, 1864-10-08

nat Lo6k my pen
You then proceed to quote few sentences
# my rsmarks at the MEETING IL Cuncert
la1l the even pg prtvious, aud ut; the con-
,lutton OF tie extract you cay, mo \, my
lear sir, this statement is simply false, and, |
IN the psrt of Jour friend Mr.. Edwin n. |
Stanton mhl{cfGuely false"
The extract you cite Is as fellows:
II. 60. out that the President rss determined
3tn. Mcclellan hsd no plan: and here may state /
hat We We the Penlpsula campaign to tnoae dis |
+ trputsh.d Senators, Latham Of cadlornls, and |
1t Joseph Hooker. GIN. McClellans p.ap wss |!
:oncoetea by otness. md PIT .hto hi hands. Il |
uom,t,, to the President. 1t waB submitted IN |
be p1eseDce Of SECRETARY Stanton. Stanton pn ]
hem through stlics cour+e OF c1am!naston. V.E
e1 ne nisn hut wopla .nsan @ It, =. be thought he
.ad 10 obey the mhndates OF his chief General !
>eeIee wss ona Of thoae present. and stanton o.
;,anfon. YOU huve no right hezei Il an repre-
.el tiue Ger. Hooker said he, Il was after yard
oupd out that Gen. Nnelec was absent without
The rrport from which you CLIP this extract
5cca not purport to be trroatsn'-nor Was 1t
EulL hare, however, no special execution
10 take to the passage you quote. 1t en-.
bodi. 4 ta1r statement as fur aB 1t goes. II
refere to what occurred during tho first Wock
In March, 1862, and must 1ollo " In the report,
which have not 1eao, my statement OF the
well informed men had ex-
pe1icnced in the last week Of February, 1862.
l had told tho III .fenee Of the hopes enter
taineo by the President, the Secretary OF
War, and II aiding membtra Of Congress, OF
the SUCCESS ct Gen. McClsllRn's proposed sur
prise OF the rsbels on the line Of Brentsville.
You Doubtless remember that the SUCCESS of
~ hu
General to depend on the fact that 1t was to
be q IT prise. That no suspicion oi bis con-
templated movement might be excited, be
proposed that instead ~ot constructing pom
foons or hauticg him thither, he would co..
lecs in the canal canal-boals, of which to con-
e1ruct bridge acro.s the Potomac This he
did at his leisure. All was no = ready. III
any thing wts wanting, he had nobody but
himself to blame" as he himself had said.
The u.pr1 ing of the eye6tful day arrived,
and 10, difficulty. and difficulty which to
the cmibent engineer commanding the army
vas irsuperable, 1t had never occurred to
BIN to measure the outIet-lock throu.h
which the bosts he had provided were to
pass And now, just at the critical moment,
as they mere son.e feet wider than the LOCK,
they obstirately refused to pass throughi
Wss 1t not vexasious? Ialso told the meet
Ing Of tho puerlle EXCUSES for the failure
which be offered In the presence of the Hoo.
DEFY. Hbues VI Oui0t auA ou4ibH auuhbUut
then Senator from Tennessee, and that he
In their presence proposed to make anothsr
effort to sur1ris the rebels over bridge
which be thought could be built in ten days.
Thoee Who heard me will remember all this,
at I am quite sure that Gen Mcclellan, in-
firm al bis memory appears to be, can verify
all ny statemen1s.
I further said, IN substance, that this fact,
following the incident Of the stove pipe at
MubBon's Hill and the wooden guns at Man
a-tns, had exhausted even the Presidents
STOCK Of patience but that he had, In the
kindBcss OF his heart, determined to give
Gen. Mcclellan chance to redeem hlmaeI
days in which to propose plausible plan Of
canpalgu. It was then that ssid he had
n: plar, aud that when several Of the prom
ised ten days had passed he Was still aithout
3 Plan.
eaid OF you: Hithout attempting to repro
duce the language Of my address. reatnrm
tlfs, not on the authority of one whom AN
proud To call Uy friend, the Hon. E. IT. Stan
ton, but Of one whose word you ought to
accept, IS be was graduate Of West Point,
. BIigaaier General Of volunteers, and en-
5oJed, IN an eminent degree, the confidence
ot Gen. Mcclellan, then Commander-in-C Chief
OF the armies Of the United States.
