The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-09-02


Grafton. will be finally supplanted, AM
| that
a PERMANENT PLACE IN LITERATURE
will be held only by the personal memoir
of actors and eye-wituesses, ike Genera
Johnston's Narrative Of Military Opera
tions," published last year, and Genera
Shermsn's recent interesting volume. Blu
the work OF the Comte de Paris has o com
bination of merits which will cause it to out
| last all the experienced historians that have
preceded it, and make it the best genera
history of the civil war that is likely to ap
pear in our time. it would be interesting
10 test the accuracy of the Comte de Paris'l
narrative on minor points by tracing cor
| responsiveness or discrepancies between il
and that of General Sherman where they
relate to the same events, If we haC
larger materials of comparison thar
are afforded in these volumes. But the
fourth volume of the Comte de Paris ends
with the events OF 1862, and up to that time
General Sherman's opportunities of personal
knowledge were quite limited. Up to that
period the conformity is tolerably close
which might be accounted for by supposine
the Comte de Paris to have perused General
Sherman's memoirs if there were not few
marked discrepancies which are not easily
reconciled with the supposition. 1t is GER
tain, however, that these two volumes were
announced as ready for publication about
the time that the "Memoirs''
appeared, and that there has
been an unexplained delay OF six or
seven weeks. This might be explained by
supposing the author of the history to have
kept back the new volumes to see whether
he needed to revise them in the light of Gen.
Sherman's recollections. If this is tbs case
there are some points upon which he con-
tinues to rely on his first information al
though it is contradicted by Gen. Sherman.
The differences relate mainly to Gen. Sher-
mans unsuccessful assault on Vicksburg at
the close of the year 1862. We will translate
a passage of the history, which has peculiar
interest as expressing the opinion of the
author that Gen. Sherman is the ablest of
our great soldiers, and afterward point out
the
CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN IT AND
the 'Memoirs:'' The check of Sherman had
been too serious for him to hazard a new as
ssult. The nature ofthe ground precluded
the concentration of forces necessary to
give such an attempt chances of success the
federals had learned at their expense, that
the enemy's works were stronger, better
armed and defended by more troops than
they had believed. 1t was necessary to
profit by this experiment, which Sherman
comprehended, and as soon as he learned
Blair's failure, he countermanded every
other movement for that day. On the NOR
row, December 20, after a night in which
rain fell n torrents, the situation OF his
army was still worse. He had been able to
measure his losses, which amounted to It's
killed, $50 wounded and 743 prisoners.
No message hac beeen received
from Grant, but alarming rumors respecting
him were current. The news of the
capture of Holly Springs had reached Vicks-
burg, and the few inhabitants ofthe country
with whom the federals found themselves in
contact, took pleasure in giving them the
reports with all the exaggerations usual in
such cases. These rumOrs were in the eyes
OF Sherman an additional reason for not
abandoning his post so long as it presented
the slightest chance OF success; indeed, the
more difficult the situation of Grant the
more no felt the Importance of extricating
him by drawing upon himself all the hostile
forces. He accordingly remained in his po-
sition during the whole day of the 31st, men,
acing Pemberton in appearance with new
attack, and preparing a movement to turn
the obstacles which he could not surmount
in front. Omitting the details of these prep
arations we pass on TO the general COM
ments on Shermau's failure at Vicksburg.
in which criticism is almost
lost in the effulgence of eulogy,
founded on Sherman's subsequent ca
reer: Public opinion in the North was
deeply excited by the check at Chickasaw
Bayou. Grant was already a little popular;
Sherman became the object of attacks by the
whole press-attacks which were more un-
sparing because of the severity he had shown
toward the newspaper correspondents who
accompanied his army. They reviewed even
the'absurd calumnies which had been spread
at the BEGINNING of the war against this sa-
gacious soldier (ces esprit sagace ct profond)
1t is certain that hisexpedition deserved crit
icism in several points. Either by his fault,
or the force ofcircumstsnces.h he had been un-
able with an army of $4,000 men to throw
more than 1900 into an assault upon formi-
dable works, aud had sacrificed 1000 of these
without any chance OF success. He had not
shown on that occasion all the great qualities
which, in the end, raised him
ABOVE ALL HIS COMPANIONS IN ARMS
as we'll as all lhissdverssries, but he knew how
to profit by experience. While awaiting a
more favorable occasion this modest and
courageous genersl'had the virtue to openly
assume the whole responsibility of the
defeat, and to accept, without a mumur,
the subordinate position which resulted
from the arrival of McClernand. We sup
pose the high estimate of the military
capacity Of General Sherman, of which we
have inserted the text to enable resders to
weigh the exact force Of the words, IS pretty
generally shared by foreign military critics.
It is at least certain that the Comts de Paris |
ranks him, in point of genius, above General
Grant and General Lee as we'll as
above Generals Mcclellan, JobpEson and
Jackson. But, although glad to introduce
this compliment, and selecting the quotation
partly with this object, our chief purpose is
to exhibit discrepancies between the two
narratives and show how important it is for
other distinguished commanders to initiate
the example of Gen. Sherman by giving
their recollections to the word as contribu-
tions to history. According to the Comte
de Paris, Gen. Sherman had learned of the
capture of Holly Springs through rebel
sources previous to the arrival of McCler-
nand. According to Gen. Sherman himself
he first learned OF the capture of Holly
tening for days TO catch the sound of Gen.
Grants guns in the vicinity of Vicksburg.
This disposes of the petty theory that Sher-
man was preparing feigned attacks for the
three days succeeding his disastrous assault
"A