The Portland daily press., 1878-05-30

ersl Dick Taylor in the North American Re.
view upon the last campaign in Virginia, and
also the article by the late ex.Sscretary Welles
IN the Atlantic Monthly. The result was an
interesting conversation with General Grant,
the essential points of which are given as
follows:
MR.. wELLEs AND GENERAL TAYLOR.
$50 far as Mr.. Welles is concerned" said the
general, he is dead, and any resentment one
might feel at his extraordinary misstatements
would now be out of place. 1t is unfortunate
Tor MIR. Welles's fsme that he should have
spent his last years 10 striving to belittle the
| very administration in which he held a promi-
nent place. But the real reason is that Mr..
Welies never was Republican. He blundered
INTO Lincoln's cabinet. He remained as quiet
as mouse so long as he held high office
under the Republicans and drew q large salary.
AS soon as Mr.. johnson made his advances
toward the Democrats he became a lou1 and
earnest es supporter OF his administration. From
that time to the end of his life Mr., Welles was
IN perfect sympathy with the men who tried to
orea6 down the government, ard it Is only
natural that he should belittle and defame
those who did their best to save the govern
ment, men who, whether they did much or
little, did all in their power. Mr.. Welles was
never so sincere in anything In his life as in his
democracy. and nothing that he has written
against myself or others for what we tried to
do in the war would cause me the least surprise
or vexation. My only sorrow is that gentle
man who had been Secretary of the Navy DUR
ing the rebellion should devote his powers to
defame men who did all they could to suppress
ths rebellion L cannot conceive a more pain
fnl and humiiating position. As to General
Taylor's assault on Mr.. Lincoln am not sur
prised. General Taylor fought on tine other
side, drew pay on the other side. and writes on
the other side. Taylor, unlike Welles, is loyal
to his cause, and it he'can destroy the reputa-
ton OF Mr.. Lincoln and those who served Mr.
Lincolo. why, of course hs has right to do so.
That's what the Southern Confederacy tried to
do for many years. So far as Tay lor and are
concerned we are friends and have maintained
the best relations. am quite sure he would
not do me any unkindness, as would not do
him. Taylor is one of the most agreeable of
men, who talks well aud talks great deal,
and like men of that kind, often gets bis facts
blended with fiction. / mean by that that il
Taylor said about me positive untruth, as he
does in this article, it would be a misfortune on
his part or an insdvertence-not any wilful
error He would speak in all seriousness with
out knowing any better"
TAYLoR's NARRATIVE PURE FICTION.
"rhen," said your correspondent, ''this arti-
Gle is not altogether true?"
81 have no doubt" said the general, "there
are some true things in the article; but the part
which refers to me is wholly false, utterly
false, without shadow of foundation. Gem
eral Taylor says that in a conference between
President Lincoln, Secretary Stanton and my
self in 1864 the approaching campaign in Vir-
ginia was discussed. No such conference was
ever held, and no such campaign was ever dis
cussed. General Taylor says insisted upon
advancing my whole army against Richmond
BY the James river. never said word to the
President or Secretary of War, or anyone else
in authority, as to how L would advance. GEN.
eral Taylor reports Mr.. Lincoln as saying that
the government required the interpostion of an
army between Lse and Washington. Mr..
Lincoln never said a word resembling this, or
anything at all on the subject. General Taylor
reports me as saying that any change Of route
from my own by the james to another would
cost 100000 men. This is pure fiction, as, in
deed, the whole story is pure fiction. =
eral Taylor says that the story comes xen.
well authenticated, and he has no de- % him
correctness. There are only three ADJ OF nis
could authenticate such stor- persons whe
Mr.. Stanton aud myself. r. J-Mr. Lincoln,
are dead, and say the soia iaco,n s ana stanton
ca'ion, and whoever .onchod 81. s.oiy Iaori,
Ia uaylor voucaeu fiction. feel it due to
saotiment of ,aese great men, apart from any
sehsimene U, decentralization. q. TO make this das,
MAI as EN- phatic and clear as possible
'nA-'N . INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN AND STAN
fnis denial of General Grant led to an In.
seresting resume on his part. "I remember
ne said' very well my first interview with
stanton. You know did not come to Wash
nag angIon until came in relatioa to an order to
assume command of the armies. had once
peen there as young man, but otherwise IL
was my first trip. found Stanton Cordial and
Wiiiing to do anything, so we suppressed the
Ieoeiilon. Nothing. could have been more
earnest and hearty than his treatment of me.
