Daily Democrat And News

What is Lost by Meddling

We begin to realize how much has been lost to the Union cause by the change of McClellan's programme after he reached the seat of war. The Boston Advertiser, a Republican paper, presents the case clearly in the following paragraphs:

"How far the plan on which Gen. McClellan has been compelled to proceed in Virginia, is inferior to that which he proposed to execute, is now shown by the results. It is well known that the General proceeded to the Peninsula with the expectation that the naval forces would co-operate in both the York and James rivers, and that McDowell's army would also assist by cutting off the retreat of the rebels some still affect to deny that any important change in the scheme was made; but that is a matter that does not rest upon conjecture or upon any slender authority.

The fact that a change, destructive of the whole scheme of operations, was made, is known, and will one day appear in evidence satisfactory to every one. The result is that instead of a capture of an entire army-a result which was morally certain under the original plan, to suit as the rebels suffered themselves to be drawn into the Peninsula- we have a pursuit, injurious to the enemy in deed, but not crucial being pushed to its annihilation, under the original scheme. The James river was not attempted by our naval forces until, it is to be feared, the attempt can become of little consequence McDowell's army is lost for the purposes of the campaign, while Banks and Fremont are not in a position to supply the want, even if their stand to interfere and line of operation permitted."

McDowell's army is lost to the campaign; and the rebel army is saved from capture. The infinite wretchedness of the interference is hardly embraced in this pregnant sentence. The rebel army in its retreat wastes the country that it abandons, and destroys the property of its inhabitants. We lose the much and we lose all the time that the war is protracted by the retreating forces following back to the mountain ranges of the Gulf States.

The Albany Argus states that long ago it heard that McClellan had deposited with a confidential friend in Washington his policy of the whole war, so that if he should fall in battle, or be deposed by the cabal at Washington, the means of vindicating his reputation would still be left. The campaign of the Mississippi, the coast expedition, and the capture of the forts, as well as the Campaign of Yorktown, were all laid out in advance, much as they have since eventuated in fact. McClellan must be compelled to have recourse to this statement, in order to vindicate the character of his strategy in one of its most critical and hazardous points. As it is, he and his army came within an ace of destruction on Sunday, the 4th of May.

Suspension.-John W. Forney declares in the Press that there is no longer any cause for criticism of Gen. McClellan's military acts. He is considered to be carving out with his sword most noble reputation, and that neither the praise of friends nor the sneers of enemies will affect his true greatness. He has silenced more enemies outside the peninsula within the past two weeks than he has inside of it.

The New York World thinks that it is not a subject of poignant regret that several of the vessels burned at New Orleans bore the British flag, and were freighted for a breach of the blockade with rich cotton. The sufferers must look for relief to their own egregious and besotted government, which, recognizing the belligerent state, cut off all claim of an adjudication against ours.