The National tribune., 1908-01-16

military mind at that time was toward
breechloading weapons, and Burnside
invented system, which he succeeded
in having patented, and, resigning from
the army, organized a company for the
manufacture of weapons according to
his models. The principal feature Of
This was brass cartridge with hole
n the rear, to receive the spark from
he cap. This hole was covered with
tissue paper, and the cartridge failed
o ignite often enough to make the arms
unreliable.
1858, when it suspended. and then
Burnside entered the employ of the
illinois Central Railroad, of which Nc
Clellan was President, as cashier of the
land department. He gave satisfaction
n this place, and was promoted 10
Treasurer of the Illinois Central Rail
road, in which position the opening of
rhode Island, William Sprague, re-
luired his services. and appointed him
Colonel of rhe 1st r. J.. with which he
marched to join Gen. Patterson's com
mand in the Shenandoah Valley. lie
vas soon promoted to the command of
I brigade, with which he took part IN
he first battle of Bull Run; was ap-
pointed Brigadier-Generalo of Volunteers
Aug. 6, 1861, when his next service was
which successfully attacked Roanoke
Island and got possession of the North
carolina Sounds He was recalled from
here with his troops to reinforce Nc
'lellan, and by him placed in command
IF the right wing of the army. For his
sasy success in North Carolina Burn
'ide was promoted to MajOr-General of
volunteers as early as March IS, 1862.
which gave him precedence over the
Major who We're given their
rank on account of the operations later
n the Summer. In fact, Burnside out
ranked all the Major-Generals of Vol
InteerS except Dix, Banks, Butler,
Hunter. f. ID. Morgan, E. A. Hitchcock.
L. S. Grant and Irwin Mcdowell. This
pronounced seniority, together with his
moderate abilities, was a constant trou-
BILE to himself and the Administration,
;ince it gave him precedence over men
who had achieved much more. made il
difficult for him to serve under them
(Rosecrans, for example), and thus
stood in the way of assignment to duty
proportionate TO his capacity. The bril-
liant fighting of his men at South Noun
tain gave him much reputation, which
he did not improve upon at Antietam.
After his Fredericksburg campaign
longer association with the Army of the
Potomac and the cliques hostile to him
was uncomfortable, tho he was anxious
to serve his country. In May, 1863, he
was assigned to the command of the
Department of the Ohio, and took with
him two divisions of his corps. This
was to carry out an object very dear to
President Lincoln's heart in relieving
the loyal East Tennesseeans from The
prosecutions of their Confederate op-
IresSorS
The campaign of East Tennessee was
carried out with fair ability. but Burn
side did not act with the promptnesS
expected in going TO the assistance of
Gen. RoSecrans at Chattanooga. He was
besicged at Knoxville, but was relieved
by the approach Of Sherman. He did
not give satisfaction to the AdminiStra-
ton in Independent command, was re-
lieved from the command of the De-
partment of the Ohio, and rejoined the
Army of the Potomac, where his rank
was much in the way, as he could not
serve under Gen. Meade, who was sew
eral months his junior as a Major-Gen-
eral of Volunteers. Consequently Cen.
Grant had to duplicate his orders to
Meade and to Burnside. His career ter
minated with the Petersburg Mine fias-
co, for which he was held responsible.
tho somewhat unjustly; that is. his
plans were better than those which
Meade had substituted for them, but he
showed no energy or ability in personal
full issue He offered to resign, which
the President refused to allow, but gave
him leave of absence, and he was not
again called into active service. He re-
signed April Is, 1865, and returned to
Rhode Island, where he was elected
Governor for two successive years. In
1875 he was elected to the Senate, and
held a seat there until his 'Icath in
1881.
ReOrGanizing the Army.
On assuming command of the army
Burnside found it to consist of the great
mass of 127,574 effectives. This i'm
mense force, which was probably great
er than any commander in history had
ever been able to actually put into bat
tie, would have been. under an ener-
getic commander, capable of marching
directly to Richmond, in spite of any
thing that the Confederate army could
do. Burnside's first step was to change
the formation of the army SO as to re-
lieve his headquarters of much detail, |
and he divided his forces into three
Grand Divisions, each composed of two
corps, making, in effect, three smaller