The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-12-23


ruupsDAY DECEMBER ss' 'sS0'
eeusrnI Nherman.
vaxr ns sAYe on GRANT AID THE cArIA'S-
nsxrEArcy AND m. NEGRO QUESTION.
rev York Eerald ist<rviswl
3 :. you nave seen the statement about your
,>snha6le retirement, Generbtf
Tne General laughed and replied
s :, Tha,,S I'll uewspaper~-sll rumor.
.Rct II General Grant should be made
t,apfsin .<3eneralyr
ri have no complsInt 10 make General
sherman replied. ~ simply cay tnae .us'
4 : rank hitherto unkuowu IN our army,
and fhat Congress would have 10 enact
secis,sf,on 10 fie0ue bis duties and 10 decide
who Il n command the army, the general
=, the c1pss.n.gcneral. As II Is, no one now
cosr. 8 he, her be Is 10 be placed above the
General or below. or what the captain'gene'
RAYS duties are to be-"
az suppose the very Title indicates that
he would he the captain, IS 1t were' OF tue
generals Z"
.Wel. II isa rank unknown anywhere
except in Spain. for even In CUBA me once
has certain civil functions attached 10 II oe-
side the military duties. The rank OF gen.
crsl has certainly been the highest thus Jar
known 10 our country; you know tneIe
cave been only three ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Washington, General Grant, and myself
General sherman said this without the
slightest ostentation, but with evident
feeling. and he added, ~ II IN
eontinuous current OF thought: "No,
have not the slightest objection to-
ward General Grant being retired from
she service. which could be done by on act
~ Congress. aud which wouId give him
fhyee-lourtbs Of the salary OF $4,000. That
avoufd preyeut such confusion ana com"
r.icntion rs would arise from this new rank
~ encouragement. The only possible OBJ
lection which any one in the army could
nave against that would be that as the num-
Der OF retired officers is limited to four
hundred, IL would perhaps keep some one
else out"
GENERAL sHERMAN's POSITION.
.sYou cannot be retired as yet, Generali"
ITO begin with. there IL no provision OF
law for the retirement Of either the general
or the lieutenant general. lam thoroughly
independent. l can't be retired by the
President unless Congress enacts some new
legislation that, OF course, would De
different thing. Then l am not yet sixty
TWO. am only sixty, and instead OF nav
ing been forty wears 10 service, as the law
rsnuires. / have only served thrty-two---as
was out OF service for some years after re-
signing nv commission as captain. So you
see that even IL the present law were appli-
cable 10 the General OF the Army cannot be
retired MS yet"
allow did all this talk about yonr proba.
bic retirement originate, General?"
oWell. 1 was willing to make sacrince
Tar General Schofeld, who was anxious to
leave West Point and take command OF one
of the divisions. l told him to wait year
or two and then would see II /, perhaps,
could not arrange matters so as 10 Dring
General Sheridan 10 Washington and take
my place. while /, perhaps, could travel on
general Inspection duty, as Adinirai roiter
does. This would have left Sheridan's pace
omen for him. OF course, we could not
have two Generals OF the Army LII WasnihS'
ton-myseli aud Sheridan-and under inc
three: and 50, while was willing 10 sacri.
See myself for the benefit OF the service,
simply remain at my posrnow."
GENERAL 0RD's RETIREMENT.
lyon wrote to the President about Gen.
cral Ord's retirement?'
dyes; did. ! did not protest against
1t. as it has been stated, Dat simply want
edthe army to know that bad not done II.
General ord Is one Of the best soldiers in
our army. He has always been successful,
ALWAYS been in the thick OF the fight, and
has been several times wounded, ana
is the support OF very large family.
This has kept him very poor. i ielt
that / was compromised by bis retire.
ment. because General Miles, who mar
rjed nv niece, was appointed in bis
place. Now, General Miles is very
worthy officer, but / did not want every
soldier to think, 'Ab, Sherman did that be-.
canse he wanted to make room for the man
who married his niece Moreover. felt
that II any one bad to be retired General
Mcdowell was the one; for, while General
Ord has always been successful, General
Mcdowell has not been so. General NC
Dowell Is the better Office general, bu; Gen.
eral Ord Is the better fighting general; and
II Is In the field--that's where We want our
soldiers!"
VOTING FOR GARFIELD USEFUL THING.
uAnd what was the cause OF this inius-
tice being done!"
dwell, have the highest regard for
Genera, Garfield as large-hearted, whole
souled, splendid man, who would not COM
NIT an act OF palpable injustice, and also Tor
dcUtIdt udJtss WV beic'S " ~ "
kindly and Just disposition to do delib-
crate wrong; but have been told that
politics bad something to do with II; that
General Mcdowell came here 10 New YORK
10 vote for General Garfield 10 very osten-
taiious manner. while General Ord did not
40 that"
"Was General Schofeld consulted before
lie was assigned to the command OF the
Southern Division?"
at is usual TO consult an officer OF his
rank, but do not believe that 1t was done
in his case, aud think he rather regards 1t
as punishment In being sent there because
he had the misfortune OF being 10 command
al West Point while the Whitaker affair
occurred. When ! formerly thought OF get
ting General Sheridan to take my place In
Washington 10 year or two, 1t was with o
view Of General Scho6eld taking his place IN
Chicaxo. But II was thought best to create
new southern division, and as we had no
soldiers to speak Of there Texas was added
to II, which takes six regiments away from
sheridan. This being done, General Scho-
Geld should have had, as being the senior
ofIcer, the choice OF the department to
which be should be assigned, and General
Mcdowell should have made way Tor him,
and been sent to New Orleans instead OF
General Schoheid."
TIE NEGRO QUESTION.
THAT was an unfortunate affair. the
Whitaker scandal, IL seems. aeneraii"
Anoorol gberman after having high eli