The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-06-05
A CHAPTER OF HISTORY.
Interesting Interview with General
Grant.-The Relative Power of the
North and South.

A correspondent of the Ne,o York Her
aid recently had an interview with Gen
erai Grant in Paris on the conduct Of tn
war between the States, and called atten
ton to a publication in the South Ameri
can ReUiew from the pen of General Rich
ard Taylor, in effect that General Gran
fought the campaign i'll Virginia aEaIns
his own judgment, and in doing so hat
thrown away the lives of Il hundre thou
sand men. The correspondent also called
Grants attention to an article in the At
lantic Monthly written by the late Gideon
Welles, in which Grant is arraigncd, up
on the authority Of General Taylor, toi
having insulted Lincoln's memory by at
tempting to throw the blame for thu
Wilderness and other campaigns upol
Lincoln, when it was his own fault. The
result of this interview was an interest
ing conversation with General Grant
from which we make the following eX
tracts:
MR.. wELLEs y GENERAL TAYLOR.
$50 far as Mr.. Welles is concerned
said the General, she is dead, and any
resentment one might feel at his eXtraor
binary miSstatements would now be on
of place. 1t is unfortunate for Mr.
WelleS' fame that he should have spen
his last years in striving to belittle tn
very administration in which he held
prominent place. But the real reason j:
that Mr.. Welles was 4 Republican
He blundered into Lincoln's Cabinet
He remained as quiet as a mouse so lonl
as he held a high office under the Repub
licans and drew a large salary. AS soor
as Mr.. Johnson made his advances to-
wards the Democrats he became q louC
- 1t 80 1t, t,,
ton. From that time to the end of his
life Mr.. Welles was in perfect sympathy
with the men who tried to break dow1
the government, and it is only natura
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 Us in his Democracy, and moth
ing that he has written against myself or
others for what we tried to do in the wal
would cause me the least surprise or vcX.
alton. NY only sorrow is that a gentle
man who had been Secretary of the Navy
during the rebellion should devote his
powers to defame men who did all they
| could to suppress rebellion. I cannot
conceive a more painful and humiliatine
position. AS to General Taylor's assault
on Mr.. Lincoln, I am not surprised.
General Taylor fought on the other side,
drew pay on the other side and writes on
the other side. Taylor, unlike Welles, is
the reputation of Mr.. Lincoln, aid those
who served Mr.. Lincoln, why, of course,
he has q right to do so. That's what the
Southern Confederacy tried to do for
many years. So far as Taylor and I are
concerned, we are friends, and have
maintained the best relations. 1 am quite
sure he would not do me any unkind-
ness, Us I would not do him. Taylor is
one of the most agreeable of men, who
talks we'll and talks a great deal, and,
like men Of that kind, often gets his facts
blended with fiction. I mean by that
that if Taylor said about me 4 positive
untruth as he does in this article, it would
be a misfortune on his part or an mad
v~ertence not any wilful error. He
would speak in all seriousness without
knowing any better"
TAYLoR's NARRATIVE A PURE FICTION.
"Then,' said your correspondent, this
"~article is not altogether true?'
II have no donbt,'' said the General,
"there are some true things in the article;
but the part which refers to me is wholly
false, utterly false, without q shadow Of
foundation. General Taylor says that in
4 conference between President Lincoln,
Secretary Stanton and myself, in 1864, the
approaching campaign in Virginia was
discussed. No such conference was eve
held, and no such campaign was ever dis
cussed. Gen. Taylor says that l insisted
upon advancing my whole army against
Richmond by the James River. l never
said q word to the President or Secretary
OF War, or any one else in authority, as
TO how l would advance. General Taylor
reports Mr.. Lincoln rs saying that the
government required the interposition of
an army between Lee and Washington.
Mr.. Lincoln never said 4 word resem-
bling this, or anything at all on the sub
iject. Gen. Taylor reports me as saying
that any change of route from my own
hy the James t another would cost l00,-
coo men. THIS is a pure fiction, as, in
deed, the whole story is a pure fiction.
Gen. Taylor SAYS that the story comes to
him well authenticated, and he has no
doubt of his correctness. There are only
three persons who could authenticate
such q story-Mr. Lincoln, Mr.. Stanton
and myself. Lincoln and Stanton are
dead, and I say the whole story is fab
rication, and whoever vouched for it to
Gen. Taylor vouchcd for 4 fiction. l feel
it due to the memor Of these great men,
apart from any 5sentiment of Sclf-vindica-
ton, to make this denial as emphatic and
clear as possible
GRANTS INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN
AND STANTON.
This denial of General Grant led to an
interesting resume on his part. ~ re-
member he said, "ycry well my first
interview with Stanton. You know l did
not come to Washington until l came in
relation to an order to u command
Of the armies. l had once been there as
q young man, but otherwise it was my
first trip. l found Stanton cordial and
willing to do anything, SO we suppressed
the rebellion. Nothing could have been
more earnest and hearty than his treat
ment Of me. Now SAYS he, General,
I do not want to know your plans. Tell
me what you need to carry them out.
This is all 1 care to know. And when
you go to see Mr.. Lincoln you will do
well to observe the same discretion. Mr..
Lincoln may not van to know any more
of your plans than l do, but l can I'M
derstand how you might naturally seek
the confidence of the President. Now
nature, apt to confide in many people,
dtio "idV N'u pSlA blhti hDouo tiAeo y
movements he may tell to the next Sena-
tor with whom he has IN intimate o n
versation.' saw Lincoln. He was as
cordial and hearty as Stanton, if possible
more so, because he was a man of more
atfable and gracious When
Lincoln and l were alone the President
began the conversation by repeating a
story from an article by Orpheus C. Kerr
"a comic article satirizing the conduct
of the war. 1t was, as I remember, a
story about Captain Bob Shorty and the
Mackerel Brigade, and the anaconda
policy, something about generals in the
field being Iampered by a flood of or
ders. When he had finished Lincoln
said very much what Stanton had said
that he did not care to know what l was
to do, only to know I wanted; that l
should have all 1 required. He wished
me to beat Lee, how l did it wos my W
duty. He said he did not wish to know
my plans or TO exercise any scrutiny
over my plans; so long os I beat the rob-
ell 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 which have escap-
ed me, and said that l might move on
that and have the streams for supplies.
1 looked at the plan and saw in Il mo.
ment that if l put my army on such 9
line / would be in much the same posi-
ton as the army of the James. l would
be powerless: l could do no good to our
side and no harm to the other. I would
be lockep up 1 told MI. Lincoln ]
would consider the plan and that was the