The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1867-12-05
Gan. Grant--uen, L.c.

p,d;cols are welcome TO all the capita
.h.y a make out Of General Grant
testimony before the Impeachins Com
mittce. We do not think it will contri
h,,te much to their comfort, nor v'slb'.'
add to their peace Of mind.
The General, it would seem, had fire.
o,cntly to "set his foot down. a
Washington, in order to preserve hi
avn good faith in the terms of surren
dor with General Lee,--the Radicals
thirst for revenge making them 4nit'
iosepsible to any considerations of thai
lind, At one time, under their clam
arg, even the President seems to have
ciyen way a little and to have express
4 cd himself even DESTROYS Of having
VI General Lee arrested and tried for trca
son.
TErtracs from the Testimony
u Question--By Mr. Eldridge-Did
4 YOU ever give your opinion to the
N President that his proclamation inter
\ fered with the stipulations between
4 Yourself and Gen. Lee?
Answer-Gen. Grant-No, sir,
\ frequently had to intercedc for Gen.
Lee and other paroled officers, on the
ground that their parole, SO long as
they obeyed the laws of the United
States, protected them from arrest and
trial. The President at the time wall
ted to know when the time would come
that they should be punished. told
him not so long as they obeyed the
laws and complied with the stipulation.
This was the ground / took.
@. Did you not also insist that that
applied as we'll to the common soldieri
A.. Ofcourse it applied to every one
who took the parole, but the matter
was not canvassed except IN case Of
some of the leaders l claimed that in
surrendering their armies and arms
they had done what they could not all
of them been compelled to do, as a
norton of them could have escaped,
but they surrendered in consideration
of the fact that they were to he exempt
from trial so long as they conformed
to the obligations they had taken AMI
they were entitled to that.
8. You looked on that in the n0tu!e
Of parole, and held that they could
only be tried when they violated that
parole? A. Yes that was the view 1
tool. of the question.
@. That is your view still? A, Yes,
sir, unqucstionably.
@. Did you understand that to ap.
ply to Gen. Lee? A Certainly.
@. That was your understanding OF
the arrangement which you made with
Gen. Lee? A. That was my under
standing Of an arrangement which |
gave voluntarily; Gen. Lees army
vas the first to surrender, nldl be!iev-
that with such terms all the rebel ar
mics would surrender, and that We
would thus avoid b~usllwhacking and 4
continuation Of the war in a way Lat
we would make very little progress
with, having no organized armies meet.
@. You considered that the like terms
Y Q given / y General Sherman to the
armies which surrendered TO him? A
Yes sir: and 10 all the armies that sur.
rendered after that.
@. And you held that so long as tl.eJ
kept their parole Of honor, and obeyel
the Laws, trey were not subject to b.
tried by courts? "A. That is my opin-
ion. IwU state here Mn I an not quite
celluiu mh ter am Jenjt ried Of ~ao
is being hied by The question asfsa.
Mr.. L d idye--l am not trying any.
body, l ain inquirlny rs to the Pros'-
dent s. proclamation, and to the view,
he entertained did you give these views
to the President?
General Grant, have stated those
views to the President frequently, and,
as / have said, he disagreed with me
in those views: he insisted on ii that tie
leaders must be punished. and wanted to
know uhen tie time would come Mat those
prisoners COUtu Ot tTteu 4 tO'u Nf"' "h'"
Mey uio1ated their parole.
@. Did you consider that that oppli
cd to jeff Davis? A. No, sir, he did
not take any parole.
@. He did not surrender? A. No,
sir; it applied to no person who was
G rturef. o 'ly TO those who we're parol-
cd.
@. Did the President insist that
Gen. Lee should be tried for treason ?
A. He contended for 1t.
@. And you ca ned to him that the
parole which General Lee had given
would be violated in such a trial? A..
1 did / insisted ON it that General Lee
would not have surrendered his army
and given up all their arms, if he sup.
posed that after surrendering he was
going to be tried for treason and han.
gcd; l thought we got u very good
equivalent for the lives of a few leaders
in getting all their arms and getting
themselves under c. n rol, bound BY
their oaths to obey the laws; that was
the consideration which / in sisted up
on we had rece.v d."
Uere We have the blunt mauliness Of
an honest-heartcd soldier, sensitive un-
der the threatened violation of the
terms he had conceded to an enemy
that had laid down his a ms,.-c0ntras
ted with the u~nspcakable li,tleness Of
the "scurvy politicians" bent only
upon revenge, and the further humilia-
ton of q vanquished and unarmed foe.
We are obliged to MIR. E!dridge-an
opponent of impeachment-for thus
making the contrast. The Radicals,
if they have any shame left, must blush
at it. Let the reto:d stand just as it is,
for posterity to study,-aud to wonder
that tho aoe could have produced q fac.