, 1863-10-28
THE ANNALS OF TIE ARMY
OF TIE CUMBERLAND.
How Confidence In Gen. Roseorans
was first Undermined.

how Confidence III Gon. hos6crans
was first Undermined.
Truesdnil's Army Police, and
Gen. Nosecrans' Conncc-
tion with it.
We print the following, which ne find In
the Washington Chronicle, as one Of the alle-
CATIONS connected with the history Of the re-
moyal Of Rcsecrans, without endorsing It, or
expressing any opinion Us to its truth OF
fltity. Anything With reference to the re-
noyal Of Rosecrans will be read with interest
at the present time, and We therefore give the
narrative as ne fl1d 1t. After a brief notice
of the new Tork-"The Annals Of the Army
ofthe Cumberland''-the Chronicle says:
will probably arrest more attention than any
other, is the police record ofthe spies, SNUG
glere, and rebel emieaa.ies, being in fact the
narrative of the doings Of tho "army police''
attached to Gen. Rosccrans' army. This has
been published also in q separate and cheaper
torn, and contains sketch Of the Chief Of
the Army Police, Mr. VIM. Truesdail. Upon
this portion of the "Annals' We propose to
throw some additional light As the work is
anonymous, the authorship being simply that
Of tan officer" we may canvass It with all
freedom. It is possible, and by 10 means
improbable, that, as Mr. iruesdail. though
holdlrg no military rank, is Familiarity
called "Colonel'' In the army, he is the
sof1cer' rho has written the book. Certainly
uot'enemy" 1fhis has ''donethi5 thing" Tho
"Chfef," in bis connection with the army,
first attrscted attention. We believe, while In
the employ Of General Pope. He Eas then a
SORT Of sui. mail agent. After the evacuation
dered to General Rosecrans, which included
portions Of General Pope's army Of the Mis-
etssipp}, and Mr.. Truesdail thus camo under
General Rosecrans' orders. He coon con.
trived to persuade that General to authorize
him to establish an stArmy Police,'' tie os.
ttnsib1e object Of which was to capture de-
selters, arrest rebel citizens and spies, watch
the movements Of Federal officers, &c. Ex-
perience fhoWed, however, that tho chief
object Of the distinguished chief WAS individ-
ual aggrandizemcnr aud gain. Soon after his
appointment he associated with himself oaa
Russell, {who, Of course, soon became " Ma.
jotn Russell In police and army parlance,)
and the power Of the "Army Poiica'' began
to max itself felt, md its doings talked
about, so much 60 that complaints about
General Grant, accompanied By q Representa-.
and fostering a brigade Of cotton thieves. Al
inquiry was instituted, and 1t was shown that
this class Of hapgers-on about General Rose.
cranfs Headquarters were habitua'ly commit
ting deprcdations on the country around,
apparently with the con1ent Of Gen. Rose.
cIaus, and certainly by the assistance Of his
soldiers. The rode Of operation was adroit
aud cunningly devised. Truesdail would re-
port to Gen Rosecrans that !" "Major'' Russell
had discovered at . certain place, generally
twenty OF. thirty miles diEtant from the line
Of Cur Iiektts, small band OF guerillas or
depot ofp1oyisions for the rebel army. Wag-
ons would thereupon be sent out, under
strong cavalry escort; but they generally
returned laden with cotton instead Of with
bacon or grain. Very rarely indeed were
gucrillas brought in By these expeditions,
though sometimes parties would be captured
who could not have been guilty Of any great
crime, rs they were invariably released after
taking the cath Of allegiance So satisfied
VAS Gen. Grant that the whole was geoss
abuse, TINT be TUNED the whole Of the opera
tors ont Of the army
Truesdail ~culd probably have found "his
occupation gone" Lad not General Rosecrans
about this time been placed In command Of
Buelps army. The "chlef" no sooner heard
Of this than he hied him OF to Bowling
Green. He was promptly refnstated as s'chisf
Ct the army police" When the army Of the
Cumberland arrived at Nashville, Colonel"
md High streets, and did qulet, and, We
euspect, profitable business tor lew weeks.
