Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-01-23

month, never known even n b;, = 90
closely touches, was never knovn 10 Ger
Grant himself! = '-''
| The officer who was directed to sinner.
sede Grant in the command Of the armv
investing Vicksburg was, as I have Al.
ready said, Gen. Banks. The order was
an Imperative one. Nevertheless. Gen.
Banks did not obey the order. He re-
Piled expostulating against it.
The considerations on which that
oincer based his expOstulation will appear
when this remarkable correspondence
sees the light. This much, however.
may be said. He pointed out that for
him to abandon his position at Port Hud,
son would be to give up the key of the
mississippi, importing not only the ten
ure OF New Orleans, but jsopardizing our
possession ofany point of vantage on that
vital water>line.
To this rejoinder came. from Washing>
ton, renewed command to supersede
Grant, and when the impolicy OF the step
was again pointed out by Banks. he agGS
severely cenSUred for disOJedience Of
orders.
Well, this remarkable correspondence
went on and on, and babe fair TO be in
definitely prolonged, when suddenly
Vicksburg fell, and the military gentle,
men and politicians, who at Washington
had been plotting Grants destruction,
were forced to tune their pipes in peans
and 10 IriOmphes to the laureI-crowned
commander. Every scrap of paper bear
ing on the subject was spirited away
from the archives in the Departments,
while Banks, putting the writings by.
kept his own counsel. How it came
about that short time since the General
ln-Chlef got wind of the secret, and. OBJ
tanning copies Of the correspondence,
learnt for the trst time, this notable cpl
sode in his career, is not for me here to
tell. Let US rather follow out one or two
OF the lines Of suggestion that radiate
from this pregnant fact.
And, first, one cannot but note the alb
solute manner in which the destiny Of
the captain who brought the war to
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 a case
of this nature it is a thing apart and
unique.
For, nothing is more manifest than
that, had Gen. Banks carried out his in
structiOns and relieved Gen. Grant at
Vieksburg, Grants historic career would
have been abruptly and forever closed.
Vicksburg was the knife balance of his
fate. Triumphant there, 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 OF
his command a month before the fail OF
the stronghold on the Mississippi
Would not his have been then a cOTTieTe
manqaee-a failure Recall to misd
what has already been set forth that
he had fallen under the displeasure Of
the military chiefs who ruled at Wash
ingtOn-chiefs who had, before, removed
him from command, 20 which, indeed, he
seemed to relapse merely by hazard
chiefs who had preferred before him in
one case a second rate politician, in an
other an obscure Quartermaster That
would have been but beggarly prologue,
which, including Belmont, and Shiloh,
and lIaines' Bluff, stopped short. and
rose not to the swelling themes Of Vicks~
burg, and Chattanooga, and Five Forks. IL
staggers the mind TO attempt to follow cut
the lines of cOnjectures that suggest
themselves in the event that Banks had
obeyed his orders and displaced Grant
but the inference would certainly seem
to be fair enough that the opportunity for
whatever the President elect has grown
to, as well in the military as in the poll
teal way, he owes entirely to that officer,
who being ordered to superaeds him de-
eNned TO snpersede him. 1t Is warrants
able 70 assume that Yicksburg would
equsiiy have ALLEN. without reference a.
q 3 u Iaighs have been IN command
for the surrender was the result Of the
blockade, and was an inevitable result.
But, had Vicksburg capitulated to Banks,
not Grant, what n different history OF
the war would there have been to write!
1t will probably be hardly possible to
refrain from inquiry both as TO the Tea-
son Of Gen. Banks refusal Of the com
mand, and as to his motive for keeping
so long secret fact so important both to
the General in Chic and to himself 1t
would certainly not have been well that
the revelation of this passage in the his
tory Of the military administration had
been made during either Of the past two
political campaigns. But the full bear
ings Of the subject will only be apprehen-
ded when the correspondence itself comes
to be gived to the world and then alone
will it be possible to appreciate what
influence this newly discovered secret
may have on the fortunes Of those
whom this correspondence concerns. As
a single instance one can hardly help not
ing that it was not long after Grants be-
coming for the first time, aware OF the
existence Of such correspondence that
MIR. Stanton announced his intention to
retire. from public life.
Meantime the numerous biOgraphers
of the President elect will need to revise
their histories in the light Of fact which
is as vital in Grants career as is the
| fact that he was horn LIBRA