Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-01-29
Curious Chapter In tho Secret u,.,o
The War ~

singular account OF q curreEnondo,"! .
tween General Hallack and Genet D DE-.
in relation to the removal Of C1'@H'',
Grant from command OF the Fedarall o a.si
during the siege of Vicksbure, Will Iy
alleges has been kept secret m ~ n"
time. 1t seems that after the lot. '"a
Donelson, and again after that oS e,L3 q
General Grant had incurred the die.To",
sure of General Halleck, who was cor o,SiiS'..
ing the Department of the West. AMI td'onD.
temporarily removed from command - WI W
army Of Tennessee, which was ofTareJ '"t
Qnartermaster ramed Robert ALL -
was refused by him, and General q, -.
was re4nstated. The cOrresponda,t a.
says: 'neA
Such was the position Of Cenor,1 r..
up to Jul OF that year, Q8G2.) at Tbir r.
time Halleck was Sssi2ued fo 10 ~ Nn!c"
of all the armies, with his boadrTor Son'fo'
Washington. 1t would seem PC tbo"54g'
the leadership OF the army of the Tenn
see might then have naturally relaralI>,
lis former head. But first OF all Cen
Halleck offered the position to a Onor,a.
master named Robert Allen: nor W. = -:
that person had declined the baton Of ,. 49,.
mand, that it came again into tho hand q.
him, who though be bad won Do9cIsor av5
Sl4A1ObJ AiSaNA lIOt SbAGNt GNaGil III v lnllUF
confidence Of his military superiors
Passing now rapidly forward we com.
to the operations that filled up the onfur,,
Of 1862 and the early months of 1866.
those numerous teutatiyes against VicIs
burg, the deeply interesting story of vhicE
so often has been told It is well kr.r,.
that these attempts woro, each il faccr..
sion, lamentablo failures. Well AGAIN MI
ItInIanC y>,tl;, 1
ors grnmblcd and clamored. NcClerpa,s
a vain and ambitious political General 4.
clared he was tired Of furnishing bran,
for the army Of the Tennessee" and VIVA
assigned to an independent command -
The old minors about Grants person.
character were revived. He was mo.
nounced utterly destitute Of genius or en-.
ergy. Even Lincoln's limitleas faith din
not extend beyond trying him III,
longer" When finally he ran the gapn,,,
of the batteries and turned eastward to III.
vest Vicksburg from the rear, the aud.
cious enterprise called forth condemnation
from headquarters. The kindly Preside.
afterward wrote him that be thought - A. .
bad made mistake" 1t may be imagined
that the dissatisfaction was not decrease
by the occurrences that attended, the e.. ~
period Of the siege. He was blamed io.
inaction, and it was sagely predicted tina.
Joe Johnston would fall on lis rear and
destroy him. Then he was cousured go.
an attack he made and failed in. Ta.g
came, toward the end of May, another a.-
sault of the works, which was also n fail.
ure. And then there was that done 81
Washington which has not hitherto bee.
knOWn-an order was sent to G2ueI
Banks Chen investing Port Hudson) d.
recting him to go and take the command .
the army from General Graut and ta a..
sumo it himself
I have said that this fact has ucyc.
hitherto been publicly known. It is uo.
only in none of the Lives of Genera
Grant-not even in that Of Badeau, wla
had access to every scrap Of known dOcu
mentary mQterial-but there exists no, .
written trace of tho secret among IT,.
archives of the War Department, or Of C.,
office Of the General-in-C Chief
It remains now to add still molo s...
prising fact-the secret Of this critical l
sage in his life was, until within . moLt.
never known even to him IL so close,
touches, Was neyerk known to General Eg.
himself
The officer who was directed 10 supelsu.
Grant in the command of the army iu-
vestiD% Vicksburg was, as l have already
said, General Banks The order was au
imperative one. Nevertheless, General
Banks did not obey the order. lie ne.
piled eypostulatipg against it.
The considerations on which that officer
based his cxpostulation will appear when
this remarkable correspondence sees tLa
light. This much, however, may be said
He pointed out that for him to abandon
his position at Port Hudson would be to
give up the key Of the Mississippi, iu.
periling not only the tenure Of New o.
leans, but ieoparding our possession Oh
any point Of vantage on that vital water
line.
To this rejoinder came from Washington
a renewed command to superSede Grant,
and when the impolicy of the step was
again pointed out by Banks, he was SO.
verely censured for disobedience of orders,
Well, this remarkable correspondent
went on and on, and babe fair to be indie.
finitely prolonged, when suddenly Vichs-
burg fell, and the military gentlemen and
who at Washington had been
plotting Grants destruction, were forced
to tune their pipes in pieans and h Iri-
Onaphes to the laurel-crowned commando
Every scrap Of paper bearing IN the sub
ecu "Go nD1IILSA away 1LbIlI VIC al CLl1hS6 III
the Departments, while Banks. putting the
writings safely by, kept his own counsel
How it came about that short time since
the General-in- Chief got wind of this Sc
oret, and, obtaining copies of the cores
pondence, learnt for the first time this no
table episode IN his career, is not for me
here to tell. Let US rather follow out ono
Or two of the lines of suggestion that radI
ate from this pregnant fact.
And first, one cannot bat note the abao
lutte manner in which tie destiny Of the
captain who brought the war to close de
pen ded, in its keenest crisis, on the will
md decision of one man. The example,
ire frequent of generals who were made o.
narred by what men call chance or fortune.
But this is not case of this nature; It Is %
hing apart and unique.
For, nothing is more manifest than thai,
lad General Banks carried out his jnstrrc-
ions end relieved General Grant at NicEa-
)urg Grants historic career would have
oeen abruptly and forever closed. Yicks-
burg was the knife balance Of his fate
Triumphant there, the prestige of his We
DRY gave him command Of larger means
nd ampler opportunities, and go on, along
he entire chain of interdependent events
lp to this hour
1t will probably he hardly possible t.
efrain from some inquiry both as to the
eason of Gen. Banks refusal Of the com
nand, and as to his motive for keeping SD
r -k,.zA L. =. To- J.