The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-01-22
r,rieus Chapter I'm tho Secret His
tory of the War.

tory of the War.
THO Washington correspondent of the
,nr York Times writes 10 that Journal p
liar account Of q correspondence be
- General Halleck and General Banks
~ ro,atlou to the removal of General
=. from command Of the Federal army
ling the siege of Vicksburg, which he
'Tnr,s has been kept secret UP to this time
=. ssoros that after the battlc OF Donelson,
"a arsin after that of Shiloh, General
c.snt had incurred the dispieasure Of Ge-
vorsl nslleck, who was commanding tbs;
nn,ortuent Of the West, and Was tempo
..rt;lv removed from the con>mand Of the
NV If Tennessee, which was offered to :.
"nsrtermaster named Robert Allen, but
res refused by him, and General Grant
was reinstated. The correspondent then
says: 81
M TO July of that year (iS62), at which
time Hal!eck was assigned tothe control Of
oil the armies, with his headquarters at
washington. /: would seem rs though the
leadership of the Army of the Tennessee
might then have naturally relapsed to its
former head. But first Of all, General Hal
leck offered the position TO q quartermaster
named Robert Allen; nor was it till that
nerson had declined the baton of command
that il came again into the hand of hin.
who, though be had won Donelson and Shi-
Iob, had not succeeded in winning the con
6ience of his military superiors.
Passing now rapidly forward, we come to
the operations that filed up the autumn of
1862 and the early months Of 1S63-to
those numerous tentatiyes against Vicks
burg, the deeply interesting story Of which
90 often has been told. 1t is we'll known
that these attempts we're, each in success.
sion, lamentable failures. Well, again poll
ticians, press, public, and military supe-
riors grumbled and clamored. McClernand,
vain and ambitious political General,
declared he was ",ired Of furnishing
brains for the Army of the Tennessee" and
was assigned to an independent command.
The old rumors about Grants personal cha
racter was revived. He was pronounced
utterly destitute of genius OF energy. Even
Lincoln's Emitess faith did not extend be-
yord "tryirg him lille longer.n When
finally he ran the gauntlet Of the batteries
and turned eastward 10 invest Vicks
burg from the rear, the audacious en-
tcrprise called forth condemnation from
headquarters. The kindly President af-
terward wrote him that he thought
"he had made q mistake" 1t may be
imagined that the dissatisfaction was not
decreased by the occurrences that attended
the early period Of the siege. He was
blamed for iuaction, and it was sagely pre-
dicted that Joe Johnston would fall on his
rear and destroy him. Then he was CEN
sured for Al attack he made and failed in.
Then came, toward the end Of May, an
other assault of the works, with was also
failure. And then there was that done
at Washington which has not hitherto been
known-Su order was sent TO General
Banks then investing Fort HudSon) direct
ing him TO 60 and take the command Of the
army from General Grant and to assume it
himself
have said that this fact has never hith-
erto been publicly known. 1t is not only
in none Of the Lives of General Grant,
not even in that Of Badeau, who had access
to every scrap Of known documentary ma
terial--but there exists not a written trace
OF the secret among the archives Of the War
Department, or OF tie clige uf me General
il.IhieI.
1t remains now to add still more sur
prioiuc IaCI-the secret Of this critical pas
sage IN his life was, until within a month,
ncTcr known even TO him it so closely
touches-was never known to General Grant
himself,
The officer who was directed to supercede
Grant il the command of the army invest
ing Nicksburg was, as ! have already said,
General Banks. The order was an impera
tive one. Nevertheless, General Banks did
not obey the order. He replied expostula
ting against il.
The considerations or which that officer
based his expostulation viii appear when
this remarkable corre- poudence sees the
light. This much, however, may be said.
He pointed out THAI for him TO abandon his
position at Port Hudson would be to give
up the key of the Mississippi, imperilling
not only the tenure OF New Orleans; but
leOparding our possession Of any point
OF vantage On that vital water line.
To this rejoinder came from Washington
+ renewed command 10 supersede Grant,
and when the impolicy Of the step was
again pointed out by Banks, he WAS severe
" censured for disobedience of orders.
Well, this remarkable correspondence
went on and on, and babe fir 20 be indeti
nitely prolonged, when suddenly Vicksburg
fell and the military gentlemen and politi-
clans who at Washington had been plotting
Grants destruction were forced to tune
their pipes in reans and 10 IrionlpheS TO
the laurel-crownod commander. Every
scrap Of paper bearing on the subject was
SPIRITED away from the archives in the De-
partments, while Banks, putting the wri-
firrI al, h,,
II came about that short time since the
Gcneral-in-Chief got wind Of this secret,
and, obtairing copies Of the correspond
cnce, learnt tor the first time this notable
episode in his career, is not for me here to
tell. Lei us rather follow out one or two of
the lines OF suggestion that radiate from
this pregnant fact.
And, fret, one cannot but note the abso
Lutte manner in which the destiny of the
captain who brought the war to close de-
pended, in It's keenegt crisis, on the will
and decision of one man. The examples
are frequent Of generals who were made or
married by what men call chance or fortune.
But this is not case OF this nature 1t Is
thing apart and unique.
For nothing is more manifest than that,
had General Banks carried out his instruc-
tons and relieved General Grant at Vicks
burg, Grants historic career would have
been abruptly and forever closed. Vicks-
burg was the knife-balance of his fate.
triumphant there, the prestige of his vic
tory gave him command of larger means
and ampler opportunities, and SO on, along
The entire chain of iuterdependent events,
up to this hour. ....s
II will probably be hardly possible to
refrain from some inquiry both as to the
reason of General Banks's refusal Of the