Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-09-19


magnificent army in the East he took
25. 600 from Fremont TO reinforce his own
grand army in the East. For this We
have the oath of his officers, and You can
read it at your leisure in the book.
Things passed on until October, when
Senator Chandler and myself, feeling that
the nation was disgraced by the inactivity
of the Union armies-the largest and most
magnifcently equipped that the world
ever saw, bigger than those OF Bonaparte-
while the rebel flag across the Potomac
| aaunted the Presidential mansion. In the
very face went to him and said, "FOr
Gods sake save this nation from this in
eifaceable disgrace. Take your magnificent
army-every man in it as good as Bona
parties old guard, [applause. l--better and
| trueT men never marched to aeld of battle
Grenewed cheers and attack the enemy"
He said "0h, / can't de that They are
22O. 600 strong. Sc gentleman, fresh
from Beauregard's headquarters, told me
when he dined with me yesterday That
gentleman was probably bach to Beaure
gard the next day. -.ee
Well, affairs ran on, and there McClel.
| Ian lay before the Quaker guns laughter
on Muuson's hill, frightening him into
silence There they stood, in all the ma
jesty Of paint They really looked like
cannon, and Mcclellan never got near
enough to them to see whether they were
wood or iron. Renewed laughter. He
was again urged to cross the river. But
no. Mcclellan said 1t would bring on a
general eHgagement-why, in Gods name,
was that not just what we wanted P and
he hadn't men enough, and the rebel forth
! feations wers as strong ss Sebastopol
So passed the fall aud winter. In the
meantime the rebels made a raid on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and carried
off all the rails for thirty miles, and thir-
teen locomotives, no more disturbed by
McClellan's army than by shepherds tend
ing their focks. Meantime the rebel bat
teries below Washington, on the Potomac,
bloeksded our CApitsl. AT last the Navy
DeDartmAnt ef1iae5 --sitl-i - ------~sE sl---->N
al being thus besiege1, got Mcclellan to
agree to the arrangement of a joint eKpe-
ditioD against these batteries. The naval
force sailed at the time appointed, but
when they arrived in front of the rebel
batteries, there were holland forces there.
They thought some terrible accident must
have befallen Mcclellan and his army, and
sent back their eouriers in hot haste to
know what the matter was. Mcclellan
told them that he had concluded after all
that il wasn't safe to move, for he was
afraid that they couldn't find a good place
to land if they did move But Mcclellan
knew that, by all laws Of military etiquette,
tho naval commanders having planned the
expedition, it was their business, and not
his, to select place for landing the troops
Well, they agreed on another time to make
the attack, and the naval forces sailed again,
and again Mcclellan failed to co oper-
ate. And so the Potomac re-
manned blocksded and Loar capital shut,
in by rebel batteries, and England and
France were on the point of recognizing
the Southern Confederacy, because they
were strong enough to blockade Us in our
Capital ---e11-s 7s
THE ARMY MovEs-THE QUAKER GUNS.
But I cannot go into the details of these
matters as wish I could. All the fall, and
into January, our army lay idle and every
one remembers what magnificent weather
we we're having. Spring was approaching
and still there were no signs that the army
would move, and Mcclellan still said that
it wouldn't do to advance. At last Senator
Chandler and I went to President lincoln
and urged the necessity ofits being pressed
forward. And he said at shall novel,
Then Mcclellan summoned a council of
war of his leading generals and so manip
ulated and managed it, that eight out of
twelve of them expressed the opinion thst
it would be dangerous and disastrous to 90
over the river. But ATr. Lincoln overruled
Ilio COUNCIL OF wat srryI, s.--,- l.:s -s.EIivit
mandates, Mcclellan moved across the riv-
er to attack the enemy. He moved, growl-
ing all the way. He approached, with fear
and trembling, those Notifications stronger
thau Sebastopol. And there he found |
nothing but painted wooden guns. and for |
so slender that they never could |
have borne the weight Of siege-guns,
md never did. They were built for |
'care-crows, and they we're enough
o frighLen away the young Napoleon.
Laughter The Committee on the Con-
iuct Of the War discovered this humbug
wen before Mcclellan did. For while the
rmy was even then marching upon Ma
lassas, q Massachusetts, man, endorsed
s worthy Of belief by the Massschu-
etts Congressman, came before that
Committee aud told them that the guns
Tere all wooden, and that there wasn't a
ebel soldier at Manassas, and hadn't been
Dr two weeks. We took him before the
)abineti and they couldn't believe him.
Sut soon there came another Witness-a
}an known TO yOu and to fsme-Bayard
'aylor,-and he declared that the guns
rere only quaker guns, and that there 1
ere never any siege guns there and
1uldn't have been. So our army marched {
ut there like the King of France, with /
'rty thousand men, and in big storm 8
ley marched back again. TLsughtarI :
Now Mcclellan wanted totry the Penin- {
liar route to Richmond But Mr.. Lin c
In saw that there was an important rebel I
my lying near Washington which must f
, watched. He said TO Mcclellan: "In d
2 judgment the true line Of advance is to
tsck. .theirebel army, meantime interposing d
,ur army between the rebels and Wash s
gton. But / am not military man, and | Y
u are, and if your council of war is Il
unanimous on this subject. YOU 4
ny take your own route to Rich e
ond, if you will leave an army CORPS b
ra TO defend the oapitaln | mention | a
IS because an attempt has been made to "
eeive the people about the matter. L
r. Lincoln only gave Mcclellan per- N
ssion to go on condition of united re- Of
of his council of war. But "
'Clellan paid no attention to the condi- cs
n. He never called council of war D,
this subject I believe that had he Ii
uld have # the commanders of corps az
ncoln first suggest6l,t the route which ii
W 'u'ly carried out, [applausa TT % glo- "
PENISsULAR cA8IPAIGE-sIEaE of fc
YORKTOWN. Ca
IN spite of this condition, Mcclellan he
K his army and sailed away to York liz
m How many men did be fake there? p
, nave indubitable testimonythat he took bi
least 10000 on the start. How many Pa
els were there to encounter him2 W. at