Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-08-08
?Mistellauepns &eadina.
GEN. GRANT ON THE LATE WAR.

..s' 6ENs dhANIU UN InE LAlh WAhs u -
The New York Herald prints a. long talk
of Gen Grants with correspondent, on the
men and events of the late war. g. The gist of
the interview is summarized as follows:
In the conversation recorded by the CORES
pondent General Grant touches many Of the
most interesting parts of the war. It'is Gu:
rious to read, for instance that if he had
known the solGliers and generals ofthe Poto.
mac Army better he would have preferred to
invest Lee in Richmond from the Lynchburg
or land side, as he invested Pemberton in
Vicksburg. But it is evident from what he
says here that he was never bitten with the
notion, so prevalent at one time in the north,
that Richmond in itself was of importance.
He always saw, with his clear military eye,
that Lee was his objective point. On this
head we remember remark he made to an
intimate personal friend, when he first came
east o take command. "Well general" said
this friend, II don't want to ask you anything,
but you mean to- capture Richmond, I hope?"
Grant replied briefly, 81 mean to beat Lee,"
and there showed that he perfectly compre-
hended the vital point of his operations
What he says about the losses Of the Wilder
ness campaign will surprise many persons /;
but he must be allowed to speak from accu-
rate knowledge when he says that bis total
losses in that campaign amounted to only
thirty.nine thousand men, Every military
man will agree with him when he says that
that campaign was necessary to destroy the
Southern Confederacy. It was necessary in
order to give the army Of the Potomac con-
fdence in its new commander, and the con.
viction that under Grant they would no long
er fight and fall back, as they had so often
and, in fact, invariably done, but fight; and
advance. .,...f. ...
Grants narrative of the circumstances at.
tending the surrender of Lee, with the picture
of his muddy and worn uniform, and Lees
magnificent array, and the apology each made
to the other for his dress, will be welcome to
the historians who shall attempt to describe
the famous event It will be seen that the
judgments he passes upon the generals and
public men of both sides are always impartial,
kindly and generous. He praises Gen. But
ler, wishes he had had abler subordinates, and
expresses regret that an unlucky phrase ip bis
official report should have annoyed Butler.
He thinks Jefferson Davis, did all he could for
the Confederacy, and, did not deserve the
harsh criticism he got. He thinks Stonewall
Jackson might not have proved so effective
general later on in the war, and opposed to
men like Sherman and Sheridan, when his
peculiar tactics would have failed. In this
he is probably right; jackson outmarched
and outmaneuvred his slower antagonists, but
when our troops gained commanders who also
acted with CELEBRITY, it is doubtful if Jackson's
famous phrase to his soldiers, "When you get
into q corn6eld eat enough to last you week"
would have saved him from disaster. Grant
seems to think Lee not so great as bis reputa,
tion-speaking Of him, Of course, as q soldier,
and not as a man. +, He was never 80 uneasy
when in front of Lee as some of our other
commanders, and he describes him as man
of slow mind, without imagination, and Of
grave dignity of demeanor. Gen. Joe John
ston, in his opinion, was the ablest command
er on the Southern side. Of Bragg heappears
to have but a poor opinion. e..
He tells singular story of President John.
sons desire at one time to arrest Gen. Lee and
other Southern commanders for treason, by
way of making rebellion odious. Grant and
Seward had, it seems, the manliness and good
sense to oppose and defeat this folly; and
Gen. Grant says he would have resigned his
commission rather than consent to the ar.
rest, the Southern men being sacred under
their parole to him. ... ''s4 -''"
Rosecrans, Buckner, Mcclellan, Buell.,
Stone and Mcdowell were, he says in the
opinion of the old army, the most promising
officers in 1861. He still thinks that Buell.
had genius for the highest commands, and
that Mcdowell was a man of great ability;
and he cannot account for the ill.luck of poor
Stone, which has puzzled many other men
who knew him as one the most highly cult
vated officers in the old army, and one of its
best soldiers. Sherman and Sheridan he
praises without stint, and relates an odd story
of bis first meeting with the latter, when Sher.
idan, then colonel of regiment, was rude to
him. Sherman, he says, is not only one of
the best men living, but one of the greatest
We have had in our history and be gives
curious account Of how Shermans narrative
of the war was misrepresented to him, so that
be determined to read it pencil in hand, and
L.iSc- .SJ Il