Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-02-06
any attempted reinstatement of Mr.

any attempted reinstatement of Mr..
Stanton. .H Iem 81 ,d-f
This account of what passed between
us at the Cabinet meeting on the 4th
inst, widely differs from that contained
in your communication, for it shows that
instead of having stated our conversa-
tions as given in the letter which has
made this reply necessary, you admitted
that my recital of them was entirely ac
curate. s ss
Sincerely anxious, however. to be cor
rect in my statements, have to day
read this narration of what occurred on
the 14th instant, to the members of the
Cabinet who were then present. They
without exception agree in its accuracy.
It's only necessary to add that on
Wednesday morning the 18th. you called |
on me, in company with Lieut.. Gen.
Sherman. After some preliminary con-
versation you remarked that an article
in the National Ltelligencer, of that
date, did you much injustice. Ireplied
/ had not read the Intelligencer of that
morning. You first told me it was our
intention to urge Mr.. Stanton to resign
his Office after you had withdrawn II
carefully read the article of which you
spoke, and found its statement of the
understanding between us was substan-
TALLY correct. On the 18th caused it
to be read to four of the FIVE members of
the Cabinet who were present at our
conference on the 14th, and they con-
Cured in the general accuracy of the
statements respecting our conversation
on that occasion. q. s,fsssf s...,.. ~.
Inreply to your communication I have
deemed it proper, to prevent further mis-
understanding, to make this simple re-
cital of facts. --- -s-t -.-so..s r,..-.-.- e
- Very respectfully, yours,
h. .,.-..-.- - s, ANDREW JOHNSON.
General U. S. Grant, Commanding
U. S, A.
h GEN. GRANT TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
HEADa'Rs ARMIES OF THE U. S..
WASHINGTON, d. c., Feb. 3, 1868.
HIS Ercelzency, Andrew johnson, Presi-
dent. o
SIR: Ihave the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your communication of the
31st ult., in answer to mine of the 2Sth
ult After a careful reading and COM
parison of it with the article in the Intel
hgencer of the 18th ult., and the article
over the initials j. B. s., in the Neu
York World of the 9th ult., purporting
to be based upon your statement, and
that of the members ofthe Cabinet there
in named, find it to be but reitera-
tion, only somewhat more in detail, of
the many and gross misrepresentation
contained in these articles, and which
my statement of facts, set forth in my
letter of the oath ult., was intended to
correct; and herein l reassert the cor
rectness of my statements in that letter,
anything in yours in reply to the con-
trary Notwithstanding.
confess my surprise that the Cabi-
net officers referred to should so greatly
misapprehend the facts in the matter of
admissions alleged to have been made
by me at the Cabinet meeting on the
14th ult., as to suffer their names to be
made the basis of the charges in the
newspaper article referred to, or agree to
the accuracy, as you affirm they do, of
your account of what occurred at that
meeting. ef 5.aizcessF f
You know we parted on the 1 11th ult,
without any promise, on my part. ex-
pressed or implied, to the effect that
would hold on to the Office of Secretary
of War ad interim, against the action of
the Senate, or declining to do so, would
surrender it to you before such action
was had, or that 1 would see you again
at any fixed time on the subject.
~ The performance of the promises al
legged to have been made by me, would
have involved a resistance of the law,
and an inconsistency with the whole
history of my connection with the sus-
pension of Mr.. Stanton. From our con-
versations, and my written protest of
| August |, 1867, against the removal OF
Mr.. Stanton, you must have known that
my greatest objection to his removal was
the fear that some one would be appoint
ed in his stead, who would, by opposi.
tion to the laws relating to the restora-
tion of the Southern States to theil
proper relations to the Government, EN-.
barrass the army in the performance o.
the duties especially imposed upon it by
the laws, and that it was to prevent such
an appointment that l accepted the ap
pointment of Secretary of War ad an
terim, and not for the purpose of ena
bling you to get rid of Mr.. Stanton BY
Withholding it. from him in opposition t,
law, or, not doing so myself, surrender t.
one who, as the statement and assump
tion in your communication plainly in
dicate, was sought. And it was to ayoi,
this danger, as well as to relieve yo,
from the personal embarrassment il
which Mr.. Stanton's reinstatement
would place you, that l urged the ap
pointment of Governor Cox, believing
would be agreeable to you and also +
Mr.. Stanton, satisfied, as l was, that tn
good of the country and not the ofic
was what the latter desired.
On the 18th ult., in the presence O
Gen. Sherman, I stated to you that
! thought Mr., Stanton would resign. bu
did not say would advise him to do sc
On the 18th did agree with Gen. Sher
man to go and advise him to that course
and on the 10Th had an interview alon
with Mr.. Stanton, which led me to tn
conclusion that my advice would be use
less, and so informed Gen. Sherman
Before I consented to advise Mr.. Stan
ton to resign, understood from him, il
conversation ON the subject, immediatel
on his reinstatement, that it was his opin
ion that the act of Congress entitled "a
act, temporarily to supply vacancies il
the Executive Department in certai
cases, approved February Goth, 1868,
was repealed by subsequent Legislation
: which latter influenced nv action. Pre-