Gen. McClellan Grilled Before Congress, for Not Pursuing the War

WASHINGTON - Gen. George B. McClellan went before Congress on Monday to deliver his long-awaited assessment of the "War of Session", greeted by Republicans who praised him while sharply criticizing the war he commands.

The general, who commands the grand Union Army of the Potomac, sat a few feet away as Rep. Zachariah T. Chandler of Michigan, described him as "almost certainly the right man for the job." But, he added, "he's the right person three years too late and 250,000 troops short."

The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, created after the embarrassing Union defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, at the instigation of Senator Chandler.

Chaired by Senator Benjamin F. Wade of Ohio, who many in the beltway consider a "Radical Republican" because he and his colleagues have called for a more aggressive war policy than those of the Lincoln Administration.

The Committee on the Conduct of the War is quickly being considered to be the toughest congressional investigating committee in the history of the country, despite the chair members collective ignorance of military science and preference for the heroic saber charge which is infecting public expectations.

The Committee's questioning McClellan's loyalties and ability to wage war has even brought suspicion of treason. It's been speculated that the committee may even introduce a resolution demanding the dismissal of McClellan. Even President Lincoln was quoted recently stating, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time."

In his long-awaited report to Congress, McClellan said the buildup of 30,000 troops, which brings the Union total to nearly 170,000, is working better than any previous effort to quell the insurgency and restore stability, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.

The officials also disputed suggestions that McClellan would recommend anything more than a symbolic increase in troop levels and then only in the spring.

The testimony sets the stage for an announcement by Lincoln later in the week about how he will proceed in the face of growing congressional discomfort with the war.

The hearing happened as a poll released Monday showed that an overwhelming numbers of Confederates say the U.S. troop buildup has worsened security and the prospects for economic and political progress in their country.

Forty-seven percent of those surveyed in a joint poll conducted by The Madisonian and the New York Enquirer, said they want Union forces to leave the country immediately. This was 12 percent more people than harbored those views in a March poll, just as the troop increase was beginning. And 57 percent, including nearly all Southerners, said they consider attacks on Union forces acceptable, a slight increase over the past half year.