New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-04-20
The following has recently appeared:

IGe following mas recently dppehltu'
To Lieutenant General U. Grant United States Army
As long ago as last August ! saw in the New FORK
Herald paragraph purporting to give some eX.
pressons of yours concerning me, during your
tour through the Northern States and Canada. 1t
was as follows:
@ General Grant. while IN Springfield, Mass,
conyersed very freely upon topics of general int
rest connected with the army. He said that Gene
raj Buell. was thoroughly yersed III the theory Of
war; but knew nothing Of handling men in an
war from the first. He said that Buell. might have
reached Pittsburg Landing several days earlier
than he did, in which case GEL eral Grant would
have been the attacking party"
Immediately called your attention to this para.
graph, and requested you to avow or disayow the
remarks imputed to you; and again on the 9th OF
December did the same thing. On The 4th OF
January received your reply, dated the 10th OF
December. In that you say You have no recol
lection of the reported conversation; and if any
such occurred, you know that your remarks could
not have been quoted correctly. For instance
you say in regard to my want Of ability to com
mand IN the presence of an enemy, or in battle, "
you have always thought and frequently expressed
yourself differently; and on the subject of my
heart never having been in the cause,n you
must, You say, certainly have been misunderstood
You supposed me to be earnest while | was il
command etc. You add, however, that my 81 let
tiers published since have rather given the idea
that wanted the Union saved in particular way
and that way different from the one which was
being pursued" Your impression would have
been more accurate if you had understood that
desired that the Union Should be preserved or re.
stored-net destroyed. Aut without going into
definitions or drawing the line of difference,
must say here that the conclusion which you have
drawn from my expressions is substantially cor
rect.
In regard to the battle of Shiloh youEexplana-
ton. which shall quote further on, quail some-
what the statement in the newspaper report refer
red to; but allowing for the zeal of pOrtizans,
there is enough in it to confirm the Tumors l have
heard, that the reflections which at various times
have been actively and extensively circulated to
my movements prior to the battle drew their inspi.
rations from your headquarters. You may, there
fore, fairly be regarded as responsible for them,
and / shall take them up in the form in which they
have been circulated.
And first, who ever asserted that could not
have reached Pittsburg Landing earlier than |
did Not ], nor any one in my name. Undoubt-
eddy could have moved by forced marches before
you were attacked on the 9Th of April, as did
afterward and so have reached Savannah in time
to avert the disaster of that day bnt in stating
barely that I could have done so; as in the para
graph which | have quoted, the allegation is i'm
piled that was remiss in not doing so. | shall
show that the facts do not warrant any such
imputation.
After giving number of Official dispatches,
General Buell. proceeds:
From these facts it results that my movement
had for Its object not to rescue you from impend-
Ing ulstrucIon Dub form JuIlcuOn Win you Tor a
deliberate campaign under our common superior
and all statements TO the effect that knew you
were in peril and yet failed to hasten 10 your sue
cor, are without foundation. Had I acted
on your dispatch to General Nelson or
on General Hallack's authority to halt at
Waynesboro, the time you designated for me to
commence crossing the river would have found the
remnant of your army prisoners in the camps OF
the enemy; though in point of fact, as far as
numbers were concerned, you were limo need of
assistance, for you had several thousand more
men than your assailant, and the simplest dispo-
sltien of your troops for battle ought to have
secured to you the victory. 7=
But, the country has not only been made to
shndder at the narrowness OF, your escape, but to
grieve at the failure Of ripe plans in consequence
of my non-arrval: and, therefore, shall not close
this letter until have examined the declaration
that, if / had arrived earlier at Savannah, you
would have have been the attacking party. yas
In the face of all these facts-tte lack Of au-
thority; the restraint of ORDERS as you yourself
interpreted them, the absence of means where.
with to move, and of plan or preparation, or
probability of moving-lt is impossible to suppress
earlier you would have been the attacking party.
And if that theory could be Invested of the in
credulity in which the more positive evidence
clothes it, the doubt would still continually recur
when men, sitting in impartial Judgment on all
the facts, and comparing your letter of the 4th of
April to General Nelson, with that of the 9th of
April to me, inquire with amusement as they
must do, why it was that, considering yourself in
jeopardy, and expecting an attack on Monday,
you made no preparation to avail yourself of re-
endorsements until Tuesday; and why, whether
your force was sufficient or insufficient, you made
no disposition Of the troops already Oh the ground
to meet the expected danger. 10.