Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-06-15
General sherm7n aud Ne
D. n renpondsnIs.

tary genius, We are not 81 all disposed |
to oaEil at his military ab;lities, to critiOise
his operations against the enemy or to
disparage bic numerous and vslusble sue
cesses. What we do desire most earnestly
to protest against is his arbitrary and un
reasonable order excluding newspaper
correspondents, in great measure, from
his lines. His recent proceedings in that
direction have provoked much Indignant
comment, especially his order eOndeuniug
that best Of war correspondents, the
genial and widely known B F. Tsylor,ofthe
Chicago Journal, tbsa whom true heart
ed Uniorist does not live, to military exc
cution, for what was worst a mere in
discretion, and never afforded the least
aid to the enemy. 1t is fortunate for Gen
eral Shermsn that at the earnest sOlicita
tions sf his officer the order was rescinded,
for, had Mr.. Taylor been executed under it,
it would have been nothing less than
legsiiEsd murder.
General Sherman forgets One thing.
This is a peoples war, and the
generals in it are the generals of The peO-
pie. Were it rtherwise-were General
Sherman nothing bu, tbe ss.rsp Of an auto
cratic tyranny, the bsre details Of events
which his official reports would present to
his imperial ruler might perhaps afford
sufficient information rs to the incideRts
and the progress Of his campaigns. But
the people, who stand behind our rulers
and our generals, and, in spits Of forms
and regulations and orders, are really the
prosecutors and managers of the war, are
not satisfied with the dry snd POmpous
formulas, the o3ld columns Of
statistics, the unintelligible techHicslities
Of military science, which form the ofhcifl
reports Of onr Generals. They desire and
demand a further and higher knowledge
Ii N this. We are making history, and
they desire 10 read its record as fast as il
is made. They want TO know how TIE
battle looks, how their soliiers act and Ia k
and feel, how iheir ofIioers bear themselves,
what is the camp gossip, what the chances
Of to-morrow,-aBd sli the numberless in
cidenls of the campaign More than
this. The people, who wsge this war, are
IN it, E .ch family has its representative
in the Grand Army; and the news Of battle
andefIOsses briDg8 the blenehing Of fcbeeks,
white lips, and sudden tremors Of sus
panse, to every hesrth-sto in the land.
Blessed, thrice blessed, the newspaper
which brings to the anxious walters by
that hearth stone the iidings taat their des'
one is cafe. Necessary, though cad,
ltho a4IssloE40 40E-the -zEafSE-vusfS
them that he hss fallen. The people
demand this knowledge, and it is
the proper duty OF the newspaper cores.
pondent to afford it 10 them.
What pen shall do justice TO the exploits
and the suferiBgs Of newspaper cores
pondents in this sar2 What hsve they
not doEe-whst have they Lot suffered 2
In the fore front of battle they brave shell
and shrspnel in the performance Of their
duty to the people. They face miasms,
pestilence, bullets, they share the privs-
tions aud sufFeIiRgs of the soldier, they
are careless Of their life aud liberty, that
they may 60 their duty well. Like
shanks, Of The New York Herald, at Re
saca, they have met death in the pursuit
Of their labors,-like Brown and Rich
ardson they have endured FOR months and
years tie greater horrors Oflife in South
ern prisons. The devotion, berOism and
selt.sacIifce which they hsEe shown has
not been surpassed by any class Of our
citizens.
And when the danger of the day is
over, when the soldier sinks to rest, the
labor OF the journalist Is still unfinished
Alone, unsssistei, without the aid Of staff
ofiesTs, reports Of subOrdinates, maps,
records and the machinery Of Generals
headquarters, sitting on stump, under
tree, or even on horssbsok, he
sketches with lightning speed, from bur-
ried notes or from memory, the details of
the days march or battle, and does it bet
ter than the general ofic T ever could. In
such positions as these, he writes
the history Of this war i and has maj
the writing 1f future history an easy and
simple matter. This, the peoples war, has
been spread before the people more fully,
accurately and completely, than any war
that ever before was waged- And this is
due to the heroism, devotion and labor of
the newspaper correspondent
Such labor IS thisis not performed by
ordinary men. It'demauds no common
quickness, Wit, breadth and genius. It
has enlisted the best writer's Of the coun-
fry. College graduates, men Of letters,
aud men Well known as bistOrisns, have
chrOnicled for the newspapers Of the nation
the marches and The conflicts Of our
national armies. Men OF character as we'll
% ability are, with but few exceptions,
employed in this capacity. Their reports
are usually accurate and reliable, and, in
too many cases, much more correct than
the lying dispatches Of pompOus and
eOneeited commanders like McClsllsd and |
Buell.. They have never done one 1.-THE,
one huhdredth es much harm as they have |
good. For once that they have, by indis
eretion, msdo public what should have
ben kept secret they have hundred
,tines revealed to the people what they !
have been waiting most snxiously to hear.
They have dOne their duty well-they de-
serve thsnks, not Obloquy, forit.