Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1867-05-02
Iron the Old Guard,
THE SECO.t'D .u.f.F.FSS.fS.

ten
lf they greet his owes for the frs
time today, and his sympathies b
anti-southern, he will say, perhaps
"Johnston or Beauregard wrot
thus from Bull Run in July, 1861
Jackson from Port Republic in June
ls62-or Lee from Gettysburg or Pc
tershurg, in 1865"
On the contrary, It was written b,
Mcclellan, who penned that brief anC
pithy dispatch from Alexandria OF
the lst day of September, 1862, wher
the disorganixed battalions of Major
General Pope were Fastening towards
the protecting defences of Washing
ton.
Today the world knows that hii
fears were well founded. Never haC
the day looked darker for the Fedora
cause than then. Never had the over
throw of the Confederacy seemed Sc
hopeless. Worse still--a great anC
real danger mcnaced the Federal sea-
Of government The authorities trem
bled in their bureaux each moment
they expected to see the red battle
flag of Lee upon the Arlington hills
each instant TO hear the tramp of hi:
legions under the walls of the Capitol
Throughout the three preceding
days they had heard the long contin-
uons roar of cannon from the fields Of
Fairfax. Every hour great parties Of
stragglers had made their appearance
opposite Chain Bridge. Every mo
ment, almost, until the wires no longer
worked, depressing telegrams had
come from the army of General Pope,
and each one was more disheartening
than the last. All knew that a great
battle had been fought again on the
bleak plains dotted with pine trees,
opposite the weird Stone Bridge
that the fields of Manassas, already
crowded with dead, had again become
the charnel house of other thousands
that the shadows there had deep
ened, the spot become trebly cursed
again by blood and destruction. The
result of that three days roar Of can
non and rattle of musketry was the
pithy telegram which is given above /:
"This week is the crisis of our fate I"
Now, what were the events which
rolled the great wave Of battle once
more to the shores of Bull Run, ad-
ding a newer and far more tragic in
terest TO the sombrc hills and ravines
of this historic spoty The fifth act
of a tragedy is badly understood with
out a knowledge of the acts which
precede it. In rapidly tracing these,
time will not be lost, nor is it the
amusement of the reader which we
aim at. The truth OF the Virginia
campaigns has been buried beneath
great tones full of falsehood-beneath
enormous party pamphlets like the
Report of the Committee on the Con-
duct of the War" where every grain
of wheat is hidden by bushel OF
chaff-where, consequently, it is chief
ly chaff on which the reader feeds.
Chaff is not a wholesome diet. To
those who prefer the wheat of truth,
these sketches are addressed.
What had occurred in that month
of August, 1862, was this:
Defeated before Richmond, General
Mcclellan had drawn upon his devo-
ted head the thunder and lightning of
the Federal displeasure. The world
said that the hapless issue there re
suited from the generalship Of Lee,
and the fighting qualities of his troops.
General Halleck said that il resulted
from the incapacity of Mcclellan. In
vain did General Mcclellan propose
to cross James River at that point"
Harrison's Landing, "attdck Peters
burg, and cut Of the enemys c0mmuni-
cation bg that route South, . which plan,
when General Grant adopted it, was
greeted with bosannahs. What was
thus greeted in 1864, was contemptu-
onsly secuted in 1s62-McClellan sug-
gested it, not Grant-and the record
remains. General Halleck "stated to
him very frankly my views in regard
to the danger and impracticability of
the plan ga he was not allowed to
carry out his 'impracticable' scheme;
more still, he was summoned to Wash
ington, shelved there, and his forces
were assigned to General Pope, then
bent upon a great advance toward
the Rapidan.
General Pope arrived at his head
quarters in car dccked out with
flags; stated, it is said, that hitherto
he had seen nothing Of his enemies
"but their bacls;" and issued an order
to the army in which he said: "Let
us study the probable line Of retreat
of our opponents, and leave our own
TO take care of itself Let us look
before and not behind. Disaster and
shame lurk in the rear"
The sequel, as the reader will per-
ceive, was the most terrible and gro
tesque Of commentaries on the Gener-
ais military theory. 1t was on his
aline OF retreat that Jackson struck
the mortal blow at him.
General Pope thus bade defiance TO
military science and fate, and it can
not be said that he conciliated the
smiles of Providence, the All-Merciful
who watches over the helpless. Cul-
pepper County was desolated with fire
and sword When the Federal troops
rctreated, it was one great waste, full
of homeless and starving women and
children, whose cries went W TO God.
But let that pass. The first blow
struck by General Pope was not for
tuuate. He delivered battle at Cedar
Mountain, where, on the 9th of Au-