Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1862-07-03
LETTER FROM GEN. SHERMAN TC
LIEUT.. GOV. STANTON.

LETTER FROM GEN. SHERMAN TO
LIEUT.. GOV. STANTON.
CAMP IN TIE FIELD, NEAR CHEwkLLA,l
TEEs.. June 10. 1862.
Lisut. Coz. b. Ssassos, colrmbus. o:
sIR:-I am not surprised when anony-
nous seribblers write and publish false
hoods, or make criticisms on matters of
which they know nothing or which
they are incapable of comprehending.
It Is their trade. They live By it,
SANDER gives point and piquancy to a
paragraph, and the writer, being irre-
sponsible or beneath notice, escapes a
merited punishment. 1t is different
with men 10 high official station who,
like you, descend to this dirty work.
You had an opportunity to learn the
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 and
hearing, but seemed to have preferred
the scamp stories" to authentic data
then within your reach.
A friend, BY mere accident, has
shown me a slip Of newspaper dated
April 10Th. 1869, styled Extra" pub
ilished at Bellefontaine, Ohio, and signed
B. Stanton. lam further told you are
1.-THE man. II 80, and you be the Lieu
tenant Governor Of Ohio. ] hold that
you are nay peer, and that of Generals
] Grant, Huribut and Prentiss, all OF
whom you directly charge with conduct
on the field of Shiloh which deserves a
court martil, whose sentence, if you
have not borne false witness, would be
degradation or death. The accusatoTy
Ipart Of your statement is all false, false
in general, false in every particular,
and Irepeat you could not have failed
to know it false when you published
that statement. To prove what / say,
l now quote the concluding part Of your
paper:
"Some complaints have been made
about the conduct Of few Of the new
regiments in this battle, including the
54th and 57th. 1t must be remem-
bered that these are new regiments
that not only have they never seen any
: service, but that they never received
their guns until they arrived on the
.;uor f.o or al roo uaaEc ha-
fore the battle. So with Myers Bat
terry. Il has not been more than six
weeks since they have had their horses
And yet these regiments and this bat
terry were put on the extreme outside oil
our camp, and were consequently first
, exposed to the enemy's fire. Add to
this that our lines were so carelessly
and negligently guarded that the ene-
my were absolutely on us in our very
tents before the officers in command
E we're aware of their approach. The
wonder therefore is, not that these reg,
iments were finally broken and routed,
but that they made any stand at ALL
But the loss sustained by these regi'
ments, especially by Capt. Stsrr's com
pany in the 54th. shows that they made
a gallant and noble stand, and that their
ultimate retreat was not the fault o.
the men, but of the laundering stupidi'
ty and negligence Of the General in
command. There is an intense feeling
of indignation against Generals Gram
and Prentiss, and the general feeling
amongst the most intelligent men with
whom 1 conversed, is that they ough
to be court martialed and shot.
(Signed) "Yours, &c..
"B. STANTON"
With Myers Battery l have nothing
to do, as Il was in General Hurlhut''
Division, who has made his official re-
port, which proves yours untrue; fo
instead Of being kept on the "extrem'
outside of our camp" it was, at tb'
beginning of the battle, more than
mile to the rear Of mine and McCler
nand's and Premises Divisions. Th
54tb, Colonel T. Kirby Smith. and 57th
Colonel William Mungen. did form
part of my command. No one that
ever heard has questioned the courag
and gallantry Of the 54th, unless It b
inferred from your own apology 70
them, and l know that / speak th
mind of the officers OF that regimen
when I say they scorn to have thei
merits bolstered up by your lame an
imnotent conclusions Az tn their be
ing on the outer line, it was where the
wished to be, and SO far from bein
surprised, they were. by my orders, ur
der arms at daylight, and it was nea
10 A. NJ. before the enemy assaile
their position. This position was S
favorable that Colonel Stuart, with hi
small brigade, of which the SAT
formed part, held at bay for hour
Hardee's whole Division, composed {
Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry.
The 57th was posted on the left {
Shiloh, which, 1 say, and in whic
Beauregard concurs with me, was th
key to the whole position. Il was j
3d. the very front. the place of honor. {
which Col. Mungen, or his men coul
not object. Their front was guarded b
themselves, and If negligence is justl
charged, it belongs to the regiment i
self. So favorable was the grount
that although the regiment lost but tv
officers and seven, men, Col. Munge
I has more than once assured me that
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