The National tribune., 1891-07-16
"LITTLE NAPOLEON"
A Mainland YnnL,, YInu. of ,hn g., nrr,nI

Ciellan, by terming me "sO-called admireT"
i must plead guilty TO the charge Of idolatry,
the same Is the said comrade for I worshiped
nj the same shriue in blind devotion; but lie
seems TO have lost the sense Of smell as we'll as
sight when he says that lac was not disturbed
by the anxiety OF the rebels about the result Of
the election. Now il was the smell Of the in
ccnsc that thoy offered upon the altar that sick
ened your humble servant. and caused me TO
! open my blind eyes, when found tho enemies
Of the "Old Flag" basing all their hopes Of
! success upon the election of Mcclellan at the
same time, came TO the conclusion Of the
Irish Veteran on the other side, that il he
was such good friend of the rebels " he must
| be very poor General for Us Yankees"
This induced me 10 study his career closely,
his own history being the best witness against
him. and by comparison with the career of thu
Great Napoleon, | was forced to conclude that
lie was very small. But perhaps expected too
much Of Mcclellan, who had been termed the
Young Napoleon" as my opinion Of the first
NAPOLEON was derived by perusal of his life by
Abbott which was rather eXtTavagant in char
acter aud led me 10 look upon him as a demigod
of war. But MI other histories that have read
since have modified my views and have con-
Guided that he Is the best General who can. with
forces equal in number, gain the greatest adyau-
taEcs without too great sacrifice OF life.
Gen. Mcclellan seems to have POSSESSED tho
latter trait 10 a pre-emincnt degree. as Gen.
Sherman has said while Gen. Grant went to
the other extreme, presuming upon the supe-
rior resources lie had TO draw upon which
he could not have ventured upon ii the supply
OF Leo had been equal. Gen. Mcclellan showed
a want Of confidence in himself aud in his men
when he avoided an advance upon the enemy
at Manassas and sought TO sneak upon Rich
m0nd by the way OF tho Peninsula; thus adopt-
ing geographical objective instead Of the M.
NIL. len f...s ri
IS the chief objective point i'm the science Of
war Gen Grant adopted the latter, but was
not fortunate in the grand tactics necessary TO
make Il success; but he did one good thing,
he restored the confidence of the Army Of the
Potomac in themselves and enabled them 10
march az will from the Eapidan TO the James
without the least attempt OF the enemy 20 act
upol the offensive, which had been their style
from the time that Mcclellan assumed COM
mand until Gen. Lee struck Grant at the Will
dcrness and took him by surprise while his
forces were scattered On May ,.
But his efforts at SpOtisylyania taught the
enemy lesson OF respect for the rank and file
Of tho army that was necessary % make the
overland route success and give confidence
10 the men, who had not been slow To perceive
that their Generals were afraid OF Lee, who. in
the language Of the greatest General that the
war prUduced,-" Little Phil" Sheridan the
GTcat,-"t tic commanders Of the Army Of the
Potomac never went out 20 whip anybody, but
were moro anxious 10 keep from getting
whipped"
While Gen. Grant did not add any Iaurcls TO
his reputation as a General during that over
land campaign, yet, by his blunder at Cold
Harbor, proved that McClel.an's attempt TO
carry Richmond By the line Of the Chicka-
homiHy was doomed to failure. Mcclellan was
fortunate in having someone TO throw the
blame upon for Withholding McDowelPs Corps.
which lac claims would have enabled him to
carry the lines Of the enemy by assault
Grant proved 10 the contrary at Cold IIarbor
two years later, although Mcclellan had DEM
OnS.TaiCd at Antictam the absurdity of his
claim the failure Of which lie ascriLcd to lack
Of reiniorccIentsl. where he had not only Ne
D1well's Corps, but the troops Of Banks and
Sigel from the Valley, besides Burnsde's
Corps in addition. Yet, with all these, he
fought drawn battle at Antietam with a
force almost one-half lis own numbers.
Now, would ask, With that result before u.s.,
what prospect was there Of his success Of ear
rying Richmond by assault, with its strong
lines well manned by Gon. Leo with forces
/ that were almost equal 10 his own army,
either from the cast by way OF the Chieka-
hominy, or from the south Of the James River?
which our veteran" informs us was adopted
~ Gen. Grant from necessity, aud gives Nc.
Cleilan the credit for its discovery.
Instead Of being adopted from necessity"
We can say that il was born Of necessity,
and that StoEeWall was the father, who seems
10 haze 50 worked npon the iimidity of Me-
Cleilan as to force him to give to the world
that famous Original PLAN change Of base"
which served as cOTer for dsgraceful re-
treat la face Of the enemy, in spite of the VIC
tories OF the right wing Of the army north of
the thckghominy, which could have been rem
dered decisive against the rebels if Mcclellan
had not covered before his superiors in ca
| pacity-Lee aud Jackson-and encouraged
them 10 pursue the enemy. whose positions
| they had failed to force at Mechanicsyille and
| Gaincs's Mill.
! Is TO the Original plan" Of Mcclellan OF
] going south of the James, think that was
/ fully exploded by Gen. Lee when Grant was
a; Petersburg, which the former held with an
inferior force. while he detached Early 10 capt
ure Washington. that had not only been de-
! nuded OF troops by Gen. Grant but had been
uncovered b. the Army Of the Potomac, as
/ would have been the case IL Mcclellan had
i been let alone TO pursue his Original PLAN"
No one can dOub, that the result would have
/ been the capture Of Washington If St1uewall
Jackson had been in command instead OF
/ Early. Gen. Grant had 10 fall back upon the
| plan OF Lincoln. and detach tho Sixth Corps.
! that barely saved the Capital by the battle of
! MOnocacy. which delayed the enemy until the
! forts could be manned.
Thus Gen. Grant proved By his actions that
] Mcclellan was wrong, aud thus has deprived
the historian OF the last peg upon which his
! Imagination might hang 4 reputation rs q great
! General FOR the latter. His conduct in refusing
TO obey orders promptly in sending his troops
! from the James 10 defend Washington, and per-
hitting the disgrace Of the second defeat al
Bu!l Run, savOrs Of Benedict Arnold. If he
would resort TO such tactics 10 crush a rival
! Gen. PoPc) AZ the risk Of the Capital his sue
| cess al Antietam could not atone for the lives
Of patriots who were sacrificed to his ambition,
which is even more dangerous than pelL-J0s
+. GARTER, Do:sey's I'D.
a
II was Mr.. Emerson who said "ths first