Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-05-01
somE HAMS REPUrA .1Oz IN


dles Of The Department of the entire record
Of the proceedings in the Court Of Inquiry
In tho case of Gen. be. Buell., has ex-
cited 3 suspicion that perhaps other dOcu-
nients Of importance in the archives of that
department had been spirited away or tam
pered With. Itsis reported that an exam
nation has disclosed the fact that q num-
Der Of such documents have been extern
sively mutilated. Gen. Buell. has endeav-
ored for many years to procure copy of
the proceedings. CT the Court, which, he
claims, would, if made public, clear up bis
military record In the eyes Of the country.
He has uniformly been refused. He had
recourse finally TO Congress, and some
weeks ago the Military Committee Of the
House addressed letter to the Secretary of
War, requesting copy of the record. The
Secretary replied that it was so voluminous
that be had not clerical force sufficient to
copy it. The matter was not allowed to
rest here. Shortly after Gen. Swami, mem
Der of the Military Committee, put a reso-
luton through the House calling for the
record. To this the Secretary replied last
week as follows: A careful search among
all the records and files in this Department
fails to discover what disposition was made
of the proceedings of the Commission and
papers annexed thereto, and no record indl-
cative Of the nature of the report of the
Board or the conclusion reached by it can
be found other than are contained in the
accompanying papers" This total disap-
pearance Of the most important historical
record in the possession Of the Government,
relating to the operations of the Western
armies from the battle of Shiloh to that of
Perryville is regarded as most remarkable,
and has excited great deal of comment.
OF course there Is a reason for this disap-
pearance, and the Washington correspondent
of the New York Tribune says ait is whis-
pered about that there are two persons in
high authority whose regulations would
suffer were the record of the Buell. court to
see the light" Who are these 1.-TWO per-
sons in high authority2" Is Grant one of
them2 The New York Tribune says edi-
torially:
"This is a gross outrage upon sufi-
GENTLY prosecuted officer, and the War De-
partment will do well TO hunt up the miss
ing documents with alacrity. Meantime
the country has the right to inquire whether
the Government archives are to continue
subject TO the spOliation of men insids the
Ring, who have friends to reward or enc
mics to punish"
The country has a right to know who has
distracted this record, and whose reputa-
ton was to be saved by this abstraction.
There are very strong reasons to suspect
thai Grant is one Of them. Gen. Buell. had
saved Grant from utter destruction at Pitts
at Shiloh, Gen. Albert Sidney johnson and
Gen. Beauregard, at the head of $4,000 Con-
federates, utterly routed Grant with his
5000 Western troops, the fewer of the
Federal army, forcing him to seek safety,
as Mcclellan did at HarTison's Landing,
under the protection Of his gunboas. The
Confederates occupied his camp, with I'M
mense supplies eff arms, ammunition, pro-
visions, and captured about three
thousand prisoners, including several
brigade commanders. With his whole
lins broken, his reserve destroyed, and
his demoralized troops forced to the waters
edge, his surrender the next day seemed
inevitable. But the timely arrival of Gen.
Buell. restored the fortunes of Grant. But
the man who saved Grant and his army-a
really able and merilorious officer, as well
as high toned gentleman, was virtually dis
graced soon afterwards, resigned his COM
mission in disgust, and has never yet had
justice done him by the Government he
served 50 well. The records Of the Court
Of Inquiry which he demanded, and which
he has persistently sought to clear up bis
military record, have been stolen from the
War Department, because ''there are two
persons in high authority whose regulations
would suffer were this record" to see the
light. eau there be doubt that Grant is
one Of these persons?