, 1865-02-01
INTERVIEW WITH GETER-
Al GRANT.

g1ati6ed, as every oody Soes lhefe nut 70
The Other places named, not one out Of
twenty, in q lifetime.
INTERVIEW 1VITE9 GENER-
Al GRANT.
Conversation Between General Grant
and Distinguished Forc1gner-t:en.
Grant Asserts that Rteh1ion:i Is
OF 1he Resfegtng Army-Thc 1scbel
View Of the Case.
[Richnond Correspondence Of the London Times
R1cnAosp. Monday, Dec. s. 1864.
information has just reached me Of con-
yersation held last week, in which the inter
locutors were Gen. Grant aud gentleman
who returned to Richmond on the I'd inst.
from the North, bearing letter Of introduce
tjon to be presented en- route from Mr. Seward
to Gen. Grant It is we'll known that the
gentleman in question (who is forcigner} Is
in Intimate relations with the Confederate
Government. Hc paints Gen.. G.Rnt as q
gentlcman Of eminent courtesy, tranquil and
dignified in manner, free from the proyerbial
bluster Of his countrymen, and studtous1y
eoneiliating IN Language: Gen: Grant & com IN
ations Of President Davis and General Lee,
especially Of the hitter, whose equal, moral
ly and intellectually, is not, according to the
Fedc nl Generals professed opinion TO be
found mong eminent military men anywhere
upon en- th. ue proceeded next to make the
startling assertion that Richmond Is doomed
city, aud That Nj. Davis and Gen. Lee are well
aware Of the fact. He pointed ont, with en-
phasis, that 81 swly enthusiastically the Fed
cral army is constantly advancing step,
and TINT never, since the l4th Of
Jnne, when it. crossed to the south ufa
he continued, Unjust be the fall Of Richmond.
Hew long it will be before the end comes, it
is impossible for me to say. Gen. Lee knows
the position Of my army to be impregnable
on both sides Of the river, and be will attack
on neither. do nut expect the city to be
little my guns will get within shelling dig
tance Of the capital, and from that hour It Is
mtrcly question Of time. It is probable
that II at tn1s stage the resistance Is obsti-
nate the city will be burned to the ground.
Anyhow, Its evacuation by Lees army Is an
end inevitable" While this conversation
was In progress, D telegram arrived from
announcing to Gen. Grant that the " Rich
mond Examiner Of this morning antics-
pats that sherman will got safe to the sea
const." ...
can assure Gen. Grant that If he WIS IN u
position to arrive at the undlssuised opinion
of President Davis, he would come to 4 con-
cluslon different from that which helast week
expressed, but which 1t is difficult to believe
that he sincerely entertAins. It Is the del1b-
crate conviction, not only Of the two eminent
men in question, but also of eighteen~twenti-
eths Of the Inhabitants, Of Richmond, and
ninety nine -hundrcdths Of the army which
defends 1t, that the city VAS never 50 safe
since the war commenced as at the present
moment. 1t seems to all men Of sense that
| every time that GIANT has made q tentative
movement, either with cavalry or in
tantry, OF by snbterranean mines, or
any 9tSsr ,.g .aggressiSs dev1ee g ana f. has
has made more than d quarter Of Il step back
ward. How many Of these attacks have been
| toi1ed since June last It is difficult to COM
pute. But against all these failures, spread
| over the last i've and half months, Grant
anothing to advance as q makeweisht, ex-
ctpt Tie slight but imrnaterial advance Of his
| lines upon the Weldon Railroad, aud the cap
| tu,e ot Fort Harrison on the 10Th Of Septem-
Ltr, No Que Is probably aware tlnn Gen.
