Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1865-12-20
NEW POINTS m GRANTS REPORT.


With reference to the report Of Gen.
eral Grant, says the Lancaster Inquirer,
which accompanied the Presidents, mes.
sage, we prefer to set before our readers
that which is new in the Generals nara
tive rather than to publish the whole ofit,
containing, as it does, so much that is
well known. When he took command Of
all the forces as General in Chief, hs
found the armies of the East and the
West acting without concert, and, ''likc {,
balky team, no two ever pulling togeth
er." This gave the enemy great advant.
age Of using the same force, a. different
seasons, against first one and then the
other Of our armies, or else of withdraw
ing one or the o.her to obtain rest. This
he determined to stop by keeping both OF
the great armies Of the enemy employed
all the time. and then, as he says, to ham
mer continuously" against them with the
greatest possible number of troops he
could procure, until there should be moth
ing left to the enemy, but submission =
Here we have the whole secret of hs
''stratsey."
A little way further on iu the report We
learn that General Grant, before starting
across the Rapidan, in his Richmond cam
paign, made known his purpose to put the
Army of the Potomac on the south side Of
James river, if he could not beat Lee
withing going there This revelation
over-throws all the newspaper argumeu,
tation that has been INDUCED in, on the
theory that he never designed to 90 there
at all, but was forced off his line.
The next thing that attracts attention
is the following handsome tribute to Gen.
Meade:
Il may here state that, commanding all
the armies, as did. | tried, as far as pos.
sible, 20 leave Gen. Meade in independent
command of the Army of the Potomac.
! Nv instructions for that army we're all
through him, and were general in their
nature, leaving all The details and the exc
cution to hin The campaigns that fol-
lowed proved him to be the right man in
the righ.olace. His commanding always in
the presence of an officer superior to him
"a rank, has drawn from him much of that
public attention that his zeal and ability
enttle him TO, aud which he would other
wise have received"
Here, again, is disastrous defeat to
the newspapers. and particularly to those
which supposed that, because they kept
General Meade's name out Cf their col
umns, the world would never know that
he was the able and successful command
er of the army of the Potomac.
1t is easy enough. however to perceive
which OF the army commanders had the
entire confidence of General Grant
Thus he speaks in the same hearty terms
of Sheridan. He made Sheridan visit
before the campaign of the latter in The
Shenandoah Valley, as he wished to see
the positions and surroundings himself
But he was so we'll satisfied with what
Sheridan placed before him that he saw
but tiUo uords of Instructions we're ne
cessary, end those two were 'go in y
General Grant saws he never deemed it
necessary to visit Sheridan again before
giving him orders
OF Sherman's movement from Chatta-
nooga to Atlanta he says that it was
'sprompt, skiIful and brilliant" and that
the .history of his flank movements and
battles during that memorable campaign
will ever be read with an interest unsur-
passed by anything in history" We learn
from this report also that "Shermau's 3
march to the sea" was not result OF
Hoods flank movement from Atlanta, as
was universally believed at the time, but
that he had planned it deliberately
and laid the general features of it befrre
| General Grant, more than two months
before he moved. and more than one
! month before Hood started on his fatal
tramp to Tennessee. We learn too, that
Grant had doubts about the movements,
tu finally yield his consent.
1t now appears also that General Grant
was very anxious about the cautious pro-
ceediugs of General Thomas previous to
the battle of Nashville. hut he now says
that "the final defeat of Hood was so COM
plete as to viudicate the judgment of that
distinguished officer" General Thm-
asl He speaks warmly of Gen. Scio-
fed. giving him the credit of indictng
fatal blow to Hood before the battle of
Nashville.
In the course of the narrative we find
two illustrations of the damage done by
indiscreet publications Of army move
meuts. While speaking of the prepara-
tions for the expedition against Fort Fish
er. General Grant says, that through the
''imprudence of the pr.ss," the enemy
was warned, and the sailing of the feet
had to be postponed. The other case
worked to our advantage, for General
Grant says that he learned all about the
plans of the enemy through the speech
that Jefferson Davis made at Macon,
Georgia. in the fall! of 1864, aud which
was fully reported in the Southern press.
A HARMoNtOUs JURY Have the
Jury agreed ?" asked the baiiff of lock-