The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-06-03
Report.

IA is winning as much
- - a writer as he has achleVea do
m.,r;or He is like JULIUS CAESAR Oh
whom MILES srANDIsH said:
"noni .Here. was q fellow
-, both write and fight and in both
was equally skillful."
Unlike the majority of ofacial documents
the report submitted to the War Depa
n,o,t hv General SHERMAN, and recentiy
nrhrsbed. is exceedingly interesting
pnd he who attempts to glance over II
hastily has his attention riseted un'n nc
hoy Rad every word. We regret tna'
tbe limited space at our command Is III
snfsciept to allow us to publish the report
ond its accompanying letters in full our
toleoranbic columns last Thursday morn
49, Contained part of it, and we must Do
onntant to Gull here and there q para
80, NOT included in the dispatches, 10
r;ve our readers an idea of the style ana
a,s,ance Of General SHERMAN's defense
When testifying before the COMMITTEES
On tbe conduct of the war, Generai
SuypN,N was asked to state all the facts
and circumstances relating to his nego-
t;,tions with JOHNSTON, SHERMAN re-
nl;ed detailing the history OF his HIS.
-, ,oeond interview with the rebel
General, substantially as has aireaas
hoo, nnblished. He then speaks OF Tue
d;snosition in which his troops were posi-
cd to prevent the enemy from taking aa-
ror+ape of the truce to benefit their con-
dition, and says: un:o
It was only after / had fuihiled a ia1no
.hat 7 learned. for the first time, througnn
H." nnhlic press, that my nau
Snon apimadyerted upon, not only Dy tne
Sao"oTorv of War, but by General hal-
1,.t and the press of the country az ia[ge'
Ia fael hurt and wronged that MI.
lf,ntnn compiled with the terms OF my
,"'inrondum confded to him, a copy Oh
taI ram to General Grant when ne
Ia aver sent to NE. He knew, on 'Ie
nnntrarv. that when he was at
I'd negotiations with civil parties
,barn for he was present IN my TOUT
w"Lan those parties were comforting VIII
mn and 7 wrote him a letter setting 1oitn
mt, ooints Of if. in which / said aim
aI ~ make split in JEFF. Davis domin
inrs s~eoreeating Georgia from thelr
hose were civil negotiations
and far from being discouraged from
]motinr them, | was encouraged py DEC
"atarv Stanton himself, to make thenl'
Rv coupling the note to General Gran!
witb my memorandum, he gave the "ori'
,,;rjv and clearly to infer that was II
nn.srssjon of it. Now, was not III pos
~..xsion of it, and have reason TO KnoN
t,,t Mr. Stanton knew | was moi III pos
session of If. m
Nnxt met me, Gen. Halleck's telegram
;rInrsed by Mr.. Stanton, IN whlch inc
n,hliclv avowed an act OF perjury W.
fnp violation of my truce, when l hau
rirht to make, and which. by the iaWs =
war, and by, the laws OF Congress Is pu,
;shohle by death. and no "ther puhi''
mcnt. .o.nnrsu
wcIIng III me, M IND presence OF Geners
Grant himself, their superior officer, an
finally they sent orders to General Wi
son and to General Thomas, my subol
climates, acting under ME on a plan of tn
most magnificent scale, admirably execr
ted, to defeat my orders and to thwar
tng lnItlBSLA. nv o
U".ra" SSFdfT my own honor, / can pro
tect it In my letter of the 18th OF April
| use this language: II have invited
Governor Vance 70 return to Raleigh
with the civil officers of his State"
did so because President Lincoln had
himself encouragement a similar course
with the Governor of Georgia. when ]
was in Atlanta. And here was the Op
portunity which the Secretary of War
should have taken To put me on my
guard against negotiations with civil
authorities, if such were the settled pol
i:y ct our Government. Had President
Lincoln lived, ] know he would nave sus-
tanned me.
The reasons which influenced General
SHERMAN to draw up the famous "basis-
ntpeace" memorandum arc forcibly
stated in the report, as follows:
The Presidents CLincOln's) Message of
l-64 his Amnesty Proclamation Gen
eral Grants terms to General Lee, SUBJ
stantially extending the benefit of that
proclamation to all officers above the rank
of a Colonel; the invitation to the Viz
ginia Legislature to Reasonable in Rich
mond, by General Weitzel, with the sup
DDStu approval VI VII LluCOlu ant ucu-
eral Grant, then on the spot; a firm be-
lief that l had been fighting to re-estab
lish the Constitution of the United
States, and last, but not least, the gen.
ersl and universal desire to close a war
any longer without organized resistance,
were the leading facts that induced ME
to pen the memorandum of April 15,
sigued by myself and General Johnston.
1t was designed to be, and so expressed
on its face, as a mere "basis'' for reference
to the President of the United States and
constitutional Commander!in Chief, to
enable him, if he chose, at one blow to |
dissipate the military power of the Con-
fedcracy, which had threatened the ma
tional safety for years. 1t admitted of
modification, alteration and change. 1t
had no appearance of an ultinlatum, and
by no false reasoning can it be construed
into an %usurpation of power on my part.
have my opinion on the questions in
volved, and will stand by the memo
randum - but this forms no part of a
military report.
What a stinging rebuke to those who,
while eulogizing the character and pol
icy of President Lincoln, now clamor for
Il widely different course, is contained in