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Irvin McDowell (search for this): chapter 3
d only breathe passionate aspirations. General McDowell vacated the command of the army without f provisional brigadeorgani-zation given it by McDowell; but the utter collapse that followed Bull RuClellan used to keep his own counsel, yet General McDowell tells me he was wont, in their rides over bottom would be out of the whole, affair. McDowell: Manuscript Minutes of Council of War. Thrmy of the Potomac. These officers were Generals McDowell and Franklin. The former officer commitcredit; of the Jacobinism of Congress; General McDowell's manuscript was submitted by the presenthow he came to bring General Franklin and General McDowell before him. I mentioned in as brief termsere, Generals Keyes, Sumner, Heintzelman, and McDowell. The latter was well fitted for the command tached from McClellan's command, the whole of McDowell's corps, whose arrival he was impatiently awament on Yorktown, was taken from him, and General McDowell with his troops assigned to the new depar[1 more...]
Gorman (search for this): chapter 3
successfully accomplished on the 20th; and General Mc-Clellan, anticipating that this demonstration would have the effect of inducing the enemy to abandon Leesburg, directed General Stone, whose division of observation was guarding the left bank of the Potomac above Washington, with headquarters at Poolesville, to keep a good lookout upon Leesburg, and suggested a slight demonstration as likely to have the effect of moving the enemy at that point. Accordingly, on the afternoon of the 20th, Gorman's brigade was sent to Edward's Ferry to make a display of force, and the Fifteenth Massachusetts regiment, under Colonel Devens, was sent to Harrison's Island, from which place a small scouting party was about dark sent across by Ball's Bluff, to the Virginia side, and ordered to push out towards Leesburg and report the position of the enemy. The reconnoitring party having returned, bringing report of a small encampment of the enemy within a mile of Leesburg, Colonel Devens was ordered by G
Howard (search for this): chapter 3
rwards, a large body of cavalry, with some infantry, under command of General Stoneman, was sent along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to determine the position of the enemy, and, if possible, force his rear across the Rappahannock; but the roads were in such condition that, finding it impossible to subsist his men, Stoneman was forced to return after reaching Cedar Run. It was found that the enemy had destroyed all the bridges. This expedition was followed by a strong reconnoissance of Howard's division of Sumner's corps to the Rappahannock, and, under cover of this mask, the main body of the Union army was moved back to the vicinity of Alexandria. Johnston, who had retired behind the Rappahannock, finding on survey that the Rapidan afforded a better line, moved his army thither, and positioned it on that river. I derive these facts touching the evacuation of Manassas from General Johnston himself. The Confederate abandonment of Manassas necessitated several changes in th
Campagne Virginie (search for this): chapter 3
annon-range of each other by field-forts, the fire of which shall sweep all the approaches, a connection being formed by infantry parapets easily improvised. The line, as it encircles the capital on both sides of the Potomac, has a development of thirty-three miles. As to the value of this system of defences for the safeguard of Washington, that is a vast, complex, and difficult question, not to be entered on here. It has been very severely criticised by Colonel Lecomte in his work, Campagne de Virginie et de Maryland en 1862; and to these animadversions a warm rejoinder has been made by General Barnard in The Peninsular Campaign and its Antecedents. Such is but a faint setting forth of the manifold activities evoked and directed towards the creation of the Army of the Potomac by its new commander. It was a season of faithful, fruitful work, amid which that army grew into shape and substance. And with such surprising energy was the work of organization pushed forward, that wher
Roy Stone (search for this): chapter 3
ect of inducing the enemy to abandon Leesburg, directed General Stone, whose division of observation was guarding the left baithin a mile of Leesburg, Colonel Devens was ordered by General Stone to cross five companies of his regiment to the Virginiaing force under Colonel Lee. Meantime, in the morning, General Stone had assigned to Colonel Baker the command of the right ges a calmer survey of the events completely exonerates General Stone. Its entire history affords a striking exemplification lations at that time. In venturing on the undertaking, General Stone proceeded on the supposition that General McCall, who, there; yet McCall was withdrawn the following morning, when Stone sent the force across the river, without the latter's beingformed of the crossing during the day, he congratulated General Stone, thereby inferentially approving it. Report on the Conduct of the War, vol. II., p. 489. Stone's plan of operations lacked definite purpose: it was neither a feint nor a seriou
Shiras (search for this): chapter 3
