Report of Lincoln's war Minister.
The report of
Secretary Stanton enters into an elaborate view of the military operations of the
Yankee Government since the commencement of sectional hostilities.
It is stated by this official that portion of the
United States which is now, or has been, the theatre of military operations, is comprised within ten military departments.
The forces operating in these several departments, according to the latest official returns, amount to seven hundred and seventy-five thousand three hundred and thirty-six men, officers and privates, fully armed and equipped.
Since the reception of these returns at the official bureau, this number has been increased to an excess of eight hundred thousand, and it is added that when the different quotas are filled, the armies now in the field will number a million of men.
Mr. Stanton says that the middle department, comprising the States of
Pennsylvania,
New Jersey,
Maryland, and
Delaware, and the Department of Virginia, has been the scene of important military operations, and although these operations have not equalled in their results the expectations of the
Government and the public hope, still they have not been unproductive of good results.
He alludes to the valor displayed by the
Federal troops, and the skill evinced by their officers in the engagements at
Yorktown,
Williamsburg,
Fair Oaks,
Gaines's Mill,
Malvern Hill,
Cross Keys,
Cedar Mountain,
Chantilly, and other places, but omits to inform the
Yankee public that in each of these engagements, the troops so much landed were signally defeated.
He felicitates the whole Yankee nation that the invading army which recently threatened the capital and the borders of
Maryland and
Pennsylvania has been driven back beyond the
Rappahannock; that
Norfolk is still in their possession; that
Suffolk and
Yorktown are yet held; and that a strong army corps, under its vigilant and efficient commander,
Maj.-Gen. Dix, at
Fortress Monroe, threatens and harasses the enemy; and he then branches off with a brief reference to the fact that it has been proved that the loyalty of the
State of Maryland cannot be shaken even by the presence of a rebel army.
He omits to state, however, that the people of this loyal State are only held in subjection at the point of the
Federal bayonet.
The military operations in the
West are alluded to as especially gratifying by the
Yankee Secretary, and they are represented to have been both active and successful.
The Missouri campaign, ending with the
battle of Pea Ridge, which is claimed as a complete and decisive victory for the
Federal arms, the operations on the
Tennessee and
Cumberland rivers, resulting in the capture of
Forts Henry and
Donelson; the capitulation of
Island No.10, and the
battle of Corinth, in which it is claimed that the
Confederates were driven back at every point, and subsequently fled from the field, leaving their dead and wounded in Federal hands, are all referred to in detail, and commented upon at length.
The
Secretary, after summing up these operations adds that, ‘"from a survey of the whole, field of operations, it is apparent that, whatever disasters our arms may have suffered at particular points, a great advance has been made since the commencement of the war." ’ The Union forces are represented to be now in the field under able commanders stronger than ever, resolute and eager to be led against the enemy, to crush the rebellion by a vigorous winter campaign; the armies of the
Potomac and the
West vicing with each other in dealing the quickest and heaviest blows against the enemy.
Under the calls of July and August there are already in the field over 420,000 new troops, of which 339,000 are volunteers, 332,000 of whom have volunteered for three years of the war.
It is stated in the report that a chief hope of those who set the rebellion on foot was for aid and comfort from disloyal sympathizers in the
Northern States, whose efforts were relied upon the divide and distract the people of the
North, and that the call for volunteers and a draft of the militia afforded an occasion for these disloyal persons to accomplish their evil purposes by discouraging enlistments and encouraging opposition to the war and the draft of soldiers to carry it on.
The probable success of these disloyal practices created considerable anxiety in some of the States, and the
Government was urged to adopt measures of protection by temporary restraint of those engaged in the hostile acts, and to this end Provost Marshals were appointed in some States upon the nomination of their Governors, to act under the direction of the
State Executive, and the writ of
habeas corpus was suspended by order of the
Federal authorities; but arrests were forbidden unless authorized by the
State Executive or
Judge Advocate, and where unauthorized arrests occurred, when brought to the notice of the Department, the parties have been immediately discharged.
The absence of a large number of officers and enlisted soldiers from their posts, is referred to, and it is stated that the pursuit of such persons, and their compulsory return to duty, is a necessary function of the
Provost Marshals.
The pay and bounty allowed by act of Congress to recruits have offered strong temptations to practice fraud upon the
Government by false returns upon the muster rolls and false charges for subsistence.
Diligent efforts are being made for the detection of all such practices, and to bring the guilty parties before a proper military or civil tribunal.
The same course is being pursued in respect to fraudulent contractors and disbursing officers.
The expenditures for enlistments, recruiting, drilling, and subsistence of volunteers, regulars, and militia, amounts to the sum of $20,692,282.91.
The
Secretary dwells at some length upon the change in the status of colored persons, whom he is pleased to term ‘"refugees,"’ produced by the continuance of the war and the advance of the
Union troops into ‘"rebel"’ territory.
He says the Quartermaster's Department, upon which the charge of such persons is chiefly imposed, has not found itself burdened with their care, but that it has, on the contrary, derived valuable aid from their labor, in the operations of the army on
James river and upon the
Potomac, in the fortifications of
Washington, and as laborers, teamsters, hostlers, and in landing and shipping of stores, they have been of great service, and the demand for their labor has exceeded the supply available.
He adds that ‘"the power of the rebels rests upon their peculiar system of labor, which keeps laborers on their plantations to support owners who are devoting their time and strength to destroy our armies and destroy our Government."’--It is, in his opinion, the duty of those conducting the war to strike down the system and turn against the rebels the productive power that upholds the insurrection, whenever that system is in hostility to the
Government.
He concludes by warmly sanctioning the compensated emancipation proposition of the
President, and says that proper application of the means at command of the
Government cannot fail to accomplish the suppression of the rebellion.
