, 1885-11-08

SO h'f'i
We have had better generals than Me
Clellan, yet he did one great and self
d~eyning act. He obeyed orders by giving
up the command of an army at a moment
when he had victory within his grasp,
When Col. Buckingham brought the
order to Warrenton for him to turn over
the command of the army of the Potomac
to Gen. Burnside, Lee had only two diyi-
sionslwith him at Culpepper and the third
was still beyond the mountains. One
short march, one bold, brave strike, and
victory seemed sure. One officer high in
his confidence, said to Gen. Mcclellan:
"Of with his head, so much for Buck
ingham.
A corps commander reminded him OF
the action of Prince Eugene Of Savoy, at
the battle of B%elgrave, who, when he re-
ceived a letter from the Aulic council,
which he suspected contained an order to
retreat, put the letter in his pocket saying
he had no time to read it, and vent on
and won a victory over the unspeakable
Turk.
Another recalls Nelson $ conduct al the
battle of Cape st. Vincent, who, when
told that the admiral in command was
signalling him to retire, put his spyglass
to his blind eye and said, why. | can't
see it, and then ordered his division Of
the fleet to close in to close quarters.
That night some of his young staff officer,
were drinking to the health of George the
I. But Mcclellan was a true patriot.
He knew that a higher allegiance is due
a free republic than to any king or kaiser.
He knew that obedience to law was better
even than victory. So the next day saw
the grand army he had organized and
commanded on so many trying occasions
drawn up in column of battalions while he
rode down the lines for the last time.
How the volunteers cheered. The regu.
lar division stood still as statues and as
silent as death, but the fallen chief saw
tears on many a weather beaten face, mol
could he restrain his own. There stood
the 4th infantry with Tippecanoe and
Lundy's Lane on its banner; there stood
batteries organized at the siege of Boston.
there were other regiments with which he
had fought in Mexico. Even Napoleon is
said to have wept when he kissed the tat.
tered banners of the Old Guard at Fon.
tainableau. All. countrymen, the %tri-color
has no such associations as the banner of
beauty and glory we follow. Beneath it:
folds no acts of rapacity and oppression
have ever been committed. Before it,
advance sayages have fed and eDlighten.
ment has followed. 1t has given liberty
to a continent and freedom to the slave.
No wonder Mcclellan rode off with a
heavy heart. Yet he had won a great
vIctory-a victory over self This was al
act worthy of an American patriot. There
is another lesson we may learn from hi,
life. That mar is truly great.
Tina fortunes Bullets and regards
Can take with equal thanks"
The iayorites of fortune are honoreC
for their victories, but the worlds greatest
heroes are its martyrs.
more true JOY Marcellus, exiled feels
Than Caesar with a senate at his heels.
Thermoplye was as glorious a battle
as Marathon The victims of Valley
Forge and A~ndersonville should be hon
ored as much as those who fell at Fiv,
Forks or Gettysburg. We only won hal
a dozen battles in the open field in tn,
war of Independence, yet who can doub
but that Brandywine and Bunker Hill die
as much to secure success as Saratoga
and Yorktown. 1t is the unconquera
bic spirit that wins, and this shines a
bright in adversely as in success.
After the second Bull Run | was com
handing one of the rear guards of tn,
army. was supporting the 4th Main,
battery, with the Sth and 10Th infantries
Stewards cavalry and Pendleton's battery
were trying to make our lives miserable
and they had succeeded 81 well hal W,
were in that frame of mind, known to tn,
ungodly as don t-care- a.damism. Piou,
people never feel so, but soldiers, tree
and footsore, hungry and thirsty, ant
weak and miserable, are rarely religious
Well ! Just in the dusk of the evening W,
heard cheers, Yankee cheers, away off il
the distance. Then the cheering cam,
rolling nearer and nearer, like surginl
waves of sound. What could set a de
feated and retreating army to cheering
like mad Our rear guard stood motion.
less. The grimey gunners leaned on theil
hot guns, and the dust covered infantry
half turned to the rear to listen.
On the opposite slope | saw the chiy
airy draw rein. they too were listening
in amazement to the mighty cheers o
10000 voices through the cleaning
1t was Little Mac coming back {,
his own again
What a transformation followed Orde.
came out of chaos; ardor succeeded apathy
In two weeks the same army that retreat
ed from Manassas, stormed South Noun
tain. Here was history repeating itself
The ragged Continentals would not sta
whipped. The spirit of &c blazed out il
60. On the 18th Of September, came GU
chance for revenge. Antietam was tn.
fairest fought battle of the war. Neithe
side had conscripts or bounty jumper
then. 1t was real Yanks against the reb
els. True Blues against the Greys-
beautiful day, a fair day, no favors. Am