Lee
was saved at Antietam and at Gettysburg by the incompetency of
McClellan and Meade.
The movements by Lee in crossing the Potomac in 1862 and again in 1863
were most unfortunate for the Confederacy, and with Grant, or Sherman,
or Sheridan, or Logan in command of our forces, must have resulted
disastrously. It was the necessity of the situation that we were
compelled to go to Lee, wherever he might choose to place himself.
When he assumed the offensive, and abandoned his base, he exchanged
positions, and greatly to his disadvantage. That he escaped
destruction was due to his good fortune and to our incompetency and
not to his own merit as commander.
The Sunday morning after Pope's defeat, David Dudley Field called at
my office at the Treasury, and after some conversation upon the
condition of affairs, he said he wished to see the President. I aided
him in securing an interview. What was the object of this interview
with the President I cannot say, but his conversation led my mind to
the conclusion that he thought himself qualified for the command of
the army.
The events of that day made a lasting impression upon my mind. The
city was filled with troops, the hospitals, churches and other
buildings were crowded with the wounded; the streets were stuffed with
ambulances, baggage wagons, artillery, and material of war.
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