The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1865-07-25

efssRAL suTlEHs rrsr,HoSr.

The evidence OF M.jot General
Butler states
! will .Aie what determined mr.
mind agaiaa remaining on the beach
near Fort Fisher | vas BY no means
unmiodlul oi the Instructions Of the
Lieut., naut General. lie had direct.
ed me to remain II had Effected .
landing. II ! had effected landing
! should have remained. Bot land
ing requires something more than 10
land : 500 men, uul Of $500. on =
beach with nothing but forty rounds
IN their cartridge bo1es. and where
their supplies would be driven of The
feet Storm. ! did nog think that was
landing within my Instructions. there
lore deemed Il much bsiIer Coz the
country 10 withdraw a. did that Il
was much less risk, and much better
tor the luluse,for II il was necessary,a
sufficient number OF men could hold
the line OF communication from Ma.
sonboro' Inlet down TO Fort Fisher;
and Il they could be spared from the
armies round Richmond could be sent
down there. where they could 20 in
with six feet Of water, and from thence
operating against Fort Fisher, they
could come prepared Tor siege aud
remain there.
by going away | would draw OF
the enemys attrntion il ! remained
there it would keep his forces concern
trated at that point; aud IL | was
driven away by the storm that was
coming up, then should lose the men
| had landed acted Cor the best ac-
cordng to the light ! had.
EVIDENCE or GENERAL wEIrzELL.
Major General Weitzel deposed
Question ~ Was there anything
done, or ommiiied TO be done, which
you would not have done, or omitted,
II you had had iull command Of tho
expedition
Answer--Yes, sir; II had the in.
structions that Gene,al Grant gave
TO General butler. ! would have done
one thing that General Butler did no.
do; ] would have cntrenched and re-
NAMED there | should certainly have
done that /; and have written 10 Gen.
eral Butler that was sorr, he did not
show me that letter Of Instructions, so
that ] could have advised him about
that there is where General Butler
clearly made mistake the order
s,-,m. to be explicit that he should
remain there; no matter what The
difficulties were, that order would have
covered him from an, consequences.
Q. Did The condition Of things ex.
isl lhere which thai order contemp-
lated I A. ] think so.
q In relation 10 the landing Of
ironps, &c.. A. ihink 50. The
order SIMPLY said thai if the work did
did noriall ut once, he WAS 70 in,renrh
thcre. The object appeared TO me to
be 10 secure landing, and to hold IL
after you have secured it.
q. Was there. or not, in your
opinion, any difficulty IN securing
landing there that could be held p
Thai Is, could you land your whole
force and the supplies necessary to
sustain them? A. In my opinion,
it would have been difficult, to have
done it but still, with an order like
that. junior officer should obey II
and then The responsibility OF such u
step falls upon the one who gave the
order.
GENERAL GRANTS VERSION.
Lieutenant. General Grant deliver
ed the following evidence
Question. The expectation was to
surprise the fort Answer. Yes,
sir; aud my instructions were very
clear, that il they affected landing
thsre above Fort Fisher. that in itself
was to be considered n success and
Il the fort did not fall Immediately up
on their landing, then they were to
enrench themselves, and remain there
and cooperate with the navy until the
for did fall. In my instructions, I
provided for n bold dash for the cap.
ture OF Wilmington, in ease Fort Fish
er did tall Immediately upon the land
ing OF the troops. II il did not fall,
then they were TO eDtrench, enter up
on siege of the place, and remain
there until il did fall. And the cap
ture Of Wilmington would thus become
matter Of future consideration
General Butler came away from Fort
Fisher in violation OF the instructions
which gave him. From bis own Of
fetal report, il is evident that be for.
got his instructions in that particular
his repott shows that.