II.

PLANS OF CAMPAIGNS.

THREE months of varied and fruitful activity thus passed, and the close of autumn found around Washington an army both formidable in numbers and respectable in efficiency. There then arose the problem of putting it in motion; and this problem involved two questions-when to strike, and where? The latter was a question that concerned the general-in-chief; but the former was one that profoundly touched the people, who, as the sustainers of the war, "thronged in and made their voice heard, and became partakers of the counsels of state."*

During that period in which the army was being formed public remained silent. And there was in this silence something almost pathetic; for, knowing that an undue urgency for action, expressed through the public prints, had precipitated the disastrous campaign that ended in Bull Run, men sought to make amends by a sedulous refraining from the like again. General McClellan was left free to work his will; and, being strong in the trust of the country, he was "master of the situation:" no monarch could be more so.

Yet it was manifest that this confidence was in pledge of early and energetic action on the part of the commander; for the country had too much at stake, and the passions and interests of men were too closely bound up with a speedy suppression of the insurrection, to brook a Fabian policy. General McClellan had, in a public speech at the time he assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, promised that the war should be "short, sharp, and decisive." This

*This is the striking expression employed by Mr. Kinglake in describing the influence of English public sentiment in enforcing the War of the Crimea.

was the very key-note on which all the motions of public sentiment turned. It was, therefore, in the highest degree important for him to seize the first opportunity to justify, by some palpable proof, that confidence which the country had spontaneously extended to him. There was too little moderation, too little stability in the public judgment, to make it possible that this condition of things should long continue. The faith that had been freely bestowed would presently disappear, unless confirmed by deeds.

A commander who, under a popular government, is intrusted with the conduct of a war, has to shape his acts not alone according to abstract military dictates, but must take into account considerations of a political and moral order as well. For the wishes, impulses, prejudices, ignorances even of his countrymen, enter as really into the problem with which he has to deal as the character of his enemy or the lines of military operation. A captain who is also king, may act in quite different wise from a captain responsible to a Cabinet or Congress. What a Cæsar or a Napoleon might do, could not be imitated by a Wellington or a Eugene; and the history of the latter illustrious commander, and his equally illustrious colleague-Marlborough-shows, strikingly, how that even the victor of Blenheim and Ramilies had to conform the inspirations of his military genius to the dull wits of a Dutch States-General. McClellan, who had as yet done nothing to prove himself either a Wellington or a Eugene, should have made the lightest possible draft on the indulgence of the people. There is little or no doubt that, thus far, General McClellan had formed no other theory regarding the employment of the Army of the Potomac, than that which was common throughout the country; which, compendiously stated, was to make a direct attack on the enemy in front of Washington, and to make this attack as soon as possible.*

* Though General McClellan used to keep his own counsel, yet General McDowell tells me he was wont, in their rides over the country south of the Potomac, to point out towards the flank of Manassas and say, "We shall strike them there."

All his plans at this period contemplated a general advance from Washington as early as the month of November; and, looking back to the middle of October, it appears from General McClellan's own statement that he had at that time upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand men under his command, out of which, after deducting the forces to be employed in garrisoning Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis, and those assigned for guarding the line of the Potomac, he was able to place in the field a column for active operations of above seventy-five thousand men.*

But about the time he had designed putting the army in motion, General McClellan found himself, by his appointment as general-in-chief, charged not only with the direction of the Army of the Potomac but of all the other armies in the field. He then began to change his views regarding the line and method of operating against the enemy in Virginia; and this led him to the adoption of a policy that caused a delay of all active operations, lasting throughout the whole winter and continuing till March, 1862, when the movement to the Peninsula was begun.† This inactivity, by

* McClellan : Report, p. 7.

It would appear that it was during the month of November that General McClellan first began to change his purpose of operating against the enemy in front of Washington, and determined to assail Richmond from the coast. The earliest recorded intimation of this change of purpose appears in a reply by General McClellan to a memorandum drawn up by President Lincoln, suggesting a movement on Manassas. This paper, with many others relating to his own personal correspondence with General McClellan, was given the writer by the late President during the summer of 1864. It is marked in Mr. Lincoln's hand as having been made "about the 1st of December, 1861."

