Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-05-29

,latiOn for the Statemenl. OoLA'~1
we enclosed the article to Gov. FANoh, "n'
received from him the prompt ana CID pii"'le
denial which we publish below
To the people who know the course OF
| Gov VANCE. and the policy of his admins
rration. it we're needless to deny the state
n,ents of the correspondent of the Globe,
but others may be misled from the very re-
spectacle position which that paper holds
| We are at all times willing to aid the GI00e
N its attacks upon Radicalism, but cannon
DO so at the expense of truth or by W1nkln9
at blows directed against the honest anu
gallant North Carolinians, whose conduct
mas shed honor upon the State.
The letter of the Globes correspondent
above referred to is as follows :
WHY THE WAR WAS PROLONGED,
The following plain statement Of an important
fact in the history Of the late rebellion is made Cd
inform alton furnished by an officer OF the U. 3.
Army who was stationed at Ncwbern, N O.. IN the
winter Of 1863 ga. 1t proved, beyond DOUBT tha'
the war was prolonged at least one year for the
purpose of re-electing Republican cGndlaate as
President Hence it follows that all the men, On
both sides who !oat their lives during the last
wear of the war; were murdered III cold blood, and
the hundreds of millions expended in carrying t
on unnecessarily and criminauy squandered.
During the winter of 1868 ga, the people OF
North Carolina became very uneasy at the manner
in which the war was conducted on the part OF the
Richmond authorities, and the Ohef Magistrate
of the State, Gov. Vance, at the request Of sew
eral influential citizens, went to Richmond and
demonstrated with Mr.. Davis on the matter III
complaint. Report at the time came through the
Richmond papers that Davis was very indignant
at this remonstrance Of Vance, and threatened
him with arrest. Be thst as it may, Gov. Vance
returned to Raleigh. and was soon atterward vlsl-
ted by William A. Graham, John A. Glmer, and
other distinguished citizens OF the Old Union
party to consult with him as 20 the best method
of ending the war. The plan suggested was
this that Commissioners should be sent to Presi-
dent Lincoln by Gov Vance, charged with the
following proposition That North Carolina would
place at the disposal of the U. s. Government 3d.
900 Union soldiers, who would open conmunlca-
ZION with the army of Gen. Sherman in Georgia
and Tennessee and thue cut off all connection OF
the Richmond authorities with the States south
and southwest Of North Carolina. This done, the
war must inevitably come to an end.
This plan was adopted by Governor Vance, who
at once appointed Commissioners to proceed to
Washington. On the arrival of these Commits
sioners at Gen. Buffers headquarters at City
Point, a telegram was sent to President Lincoln,
Announcing the fact, and the object Of the Com
mission, and asking permission to come to Wash
ington. After some decay, that permission was
refused, and the Commission returned to Raleigh.
20 far our informant was advised by bis North
Carolina friends at Newbern, who were in the
confidence of Governor Vance. On his return to
Washing ton in the summer of 1864 he learned the
reason why the North Carolina Commissioners
were refused permission to negotiate with Presi
dent Lincoln-as follows on the receipt of the
telegram from Gen. Butler Mr. Lincoln called
his Cabinet together and laid the matter before
them. They all concurred in the feasibility of
the plan and it's easiness of execution but here
was the objection-if the were ended before
the Presidential election Of 1864, the Democrats
would probably elect the next President. On
these lofty, patriotic, Christian motives, the
proposition of North Carolina was rejected.
Thus in own once happy and prosperous
land were perpetrated, By men of the Government
in 1865, massacres of our own people; and for
what? To elect political partisan to the Presi-
dental chsir, and thus cover up and conceal from
a just, popular indignation the rascaIities and
of the four years previous.
To this letter Governor VANCE replies
to us as follows
CHARLOTTE, n. c., May %, 1868.
Dear Sir A friend had few days be-
fore called my attention to the article
from the Globe which you enclose in your
letter of the Goth instant, but so little did
I suppose that anybody in the country who
knew me at all, could fail to know my po-
sition during the war, that thought it
hardly worth while to correct it's asser-
tions. Lest, however, some not we'll &C.
quainted with the history of North Carroll
ma through the war, should be misled by
the Globe correspondent, [ beg to answer
all who feel an interest in the matter, that
the whole story is utterly without founda-
ton. Sincerely anxious as was during
the whole of my administration to secure
the return of peace, yet sought to bring
it about in no other way than by urging it
with all my might upon President Davis
the legal channel for its negotia ton, and
by fighting for it upon the field.
What I did was in the face of all the
world, and was done, trust, honestly and
manfully. do not need to court any pop
ularity North by denying or classifying my
words and actions. Fortunately, am not
compelled to approve my loyalty for the
future by exhibiting and parading my
double-villaiuy IN the past. Having eaten
no fire at the beginning of the war, have
not felt under the slightest necessity of
eating dirt since its close. If the Govern
ment of the United States cannot accept
the pledge of good citizenship given by
one who has heretofore sworn to his own
trust and changed rot, can render no 9TH
er. I can offer no perjuries in support of
my present truth. Nor do I desire the
good will of any man in the United States
obtained by false exhibition of my record.
And still more unwilling am I, my dear
sir, to permit any man in the South to sup
pose for moment that, for the sake of
any advantage to myself, could cast OBJ
loquy or reproach, by word or deed, upon
the memory of those who struggled and