The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-06-09
= made no concessions to General john
ston's army or the troops under his direction

II made no concessions to General john
ston's army or the troops under his direction
|. and immediate control !; and any conces-
sions were made IN those general, terms, my
/ helieve they would have delivered into the
| hands of the United States the absolute con.
/ tro of every confederate officer and soldier, al!
\ their muster.rolls and all their arms. IL Wouid
\ save rs all the Incidental expense resustlng
/ from the military occupation Of, the county
\ by provost marshals, provost guards. military
| governors and all the machinery by which
|, alone military power can reach the people OF
| civilized country. 1t would have surrendered
| to us the armies of Dick Taylor and Kirby
\ Smith, both of them capable of. doing infinite
| mischief to us brexhausting the resources of
| the whole country upon which we were to de-
| dend for the future eXtinguishmenti of our
| debt forced upon us by their wrongful and re-
bellious conduct / never designed to shelter
| o human being fromn any liability incurred IN
consequence OF past acts to the CIVIL tribunals
of our country, and do not believe thata fair
and manly Interpretation of,my terms can so
| construe them. for the words limited States
| courts, p" United States authorities 1iuiIta-
| tions of executive power" occur in every para
| graph. And if .hey seemingly yield terms
better than the public would desire 10 be gwen
| TO the Southern people II STUDIED closely ana
lwell il will be- found that there is an absolute
submission on their part to the government OF
1.-the United States, either throughits executive,
Legislative or judicial authorities. Every step
lin the programme of the negotiations was re-
Iported punotually, clearly and fully, by the
lmost rapid means of communication that
lhad And yet neglected not single preeau-
lltion necessary to reap the fail benefits OF my
Iposition in case the government amended, al
Itered, Or absolutely annuiled those terms. As
lthose matters were necessarily mingled with
7 The military history of the period l would Ike
| az this point to submit to the committee my
ofliciu report, which has been in the hands OF
1.-THE proper officer, Brigadier General Rawlings,
| Chief OF Staff of the Armyof the United States.
since about the 18th inst Twas made by me
| at Manchester, Va, after had returned from
| Savannah, whittier went to open up the Sa
vannah River and reap the fruits of my nego-
| tiations with Gen. Johnston, and to give Gen.
1 .WiiSon'5 force in the interior O. necessary sup
1 ply of clothing and food for his command. 10
1 was only after had fulfilled all this that L
| learned for the fist time, thiDuglFth the public
press. that my conduct had been enifnadyerted
| upon not only br the Secretary Of War but
| by Gen. Halecle and the press Of the country
| az large. did feel hart aud annoyed that Mr..
! Stanton coupled wlthfhe terms of my men,
| orandum. confded 10 him, q copy OF Q tele-
| gram to Gen. Grant, which he had never sent
! 10 me. lie knew, on the contrary, that " hen
| 1e was sat Sayantah thas had negotiations
WIN Cltil Elc WAS lfc-tlit
hay room when those parties were comforting
Withme. aud wsote him letter, setting forth
many points of t. which I.sdia / aimed to
make a,split I'M JEFF Davis's dOminions, by
segreGating Georgia from their course. Those
were civil negotiations, and lar from being
discouraged fron making them; waa eneouri
aged Shy Secretary Stanton himself To make
them, afuaG / bGf b3ea - j A5.f..t
By coupling the note TO Gen Grant with my
memorandum, he gave the wofld' fMrly and
Clearly to- infer That was in possession Of it.
Now, was not in possession of it, and have
feason to- know that MIR. Stanton knew / was
pos in possession Of it. Next MET me Gen.
iiaileek's telegram, Endorsed By Mr. Stanton,
ia which they publicly avowed an act of peril
4y---nauley. the violation Of nY terms which
! had alright to make, end which, by the laws
81 war and by the laws OF Congress, is pGuish-
able by death and no other Punishment. Next
| 1hey ordered an army to pursue my enemy,
| who was known TO be sur-endering to me-, 10
| the presence Of General Grant himself, their
supeTiorofficer; and finally they sent orders
TO Generals wilson 3Gd Glr1ral Ihomas--lDy
subordiuates, acting under me on c plan Of the
most magnificent scale, nirably.execnted--
| TO defeat my orders and to thWart the interests
| of the government of the United States. did
feel indignant. / do feel indignant As to my
own honor, can protect it. In my letter of
the 10Th of April used this language: - I have
with the evil officers of his State" | did so
because President Lincoln had himself encour-
| aged me 10 q similar course with the Governor
OF Georgia, when was IN Atlanta And here
Was the opportunity which the Secretary of
War should have taken to put me on my guard
against making terms with the civil authorities,
if such were theset.led policy of our govern
| ment. Had President Lincoln lived Iknow Ne
would have sustained me-
LETTERS.
| In the further examination OF Gen. Sherman
before the Committee. he produced number
| of letters. A letter from Sherman addressed
| to ''Gen Grant or Gen Haleck, /" and dated at
| Raleigh, April Is, says:
| Both Gen. Johnston and Breckenridge ad-
| mitted that slavery was dead, and could not
insist on embracing it in such paper, because
1t can be made with the States In detail. I
Knew that all the men of substance South sim
cerely want peace, and do not believe they
will resort to war again during this century. I
have no doubt but that they will in the future
De perfectly subordinate to the laws of the Uni
| ted States
Sherman wrote to Gen Hallcck from Raleigh.
| April -: ro 10 -
I received your dispatch describing the man
Clark detailed to assassinate me- He had best
be in hurry or he will be too late, The news
VI NAis AAuCOlu Sucam prOOuccQ most intense
effect upon our troops. At first l feared It
would lead to excuses, but now it has softened
down and can easily be quieted. None eyipce
more feeling than Gen. Johnston, who admit.
ted the act was calculated to stain his cause
with q dark hue, and contended that the loes
was most severe ON the South, who had begun
to realize that Mr.. Lincoln was the best friend
the South had. 4
! cannot believe that even Mr. Davis was
privy to the diabolical plot, but think it the
emanation of lot Of young men of the South
who are very devils. / want to throw upon
the South the care of this class of men, who
Will soon be as obnoxious to their industrious
class as to us.
On the 25th of April, Sherman wrote to Gen.
Grant:
have not the least desire to interfere in the
civil policy Of our government, but would
shun II IS something not to my liking; but
occasions arise when prompt seizure of re-
suits Is forced upon military commanders not
in immediate communication with the proper
authority. Il b possible that the terms signed
by Gen. Johnston and myself were not clear
enough on the point well understood between