The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-12-06
handsomely than did our troops on that

handsomely than did our troops on 'ha'
day. ~
aNow that the most important fort on
the coast has been gained, as usual you
will near but little OF what the navy
did and no doubt efforts will be made
again to show that the work was not
substantially injured as a defensive
work. To General Grant who Is al
WAYS willing to take the credit when
ANYTHING is done, and equally ready to
Law the blame of the failure on the
navy, when failure takes place, ] feel
under no obligation for receiving and
allowing report to be spread from his
HEADQUARTERS that there were three days
when the navy might have operated and
did not. He knows as much about 1t
now as be did when he wrote me, say
ing the only way in which the place
could he taken was by running the ships
past the batteries, showing evidently
that he had not studied the hydro
sraphy Of Cape Fear River, and did not
know the virtue there was in our
wooden walls when they went in for a
fair stand-up fight. Any fort in rebel
dom can be taken if We can
only get within reach. of it. /
have served with the Lieutenant Gen
eral before, but | never worked so
hard in my life to make man succeed
as | did for him. You will scarcely
notice in his reports that the navy did
him any service, when, without the
help it has given him all the way
through, he would never have been
Lieutenant General He lacks magma
nimity, like most officers OF the army
and is so avaricious as regards fame
that he will never, if lie can help it, do
Justice to our department When the
rebels write the history Of this war,
then, and only then, will the country
be made to feel what the navy has
done. | do not feel at all kindly to,
ward General Grant for the indifference
he displayed in this matter until he
found his reputation at stake; then he
was glad to throw the elephant over
board that had weighed him down so
heavily.
HE could not help but know that
General Butler was going in command
of this expedition. He knew that he
had placed himself and all his numer-
Gus staff on board the flagship Ben.
DeFord, and everybody spoke OF him as
commander of the troops. In a con-
versation with General Grant, | ex,
pressly told him that | wanted nothing
to do with General Butler, and he
promised me faithfully that he should
not have any connection with the ex,
petition. Two months | waited, and
waited, the fleet ready to sail as an
hours notice, and | acquiesced in the
Lieutenant Generals decision that he
could not spare troops for fear Of en-
dangering the defenses in his front. |
said, Then the expedition will never GO
until Butler has a finger in the pie, and
sure enough when Butler said 60, we
went. The fear of weakening the
defenses disappeared on Butler 6
presenting his plan of blowing
the forts down, andan army was shipped
so quick-unprepared-on the trans
ports that they almost sailed in the
middle of heavy gale General Grant
knew that did not care fig for the
powder boat, though l was willing to
try it as an experiment, but not dis
posed to trust to it altogether. | think
It was most unhandsome in him to
listen for a moment to the idle talk OF
Buffers staff and his timid calculating
Engineer, Comstock, who wanted some
excuse for not doing their duty.
The Lieutenant General and / were
together eighteen months, before Vicka-
burg. He never had to wait for me,
uor did any of his Generals, but have
had to wait for them, and he should
have supposed from the past and my
anxiety to 20 to work, that / had not
become any slower in my movements
than | was on the Mississippi His
course proves to Inc that he would sac
rifice his best friend rather than let any
odium of fault fall on Lieutenant Gen
eral Grant. He will take to himself all
the credit OF this movement, now that
it is successful, when he deserves all
the blame for the first failure to take
the place. All this is now saddled on
General Butler, and his story will tell
nothing OF General Grants share in it "