Your dispatch of November 30th has been received. It is impossible to explain by telegraph. I ask leave to go to Richmond at once for that purpose. My army is now going into winter quarters.
At Richmond, December 22d, General McCulloch filed a long report in which he urged the want of discipline in the troops under General Price, with reflections upon the competency of his subordinates, and even the bravery of his men. He concluded by confessing that he and General Price could not agree upon a plan of campaign, and declared that it was impossible for the different commands to march together; he denied that he was unwilling to assist Missouri, reminding the secretary that he had been assigned to the Indian Territory, with instructions to defend that district against invasion from any quarter—a district never at any time seriously threatened.
While McCulloch was absent in Richmond, Gen. James McIntosh wrote from Van Buren, December 7th, to, the adjutant-general, stating that he was in command of the division of General McCulloch and had established his headquarters at Van Buren; upon which Adjutant-General Cooper made the endorsement: ‘In my opinion, this command, instead of being put into winter quarters, would be kept free from disease by being ordered to the field in Missouri.’ Gen. Leonidas Polk wrote from Columbus, January 3, 1862, to President Davis:
I am perfectly satisfied that the force now in McCulloch's hands should be controlled by some one who would cooperate freely and vigorously with General Price. So long as the Federal forces under Halleck are kept occupied by Price in Missouri, they cannot cooperate with Buell against Johnston. The army of McCulloch, as it appears to me, might be better employed than in the inaction of winter quarters.
That was equivalent to pronouncing sentence against the course of McCulloch, for no voice was more potential with Mr. Davis. There followed, January 10th, special
