Details
STANTON, Edwin M. (1814-1869), Secretary of War. Autograph letter signed ("Edwin M. Stanton") to Edwards Pierrepont (1817-1892), Washington, D. C., 25 April 1862. 3 pages, folio, on War Department stationery.
"THERE IS EVERY REASON TO EXPECT A GREAT BATTLE NEAR CORINTH BEFORE LONG"
STANTON SPEAKS OF MCCLELLAN'S BLUNDERS AND THE LOOMING CLASH AT CORINTH with the man destined to be Ulysses Grant's Attorney General. A lengthy, rich letter in which Stanton responds to Pierrepont's request for a diplomatic posting and then turns his attention to the battlefronts: "In regard to military affairs there is no national change. The weather has been very unfavorable to McClellan's operations but all accounts report favorably as to ultimate success, although the mistake of choosing that line instead of a direct advance is becoming daily more evident. There is every reason to expect a great battle near Corinth before long, and no apprehensions are entertained of our success."
McClellan was laying his siege lines around Yorktown, instead of going straight for Richmond as Stanton and Lincoln preferred. "Ultimate success" proved elusive on the Richmond front, but Corinth was indeed a success. After the shock of Shiloh on April 6-7, the Federals amassed a huge force of some 100,000 men under Henry Halleck's direct command, and eventually moved the Confederates out of Corinth by 30 May 1862.
Stanton goes on to brush aside newspaper attacks: "The newspaper tilts at the Secretary of War do not in the least degree disturb him," he tells Pierrepont in a sardonic third-person reference. "They are not unexpected nor dreaded. The strength of a fortress is never known until it has withstood assault; and I have never regarded newspaper letter writers as the tribunal by which my official acts was to be prescribed or judged." He closes with some wry comments on Cabinet intrigues over diplomatic appointments. A rich wartime letter.
"THERE IS EVERY REASON TO EXPECT A GREAT BATTLE NEAR CORINTH BEFORE LONG"
STANTON SPEAKS OF MCCLELLAN'S BLUNDERS AND THE LOOMING CLASH AT CORINTH with the man destined to be Ulysses Grant's Attorney General. A lengthy, rich letter in which Stanton responds to Pierrepont's request for a diplomatic posting and then turns his attention to the battlefronts: "In regard to military affairs there is no national change. The weather has been very unfavorable to McClellan's operations but all accounts report favorably as to ultimate success, although the mistake of choosing that line instead of a direct advance is becoming daily more evident. There is every reason to expect a great battle near Corinth before long, and no apprehensions are entertained of our success."
McClellan was laying his siege lines around Yorktown, instead of going straight for Richmond as Stanton and Lincoln preferred. "Ultimate success" proved elusive on the Richmond front, but Corinth was indeed a success. After the shock of Shiloh on April 6-7, the Federals amassed a huge force of some 100,000 men under Henry Halleck's direct command, and eventually moved the Confederates out of Corinth by 30 May 1862.
Stanton goes on to brush aside newspaper attacks: "The newspaper tilts at the Secretary of War do not in the least degree disturb him," he tells Pierrepont in a sardonic third-person reference. "They are not unexpected nor dreaded. The strength of a fortress is never known until it has withstood assault; and I have never regarded newspaper letter writers as the tribunal by which my official acts was to be prescribed or judged." He closes with some wry comments on Cabinet intrigues over diplomatic appointments. A rich wartime letter.