The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-09-11
testav IRON General IsW'Ps G.
Veatch.

~
.nolis .Senfinel published a false and
sIanderous statement charging that |
was not in command of the Goth In
diana at the battle of Fort Donelson,
as had stated in my official report,
but that Lieutenant Colonel Morgan
commanded the regiment, and that |
fingered In the rear till after the sur
render.
This vile falsehood of the Sentinel
was answered by forty-eight officers
and men Of that regiment, who were
with me in the three days hard fight
ing at Fort Donelson, and who de-
nounced the statement of the Senttnet
as false an eUeTy particular.
| heard no more of this falsehood
of the ,SeatiaeI till the 18th inst,
when returning home from the upper
part of the district, [ learned that
the Sentinel had repeated its false
hood. and had also published long
letter of Colonel VIM. FL. Morgan, in
which he attempts to claim the credit
~ having commanded the regiment
dnripg the battle of Fort Donelson.
/ Now in reply to both the .SeRtlneL
and Col. VIM. H. Morgan, i assert
that I 4ods present and an Che lDanledi
/ ate and personal command Of the
T0enty fifth regiment Indiana Fotun-
teers during eUery hoar and minute
that said regiment 10os engaged aotth
the enenlu or under fire, during the
three daGs fighting at Fort DoRetsO'a.
| And / assert that Col. Morgan dad
mot command said regiment one min
ute while it was engaged in action
with the enemy during the whole of
said battle; and that he exercised no
Iother authority or command than
that of Lieutenant Colonel, receiving
his orders and commands from me.
The enemy surrendered on the
:. morning of the 18th February, 1862,
and on the 18th, two days after the
surrender, made my official report
of the battle to Col. Lauman, of the
7th Iowa, my brigade commander. IN
which | stated every important par
ticular which concerned my regiment
and its officers, and gave due credit to
Lieut.. Col. VIM. III. Morgan for all
that he performed during the battle.
This report was submit tied to Lieut.
Col. VIM. III. Morgan and Major John
w. Foster for examination and cor
rection before it was forwarded to
Brigade Headquarters, and lieut.
Col. Morgan did not then, nor has he at
any time since then, ever stated to me
that any injustice was done him in
said report.
On the same day that my report
was made, Col. Lauman, Brigade
Commander, made his report to Gen.
G. E. Smith, Division Commander, in
which report he refers to the orders
which he gave to COL Veatch, Com
0ldRding T'Centy.ftth Indiana, and
speaks of the services rendered by
Col. Veatch during the action. but
the name of Lieut. Col. VIM. I'll. Nor
gan is not mentioned in his whole re-
port.
Now, if any injustice was done Col.
Morgan, why did he not seek redress
while all the facts were fresh in the
minds of the officers and men? He
pretends that he intended to lay the
matter before Gen. Smith, but that
officer died before any opportunity
was offered. Gen. Smith was with
the army and accessible to all officers
up to the time of his death, at Savan-
nah, nearly two months after the bat
\ tic.
Can it be possible that Colonel
Morgan would suffer such gross in
justice to be heaped upon him when
he could have had his wounded honor
healed In minute by an appeal to
General Smith, But when General
Smith died, why not call on Lauman,
who knew all the facts as we'll as Gen.
Smith did? Col. Morgan continued TO
serve in the same division with General
Lauman for at least eight months
after the battle of Fort Donelson.
Why did he not appeal to him as an
officer, knowing all the facts, to do
him justice? He says that he called
on me with the request that / should
do him justice. / declare his state
ment false, and that he never COM
planned to me of my report or asked
for any correction of a single state
ment in it.
Colonel Morgan continued in
my command until December,
1862. In January, 1863, l was
assigned to the command of the Dis
trict of Memphis, and Colonel Nor
gan made an earnest appeal to Gen.
Grant, through me, to have his regi-
ment again placed under my COM
mand. He remained in the division
which L commanded till about June,
1864, when he resigned. During
all this time he had ample
opportunity to have established the
matters charged in his letter, if
there had been any truth in them.
But he does not pretend that he ever
tried to do so.
He waits six years and half, until
the Division Commander, the Brigade
Commander, and the Adjutant of the
Regiment are dead, and then he
comes out, during heated political
canvass, and makes himself the tool
of a partisan newspaper, and proposes
in this way to heal the wounds which
his honor has so patiently suffered for
so many years, and to deny the off,
cial reports made on the battle. fields,
and published TO the world at the
time, and read by himself and every
member of the Regiment.
L submit this statement of the facts
as they exist, and refer to the official
reports made at the time, and to the
statement of the officers and men,
iateiy published in answer to the Sen
1net, as evidence sufficient to satisfy
an reasonable men that the statement
OF VIM. Ill. Morgan is made ont of
personal and malicious motives and
unworthy of credit.
- JAMES G. VEATcn.
EVANSVILLE, Aug. 9, 1863.
! Card from Waf0r Tobu NJ n