Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-10-22
From the n. o. Pieayune Oct. IBth.l
THE SIEGE OF VICKsBURG.
GEN. JOHN C. PEArBERroN,
To The EDITOR ofMe Pieovune.

To the Editor ofthe Picayune:
SR-Iour lssue Of August II
has recently fallen under my OBJ.
servatiOn. In glancing over its
columns the following paragraphs
have attracted my attention
Coming OUt.-The womb of
Time is periodically giving forth
hints, insinuations, and facts,
which serve the good purpose of
making plain the inexplicable in
history, and fastening response
biIity where il belongs. The Fort
Smith ARK. Herald publishes the
latest Of these deliveries of which
we speak, as follows
"If all the facts were known,
and the time approaches when
they will be, we would not be at
all surprised to know that one Mr..
Pemberton had about as much to
do with the campaign and capture
of Vicksburg as any other man
and that the main planning for its
capture was done by, through,a and
with him; and if the officers who
had the paroles for Vicksburg
prisoners printed weeks before the
capture, and the date, July 4,
1868, printed in them, could be
heard from, it would be very like
~ to be made to appear that Mr..
Pembcrton's planning and Federal
gold had more to do with the final
result Of that campaign than all of
Mr.. Grants planning, or the plan
ming Of 1.-THE other general referred
to. However, time and the future
will reveal all this. Perlldy of any
enormity never did and never will
be concealed forever. Murder
will out, and, though slow, justice
is very sure
l do not know whether you
propose that the allegations con.
tanned in the extracts from the
Fort Smith Herald shall be receiv-
ed merely as hints and "insinua-
TONS or as facts" Hints and
"insinuations'' are usually regard
cd as the weapons Of n coward,
and "facts," to be valuable and ef-
fectiye, must be ~veritablc, or rs q
Mr.. Gushing once characterized
them, fixed facts A "fact'' must
be u fact in verify it must be ca.
pable Of proof and establishment,
or it ceases to be n fact, and sinks
to the level Of a "hint,' an "insin.
uation,' or 4 simple allegation.
Treated by this rule, the allcga-
tons of the Herald are beneath
contempt, but rs it has become
the fashion among certain of our
people to abuse and calumniatc
Lieut.. Gen. Pembcrton without
ryhme or reason, justice to Il
much slandered officer, demands
that the truth should be told. The
writer served on the staff Of Gen.
Pcmberton as Assistant Adjutant
General, and knows whereof he
speaks. My relations with that
officer, as we'll personal as official,
were of the most intimate charac-
ter, and when the writer for the
Herald "hint,' "insinuates," or rs.
serts that the "main planning for
the capitulation Of Vicksburg was
done by, through and with him.
he "insinuatcs," and asserts what
he cannot prove, and that for the
simple reason that the allegation is
false in general and in detail; false
in letter as in spirit. The"planning"
of Gen. Pemberton, was directed
to the keeping Of Gen. Grant and
his hosts out Of Nicksburg not
to the getting of them in. In this
he succeeded for the per cd Of
forty.scven days and nights, and
made the defence Of Vicksburg
the most memorable Of modern
times.
The insinuation that certain of
iicers-it does not state whether
they were Federal or Confederate
oillccrs-'had the paroles for tic
Vicksburg prisoners printed weeks
before the capture, and the date,
July 4, 1868, printed in them, il Il
bald, simple, unadulteratcd fal'.i.
cation. The only truth contain
in the statement is that the par!
were printed, and tn" fact Of ~.
equalization having occurred on
the 18th day Of July, 1868, was re-
cited in the body Of the paroles.
They were not printed weeks be.
fore the capture nor were they
printed days, or even hours, be.
fore the surrender. They were
not printed at all until after the
capitulation, and they were then
prepared and printed by and UNI
der the supervision OF the Federal
authorities. Every officer who
was surrendered at Vicksburg
knows that the printing of 50 large
a number of paroles necessarily
delayed the process of paroling,
and that if any one had possessed
the f~orethought to have had those
paroles printed "wecks before the
capture the work of paroling
would have been greatly facili-
tated. Had the Herald writer
been q soldier Of the garrison of
Vicksburg, perhaps he might have
..al A.. L., ,,,..A.-- ~