The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1870-12-15

CAAN NuNAS Will lAU country Dc HlaQt W
feel what the navy has done.
l do not feel at all kindly toward Gen
eral Grant for the indifference he displayed
in this matter until he found his own rep
utatiOn 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 everybody
spoke of him as commander of the troops.
In a conversation with General Grant, I
expressly told him that l wanted nothing
to do with General Butler, and he promis-
ed me faithfully that he should not have
any connection with the expedition. Two
months I waited, the fleet ready to sail at
an hours notice, and / acquiesced in the
Generals decision that he could not spare
troops for fear of endangering the defenses
in the front. I said Then the expedition
will never go until Butler has q finger in
the pie !" and sure enough, when Butler
said go, we went. The fear of weakening
the defences disappeared on Buffers pre-
sentIng his plan for blowing the forts
OONAY 1AAA al army Was slAHDGu 81 Au4Ghi
u%nprepared, that they almost sailed IN the
middle Of a heavy gale. General Grant
knew that l did not care a fig for the pow
der boat, though I was very willing to try
il as an experiment, but not disposed 10
trust it altogether. l think it most I'M
handsome IN him to listen for q momen to
the idle talk of Buffers staff, and his Tim
Id, calculating engineer Comstock, who
wanted an excuse for not doingtheir duty.
The Lieutenant General and l were to-
gether eighteen months before Vickshurg
never had to wait for me, nor did any
of his Generals (but l have had to wait
for theml and he SHOULD have supposed
from the past. and my anxiety 10 90 to
work, that l had not become any slower
in my movements than l was on the Mis-
sissippi. His purse proves TO me that lac
would sacrifice his best friend rather than
let any odlum fall on Lieutenant General
Grant, He Will take to himself all the
credit of this move now that it is success
full, when he deserves all the blame for the
great failure TO take the place. All this Is
now saddled on General Butler, and histo-
ny will tell nothing of General Grants
share in it.
1 tell it TO you for your own personal
satisfaction hat you may know and fee.
that you are entitled to the entire credit
for getting this expedition off and for Its
success. l am merely the agent, and only
used TO advance the ample c placed
at my disposal, which any one else could
have done as well as 1. l expect YOU
sometimes think l am little too impoGtic
in what / say, but that is nv nature. ]
am always willing to tight rightAway, if any
one reflects upon the navy. I know thai
no country under the sun ever raised Q
navy as you have done in the same space
Of time, and that no navy ever did more
Could the navy operate IN James river
Richmond would now be ours. Vicksburg
a stronger place, fell when the navy wa:
brought to bear on it. Every place has
fallen where naval cannon have beer
brought into play.
Our successes have been beyond my
most sanguine expectations. / knew we
would have Caswell in less than a month
but / had no idea the rebels would blow
that and other works up so soon and leave
us sole possession. I am uneasy now fol
fear the enemy may turn all their force
this way, and throw forty-thousand men
into the peninsula. They would retake
Fort Fisher, ever with the gunboats We
have here, and turn the guns Of the fort
upon us. The object isa great one. and il
| was general of their forces I would do il
at all hazards.
This is not n pet place with the Lieuten.
ant General, and he leaves it with about
seven thousand men, and l don't think
knows much of the situation. An army
man thinks if he has . gun boat at his
back he is all right, but this is one case
where at times the gunboats are driven of
by bad weather, and those inside cannot
cooperate effectively. / have given you
a long letter, but find an apology for my
self in the fact that ! know your whole
heart is in the navy, and that everything
concerning 1t interests you. Again permit
me to thank you for the confidence you
have always placed in me, and the oppor-
tunities you have given me for distinction
and assuring you that it has been my only
wish to merit your appreciation, l remain,
respectfully and sincerely. your obedIent
servant,
(Signed,) DAVID D. PORTER.
To Hon. GIDEON WELLEs. Secretary o.
the Navy, Washington, D. C
PoRTE TO GRANT.
The following Is the whining letter Of
Porter to Grant, on seeing his former let.
ter to that parsonage IN print
WASHINGTON, December 3, 1870.
Mr.. PRESIDENT: Ny first impulse on
reading the letter published in the New
York World was TO go TO you at once and
pronounce it a fabrication, for as such ]
considered it but, as it purported to have
been written six years ago, and published
by a person who once held a prominent
position under the government, l determ-
med to ascertain fully if l had ever indi-
ted such a letter, before addressing YOU on
the subject. Neither myself nor nv sec
rotary, who has served with me eight
years, could recall to our recollection any
circumstance of the kind. | could not
conceive that / had uttered sentiments ]
know l never felt, and which are so at va
rance with those | have uniformly ex-
pressed toward you. The letter, it appears
was a private one; and vindictive must
have been the heart of the man that could
be guilty of so grave 4 breach of conf
dence; and depraved indeed must be the
character who, to crafty his mischievous
instincts. could make public confidential
letter, written, perhaps, under great ex-
cItement, and at this distant day not even
remembered. 1t seems like q poor return
for your uniform confidence and kindness
to me and l am glad that 1 remember
nothing connected with the letter.
At about the date of the letter ! had
passed through a long and fatiguing con-
test with Fort Fisher, and my numerous
feet was almost ~overpowered by the ele-
ments. / saw the coveted prize within my
grasp and then slip from me. For another
month had to battle with the storms OF
winter, anchored on an open coast, with
the responsibility of that large feet on nv
hands, and my mind and body harrassed
by extraordinary fatigues. The whole Ia
ton was looking on excited, dreading a
defeat that might prolong q contest that
was already sapping its vitals. You and
Others know what | had to undergo, bodi-
ly and mentally. l presume that it was
under this excitement that l wrote the
letter which, you say. has made you lose
your faith in human nature. 1 have no
recollection Of it any more than l would
have Of other passing circumstances of six
years ago. When several persons have at
different times informed me that a letter
would be published in which l had abused
Gen, Grant, l treated the matter with IN
difference, thinking 1t impossible that such
q letter could exist. l do not write for
the purpose Of generating myself, for l