The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-08-04

Part Y. Of "The Century War Book"
now ready has, amon- other articles. one
upon what was known as The Peninsula
Campaign, written by Major General
George Is. Mcclellan. who was then in
command of the Union army.
The lolloWing interesting description OF
tahr feeling entertained for General Nc
'l"ilau los his soldiers WAS written by
O. 'ige hlmh1U, VINO was q member of
tle command:
Though quarter OF a century has
passed since 'those darkest days OF the
Edl ] stu retain a vivid remembrance
OF ,ac sudden ana complete change which
came upon the lace Of affairs when Cen
eia Mcl 4eiian WAS restored 10 command.
81 tle time / was serving in Company a.
l'"eitth Massachusetts hOlIntcers, at
tacned % Ncketts' division OF the First
army Corps. The announcement u Nc
'l.ltu restoration came 10 us IN the
carry evening OF the ~ OF September
l'i-. just after reaching Hall Hin, weary
from long marching and we'll nigh dis
hr1Tt"uad Ly recent reVcrses. The men
were scattered about in groups, discuss
ig the events OF their iIl-stnrred cam
palen aal INDUCING I'm comments that
WEE. decidedly mplmentary 10 those
Who had been responsible for It's misman-
aEemeut. We dii not know, OF course,
the exact significance OF all that had
happened as We afterward learned 1t. but
hein- mainly thinking men. We were able
10 form pretty sureWd guesses as 10
Whore the real difficulty lay. suddenly,
IN fuil blast, mounted officer dashnB
past our blNouac. refined up long enough
h. shout. Little Mac is back here on
the road, boys' The scene that followed
can bee more easily imagined than de-
scribot From extreme sadness We passed
I'm Il tylnklirg o. doiirium ~ delight.
4 delyerer had come. i real rainbow
OF promise had appeared suddenly IN the
dark political shy The feeling in our
division upon the return OF General Me
.cidu had its counterpart I'm all the
others, for the Army ~ the Potomac
loved him as Il never loved any other
leader. In few days We started upon
mat long march into Maryland. and
whenever General Mcclellan appeared
among his troops, from the crossing OF
re IOtOmdc az Washington to the Crap
pie with Lee at Antietam, II was the
aisnh Tor the most spontaneous and en-
thiSluStic cheering | ever listened 10 on
participated iu. Men threw their caps
high into the air and danced and frolicked
like schoOlbOys, so glad We're they 10 get
their old commander back again. IL is
true that Mcclellan had always been for
tundte iu being able To excite enthusiasm
among his troops, but demonstrations at
tnls time took on am added ami notice
able emphasis from the fact that he had
been recalled TO command after what The
army believed to be- an unWise and UNI
just suspension. The climax seemed 10
d. reached, however, at MldtctOWu,
where We nrst caught sight OF the enemy.
Here, upon our arrival, We found General
Nice lcllau sitting upon his morse ia the |
road. TIE enemy occupied a gap In the
south mountain, a mile or Two beyond. |
Reno and Hatch were fighting, and the |
smoke Of their guns could Dee seen hair |
way up the mountain. As each Organi- |
ZatiOn passed the General, the men be- |
came apparently forgetful Of every thing 1
but their love for him. They checred and /
chccred again. until they became SO I
hOarse they could cheer no longer it /
seemed as II an intermissiOn had been 4
declared iu order that Il reception might /
b. rendered 20 the General-in-Chief a /
great crowd continually surrounded him. !
and the most eXtrdVagant demonstrations |
We're INDUCED in Hundreds even hugged |
the horses legs ana caressel his mead !
and name While the troops wcrr thus |
surging by, the General continually point |
ed with his finger ~ the gap In the noun
tain through which our path lay. Ii was |
like great scene in play. with the roar
Of the guns for an accompaniment. An
)the, enthusiastic demonstration that / |
occurred I'm the afternoon OF
The 18th at Anticfam. when the General
rode along our line of battle. The cheers
,ould not have been heater than they
we're General Mcclellan may have had
opponents elsewhere, he had few. n any,
among the soldiers whom he command
u "
This is one OF the many interesting mar
.atiVes contained in '"rhe Century War
Book" Terms upon which IL may be
obtained will be found elsewhere in this
ssua