Selected Correspondance of Abraham Lincoln 1863 Opinion On The Loss Of General R. H. Milroy's Division
by Abraham Lincoln
October 27, 1863.
In June last a division was substantially lost at or near Winchester,
Va. At the time, it was under General Milroy as immediate commander
in the field, General Schenck as department commander at Baltimore,
and General Halleck as general-in-chief at Washington.
General Milroy, as immediate commander, was put in arrest, and
subsequently a court of inquiry examined chiefly with reference to
disobedience of orders, and reported the evidence.
The foregoing is a synoptical statement of the evidence, together
with the judge-advocate-general's conclusions. The disaster, when it
came, was a surprise to all. It was very well known to Generals
Shenck and Milroy for some time before, that General Halleck thought
the division was in great danger of a surprise at Winchester; that it
was of no service commensurate with the risk it incurred, and that it
ought to be withdrawn; but, although he more than once advised its
withdrawal, he never positively ordered it. General Schenck, on the
contrary, believed the service of the force at Winchester was worth
the hazard, and so did not positively order its withdrawal until it
was so late that the enemy cut the wire and prevented the order
reaching General Milroy.
General Milroy seems to have concurred with General Schenck in the
opinion that the force should be kept at Winchester at least until
the approach of danger, but he disobeyed no order upon the subject.
Some question can be made whether some of General Halleck's
dispatches to General Schenk should not have been construed to be
orders to withdraw the force, and obeyed accordingly; but no such
question can be made against General Milroy. In fact, the last order
he received was to be prepared to withdraw, but not to actually
withdraw until further order, which further order never reached him.
Serious blame is not necessarily due to any serious disaster, and I
cannot say that in this case any of the officers are deserving of
serious blame. No court-martial is deemed necessary or proper in the
case.
