The Indianapolis daily herald. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1865-1868, 1865-12-12

Lieutenant General Grants Report.
General Grants report opened At the date Of
hls appointment 70 the chief command Of thu
Union forces, at which time and from an early
period, be says, n had been Impressed that
only actiXe aud continuous operations in the
. field. regardless Of season and weafher, would
terminate the war. While the enemy's re-
-@urees and numerical strength were inferior
Il ours, the ea~e aud rapidity with which n
moved upon interior lines gave the rebels a de-
cided advantage over us The Lieutenant
General therefore decided 70 mass the troops
against the enemy, and then =" 10 hammer
I against him until hy mere aitris0n. il in no
other way, there should lie nothing LEFT but
submission with the loyal section of our CON-
/ mon country. % the Constitution and laws Of
the land" And with mis- idea he set to work
General Grant reviewed the situation Of the
/ Union and rebel arnics-the immense dis
i tricis held By the latter. and the continuous
and lengthy lines Of fortiscation- 10 ~ garri-
/ soned and held by the armies Of the Union
while meeting the rebel forces i'm the field.
The operations Of guerrillas and bushwhack-
Z ers u. the Southwest are also reviewed. OF
/ the operations of the Army of the Potomac
the Lieutenant General says that he tried as
far a. possible 10 leave Gen. Meade In indepen-
dent command Of il, and hts instructions were
all sent through him, and were general I'm their
nature, leaving the execution Of the details 10
Gen. Meade. The campaign that followed
proved him 70 be the right man i'm the right
place. Ills commanding ALWAYS I'm the pres
ence of an officer superior To him in rank. has
drawn from him much Of that public atten-
ton that Ills zeal and ability entitled him 10,
and which he would otherwise have received
/ The movements across the Ranidan, the bat
ties Of tie Wilderness, ETC., with which the
public are familiar. are recounted, and their
relations 10 the great results shown. The po-
sitlOn Of Gen. Buffers forces AT Bermuda
hundred were a completely cut of by the en-
emy's operations in his front. the Lieutenant
General says, rs II they had been IN bottle
strongly c0rked,
The enemy took advantage of this isolation
OF Buffers position, and collected their scat
tered forces under Breckenridge and Others
and laid in subsistence and other stores which
came 10 them from the South. From the prox-
unity OF the enemy 70 his defenses around
Richmond, IL was impossible by any flank
movement TO interpose between him and the
city, but our forces might invest Richmond
\ from the north side or continue the movement
Dy the enemys right flank 10 the south side Of
the James-the former would have LETT all the
rebel lines Of communication south open, and,
the Lieutenant General designed, if possible,
90 beai Lees army north Of Richmond, and
then, after destroying his lines Of commnnica-
ton, TO either invest him in Richmond, or pur-
sue him South, If he retreatcd. The latter
plan was adopted and successfully carried out.
The movements from Cold HarbOr and
against Petersburg were important in deciding
the final result. The operations Of General.
Sheridan, Wilson, Kautz and other cavalry
officers fastened the glorious contamination
The season of inaction which followed was ne
cessary TO wear out the enemy and exhaust his
accumulated resources, and TO prepare for the
spring campaign OF 1898. which was being de.
yeloped by sherman i'm his great march To the
Atlantic seaboard. The capture Of Whining
ton. Charleston and Savannah sent terror and
dismay 10 the hearts Of the rebels, while the
loyal North and the Union armies were thrill
ed with JOY. The movements against Lee IN
IN The early part of April, 1865, were 80 sue
cessful as TO induce the Lieutenant General to
demand the surrender Of the Army Of Nir.
ginia, which he did in communication TO
General Lee, dated April ], 1865, TO which
General Lee replied by asking the terms OF
surrender, which, as the civilized world is now
aware were more liberal than any other sue
cessful military commander Of any nation
would grant To his opponent.
On the 9th Of April. therefore, the rebel
forces under General Lee surrendered to the
national forces under General Grant. Tn,
surrenders Of Generals johnson and Dick
Taylor soon followed, and the rebellion col.
lapscd in the capture or flight Gifts chiefs. a
force sufficient 10 ensure an easy triumph
over Kirby Smith was then sent TO Texas. but
before they reached their destination. he, too
had surrendered; but i'm bad faith he first dis.
banded his army, and permitted them TO carry
away their arms and equipments, and they
then engaged in an indiscriminate plumber OF
public property In consequence of these
lawless acts and the reports that many Of those
lately i'm rebellion had taken refuge i'm Mexico
carrying with them property rightfully be-
longing to the United States, which had been
I surrendered by agreement and the disturbed
condition of affairs the Rio Grande, the
orders for troops TO proceed to Texas were not
changed. The Lieutenant General concludes
follows:
. IL has been my fortune to see the armies OF
both the West and East fight battles. and from
what have seen | know there is no difference
in their fighting qualities. All that il was pos
slble Tor men to do in battle they have done
The Western armies commenced their battles
IN the Mississippi Valley, and received the
nnal surrender Of the remnant Of the principal
army opposed 10 them in North Carolina. The
armies of the East commenced their battles on
the river from which the Army Of the Potomac
derived It's name. and received the final sur.
sender of its old antagonist at Appomattox
Court House, Virginia.
The splendid achievement Of each have ma
tionalized our victories, removed all sectional
jealousies, Of which have. unfortunately,
experienced too much. and the cause Of crimi-
nation and recrimlnatiOn that might have fol-
lowed, had either section failed i'm its duty.
All have proud record, and all sections can
well congratulate themselves, and each other
for having done their full share in restoring
the supremacy of law over every foot of terri
tory belonging TO the United states. Let them
hope for perpetual peace and harmony with
that enemy, whose manhood, however mista-
ken the cause, drew forth such herculean deeds
OF Nalor.' signed L. :. GRANT,
Lieutenant General.