, our commander-in-chief, I conceived, as a common superior to General McClellan and both of us, it was for the President to say this, and not us. That I would consult the Secretary of the Treasury, who was at hand, and could tell us what was the rule in the cabinet in such matters. The secretary was of opinion that the matter lay entirely with the President. We went to Colonel Kingsbury, chief of ordnance of the Army of the Potomac, Brigadier-General Van Viret, chief quartermaster, and Major Shiras, commissary of subsistence, and obtained all the information desired. Met at the President's in the evening at eight o'clock. Present, the same as on the first day, with the addition of the Postmaster-General, Judge Blair, who came in after the meeting had begun the discussion. I read a paper containing both General Franklin's and my own views, General Franklin agreeing with Me—in view of time, etc., required to take this army to another base— that operations could best now be undertake
Napoleon (search for this): chapter 3
igades of four regiments each, and the brigades had been somewhat disciplined and instructed, formed divisions of three brigades each. McClellan: Report, p. 11. But, in armies of above sixty thousand men, it has been common, since the time of Napoleon, to create from the assemblage of two or more divisions the higher unit of the corps d'armee. As a theoretical principle of organization, General McClellan was in favor of the formation of corps; but he wished to defer its practical application ity of his obtaining a cordial support in its execution, he should have considered with himself whether he could follow the wishes of his superiors by operating against the enemy at Manassas; and if not, he should have resigned. A general, says Napoleon, in one of his fine rulings regarding what may be called the ethics of war, is culpable who undertakes the execution of a plan which he considers faulty. It is his duty to represent his reasons, to insist upon a change of plan; in short, to giv
Dufour (search for this): chapter 3
requisite training to fit them for commands so important, and until he should have learned who of his divisional officers merited this high trust. Ibid., p. 53. There was much to justify this course, for there are few men able to command a body of thirty thousand men; An army corps rarely contains more than thirty thousand men, and often lower, even among nations who have the greatest number of troops. Such a command is a great burden, and few men are capable of managing it creditably. Dufour: Strategy and Tactics, p. 81. and it is worthy of note that it was not till the Army of Northern Virginia had seen eighteen months of service that those at the head of military affairs in Richmond organized corps. The corps organization was created in the Confederate service immediately after the battle of Antietam. This hesitation, however, proved unfortunate for McClellan himself; for, several months afterwards, and just as he was about moving to the Peninsula, the President divided the
A. Hooker (search for this): chapter 3
ized corps. The corps organization was created in the Confederate service immediately after the battle of Antietam. This hesitation, however, proved unfortunate for McClellan himself; for, several months afterwards, and just as he was about moving to the Peninsula, the President divided the Army of the Potomac into four corps, and assigned to their command men whom General McClellan would not have chosen; whereas, had he created corps at first, he might have made his own selection. General Hooker cannot be regarded as a partisan of General McClellan, yet I have often heard him say that it would have been impossible for General McClellan to have succeeded with such corps commanders as he had on the Peninsula. It next became necessary to create adequate artillery and engineer establishments, to organize the cavalry arm, and to provide for the administrative service of the quartermaster, ordnance, commissary, and medical departments. The task of forming an artillery establis
W. H. Halleck (search for this): chapter 3
ed on Mc-Dowell's mind by Mr. Lincoln's words, though his precise language may have been different. of the delicate condition of our foreign relations; of the bad news he had received from the West, particularly as contained in a letter from General Halleck on the state of affairs in Missouri; of the want of co-operation between Generals Halleck and Buell; but more than all, the sickness of General McClellan. The President said he was in great distress, and as he had been to General McClellaGenerals Halleck and Buell; but more than all, the sickness of General McClellan. The President said he was in great distress, and as he had been to General McClellan's house, and the general did not ask to see him; and as he must talk to somebody, he had sent for General Franklin and myself to obtain our opinion as to the possibility of soon commencing active operations with the Army of the Potomac. To use his own expression, If something was not soon done, the bottom would be out of the whole affair; and if General McClellan did not want to use the army, he would like to borrow it, provided he could see how it could be made to do something. The Secr
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