Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1882-03-15
THE GARFIELD LETTER.


The letter written by General Garfield
to Salmon p. Chase. marked confidsn'
tisl. and which was published in the
New York Sun on Wednesday last. as
claimed by Garneld's friends. Is cer-
taiply not to DO considered a. discredit-
able to him. /. abounds in patriotic ut.
t~srancss, and such rs would be made by
q man OF his energy who was impatient
al needless delays. Tho letter oil
through breathss for his commander ad.
miration and friendship. No sentence
can be construed 10 express q desire for
his removal. II Is but natural. however.
that General Rosecrans should feel hurt
that Garfield entertained the opinion he
did Of the delay in moving the command
forward. This is possibly the FIRST init
nation Rosscrsns has had that hs had
not that ''live and earnest determination
to ding the great weight Of his army into
the scale" That he has seen at not TO
reply to the letter 10 greatly to his credit.
It would have been 40 we'll had Garfield
not written IL; but having done so. II
was . personal communication to an in.
innate friend; no 8 was intended to be
made OF L.. and II should have been
sacredly treasured among the papers OF
Mr.. Chase. and not permitted to fall into
the hands Of the acknowledged enemies
OF Garfield. much kss TO be circulated
by the press. But a. so much has been
said Of the letter and its contents so ma.
liciously misconstrusd. extracts that
convey an idea Of the general tone OF
the letter are admissible. In speaking
Of the delay in moving forward subss.
quent to the battle Of Stone River. he
says:
have NO words to tell you with
how FESTIVE and unsatisfed . spirit I
waited and plead for striking q blow. I
could not justly say We were in any
proper condition to advance till the early
days Of May. At that time the strings
began to draw sharply upon the rebels.
both on the Mississippi and in the East.
They began to fear for the safety Of
yicksburg. and before the middle Of
May they began to draw away forces to
aid Psmberton. plead for an advance,
but not till June did General Rosecrans
begin seriously to mediate an immediate
movement.
The letter proceeds to narrats the in.
cidents attending the expulsion Of Bragg
from Middle Tennessee. and the efforts
made to induce Rosecrans to advance
while Brasg's army was shattered. 1t
says:
Thus far the General has been sinRu.
larly disinclined to grasp the situation
with . strong hand. and make the adj
vantage his own. ! write this with
moro sorrow than l can tell you, for l
love every bone in his body, and. next
to my desire to see the rebellion blasted.
is my anxiety to see aim blessed. But
even the breadth OF my love is not safi.
Gent to cover this almost fatal delay.
My personal relations with General
Rosecrans are oil that I could desire.
Officially. / share his c~ounsels and re-
sponsibilities even more than / desire.
but l beg you to know that this delay is
against my judgment and my every
wish.
1t is not surprising that after a careful
reading Of the letter Rosecrans elects to
remain silent, for 1t removes whatever
doubts may have existed as to the esti-
nation in which Garfield held him. A
perusal OF tho entire letter is convincing
that its author was ii outspoken. honest
man. and will force the conviction that
its publication was prompted by malice,
not to right q wrong, and shows to what
extent jealousy and hate will prompt
somo men to 60.