Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-04-18
APRIL ls, 1864.

to the amount OF ten thousand men, at Fort
Monroe, were taken from him by order of the
President Page IS. On the 4th, General Nc
Dowells corps of 35 900 men were taken from
him and detained in front of Washington Page
~. He says: "To me the blow was most dis
couraging. 1t frustrated my plans of operation.
IL fell when was too deeply committed 10 with
draw. Ii compelled the adoption of another, a
different and less effective plan of campaign. 1t
made rapid and brilliant operations impossible.
IL 'cas a fatal error" Up. al and who commit
ted that error the President See also a letter
from Gen. Keys to Senator Harris, of April 9TH
This army being reduced BY As 0O troops some OF them
the navy the plan which
any resemblance to the one voted for. Page 60. :.
After Mcclellan had got into the enemy's coun-
try to-wt, in front of Yorktown, in this crippled
condition, the President wrote him, on the
9th of April in which this threat is convened
"And once more let me tell you, it is indispen-
sable to you that you strike n blow" Page 81.
With all these threats he could not force the Gen.
eral precipitate his raw soldiers upon the field
works and entertainments of the enemy, where
they would have met certain death. But he
ovoFcame all obstacles at Yorktown and mt Will
liamsburgh On the 10th, and again on the l4th
of May, from the banks of the Chckahominy he
wrote to the Secretary of War and to tho Prcsi-
dent, saving he would Eight the whole rebel
army with whatever force / may have" No
troops should be now left unemployed" eff 1
am not reinforced, il is probable will be obliged
to fight nearly double my numbers (7000o)
strongly cntrenched." Pages "a, 95. l
On the 18th of May, the Secretary of War re-
Piled: "Thc President is not willing TO uncover
the capital entirely" and then, at some length
explains that Mcdowell is ordered to advance
and cooperate with thirty-ive to forty thousand
men by way of the Pamunkey. This again COM
PEELED a change of base from the James River to
the Pamunkey Up. 96). Again, on the oath, the
President assured him Mcdowell would stait on
the 26th; but at later hour on the same day
notified him that he had suspended Cen Nc
Dowells movements" 10 join him Up. 99). On
the 2sth of May, Mcclellan again wrote the
Secretary of War; 1T is the policy and duty
of the Government to send me by water all the
well drilled troops available" Up. l04). No rein
forcements were sent, and then, on the 3lst of
May and LIST Of June, the battle Of Fair Oaks
was fought, in which we lost 900 men Up. ll2,
ll4l. On the 4th of June the General again
wrote PLEASE inform me what reinforcements,
If any, i can count upon" Up. ll4), to which he
received on the 5th as answer: al will send you
five new regiments" and there was a vague pro-
mise of "as many as you want" Up. ll5). On
the 10th of June, he asked TO have "part of
Halleck's forces" sent 10 him (p. ll6). On the
25th, he wrote:
"The rebel force is stated at eOo,OO0. I regret
way responsible Tor Il, a. have filled represent
repeatedly the necessity for rrIdorc, mrnt,.
feI that tarrc is no use asking again Tor them p l2
No reiuforcemcnts were forwarded until atier
the sepea days fighting before Richmond, and then
only 5000 men al Harrison's Landing 10. 1881.
During the progress of this seven days fight, to-
wit, on the 2Sth, the General makes use of the
expressions, in letter 10 the Secretary of War,
which have been so severely criticised:
"I now know the full history Of the day.
TIE loss on both. sides IS terrible. . The sad
remnants OF my men aehsve as men. - Had
twenty thousand ten q OuSand fresh troops
use tomorrow could take Richmond | have
lost this battle because my force 100 small.
sm US must snd c oo to aa ns
have seen many dead and wounded comrades TO feel
otherwise that the Govvrnment has sustained
this rfy. You do not do so now, the game is lost
army now, tell Sou plainly that 1 o
thanks 10 you, or to any ofAsr pe.gon in Washington
lon hare done yoar best 10 sdcr.nce this amy" (p.
