The sun., 1881-06-26
SOME SEqV BOOKS.
nsoe.u'. History Of Gen. Grant.

The Military History Of Ulysses s. Grant,
by ADAM BApEAu. Brovet Brigadicr General
and lato Military Secretary. NC. published by
n. Appleton Il Co. in three volumes. the first
issued in 1867 and the second and third Just out
Is an interesting production. II has doubtless
hrcn read and corrected limo upon line by Gen.
Grant: aud. owing to tho official relations in
,Iicatcd above rs existing between the writer and
tho hero it will be received by the world ms
tho authorized version OF tho heros own story.
Con. Grants wol.known aversion to literary
labor. no less than the active interest he Is
taking in political and business affairs. renders
II highly improbable that ho will ever initiate
the example OF Sherman. his favored lieuten-
mt. and write his own memoirs. Neither the
rank public services. nor talents OF tho author
Of the present work entite him to tho consider
alton which he may claim under these circum-
stances. and which tho world will accord. We do
not by this remark wish TO imply that 1t should
not. however. bo esteemed on account OF its own
merit and valuo as a contribution to the history
OF the great rebellion. 1t is written with entire
Independence of every one except Grant and
those officers who have received tho seal OF
his personal and political appreciation. 1t is
pold and free In personal criticism as well as
graphic and minute in the details OF
military plans and operations.
Gen. Badeau has displayed commondable dill
igsnce and research in consulting and col
lating kilograms. reports. and other military
documents. whether coming from the Confed-
crate or national archives. He has quoted the
exact language OF many military dispatches.
and 1t must be confessed that this is done
with great effect No one however dull.
can read these pages without becoming fllod
with the idea that the actors in the war for the
Union were worthy OF their cause. and that the
period which they ennobled by their deeds was
ono of the most heroic In tho history OF our
country II not OF our race The narrative has q
wonderful swing and vigor in its description OF
campaigns and battles and. so far as we have
been able to test 1t by memory and such docu-
ments as are within reach 1t is unex pectedly nc
curate In details. though at times unequal In
the completeness OF its descriptions. The first
volume. covering Grants life up to his appoint
ment as Lieutenant General. and treating OF the
campaigns OF Donelson. Vicksburg and Chatta-
nooga is by far the bost OF the three; and it is
rious That while it refers to the period OF Grants
greatest successes. 1t was also the one Of which
tho author had the least personal knowledge.
We do not propose to follow the narrative
through all the incidents treated OF. nor to
point out or correct what we conceive to be
misstatements OF fact. or unjustiaablo infer
ences. The frequency with which the author
has claimed credit for Grant. and denied
1t to his subordinates. will cause his state
ments to be carefully tested. not only by
tho records. but by the memory OF living
participants in the events of which he
treats. The war is happily at an end. and both
Grant and his historian are private citizens.
with no more power to enforce their views
against the truth of history than the humblest
soldier who marched under tho flag and kept
step to the music OF the. Union. The author
=. oral
lins nor Halleck. nor Candy. now. alas removed
from the field OF their Fenown. and no longer
able to defend their acts and motives; but their
comrades and the records remain to defend
them from any injustice which mars the
pages OF this history. Butler. Banks.
McCernand. Badly Smith. Hancock. Warren.
Burnside. and host OF others. who are
unsparingly condemned. may be de-
pended upon to set forth the facts as
they occurred; and so the Military History
of Gen. Grant may do as much as a juster and
aber work could have done in calculating the
truth. perhaps even more. We are particu-
larry struck by the coincidence that tho author
has condemned or given slight praise to- every
officer who incurred Grants displeasure either
during or since the war and mas shown great
ingenuity in several instances in making it
appear that Grant also condemned them. and
was entirely justified in so doing. This is
especially noticeable in the case OF Gen.
Thomas. during Hoods campaign into Ten
nessee which we shall advert to further on. In
no instance docs Gen. Badeau admit that his
chief ever misjudGed a subordinate. misunder-
stood the facts. or made mistake either in ac-
tion or judgment Indeed. his work could not
have been greatly different from what 1t is. II it
had been written by 4 confessed hero worship
per for the purpose OF showing his hero TO be
the greatest captain OF modern times, endowed
with every virtue and free from every fault
Throughout the extent of this work there is
not word of criticism or reflection upon Gen.
Grants character nor upon his method OF con-
Quoting warfare; no admission that he over
committed an act OF injustice. or that he ever re-
ceiyed assistance in council from any OF his
subordinate officers. and. least OF all. from any
OF those who were attached to his own personal
stan 1t is a fair inference from the text that
the author claims for him all the credit OF hav-
ing conceived all the plans Of all the campaigns
conducted under his own immediate super
vision. as well of those conducted by other
officers after he became Lieutenant General.
In order that the reader may form some idea
as to the extent OF Gen. Badeau's experience.
md of his claim to special qualification as a mil
itary historian. it is not improper to call
attention to the fact that he is himself in no
sense military man. but a private secretary
from civil life. who gained all his knowledge
OF military affairs IA a volunteer staff officer
He went into the field as tho correspondent
OF one OF the New York daily journals. in
which capacity he wrote a number OF letters
from Port Royal Shortly after his arrival at
Port Royal. he volunteered rs an aide-de-
camp to Gen. Gilmore. with whom he served
during the siege OF Fort Pulaski. after which
he became attached to the staff of Gen. Il. w.
Sherman as additional aide-do-camp with tho
rank Of Captain" and accompanied him to
Tennessee. where Sherman served for few
weeks. Whom Gen. Sherman was sent TO tho
Department of tho Gulf he was accompanied by
his aide-de-camp. who was wounded at tho
battle of Port Hudson. on account of which he
retired from the field for nearly year. Ho
WAS then assigned to the staff OF Gen. Grant. to