Army and Navy. Those who urge that the supremacy of the civil power should still further be secured, by permitting the Secretary of War to command, will find the practical working of their system illustrated in General McDowell's movement to Fredericksburg. April 11, a week after his corps was detached from the Army of the Potomac, the Secretary of War, without quoting the President, telegraphed: For the present and until further orders from this Department, you will consider the national capital as especially under your protection, and make no movement throwing your force out of position, for the discharge of this primary duty.a After putting his corps in motion to Catlett's, in the direction of the Rappahannock, McDowell perceived the importance of occupying Fredericksburg, but doubted whether he could do so under his instructions to act as a covering force for Washington. He testified before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War: I asked the Secretary one day if it would be within the scope of the defensive instructions under which I was acting, if I was to take Fredericksburg. He told me verbally, that I might. I felt that it was going beyond the letter of my instructions, but under the verbal instruction, I went down opposite Fredericksburg. b This verbal authority of the Secretary was supplemented, on the 23d of April, by the following despatch: The President desires that you should not throw your force across the Rappahannock at present, but that you should get your bridges and transportation all nearly ready and wait further orders. We have seen that in 1828 the death of the General in Chief, General Brown, raised the question whether the office of major-general should be longer retained. The Military Committee of the Senate, after a thorough investigation, recommended to the Senate the following resolution: Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish the office of major-general in the Army.d As already stated, Mr. Porter, the Secretary of War, in opposing the abolition of the office, wrote to the committee: * * * The present state of the Army would be to divide it into two separate, independent, and probably conflicting commands under the two brigadiers, unless they should be connected through the instrumentality of the Adjutant-General or some other subordinate officer, stationed at the seat of government under the Secretary of War, and who would, in fact. perform the appropriate duties of the chief of the Army. This prediction was almost literally fulfilled in the President's orders of April 23. March 17, four days after the office of General in Chief was dispensed with, General Hitchcock was detailed in the War Department as the special military adviser of the Secretary of War. April 2, as already stated, he joined the Adjutant-General in reporting, that the President's orders for the security of the capital had not been complied with. This report was followed, first, by the entire derangement of McClellan's plans, and next, by the division of our forces in Virginia into seven independent commands, with one in Maryland. The next proof that a subordinate officer stationed at the seat of government under the Secretary of War," was performing "the 66 a Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, p. 271. d American State Papers, vol. 3, pp. 820-822. e American State Papers, vol. 4, p. 91. appropriate duties of the chief of the Army," is furnished in Hitchcock's testimony before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Alluding to a lack of transportation he testified: I state these things because, not long before I left Washington, when there was a conversation in the War Office, the President being present, with respect to General McDowell, the President and the Secretary of War being anxious that General McDowell should advance-I stated this inconvenience, and urged that, situated as he was, without the means of going forward, it would be better that he should not cross the river at all, but wait in that position until he could be supplied with means to enable him to advance; that it would have a bad appearance for him to cross the river and then not to advance, and a still worse appearance if he should cross and then be obliged to fall back. It was in consequence of that, that General McDowell was directed not to cross the river until further orders, but to wait on this side of the river, making only a demonstration as if he designed to cross. a This order could not but fret the military commander. Scarcely a mile distant across the river, he could see the heights which, in December. the Army of the Potomac was destined to vainly assault with enormous loss. Several times he represented the importance of occupying them, but military reasons produced no effect. Finally resolving to approach the Secretary with reasons of a political nature, he sent General Van Rensselaer of his staff to Washington, "to ask permission to occupy the town so as to at least guard stores and protect Union men." effort was successful. Gen. Van Rensselaer telegraphed back: The The Secretary of War has given me authority to inform you, that you can occupy Fredericksburg with such force as in your judgment may be necessary to hold it for defensive purposes, but not to make a forward movement. The Secretary had yet to learn from subsequent disasters, that the only sure protection to Union men lay in the victories of our armies. To recapitulate, it appears that the movement to Fredericksburg Was suggested by General McDowell, the permission to make the movement was given by the Secretary of War, the order not to cross