Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1868-02-14

osneE eoIl1erence on Monday. before
\ mai aSsSlon by the Senats on the case ol
AAr-- stanton. You replied that such
was the understanding, but that vreu
did not suppose the Senate would RFt "a
soon; that on Monday Won had beers en-
gagged IN q conference with General
snerEnans and were occupied with
many lit ttteHl ALTERS, and asked ffGener-
e Sherman had net called on nae Gnat
cay. What reTeiancV Gen. Shsrizla1l's IS
VISIT 10 me on Monday had with the
purpose Tor which yeh were to have
called am at a loss to peresive, as he
certainly did not inform me whether
ycu had determined 70 retain the Office
or to afford me opportunity to appoint
successor IN adVanc5 Of any at6emDt-
cd reinstatement Of Mr.. Stanton.
This account Of what passed between
us at the Cabinet meeting on the 14th
inst, widely differs from that contained
IN your communication, tor it shows
that instead OF having stated our con
versauons as given in the letter which
has made this reply necessary, you ad-
niaitted that my recital Of them was en-
tireiY- accurate
Sincerely anxious. however. to be cor
rect in my statements,I ] have to-day
read this narration Of what occurred on
the 18th Instant to the members Of. the
Cabinet who were then present. They
without exception agree I'm its accuracy.
IL rs only necessary TO add that on
Wednesday morning, the 18th. you. call
ed on me, IN company with Lieut.. Gen.
sherman After some preliminary con
versation you remarked that an article
IN the National IntetliuenceF, OF that
date, did you much injustice. I replied
/ had not read the InteIIigencer Of that
morning. You irst told. me il was
your attention to urge Mr., Stanton TO
resign his ONCE after Ygu had with
which you spoke, and found its state
ment Of The understanding between. us
substantially correct. On the 18th i
caused Il 70. be read to four Of the i've
members OF the Cabinet who were pres
snt at our. conferences on the 18th, and
they. concured in the general accuracy
Of the statements respecting our con-
gersation on that occasion.
In reply 10 your communication. 1
nave deemed1t propersto prevent furth-
er noerstandtng, to make this sim
pie recital of facts.
Y cry respectfully yours
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Gen. " y. GRANT Commanding o $. A.
sENERALfaRAsvT TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE
UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON, D e., February 8, 1865.
10 Els Ercsl,eRey, Aad1,e7g JoKason,
SIRi-T have the honoH to aclxnowI-
edge the receipt of your communication
of the Slst ult., in answer to mine Of the
18th ult., and the article over the ihi-
tials j. B S., in the New York World
of the 27thult. purportiug to be based
upon your statement, and that Of the
Cabinet therein named, find it to be
but a reiteration, only somewhat more
in detail, of the many and gross misre-
presentations contained in these artf-
cles, and which my statement Of facts,
set forth in my letter Of the 24th 1It.,
was intended to correct and. herein
Teassert the correctness OF my state
Uents in that letter, anything in yours
in reply to the contrary notwithstand-
ing.
I confess my surprise thar the Cabinet
officers referred to should so greatly
misapprehend the facts in the matter Of
admissions alledged TO have been made
by me at the Cabinet meeting on the
18th ult., as to suffer their names to be
made the basis. of the charges in the
newspaper article referred to, or agree
70 the accuracy, ms you affirm they do,
fyOur accOuntof what occurred at
that meeting.
You know we parted on the 11th ult.,
without any promise, on my part, 6X-
pressed or implied, to the effect that I
would hold on to the office Of Secretary
OffWar Id interim, against the action Of
Senate, or declining to do 50, would sur
render il tOyou before such action was
lad, Orthat i would see YOU again at
any fixed time on the subject.
The performance Of the promise al
legged to have been made by me, w0uid
have involved a resistance of the law,
and an inconsistency with the whole
history OF my connection with the sus-l
pension OF MIR. Stanton from our con-
versatiOns, and my written protest of
August I, 1867, against the removal of
Mr.. Stanton you must have known thar
my greatest objection TO his removal
was the fear that some one would be ap
faT
position to the laws relating to the res
tOratiOu of the Southern States to
their proper relations to the Govern
ment, enabarrass the army in the per-
fOrmance Of the duties especially i'm
posed upon by the laws, and that 1t was
to prevent such an. appointments that /
accepted the appointment otSecretary of
War Gd Interim, and not for the purpose
of enabling you to get rid of Mr.. Stan
ton BY Withholding it from him in OppO-
sition to law, or, not doing so myself
surrender to one who, as the statement
and assumtiOnt in your communication
plainly indicate, was sought. And 1t
was TO avoid tins danger, as we'll as to
relieve you from the personal enbar-
EaEsment in which Mr.. Stantonis rein
statement would place you, that urged
the appointment of Governor Cox, be-
lieving that il would be agreeable to
you and also to Mr. Stanton, satisfied,
as was, that the good of the country
anu nv s-A4 AAA-A- Nte-9 tFAAeAs s-AS ANe~-NeA
On the 1sbh ult, in the presence Of
General Sherman, I stated 60 you that
I thought Mr. Stanton would resign,
but did not say that I would advise
him to do so. On the 18th I did agree
with Gen. Sherman to go and advise
him to that course and on the 18th
i had an interview with Mr.. Stanton,
which led me to the conclusion that my
advise would be useless and so inform
Il 4
to advise Mr. Stanton to resign under
stood from him, in conversation on the
subject, that it was his opinion that the
act of Congress entitled ''An act tenn
Popar1ly to supply vacancies in the E1-
eGutlF9 department in certain cases, p
approved February 20, 1858, wasrepeal-
ed by subsequent 1egisat1on, which
latter influenced my action. Previous
to this time I had no doubt that the law
Of 1858 was still IN force and nOtWith-
standing my actions, fuller examina-
ton of the law leaves q question IN my
mind whether it is or is not repealed. -
This being the case, 1 could not now
advise his resignation, lest the same
danger I apprehended on this first re-
moval night follow.
The course you have understood 1
agreed to pursue was in violation oflaw
and that under orders from you; while
the course did pursue, and which I
never doubted you fully understood,
was in accordance with law, and not
in dlsobedIenee Of the orders of my. SUI
periors
And now, Mr. President, when my
honor as soldier, and integrity as a
man has been 50 violently assailed, par
don me for saying that can but regard
this whole matter from beginning to end
as an attempt to involve me in the re-
slstapee Of the law for which you hesi-
tatea to assume the possibility in
order to destroy my character before
the country. I am in a measure con-
hrmed in this conclusion by your re-
cent oFde rs, directing me to disobey or
ders from the Secretary OF War, my SUI
Perior and your subordinate, without
having countermanded his authority,
whom am to disObey. With assur-
ance, MI. President, that nothing less
than a YiDdieation Of my personal hon
or and eharacler could have indneed