The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-11-10
MCCLELLAN AND LINCOLN-A LETTER
NOT HERETOFORE PUBLISHED.

The Philadelphia Press prints the following
letter, which, it is said, has never been given
to the public before:
"Wdshiagton. April . 1-62 -Najor General
Nc CleUan Dear Sir-Your dispatches com
planning that you are not properly sustained,
while they do not offend me, do pain me very
much. B'encker's division was withdrawn
fcom you before You left here. aud You knew
the pressure under which did it, and it,was as
thought, acqnesced in, certainly not without
reluctance. After you left ascertained that
less than twenty thoueAnd uLorgRuized men,
without a siugle field battery, were all you
dc igued To be lef6 for the defense of Washing
ton and Manassas junction. and part of this
even was to go to General Hooker's old posi-
ton. General B auks' corps, once designe for
Manassas Junction, was divided and tied up on
the line of the Winchester and Strasburg, and
could not leave it without again exposing the
Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and ONO
Railroad. This presented, wonld present,
when Med Dorgall and Summer should be gone,
from the Rappahannock aud sack Wasbi bington.
Ny explicit order that Washington should, by
the Judgment of all the comm auders of the
army corps be left entirely secure ma, had e been
me to detain Mcdowell. do not forget that
was satisfed with your arrangement to
leave Banks at Manassas function bat when
that arrangement was broken up, aud nothing
vas substituted for it, of course 1 was not
satisfied. was constrained to Substitute
something for it myself: Now allow me to
ask, 90 you really Gulnk eho
line from Richmond via Manassas Junction to
this city to bs entirely open, except what ra-
sistanee could bs presented by less than
twenty Thousand unorganized trooIsf This IS
d question which the country will MT allow
me to evade.
"There is a cnrious mystery about the mum
Der of troops now with you. When tele-
graphed you on the 9th saying you had over
one hupdred thousand with yon had just
obtained from tie Secretary OF War state
mept taken, as he said, from your own returns
making los 900 then with you and en- route to
you. You now say you will have bat 80, o0O
when all en- route to you shall have reached
account. I'd for 7 As to General WooIs COM
maady 1 understand it is doing fef yea precise
ly what q like number of your own would
have to do if that command was away.
81 suppose the whole force which has gone
forward for you js with you by this time. and
strike blow. By delay the enemy will re-
lstively gain upon you, that is, he will gain
faster by fortifcations and reintorcemebts
than you can by reinforcements alone. And
once more let me tell you, it is indispensable
to you that you strike blow. l am power
less to help this. You will do me the Justice
to remember I always insisted that going
down the bay in search of field, instead OF
| fighting at or near Manassas. was only shift
| ing and not earLeounting difficulty; that you
would find the same enemy, and the same or
equal intrenchments at either place. The
country will not fail to nete-is now nothing
| that the present hesitation to move upon an
| intrenched enemy is but the story OF Manassas
| repeated. l beg to assure you that have
never written you or spoken to you in greater
| kindness CT feeling than now, nor with q fuller
purpose to sustain you 80 far as in my most
anxious Judgment consistently oan' but you
must act. Yours very truly,