The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1864-10-07
One Fact which General Mcclellan
Could not Remember.


Conduct OF the War, "Were you down al,
The river, or on board the gunboals dur
ing any portion Of that day?"[the day on
which the army fought the battle Of Nal.
yern General Mcclellan replied, ii do
not remember" and admitted that he
might have been. The following, from
the official report Of the Committee on the
Conduct Of the War. contains General
McCiellau's testimony on this point: ,.
"Quesiiou. At what hour in the morn
ing were you on the field at the time Of
the battle Of Malvern Hill. and at what
time did you leave? .. ........ ..
r ANSWER. l was on the ground very
shortly after daylight. and, l presume,
occupied some four hours in riding over
The position. I was again on the ground
in the siternoon---I should think some
where about two or half-past Two O'Clock
land was over the whole position again
al that lime. s .-r .-s ..... .-.--
"Question. Had the fighting commenced
in tie morning before goa let' a....
''Answer. No. sir; no enemy In sight
,"Question. At what point or points
were you from the time you Left The field
until you returned? ,, ..-... .s S.. -.
ANSWER. l was at headquarters, near
HaxslPs house. ...., ,-. --..,.... .r
"Ques,ior. Were you down to the riv.
er, or on board the 9an6oats during any
part of that day, Je.soeen the time you iett
tie field and your return to its .'-
"Answer. lido not remember; il Is pos.
sidls Imoy hope been, as my camp is di-
rectly on the river. .....i0 .tf
"Question How far was the gunboat
from Haxalps? s..51.. b. -e : ....
"Answer. There we're generally some
ganboats in the immediate vicinity OF
Haxall's. r' -.. ..t..at ...'.'
"Ques,ion. How far vas that from
where the heaviest fighting was during
the day? F' . 90 - -..1l Ea.
ANSWER. From Haxslrs to the poin;
where the heaviest fighting was, suppose
was tpo miles and half or three miles.-
There were paris OF our line that were
within q half mile. probably, or less
than that, OF the headquarters" n.aa
lie did not remember, but Colonel Ru.
ius Ingalls,, the Quariermastor OF the Ar
my Of the Potomac, did remember. The
following is his testimony, given before the
Committee on the Conduct Of The War:
"Question. Where was the General
while that battle was going on? err
"Answer. He wss, part Of the time,
on shore and present with his troops. A
part Of the time he was on board vessel.
of-war. There were two fights at Nal.
vern; it commenced the evening Of one
day and continued the next day. The
first evening, as soon as tie Ghneral came
up the river, he went on board Captain
Rodgers vessel, the Gslena, and with
three or four other vessels that Captain
Rodgers had, we passed up the river some
little distance into bend, within reach
Of Malvern. and the vessels engaged the
enemy at the same time that our troops
on land did. The next day. on which
was the great battle Of Malvern. but al
which was not present, the same thing
occurred; the General at come times was
with his troops and at other times was on
board the vessel, as was reported at the
time.
"Question. How far was that vessel
from where the main fight was going on,
during the great fight? -
"Answer. 1t was. mile, or a mile and
a half, should suppose" .....
And here is the testimony OF General
Sumner In relation 10 the battle Of NAL
vern. That brave old hero had reason 10
know that, wherever General Mcclellan
might have been, he was not on the bat.
.le.ield while Ihe fighting was going on:
"The next morning the troops wore placed
in position by direction of General McClei.
Ian, under the immediate orders of the en-.
gineer officers. The action at Malvern
commenced on the left, about ten o'clock
in the morning. General Mcclellan had
deemed it necessary TO 60 down to Harrison's
Landing to determine on the point to which
the troops are to retire. l therefore found
myself, by virtue of my seniority of rank.
in command of the army, without having
been invested formally with the command,
or having receiped any instructions in reiu-
lion to il. lreceiveds note from General
Marcy, General McCIellan's chief of staff,
to this effoot--thGf amy order gdre on the
field iooutd be approved. About an hour or
two afterwards l received q verbal message
from GeneIal Mcclellan by Colonel Key
The General Wds then doWn the river al
HG1dNs. ..r. -... r.'
"Question. How far was that from where
the battle was going on?
ANSWER. From itco aud a half TO three
miles. That message was to this effect: That
the General had reason to believe that an
attack was 10 be made on Hooker who was
in the center, and asking me to take meas
ures to reinforce him. asked Colonel
Key If General Mcclellan had told him how
l Was to reinforce General Hooker; mas
much as had not had the previous dispo-
si,ion of the troops. was at loss to know
what portion of the line General Mcclellan
would think proper to have Weakened
Colonel Key replied that General McCiet.