NOW, says he, General, do not want to
know your plans. Tell me what You need to
carry them out That is all L care to know.
AND when you go to ses Mr. Lincoln you will
do we'll to observe the same discretion. Mr..
Lincoln may not want to know any more of
your plans than do, but can understand
how you might naturally seek the confidence
OF the President Now Mr.. Lincoln is of a
gentle and tender nature, apt to confiie In
many people, and what you tell him about
military movements he may tell to the next
Senator with whom he has an intimate CONVEX
satiop.' l saw Lincoln. He was as cordial
and hearty as Stanton; if pos ,ible, more so,
manners. When Lincoln and / were alone
the President began the conversation BY re-
peating story from an article by Orpheus O.
Kerr-a comic article satirzing the conduct of
Capt Bob Shortly and the Mackerel Brigade,
and the anaconda policy, something about gen.
erals In the field being hampered by flood of
ord rs. When he had flushed lincoln said
very much what Stanton had said-that he did
not care to know what L was to do, only to
know what wanted; that should have all L
required; he wished me to beat Lee-how
did it was my own duty. He said he did not
wish to know my plans or to exercise any scru-
tiny over my plans; so long as beat the rebel
army he was satisfied. He spoke of a plan he
had long thought over and took down a map
He drew an imaginary line between two Of
the Virginia creeks or rivers, the names of
wtSch have escaped me, and said that m.ghI
move on that line and have the streams for sum-
plies. looked at the plan and saw in a mo-
ment tnat II L put my army on such a line
would be in much the same position as the
army OF the James. 1 would be powerless: il
could do no good to our side and no harm to
the other 1 would be locked up. told Mr..
Lincoln would consider the plan, aud that
was the last of it. The route was an impossi-
Bile route, and was never mentioned again by
Mr.. Lncoln. That is, as far as 1 remember,
the exact story of the conference between Mr..
Lincoln, Mr.. Stanton and myself when took
command of the army. The question of my
plans and their wisdom and unwisdom was
never afterward a subject of conversation
or correspondence. If there were blunders in
that campaign the blunders were mine and not
those of Lincoln or Stanton. They did every
thing in the world to assure my success. Upon
me aud upon me alone must the whole respon-
sibility fall"
HOW HISTORY IS WRITTEN.
This led to a remark from your correspond
ent regretting that men of rank and eminence
like Taylor and Welles should write what is
called history in violation Of facts, especially
when the truth was so easily accessible "Yes,''
said the general, with q smile, "as history goes
on we shall discover that the North were fisht.
ing windmills, that the South had no troops
that In time We discovered the absence of any
enemy and stepped in aud claimed victories L
sometimes ask where were these able-bodie
men of the South during the war? If we are
20 believe history not many of them were in
battle: 1t always struck me that | saw
enough ot them In every engagement and that
had but little advantage in forcs-none, if
you consider the fact that the Southern men
we're always on the defensive. Ia these articles
II Welles and Taylor you note that they not
'nly assume that the true and only way to have
attacked Lee was by way OF the James river
)ut that this also was my opinion. Ii the whole
If my command had gone By way OF the James
liver certainly would have found enough of
Lees force to have retarded my progress and to
light me. and possibly enough would have been
,pared to have threatened the national capital
AS it was L confronted Lee, aud held him and
an his hosts far from Richmond and the James
While L sent, the same day of my advance
lcross the Rapdan, force by the James river
ufficient, as thought, to have captured all
outh Of Richmond to Petersburg and hold it.
believe now that if General Butler had had
wo corps commanders such as might have
elected had known the material of the en-
ire army as we'll as did afterward, he would
ave done so, and would have threatened Rich