New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-02-09


may meet with some success In this sort OF
conflict when he is pitsed against opponents
Of type similar to bis own, but he fails
miserably when he measures himself against
man of true sagaeity and earnest pur-
pose. Cunning is sometimes successful, but
it is sorry weapon when tits opposed to a
wise experience.
The faverite device Of Mr., johnson for a
year past has been to attempt to entrap
military commanders, subordinate to him
as commander-in-eh into violation or
notification of the laws of Congress without
committing himself by such written in
structions as would make him responsible
for their acts. He imagined that in
this way he could practically de-
feat the will of Congress, and
at the same time when called to
account be able to say; g did not do this
thing it was doae by Pope, or Sheridan,
or Siekles,n or somebody else, as the case
might be. But in this attempt he was sig
nally and continually unsuccessful, and
simply because military men who achieve
high position do SO in virtue of a practiced
sagacity, a power of insight fertility of
resource, a combined boldness and pru-
denoe, compared with which the mental
outfit OF crossroads politician is entirely
Insignificant. The successful commander
is swift in attack and wary in defense. 70
conceal his owA purposes and to discover
those of his enemy, to avoid snares and
ambuscades, to observe every movement
to draw a true conclusion from every cir
cumstance, to combine the greatest amount
of daring with the greatest amount of eau
tion-these are the aim and the attainment
Of the great soldier and such a soldier is
no more to be deceived by Mr.. Johnson's
petty tricks than the hunter of the desert is
by the shallow artifice of the ostrich, who
thiaks she has concealed herself when she
has hidden her head only in the sand,
Yet in spite of repeated failures, Mr..
johnson again tries his little game,
and this time on General Grant.
He thinks to bamboozle the hero
of Donelson, of Vicksburg, Of Mission
Ridge, and the Wilderness-to hoodwink
the soldier whose life has been for years
one steady tension of watehfulness and ac-
tiyity. lie tries the stale trick on him He
to involve in disaster the chieftain
whom all the leaders of the oonfederaey,
with all their consummate skill, could not
entcap. In the matter of Mr.. Stanton he
tries to involve Grant in violation of the
tenure Of office law, without giving him any
written instructions, by verbal hints, by
verbal suggestions, which could be easily
denied or ingeniously explained away in
case Of after-inquiry, so that when congress
should ask, Why have you nulliGed our
law" he could reply with verbose mes
sage, saying that he knew nothing about
it-that General Grant was the culprit. OF
course Mr., Johnson was utterly defeated 10 |
this shallow scheme, and the concluding
of the generals last published |
letter on the subject is the best comment- |
airy on the whole affair:
And now, Mr. President, when my honor
rs soldier and integrity as man have
been SO violently assailed, pardon me for
aging that l can but regard this whole |
matter, from beginning to end, as an at |
iempt to involve me in the resistance of the |
aw, for which you hesitated to assume the |
esponsibility, ia order thus to destroy my /
before the country. / am in a |
confirmed in this conclusion by |
your recent orders directing me to disobey |
orders from the secretary Of war, my supe- 4
rior and your subordinate, without having /
his authority to issue the |
orders ana 10 obey.
With assurance, Mr.. President, that
nothing less than vindication of my per-
sonal honor and character could have in
1aeed this correspondence on my part, |
have the honor to be, very respectfully, |
yonr obedient servant
U. s. GRANT, General.
This is not the first time that Grant has |
aad occasion to write a report of a decided |