I3i-2)
On the first, and again on the third of July,
the President informed the General that eff you
are not strong enough TO face the enemy, you
must find place Of security, and ,cait. rest and
repair. Save the army at all events"
And again: 'If you think you are not strong
enough TO take Richmond Just now, do not
ask Won to-" And on the third 81 am salts
fed that Yourself, officers and men have done the
best you could Up. AL The General wrote
again, July A: "Scnd such reinforccments as
you can" lp. I43.) On the same day the Prcsi-
dent wrote promising reinforcemcnts and that
''wc shall hive the enemy yet" (p. l43). On the
7th, llth, 18th, 18th, 2sth and 3Oth of July, and
on the I'd, Sd, 4th and 5th of August, the Gene
raj urged reinforcements, and pointed out the
mode 10 obtain them, demonstrated against with
drawing the army from where it was twenty-five
miles from Richmond on James River, to Acquia
Creek, on the Potomac, seventy miles from Rich
mond; complained of being kept in ignorance of
the purposes of the Administration and declared
a retreat would in his opinion, be ''a fatal blow"
(see p. l44-54.) In the meantime, Halleck came
in as Commandcr-in- Chief, and he undertook to
show the reason for the withdrawal of the army,
viz, that "the army of the Potomac Is split in
two parts, with the entire force of the enemy d.
rectly between them. They cannot be united by
land without exposing both to destruction, and
vet they must be united l have not
inquired, and do not wish to know, by lchose adj
vice and for what reasons the army of the Poto-
mac was separated into two parts with the enemy
between them. / must take things as / find
them Up. l56, l57. ...., ..r. "a. ..s...s.- 3.
1t is plain that General Halleck had been in
formed that the Presidents inerIneddling had
''dvided the army" and as his superior he could
not say to him directly that he had done a wrong,
for which General would have been court-mar
tailed and cashiered, but he evidently thought
so, from the tenor of his letters. ,-r
But to return: No man of feeling and judg-
ment can arise from the perusal of this nara
ton of the CAMPAIGN to the James River, with
out a sad, but fearfully earnest conviction that
Gen. Mcclellan spoke the horrible truth when
he wrote on that terrible night of the 2Sth of
June, those ominous-ominous of evil-words,
IKE GoyERSMENT HAS NOT SUSTAINED THIS
ARMY" Page 1872. Every patriot will inquire,
why was it not sustained Up to that time the
Administration had been furnished, by the peo-
pie, with every dollar and every man it asked.
Then to answer this question correctly, each
man should understand, first, that a real aJoL-
tionist is as cold as an iciclc, as heartless as
rock, and as bloodlcss turnip. Witness the
declaration of Senators that it would not be so
bad to suffer defeat in battle, as it would for
saucy negro to be put out of car. Second that
this Administration is controlled by this class of
men. Third, that about the time Mcclellan
started they ascertained he did not coincide rih
them IN their rie,cs. See his letter to Burnside
when Commander-in-C Chief, who was then about
starting to North Carolina, January 2, 1862, in
which he says fa'ao
'st would urge great caution In regard prcc
tons in case, would go beyond moderate joint
proclamation with the naval commander, which should
saw as little as possible about politics or the negro
merely that the true issue Tor VIII ch fight
ing the preservation o. the usroS, aud
laws OF the General Government, ard stating that s
who conduct themselves properly will far as possible
be protected in their and properly. PAGE 81
On the lith of November, the same thing was
written TO Halleck, the present Commander-in-
Chief, who was then placed in command of the
department of Missouri. Page 3s. This was in
consonance with his first proclamation to the
people of Virginia. 'Au your rights shall be
rcligiously respected" Roll of Honor, p. Al.
So on the 9TH Of November he had said the same
thing, in stronger languags, to Buell., who was