| Grnnt that these two slight advantages have
| not brought him IN Inch nearer to the cap
| ture Of Richmond. HI Is now confronted BY
q frownsng line Of earthworks which stretches
for thiltylh' &C or thirty -four miles, commcnc-
| inx at the Chickalominy river. extending
aeross the James, aud running close up to the
Weldon railrond on The West Of Realns' Sta
| ,lon. l may be mistaken, but, in common
with every Confederate officer have convers-
Cd with on both sidrs Of the james, 1t is my
belief that against any. portion OF these lines
Grants army, eren If doubled In number, will
never prevail. The difficulty aud danger Of
attempting to get round either or both OF
Gen. Lees TANKS, at points where the Con
tederates a4e working upon the inner circle
Il obviously very great. anticipate that Il
Grants amy receives very material acccs-
sion Of strength before April, and during
will be protracted through the whole
Of next year. II he is not heavily. reinforced
by next spring, We shall sec whether he will
pass through 1855 without taking several
quarter steps backward. But, be that rs it
may, it is already seen and felt that the I'D
yantages to the Contederates Of carrying on
defensive struggle so close to their ueart as
Richmond are obvious and manifold The
blood propelled through TINT great aorta Is
far less In volume than the blood which cir
cu1ates through the temporal artery, and the
vigilance necesEitattd BY the close proximity
bruve but careless community. In addition,
the long plotracted struggle around Rich
mond gives the Cunfedetates time to dup1l-
cate such Establishments as the T1adegar
Works, and to fuaugurata supplementary
measures for creating munitions Of WIT all
| entered Gen. Grants head TINT the capture
Of Richmond will be to him and bis associates
but the letting out Of strife. But Geu. Grants
words are robbed Of half their significance
when it is remembered that they were ad-
dressed TO q gentleman who would In thraa OF
fur dnys be in communication with the Rich
moud authorities 1t is difficult not to sus-
pcct That Grant shares with bis willy country
men the sentiment 50 admirably expressed in
Muton's lines:
"Our hetter part remains !.
..to ..s work IN elese design hy fraud or guile
If Mr.. Davis and Gen. Lee could be caioled
by fattery and und undermined III faith By
unsc1upulously boastful anticlpations, moth
ing but good could result to Gen. Grant and
his employers. As uatters stand, the rebels
have to face or explain away the fact TINT
Rlpfdan last May has JAILED either to give
him Richmond or even to fight 1t out on
| the same line, II it took all the SUMNER"
Summer and autumn have passed away, and
| winter is upon us. In few months the sum-
mer Of 1865 will be here, and upon what line
d es Gen. Grant then propose to fight It out !
| There can be few Northerners gullible enough
| to believe that wbyn Gen. Grant began his
| advance against Richmond, nearly eight
months ago, supported by between 100000
and SOC, 900 men, he expected to find himself
wfntering on the james river, in command Of
a fifth OF that force, and with Richmond as
obstinately closed against him as ever. I
Gun emphatfcally assert that, be Gen. Grants
antfcipatfDns about bis prospects what they
may, remember no moment during more
than twenty-sir months Of intimate
acquaintance with Confederate affairs
when greater confidence aud hope
fnlness were entertained in reference
to the present and future of Secessfa than
at present. Ii Gen. Grant could be induced to
tuEe Of the Confederate Statcs, and to COZ.
template the future Of his own country, I
would ask him to reflect in what estimation
be is himself likely to be held By the tickle,
many-headed beast Of the North, IL he fails to
take Richmond In the acxt six monthse Many
arc the bitter Yankee~haters in this town,
who wish for their enemies no greater desra:
dation than that. having failed to subduc tho
South, they should find themselves with such
q satrap as Abraham Lincoln strapped on
their backs for four years to CONF, without
hope Of relief Many Of the vaticinations al.
ready beard in Richmond that the second
l4tt1una Of Mr. LINCOLN, commenced in sun
: slayish ind sycophantie community, will 70
out in storm and whirlwind amid execrations
and Gu scs. There is in the Arabian Nights, no
tale 80 wild and startling ~ comparison be-
tween the wealth, progress, actual and pro-
spectiye prosperity Of the United st t 5 in
18Go, ard the utter humiliation Of the record
which they Will exhibit In 1865.
l have Just returned from passing several
days II camp on the north OF the james, and
have watched with Interest the progress Of
the Confederate lines northward, until they
have reached The blhtf which overhangs the
valley of the Chickahominy. It is curious to
observe what an amount of labor the con-
struction Of these elaborate lines exacts.
Yom readers will remember that In my letter
describing the aborttye Federal attack Of Oc.
tobcr q, stated that the new lines Of the
c. nfedeiates ran only to the Charles City
road, and that the 'Wllliamsburgh and Nine
mile roads (whcre tho Federal attack upon
that day was mainly de1iyercd} were defended