Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-12-31
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
McCIeIInn's Literary Memoirs.
From the Burlington Free Press. J

From the Burlington Free lfeSS
No book recently issued will attract more
attention than the military memoirs of Gen
eral Mcclellan, edited by w. c. Airline
Like General Grants book, it is the per
sonal narrative Of one of the chief actors
in the greatest conflict in which this nation
was ever engaged. 1t is also, like General
Grants book, commentary upon the inn
portant affairs, principally military, in
which the narrator was engaged. Unlike
General Grants book, however, it is one
sided and egotistical-an account, in which
the individual with his actions and his opin
ions, takes precedence of the course Of his
tory. But it is readable book, and there
is an interest even in its egotistical and
opinionated utterances, for they are those
Of man who for time was the most
prominent figure in the eyes of the nation.
This book, however, will not change the
estimate which Gen. McClellan's country
men have placed upon him. 1t will rather
strengthen the verdict, for throughout the
volume, Gen. McClellans peculiar selfcon
seriousness, self-sufacispcy 6sstrust of 9th
ers and desire to elevate, diAg and excuse
his short comings at the expefi2. pam -
low-commanders are prominently see., q rs
Clellan's extreme egotism crops out in sucn
passages as the following
invariably took the ground that | was
thoroughly opposed to slavery, regarding
it as a great evil especially to the whites
of the South, but that in my opinion no
sweeping measure Of emancipation should
L., .,,,l 4 htr
rangements providing for the new relations
between employers and employed, carefully
guarding the rights and interests Of both.
MY own view was that emancipation should
be accomplished gradually, and that the
negroes should be fitted for it by certain
preparatory steps in the way Of education,
recognition of the rights of family and
marriage, prohibition against selling them
without their own consent, the freedom of
those born after certain date etc. | was
always prepared to make it one Of the es-
sential conditions Of peace that slavery
should be abolished within fixed and rea-
sonable period Had the arrangements Of
the terms of peace been in my hands, GER
tainly should have insisted on this
OF course Gen. Mcclellan had a poor
opinion of Halleck He says of him:
Speaking of Halleck, day or two before
he arrived from Washington, Stanton came
to caution me against trusting Halleck, who
was, he said, probably the greatest scoun-
drel and most bare-faced villain in America.
He said that he was totally destitute of prin-
ciple and that in the Almadeen quicksilver
case he had convicted Halleck Of perjury in
open court When Haleck arrived he came
to caution me against Stanton, repeating al
most precisely the same words that Stanton
had employed OF all men whom l have
encountered in high position, Halleck was
! the most hopelessly stupid. II was more
! difficult to get an idea through his head than
can be conceived. l do not think he ever
had a correct military notion from begin
ming to end.
OF Gen. Mcdowell he says that he was
incompetent and an intriguer, and so dis
liked by his troops that it was not safe for
him after the second Bull Run to visit his
own camps, for the men had sworn to kill
| him! Pope and Mcdowell, he says, did all
they could TO ruin the country This is
Gen. McClelan's little offset to the prevail
ing judgment, which charges TO his own
| jealousy and sluggishness the failure of
| Pope's campaign.
Even for President Lincoln the General
has not "A single word of kindness or com
mendation The most cordial word he has
to say for him is my relations with Mr.
Lincoln were generally very pleasant, and
seldom had trouble with him when we could
meet face TO face. The difficulty always
arose behind my back" OF Secretary Stan
ton he writes with extreme bitterness, in
| hot Of, ba
basest of traitors. He says:
From the light that has since been thrown
on Stanton's character, | am satisfied that
from an early date he was engaged in a
| reasonable conspiracy. When | reached
| Washington in 1855, he did his best to in
| gratiate himself with me- The most disa
greeable thing about him was the extreme
virulence with which he abused the Presi-
| dent, the administration and the Republican
party He never spoke of the President in
any other way than as the original gorilla,
and often said that DuChaillu was fool to
| 20 all the way to Africa in search of what
| he could so easily have found at Springfield,
| III. He often advocated the propriety of
my Selling the government and taking af-
fairs into my own hands. His purpose was
to endeavor to climb upon my shoulders and
then throw me down. Soon after Mr.. Stan
ton became secretary of war, it became ev
ident that without any reason known to
me, our relations had completely changed.
Instead Of using his new position to assist
me, he threw every obstacle in my way and
did all in his power to create difficulty and
dstrust between the President and myself.
Most of this must be set down as pure in
vention on the part of Gen Mcclellan. He
cannot make intelligent people believe that
Mr. Stanton abused President Lincoln to
Gen Mcclellan, or ever thought of such a
thing as permitting him to make himself
dictator. The character of these memoirs
may be judged from the above extracts. 1t
is a book so bitter, indiscriminate and unjust
in its accusations that even the friends of
Gen. Mcclellan must regret its publication