Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-04-29
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
THURSDAY, APRIL %, 1869.
General Shcrman's Letter.

fated twice during the rebellion to most
cruel injustice In the early part OF the
strurplr, when he told Secretary Stanton
that two hundred thousand men were re-
anired for the campaign in the Mississippi
valley. On this occasion he was stigma
tied IA insane. On another occasion,
near the close of the war, after he had
traverscd the whole length OF the Confed-
erlcy. disemhoweled its vitals, and practi-
ctlly ended the rebellion by leaving moth
ius bur it, head, he endeavored honestly
and Loyalty to carry out what he consid-
cred Mr.. Lincoln's views by an arrange
mcnt with Grn.Jo. Johnston. Before the
affair could be ratified. Mr.. Lincoln :
a~sa~>uation turned the lenient feeling OF
the North to a sentiment of passing pas
SION Of quite another character. Presi-
dent Johnson was flaming with vengeance,
and many Of his subordiuates, with un-
seem1y haste, accommodated themselves
to hls views
The great soldier. Sherman. was assailed
a traitor. aud came to the capital with
an army crowned with victory. TO find his
good sense and motives equally denounced
fhs eighty thousand long suffering, he
roir, var worn veterans. who had shared
with him the dangers and fatigucs of the
March Ia thc Sea" as. they passed in re-
view through Washington were Justly
indignant ut the calumuiations uf their
ilohzrd commander. After the public
sentiment OF lhe North had cooled, the
motives ot Gen sherman III making his
proposition to Gen. Johnston were fully
appreciated, The change now is evident
" manifest IT, character of Gen Sher-
man, Ia connection with his brilliant
reoord ht-, III quiet manner, but et-
IaetuIly, hved down all misrepreSenta-
tl9n-.
We rrpubli-h, in connection with this
artlcl.. "a letter of Gen sherman to the
NV York Tribune, which revived the
old cuutrqver-y about 1uhuston's surren-
der. III noble AMI chiyllric defense oi
the memory of the mtrtvred Lincoln i,
fully IN keeping with Gen Shrrm m
we'll koown honor. He accepts whatever
..n-u,e may be due him for hi. own act.
Ahu-h va prompted 10y the most pltri-
ptir motiv,~, and d,~daiu7 tn accept my
apology which in any way might he com
~tru+l ~ UNJUST TO thu dead 50 uol,le
and P,rn"lir i ~inrit must commend it~rlt
t. all l,I- epnntrN mon
The following is Cen 5hrrmans letter
referred t.:
10 tie Edtolc # tie Irb"ar.
sir la your issue of yesterday l. ii
uuror al Mr. Hrly'4 picture. represent,
ing the INTERVIEW between Mr.. Lincoln,
General Graut, Admiral Porter, and my
self, winch repeats substantially the az
.a.uGt published some tImo ago IN Wiikr-'
Siurirot the Pimas. explain itorv of that in
trrview, and itJriLuuEg tp Mr. Liuro II
hun-,It the pttrhIry of the terms to Cen. +.
J ,hn~tpns army al Durham, IN April
lb6j
am glad YOU have called public atten-
ti"u To- rhr picture itself, because | lccl
personal interest that Mr.. Healy should
la appreciated as one OF our very best
american artists But some friends here
think by silence | may be construed Us
willing To throw off an Mr.. Lincoln the
pdium ot those terms, Ii there hr any
odium which | doubt surely would not
be willing that the least show of
~ shDuli 20 to Mr.. I.lncoln's .
mem"ry, which hold in too much veneer
alton t. he stained by anything done or
-nll by M understand that the sub
stance Of Mr.. Wilkes original article was
coupled 10y him after railroad conver- (
sation with Admiral Porter, who WAS
present at hat interview rs represented
10 the picture and who made Il note Of
the runyrrsation Immediately after we
-.parAted he you'd hc more likely 10
have preserved the exact words used ON
tho oc,.a-lon than who made no notes.
then or since | cannot now even pre-
tend L. recall more than the subjects
turtrd upon 10y, the several parties, and
the impression lett ON my mind after We
parted. The interview was in Nj rch,
nearly u month before the final catastro-
pine; and it was my part of the plan of
operations to move my army, reinforced
by Schrtield, then at Gold-boro, y. g., to
Bur4eayille, Va, when Lee would have
been forced t. surrender III Richmond.
The true move left to him was the hasty
abandonment of Richmond, Join his force
to Juhn-ton's, and strike me III the open
country The only question was
Could sustain this joint attack
till General Grant came up in
pursuit. | was confident | could
bat at the very moment of our converse
tion Gen Grant was moving Gen. Sheri-
dams heavy force of cavalry to his extreme
ltft to prevent this very contingency
Mr. Lincoln, in hearing us speak Of
GnaI bloody battle, which | then thought
gould tail Oil me near Raleigh, did ex-
claim more than once, that blood enough
had already been shed, and he hoped that
the war would end without any more
We spoke of what WAS to be done with
Davis. other party leaders, and the Rebel
army aud he lett me under the impress
sion that all hs asked of us was, to dissip
ate these armies, and get the soldiers
back to their homes anyhow, the quicker
the better, leaving him free to apply the
remedy, and the restoration of civil law.
lie (Mr Lincoln surely left upon my
mind the impression warranted by Ad-
miral Parter's account, that he had long
Thought of his course of action when the
rebel armies were out of his way, and that
he wanted 10 get civil governments reorgan |
ICED at the South, the quicker the better. :
aud strictly conforming with our general
system.
had been absent so long that / pre-
sumed of course, that Congress had I
enacted all the laws necessary to meet the |
event OF peace, 50 long expected, and the |
near approach of which must then have
been seen by the most obtuse; and all l :.
aimed to do was to remit the rebel army
surrendering to me To the conditions OF Il
the laws OF the country as they then ex- b
isted. At the time of Johnston's surren-I =
der at Durham, / drew up the terms with
my own hands. Breckenridge had moth
ing at all to do with them more than to a
discuss their effect, and he knew they +
only applied to the military; and he O
forthwith proceeded to make his escape !.