Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-02-12

ment of successor. As stated In your
letter, the nomination of Governor
Cox, Of Ohio, for Secretary Of War, was
suggested to me. This appointment,
as Mr.. Stanton's successor, was urged
IN your name, and it was said that his
selection would save further embarrass-
ment. L did not think that in the
selection OF q Cabinet officer 1 should
be trammelled by such considerations.
was prepared to take the responsible
ty of deciding the question in accord
ance with my ideas of Constitutional
duties, and having determined upon a
course which I deemed right and prop
er, 1 was anxious to learn the steps you
would take should the possession of
the War Department be demanded by
Mr.. Stanton. Had your action been in
conformity with the understanding be-
tween US, do not believe that the en-
barrassment would have attained its
present proportions, or that the proba-
bility of its repetition would have been
so great know that with a view to any
early termination of State affairs, 50
detrimental to the public interests, you
voluntarily offered both on Monday
the 18th inst, and on the succeeding
Sunday, to call upon Mr.. Stanton and
urge upon him that the good of the
service required his resignation. I
confess l considered your proposal as a
sort Of reparation for the failure on
your part to act in accordance with an
understanding more than once repeat
ed, which thought received your full
assent, and under which you could
have returned to ne the office which ;
had conferred upon you, thus saving
| yourself from embarrassment and leaY-
ing the responsibility where it properly
belonged, with the President, who is
accountable for the faithful execution
of the law. l have not as yet been in
formed by you whether as twice pro-
posed by yourself, you had called upon
Mr.. Stanton and made an effort to in
duce him voluntarily to resign from the
War Department. You conclude your
communication with reference to our
conversation at the meeting Of the
Cabinet held on the 14th inst. In
your account of what there occurred,
/ you say that after the President had
given his version Of our previous con-
VeFsations, you stated them substantial
ly as given in your letter, and that you
in no wise admitted the correctness Of
his statement, although, to soften the
evident contradiction Of my statement
made, said, alluding to our first COM
munication on the subject, that the
President might have understood it in
the way said, viz: THAT had promis-
ed to resign if did not resist reInstate-
ment." made no such promise. Ny
recolleetion of what then transpired is
Numerically the reverse of your mar
ratiVe. In the presence of the Cabinet,
asked you first, if, in a conversation
which took place shortly after your ap-
pointment as SecTtary Of War aG interim,
you did agree 10 remain at the head of
the War Department and abide any
judicial proceedings that might follow
the non-eoncurrence Of the Senate IN
Mr.. Stanton's suspsnsion; or, should
you not wish to become involved in
such controversy, put me in the same
position, with reference to the office, as
that previous to your appointment, BY
returning it to me In time to anticipate
such action by the Senate. This you
admitted. Second, / then asked you
if at the time Of the conference on the
preceding Saturday had not, to avoid
misunderstanding, requested you 20
state what you intended to do; and
further, If IN reply to that inquiry you
had not referred 10 my former conyer-
sations saying that from them under
stood your position, and that your
action would be consistent with the eun-
derstanding which had been reached
To these questions you also replied in
the aff1rmEtiTe. Third, I nazt asked if
at the conclusion of our interview on
Saturday, II was understood that we
were to have smother conference on
Monday before final action was had BY
the Senate on the case of Mr.. Stanton.
You replied that such was the under
standing, but that you did not suppose
that the Senate would act so soon ;;
that on Monday you had been engaged
in a conference with Gen. Sherman,
and were occupied with many little
matters, and asked if Gen Sherman
had not called on thst day. What
relevancy Gen. Sherman's visit to me
on Monday had with the purpose for
which you were to have called i am at
a loss to perceive, as he certainly did
not inform me whether you had de
termined to retain the office, or to
afford me an opportunity to appoint a
successor in advance of any attempted
reinstatement of Mr.. Stanton. This
account of what passed between US at
the Cabinet meeting on the l4th inst,
widely differs from that contained IN
your communication, for It shows that
instea ad of having stated our converse
tion, as given in the letter, which has
made this reply necessary, You admit
ted that my recital of them was entire
ly accurate. Sincerely anxious, how
ever, to be correct in my statements,
l have to-day read this narration OF
what occurred on the l4th inst, to the
members of the Cabinet, who were
then present. They, without exception,
agree with lis accuracy. It Is only
necessary to add that on Wednesday
morning, the 18th. you called on me in
company with Lieutenant General
Sherman. After some preliminary
conversation you remarked that an AZ
ticle in the National Intelligencer OF
that date did you much injustice.
replied that had not read the Intelli-
gencer Of that morning. You first told
ne that il was your intention to urge
Mr.. Stanton to resign his Office. After l
you had Withdrawn, 1 carefully read
the article of which you spoke, and
found its statement of the understand
ing between Us was substantially cor
rect. On the 1Tth I caused it to be
read to four or FIVE members of the
Cabinet who were present at our con-
ference on the l4th, and they concur
red in the general accuracy OF the
statements respecting our conversation
on that occasion. In reply to your
communication, have deemed 1t
proper to prevent further misunder-
standing, to maks this simple recital
of facts.
Very respectfully yours,
ANDRKW JOHNSON.
General U. s. Grant, Commanding United
States ATmy.
HEAD QuARTEzs ARlnEs OF IHE o. S.
Washington. D. C.. February 8. lSOS.J
To His EresRsneU .Aadrso .Jo6Rson, Pres