On June 28, as he was sidling toward the James, McClellan telegraphed once again to Stanton complaining bitterly about the administration’s failure to reinforce him: “If we have lost the day we have yet preserved our honor & no one need blush for the Army of the Potomac. I have lost this battle because my force was too small. I again repeat that I am not responsible for this & I say it with the earnestness of a General who feels in his heart the loss of every brave man who has been needlessly sacrificed today. I still hope to retrieve our fortunes, but to do this the Gov[ernmen]t must view the matter in the same earnest light that I do—you must send me very large reinforcements, & send them at once. I shall draw back to this side of Chickahominy & think I can withdraw all our material. Please understand that in this battle we have lost nothing but men & those the best we have. In addition to what I have already said, I only wish to say to the Presdt that I think he is wrong, in regarding me as ungenerous when I said that my force was too weak. I merely reiterated a truth which today has been too plainly proved. … If at this instant I could dispose of 10,000 fresh men I could gain the victory tomorrow. I know that a few thousand more men would have changed this battle from a defeat to a victory—as it is, the Gov[ernmen]t must not & cannot hold me responsible for the result. I feel too earnestly to-night—I have seen too many dead & wounded comrades to feel otherwise than that the Gov[ernmen]t has not sustained this Army. If you do not do so now the game is lost.” McClellan closed with a remarkably insubordinate blast: “If I save this Army now I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or any other persons in Washington—you have done your best to sacrifice this Army.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
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