“You know why we have come,” Seward said with characteristic bluntness.

“To discuss the conduct of the war, I presume,” General Scott answered.

“Indeed,” Seward said and Stanton nodded. Both men were solemn to the point of anger.

“We have wasted an army,” Stanton virtually snarled. “McClellan's behavior was disgraceful and irresponsible.”

It had been former secretary Cameron who had pushed for McClellan's appointment. Stanton did not like the general he'd inherited, and the feeling was reciprocated. Both Stanton and McClellan had strong and dominant personalities, but only one could be in charge.

“In your professional opinion, General, what on earth happened at Culpeper?” asked Stanton. “We sent an army of seventy thousand to fight Lee, ninety thousand if you count those in the Shenandoah, and they all came running home with nothing accomplished except the wastage of a large number of men and of hard-bought material.”

Nathan thought the retreat was more of a slow walk back than a run, but held his counsel.

“To put it in the vernacular,” Scott said, “he was bamboozled and finagled by General Lee. McClellan departed Washington fearing defeat more than anything and convinced he was outnumbered. Thus, when he began seeing shadows, he permitted them to take on substance.”

“Shadows?” asked Seward.

“Yes, shadows. You want my opinion, well, here it is. To begin with. Sumner in the Shenandoah Valley never had Jackson in front of him. When the history of the war is written. I'm certain it will say that Jackson had departed long before Sumner's arrival, and that he'd left behind only a brigade in the valley, and not a corps. This smaller force attacked Sumner and raided behind him with such ferocity and with such frequency that the poor old man thought he was facing a much reinforced Jackson and withdrew in mortal terror.”

Nathan hid a grin at the reference to Sumner's age. Sumner was more than a decade younger than Scott.

“General Sumner,” Scott continued, “is proof positive that old men should not command armies. Sumner was never that good a soldier to begin with. He achieved his rank to some extent simply by staying in the army for as long as he has. He has the loudest voice I've ever heard, but precious little behind it.”

“Had.” corrected Stanton. “He's offered to retire and I've accepted it.”

Scott thought that was an excellent move and continued with his analysis. “Thus, as a result of confusing Sumner, Jackson was free to hit Porter in the flank. Since we have no respectable cavalry to scout for us. the attack was a surprise. Porter did well, however. He was struck by Jackson to his right and Longstreet to his front. He was legitimately outnumbered and outgunned, but his men fought and withdrew as an army.

“Hooker was attacked by an inferior force that, as was done to Sumner, attacked ferociously and without letup. The purpose was to scare McClellan into withdrawing by making him fear an envelopment. Sadly, it worked, although Hooker protested that it was the wrong thing to do. Hooker is no genius, but he is a fighter and he was right.”

Scott stood and lumbered about the room. He was agitated, and it was as close to pacing as Nathan had seen the old man do. “Hooker was not defeated. His men fought off the attacks and inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers. There was no earthly reason for them to retreat. Porters right should have and could have been reinforced by Burnside's twenty-thousand-man reserve.

Good God_: that twenty thousand men were held back from the battle astounds me! That and the fact that Heintzelman's corps never did anything either almost leaves me speechless.” Scott saw the humor in his own words. “That's a metaphor and not to be taken literally. I am rarely speechless.” “In your opinion, Hooker and Porter did well?” Stanton asked, somewhat surprised.

“Hooker fought. He is a lecherous womanizer, but should be sustained in some capacity. I have doubts about Porter as he is so much McClellan's man. I've heard he is blaming everyone in Washington for McClellan's failures, which may make him a political liability.”

Stanton nodded. He had reached the same conclusion. By his post-battle comments blaming Lincoln and Stanton for forcing poor McClellan into the ill-advised invasion of Virginia, FitzJohn Porter had ensured that he would never get another command. Both Porter and McClellan had castigated Lincoln for not releasing McDowell's corps from the defense of Washington and further reinforcing McClellan. Fearing an attack on Washington, Lincoln had refused to commit McDowell once Sumner had begun his withdrawal in the face of an unknown enemy army.

Stanton persisted. “And Heintzelman? Burnside? What an incredible mess that was.”

During the first day of the retreat, Heintzelman had either misunderstood his orders or had delayed implementing them. As a result, his corps and Burnside's had gotten intermixed into one enormous mass of humanity. For hours, thirty-five thousand men had milled about in confusion until the mess was finally sorted out. Had Lee attacked, the Union army could have been destroyed.

“Heintzelman is incompetent,” Scott said bluntly and Stanton agreed. “And Burnside is McClellan's man. Doesn't he even owe Little Mac money from some prewar investment?”

“I believe it's paid,” said Stanton.

Scott nodded. “Burnside is a competent subordinate. Just don't expect him to be imaginative or to do much on his own initiative.”

“Tell me,” asked Seward, “why didn't Lee follow up his victory?”

Scott glared. “Because he no longer had an army. Our casualties, not counting those few hundred in the valley, were two thousand dead and seven thousand wounded, most of whom will never return to duty. Another five thousand were missing, although most of them will gradually return to duty after claiming they got separated and lost. McClellan lost between ten and twenty percent of his army. It stands to reason that Lee's casualties must have been just as great as ours, but coming from a smaller numeric base. Thus, he must have lost between twenty and thirty percent. No army can sustain offensive operations with such losses.”

Stanton almost laughed. “You don't think Lee outnumbered Mac, I gather?”

“I think it was the other way around and that Mac outnumbered Lee by at least a third. In my opinion, Lee shot his wad attacking Porter. The attack on Hooker was a diversion, and there was no attack on that fool Heintzelman because Lee didn't have any men left. As I said, McClellan saw shadows and ran. Had he stayed and fought using his reserves, Lee would have retreated and we might be closer to winning this war. Indeed, sir, we might be having this conversation in Richmond, although with a different subject matter.

“Again, sir, when truth is divulged and the histories are written, it will show that Lee would have lost to a Union commander with the fortitude to stay and slug it out with him.”

“Thank God for Shiloh,” muttered Stanton. “So what should we do with McClellan?”

“Will he resign?”

“Quite possibly if we limit his authority. Right now he is unfettered.”

“Then fetter him,” said Scott. “And see that he quits as soon as possible. His presence is a cancer.”

“And if he resigns?” said Stanton. “He has already stated in public utterances that the Union should negotiate a peace with the South. There is a sizable portion of the populace that wants the war to end and just doesn't care if the Confederacy exists or not.”

“Then let him resign and let him take his case to the public,” Scott snapped. “This is still a democracy, and if the people want McClellan's kind of peace, then they shall have it. In my opinion, however, this is a war that can and should be won.”

Stanton and Seward looked at each other. “Do you have a plan?” asked Seward.