Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-05-29
STATEMENTS By GEN. MA
- s-o ~. GRUDER. a @ :
How IEe Crossed the LonR Bridge
into virgtnia-Eais Conversations
with President Lincoln. rsaAf

HOW kAe Cf0Aseu sAc hSnA nh"eO
into virgrnia-Eais Conversations
with President Lincoln. fA.f
The Philadelphia E0ening Telegraph
publishes the following letter from Gen.
James B. Magruder, to a gentleman In
that city, which is'eyidently written with
some warmth of feeling, and contains
some statements that Mr.. Cameron quite
likely viii care to explain : 'A--'~ -
GALVESTON, Sunday, May s. 1867
Dear Sir: have not had an opportunity
to answer your letter of April 10 until
now.s LAS have abstained from politics
entirely since the war, i regret that am
compelled to write letter which will be
construed by some at least as being OF
political character. 1t is not 80, how
ever, for this letter is purely personal,
and written solely in. defense OF my hon
or. which mas been recklessly, malicious
" and mendaciously attacked by Senator
Cameron, of Pennsylvania, in a debate IN
the Senate of the 9th ult. as appears froln
the Congressional GLOBE, which you,
though unacquainted with me personally,
believe, had the kindness to send me,
for which thank you sincerely. Before
going further, / will here say that you
are not only at liberty TO publish this let
ter, bat that / hope you will do SO, and
in such newspapers that Mr.. Cameron
win be forced to read it, as hold myself
responsible personally at any time to Mr.
Cameron for its contents.
The paragraphs in the debate in which
allusion is made to me ale as follows:
Mr.. Cameron remember that Capt.
Somebody, who became General IN The
Rebel army, had the command of bat
terry here, and he was going to start OH
not only with himself but with his battery,
but somehow or other the battery did not
get off. He cleared off in a few evenings
after, however, and got across the bridge.
Mr.. Pomeroy- was the Captain
who escorted the President to the White
House. go
MIR. Cameron-The same man. lie es-
corted the President to the White House,
and heard him say to the President that
he admired1,him, and was going TO stand
by him during the war. He said that the
evening before he went away.
| will premise in reference to the above
that as l was the only officer that COM
manded battery in Washington at that
time and afterward became a General II
the Confederate army, Mr.. Cameron could
have meant none other but myself. The
rest of his remarks are false in every par
ticular. In fact, they constitute one
monstrous, malicious, reckless and inta-
NOUS lie. For in the first place never
was with Mr.. Lincoln in the presence Oh
Mr.. Cameron in my life. Secondly, L
/ never escorted Mr.. Lincoln to the White
House, for was on my way from or In
Europe at that time, as the military rep
| resentatiye of the country, sent by MIR.
Buchanan to inspect and report upon the
| armies of Europe, and did not reach
| Washington until after the M
auguration, l think about the 10Th
of March, 1861. In fact | never was
| in Mr.. Cameron's company but
once in my life, to my knowledge,
and that was at dinner party in the house
of my brother, Commodore George A
Magruder, of the United States navy, in
Washington, while Mr.. Cameron was
Secretary of War, about the 10th, 18th
or 18th of March, 1861, when Mr.. Came
| ron offered, in conversation with me, as
/ l was sitting by his side at the dinner
table. to send me to Russia, there to re-
main until the termination of the pending
war, if would agree to it. Hooked upon
that as the most disgraceful position an
officer could occupy To stand upon the
soil of foreign country, to receive bis
pay, fold his arms and look from dis
lance upon deadly conflict of his coun,
trymen, without taking sides with one OF
| the other, was, l felt, the most ignoblC
course of all, and ! treated Mr. Cameron
4 offer with the silent contempt / thought Il
deserved. u .L
/ In your note you ask me to state the
| circumstances under which l did leave
Washington for Richmond, Va, at thu
| commencement of the war. do 50 will
pleasure. The day on which Presiden
Lincoln received the telegram from tn
Governor of Virginia, my native State
declining to send his quota of troops IN
der the first proclamation, or the day at
| ter that, Mr.. Lincoln sent for me and ID
| formed me of that fact, My State ha
, | not vet seeded. l informed him that
: regretted deeply the course events ha
, | taken; that if my State seeded, L wa
. a soldier, obliged to fight either for o
T | against her, and that | would fight fC
: those among whom | was born an
: bred, my relations and friends, a
: of whom believed they were RICH
IL stated to him that | was
: graduate of West Point, but that We
e Point was not a charity school; that
T was supported as much by the Souther
G people, in proportion to cadets from Il
: South, as by the North in the same pa
3 | norton that the Government had alws.
y 1 recognized the right of officers to resig
!, unless they were officially charged wi
crime, and that the obligations to whl'
o an officer subscribed were simply to OBJ
1t the lawful orders of his superiors SO lol
d as he held the commission OF the Cover
If ment, and that every officer had this rig
j to resign when he thought proper. n
to Lincoln acquiesced in the pl
. priety of these views. 'Bu'
Ii added, ''Mr. President, will
T perfectly true and faithful to the obi:
to lions of my commission as long as | N
it, and you and your family will sleep
1y safety whenever am on guard. ~
| said he. 81 know it, for you are an OH
to of the army and a Southern gentiem
ly and incapable of any but honorable C
be duct" l thanked him warmly and sa
lty s.bIr. President, if do resign, you 81
zee | be the first to hear of it after my resig
I'LL | ton is placed in the hands of the Ad
am tant, if l can reach you, and L
I'VE | remain at least twelve hours
m Washington after my resignauo
tu- "Why," said he, with some surpr
BUS "should you do that" ''Mr. Pr
ing dent replied, 'T wish to be gracct
lall | off with the old love before | am on v
me the new" 81 am sorry to lose you,
ate said, with great animation, but II
ted must go, III help you to be gracefully
fla with the old love, meaning, L suppo
dne that he would accept my resignation "
,uld the time came to offer it. A day or
an after this my State seeded. l har
-rii- nv resignation to Col. G. +. Smith, {
: to nanding, about S or 9 O'Clock A. NJ {,
ates -epaired at once to the White lie
as Failing TO get admission, aske
ldg- | brother officer who said he would cert'
R. see the President that morning, to mi
him that had resigned, which | pres
he did, took leave openly of my friends
I. found myself at the Long Bridge,
by hack, lust three minutes after y, p
es a ZOO late, the orders being not to lowe
HI draw-bridge after 9. 1t was D
moonlight night, and as got out OF
,olis. coach l found my own battery gual
i the the bridge. The men uncovered
1ring passed through them to see the Lie
bust ant in charge. / asked him II he '
your be kind enough to lower the draw-h
pro- Gov mo SO Twas all packed and read.