June 18, 1863, The New York Herald
In this moment of painful anxiety, when the nation has lost confidence in the general at the head of the Army of the Potomac, and the army itself, if it ever believed in him, has faith in him no more, and when the army and the people look to the restoration of General McClellan to the command as the main hope of safety, it is the duty of the military authorities at Washington to publish McClellan’s final report of his operations, in which he disposes of the slanders of Wade, Chandler and the other radical members of the Committee on the Conduct of the War. This is a necessary act of justice, and it will be at the same time sound policy, in view of recent and coming events, which may compel the government in a few days, if not in a few hours, to fall back upon the general whom, in its profound wisdom, it so unceremoniously rejected in the height of his success. Like a soldier and a hero, he has heretofore borne his wrongs in silence rather than injure the cause of the Union by discussing them in public, and the last we hear of him is that he is quietly assisting Governor Seymour to organize the militia whom the emergency demands from this State. But the proper time has come for Mr. Lincoln to vindicate his character and his military reputation, and to expose the frauds and machinations by which the President was misled into the false step of removing him from is command. If Halleck and Stanton will not make the amends honorable, the legal and constitutional commander-in-chief of the army and navy has the power to compel them, under pain of removing them from office. Indeed, their removal would be the very best thing Mr. Lincoln could do under the circumstances; for experience has already shown that they would not only not work in harmony with McClellan, but that they would be likely to obstruct him as far as they could, and mar all his prospects of success. His report of his campaigns would prove this if permitted to see the light.
The popular heart beats high in General McClellan’s favor, and the popular voice, which has already spoken for him all over the country, will soon give louder utterances. The Common Council of Philadelphia, whose proceedings we publish elsewhere, has but a faint glimmering of the truth, and by no means comprehends the magnitude of the occasion, when one of its members proposes a resolution that the governor be requested to send for McClellan and put him at the head of the Pennsylvania militia; and a postponement of the question is carried, instead of an amendment asking the President to give him command of the Army of the Potomac. But the discussion, as far as it goes, is strong testimony in his favor, and the only weak point in it is a mistaken notion about embarrassing Messrs. Stanton & Co. at a moment when the life of the republic is at stake. By a telegraphic despatch which we published yesterday it appears that General Cameron, at a meeting held at Harrisburg, not only denounced the government at Washington for its conduct of the war, and its neglect of the defence of Pennsylvania, but called upon Governor Curtin to appoint General McClellan to take command of the forces of that State in order to repel the Southern invaders. Mr. Cameron, no doubt, was well aware that McClellan, while a major general in the United States Army, could not perform that role unless ordered to assume it by the President or the Secretary of War. But he is an old political stager, and he thought he would throw a tub to the popular whale. He knows how the people in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and in every city and town of Pennsylvania feel towards their distinguished fellow citizen, the hero of Antietam, who saved them from invasion before. He knows that they are satisfied, if McClellan were even now, at the eleventh hour, placed at the head of the Army of the Potomac, all would be well. But why does not Cameron demand that this be done, instead of suggesting that McClellan talents should be misused by putting him over raw levies of State militia, which could be as well commanded by other men, and placing him in a humiliating position, in which he must play second fiddle to General Couch, formerly one of his own division commanders? It appears from another despatch from Washington in yesterday’s HERALD that even Forney had advised the speedy removal of Hooker and the substitution of McClellan. Forney is well aware that this is almost the unanimous sentiment of the people of Pennsylvania; and this, together with the imminent peril which threatens his own State, induces him to give way to the popular will.
It is remarkable, too, that the radical journals, in the presence of invasion, no longer assail McClellan, as was their custom, nor make any objection to the proposition to give him command of the Army of the Potomac. On the contrary, they indirectly prepare the way for such a step on the part of the government by slighting the capacity of Hooker in this trying emergency. The Tribune of yesterday, for instance, says: – “Lee’s present advance has been marked with great skill and is initiated with decided vigor. It was well known on our side that he was up to some spirited dash; but that either General Halleck or General Hooker knew precisely what, we do not believe. If they had, would Generals Milroy and Reynolds have been left to struggle against overwhelming odds, and to be hurled from their strong, important positions with loss? Would the rebel advance have been suffered to reach Chambersburg unopposed? We cannot believe it.” The New York Times, the special champion of “Fighting Joe,” also admits that […..] rebels have got beyond the grasp or pursuit of Hooker;” in other words, that Lee has outgeneralled him. These journalists and politicians are now thoroughly frightened by the movements of the rebel general, and they would gladly see McClellan again at the head of the army, as the only man competent to save the North from further invasion; but they are ashamed or afraid to say so after the calumnies they have heaped upon him.
Probably some of the Cabinet and military authorities at Washington, knowing that the capital is in danger, have the same feeling on the subject, and would rejoice to see such a popular pressure as would afford them a decent excuse to reinstate General McClellan in his old command. Let them, therefore, publish his report, which is in their possession, or, if they will not do it, let Mr. Lincoln do it himself. It will fully justify him before the country in removing Hooker and placing McClellan at the head of the army; and at the same time it will afford a beautiful illustration of the doctrine inculcated in his recent letter to the democrats of Albany, that this is a time in which an American patriot ought to rise above the level of party. Hooker is now, to all intents and purposes, in the same position in which Pope found himself when he was defeated by Lee and thrown back for refuge on the fortifications of Washington. McClellan was then called upon to take the command and save the republic, and he did save it, when despair paralyzed the Cabinet and the military authorities at the federal capital. The same necessity exists now, and the propriety of the President adopting the same course is obvious. The safety of the country demands it, and not a moment ought to be lost in complying with that demand, and thus restoring the public confidence, which has received a succession of such violent shocks that another disaster may prove too much for it.