Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-08-23

to-day. am, yours, etc,
w. 7. SHERMAN, Maj.-Gen. Cong.
While Gen. Sherman admits the
defeat of Gen. w. EoUy Smith and
censures him severely, he claims
that his own movement was q conn
plete success, and said, in general
orders dated Meridian, Mississippi,
February 18th, 1861: Having full
filled and well all the objects Of the
expedition. the troops will return
to the Mississippi river"
Now we know that the whole
North expected Selma to be des-
troyed or Mobile taken by him, and
were sadly disappointed when he
returned, after tearing up few
miles of railroad track, which were
soon replaced or repaired.
General Boynton, who took issue
with Gen. Sherman, says /: ''This
IMPRESSION fthat Mobile or Selma
was to be talken) twas current at
Gen. Grants headquarters and at
Washington, and Gen. Grant hiln-
self had written to Halleck, under
the date of January 18th, 1864, in
the same letter which unfolded the
spring campaign, as follows j
shall direct Sherman, therefore, to
move out to Meridian with his
spare force-the cavalry coming
from COrinth and destroying the
railroad east and south of there so
effectually that the enemy will not
attempt to rebuild them during the
rebellion. He will then return I'M
less the opportunity of going into
Mobile appears perfectly plain
Again, writing to Gen. Thomas at
Chattanooga, Jan. 18th, Gen. Grant
said: HE (Sherman) will proceed
eastward as far as Meridian at least
and will thoroughly destroy the
roads east and south of there, and if
possible will throw troops as far
east as Selma, or if he finds Mobile
so far unguarded as TO make his
troops sufficient for the enterprise,
will go there 1t will be observed
in Gen. Sherman's letter of instruc-
tions to Gen. Smith, he mentions as
objects of attack Columbus and Sell
ma, where we had important gov
eminent works, but gives no instruc-
tiOns to attack Forrest on the con-
trary, intimateS that an attack will
come from him, and the movement
seemed to me intended to elude and
not attack Forrest. That Gen. Smith
so understood his instructions is eV-
ident from his reports. In his re-
port Feb. 26, 1864, by letter to Gen.
Sherman in person, he says: Il
moved the infantry brigade tempo
rarily assigned to my command,
first on Pamela and then on Wyatt,
and drew Forests forces and alien
ton to those points, while / threw
my whole points, while l threw my
whole force to New Albany, where
/ crossed the Tallahatchie river
without opposition. Forrest then
fell back to Grenada, ana l moved
on by way of PontOtOc.' In his
more formal report of his operations
made March 4, he repeats the same
thing more in detail, and seems to
take credit to himself for having de-
ceived and eluded Forrest. Gen.
Sherman says that Smith might
safely have acted on the hypothesis
l have stated, that my movements
would give employment to every
other man of the Rebel army not
Immediately present with him
(ForresD; and yet, when Sooy
Smith turned back from West Point,
S. d. Lee was in one days march
of junction with Forrest. If Gen.
Sherman accomplished all he inten-
ded. WHY was Smith ordered to Me-
ridian. and why did he wait there
| five days for him f.? If the chief part
of the enterprise was to destroy For
rest, why was Smith ordered to
move straight for Meridian, Miss, ,
when Forrest was not there and not
/ expected there ? Why order Smith
| to move through East Mississippi
when Forrest was in West Missis-
sippi ? Why send infantry to make
a feint on Pamela and Wyatt, when
Smith was moving for PontOtOc,
one hundred miles east of Pamela ?
And lastly, if Smith was sent out
especially to destroy Forrest, why
does Sherman say, Il told him that
IN his route he lcdS sure to encounter
| Forrest - &"
Ihave no desire to take part in
the controversy between Smith and
his friend Boynton with Gen. Sher-
man. Smith may have violated
| the verbal instructions given him
by Gen. Sherman, and he undOubt-
edly deserved the censure he re-
ceiVed for being Outgeneraled and
whipped by an inferior force. But
we cannot consent to this achieve
ment OF Forests being moderated,
/ by admitting that SheTman's march
/ to Meridian accomplished all that
was intended.
Thus ended SheTman'S effort to
crush Forrest and set free the large
number of men required to hold
| him in check. Mississippi, with its
immense stores of corn and beef,
was still held, and the railroads
soon repaired to feed our army in
! Georgia. But the student of mill
tary operations will be puzzled to
understand how Sherman, with on
ly two divisions of infantry and a
small force of cavalry, crossed such
streams as the Big Black and Pearl
rivers and passed through the cen
ter of Mississippi, in the face OF two
divisions of infantry and four SPLEEN
did brigades of well equipped and
well drilled cavalry under West
Point officers, almost without firing
| Il shot, while man who could not
drill a company, with three thous-
and cavalry, One-half raw troops,
saved the State by defeating Gen.
/ Grants Chief of Cavalry with sew
en- thousand picked troops.
1t reminds us of what Macaulay
saws of Cromwell ut is a re-
markable circumstance that the Off
GERS who had studied tactics in what
were considered as the best schools,
under We're, in the Netherlands,
and Gustavus Adolphus, in Ger
many, displayed far less skill than
those commanders who had been
born to peaceful employments, and
never saw even a skirmish until the
civil war broke out. Cromwell
never fought battle without gain
| ing a victory he never gained a
victory without annihilating the
force opposed to him. In
what respect does Cromwell, who
never drew a sword till upwards of
forty, yield to any of these famous
commanders ? And how immeas-
urably superior to them all is he as
an improver of victory ?"
IwOuid not by this disparage mill
itary education, ! would not, if |
/ could, disturb a single leaf in the
laurel crowns which decorate so
| Justly the heads of those whom ma
1 ture and education have combined