The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1865-06-08

He was superior to me in cavalry
! held Gen. Fitzpatrick in Reserve at Mount
! Olive, with orders TO recruit his horses.
| and be reay to make a sudden and rapid
march on the 10th April" The report
then goes on and details the movements
and those of the enemy mp TO April 14th
Z These have already been substantially
/ published. Johnston . army was re-
treating rapidly on the road from Hills
boro to Greensboro lie himself at Greens
7 boro." Although out of place as 10
home. / here invite all military critics
who study the problems Of war. 10 take
their maps and compare the positions of
/ my army, on the 18th and 10th of April.
with that Of Gen. Halleck. about Burkes
Vile and Petersburg, Va. on the 26th of
April, when, according to his kilograms
10 Secretary Stanton, he offered TO re-
lieve me Of the task of cutting off John.
ston's S retreat Major General StonenIan
was at Statesville, and JolInson's only
/ line of retreat was by Salisbury and
j Charlotte 1t may be that Gen Hal
lecks troops can outmarch mine, bat
there is nothing in their past history to
show it or it tmav be that G en- Halleck
can inspire his troops with more energy
OF action. | doubt that also-saye and
except In this single ins tanee, when Ire
knew the enemy was ready to surrender
or disperse, as advised by my letter Of
April 18th, addressed to him when Chief
OF Staff at w WaslIington city, and deliver
ed into his hands on the 2lst inst bv
Major Hitchcock of my staff
Il met Johnston May 18th, as ar
ranged. The interview was frank AMI
soldier like. General Johnston gave me
to understand that further war on the
part OF the Confederacy was folly; that
the cause vas lost; that every life sac
rificed after the surrender of Lee 5 army
would be the highest crime possible
He admitted the terms conceded to
General Lee were as magnanimous as
he could ask, but he wanted some
concessions that ~ould enable him to
tallav he natural fears and anxieties of
his followers, and enable him to maintain
his C )ntrol until they could be got back
TO their homes.
The terms asked were concessions Of
glittering generalities, all of which in
the end must and will be conceded to
organized States of the South that This
day there would not be an armed battal-
ion opposed to us within the broad domain
of the United States. Robberies and
assasslnations must in any event result
ifOH tuc OF f1rge armies,
but even these should he and could he
taken care of by the local civil authori-
ties. without being made a charge on the
national treasury. Ihe report proceeds
to detail his movements and those of
the co operative forces for the next few
lays, and the good condition in which
he found matters ut Savannah. On the
evening of the I'd of May | returned to
Hilton Head, and there for the first time
received New lork papers, of April 2S
Secretary Stanton's dispatch
of a IN. of 2Ith of April, including
Hallcck ;, from Richmond, of 9 y. m,
on the night before, which seems to have
been rushed with extreme haste before
an excited public, namely, on the morn
ing of the 2Sth
You will observe from dates that
these dispatches were running back and
forth from Richmond to Washington TO
New York, and there published while
General Grant and were together in
Raleigh, North Carolina, adjusting. to
the best of our ability, the terms of sur
render OF the only. remaining formla-
bic rebel army in existence east of the
river. Not one word of in
timatiotr had been sent to me of the dis
pleasure of the Government with nv
official conduct, but only the naked dis
OF a skeleton memorandum
sent properly for the action Of the Presi-
dent of the United States. The mos t j.,
feature of my memoran- ]
fun had already April both been
published to the world in violation of
official usage, and the copies of my ac-
dispatches to General Hal :
eek, General Grant and Mr.. Stanton Of (
1afa OF
dressed
I. I'm all these letters haze stated clear
v and distinctly that Johnsons army
would not fight. but if pressed would
lisband and scatter into small aud dan
yerous guerrilla parties, as injurious to !
he interests of the United Suites as TO
he rebels themselves. That all parties
Omitted that the rebel cause of the I
south was abandoned That the negro ;
vas free that the temper of all was
most favorable to lasting peace. l say
Ill these opinions of mine were withheld .
rom the public with n seeming purpose, /
md | do contend that my official eN-
'erience and former service. as well as
ny-past life and familiarity with the 1
'eoplc and geography OF the South, I
'ntitle my opinions to at least a decent
pect .. ......-..-.
Although this dispatch of Mr. Stan
on 5 of April 9th was printed officially.
I had come to me only in the question:
lie newspaper paragraphs under the
lead of Sherman truce disregarded.
had already done what Gen. Wilson
wanted me to do. namely, ha,l sent him
upplies Of clothing and food, with clear
md distinct orders and instructions how !
o carry out in Western Georgia the
ermS for the surrender of arms and
,aroling OF prisoners made by Gen
Johnston capituIation OF April 26th,
Ind had properly and most opportunely
ordered Gen. Gilmore 10 occupy Or
and Augusta, both strategic
points of great value in all times in
,eace or war. but as the Secretary nad
AIKEN upon himself to order my subordi-
late General TO diSobey my orders. ex-
,lained TO Gen. Gilmore that | would no /
onger confuse him or Gen. Wilson with
,r,iers that might coDaet with those OF I
he Secretary which. a. reported. were