They began also with con-
siderable number of civilian Major Generals,
whom public feelings forced upon their Govern
ment, although a West Pointer was al It's head,
who must Of course have known its folly. Not
one OF these has sustained himself. Pillow lost
Donelson. Floyd and Wise Western Virginia,
Price Missouri, Pike and Hindman Arkansas,