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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1962)
SECTION B MEDFORD. OREGON. MONDAY. OCTOBER 29. 1962 PAGES 1 to 8 Civil War McClernand's Recruiting Drive By MERTON T. AKERS UPI Correspondent Three lawyers President Lincoln. Secretary of War Ed win M. Stanton and Maj. Gen. John Alexander McClernand stirred up a strangs cock tail of military plans in the fajl of 1862. McClernand was the chief mixer but he had willing helpers in Lincoln and Stan ton. He was a political general with a fair combat record at Forts Henry and Donelson and at Shiloh but he was dead set against West Pointers, He was 50 years old in 1862. His career before he became a general had been in politics. He was a member of the Illi nois legislature and later a congressman. He was a dedi cated War Democrat and it was largely on that score that Lincoln made him a general early in the war. He and Lincoln were politi cal friends despite the differ ence in parties so it was easy enough for McClernand to get the President's ear in late Sep tember 1862. McClernand had a plan. He would return to the Middle West and begin recruiting an army to clear the Mississippi River of Confederates. Able Recruiter McClernand was an able re cruiter and had proved it. His chief objective was to be Vicksburg, Miss., a Rebel stronghold lightly defended at the time. First he asked for 20,000 troops and later jump ed the figure of 60,000. Implicit in his plan was that the commander of this expedition would be General McClernand, operating inde pendently and reporting only to Washington. Vicksburg was in the terri tory of Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant at least Grant considered it so. He was the only officer in the vicinity who was senior to McClernand. Grant had his eyes on Vicksburg, too. As early as July 1862 he had started laying plans for its capture but by fall he had not been able to accomplish even a start. McClernand had two mo tives in mind. One was a desire to show the country that a citizen-general could get on with the war in the West where a West Pointer could not. West Point ers were trying to win the war by strategy rather than by fighting, he believed. An other consideration which un doubtedly ran through his mind was that the captor of Vicksburg likely would be a hero and that meant votes. Based on Soundings McClernand's second mo tive was based on soundings taken at Middle Western grassroots. Before the Civil War. the surplus grain and meat of the Middle West went down the Mississippi for sale a cheap J method of transportation that i made a profit for the pro- I ducers. I Now that the Confederates had closed off the river, the Middle West's grain and meat must go cast to market by railroad and to some extent by the Great Lakes. Rail bar ons seized the opportunity to raise freight rates. Westerners resented it, considered them selves as being strangled and reacted by sending more anti war men to Congress. This could lead to a new political party, willing perhaps to grant Southern independence In order to reopen the Missis sippi, even to secession of the region, the reasoning went. Whatever the merits of this reasoning, it bulked large at the moment to Indianans. Mi noisans, Ohioans and Iowans. Other besides McClernand were thinking along these lines also, so McClernand's plan against Vicksbudg, which promised direct action and more troops for the western armies both valuable con siderations fell on fertile ground in Washington and sprouted. On Oct, 20. Stanton gave McClernand an order marked "confidential." Nowadays it would be stamped "to secret." To Organize Troops The order specified that Mc Clernand was to go to Illinois, Indiana and Iowa "to organ ize the troops remaining in those states and to be raised by volunteering and draft, and forward them with all dis patch to Memphis. Cairo or such points as may be here after designated by the grn-rral-in-chief. to the end that, when a sufficient force not re quired by the operations of General Grant's command shall be raised, an expedition may be organized under Gen eral McClernand's command against Vicksburg. and to clear the Mississippi River snd open navigation to New Oleans . . . ' The force so organized will rt'nain subject to the desig nation of the general-in-chief and such exigencies as the service in his judgment may require." Although Lincoln and Stan ton were topflight lawyers and undoubtedly could have drawn an airtight order if they had wished, the docu ment contained a loophole big enough to drive an army wagon through. Free To Move IF Grant did not need Mc Clernand's men and IF Maj. Gen, Henry W. Halleck, gen- met I ii.Wiii-.Ui u RECRUITING PLAN In 1862, Maj. Gen. John Alexander McClernand was 50 years old, was a political general with a fair combat record, and had a plan. He would return to his native Middle West, and recruit an army to clear Mississippi of Confederates. He had two motives in mind: First was a de sire to show the country that a citizen-general could get on with the war where a West Pointer could not. Second, he felt that the captor of Vicksburg likely would be a hero, and that meant votes. But Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant, senior offi cer in the area, also had his eye on Vicksburg. He questioned McClernand's actions, and somewhat encouraged by his reply from Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck, prepared to move south. Here, from the Library of Congress collection, is a drawing of McClernand. - (UPI) eral-in-chief approved then McClernand was free to movt on Vicksburg with whatever troops remained. Officially Halleck knew nothing of the order. Actual ly he knew all about it as his later actions would prove. Grant knew nothing of it, officially or unofficially, ex cept for rumors. The upshot of this strange concoction, in which the left hand of the government did not know what the right hand was doing, resulted in West Pointers Giant and Halleck heretofore something less than friendly moving clos er together in the face of at tack. McClernand, his order in hand, was back in Springfield, 111., by the end of October en listing the aid of Gov. Rich ard Yates. He also saw Gov. Oliver P. Morton of Indiana and Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood of Iowa. By Nov. 10 he had sent 20 regiments of infantry and two batteries from these three states. Halleck saw to it that the troops went to Columbus, Ky., Grant's territory. Grant, reading newspaper reports of McClernand's re cruiting activities, was grow ing restless. He knew some thing was going on behind his back but had no way to find out what and Halleck could not tell him. On Nov. 10, Grant, appar ently trying to smoke out some firm information, mes saged Halleck: "Am I to understand that I lie still here while an expedi tion is fitted out from Mem phis, or do you want me to push as far south as possi ble? . . ." "You have command of all troops sent to your depart ment and have permission to fight the enemy where you please." Halleck replied, an swering only by implication. Somewhat encouraged, Grant began preparations to move south against Vicksburg. But much water would flow past Vicksburg before it was captured by Grant, not McClernand. 33 It's a Breeze With the . . . FRIGIDAIRE Electric DRYER for a smart buyer! ' o nmm Just one dial to set for drying any fabric beautifully! Only Frigidaire has Flowing Heat that dries breeze-freshl Non-stoop lint screen on door. Snag-free Porcelain Enamel drum. Insist on Frigidaire Dependability! 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