Indeed, ny dear General, he wascommand-
ing a brieade unde: Gen. aooker In 10 owcr
Maryland, which think WIS your position
when Jou received communication from a
Democratic Senator, MI. Latham, Of Califor-
MA, which, though I caurot give you Its
precise language, Jet you know that Gen.
Mcclellan Was in danger OF removal becauss
he had stfpul 4ted to submit a plan OF cam
pajgn within certain number Of days, aud
would be remoyed II he did not, and reques!-
ed you to hasten to Washington. au quite
In1 $1,oAr a..
this, nor that In pursuance Of that c3mmu-
nication, you did hasten to Washington, and
were chsgrincd at finding that Mr. Latham
had left for New York.
Nor further, that you found letter from
him awaiting Jon, in which he regretted that
dnties tn connecticn with the Pacific Mail
servlce imperiously demanded bis presence
In New York On that day. 1t, hoWe7ir, re-
fetrtd you to another Democratic Senator,
Mr. Rice of Minnesota, and told you to con
Ter freely with him, as you would have done
with the writer, as be understood the deli
cacy OF the Generals situation, aud might
he conferred With frankly aud safely. NOW,
Issyaga,D that am sure you will contradict
hone uf these statements. and ask you no +
my valued and honQred friend, the Secretary
Of War, could have eiTen me these facts,
which we're meant to be SO confidential. AIy
Other assertions of how you proposed the
plan Of the Peninsula campaign, and, as poll
aEl
ali tqu.lIy true and we'll known to 5ou. You
carnut eecape BY artfully suggesting that
each Of the Twelve Generals who attended
th.t council was entitled to bnt one star.
Eleven Of them commanded divisions It
was called IS council OF division command
ers, Jet Henry ii. NagIee, COMMANDER Of =
brigade, was there on the flimsy :prctense
that It Was nat as easy TO summon his diVls.
ion commander, Gen. Hooker, MS 1t was to
cennuI icate with hin. Now, my dear
General, let me ask you in all candor, were
yen not reT ottcd as abeent without leave on
the DAY on which that council met, or are the
records Ia e1r,r?
Perh.pe Rave, By this time, excited vour
curiosity as to tho source from which de-
rived such minute and accurate information.
It Eo, will crafty Jon. All this inform4-
flon came to me, not as Jou assume, from
the Hon Edwin NJ; Stanton, but from you,
Henry u. Naglee, late BrIgadier General OF
Upltsd statea Volunteers. On the night Of
the Goth Of March, 1869, you went in the cars
from Broad ard Prime streets to Washing.
ton. Do ycu not remmember the buoyancY
with which you related all this, and how you
e1ulted in the succt IS Of the artiflce in which
you had been so prominent IN actorY Ny
dearGenerel, your campaign had not then
been tested. bnt now that the result is before
US. do ycn not cover before the ghosts of
the brave thousands who were sloWly mur-
dered by the malaria Of the Chickahomtny?
Ihe gentlemen TO Hhom you addressed
your conversation on the night Of the 29th
or March, 1852, were MessrB. George Fl.
Moore and George ". Hacker of this city,
and il you revealed your secrets 30 publicly
that othe1s could not avoid hearing them,
you mu6t not wonder that they have publish
ed them freely. refer you, aud any who
doubt my statement, to Measrs. Moore and
Hacker, both Of whom are well known in
this city.
But, si1, you have boasted to Others also Of
the SUCCESS Messrf. Latham, Rice and your
een had in constraining the President TO re-
tain Gen. McG Gellan In command. You know
Gen. Gilman Mai sto1, and doubtless, remeu-
her the fact that y1u and he Travelled some
time later firm Fortress Monroe to Wash
ington together, he being at the same time
in command OF q regiment Of New lamp.
shire volunteers, 10 you not remember
how fully you detailed to him all the facts
have 1eclteds do not doubt that yoH tnea
spoke the truth; the collateral facts prove
tbat Jeu did. but ii error there be, tt IL Jou
who are responsible. Gen. Maratun Is q
brave and truthful man. / know him well,
md cheerfu1ly refer any OF our military
friends to him for proof that you ara your
sell the author Of the story you wautonly
asc,ibe to the SECRETARY Of War and denounce
as !. 1nallciouslY f4Ise."
Very respectfully, WM. D, KELLEY.
To Henrs Il Naglee, late BrIgadler General
q. s. Volunteers.
4 Little 'Remi6lsence about General
Grant,s ssseltinE Drunk.'
The McClellanists In the Allegheny (P2.) J