Wrote Wilkes, preparatory to discontinuing the organization
of the James River Flotilla as a distinct organization. Received from him,
after it was written, an unofficial letter communicating a plan of offensive
operations. Directed him in reply to engage in no scheme whereby the gunboats
would be detained in James River longer than the army absolutely needed them to
divert the attention of the Rebels and prevent them from sending their whole
force against General Pope before General McClellan could reach him. The change
of the plan of operations is a military movement, suggested and pushed by Chase
and Stanton. It will be a great disappointment to Wilkes as well as others, but
there is no remedy. As soon as the gunboats can be released we want them
elsewhere. They have been locked up in James River for two months, when they
should have been on other duty. McClellan's tardy policy has been unfortunate
for himself and the country. It has strengthened the combination against him.
Faxon1 showed me a letter from Admiral Foote which I was sorry to
read, evincing a petulance that is unworthy of him, and proposing to relinquish
his bureau appointment, if he cannot control the selection of certain clerks.
_______________
1 William Faxon, Chief Clerk of the Navy
Department.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864,
p. 91-2
