The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1866-03-15

b Harpers Magazine for. March con-
tains an article of extraordinary inter
est, an account Of the forces and ope-
rations of the great battles between
Mcclellan and Lee, before Richmond,
made up from the official reports
of both sides, Lees reports and
those of his subordinate Generals, of
that period, have never become public.
1t appears, however, that they were
printed and bound in q volume at
Richmond; and from a copy which has
fallen into the hands Of the writer in
Harper, this summary is made up
1t forms, We may add, chapter XIX
of "Harper's Pictorial History of the
Rebellion :"
1t appears from acomparison ofLce's
with McClellan's reports, that at the
beginning of the Seven Days the ar.
mics were very closely matched. Nc.
Clellan had 103, ,224 men, according to
his own account and Lee had 100000,
according to his report, 1t appears
| further, from Lees report, that in ev-
cry single battle our men beat the enc.
my, though almost in every case a
greater rebel force was brought against
the part of ours which was permitted
to fight; tits shown that on the second
andlthird days Richmond was open to
Mcclellan, The tide Of battle having SC
rolled round that the greater part OF
Lees army was so placed as TO leave
the whole of McClcllan's force between
it and Richmond n 3Ho af' a
| Mcclellan had not more than a third
of his army cngagedin any.single bat
tie, except that of Malvern,,bu but oul
gallanttroops fough with heroic brave
ry; the Generals in command on thu
different fields appear to have selected
admirable positions, and as the attacl
lay upon the enemy, lie Suffered mor'
severely than. our troops, as VIII b
seen by the following Uficial accoun
of the losses of. both sides: Union, kill
cd, 1,5S2;woundod 1900; total, l929l
Rebel killed, 315l; wounded, 1926
total, 10 ,405. That is to say, the rebo
losses were twice as great as ours il
fkilled and wounded.
But after every success, Mcclellan
ordered new, retreat. He appears t.
have been totallyaignorant Of tho enc
/ mys position, resources and strength
hethad Richmond in his power on ev
, cry day of tho rseyen, and on the las
day, If, instead of retrcating from Nal
yern Hill, he had attacked the enemy
!, he would not only have gained Rich
mond, but destroyed therebel army :.
The rebel General Trimble, in an Off
, cial report, thus describes the condl
tion of the Confederate army on tn
= morning after the battle of Malvern Hi
"The next morning, bydawn, fwen
a off to ask for orders, when / found th
whole army in the utmost disorder
= Thousands of Struggling men wer
asking every passcr.by for their regl
\ ments; ambulances, wagons and artl
! lery obstructed every road, and alto
f gether, in drenching rain, presente
y a scene of the most woful and heap
o rCnding confusion. Tho writer !
2 Harper's Magazine adds: sPhe yer
!. show of an attack upon such, an arm.
by the unbroken Union force, mui
,,. have defeated it. Butthcrc was in th
mind of its commander no thought
an attack. When in the morning u
4 Confederates looked up the hill whic
3 they had soiHainly attempted to seal
i they saw not trace Of the grim ba
y teries and serfied lines which had COZ
h frontedithom theInight before. In Ut
a storm and darkness the Union arm
had fed fromla victory as though
A had been arout."slc So ~. il 81 =
y The close comparison Of the two Q
4 floialreports proves that the rank ar
4 4 file ofthe, gallant army Of tho Potom'
4 fought with1magnitioent bravery al
I 4 steadihess; they did their share we
q % and nothing but the execrable genera
!, ship OF their leader was able to snat'
!. great victory, from their grasp,