The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-06-03
- iFrom the National Intelligence
Grant and the Soldiers-Grant auS
rhe Clerks.

Grant and the soldiers-Grant and
the Clerks.
1t is beautiful thing, indeed, for the
Chronicle to be calling upon clerks IN
departments TO hazard their position
by stepping forth at this particular pc
riod of the dissolution aud thaw" of
the Radical party to elect Mr.. Bowen
Mayor of this city, who went all the
way to Chicago, at the instance OF his
brother in politics, Forney, (both de-
serters from Mr.. Wade's standardD to
aid in the nomination Of Grant and
Colfax. They both betrayed Mr.. Wade,
who, with all his hostility to Conser-
vatism, is liberal man about paying
lust claims upon the Government, and
is known as q comparatively poor man.
Bowen is known by all who have been
subjected officially to him as one who
"wOuld reap where he had not sown."
Grant is like him. Having $4,000 a
year, with soldiers for body ser
wants, both for himself and fam
lily, he no more cares for subor-
dinate clerks in the depart
ments than he did for his soldiery,
when, to please the infamous Stanton
and Halleck, he went far off from the
base of his supplies to assail Lee in the
Wilderness, whose base, meantime, was
upon the railway leading, on the one
hand, from Richmond, and on the other,
from southwestern Virginia. There, in
the ambushes and jungles of that Will
derness, from which he had, finally,
without dislodging Lee,) to retreat by
movement, in echeIOn, to take position
before Richmond at just the very point
from which Mcclellan was ordered by
the atrocious pair-Halleek and Stan
tOn-he caused the slaughter and
wounding (including the Cold Harbor
butchery) of one hundred and twenty
thousand men, against fourth OF that
number by Lee. We have it from army
Radicals that when our troops were
crossing the bridges at fredericksburg,
under the imbecile Burnside, the soul
narrowing murmur ran along the lines,
"qoiRg to the slaughter-houSe."
1t will be remembered that Hooker
got utterly lost in that "Wilderness,"
which was made the pivot of operations
by Grant at the instance of such polltl-
cal and military impoStors as Halleck
and Stanton. Nobody knew better
than Grant that this plan of operations
against Richmond was thoroughly vi
cious, but he had promised to wretched
politicians here to fight it out on that
line" while Mcclellan could never be
induced to agree to such IA murderous
campaign. In this connection it should
be stated that when Grant first came to
Washington he vainly asked of Stanton
and Halleck to have Mcclellan put in
the immediate command under him OF
the Army of the Potomac, and "Baldy
Smith" of the Army of the James. lie
not only did not properly resent the re-
fusal of the authorities of the War Of
tice to consent to his recommendation
but he wekaly acceded to their plans OF
an interior campaign against Richmond
by the Wilderness. The New York
World condenses the result as follows A:
"Grant, on assuming command, May
A, 1854, had of effective men, besides the
reserve, when he crossed the Rapidan,
l25,000.
"Lee, at the same date, had an effect
i've force of 1000.
Grants reinforcements up to the
battle of Cold Harbor, June 3, were
81, 900.
"Lee's reinforcements, up to the same
date, were $4,000.
Grants total force, including rein
foreements, was D., 900.
"Lee's total force, including reinforce
ments, was 10000.
"Returns to their respective Govern
ments showed that when both armies
had reached the James, June 1O,) the
number of Grants army that had been
put h0rs du combat was III 900.
Cup to the same date, the number ct
Lees men who had been put hors d"
combat was 10000"
Gas Mr.. Stanton" says the Chicago
Times, "is now out of the War Depart
ment, the means of verifying the above
statements will be readily afforded. If
the Jacobins imagine that Grants Mill
tary record is calculated to excite the
enthusiasm of the soldiers, the above
NAV serve to correct their error. The
histories offew wars show such whole
sale human butchery, resulting from IN
competence, as was made in Grant'
campaign from the Rapidan' to the
James. He could have reached the
same position on the James without the
loss of q single man. One hundred and
seventeen thousand Union soldiers were
uselessly slaughtered, rather than adopt
McClellan's plan of water Transports
ton. Fighting it out on that line
was cruel and costly work, if soldiers
lives be valuable"