The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-05-04

many for acting in neither. IT General
Mcclellan could have but just shut his
left eye, the right one would long ago
have guided us to Richmond"
At last when Yorktown. which he
had besieged for a month with a force
far superior to that of his enemy. was
evacuated by the confederates, on May
4. Mcclellan advanced toward Rich
mond, winning victories at Williams
burg and Hanover Court House. He
came within four miles of the confed-
crate capital, but believing his lines
too extended to protect from attack
he decided to retreat toward the James
river. Then followed the Seven Days
Battles, which ended when the Army
of the Potomac reached Hampton
Ferry, with Il total loss to the federals
of 2O,135. Nevertheless says John
Goldman Ropes. THE moral and politi-
cal effect of the whole series of move
ments and battles was entirely to the
advantage of the confederates. Facts
are stubborn things. and there was no
denying that Mcclellan had been
forced to give up his position on the
Chickahominy when he was within
sight of the steeples of Richmond, and
to retire, followed-pursued in fact
by his enemies to the River James. to
a. point twenty or thirty miles from
the confederate capital. The abrupt
change of part played by the federal
general from the role of the invader
to that of the retreating and pursued
enemy was too dramatic not to arrest
general attention.
Dissatisfaction against Mcclellan had
now increased so strongly that he was
promptly relieved from his command
and ordered to evacuate the peninsula.
General Pope failed to retrieve the
situation, and after his defeat at the
second battle of Manassas and his dis
orderly retreat Mcclellan resumed
command at the sudden and unexpect-
Gu ltQueSL VI IlcSluSlll LlIlNolii' ''IlAC
more, this time within the short space
of one week, the disorganized and dis
heartened troops were moulded by the
hand of the master organizer into a
new and effective army. At Sharps-
burg, on the south bank of .Antietam
Creek, Mcclellan came up with the
. 1,io f1o Pof
of Antietam, which, though tactically
a drawn battle, was a strategic defeat
for the confederates, as Lee was forced
to withdraw his troops and SO bring
to an end his first attempt at an in
vasion of the north
: Mcclellan, however, failed to follow
up his success. Had he known that
Lee was practically out of ammuni-
ton and that his army had been re-
duced almost one-half through battle
and struggling. he probably would
have followed up and crushed him. But
she was again held back by unreason-
able fear Of the enenv's strength 1t
r." 90 ave "cShS UcLOIG Ilc CIONSGU IHe
Potomac in response to the urgent
commands of President Lincoln and
moved into Virginia. He had pro-
ceeded as far as Warrenton when, on
November Z, 1862, he was, without
warning. removed from his command
and superseded by Genelnl Burnside
at the very moment when he was med
ttating an attack which he himself al
ways believed would have landed him
In Richmond at an early date. He took
no further part in the war. In 1854
he resigned his commission and I'M
successfully opposed Lincoln for the
presidency. He then left for Europe,
where he remained until 1868. In
1877 he was elected governor of New
Jersey. He died at Orange, N. J.. on
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