, 1880-12-12

Clellan's plan: II was always of the min.
Subsequent Information. after the enemy had
| retired, confirmed this opinion. ss}Ve wers
willing to try it with single brigade. i;en
hamilton made the application, and I Tor.
Warded it to the commanding General.'' It
| what was proposed to be done. Tha
siege OF Yorktown commenced before knew
a,,ythinE ' Of it. merely judged 50 from tbs
o tie is s TSrs t ised a eace 1 Thf Geasr
and that delaye, Us from day to daJ Until t
| Tic width of the peninsula at Yorktown ia
.gg noot sevea IT. mllS but the esmys line after
Into the james. followed the coursc OF that
river, utakinga line Of about thirteen miles 1e
Swlnton says thirteen .ntla half miles. The
| Confeterates always knew McClellan's in.
tentions, and now. after his first division had
landed on the peninsula, and the nfshtr r
fleet Ut transports advertised the cencr,{{
coming, they had seventeen days to prennra
on that line. Yet they were not intending to
make any resolute stand there. But wheE he
sat down to dig parallels for siege operation5o
they embraced the opportunity, and they re.
ilforced their force and began to die aiso
And in siege operations against such 4 wills
country, which has continent behind. and
ElAIltIt AAtE5kNN, tlal CkiEH1f tkU mako
intrenchments faster than the besicgers can
dig parallels and plant siege batteries,
To sit down to siege operations against a
line OF thirteen and q half miles, will m
open country behind 1t, without trying any. r.
where t., see il it can be broken, is new
thing in the tactics Of war. It was not knuwn
to Frederick, called the Great, nor to the great
Napoleon, nor Wellington. nor Washington
1t is unprecedented III history; and IS n1t
found in standard works OIL the art OF war
T lrvkatftt4f{ hE Ennnu Nnpofncr
from him has become fixed in our Wcst
Point school as the art Of war with the mofl.-
ern improvements. McClellan's narrative
gives with ~ much .sa eomp.la'cency particular
the enemy left there; but his account is of
works which. in great part, had been made
during the whole month in which he was
digging trenches and planting great guns.
When Mcclellan arrived, Gen. Barnard
says:
When we first saw them April 81 there vera
very few guns upon them, and those mostly
field-guns on travelling carriages, In barbet aoi
against Il vigorous cannonade- The connectinn
between Fort Magr1der and the red redoubr Yas
q mere rincpit, and from tho red redoubt to the.
swnmp there WIS nothing whatever. The ::r1,und
between and behind these two works could ba
seen. and could he swept by our artillery IRE.
Our assuulting columns would have been from
two-thirds OF Il mile to one mile removed from
tho artillery at Yorktown, from the fire of
which undulations OF the ground afforded much
coscI, even ~ upposIng IaAI tae nse OF thae place
coulc hpI nave peen snoouea ~ our own bat
sault would have been directed, WIS very In
''t MaTga',.r,s 49, n,r~o+7,.o s,r.. ur.
+;o,,s o,s ~ ,,a,,;n..io ne opera
15uIls n1s, on l,e pemlnsnd. ny tae Army OF tne
~. osonac eole,Geu fe ~ Mn lail ne1d arf-
lelS lultf tE o. n.tsre"9 n pasterlts OF ~ guns"
AnloaS .a tnese weie IalGeinen gnns. twenty,
!.i.a Pouila a Fatdotl9, ~ 4lu tnlla5-tWo-pound
noM,.1it5 1fa 1t th,t * i; a@ ~ nlns snnclent to
;, ~ t%s at;ii ;t1e " tntlsee anu one-1aH