Sunday, June 23, 2013

September 20, 1862---"A beaten and demoralized army."



SEPTEMBER 20, 1862:     

In a letter to his wife, General McClellan writes:


“I feel some little pride in having with a beaten and demoralized army defeated Lee so utterly, and saved the North so completely...I have insisted that Stanton shall be removed and that Halleck shall give way to me as Commander in Chief. I will not serve under him---for he is an incompetent fool---in no way fit for the important place he holds.”



In the meantime, General Halleck asks what McClellan is doing, having received almost no details since the battle three days earlier.  McClellan answers him:



“I regret that you find it necessary to couch every dispatch I have the honor to receive from you, in a spirit of fault finding, and that you have not yet found leisure to say one word in commendation of the recent achievements of this Army, or even to allude to them.”



No comments:

Post a Comment