"If it were determined to make a forward movement of the Army of the Potomac, without awaiting further increase of numbers, or better drill and discipline, how long would it require to actually get in motion?

"[Answer in pencil by McClellan: 'If bridge trains ready, by December 15 -probably 25th.']

"After leaving all that would be necessary, how many troops could join the movement from southwest of the river?

"[Answer in pencil, '71,000.']

"How many from northwest of it?

whatever military considerations it may have been justified to General McClellan's own mind, was certainly very unfortunate; and, as it had afterwards an important bearing on that commander's relations to the Administration, and has since given rise to much antagonism of opinion, it will be proper to consider briefly both the reasons which are thought to justify and those which are thought to condemn it.

The points of defence of the inactivity of the Army of the Potomac during the winter of 1861-2 may all be included in this summary: the yet imperfect organization, equipment,

"[Answer in pencil, ‘33,000.']

"Suppose, then, that of those southwest of the river [supplied in pencil, * 50,000'] move forward and menace the enemy at Centreville?

"The remainder of the movable force on that side move rapidly to the crossing of the Occoquan by the road from Alexandria towards Richmond; there to be joined by the whole movable force from northeast of the river, having landed from the Potomac just below the mouth of the Occoquan, move by land up the south side of that stream, to the crossing point named; then the whole move together, by the road thence to Brentville, and beyond, to the railroad just south of its crossing of Broad Run, a strong detachment of cavalry having gone rapidly ahead to destroy the railroad-bridges south and north of the point.

"If the crossing of the Occoquan by those from above be resisted, those landing from the Potomac below to take the resisting force of the enemy in rear; or, if landing from the Potomac be resisted, those crossing the Occoquan from above to take that resisting force in rear. Both points will probably not be successfully resisted at the same time. The force in front of Centreville, if pressed too hardly, should fight back into the intrenchments behind them. Armed vessels and transports should remain at the Potomac landing to cover a possible retreat."

The following reply is in General McClellan's handwriting, dated Washington, December 10, and marked "confidential:"

"I inclose the paper you left with mee-filled as you requested. In arriving at the numbers given, I have left the minimum numbers in garrison and observation.

"Information recently [received] leads me to believe that the enemy would meet us in front with equal forces nearly-and I have now my mind actually turned towards another plan of campaign that I do not think at all anticipated by the enemy, nor by many of our own people.

"GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN."

The "other plan of campaign," here foreshadowed, is of course no other than the coast movement.

and discipline of the army; the inadequacy of its force; the difficulty of winter campaigning in Virginia; and the necessity of a simultaneous movement throughout the entire theatre of war. Some of these points are well taken, while others will not stand a critical examination.

It is true that the army, though composed of material of uncommon excellence, was necessarily green and had the imperfections incident to improvised armaments; and, no doubt, it was in much better condition to move in April, 1862, than it could have been in November or December, 1861. But, assuredly, General McClellan over-estimates the then condition of his opponent's army, when, in his report, he speaks of its superior discipline, drill, and equipment. There is now overwhelming evidence to show that, previously at least to the organization of the permanent Confederate Army in April, 1862, nothing could exceed the laxity of discipline, demoralization of temper, and inferiority in arms, equipment, and means of transport that marked the Southern force. It is true, also, that General McClellan was never able to obtain quite the colossal force he had called for-a movable column of one hundred and fifty thousand men, together with garrisons for Washington, Baltimore, etc., and corps of observation for the line of the Potomac, making the enormous aggregate of two hundred and forty thousand men. But it should be considered that this demand was based on the theory set forth by General McClellan himself, that the enemy had, in October, "a force on the Potomac not less than one hundred and fifty thousand strong, well drilled and equipped;" whereas it is certain that General Johnston's entire force barely exceeded one-third that number.*

*Several months ago General Johnston stated verbally to me that his recollection of the maximum of his strength during this period was 54,000. Since then, however, I have obtained in manuscript the consolidated monthly reports of the Confederate armies. Johnston's strength, October 31, 1861, was 44,131 present for duty (present and absent 66,243); December 31st it was 62,112 present for duty (present and absent 98,088); February 28, 1862, it was 47,617 (present and absent 84,225).