McClellan assures the President, and the other intriguers and fools
constituting his supporters, that in a few days he will throw 55,000
men on Yorktown. He and his staff to do such a thing, which would be a
masterpiece even for the French military leaders and their staffs! He,
McClellan, never knew what it was to embark an army. Those who believe
him are even greater imbeciles than I supposed them to be. Poor
Stanton, to be hampered by imbecility and intrigue! I went to
Alexandria to see the embarkation; it will last weeks, not days.

From Yorktown to Richmond, the country is marshy, very marshy;
McClellan, a turtle, a _dasippus_, will not understand to move quick
and to overcome the impediments. Faulty as it is to drive the rebels
from the sea towards their centre, this false move would be corrected
by rash and decisive movements. But McClellan will stick in the
marshes, and may never reach Richmond by that road.

Any man with common sense would go directly by land; if the army moves
only three miles a day it will reach Richmond sooner than by the other
way. Such an army in a spell will construct turnpike roads and
bridges, and if the rebels tear up the railroads, they likewise could
be easily repaired. Progressing in the slowest, in the most genuine
McClellan manner, the army will reach Richmond with less danger than
by the Peninsula.

The future American historian ought to record in gold and diamonds the
names of those who in the councils opposed McClellan's new strategy.
Oh! Mr. Seward, Mr. Seward, why is your name to be recorded among the
most ardent supporters of this _strategy_?

Jeff. Davis sneers at the immense amount of money, etc., spent by Mr.
Lincoln. As he, Jeff. Davis, is still quietly in Richmond, and his
army undestroyed, of course he is right to sneer at Mr. Lincoln and
McClellan, whom he, Jeff. Davis, kept at bay with wooden guns.

Senator Sumner takes airs to defend or explain McClellan. The Senator
is probably influenced by Blair. The Senator cannot be classed among
traitors and intriguers supporting the _great strategian_. Perhaps
likewise the Senator believes it to be _distingue_ to side with
_strategy_.

If the party and the people could have foreseen that civil war was
inevitable, undoubtedly Mr. Lincoln would not have been elected. But
as the cause of the North would have been totally ruined by the
election of Lincoln's Chicago competitor, Mr. Lincoln is the lesser of
the two evils.