The National tribune., 1907-08-22
qualities of General. A better Colonel

qualities of a General A better Colonel
no army ever had.
To the Third Corps. Gen. S. P. Heint-
Zelman was called. He was a man very
much like Sumner. but hardly his equal
in ability and character. He was SIM
ply a very good Colonel. At Bull Run
with the rest of the division command
! ers exceedingly little Generalship. His
having been wounded had much to do
with his promotion.
! Gen. Erasmus d. Keyes was assigned
to the Fourth Corps. keyes was man
of the Mcdowell type, tho not equal to
him in professional accomplishments.
He had commanded a battalion of
| troops in the field against the Indians.
which was the hight of his attainments,
and he owed his advance in the army
largely to Gen. Scott's friendship. He
was not destined for much military dis
ltinction.
Gen. Banks and His Fifth Corps.
The troops then in the Shenandoah
Valley, extending from the Blue Ridge
to Manassas were made into the Fifth
Corps, with Gen. N. 2. Banks in COM
mand. OF Banks we have had much to
say elsewhere. A man of ambition,
courage and remarkable oratorical abil-
ity, he had raised himself from bobbin
boy in a Massachusetts factory to sue
cessful lawyer and leading politician,
and had achieved marked success in
Massachusetts politics. He was first a
Free Soil'' Democrat. then a "Know.
Nothing" was elected to Congress and to
the GovernOrship of Massachusetts,. and
became Speaker of the House of Repre-
sentatives. In this latter position he had
displayed extraordinary wisdom and
tact, carrying the House thru the stormy
debates nrnpp1inp tho with SIlch
| fairness and impartIality as to win the
commentators of his bitter political an
| tagOnists. He had a strong prediction
for a military career, but more con-
| spicuously unsuccessful General has
rarely appeared in history. High mill
| tary authorities have said that success
was impossible with such corps COM
manders as Mcclellan had. 1t cannot
| be affirmed that those Mcclellan select
| ed himself were any better. He took
an early opportunity to make corps for
Franklin and Fitz-John Porter. neither
of. whom proved fortunate. Franklin
will pass into the history of our war as
a man who had more great opportuni-
| ties than any other subordinate General,
and who never successfully grasped one
of. them. Gen. FitZ-John Porter made
| brilliant battle at Gaines's Mill, but
| otherwise his achievements We're not
such as to justify his selection for so
d
er.
The Army of the Potomac was des-
tined to have at least two years of fiery
trial before developing corps command
ers worthy of it.
The Peninsula.
The country known as the Peninsula
| is narrow tongue of land projecting
| out towards the Atlantic from Rich
mond, and formed in some remote geo.
of the Piedmont region being washed
down into the sea. What is known as
the Piedmont of the South is a plateau
of granite lying in front of the Blue
Ridge and extending from New York to
Alabama. 1t lies about $50 feet above
sea level, and the waters falling on this
shelf fall over rapids into the tide-water
level These falls are the head of navi-
CATION, and make the sites chosen for
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington,
Richmond, Petersburg, GoldSboro, Co
lumbia, S. c., and Augusta and Colum-
bus, Ga. In front of them the tidewater
region, formed, as said before, by the
detritus from above, rises but few feet
above sea level, and is everywhere in
terspersed by a network of creeks and
swamps. The particular peninsula of
which we are speaking was formed by
the torrents which, rushing down the
James, cut a deep waterway to the sea,
ana on tne Otner Sl1e was dnOtneT
waterway, the York River, cut by the
waters that flowed into it from the Mat
| tapony and Pamunkey Rivers. The dis
tance between the York and James Riv-
ers is from seven to 10 miles, and the
distance by land from Fort Monroe to
| Richmond about Is miles. Gen. Nc
| Clellan's preference for this route had
been largely based upon the fact that
as he advanced his flanks on the james
and York would be protected by our
| fleet coming up those rivers. so that he
would not be embarrassed by any turn
| ing movement such as he had reason
| to fear IL he marched on Richmond
| from directly in front of Washington.
| 1t must be said that the experiences of
| the Army of the Potomac under Burn
side, Hooker and Meade justified to a
great degree this plan of Mcclellan. But
| If Gen. Mcclellan calculated that he
would have straight march upon
Richmond, unembarrassed by streams
such as would be encountered on the
overland route, he was to be bitterly
disappointed. Sluggish streams ran in
to both the York and James, having
their headwaters in swamps which unite
| them. making each barrier to an
armys progress.
Beginning the Advance.
Gen. Mcclellan arrived at Fortress
Monroe April 2, and found there five
divisions of infantry, three regiments of
cavalry. the artillery division and artil-
lery reserve. making altogether $4,000
electives and 100 guns. This force was
moved out in the direction of Yorktown
to give room for the other troops which
were to follow. Gen. Keyes, with
nd GrrnS<I rS,sN <lx1