South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1868-02-21

and navy, and is, therefore, the Official SUI
perior rs we'll oftbesG General OF the army as
Of the Secretary of Wer."
Following this is the Presidents letter to the
Secretaries present the I4th of January CONVEX
sation. lie says;
"This mornings Chronicle contains the
CORE spondencc betuoen the President and
Grant reported fsom the War Department
10 answer to call from the House,, and
he calls attention to the correspondence
and especially that part relating converse
tions between Grant and the President, and
rcqu ,sts siatemeuts from each Secretary of
what ,gGs said on that occasion.
Secretary Welles replies ''My rccollcc-
ton of the .conveFsa tian corresponds with
your s;a,cment of II la Your letter Of Jan
uary 81 The three points specified in that
letter giving your recollection of the con.
yersation are correctly stated"
Secretary McCulloch says al cannot un-
dertake to state the precise language used,
but | have no hesitation in saying that your
account of that conversation rs given in
your letter 10 General Grant, Of the 3 lst.
substantially and in all Important particu-
liars nccords with my recollection ofit"
|. Secretary Randall says: ~ have read
carefully the. correspandenco in question,
and particularly the letter Of the President
10, General Grant, of the 3lst, The fol
lowing .ex!ract from that letter is accord
ing to ny recollection correct statement
of the conversation that took place between
the President and General Grant at the Ca
binet meeting on the l4ihs of january" -
Mr.. Randall here quotes the Presidents
version. g t.-,a
Secretary Stewards letter is quite long, giving
detailed account of his iinPres slams Of what
Cured Quoting tue sgbstau of what the Pres
ideut said, Mr.. Seward says;
81 did not understand General Grant as
denying nor as explicitly admitting these
statements in the form and full extent to
which you made them His admission of
them was rather indirect and eircumstan-
tial, though did not understand it to be
an evasivc one. After further detail Mr.
Seward continues -"Certainly Gen Grant
did not at any time, in the Cabinet meet.
ing, insist that he had, in the Saturdays
conversation, either distinctly or finally ad-
viscd you of his determination to retire
from the charge of the War Department
oNliNi nlcS tihh GhuNi Jout ONll oNboNiAtlit
direction. He acquiesccd in your state
mcnt that the Saturdays conversation end
ed with an expectation that there would be
subsequent conference on tue subject,
which, he, as well as yourself, supposed
could reasonably have taken place on Mon
day. General Grant admitted that it was
his expectation or purpose to call on you
on Monday. General Grant assigned rea-
sons for the omission"
Mr. Stewards letter caused Shouts of alter
nate dorision aud incredulity from the Republic
cans ia the House his cautious narrative
proceeded.
Secretary Browning's letter Is also quite long,
and mainly a repetition Of the others.
GENERAL GRANTS REPLY.
General Grant has already written reply to
the President, opening thus
81 have the honor to acknowledge the re-
ccipt Of your communication of the 10Th
instant, accompanied by statements of FIVE
Cabinet officers of their recollection Of what
occurred in the Cabinet meeting on the
18th January. Without admitting any
thing contained in these statements where
they differ from anything heretofore stat
ed by me, propose to notice only that por-
ton Of your communication wherein | am
charged with characterization. Grant then
proceeds to argue the point at some length.