Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-10-26
SECRETARY SEWARD UNPLEAS-
ANTLY CRITICISED.

| Secretary wells, IN narrallng the lacls
in relation to the futile attempt to re-
lieve Fort Sumter in March, 1861
makes some strong charges against
his colleague, the Hon. w. II. Sew
ard. The allegations may not be
strictly new, but they have never be-
fore been so formally and specifically y
set forth. They are in brief as fol-
/ lows: President LincCln's plan 70
act wholly on the defensive, thus
| throwing upon the seCessiOnlsts the
responsibility OF opening war, was
seen 10 be futile on the receiptO Of news
/ from Major Anderson that Fort sum
/ ter had supplies for only six weeks,
and could not resist any attack. Gen.
Scott thought it would be Impossible
I to relieve the fort, in consequence oi
the strong batteries which the rebels
had erected at the opening Of the har-
Dor, but several veteran naval officers
were of the contrary opinion, and an
eXpedient, carrying relief to the fort,
was determined on. The POwhatan
and other vessels were set apart for
this service, and it was designed, were
to reach Charleston about the 11th OF
April.
The Secetary Of State was Of course
made acquainted with the scheme,
but it did not meet his approval. He
had been negotiating with the rebel
commissioner. In his anxiety to in
duce the South to keep the peace, he
had assured the ENJOYS that Sumter
might be evacuated, and that, at all
events, no attempt should be made to
take troops or provisions thither with
out notifying the Governor of South
Carolina. When he found that it was
actually resolved to send an expedi-
ton, he induced the President, on the
Sth of April, to inform Gov. Pickens
what he had ordered. He was not
content with this. Having done a
large amount of negotiating on his
own responsibility, he was not ineli-
ned to lie Overruled. He presented a
lumber of papers to the President,
which the latter signed without read
ing. Among these was one placing
Capt. Barron, soon after an avOWed
rebel, at the head of an important na-
val bureau. Secretary Wells, who
had been one Of the prime movers Of
the expedition, was not at all pleased
at having a man fOisted upon him
whose integrity he suspected, and
hastened to make his complaints to
Mr.. Lincoln. The President was as
much surprised as the Secretary, and
revoked the order at once. He then
looked over the other papers, and
found one cOuntermanding the assign
ment of POwhatan to the Sumter eX-
peditiOn and sending her to the relief
of Fort Pickens, for which other ar
-
too late, however, to remedy the mat
ter, and the POwhat9n sailed off to
Pensacola. The rest of the eXpedi-
ton went to Charleston, but, the world
now knows, accomplished nothing.
Mr.. Wells does not believe that Mr..
Seward was in sympathy with the
rebels, but had acted thus far on the
suppOsitiOn that he was, like the
English Prime Minister, the virtual
executive of the country. He had
instituted the policy Of trying to con-
clliate the rebels by magnanimity,
and was determined to test his plan
to the utmost. It's folly was proved
by the attack on Sumter, in which the
men who "Only wanted to be let
aloneu assumed the offensive. The
snarl in which Mr.. Lincoln had in
volved himself by his careless signing
of the papers induced greater caution
on his part, and during the remain
der of his term Of ofRee he was actu-
ally as well nOminaIly President, and
each head of a department was warn
ed to attend to his own duties, and
not trespass upon the prerOgatives of
other members of the Cabinet.
Mr.. Wells claims that Captain, af-
terward Admiral, Porter and General
Montgomery Meigs were associated
with Mr.. Seward in his scheme for
restoring peace in his own fashion,
and thinks that all of them were cley-
erly manipulated by the rebel COM
missioners with whom they had to
deal.
The prominent events of the rebel
lion have often been described, but
there is much of its inner history that
will probably remain unknown until
the present generation has passed
away. The great struggle is yet too
recent for plain speaking on many
topics, and pOsterity will doubtless be
better able than men of our times to
award to all the actors the credit or
discredit which is their due.