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gent effort to prepare for and prosecute. The advance should not be postponed beyond the 25th of November, if possible to avoid it.

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Unity in councils, the utmost vigor and energy in action, are indispensable. The entire military field should be grasped as a whole and not in detached parts. One plan should be agreed upon and pursued; a single will should direct and carry out these plans.

"The great object to be accomplished, the crushing defeat of the rebel army now at Manassas, should never for one instant be lost sight of, but all the intellect and means and men of the Government poured upon that point. The loyal States possess ample force 'to effect all this and more. The rebels have displayed energy, unanimity, and wisdom worthy of the most desperate days of the French Revolution. Should we do less?

"The unity of this nation, the preservation of our institutions, are so dear to me that I have willingly sacrificed my private happiness with the single object of doing my duty to my country. When the task is accomplished I shall be glad to return to the obscurity from which events have drawn me. Whatever the determination of the Government may be, I will do the best I can with the Army of the Potomac, and will share its fate, whatever may be the task imposed upon me.

"Permit me to add on this occasion, as heretofore, it has been my aim neither to exaggerate nor underrate the power of the enemy, nor fail to express clearly the means by which, in my judgment, that power may be broken.

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Urging the energy of preparation and action, which has ever been my choice, but with the fixed purpose by no act of mine to expose the Government to hazard by premature movement, and requesting that this communication may be laid before the President, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant." *

*Official War Records, vol. v, p. 9 et seq.

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action at that time would have strengthened the Administration and received its heartiest support; and, as we know now, it would have met with such sufficient success as to have heartened the people, depressed the enemy, and vitalized the army with its necessary baptism of fire. There is every reason to suppose that his inactivity up to this time may be accounted for by considering the cumulative effect of the following causes: A settled belief in the superior strength and discipline of the enemy in his immediate front; an apprehension lest the enemy should attack before his organization had been effectively completed and the fortifications of the city sufficiently developed to insure its safety; a constitutional lack of aggressiveness which debarred him from taking the initiative; and the constantly elusive hope that the question of the command of the army would be speedily settled so that he could formulate a plan that would embrace all the armies and bring about a decisive result. Considering all these things it is a reasonable inference that he never really intended to assume the initiative until he became general in chief, and this inference is perfectly consistent with the views expressed by him as to the conduct of the war, in his memorandum of August 2d, to the President. Throughout the whole period of his subordinate command, from July 27th to November 1st, his attitude is entirely consistent with his determination to create an army of such a character in organization, discipline, and strength that when it was completely ready its forward movement would be irresistible. That stage of its development had just been reached when he felt that he could safely employ his divisions in making armed reconnoissances in their immediate front with some success, when the disaster of Ball's Bluff came with its deterring influence to cause him to resume his inactive policy.

And now that he was installed in his office as general in chief he gave himself up to consider the more extended problems committed to his charge, and this necessitated a still greater delay. He soon ascertained

that no general plan of operations looking to the simultaneous employment of all the armies existed, and that the state of preparation and organization of the armies in the West were such as to preclude, in his opinion, any movement of the Army of the Potomac until this condition of things was remedied. For this purpose he issued, November 9th, Orders No. 97, creating four departments out of the three existing departments of the West, the Cumberland, and the Ohio; these were the Department of New Mexico, to which Colonel E. R. Š. Canby was assigned as commander; the Department of Kansas, Major-General Hunter commanding; the Department of Missouri, embracing the States of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, and that portion of Kentucky west of the Cumberland River, Major-General Halleck commanding; and the Department of Ohio, comprising the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Tennessee, and that portion of Kentucky east of the Cumberland River, MajorGeneral Buell commanding. McClellan had now the whole theater of war under his personal supervision. and direction, and relying upon the ability and character of the generals whom he had selected as his lieutenants to command the western departments, he spared no pains to impress upon them the purposes he had in view. With regard to the commanders of the two important Departments of the Missouri and the Ohio, covering the whole Mississippi Valley, Halleck had a wide reputation as a military writer, and Buell had, under McClellan's own eye, developed a capacity for organization and discipline of the greatest promise. In addition to full oral instructions he sent them written communications for their guidance which exhibit substantially the parts of the general plan that he expected them to execute. It is necessary here to refer only to the military aspects of their instructions. To Buell he wrote: "The military problem would be a simple one could it be entirely separated from political influences. Such is not the

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case.

forces

Were the population among which you are to operate wholly or generally hostile, it is probable that Nashville should be your first and principal objective point. It so happens that a large majority of the inhabitants of Eastern Tennessee are in favor of the It therefore seems proper that you should Union. remain on the defensive on the line from Louisville to Nashville, while you throw the mass of by rapid marches, by Cumberland Gap or Walker's Gap, on Knoxville, in order to occupy the railroad at that point, and thus enable the loyal citizens of Eastern Tennessee to rise, while you at the same time cut off the railway communication between Eastern Virginia and the Mississippi. It will be prudent to fortify the pass before leaving it in your rear.” *

your

And again on November 12th he writes: "The main point to which I desire to call your attention is the necessity of entering Eastern Tennessee as soon as it can be done with reasonable chances of success, and I hope that you will, with the least possible delay, organize a column for that purpose, sufficiently guarding at the same time the main avenues by which the rebels may invade Kentucky." t

To Halleck he writes: "With respect to military operations, it is probable, from the best information in my possession, that the interests of the Government will be best served by fortifying and holding in considerable strength Rolla, Sedalia, and other interior points, keeping strong patrols constantly moving from the terminal stations, and concentrating the mass of the troops on or near the Mississippi, prepared for such ulterior operations as the public interests may demand." +

In these letters he also expressed particular anxiety that they should bear in mind "the precise issue for which we are fighting. That issue is the preservation

*Official War Records, vol. v, p. 38.
+ Ibid.

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