Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1868-02-21

order given to you verbally Ave dsya be-
fore to disregard orders from Mf. stanton
as Secretary of War until you knew from
the President himself that those were his
orders. On the Goth, in compliance with
your request, did give you instructions
in writing not to obey any order from the
War Department assumed to be Issued by
the direction of the President, unless such
order is known by the General command.
ing the armies of the United States to have
been authorized by the Executive. There
are some orders which Secretary of War
may issue without the authority Of the
President. There are others which he
issues simply as the agento OF the President,
and which purport to be given by dlrec-
ton of the President. For such orders
the President irresponsible, and he should,
therefore, know and understand what they
are before giving such direction. Mr..
Stanton, in his letter Of the 9TH inst,
which accompanies the published cores
pcndence with the President says that
since he resumed the duties of the office
he has continued to discharge them with
out any personal or written communication
with the President, and he adds: No
orders have been issued from this depart
ment in the name of the President with
my knowledge, and / have Received no
orders from him" 1t thus seems that Mr..
Stanton now discharges the duties of the
War Department without any reference to
the President, and without using his name.
MY order to you had only reference to
orders assumed to be issued by the Presi-
dent. 1t would appear from Mr.. Stanton's
letter that~you,~ have received no such
orders from him In your note to the
President of the 18th ult., in which you
acknowledge the receipt of the written
order of the goth, you say that you have
been informed by Mr.. Stanton that he has
not received any order limiting his
authority to issue orders to the army, &C
acording to the practice of the department,
and state that, "while this authority to
the War Department is not counter
manded, it will be satisfactory evidence to
me that any orders issued from the War
Department by direction of the President
are authorized by the Executive" The
President issues an order to you to obey no
order from the War Department purport.
ing to be made by direction of the Presi-
dent until you have referred it to him for
his approval You reply that you have re-
ceived the Presidents order and will not
obey it, but will obey an order purporting
to be given by his direction, il it comes
from the War Department. You will obey
no direct order of the President, but will
obey his indirect order. If as you say,
there has been practice in the War De-
partment to issue orders in the name of
the President without his direction, does
not the precise order you have requested
and received change the practice as to the
General of the Army? Gould not The
President countermand any such order,
issued in the name of the President, to do
a special act, by an order directly from
the President himself not to do the act
Is there doubt which you are to obey?
You answer the question, when you say to
the President, In your letter of the Sd inst,
"the Secretary of War is my Superior and
your subordinate" and yet you refuse
obedience to the superior, and act in defer
ence to the subordinate. Without further
comment on the subordinate attitude which
you have assumed, I am at a loss to know
how you can relieve yourself from the
orders of the President, who is made by the
Constitution Commander in Chief of the
army and navy, and is therefore the official
superior, as well of the General of the
Army as of the Secretary of War.
Respectfully yours,
ANDREW JOHNSON. =
General U. s. Grant, commal ding armies of the
United States, Washington, D. G. t-
The letter of the President is accom-
panied by letters from the Secretaries of
the Navy, Treasury, Interior and State,
and the Postmaster General, supporting
his position in response to the following
Iattnr of tho procidnnf.
THE PRESIDENT TO HIS CABINET.
-r-- ~ 14 EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WARRINGTON, D. O., Feb. s, 1868.
SIR: The Chronicle of this morning con-
tains a correspondence between the presi-
dent and General Grant, reported from
the War Department, in answer to rsso-
luton of the House of Representativ IS.
beg to call your attention to that corre.'-
pondence, especially to that part of il
which refers to the conversation between
the President and General Grant at the
Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the 14th of
January, and request you to state what
was said in that conversation. glaW
Very respectfully, yours,
ANDREW JOHNSON.