National Republican., 1878-07-25
GRANTS "reminiscences.
Continued from Fira Pigs,

| LCon'in"ed from Frs Pn0el
pnc occasion Mr.. johnson spoke Of Lee and
wanted TO know why any military commander
had q right to protect an arbitrator from the
| laws. ! was angry at this, and I spoke earn
estly and plainly to the President. I said that.
| rs General, II was none OF my business what
he or Congress did with General Lee or his
other commanders. He might do rs he pleased
about civil rights, confscation of property, and
so on. That did not come in my province. But
| = general commanding troops has certain re-
sponsibilitics and duties and power which are
supreme.
him so as to destroy him. He may either kill
him, capture him, or parole him. His engage
ments are sacred so far as they lead to the de-
struction Of the foe. / made certain terms
| with Lee. If had told him and his army that
their liberty would be invaded that they
would be open to arrest trial, and execution
for treason, Lee would never have surrendered,
and we should have lost many lives In destroy
ing him. Now, my terms Of surrender were
according to military law, to the instructions
OF Nr. Lincoln and Mr.. Stanton, and so long
Lee was observing his parole, would never
consent to his arrest. Mr.. Seward nodded ap.
proyal. should have resigned the command
OF the army rather than have carried out any
order directing mo to arrest Lee or any Of his
commanders who obeyed tho laws. BY the
way, one reason why Mosby became such a
friend OF mine was because, rs General, gave
him safe conduct to allow him to practice
law and earn living. Our officers In Virginia
used to arrest leading Confederates whenever
they moved out of their homes.
mrs. Mosby went to Mr. johnson and asked
that her husband might be allowed to earn his
J living. But the President was In furious
mood. and told her treason must be made odious,
and SO on. She came to me In distress and gave
the order to allow Mosby to pass and repass
I had ia of mil
Mosby called it to my attention. by the way
, Mosby deserves great credit for his sacrifices
, In the cause of the Union. He Is an honest,
brave, conscientious man, and has suffered
severely for daring to vote as he pleased
among people who hailed him as hero, aud in
whose behalf lie risked his life."
STONE, M'DowELL, AND BUELL..
There were 4 few men," said the General,
when tho war broke out, to whom we who
had been In the army looked for success and
high rank-among them Rosecrans, Buckner,
Mcclellan, Stone, Mcdowell, Buell.. l felt
sure that each Of these men would gain the
highest commands. Rosecrans was q great
disappointment to Us ALTO me especially.
stones case was always a mystery, and think
great wrong WAS committed.
Mcdowell was also the victim Of what
5 suppose we should call Ill luck. You will re-
member people called him q drunkard and q
traitor. Well, ho never drank drop Of liquor
in his life, and q more loyal man never lived.
have the greatest respect for McDowell's ac-
complishments and character, and was glad
to make him major general. His career Is ole
of the surprising things in the war. So Is
Buell's. Buell. does not like me, am afraid,
0 but have always borne my testimony to his
perfect loyalty aud his ability. Buell. Is q man
0 who would have carried out loyalty every or.
der he received, and think he had genius
4, enough for tho highest commands; but, some-
how, he fell under cloud"
THE MILITARY FAILURES OF THE WAR.
THE trouble with many of our generals In
the beginning was that they did not believe
. in tho war. l mean they did not have that
, complete assurance In success which belongs
to good gcneralship. They had views about
slavery, protecting rebel property, State
rights-political views that interfered with
' their Judgment. Now do not mean to say
that they were disloyal. A soldier had a,
s good right to his opinions rs any other citi-
: zen, and these men were as loyal rs any men
in the Union-would >have died for the
Q Union-but their opinions made them
4 lukewarn, and many failures came from that
In some cases 1t was temperament There is
q Warren, whose case may be regarded rs Q
4 hard ono. Warren had risen to one Of the
highest commands in the army, aud was re-
moved on the field Of battle and in the last
= battle of the war. Yet 1t could not be helped
Warren Is q good soldier and a good man
If you give him an order he would not act un.
til he knew what the other corps would do,
8 Instead Of obeying-and knowing that the
s power which was guiding him would guide
the others-he would hesitate and inquire
It and want to debate. 1t was this quality
g which led to our disaster at the mine explo.
h sion before Petersburg. If Warren had
obeyed orders we would havo broken Lees
:, army in two and taken Petersburg.
: GRANTS ESTIMATE OF SHERMAN.
u 80 far as tho war is concerned" said the
II General, II think history will more than ap'
prove the places given to Sherman aud Sheri
n dan. Sherman have known for thirty five
d years. During that time there never was bu
10 one cloud over our friendship, and that, said
g. the General laughing. LASTED about thret
10 weeks. When SherInan's book came out Mr.
J. B0ynton, tho correspondent, printed some let
ters about It, In these Sherman was made /,
ID disparage his comrades, and to disparage mt
N especially. cannot tell you how much / wa
le shocked. But there were the letters and th'
L. extracts. / could not believe 1t In Sherman
v the man whom l had always found SO tru,
" and kuightly, moro anxious to honor other,
than win honor for himself SO I sent for tn
/. book and resolved to read 1t over, with paper
i and pencil and make careful notes, and II
10 Justice to my comrades and myself prepare
Ia reply. was some time about it, had Off
T. cial duties, and l am a slow reader. Then
~ missed the books when | reached the Brancl
and had to send for them. So II was thre
- weeks before l was through. During thes
~ weeks" replied'the General, laughing, II dit
! not see Sherman and am glad did not
=, But when finished the book found tina
"a | approved every word-that 1t was a tru
:" book, an honorable book-creditable TO Sher
= = man, just TO his cOmpanions-to myself partc
ularly so-just such a book as / expected Sher
man would write"
SHERMAN AS A GENERAL.
The General told his story of the thre
weeks cloud as though tho recollection
III amused him. sherman" he said, ''is not onl.
a great soldier. but great man. He is one o
n the very great men in our country's history
10 He Is many-sidcd man. He is an orator witt
few superiors. As writer he is among tn
5. first. As general know of no man woul
/. put above him. Above all he has a fine char
acter-so frank, so sincere, so Outspoken, S
es genuine There is not false line In Sher
c. mans scharacter--nothing to regret.
IL GRANTS EsTIMATE OF SHERIDAN.
"As for Sheridan" said the General, 81 hav
u only known him since we met during the wal
70 He Joined my regiment-the Tenth Infantry
IL after l left 1t, and so did not see him, Tn
first time | remember meeting Sheridan wa
I'd when he was the colonel of Michigan rcgi
IL mcnt. We met at railway station. He wa
Il