National Republican., 1883-10-24

course to ba pursued. | already knew what
would bo douo # remained in command,
said, but 1t might he well enough for the
generals 60 write out their opinions and send
the communications to the war Department.
In the course Of thrco or four days, or some
such matter, the answers 10 the questions
camo ill., About that time Garfield asked inc
If he could not write out his views also and
forward them to Washington with the Others
was mortified beyond expression that he
should make such grossly indelicatc re-
quest.
Il am surprised to hear you give cxpres.
sion to such n DESIRE | said to him, This Is
very delicate matter You know in gem
cral way exactly what my plans are aud what
is going to be done, 1t would bo highly i'm.
proper for you to have anything TO say upon
such matter rs this have no OBJ
lection to your writing out an argument
to see what you eau do in that line. 10 will
be good exercise for you. When you finish
1t you can let inc have IL. 1t need not 20 on
to Washington. You can sec the manifest
impropriety of such procceding,' In due
time ho showed me what ho had writton |
glanced over his paper hastily and returned
IL, or laid IL down, do not renembei which,
but that does not matter, and thotihcidcnt
passed from my mind. Several weeks uftor
this heard from an outside source that GAR
fields paper had been forwarded to Washing
ton with the others that had been sent in. l
remember boing annoyed and inconscd
whom got tho nows, but on reflection con.
cluded TO say nothing about it. IL did not
strike mo rs matter of much consequence Mt
best, and knowing Gariield's vanity aud in.
satiable itch for notoricty | forgaSe The
oflUnsc, and again the lettor passed from my
mind / never heard of it for years. whcn 10
and behold, it transpired that the document
was being paradcd up and down rs evidence
that Garfield had organized and planned the
mi nni inn nft hn oil or ru11 L.
is the story of that letter."
"Did you suspect Garfield of being disloyal
to you during tho time he was with your"
That is an awkward question. did not
believe then, nor do | believe now, that Gar
field was my enemy. l think he had liking
for mo after fashion to the day of his death.
Tho trouble with Garfield was his bound
less ambition, his lack of steadfast
fcalty to his friends, his insincerity and
his shiftiness. | can see now what
was the matter with him when he was my
chief of stah HO thought he might himself
become commander of tho army of the Cum
berland This ambition led him to do things
at that time which would otherwise appear to
have no other motive than q desire to iniure
me malcously. Ho saw that tho secretary
of war was bent on my destruction. That
fact was patent to many | was warned of it
by my best friends, Gen. Rousseau and others.
What could be more natural for q man of
Garfelds temperament than to imagine he
could succeed to the command of that depart
ment by playing his cards right.
"One circumstance Comos to my mind,
which | will relate, as illustrative of the in
ner movements of tho mans mind. Not
long after the battle of Chickamauga Gar
field came to mo in state of repressed ex-
Citement.
"'General' he said L have been requested
by Gen. Thomas to deliver you message.
IIgh has 1,lta nl,.
such subject, and asked me to do so for
him."
What is it, l asked, somewhat surprised
at such formality from Con Thomas"
60 He and havo been talking about you,'
he replied. and We have agreed that if you
are relieved from the command of the army
of tho Cumberland u great Injustice will be
done you. Con. Thomas wishes me to say to you
that if you are so relieved and the conimand
is offered to him he will not take it, bdt will
go out with you instead. Gen. Tholnass sspoke
feelingly. and approved of his determina-
tion.'"
II said nothing, but was touched by Con.
Thomas's loyalty to me- We had been almost as
brothers. ltwas almost certain that the COM
mand would be offered him in the event of
change. e-.
when tho order came from Washington
Thomas and | had n meeting. Tho tears
sprang into his eyes, his lips trcmbled, and his
whole manner indicated his purpose. -
'' know what you are going to say ex-
claimed, interrupting him before he could
speak, and it won't do. Garfield brought
me your message, and am deeply moved by
your kind words, but it must not be.
This is more than personal
matter. Tho welfare of the country
demands tho repression of personal feeling in
such exigency as this. The highest and truest
act of friendship you can show me will be to
accept the trust. l demand it of you Gen.
Thomas accepted the situation and did as
asked him. 1t was not necessary to look fur
ther for man to take the place. Rosecrans
was out of the way, but there stood the Rock
| of ChicRamauga i'll the path of small schemers.
"Gariiold was in Washington when Stanton
was flooding the country with lies about me
to counteract tho feeling against him, grow
ing out of his order relieving me from the
command of the army of the Cumberland,
and he never said word in refutation of the
dastardly calumnies. His silence surprised
me and disgusted many of my friends. He
knew the stories were lies, and he should
| have said So 1t was about this
time that Stanton loaded him up with
u major generals commission, which he &C
| cepted, although he had announced his firm
determination to enter political life. In his
! oulogy of Garfield Mr.. Blaine said that the
hero Of his sketch did not make up his mind
fully to 90 out of the army until the night
before the congress of which he had been
| elected a member met. l have no doubt that
| this is the exact truth. 1t only shows the
mans weakness. 1t was only when he saw
that his military ambition was not likely to
be further gratiiied that he finally let go.
1T is only lately that / could bring myself
to believe tho stories of Garheld's treachery
| to me in 1868. When no was making o fight
for election to the United States senate an
editorial appeared in the New York SHn over
the initials &C. A. d. Charles A. Dana), in
which the charge was made that James A.
Garfield had been the cause of my removal
from the command of the army of the Cum
berland. | did not for moment believe the
charge could be true, and, acting under the
conviction that Mr.. Dana must be mistaken
telegraphed Garfield to the effect that
while l did not want to involve him in
any controversy pending his canvass, l
thought it due to both of us that he
should nail that lie in history as soon as the
canvass was over. To this l received very
gushy and very strange reply. He assured
me that he had always entertained the highest
possible regard and affection for me, aud that
! the charge was false. Then he went on u
say that he had always stood up for mo and
defended me when my character had been as
sailed in any way, adding: Even when
met Secretary Stanton III Louisville, after the
battle OF Chickamauga, | rebuked him for
the harsh words he said about you in my
presence
''That was the first knew that there had
ever been such o meeting and l thought il
strange that ho should have brought it in In
i 1afN Ia