Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1894-08-11
WHO SENT you HERE?"

or some of them, were watching what
went on. He came little closer, low
cred his voice, and said:
Most of us think that this battle is
only half fought and half won. There
is still time to finish it. But McClel-
Ian will do no more. What l want you
to do is to see Hooker, find out
whether he can mount his horse, and
If he can, ask him whether he will
take command of this army and drive
Lee into the Potomac or force him to
surrender"
1t was perhaps the most astounding
request ever made by a soldier to a
civilian. What he suggested was moth
ing less than an act of mutiny in the
face of the enemy, and / told him so.
~ know that as well as you do"
was the answer. 1--WE nll know it,
but we know also that it is the only
way to crush Lee and end the war and
save the country"
pointed out that if Hooker were to
be approached on such subject, it
ought to be by him or by one of his
comrades in the plot-for it was a
plot-and that, If they meant business,
they ought TO be ready to take the
risk. l added that l thought it more
than likely that Gen. Hooker's answer
to such q proposal would be to order
the man who made it, whoever he
was. under arrest
lit need not be a proposal" he re-
piled. 'All we want you to do Is to
sound Hooker and let us know what
his views are. The rest we will do
ourselves" / asked him if he meant
to give me written message.
Certainly not Such things are not
putinto writing"
But why should Hooker believe
me, or compromise himself in con-
versation with u man he never saw till
this morning."
He said it was known l had acted as
Hooker's aide, and urged sundry other
reasons. i still declined, but he still
pressed it. Hooker, he declared, had
won the confidence of the army, and
Mcclellan had lost it. 1t was no time
to stand on tritles. He regarded what
he proposed to me as patriotic duty,
and so on. Finally, as 1 persisted in
refusing to be the bearer of any such
message, he asked If l would see
Hooker and bring them word whether
he could, in any circumstances, take
the field that day. To this ] saw no
objection, and rode off. / found Gen.
Hooker in bed and in great pain. He
asked eagerly for news of the battle.
When l told him that the attack on
both wings had failed, that no move
ment had been made for the last two
hours, and that Gen. Mcclellan seemed
to have no intention of making any,
he became angry and excited, and
used language OF extreme plainness.
had noticed in the morning that he
had very copious vocabulary. 1t was
directed for the most part against the
enemy, whose sharpshooters followed
him all over the field, in which his tall
figure in full uniform, and his white
horse, We're by far the most conspicu-
GUS targets. Once his staff got the
benefit of this flow of energetic speech,
when two or three OF them Joined in
the suggestion that the proper place
for corps commander was not In the
skirmish line, and that he could not
prudently remain under so hot fire.
Now it was turned upon Mcclellan,
with whose excessive caution and sys-
tematic inertness In the crisis of a
great battle he had no patience. This
outburst gave me an opportunity OF