The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-05-27

takes in the campaign the mistakes were
his own. He was never burdened or ham,
pered by the President or the Secretary, and
he speaks of their memory with respect
honor their illustrious names.
IF there were blunders in that CAM
paign," says General Grant, "the blunders
were mine, and not those of Lincoln or
Stanton. They did everything in their
power to assure my success. On me, and
fall" But the General evidently feels that
it was not campaign of blunders, and in
this his opinion is strengthened by
an admirable letter from General Ba-
deau, who goes over the whole CAM
paign from military point of view, and
combats the theory that the battles in the
Wilderness were the results of an over
whelming force under Grant destroying o
small, brave and steadily diminishing force
under Lee. General Badeau's letter will,
no doubt, lead to further discussion, the re-
suit of which we will not now anticipate. It
is one of those discussions which we gladly
welcome. The events in which General
Grant bore SO great part belongt to history,
and all that any fair man now cares, whether
he belongs to the North or the South, is that
this history shall be truly written. The war
is at nm end The harvests have come and
gone upon its battle fields as they will come
and 60, we trust, for ages. Many
of the great men who did their part
in that war have passed away. Lee and
Jackson and Bragg sleep the long sleep,
with Meade and MacP and Sedgwick,
waiting for the summons that will call them
and those who come after US have an inter-
est in their deeds, and our interest is that
the truth shall be known in all its darkness
or brightness. General Grant himself can do
no better service to the living and the dead
than to bear his testimony as fully and as
frankly as he bears it this morning in the
columns of the HERALD. His testimony will
always be heard with the consideration due
to his illustrious name and 60 far toward
shaping the history of the rebellion Of the
South and the war for the Union.
General Grant and General Badeau intro
point of view, as to how far the North sup
ported the Union armies during the war.
That belongs, we think, more to the politics
Of the time than to its history, and may as
we'll be forgotten as we forget the intrigues
and cabals that surrounded the career of
81; 10 AZ +; mi "a
thetic in General Grants remark, ''that
scarcely wind came from the North, from
our own homes, that did not come laden
with calumny and disparagement." To this
we can only answer that when the country
came to award the honors of the war it
showered them upon General Grant. as well
as upon General Sherman, General Sheri-
dan and their comrades with no sparing
hand. This generation has been as con-
siderate toward these heroes as our fathers
were to Washington and Gates and Greene,
and if there was any anxiety or uneasiness
during the war, any undue pressure upon
tho generals or unusual criticism Of their
campaigns, it came from the yearning for
success, nnd represented not calumny and
disparagement, but the sufferings Of war and
apprehensions Of defeat. These feelings
are part of free governments where there
is free speech and free press General
Grant should forget these inevitable sur
roundings Of an unusual and severe war,
and remember only that his successes were
q pride aud joy to our people, without dis
tinction of party, and that his name and the
names of the illustrious men with whom he
served will be remembered with honor and
veneration long after republicanism and de-
mocracy and the petty political strifes of
those dark and trying hours are forgotten.