, 1865-09-11


Of the Introductory stages, 50 10 speas' ol 'ne
culmina1ins pef1oo o. 'na "m~tAe =. gsea'
campaigns OF Generals ofant auu enctniu J"
the summer OF iast yeaf-seasee'S anS'olns
Inns Us yct fcaeneo tae PUBIC upon .ne
achievements OF Gen. SHERMAN command IN
the Atlanta cnmpa'gn' the puoueat'on Of ms
report has alfeaoy .nro"n 'cons1oeiaole, ou1
mol san,cen', usn,ior Tue 'us siSoscs u history
VI Gencfal oianls aa'anco oa Hchmona,
no" ever, pu' l,!ie na1e.u nas sos: nosoaa
onu .ns 'a.ss ~ -. As" "sla - .aoo' aua
~" su.ma.. uu' "S ~ s.1,.es.s ~ .sspu. e..spo.
usn.a Nn.sa aAas. o.o - ~ ~ .hs," ". ~
'us T. u.a. es =. s n,un .uo par
7.t'.o..,.a.n - 80 .r. sa.ss' .
"as =. rs,.s..a ,,,,.sxo"1 80 49,. oe - .t -
s..,s ~ tns ..e "o'1n W .',e
.he 'aek o' aoJ J.nins .,Ac Aul' ana seaao'e NJ
iottua1ioh teMaife 90 luz ,eoe. patt 81 LUG per
!c'nahee ~ tne sr1' nA.,ohA4 u'll'a, Ane1e
nase DesH' - tsae' on tne PIT o. Inc seocl
ausnotlnes' olncla, Puonssl'ens % ninla'y r.
Pol1s rs oecss!onalt5 VI sne p'1t u ou[ o"a.
But inc matefia! that found It's way INTO print
IN inc SCUM. Is but snah part Oh "hat IS
required " hissos1cal wr'icIs iot GEAR com
prenens"e' ano intehSent, ios'ca' aha!ss@
for inetsncc ,z known m to III. dav n the
details Al ~ ~ co1ntc-.raun, ,n1 1nnvcncnts
rrods W. Iae w. v1r,,fn,a n 1,rrr5,- md M.
Haae os Lee III SHe1"'A III pa1'5"s alu 'ol,
ing inc successive aggressive oPesatoos o.
our armies! no" mucn mas tFanspreo
OF the order OF us Dola ncosnons
upon loyal soui Of their real motives and OBJ
jects; OF his plans OF BATTLES; OF tho relative
+, hs..,os af.ha ..t,,a, s....-th ~ w. e,..,.
-. o~ses y. NV ~ es 0 49,,
a. o'liefent LINES, auu @ osnef po1ntS o' Ftal
importance out nlte' except o' Hetels
lnlefentnA cAaIac'ef' anu enen' nas taat In
Pene't"p'e 'e!4' 50 stuolouslJ kept do"n,
drawn over tne plo'unes IN pasas caolhet,
ana Inc oelinefa''ons o. Inc military councils
o. INC eonleoetaes. e'es oeen ii,'eo' pn,of-
tunately' .hsS nao no .om'ni'.ee On tao
Cononct oi Tue war IN Men'nohu' aet Ms-
tof1es OF tne "af must oe incomplete "1tnouL
a 1uA elncidatlon Of thnt important part OF
the record made BY the rebel leaders, that
ftAl remains sealed book TO all but the ini-
nated.
1t may be urged IN relutataon OF my views,
lhat IL VIII Always oe mpossloie 10 command
the Fitally necessary Information alladca To-
An argument Of 1his KIND can only be main.
tained after a iull exploration OF a!l the
sources Of information the Government Is pre-
pairing TO open, with The inmense material
accumulated under Its own auspices md cap
tuzed from the enemy at Its command, for the
benefit OF all who care 70 aFail themselves OF
It's archives And here I come to the topic
proper meant to dwell upon IN this letter.
It will be remembered TINT, until last WIN
ter, every year number OF military reports
were specially ordered to be printed By Con-
gress. Gen. McClellan's, Gen. Rosecrans,
and few other reports, Tc1e thus
published at the pnblic expense. Their
publication Twns not under compe-
tent professional supervision, md hence the
historical Saluc OF the books produced t not
asgreat as It might have been. During the
Inst Congress, however, q resolution was
passed putting d stop to tho desultory publ
cations, and authorizing and directing the
secrctay ~ of War to cnuse to be col1atcd and
printed in proper form all the papers md doc
umenta Of every description, of any historic
character having been collected In his depart
ment from the fall Of 1s60 to tho close of the
civil war. This Congressional mandate will
be faithfully acted upon, md will result in
due course of time in the fullest possible NIL
aayv hi.forv Of The rebellion. OF course the
cnmn,1stion will cznbodv only loynl material.
To carry this undertaking through In a
creditable manner Will require the continuous
labors Of a number OF compIIers for seysral
years. The public can form no idea Of tho
yastness Of the material already piled ayay
and sill ponrine into the War Department In
A..s-.4-G r. ..,,r.s - .... 1t