Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-09-15


which must have befAllen the cause Of the Union
had the absolute conduct 10 The field OF our vast
and undiscipiined argies been assumed, at the
outse Of the exciting war. BY the arrogant and
inexperienced civilian. whose influence has been
since 60 lamentably felt in the disturbance of
vel considered plans OF campaign. aud the waste
of vel organized resources.
The hard fought action Of Melino del Ray on
the oth Of September. le47. afforded Lieut. Nc,
Ciellan IN occasion 20 prove that bis rapid pro-
motion IN bis profession had not disturbed that
well balanced sense or justice which is one OF the
rooted qualities ofh mature.
The conduct of the attack upon The Mexican |
positions at Melno del Ray had been confded by /
General Scott to General Worth The ostensi /
bic object OF this attack the destruction of a
cannon ioundery which the MeXicans were be
lieyed to have established at that point; but as
General Worth found reason TO anticipate such |
a resistance as might lead TO general action for
the possession of the heights and fortress of Cha |
pCltepec, it was OF the first importance for him |
70 be thoroughly Informed Of the true nature of /
the deienceS thrown up by Santa Anna at Melino
del Rey. aud of the proportions of the force
which the Mexican President would there array
against him Two serious reconnoisances we're |
accordingly ordered by General Worth before
the attack was made, and 10 these reconnOisances
Lieutenant Mcclellan bore distinguished part.
The conflict which followed assumed the char
scter OF a batte-the most tercey contested |
battle indeed OF the whole warm which, after |
hours of desperate onslaught, an aggregate Amer
lean force about three thousand five hundred
strong asssiled and drove from their formidable
entertainments a Mexican army numbering at
least ten thousand men, with the loss 10 the enc
nv Of four pieces OF artillery and nearly a thou
sand prisoners. Lieutenant Mcclellan was offer
ed the brevet rank OF Captain for his share in
this victory, but declined TO receive il on the
ground that he WAS fully entitled to il, bav-
ing been concerned in the preliminary operations
alone, and DOT in the actual assault aud capture
of the enemys works. The maxim pGtmGn Qui
meruit terat is not often thus vigorously applied
to his own case by a young and ambitious man
actively engaged in the most exciting OF probes
sions Within week, however, the storming Of
Chapultepec, and the consequent occupation of
the Mexican capital, gave the magnaDlmous
young soldier a fresh opportunity o.: winning. by
actual service and ex posure in the stricken field
the rank which he di>dained otherwise to wear
He was breveted Captain for these GROWING
operations of the campaign on the l4th of Sep
TENDER. le47
AS Captain Mcclellan, he remained with the
army in Mexico I'LL the signing of the treaty of
peace with that republic. The administration of
conquered city necessarily afforded to a soldier
OF his character and training many valuable OPP
portunites of observation and reflection upon the
true relations of the military with the civil au
thor,y The impotence of mere force to main
tain or restore solid tranquility in the social
order Is never so apparent to clear and vigorous
mind when force is clothed with temporary
omnipotence; the beauty and the majesty of law
are never so apparent as when the calm and
constant operation of the law is for time
suspended in favor of the sword. As the Duke
of Wellington learned during bis long military
mastery of the peninsula. and his brieer practi
cal dictatorship of Paris, the profound dislike OF
all unnecessary military interference with civil
Affairs which, at IA later day, when England was
convulsed with civil commotiOn, made the veteran
OF a hundred victories the calmest. most forbear-
ing. and most conciatory Of English statesmen,
so we may be sure that his experience OF conquest
and Of military rule in Mexico contributed mainly
TO fix i'm the mind of Captain Mcclellan those
sound and moderate principles of policy which
we're aiterward 10 develop themselves so fully
and so firmly in the prOclamations and in the
conduct OF the victor of West Virginia and the
leader of the Peninsular campaign.
10 June ls4S. Captain Mcclellan returned TO
the United States, and was almost Immediately
ordered to the post West Point where, for
three years, he remained ia command Of the
company OF sappers and miners. In June, 1851
he was removed to Fort Delaware 10 superintend
the construction of the works, and early in the
next year he fulfilled the common destiny of the
joining Rn expedition for the exploration OF the
far western territory OF the Red river under com
Dand of Col Marcy, whose daughter has since
become his wife
From the Red river he passed into Texas upon
tue staff of General Percier r. Smith and until
March. 1883, was occupied in the survey of the
gulf and the lowlauds OF Texas he was suddenly
transferred to the neigbborhood of The Rocky
mountains, going to Washington territory in the
Of nd inn,
1854, in charge of the western division of the
survey for the northern route to the Pacific
ocean. The vast extent the magnificent posi-
bilIties, the grand unity in variety grand Of
our national dominion, which are but sounding
forms of words on the lips OF so many blatant
orator, become simple realities 10 the intelligent
American officer whose routines OF duty thus
leads him from one extremity 20 another of the
imperial republic, and the sentiment of contiDen-
tai patriotism vague and passionate in the
minds OF men, is thus made 10 him a substantial
AMI controlling impulse Of his nature
But Captain McClellan's love and reverence of
American nationiliv were 10 be intensified by a
wider and even more impressive experience In
March. 1898, he was promoted to Il full captancy
IN the LIST cavalry, and, with Major Delafed and
Major Mordecai. was ordered to proceed TO Eu-
rope, there u study the operations of the great
war then raging between the western allies and
the Russon empire. War on a scale which had
become traditional in our time. war waged upon
the principles of the Napoeonic era, but with all
the appliances of modern progress, to
pass under his inspection. When Captain Nc !
Clellan and his companions reached the Crimea,
in the early part of the summer of 1855. the most
trying period OF the great allied invasion had al
ready been oyerpassed The battle Of the Alma
had been fought and won; Sebastopol had been
invested, 20 tar as its investment was practicable
victory had been snatched by the troops of France
and England from the very jaws of ruin. on the |
heights OF InkermaDn. But the spectacle which |
met the eyes of the American commissioners was |
far more Instructive than any shock of battle |
could have been. In the course of his investiga-
tons into the organization and establishment Of
the allied forces before the Russian stronghold. |
Captain Mcclellan learned 10 estimate Alright the |
tremendous hazards which, even in modern |
times, and with all the advantages given by "a
complete command alike of the sea and of all the
'siuews of war" attend what may be properly
called. Mr.. Cinglake has called it. colnssa!
adventure OF invasion"
All that II Was the privilege OF Captain
Mcclellan to and learn of the relations be
tween politics and the military art and OF the
practical operations OF conducted upon the
gfandess scale, during ms visit to Sebastopol,
might. how ever let Us here observe, have produc
ed but an imperfect and inadequate effect upon
his mind had not his own previous and priceless
though comparatively limited, experience in Mex
leo prepared him intelligenrly TO receive il, and