POPE DID IT.
HERE, my son, you have an exact portrait of the great general who
was brought to Washington to command all our armies, and to keep us
from making any more military mistakes. He is presented to you just
as he sat in his easy chair, confounding the rules of war and
bringing confusion on the army. This great general, though he had
never fought a battle, except on paper, brought with him from the
West a new and much enlarged plan for taking Richmond.
General George was on the banks of the James River, with his army,
pointing with his sword toward Richmond, as the heart of the
rebellion, and offering to take it for us if we would only send him
twenty-five thousand fresh men, which very reasonable proposal we
declined. Indeed the general we had placed in the easy chair at
Washington, over George, declared it as his solemn conviction that
Richmond was not to be taken in any such way. That an army so near
Richmond could not take it with advantage. That objective points
must be reached over the right road, not the wrong one. That General
George, having taken his army to Richmond over the wrong road, must
bring it back over the same wrong road, and then proceed on his
travels over the right road. That Richmond, unless approached over
the right road could not be taken in the right way. That General
George had deceived us, inasmuch as his plan had too much strategy
in it, and not enough straight lines. That Richmond, to be taken in
the right way, must be taken by a new general, with a new army, and
according to new ideas. That it was better to keep Washington from
being taken than to take Richmond, though we had a large army
knocking at its gates. This was the military logic of our new
Commander-in-Chief. And this was the great Commander-in-Chief who
was to conduct the war for us on enlarged principles and keep the
nation safe against blunders.
This great general, then, when he had got comfortably settled in his
easy chair, must needs show the people what faith he had in his new
plan. So he ordered little George to pack up his baggage, stop
knocking at the enemy's back door, and bring his army back to
Washington on transports. Of course the rebels were very thankful to
him for this act of kindness, as it evinced a disposition to conduct
the war for their benefit. With General George and his army on their
way to Washington by ship, Richmond was no longer besieged. And then
the rebel army was at liberty to go where it pleased. And it very
soon pleased General Lee to march it against Washington at a rapid
pace, and over the shortest road. We had an army at sea, and a
number of others we did not know just exactly where. So things
military began to get so confused that the people did not understand
them. They were requested to be patient, however, and patient they
had to be.
Well, my son, we brought the scattered battalions we had on their
front together at the forts, and soon formed a good fighting army.
But where was the new general to lead it to victory for us? The
government cast about it for a man, and at last fixed its eye on
Pope. He was the shining star among generals, the man to take the
buckrum out of the rebels for us. And it was said of this great
general that he possessed uncommon virtues. His friends laid
numerous feats of valor at his door, and the whole history of war
was ransacked to find another such a hero. He had captured Islands,
whipped rebel armies (I have forgotten how many), and bagged
invisible prisoners enough to satisfy a Napoleon. This great
general, too, was remarkable for his modesty; and he was also a man
of strict veracity. Yes, my son, considering the times, he was a
rare example of a man who never boasts of his achievements, nor
claims a feather that belongs to another man's cap. Such were the
virtues of this great general.
Well, my son, we sent for him to come to Washington and take care of
us, and he came.