Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-12-16

ICoPY. |
NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON,
II g FLAGSHIP MALVERN.
CAPE FEAR RIVER, jim. 81, 1906

~ for the confidence you repOSed In my
good opinion that this place could be
taken. TO the Navy Department alone is
the country indebted for the capture Of
this rebel stronghold for had it not been
for your perseverance in keeping the fleet
there, and your constant propositions made
| to the army, nothing would have been |
/ done. As it was, after the proposition had
| been received, and Gen. Grant promised |
that troops should be sent, it was not done |
until Gen. Butler consented to let the mat |
ter go on, and when ho hoped to reap some |
| little credit for the explosion of the pow
der boat. Now, the country gives Gen.
GRAM the credit of lnauguratlng the ex-
! DeditiOn. when. on both occasions, he per |
mitted it to go improperly provided. In
! the first place it had neither head nor tall
as far rs the army was concerned. In the
second place he (GraDt) sent too Jew men,
when be oaght 10 have calculated that the
rebels would have more strongly defended
the works, after seeing what narrow ee-
cape they had. Nothing but the most des-
! crate fighting and u determination to
win on the part of the army gave US the
victory. The gallant band OF Sailors who
fearles-iy want into the works amidst a
shower Of canister and bullets, drew the
enemy's attention away from the ASSAULT
on the land side, ana enabled the
troops to obtain o sure footing. /
don't say this to detTact from the
gallantry of the soldiers, for never
did men fight harder Or mora hand
somely than did our troops that day. Now
that the most important fort on the coast
has been gained, Us usual you will hear
but little Of what the navy did, ana no
doubts efforts will be made again to show
that the work WAS not "auOstantiully in
jnred us defensive work. 70 General
Grant, who is always ready to take the
credit when anything is done, and equally
ready to lay the blame Of the failure on
the navy when q failure takes place, feel
; under no obligations for receiving aud al
lowing a report TO be spread from his
Headquarters that there were thlec days
? when the navy might have operated and
did not. He knows as much about 1t 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 batter
! les" showing evidently that he had not
: studied the photography of Cape Fear
river, aud did not know the VIt0e there
! was in cur wooded walls when they went
in for q fair stand up fight. Any fort III
, ,rcbeIdOln can b0 taken II VIC can only get
in reach Of it, l have served with the
Lieutenant General before, where L never
worked SO hard in my life to mako man
=, succeed as did for him. You will scarce
T " notice in his reports That the navy did
any service, when, without the help it has
given him all the way through, he never
would have been Lieutenant General. lie
! wants n1agnauimity, like most officers of
the army, and is SO avaricious IS regards
fame that he will never, if he can help 1t,
do Justice to our department.. When the
rebels write the history Of this war, them
: and only then. will the country be
y made 10 +, el what the navy has dcne.
= do not feel at all kindly towards Gen
:, eral Grant for the indifference he dis
). played in this matter until he found his
own reputation at stake then he was glad
" to throw the elephant overheard that had
weighed him down so heavily. de could
, not help but know that Gen. Butler was
u going in command of this expedition
The matter was constantly discussed with
him he knew that he had placed himself
= aud eli Of his numerous staff on board the
!, = flagship Ben de Ford, and everybody spoke
= of him as commander of the troops.
In conversation with Gen. Grant,
. expressly told him that wanted nothing
,, to 40 with Gen. Butler, and he promlsec
- me faithfully that he should not have any
= connection with the expedition. Two
- months waited the feet ready to sail a
- an hours notice, and acquiesced IN the
- Generals decision that he could not spare
- troops for fear of endan gering the defense
- in his front. I said, ''rhen Che expedition
w will never go until Butler has hnger II
y the pie - and sure enough, when Butte
% said 90, we went The fear of weakening
the defenses disappeared on Buffers pre-
- senting his plau for blowing the fort
= down, and an army was shipped SO qulcl
- (unprepared) on the transports, that the
80 almost sailed IN the middle Of heav.
e, gale. Gen. Grant knew that did net car
70 fig for the powder boat, though L we
~ very willing to try ii as an experiment, bu
L not disposed to trust it altogether. L thin
= it most uuhandsome in him to listen for
~ moment to the idle talk Of Buffers staff
20 and his timid, calculating engineer, Com
IS stock, who wanted some excuse 70
! not doing their duty. The Lieuter
u, ant General and I were together eigl
y teen months before Vlcksburg-never ha
to wait for me, nor did any Of his genera
~ (but [ have had to wait for them), and h
AZ AZ should have supposed from the past an
Us my anxiety to &c to work, that had NJ
-. become any slower in my movements tina
a. I was on the Mississippi. His cours
- proves to me that he would rather sacrlhC
=, his best friend than let any Odium fall o
- ~ Lieutenant General Grant. He will tax
~ r to himself all the credit of this move no
o. that il is successful, when he deserves a
~ the blame for the first failure to take til
N place. All this is now eaddled on Ger
70 Butler, and history will tell nothing
a. a., Gen. Grants share in it.
=" I tell it to you for your own person
- satisfaction that you may know and te
VI that you are entitled to the entire cred
~ for getting this expedition off and for i
III III success am merely the agent and on
nc used to advantage the ample means place
"a at my disposal, which any one else coul
eo have done as we'll as I. l expect yC
Il9 sometimes think I am a little too lmpoiit
in what 1 say, but that is my nature.
a. ne am always ready to fight right away, if III
*. one reflects upon the navy. I know tn
OF no country under the sun ever raised
Nv navy as you have done in the same spa
.ay of time, and that no navy ever did NOR
A. Gould the navy operate in James rive
~ ~ Richmond would now be ours. Wick
"a burg, a stronger place, fell when the na'
~ was brought to bear on il. Every pla
as I,. has fallen where naval cannon have be-
~ brought into play.
This is not pet place with the Lieute
ant General, and he leaves it with abo