Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-06-27
AFRDkRAL QUARREL.
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CAMPIS TIE FIELD. NEAR CHEwALL4, TESx
2 june 10 1862
d LieutenantGovsrnor B. Stanton, eo,umbus Ohio:
SIR l am not surprised when anOnymou,
scribblers write and publish fslsehOOd5 or make
criticisms on matters Of which they know moth.
ing or which they are incapabls Of comprehend.
: ing II is their trade. They live by il. Sian
der gives point and piquancy to paragraph,
and the writer, being irresp0nsibie or beneath
notice, csc apes a neIited punishment Il is diff
fsrent with men in high official station, who,
ike you, descend to this dirty work. You had
an opportunity to learn tie truth, for I saw you
myself at Shiloh soon after the battle, and know
that hundreds would have aided you in your
work, had you been in search Of facts. You
never inquired Of me concerning the truth Of
events which you must have known transpired
in my sight aud hearing, but seemd to have pre-
ferred the " camp stories to authentic dststhen
| within your reach.
A friend, by mere accident, has shown me q
| slip Of newspaper, dated April 10Th, 1852 styled
g" Extra published at Bellefontsine, Ouio, and
| signed b Stanton l am further told you are
the man. II So and you be the lieutenant gov
ernOr of Ohio, l hold that you are my peer, and
that Of Generals Grant Hulburt and Prentiss
| all Of whom you directly charge with conductor
L
fial, whose sentence if you have not borne false
witness, would be degradation or death. The
accusatoTy part of your statement is al false
false in general, false in every particular, and
repeat you could not have failed to know it false
when you published that statement. To prove
what l say, now quote the conc 'uding part Of
your paper:
'' Some complaints have be- made about the
conduct OF few of the ne, regiments in this /
battle, including the 54th and 57tb. It must be !
remembered that these are new regiments-that !
not only have they never seen any service bat |
that they never received their guns until they ar
rived on the Tennessee river, two or three weeks
before the battle. So with Myers battery. 1t
has not been more than six weeks since they !
have had their horses. And yet these regiments |
and this battery were put on the extreme outside
OF our camp, and were consequently first ex-
posed TO the enemys FIRE. Add to this that our /
lines were so caIelessl ly and negigeniy uarded /
that the enemy were absolutely en- Us in our very /
tents before the officers in command were aware /
of their approach The wonder therefore IS not |
that these regiments were finally broken and 4
routed, but that they made any stand at al /
But the loss sustained by these regiments, espg-
cially by Capt. Stau's company, in the 81 b,
shows that they made a gallant aud noble stand,
and that their ultimate retreat was not the fault
Of the men, but of the blUndeTing stupidity aud
negligence Of the general in command. There |
is an intense feeling Of Indignation against Gen
erals Grant and PIentiss, and the general feeling
among the most intelligent men with whom /
cOnversed is that they ought to be court mar
tailed snd shot.
[Sgnedl Yours, etc,
B. STANTON"
With Myers battery have nothing TO DO as
it was in Gen. HUlbert's division, who has made
his official report, which proves yours untrue
for instead Of being kept on the extreme out
side of our camp" it was, at the beginning Of
the battle, more than mile 20 the rear CT mine
aud McClernand's and Prntiss's divisions The !
9th Col. T. Kirby Smith, and 57th Col. Will
liam Mungen did form part Of my command.
No one that l ever heard has questioned the
courage and gallsntTy of the 54-h, unless Il be
inferred from your own apology for them, and
know tCst l speak thu mind Of the officers of
that regiment when | say that they scOrn to
have their merits bolstered up by your lame and
impOtent conclusions. As to their being on the
GU or line, it was where they wished to be, and
so far from being surprised, they were, by my
orders, under arms at daylight, and it was near
10 A. NJ, before the enemy assailed their pO-
sition This position was 50 favorable that Col
SluaEt with bis small brigade, Of which the 54.h
formed part, held at bey for hours Hardee's
whole division, composed CT infantry, artillery
and cavalry.
The 57th was posted on the left of Shiloh,
which, / say, and in which BsaUregaTd COncurs
with me, was the key to tie whole position. Il
was IN the very front, the place Of honor, 10 .
which Col. Mungen or his men could net object.
Then front was guarded by themselves, and if :
negligence is justly charged, il belongs to the :
regiment itself So favorable was the ground !
that although the regiment lost but two Oticers !
and seven men, Col. MuDgen has more than
once assured me that be counted fifty dead !
seeessionists on the ground over which he was !
attacked. As to the enemy being in their very
camp before the officers In cOmman. were aware
of their approach, it is the most wicked false
hood that was ever attempted to be thrust upon !
a people sad aud heartsOre at the terrible but |
casualties Of war. That the towards ! :
who deserted their comrades 10 that hour Of dan
ger should in their desperate strait to cover up =
their infAmy, invent such story, wss 10 be eX-
pected but that yOu should have lent yourself !
as q williAg instrument in perpeuating that ,
fslsehOOd, is a shame from which you can never
hope to recover. The truth is now well under !
stood. For days we knew the enemy was in r
our front, but the nature cf the ground and his !
superior strength in cavalry, prevented us from I
breaking through the veil Of their approach to !
ascertain their true strength and purpose. But ;
as soldiers we were prepared at all times to +
receive an attack, and even to make one if cir !
cumstances warranted il. On that morning cur !
pickets had been driven in. Our main guards /,
-
All our regiments of infantry, batteries Of artil
lery and squadrOns of cavalry were prepared. I +
myself their commander, was fully prepared, '
rode along the line of this very regiment, and J
saw it in position in front of their camp, and :
looking to a narrow causowsy across the small :
creek by which the enemy was expected and did Z
approach.
After passing this regiment, rode on to Ap- :
piers position and beyond some five hundred ,
i, II. I - 4 s-1,-
Thos. d. Holiday, was killed. Even after that I
1 gave some directions about WsteThouse's /
battery, and again returned to Shiloh in time to
witness the attack there. 1t is simply ridicu-
lous to talk about surprise To be sure, very .
many were astOnished and surprised not so
much at the enemy's coming, but al the manner l
of his coming, and these sought safety at the
river, and could not be prevailed to recover from
their surprise till the enemy had been driven
away by their comrades after two days hard L
fighting. have never made a question Of the 1
bravery of this or any other regiment,
but merely state facts. The regiment still be-
longs to my command, and has elected my I
praise for its Improvement and steadinoss in the g
many skirmishes and affairs during our advance a
on COIinth. / doubt not the people Of Ohio will '
vet have reason to feel the same pride in this
regiment as they now DO in many other Of the
same State of deservedly high repu.e. As to !
the intense feeling against Generals Grant and !
Prentiss-could anything be more base than
that Grant just fresh from the victory Of
DOneSon, more rich in fruits than wss Saratoga,
Yorktown, or any other one fought on '
this continent, is yet held up to the
people of Ohio, his nat State, as I
one who, in the opinion Of the intelh- I
gent coward, is worthy TO be shot and Prentiss,
now absent and prisoner, unable to meet your
wicked and malicious shafts, also condemned to
infamy and death Shame on you, and know '
| tel you an UNPLEASANT truth when l assure Won