eate in the armies and
in the people, are nothing new in the history of wars.

A fleet of gunboats covers the army on the James river. Once McClellan
condescendingly boasted that he would take care of the gunboats. The
worst is, that these gunboats could have done service against
Charleston, Mobile, Savannah, etc.

After all, McClellan is not the greatest culprit. It is not his fault
that he is without military brains and without military capacity. He
tried to do the best, according to his poor intellect. The great,
eternally-to-be-damned malefactors are those who kept him in command
after having had repeated proofs of his incapacity; and still greater
are those constitutional advisers who supported McClellan against the
outcry of the best in the Cabinet and in the nation. A time may come
when the children of those malefactors will be ashamed of their
fathers' names, and--curse them.

I have not scorn enough against the revilers and accusers of Stanton.
If Stanton could have had his free will, far different would be the
condition of affairs. Stanton's first appearance put an end to the
prevailing lethargy, and marked a new and glorious era. But, ah! how
short! The rats and the vermin were afraid of him, and took shelter
behind the incarnated strategy. Stanton embraced and embraces the
_ensemble_ of the task and of the field before him. And this
politician, Blair, to be his critic! If Stanton had been left
undisturbed in the execution of his duties as the Secretary of War,
McClellan would have been obliged to march directly to Richmond, and
the brainless strategy in the Peninsula would have been crushed in the
bud. If Stanton had not been undermined, not only the people would
have been saved from terrible disasters, but McClellan, Lincoln,
Seward, and Blair would have been saved from reproaches and from
malediction.

Stanton likewise shows himself to be a true statesman. A Democrat in
politics, he very likely never was such a violent and decided opponent
of slavery as the Sewards and Blairs professed to be throughout their
whole lives. But now Stanton pierces the fog, perceives the
unavoidable exigencies, and is an emancipationist, when the Sewards
and the Blairs try to compromise, nay, virtually to preserve slavery.

_July 10th._--The rebels won time to increase and gather their forces
from the south. McClellan's army may not prevent their turning against
Pope, who has too small a body to resist or to cover the wh