Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-01-15
MORE OF GRANTS VIEWS.
His Opinions Of Stanton, Banks,
Fitzpatrick, COnneSs, Siekles,
Ben. Wade, Wilson and
others.
The Tenure-Of- Ofliee Act.
VIII be President or Resign.

4 NVAoSPoAuonCo VI tne new 4 OK W Orlu.
| WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 1S69.-My com
munication of q week ago, detailing som
of Gen. Grants expressed opinions re
garding several of the prominent publi
men Of the day, has created quite an sx
element here, bat have vet to see o.
hear ola single denial from any source 0
the entire verify and authenticity of thos,
views and opinions, as given in my lettel
as coming directly from Gen. Grant.
now propose to give you something abou
the effect produced by the publication o
those views upon some of the immedi,
ately interested persons, and to add some
further Opinions" of the General, with
the assurance that their authenticity
places them beyond reach of contradic,
ton. They are in every instance the
substance, if net the UerbGtim repeti
ton, Of words spoken by Gen. Grant.
MoRGAN BADLY FRIGHTRNRD.
Morgan, the "bag of dollars" was so
alarmed at the views" of Gen. Grant
concerning himself that he Immediately
telegrsphed to his friends at Albany not
to make contest on the organization of
the Legislature of New York, and then,
failing to get reputation from GIANT,
packed off to Albany in hot haste, to per-
sonally superintend the repair of the
damages he was conscious Of having sus,
tanned in his Senatorial chances by the
exhibition of his weakness with the head
of the incoming administration.
A SORRY ESTIMATE OF STANTON.
In recent conversation with General
Grant, ex-Seeretary Stanton's name was
mentioned, when the General unbosomed
himself substantially as follows Stanton
is remarkable man; man of tremen-
dOus energy, of iron will, of fixedness of
purpose, easily blinded by prejudice, and
an intense hater. He was a most sue
cessful war minister. know of no man
who could have filled his place. With
President all kindness, all sympathy, all
forgiveness-who had charity for all,
malice towards none'-Stanton in Lin
colR's cabinet was a military necessity
while the war lasted. He should have
retired at the close of the war. A Cabi-
net Office in time Of peace is not his place.
His general executive abilities are not
good. His Office, when | took it, was
like an army after great victory, which
had no discipline except in the fight. II
was full Of undecided cases, unsettled
claims, and unanswered letters. The
regular business of the Office, except so
far as it affected the operations Of the
armies, was sadly neglected. Stanton
had no single element of popularity. How
he kept his place so long, is a mystery to
me. Lincoln feared him; johnson hated
him; both wished themselves rid of him;
yet neither dared remove him. johnson
finally mustered courage to remove him,
because he thought he could use me as q
convenient instrument for that purpose.
| always regretted, for Stanlon's sake,
that he held on to the Office. When |
surrendered it to him, after the decision
of the Senate, / confidently expected
that he would only hold the position long
enough to write his resignation.
GEN. BANKS VS.. SPEAKER BANKS.
OF Congressman Banks, Grant speaks
as follows Banks, as a soldier, was not
a success. His best and most patriotic
service in that line was in retiring from
the army. Gen. Banks was not half so
great man as Speaker Banks. There
are few, if any, civil positions l might not
think him qualified for ; asy military po-
sition l would never think Of giving him.
think he possesses many elements of
high craftsmanship; but | should never
nominate him to fill a vacant Brigadier
Generalship.
C0NNEss GARRULoUs AND TROUBLESOME.
Gen. Grant was recently asked his
opinion of Senator CONFESS, when he re-
piled CONFESS speaks so much for him
self that he scarcely needs any one else
to speak for him. He is constitutional
fault-finder He gave me great trouble
by his attacks on one Of my officers, who
was completely indicated by an inVesti-
CATION. The VindicatiOn was more COM
plete as the Investigation was made by
an unfriendly commissioner. CONFESS is
not as great a man as Daniel Webster,
nor will his name live so long in the an
nails Of his country.
FITZPATRICK MORE INFAMOUS THAN BUT
LER.
The kindly opinions Gen. Grant so
generally entertaias Of military men and
ex-officers, he does not seem to possess in
regard TO the valiant Fitzpatrick, regard
ing whom, in a recent conversation, he
thus freely expressed himself: When /
assumed command of the armies Gen.
Meade told me he must get rid of Kilpat-
rick, he knew too manypoliticians in Wash
ington through their influence and inter-
ference he compelled him Gen. Meade)
to permit, against his own judgment, the
unfortunate raid upon Richmond which
resulted In the death of poor Dahlgreen
and general disaster to the expedition.
johnson knew him better than the Re
publican party, or he would not have
permitted him to come home and stump
the &C dntry against the Democracy. That
the friends of Mr.. Dana should have
selected a man like Fitzpatrick to traduce
Butler amazes me. II all that Buffers
enemies say of him is true, Fitzpatrick,
without Buffers abilities, possesses adj
ditional elements of unpopHlarity that
have never been charged on Butler. |
think the tenure>of-ofice bill would have
furnished slight obstacles to Mr.. johnson
in Kidding Chill of such an ambassador.
SOFT SOAP FOR sICKLEs.
OF General Sickles Grant speaks as
follows: l know nothing personally Of
the soldierly abilities of General Sickles,
though l have always thought that he
never had fair chance to develop him
SELF He rose rapidly during the early
part of the war-so rapidly as to excite
the jealousy Of his brother officers He
incurred General Meade's hostility at
Charlottesville, and ever after suffered in
consequence. He is man Of fine execu>
tive talent. His administration in the
CarOlinas was entirely acceptable to me,
as it was certainly eminently successful.
As a politician, he should be ranked
among the first. He did the Republican
cause great service in the last campaign,
and deserves as much as any other man
at the hands of his party.
FIGHTING BEN wADE-No GARNET OFFICES
VACANT.
Old Ben Wade is evidently one of
Grants favorites in certain sense. He
speaks Of him in this manner: Ben Wade
shows to best advantage in minorities.
He does not know how to avail himself of
the fruits of victory. He is a reliable
old fellow who fights bravely for and
under his own cOlors, and can't bear
peace. He has a chronic dislike for West
Point and West Pointers. He did tell
me that West Point was a nest Of treason,
and could not help retOrting that a
much larger proportion Of the men who
| had learned LOYALTY at West Point re-