Des Arc weekly citizen., 1869-02-09

well, th1s fcmarkaDtc cofrespOn , dence went on and on, and bade fair ( be indefinitely prolonged. when sud , denly Vicksburg fell, and the militar f gentlemen and politicians, who n , Washington had been plotting Grant ; destruction, were forced to tune tbei
 pipes in paans and To Triomphes [, the laurel-crowned commander. Ever. scrap of paper bearing on the subjec was spirited away from the archives il the Departments, while Banks, putin: the writings by, kept his own counsel How it came about that a short tim, since the General-in-Chiefg got wind o the secret, and, obtaining copies of ih, correspondence, learned for the frs time, this notable episode in his career is not for me here to tell. Let u. rather follow out one or two of tho lines of suggestion that radiate iron this pregnant fact.
 And, first, one cannot but nott the absoHte manner in which | the war 10 close depended, in its keenest crisis, on the will and decision of one man. The examples are frequent of generals who were made or marred by what men call chance or fortune. But this is not case of this nature II is thing apart and unique.
 | For nnfhiun v,nro ,oa,.sf.,ot tl,, ., that, had Gen. Banks carried out his instructions and relieved Gen. Grant at Vicksbprg, Grants historic career would have been abruptly and forever closed. Vicksburg was the knife ! balance of his fate. Triumphant there, i the prestige of his victory gave him command of larger means and ampler opportunities, and so on, along the entire chain of independent events. up to this hour.
 But, suppose he had been stripped or his command month before the fall of the stronghold on the Missis- sippi? Would not this have been then a correre manquee---a failure? Recall to mind what has already been set forth: that he had fallen under the displeasure of the military chiefs who ruled at Washington--chiefs who had. before, removed him from command, to which, indeed, he seemed to relapse merely by hazard-cliiefs who had pre- ferred before him in one ease a second- rate politician, in another an obscure Quartermastcr. That wouIu nuvv o.v,. but beggarly prologue, which, incu- ding Belmont, and Shiloh, and Haines' Bluff, stopped short, and rose not to the swelling themes oi Vicksburg. and Chattanooga, and Five Forks. It staggers the mind to attempt to follow out the lines sofconjecturcs that suggest themselves in the event that Banks had obeyed his orders and displaced Grant but the inference would certainly seem to be enough that the opportunity for whatever the President elect has grown to. as well in the military as in the poli- tical way, he owes entirely to that off, ccr who being ordered to supersede him declined to super,cde him. It is war rantable to assume that Vicksburg would equally have fallen, without ref ercnce as to who might have been in command; for the surrender was the result ofthe blockade. and was all in evitable result. But, had Vicksburg capitulated to Banks, not Grant, what different history of the war would there have been to write. It will probably be hardly possible to refrain inquiry both as to the reason of Gen Banks refusal of the command, and as to his motive for keeping so long SC. cret fact so important both to the General Chief! and to himself. IL would certainly not have been wei that the revelation of this passage il the history of the military administra tion had been made dnring either O the past two political campaigns. Bu the full bearings of the subjects vii only be apprehcnded when the cores pondence itself comes 10 be given {, the world; and then alone will it b, possible to appreciate what influence this newly discovered secret may hay, on the fortune of those whom this cor respondence concerns. As single in stance one can hardlly help noting tha it was not long after Grants becoming for the first time, aware of the existene, of such correspondence that Mir stanton announced his intention tt retire from public life.
 Meantime the numerous biographer, of the President elect will need t, revise their histories in the light of fact which is as vital in Grants career as is the fact that he was born.
 Easily Suited.