New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-03-12
WHO KILLED THE CoNrEDERACYi
y. A. PoLLARD's ANSWER.

70 me Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: The following paragraph, taken from INC
letter of Washington correspondent, Horo ANVS
than didactc lone Dom Patti has been gong 'le
rounds Of Southern newspapers. with s'iohs n'ih'
of their appreciation and assent
Tbc snspcion is gaining ground that had we r1L5 IN
,,iS i'm ,i buYnan probability have come out as Won
pucked he These as SlTI When the Confed
fes had NO longer the fierce armies that Sent sne
Ne"i i D erIy wear before learned the fact at
tue North
Tho ,aemep Is one made either in gross ignorance OF
historical facts the late war. or IN reckless desire 10
support the preference Of certain person at the expense
Of another But before proceeding 10 correct state
mani o utterly at variance with truth let tine present
writer bc understood. He is no panegyrist OF Cen
Grant and politically he dlssents from him 1t is then
fsom NO personal admiration Of Gen. Grant that he at
iempis TO exrcate him from unjust comparison put
from the simple aud irrepressble desire which every
honest man feels to correct false statement made IN his
,re,eucc and where his own knowledge furnishes him
Sth means Of contradiction, he has undertaken the
present explanation forcing an Indifference to persons
named in the comparison and careful only FOR the truth
Of history.
10 those at all acquainted With the comparative condi'
tn OF the Southern Cuufederaey at different times OF
be war the fact is certain that with reference to the H.
crofty Of numbers opposed on the Confederate sde'
Gen Mcclellan had III the year 1862. advantages greater
than Grant OF any Northern commander ever hau he
had these advantages steadily inviting him for SIX
months and that he did not avail himself OF them ana
that There WAS at last accumulation OF Confederate
numbers allowed 10y HIM sufficient TO whip him. so far
from furnishing excuse, but gives 10 his eOndemha
ton the additional charge OF torpor and mOeellty In
February 1862 when urged by President Lincoln to adj
vance when the Federal troops In Virginia and about
Washington numbered 1912, and when Mcclellan him.
Self bcasted that his Grand Army" magnificent
in material admirable IN discipline and instruction. ex
cccrtly equipped and armed, he had on his 'front.' 10
dispute his passage TO Richmond, force which mum
tered OF all arms little than ucevsesen thousand
men This estimate OF the Confederate army at Manas-
sas ia from staff officer of Gen Joseph T.. Johnston. Its
commander and be taken authentic. More than
this that little army was the early months OF 1862 III
the saddet Of disOrganzatOn. having been turned
,nto an eleconeerug camp" by the folly Of the Con-
fedcratc Congress- and. stan officer of Gen. stone
wall Jackson, had Mcclellan then advanced ho would
have found little else than demOrazed men, disgraeing
the uniform Of soldiers. covering the way to Richmond
Did Grant ever have such chance And if Mcclellan
did not use IT. is not the act OF omission in military
commander TO be taken proof OF inferior geneTalsDp
quite as well as that OF c0mmissiCnl
Again; when Mcclellan went down TO yorktown, and
op.ued another campaign there the fierce army that
then opposed him exactly screen thousand IRE htd
red men. Magruder commanded all that was then
in the pathway of Mcclellan while the bulk OF the Con-
fedcrate forces still In motion ia the neghbOrhood
Of the Rappahannock and the Eapdan. and he had no
assurance of reGuioTccments. The force Of Mcclellan was
He, ten times his own; they had commenced daily
cannonadug upon his lines and council Of general OH
GERS was convened consult whether the little army Ot
1850 men should maintain It's position in the face OF ten
fold odds retire before the The opinion OF the
council was unanimous for the latter alternative, with
the exception officer who declared that every
man should die in the inrenchmens before the little
army should fall back! "By G.. 1t shall be So" was the
sudden exclamation OF Gen. Magruder, in sympatl '
ti.s -~tI-
Mcclellan was defeated at last by army not greatly
inferior ia numbers which he had supiney allowed to be
drawn from the ends OF the ConfedeTsey But so far
from its being fierce army" report the fact as 1t
came from the lips Of Gen. Lee: Nearly two.thrds
were raw conscrips who had been under fire, and
we're only half instructed
II any balance Of generalship is TO be held between
Mcclellan and Grant the numbers Of forces which
opposed them in their respective campaigns Ia virginia
the veteran material OF these Iorces ther foHu
ton of discpliue and Ghelr formidable char
Hcter We shall have hesitation in deciding who was
the greatest General The test not the most certain
one but the correspondent referred to has chosen to in
terpose It. and however insignificant this act oil ingenuity
NAV be in his own person. there not few Southern
newspapers which have solemny adopted It,
As 10 the general question OF comparative merits as
commanders between Mcclellan and Grant, what We
have said OF the former suggests the main difference
between the rivals Mcclellan may have been excel
lent organizer Of armies it has been said Of him that
lac had the pedantry Of war without its inspirations
There could no greater contrast TO his moral mldy
the mechanical sense Of order the slow genius genius
at all of Athelsane, the Unready" than those quick
instincts of ght Grant which gave hlm this merit OF
a great eOmmandeT-that he nerer declined battle and
that he went at it with force Of decision that
times appeared irregular, simply because never cacu
lated the inferior circumstances Of the situation His
military genius might have been the unbriant and
ponderous one OF q commander determined to conquer
y repeated strokes OF physical force but no one can
tha
str,,ck at all ues II no had no bnesse, he had no
procrastination. He bothered by that nice
attention TO details which always adjusting and read
iustng which never realizes precisely the combination
it desires and which, instead of making real preparations
keeps itself only IN constant state OF unreadnesS and
disrust.
But the fact which wish especially to bring TO Hight
aud which may surprise readers that the South
COnfederacy, far from being in the extremity OF
despair described by the Washington correspondent
Grant undertook the campaign Of 1884, never
at any of the a military point Of view,
able and sperate The lapse from this condition sud
deu and awful before the year out and from
al which shall presently glance. But the truth Ia nds
putabe those who lived in the South at the time and
made careful and intelligent observations around them
that COufederacy never turned upon her foe
imposing and determined aspect than when, in the early
mouths OF 1864. Grant took command OF the Northern
forces in Virginia and found his front army which,
though somewhat less numerous than that which de.
feated Mcclellan around Richmond, was much more
formidable IL was army Of COo0O men, all told-he
best seasoned army that Virginia had put in the
ned composed entirely Of veterans, and inspired by
combination OF every circumstance that could breed
courage insure devotion
Yet the contest hopeless before the year WaS out Ia
tits time the Snuth had been conquered not indeed by
the transcendent generaship OF Grant but by the con-
eaff, Ia nay Eune IN lp rg