The Union and journal., 1870-04-22
Misfellaueans.
WHO KILLED THE C0NFED-
ERACY2
L. A. roLLARp's ANSWER.

The following paragraph. taken from
more lively than didactic Zone Doun Pi-
aiD has been going the rounds OF South
crn newspapers, with strong marks oi
their appreciation and assent:
"rhc suspicion Is gaining ground that had
We put In the war Grant & Co. at the time we
did Mcclellan, they would in all probability
have come out a. well pluckcd as he WAS These
last great heroes Of tho war hal the gOod luck
20 be in command when the oonfelentes hal no
longer the fierce armies that sent them whrling
back into Washington. The war had endel in
the South ncariy.a year before We learned the
fact at the North" .. ....-t ..l..'i
Tho statement Is one niadp either il
gross ignorance of historical facts OF tho
late war, or in q reckless desire TO support
the preference of Certain person At tho
expense of another. But before proceed-
In. to correct a statement SD utterly nj
variance with truth let the present writer
bc understood. He Is no pancgyrist of
Grant, and politically he diSScnts from
him. IL Is then from no persona. admira-
tion Of Gen. Grant that he attempts 10 ex-
tricate him from IN unjust comparison,
hut from the simple aud irrcprcSSible do
sire which every honest man feels To cor
rect a false statement made In his PRES
cncc, and where his own knowledge fur
niShcs him with means Of contradiction.
he has undertaken the present explanation.
forcing IN indifference to persons named
In comparison. and carefully only for the
truth OF history.
To those at all acquainted with the com
parative condition ofthc Southern Confcd-
eracy mt different times of the war. the
fact Is certain that with reference to the in
frriority of numbers opposed on the Con
fc,lcr;.ts side. Con. Mcclellan had, in the
year 1862. advantages greater than Gran,
or any Northern commander ever had.
lie hal these advantages steadily inviting
him for six months; and that hc did not
avail himself of them, and that there WAS
at last an accumulation of Confederate
numbcrs allowed by him sufficient To
whip him. 80 far from furnishing an ex-
cusc. but give To his condemnation the AL
dtional charge Of torpor and imbccility.
In February, 1868. when urged by Prcsi-
dent Lincoln To advance, when the Fedcr-
nj troops In Virginia and about Washing
ton numbered l03, l42, and when McClcl-
Ian himself boasted that his "Grand Army
was magnificent in material, admirable
In discipline and instruction, eNcellcntly
equipped aud armed" he had ON his front,
to ,lispute his passage to Richmand, n force
which numbered Of all arms little more
than t,ccaiy- thousand nlciL This estimate
of the Confederate army at Manassas IS
from staff officer OF Gen. Joseph X.
Johnston, its commander. and must BE- tI-
Ken ~ authentic. More than this, that
little army was, in the early months oi
1862, in the s,ll,lcSt state of disorganiZI-
tion. having been. turned into an election
ecring camp" by the folly Of the Confcder-
ate Congress, aud says staff officer oi
Gen. S,oncwIlll Jackson. chad Mcclellan
then advanced. he would have found little
else than demor,lizel men, disgracing the
uniform of soldiers. covering the way to
Richmond"
Did Grant ever have such chance?
and If Mcclellan did not use 1t, is not the
act Of omission in military commander
Ia bc taken as proof OF inferior general
ship quite rs well rs that vi commission!
Again: when Mcclellan went down to
Yorktown, and opened another campaign
there, the ''ficrcc army" that then opposed
him wis exactly scrcJ, HiO.siRd 6cc han
droi men. Gen. Magrudcr commanded
all that was then In the pathway of Me-
Clcllan. while tho bulk OF the confederate
forces WAS still In motion in the ncighbor-
hood of the Rappahannock and the Rapi-
dan, and he hal no assurance Of re-cn-
forcemcnts. The force OF Mcclellan WAS
then ten times his own; they had COM
mcnced daily cannonading upon his
lines; and council of general officers
was convened 10 consult whether the little
army of !, 800 men nshould.maintain It's po-
sition in the face of ten-fold odds, or re-
tire before the enemy. The opinion oi
the council WAS unanimous for the latter
alternative. with the exception OF one oil
Ger. who declared that every man should
die in the entrenchments before the little
army should fall back! 'By c., il shall
be so," was the sudden exclamation oi
Gen. Magrudcr, in sympathy with the
gallant suggestion. And so Richmond
was saved.
McClcllanIwas defeated at last by an
army not greatly inferior in numbers
which he hail supinely allowed to be
drawn in from the ends OF the Conieder''
CIV. but So FAR from its being "ferce
army" we report the fact rs il came fronl
the lips of Gen. Lee: NEARLY two-thlrd'
were raw oonscripts. who had never been