Year: 1863

thorities at Washington spoiled all. The omis-
sion of all this is a specimen Of tho character Of
the report ior fairness and impsrtialty.


AS to generalship, the report goes TO prove
that The safety of Washington whom it WAS not
even endangered was sacrificed to everything
slsei thas We hsye NOT man tr9m Abe Lin, Z
Coin down who is fit 70 lead $4,000 men; and
that in the principal battles in which we had
an army of upwards Of 100000 men in the field
not more than portion of them, hardly 10000.
could be brought into action. Thus our
generals have always had more troops than they
knew what 10 do with. The decisive battles
won by the masters Of the art of war, such as
Napoleon and Frederic, were the result OF
skill which brought to bear their whole force
against the enemy. Most Of the battles fought
in this war have been mere scenes of slaughter
without result. The chief cause of failure lies
In an ignorant interference at Washington with
the generals in the geld. The only man
who appeared to understand his business
in theory and to have made proficiency in the
practice of the military art was General McClel-
Ian, and he was dismissed just when his talents
and capabilities were being developed by ex-
perience. 1t is true he has his faults and that
he made some mistakes but he has been
thwarted In the most malignant manner from
and the radicals in the Cabinet. The greatest
fault imputed to him is lexcessive caution and
lack of selfoonfdence. But this arises from
just appreciation of the difficulty Of bis task.
An inferior mind would be blind to this, and
commit such terrible blunders as that Of Burn
side at Fredericksburg. Mcclellan was gradu-
ally feeling his way and fitting himself to be .
great military leader. He was becoming bold
er and bolder every day, and more expert in
handling large army, as at Antietam. when
his career was cut short by an order from
Washington, and inferior men put In bis place.


1t is not in year or two years that soldier,
even with good military education, but who
has seen little or no service, can rise from the
position of captain of cavalry to that of sue
cessful general commanding 100000 men. How
long did it take to make the victor of Water
loot How many battles did he fight in India
and in the Spanish Peninsula before he attained
the skill to cope with Napoleon? At an earlier
period of his history Bonaparte asserted with
truth that he did not know one man in Europe
who was capable of conducting fifty thousand
men to battle. Why, then, should the fruits of
the ripe experience of years and genius COM
bined be expected from SO young and inexpe-
rienced an officer as General Mcclellan? By
s,,Hr sv,f fho
veteran Winfield Scott, he has been recently
pronounced the ablest general the war
has yet developed. He had done the
best his circumstances allowed, and would
have matured into first class general as
rapidly, perhaps as any who ever preceded
him, with two or three rare exceptions. Buthe
was recklessly sacrificed last fall by combi-
nation Of party spirit and imbecility, and from
that day to this the Army of the Potomac has
made no progress, while it has suffered serious
disaster. We fear that, through the same blum
dering which has characterized the acts of the
War Department and the performance of so
m any Of our generals in the field, other disas-
ters may be In store for our army IN the present
campaign.


but tner0 ID one source OF cou6OlatlOn auo


national pride in the report-one distinguish
ing feature of the war-and that is that the


incompetency Of generals and Of the War De-


partment has been redeemed BY the intelligent
courage and discipline Of the men, They have
fought like heroes on every field; and even
when they knew that they were marched into
the jaws. Of death, without any advantage TO
the cause, they shrank not from the sacrifice.
This was the case at Fredericksburg, where
they said to each other:-"Boys, we are going
into slaughter pen; but we must do it: come
on" And even after the dreadful defeat which


they anticipated they were ready to try It over


again next day. There is no example in his
tory Of troops fighting so bravely and so well


who have been 20 badly led. By their brilliant
fighting qualities they have won imperishable


renown. By the conduct of the war from first


to last the country has been disgraced.


The CONNECTICUT ELECTIoN-THE LESSON IT