The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-07-17

4 north side he woulQ nave nud one hcnureu 10
/ scyenty-cncugh TO watch the river and whip
the seventy. On the south lSdc be would have
had ono hundred TO thirty--shc seventy ON The
| other side could not have touched hin--aud
| Richmond would have been the prize. He even
| claims tlat by concentration on the north
side be acould have beaten the enemy there"
| He cou,d have done either-he dSt neither.
! He decided no. 60 strike for Richmond. and for
/ an unhcroic reason he might fail so he con-
timed his retreat That offered no chance for
| failure.
But Lee Numbered very greatly also Tho
bInndcrs OF tho two 60 together. and either, in
the hands Of great pcrceptive soldier. would
have been annihilatel. On the 25th of June
Mcclellan. as he tells us had his preparations
made for ON onset against the encmy's capital.
His roads and bridges were built, his lines
formed, his supplies up, his troops in hand-aH
was ready, and the dogs OF war were held in
the leash, ready and painting to go. There was
only one fact he feared. and that was The enc
my,s numbers-the immense power with which
they held The place. He was TO move on the
26th, and on thatvery day Lee, as If in league
with Mcclellan, moved cut OF Richmond all the
troops with which he held il, except about
| twenty-five thousand.
! There was Richmond defended by only that
| number, and here were hundred thousand
| ready to move against it. Lee made haste to
| put river between Richmond and the rest OF
his force. He took away his heroes-Long-
street and Hill--and carried Them to join jack
son. Drunken Magruder and impotent Huger
were the only ones in Richmond, and they had
only two divisions. Lee did all this, even by
his own showing. 1t was the most complete
division of forces ever seen. He kept his forces
thus divided for three days-the 26th, 9th and
28th of June. On one of these days Lee and
his army were alone on the north side of the
Chickahominy. "The bridges" says Lee "were
destroyed, their reconstruction impracticable."
That is, McClellans hundred thousand were on
the same side of the river with Richmond,
and only Magruder and Huger stood between.
Lee, with seventy thousand, was on the other
side the river, and couldn't get across; be was
out of the fight. This lasted all day, and Nc
Clellan employed that day in securing his re-
treat. One hour Of Sheridan on that 28th of
June would have given US Richmond, and Lee
would never have been heard of again as a
general. He must have died with shame.
But the discrepancy between the statements
| of facts in these two reports is not greater
than their difference of tone. McClellan's ex-
hibits strange mental condition. He never
once considers how he can defeat his enerny's
grand attempt, but only how he can get away
He is anxious TO put on some one else's
shoulders the responsibility Of the defeat In
battles that have not yet begun. He has from
the first made up his mind to be beaten. Hif
| messages have the dependency of "las
words" His approximations have doubled the
1 size Of Lees army, and that has made hin
hopeless. His mind is so preoccupied with re
treat that, even when he has whipped thu
enemy-by his own showing and the enemy
showing-he sees no other advantage but tina
it gives him the opportunity to run little
further Little as we are disposed to glorif.
Lee. it must be acknowledged that the tone o
his report is very different from this, and that i
always contemplates in a manly spirit the lie
Ultimate objects of soldiers ambition
victory and the destruction Of all opposing
| power.
The BLAIR CHICKENs.-In the Blair COOP
there arc a great many chickens-old roosters
fighting cocks, hens, pullets, bantams and little
chicks. When Old Blair wants TO make poin
I anywhere he selects one of his chickens Il