, 1865-06-17
WhifQqo Gribn11e.

twenty one. 4NsVN
kF Money hS Draf1, Ezpttss' OF In ae&hteseo Let
ttr1 may b Eent a cur rus
II Renittancts for clubs musI- IN Al easa1 be
made II cpt tme. Bu, kdilioni may be mAfe Il Any
TING At c,pb rstfs AF7EE the CLUB has been Tsised
provided tuu vcart suo1ertotiou nsde.
e~Address CHICAGO TRIBUNE" Chicago. III.
aATURDAY, JUNE II, 1865.
CASE or INSTRUMENTATION
General sh.rman's refusal to modify his
,rnon In a certain particular, which General
Grant deemed of sufficient importance to
warrant its being returned to him for that
nnrnosc. seems to have been overlooked by
thc rrees and the public. We print the cor
1esroudrnce between the two Generals else
Fbere, and Invite attention to the points at
issue. General Sherman, in his official re-
mort, says that If the army under Gencral
Hallecl1s command had attempted to violate
The t1uce which be (sherman) had made with
Johnston, he should have been bound In hon.
or to defend and maintain It, seven ut the
cost Of many lives" This can only mean
that Il Generals Meade, Sheridan aud Wright
had entertd the State Of North Car
cliDa, at the head Of their forces, in
pursuance Of orders lawfully transmitted to
them, and had moved In hostile manner
against Gen. Johnston, Gen. Sherman would
lave turned his guns upon them and fought
q battle with them TO protect the rebels.
Gen. GIANT, through bis Assistant Adjutaut
General, called the attention CT Gen. Sher-
man 10 this portion Of his report, and ze-
minded him that *the commander OF an
amy eau control only his own army, and that
,mk 1t
rnngcucnts with other armies acting agsins!
him. While Independent Generals, acting
against common foe, would naturally act
In concert, each must I've the j.dge OF his
own duty md responsible for lis cxecution.'s
Gen. Sherman Was then notified that
his report would be 1etu.ned to
him for any change be should
deem best to make. A suggestion from q
eunerlor to subordinate officer is generally
to 10 construed as command. An ordas Is
cf:cn couehed In the language Of sugges-
tien, when given By one officer Of high rank
70 auosher-especlaIly II the officer rcccly-
Ing 1t Is afflicted with m unhappy temper
That Gen. Sherman understood Gen. Giants
SUI Cestion to be In the nature Of command
IL evident from the language empl ,ycd ia his
letter declining to make any modification Of
Lis report, viz. ''tn al IJuture cases, should
any arise, will respect tue decisions of
Gen. Grant, though think them wroag.''
Instead Of obeying this "decision" Gen.
oral Sherman goes into an argument to
show that he is right and the Lieutenant
Gvncral w,org, In our Judgment the a1gu-
ment Is as far!ty as Its spirit is suhversTe
Of military discipline. General Sherman
cites the article Of war which p~cscribes The
penalty Of death to any lereon who violates
safeguard 4 safeguard Is q piece Of
Taper given by commander to an Individual
nttiN iDg eli officers and soldiers Of that com
n,and-all persons lawfully sublect to the
p,dess Of the commander giving That the
individual is under the protection OF tha.
commander, and Is not to be disturb
cd. II au officer OF superior
authority to the one who gave the safeguard
chooses to disturb the individual, 1t is nc
moIe violation OF the safeguard than II
would be for the officer who gave 1t to do thu
ssme. The stream cannot tlse higher thar
It's source. The illustration Is an uufor1unats
QUE, and the argument based upon it TOT
simple 10 deceive the mcrest ty1o in military
Law. Gen. Grants plain proposition that
t',le commander OF an army can contro
OILY his own army" remains unassailable b5
MI The special pleading brought forward by
Gan. Sherman. The position taken by ths
hitter IN relation to the boundaries o.
his own and General Halleck's de-
partmeAts Is equally uutenaslc. A
General, when he assumes command, some
timts issues general order defining It's ECO
graphical limits. he does not thereby pledge
himself to remain forever In that locality. re.
rarditss OF the movements of the eueuF. nor
does he commit hinsElf to issue another ren.
eral o.de1 advertising his NEXT move. GEN.
Sherman assumes tha. because Gen. Hsl.ecl
defined the boundaries of his own command
on particular day he STONED himself from
INV military operations elsewhere. We are
nc1 aware that Gen. Sherman ever deeurd
hl1n.eI ptcc!uded from ma, ching arainst the
emmy, by reason Of any order issued by
himself defining the boundaries Of his depart.
1ncnt for the time being. Moreover, Gen.
Iallcck Has Gen. Shefmsn's superior officer,
ps the latter was ful1S aware, by virtue of b.
ing the senior Major General on the army list
md would hare had the right to assume the
command of both a1mies, II they had beer
brousht 10 tile bloody encounter threatened
by Gen. Sherman.
II turns out that Gen. Hlilcck's move
meuts and orders In the premises were al
1nsde under Instructions from Lieut.. Gen
G .aEt. The latter, when he started foi NORTH
Cn1olina by sea, ordered Gen. Hal1eck 10 move
Sheridan, Meade and Wright Immediately to
certain points 10 operate agsinst Johnston
Btipg :ntcnt On the speediest capture OF thu
rebel army. he probably did not pause Il