The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-12-05
, Adm,raI porter ON Grant and Batter.

The following are extracts from letter
written to Secretary Wells, dated Janu.
arv 81. 1865: ,r- ~ ]
Now. the country gives General Grant
| the credit Of inaugurating the expedition,
when on both occasions he permitted 1t to
go improperly provided. In the first place,
1t had neither head nor tail, as far as the
army was concerned, In The second place,
he (Grant) sent too few men, when he ought
to have calculated that the rebels would
have more strongly defended the works
! after seeing what narrow escape they had.
J. % - To Cen. Grant, aoto is dtardys
aoftlfng 10 take the credit aoheh dnyt1iing is
done, and equally ready to lay the blame of
the failure on the navy when failure takes
! receiving. and allowing a 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 it as he did when he wrote to
me, saying "the only way in which the
place could be taken was by running the
ships past the batteries" showing evident
ly that ne had not studied the hydrography
OF Cape Fear river, and did not know the
virtue there was In our wooden walls when
they went In for fair stand-up fight ANY
fort IN rebeldom can be taken il we can
only get IN reach OF it. I have served with
the Lieutenant-G General before, where /
never worked so hard in my life to make q
man succeed as did for him. You win
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 neuer acoutd hare been Lteutenunt- Gene-
raj. He arants naagnanamity, like most of.
ficers Of the army, and is so duaricious as
regards fame that he will never, If he 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.
Ido not feel at all kindly toaoards General
Grant for the indifference he displayed in
this matter until he found his own rept1ta-
ton at stake. Then he was glad to throw
the elephant overheard that had weighed
him down so heavily. He could not help
but know that General Butler was going in
command of this expedition. The matter
was constantly discussed with him; he
knew that he had placed himself and all of
his numerous staff on board the flagship
Ben de Ford, and every body spoke OF him
as commander of the troops.
In q conversation tciM General Grant,
erprcssly told him that I aodnted nothing 10
do zrith General Butler, and he promised
me faithfully that he should not haze any
connection ,rith the expedition. Two months
| waited, the fleet ready to sail at an
hours notice, and acquiesced in the Gen.
erals S decision that he could not spare troops
for fear of endangering the defences in his
front. I said, "Then the expedition will
never go until Butler has finger in the
pie';" and sure enough, when Butler said
60, we went. The fear of weakening the
detences disappeared on Butler presenting
his plan for blowing the forts down, and an
army was shipped so quick (unprepared)
on the transports that they almost sailed in
the middle Of heavy gale. General Grant
knew that / did not care q fig for the pow
der-boat, though I was very willing to try
| it rs an experiment, but not disposed to
trust it altogether. I think it most unhand-
some IN him to listen for Il moment to the
idle talk Of Buffers staff, and his timid, cal
culating engineer, Comstock, who wanted
some excuse for not doing their duty. The
Lieutenant-General and 1 We're together
eighteen months before Ficksburg; never
had to wait for me, nor did any of his gen.
erals, (but | have had to wait for them, and
he should have supposed from the past and
my anxiety to 60 to work that 1 had not
become any slower in my movements than
was on the Mississippi. His course proves
to me that he would sacrifice his best friend
rather than let any odilm fall on Lieut..
Gen. Grant. He will take te himself all the
credit of this move now that it is success.
full, when he deserves all the blame for the
first failure to take the place. All this is
now settled on Gen. Butler, and history will
fall nothing of Cen. Grant,s share in If