the river was given by the President, the next order to cross the river was given by the Secretary; finally, "at the earnest call for reenforcements" from the commander of the Army of the Potomac, the order to advance upon Richmond was given by the President. The only parallel to this system will be found in the history of the Punic wars, when the two Roman consuls,-chief magistrates of equal dignity, shared the honors of command on alternate days. The total destruction of their army at Cannae, convinced the Republic of its folly. Fatal as was this feature of the Roman system, it involved less danger than our own. The Roman consuls were elected by the people, because of their long experience and special qualifications for command. The President and Secretary of War, on the other hand, were simply eminent civilians, distinguished leaders at the bar, who, like the mass of our citizens, had given very little thought to the national defense. In military matters, or the direction of armies, they made no profession of knowledge, but before ordering any important movement, consulted either a special adviser, or their military council. a Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, p. 308. Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1. p. 272. CHAPTER XXI. REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND PERIOD OF 1862 TO ITS RETREAT TO HARRISON'S LANDING. Virginia and Maryland having been portioned off into five independent departments, the sequel will show how easily the enemy profited by the division of our forces. Although he had but 16,000 men, Jackson, with superior numbers, first fell upon the two brigades of the Mountain Department at McDowell and forced them to retreat to Franklin. He next attacked with his whole command, the 6,000 under Banks at Winchester and drove them in rout across the Potomac. In cooperation with a detachment from Richmond, his policy should have been to attack General McDowell next, but there was no occasion for him to turn his attention to the troops in this department. No battle could have scattered them more effectually than did the orders from Washington. May 24, the President telegraphed McDowell: * * You are instructed, laying aside for the present movement on Richmond, to put 20,000 men in motion at once for the Shenandoah, moving on the line, or in advance of the line, of the Manassas Gap railroad.a McDowell, from opposite Fredericksburg, replied: I obeyed your order immediately, for it was positive and urgent, and, perhaps, as a subordinate, there I ought to stop; but I trust I may be allowed to say something in relation to the subject, especially in view of your remark that everything now depends upon the celerity and vigor of my movement. I beg to say that cooperation between General Fremont and myself, to cutoff Jackson and Ewell, is not to be counted upon, even if it is not a practical impossibility; next, that I am entirely beyond helping distance from General Banks, and no celerity or vigor will avail so far as he is concerned; next, that by a glance at the map it will be seen that the line of retreat of the enemy's forces up the valley is shorter than mine to go against him. It will take a week or ten days for the force to get to the valley by the route which will give it food and forage, and by that time the enemy will have retired. I shall gain nothing for you there and shall lose much for you here. It is therefore not only on personal grounds that I have a heavy heart in the matter, but that I feel that it throws us all back; and from Richmond north we shall have all our large masses paralyzed, and shall have to repeat what we have just accomplished. I have ordered General Shields to commence the movement by to-morrow morning. A second division will follow in the afternoon.b * * a Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, p. 274. Those who, from military convictions, opposed the conduct of military affairs at the capital did so at their peril. General McDowell testified, in reference to the above despatch: "That telegram of mine gave a great deal of distress to a few of my friends in the Cabinet. I wrote it, however, because it seemed to me that a very great responsibility was thrown upon me. A plan of campaign was laid down in regard to which it seemed to me, that the chances were a great many to one that it would not succeed, and yet the chances of success were thrown upon the result of my activity and vigor." (Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, p. 264. ) 304 Although not too late, the despatch produced no change in the President's determination. He replied: I am highly gratified by your alacrity in obeying my order. The change was as painful to me as it can possibly be to you, or to anyone. Everything now depends upon the celerity and vigor of your movement. a The same day, May 24, the President telegraphed the commander of the Army of the Potomac that McDowell and Shields would move to join him. On the 26th, he again telegraphed: In consequence of General Banks's critical position I have been compelled to suspend General McDowell's movement to join you. The enemy are making a desperate push upon Harper's Ferry, and we are trying to throw Fremont's force and part of McDowell's in their rear. May 25, the date of the battle of Winchester, and three days before Jackson himself knew whether he would march upon Harper's Ferry, for the question had to be referred to General Lee, his military superior, at Richmond, the President again telegraphed the commander of the Army of the Potomac: * * * Stripped bare, as we are here, it will be all we can do to