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July 27th (search for this): chapter 5
Chapter 5: Organization of the army of the Potomac When General McClellan assumed command in Washington, on the 27th of July, the whole number of troops in and around the city was a little over fifty thousand, of whom less than a thousand were cavalry, and about six hundred and fifty were artillery-men, with nine imperfect field-batteries of thirty pieces. They were encamped in places selected without regard to purposes of defence or instruction; the roads were not picketed, and there was no attempt at an organization into brigades. The works of defence were very limited in number and very defective in character. There was nothing to prevent the enemy's shelling the city from heights within easy range, and very little to prevent their occupying those heights had they been so disposed. The streets of Washington were crowded with straggling officers and disorderly men, absent from their stations without authority, whose behavior indicated a general want of discipline,
February 23rd, 1862 AD (search for this): chapter 5
d opinions of the President when I say that we are fighting only to preserve the integrity of the Union and the constitutional authority of the General Government. These letters of instruction should be read in connection with two others written subsequently by General McClellan, one dated February 14, 1862, addressed to General Sherman, commanding at Port Royal, giving directions as to movements against Fort Pulaski, Fernandina, Savannah, Fort Sumter, and Charleston, and one dated February 23, 1862, addressed to General Butler, containing instructions as to military movements in the Southwest. From this letter an extract is here subjoined:-- The object of your expedition is one of vital importance,--the capture of New Orleans. The route selected is up the Mississippi River, and the first obstacle to be encountered (perhaps the only one) is in the resistance offered by Forts St. Philip and Jackson. It is expected that the navy can reduce these works: in that case, you will,
1861 AD (search for this): chapter 5
he execution of the whole work. From what has been said, it is easy to see how trying was the position of General McClellan during the closing weeks of the year 1861, and how painful was the weight of responsibility resting upon him. He was a young man, whose name until recently had been unknown to the public, suddenly set at td to its burdens. The American people are easily elated and easily depressed, and they had passed through both of these states of feeling during the eventful year 1861. At the breaking out of the war, amidst the magnificent uprising of the nation to sustain the Government, we had exulted in the confident expectation that the rebbeen. This rising and sinking of our spirits had tended to aggravate that impatience which must be admitted to be one of our national traits; and in the autumn of 1861 a strong desire had taken possession of the public mind that some decisive step should be taken, some vigorous blow should be struck. The people murmured and chaf
February 26th, 1862 AD (search for this): chapter 5
Report, they were in constant communication with the President and his Cabinet, and neglected no opportunity of at once laying before them the information acquired by them in the course of their investigations. It is fair to presume that they gave advice as well as information; and, indeed, the journal of their proceedings shows that they did; and their advice was probably of weight in the conduct of the campaign. The following is an extract from the journal of the committee:-- February 26, 1862. Pursuant to previous arrangement, the committee waited upon the President at eight o'clock on Tuesday evening, February 25. They made known to the President that, having examined many of the highest military officers of the army, their statements of the necessity of dividing the great Army of the Potomac into corps d'armee had impressed the committee with the belief that it was essential that such a division of that army should be made,--that it would be dangerous to move upon a f
April (search for this): chapter 5
ays after the meeting of Congress, the vague discontent and restless impatience of the community found expression in the shape of a Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, consisting of three members of the Senate and four members of the House of Representatives. The first motion towards the formation of the committee was made in the Senate on the 9th day of December, and the first meeting of the committee was held on the 20th of the same month. From that time until the close of April they sat nearly every day; and there were several meetings during the months of May, June, and July. Had the committee confined their inquiries and investigations to past transactions, and considered themselves as charged with the duty of collecting and recording testimony to be used by future historians of the war, their labors might have been of value to the country; but they did not take this limited view of the scope and sphere of their operations. In their judgment, the future as well
October 31st, 1861 AD (search for this): chapter 5
the day does not rest upon General McClellan, without going further and inquiring to whom it does belong; but it may be added that the battle of Ball's Bluff is one of the many enterprises of this war which are held to be brilliant if successful, and rash if unsuccessful. The praise in one event and the blame in the other are alike exaggerated. A great stake is played for, but the rule of the stern game of war requires that in such cases a great stake must be laid down. On the 31st day of October, 1861, Lieutenant-General Scott addressed a letter to the Secretary of War, in which he requested that, on account of his increasing infirmities and the necessity of repose of mind and body, his name might be placed on the list of army officers retired from active service. The letter was laid before a Cabinet meeting, and General Scott was placed on the retired list of the army, with the full pay and allowance of his rank; and on the same day the President, accompanied by the members of
October 21st (search for this): chapter 5
s for the promotion of officers to the rank of major-generals till actual trial in service had shown who were best fitted for these important posts. On the 15th of October, the main body of the Army of the Potomac was in the immediate vicinity of Washington, with detachments on the left bank of the river as far down as Liverpool Point and as far up as Williamsport and its vicinity. General Dix was at Baltimore, General Banks at Darnestown, and General Stone at Poolesville. On the 21st of October, the disastrous engagement at Ball's Bluff took place. Efforts have been made to connect the name of General McClellan with this affair; but the facts in the case, and especially the testimony taken by the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, show that the reconnoissances directed by him had been brought to a close during the preceding day, and that the movements which led to the battle of the 21st were not ordered by him. It is enough to say that the responsibility of th
July 21st, 1861 AD (search for this): chapter 5
y limited in number and very defective in character. There was nothing to prevent the enemy's shelling the city from heights within easy range, and very little to prevent their occupying those heights had they been so disposed. The streets of Washington were crowded with straggling officers and disorderly men, absent from their stations without authority, whose behavior indicated a general want of discipline, aggravated by the demoralizing influences of the recent disaster at Bull Run, July 21, 1861. The task of the commanding officer was one of no common magnitude. He had the materials for an army,--and excellent materials, too, but still only materials. ie had no more than the block out of which an army was to be carved. There were courage, patriotism, intelligence, physical energy, in abundance; and to these invaluable qualities were to be added discipline, the instinct of obedience, precision of movement, and the power of combination. A tumultuary military assemblage was
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