Daily Davenport Democrat

Musings on the Battlefield.
The New York Tribune, quoting an expression attributed to General Phil. Kearney on the battle-field of the peninsula in 1862—an expression which, whether it was made by Gen. K. or not, is quite immaterial, says:
Said it on the battle-field, at the moment; said it solely as a soldier; said it when he felt in his soul that his life had been risked, and thousands of his men had been sacrificed to nothing, because of that fatal order of retreat. Remember it, Americans!
If the Tribune will turn over its own leaves and go back to the letters of one of its ablest editors, Samuel Wilkeson, Esq., it will find something that he said and wrote on the battle-field—said and wrote from the knowledge he had gained by personal experience upon the staff of the army during the peninsular campaign—quite as worthy of remembrance by the American people as anything Phil. Kearney uttered. "The movement," wrote Mr. Wilkeson, "is so skilful and brilliant, but eminently hazardous. The world will regard it as a masterly stroke of genius. The army will so regard it, and will feel for its commander the admiration and gratitude that saviors of men kindle in joyful hearts. But the brilliancy of this movement will not so far dazzle the eyes of the wronged and wrathful men of the Army of the Potomac, nor will it dazzle the sight of the angry people so as for a moment to obscure their perception of the crime against the nation, which has made this change of base and front imperiously necessary. This crime is the refusal to reinforce McClellan. No man, no party, no interest, shall with my assent or my silence, be permitted to mix up with the sacred right of an outnumbered American army to demand help of their country-men, and to promptly receive it, collateral questions of fitness, of vigor, of fidelity. When loyal New York regiments lifted from their feet by the fire of rebel brigades, cried OUT OF THEIR WOUNDS AND DEATH FOR HELP—when the choicest of New England, and Michigan, and Pennsylvania troops, outnumbered in front and on both flanks by whole divisions of the enemy, BEGGED FOR REINFORCEMENTS. I say the blackest crime that power can commit is to stalk upon the field of peril and say: Soldiers! I have no faith in your commander. LET YOUR MARTYRDOM PROCEED. And so says this Army of the Potomac. And it registers to-night vows of vengeance as it marches in the dark from a position which their diminished numbers disabled them from holding, but which is consecrated to them forever by their sufferings, their labors, and their wrongs.
THE POLITICIANS AND STATESMEN WHO LEFT US HERE TO BE OUTNUMBERED AND CUT OFF FROM OUR SUPPLIES AND THE POSSIBILITY OF RETREAT ARE DOOMED MEN. We gnashed our teeth at receiving from PRESIDENT MAKERS AND CONVENTION ENGINEERS, instead of corps d'armee, a question for debate: Can a civil engineer be a good general? And it on the battle-field, too, did Samuel Wilkeson, Mr. Tribune; and at the moment. Said it solely as a patriot, and not as a President maker, convention engineer, or jealous subordinate: said it when he felt in his soul that his life had been risked and thousands of lives had been sacrificed for nothing because of that fatal and criminal conspiracy of power at Washington. Remember that, Americans! Shall Mr. Wilkeson's pledge in the name of the Army of the Potomac that the politicians and statesmen who left it to be outnumbered and cut off from supplies and the possibility of retreat are doomed men, be made good at the polls in November? Or shall these politicians and statesmen be approved in their infamy, and the Army of the Potomac condemned? Remember it, Americans! And answer with your votes!