prevent them, [the enemy] crossing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry or above. We have about 20,000 of McDowell's force moving back to the vicinity of Port Royal, and Fremont, who was at Franklin, is moving to Harrisonburg. Both of these movements are intended to get in the enemy's rear. One more of McDowell's brigades is ordered through here to Harper's Ferry. The rest of his forces remain for the present at Fredericksburg. We are sending such regiments and dribs from here and Baltimore, as we can spare, to Harper's Ferry, supplying their places in some sort, by calling in militia from the adjacent States. * *This is now our situation. If McDowell's force were now beyond our reach we should be utterly helpless. Apprehension of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has always been my reason for withholding McDowell's forces from you. Please understand this, and do the best you can with the forces you have.c * Thus, instead of keeping 40,000 men in a compact body to operate against Jackson, or, as should have been done, to cut him off by a direct march upon Richmond, McDowell's force was scattered to the most remote points of his department, before even the enemy had determined upon his own plan of campaign. In seeking to trace all the great mistakes and blunders committed during the war, to defects of our military system, it is important to bear in mind the respective duties and responsibilities of soldiers and statesmen. The latter are responsible for the creation and organization of our resources, and, as in the case of the President, may further be responsible for their management or mismanagement. Soldiers, while they should suggest and be consulted on all the details of organization under our system, can alone be held responsible for the control and direction of our armies in the field. At the time of Jackson's raid in the Shenandoah Valley, there were four persons responsible for the movements of our troops east of the Blue Ridge. Two of these were the President and Secretary of War. The others were professional soldiers. Whether statesmen or soldiers, according to their military knowledge, judgment, and greater or less self-possession, the movements of the enemy might be made to inure to the advantage or disadvantage of the Union. Let us now ask what, at the time, was the effect produced on their C Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, p. 275. Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, pp. 330, 331. 932-17-20 minds, by the sudden appearance of the enemy in the valley. May 25, General McClellan, conscious that the Army of the Potomac was in a position to clutch the Confederacy by the throat, telegraphed the President: The object of the enemy's movements is probably to prevent reenforcements being sent to me." McDowell promptly obeyed orders, but with a heavy heart beheld the dispersion of his army. The Secretary of War, in default of a system of reserves, now turned to the militia, and on the 25th of May telegraphed the several governors: Intelligence from various quarters leaves no doubt that the enemy in great force are marching on Washington. You will please organize and forward immediately all the militia and volunteer force in your State." To expedite the movements of the militia, the President, the same day, took military possession of all the railroads in the United States, and ordered that the transportation of troops and munitions of war, should be given precedence over all other business. He also telegraphed to McClellan: I think the time is near when you must either attack Richmond, or give up the job and come to the defense of Washington. Let me hear from you instantly. An important fact now deserves notice. It will be remembered that the orders establishing the Departments of the Rappahannock and the Shenandoah, were issued by the Secretary of War, on the report made by Generals Thomas and Hitchcock, that the instructions of the President, as to the security of Washington, had not been complied with, a conclusion that could only have been reached by the failure to appreciate the fact that the 35,000 men in the Shenandoah Valley were available for the protection of the capital. While this report changed the plan of campaign, we now have the evidence that the Secretary's action was ill-advised. What he could not see, before he submitted the above report to the President, he was made to see three months later. As predicted by General McDowell, Fremont reached Strasburg, and Shields, Front Royal, June 1, too late to intercept Jackson, who slipped between them the day before. Still separated by the Shenandoah River and the Massanutten Mountain, they took up the pursuit, giving Jackson the opportunity to strike the former at Cross Keys, June 8, the latter at Port Republic June 9. Jackson could now afford to take a week's rest. In one month, thanks to our false strategy, he had beaten two insignificant detachments and thereby induced us to scatter more than 60,000 men belonging to three different departments. This result, up to date of his appearance at Harper's Ferry, he achieved with the loss of but 400 killed and wounded. The Army of the Potomac, ordered to advance up the line of the Pamunkey and then left in the lurch by the final dispersion of McDowell's command, was the next mark for the enemy. As predicted by its commander, Confederate troops were now concentrated from the east, the west, and the south. On the 26th of June, flushed with their victories in the valley, they began the seven days' battle, a Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, vol. 1, p. 330. |