By that time his force was fully organized and
his ambition rose accordingly. He removed
his office to house owned by Zoliicotfer's
daughter, while for his own headquarters he
took the elegant mansion Of Dr.. Jennings,
located at The corEer Of High and Cedar
streets, and thsnccforth the chief cf the army
police was second only to General Kosecraus.
His detectives had found their way into many
private families. The bearing Of hts officers,
alike to loyal and dlsloyal citizens, WAS
would ride through the streets IN q
manner perllous to Life and limb, and carried
themselves go ofitnslyely that earnest remon-
etrnnces we're addressed to Governor John.
kop, who himt eff appealed to General Ross
ctecs to. bave tho nuisance checked. Tie
General replied that the Governor must ap.
ply directly to Gen- Tracfdan for redress,
but that gentleman had long since ceased to
be approaehatle By civilians. He had takcn
the ground that neither his acts nor those Of
bis tgects were to be questioned. Ere long,
md without tie Issuing Of any order, the
chief demanded and selz:d all the Confeder-
a. Nashville. Ths right Of the chief Of police
to do Ibis Was questioned By Gov johnson,
who addressed Mr. Tgucsdau upon the sub
ject, but received no reply. Ehted by his
success In this 1natter, be next contemplated
seizure Of the banks themselves and CON
ductirg them u1der his Own supervision, his
"Judge Adyocate" " couneelling him thereto.
Luckily, before he took the step, be mention.
ed his purpose 10 the Secretary Of State, 1fr.
East, rho gave him 40 piece Of his miud'
Of such we,ghty proportions that the dlcom-
fted "Chief" abandoned that specula.
tion. However, be consoled himself soon af.
terwa1ds BY inaugnrat!rg system Of confis-
cation, which he successfully carried on for
months. He was also Invested with authorl-
II to give passes, which power was withheld
from all legitimate commanders. He seized
goods, arrested whom he would on charge
Of treaeon, tried them in his oWn court, con
Gated their property: Indeed, the poNer Of
"Wm. TIue.dsil, Chief Of the Police Of the
army of the Cumberland" WAS the talk Of
the whole army, aad source Of regret and
modification to al the general officers, who
feared that both the Government and the army
when it came to be known that he tolerated
+ such an institution, with such . head, In his
army. Soon, however, the chiefs power was
made still moro conspicuous and profitable.
He assumed the entire charge Of the malls,
letter., newspapers, &c, to and from the
to bis son and o man named Scott, who both
rapidly acquired wealth by It, Again Gov
johnson demonstrated with Gen. Rosecrans
about sheee proceedings, but the Gen. turned
deal ear TO his appeals. 1t passed, In fact,
into d by-Word, that William T1uesdail was
Commacde1.f In Chief Of the Army Of the Cum
berland. Wear1ed With his fIuitless efforts to
obtain from Gen. Rceecrans remedy for this
evil, ard becoming anxious about the conse.
quences Il 1t Were permitted to continue, the
faithful Governor repaired to this city and
laid the whole thing before the Government.
Circumstances at the time were unfaYorable
for graphing With it, and Gov. johnson re-
turned home disappointed. Truesdail was
low In the meridian Of his power, and he ex-
ercised 1t untluEhjugly. He began to boast
TINT he could not be removed, and 1t was the
common talk, especially among officers from
Grants army, who visited Louisville, that be
had hold upon Gen. Rosecrans which would
one day destroy the latter. OF course the
Generals reputation was seriously damaged
by these things, for tome officers openly
charged Trresdaf1 with dishonesty, and Rose
c1a1 NTH participating In it. The 'sAnna1s''
overlocks III these facts, ard Its anonymous
aathor, speaking Of Trueadail, says,
As may DO readily supposed, such an extensive
army Organization ere long attained considerable
Iotor!ety: 1t matthalled Its friends and its enc
mfts in alnost regimental numbers. Even In the
army It has been Moat violently assaf1ed not only
by the vicious in the ranks, but by officers, whose
evil deeds were not past finding ont. II any direct
charge was made, however, to Gen. Rosecrans,
1t MES at once and fully Investigated; and In no
cue Instance has the charge been maintained as
principal aids. The breath Of calumny has been
cIen waited to tho Presidents ears, and the news.
papers Of last spring contained the announcement
that special commission had been aupo}nted nt