The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-28
GENERAL AND EDITOR.
Sherman's Denunciation of Reid-The Latter
Did Not Write War Letters
from Shiloh.

from Shiloh.
Springfield (O.l Globe.
General w. T. Sherman is represented to
have used the following caustic language in
a newspaper interview recently, the subject
being Whitelaw Reid, the present editor OF
the New York Tribune:
He is a treaeherous cuss. He can write more
lies 10 the column than any newspaper man In
America. He runs like a scared wolf, too. At
the. battle OF Shiloh, after the repulse of the first
day, he started to the rear and never stopped
running TILL he got to Cincinnati.
The Generals remarks are of that extremely
uncomplimentary sort which is always some
what suggestive of a prOvocation, imaginary
or real. In this case the provocation is prob
ably something more than imaginary. To the
General 1t has always appeared as a provoca-
ton notonly real but of very large dimeu-
sions. Reid was acting as correspondent
to the Cincinnati Gazette, and criti-
cised Sherman's hardness of move
ment and found fault with
him because he did not peremptorily and
without further delay drive the rebel forces
out of Kentucky and Tennessee. The Cen
eral, smarting under the newspaper attack
and wishing to defend his policy, which he
maintained was the right one to follow, as
serted that it would take 100, 900 men and six
months time to effect that object. This ex-
posed him to the Joint ridicule of Reid and
the Gazette, and he was branded as a crazy
man. The newspaper onslaught on him,
which commenced as we have described, be-
came SO general and so savage that for a time
he lost caste and was put under acloud. But
his military genius, in course of time,
brought him again to the front, where
he maintained a most conspicuous
position to the close of the war. His es-
innate of what would be necessary to free
h f-r@ GtnfA, - TIL 49, @1A anta
forces, ridiculous as it seemed to Reid and
the Gazette, fell far short of the actual re-
quirements. Instead of 1901 600 men it took
100000, and instead OF six months it took
two years.
Sherman never forgot Reid, and apparently
the latter never forgot him. The luminosity
engendered in the early days of the war re-
main to the present time, when one of them
is at the head of the armies of the United
States and the other at the head of one of the
most influential newspapers in America.
Reid remained as the war correspondent of
the Gazette, writing under the nom de plume
of Agate" and, as is claimed by the friends
of Sherman, took every opportunity to criti-
else his movements and diSparage his
ability as a military commander. The
letters which Agate" furnished to the
Gazette describing the battles OF Pittsburg
Landing and Shiloh were recognized as the
ablest that the literature of the war had yet
FURNISHED. DuI sherman maintained IuaC
they could not have been written by Reid, as
he had shown the white feather just as soon
as it became apparent that the first days
fight was going against the Federal forces,
and s~kedaddled. Touching this point, Mr..
c. NJ. Nichols, the editor of the Springfield
Republic, comes forward with the following
defense OF his friend, Mr.. Whitelaw Reid:
Some people would like to have General VIM.
i: sherman take cognizance Of the fact that Mr.
Whltelaw Reid, editor Of the New York Tribune,
wrote the best ami nearest correct account of
the battles Of Shiloh which have ever Appeared
in print such letters, in fact, could only have
been written by an eyewitness, and, moreover,
by "a man of keen observation, a level head, great
discriminating powers, a ready pen and personal
courage. That is the kind of a man Mr.. White
law Reid is, and General Sherman only harms
himself when he attacks him with loose, incOr-
rect denunciatiOn.
A gentleman we'll known in Springfield
and in every way reliable, and who was in
the vicinity of Shiloh when the battles of
Sunday and Monday were in progress, called
at the Globe office yesterday and assured us
that he knew to a certainty that Whitelaw
Reid did not write those letters which gave
to the readers OF the Gazette such graphic ac-
counts of the battles in question and upon
which the brilliant reputation of Reid as a
war correspondent was mainly based. He
stated that the man who did write them was
the Rev. A. T.. Fullerton, who was at
one time pastor of the First Presbyterian
Clurch, inns city, ana VINO is now pastor
of a church in Erie, Pa. The gentle
man stated, and we certainly have no
reason to doubt his word, that he saw Fuller
ton writing them, and that he afterwards
read the identical letters in the Gazette, over
the signature of Agate" He also added
that Fullerton stated to him, while writing,
that he was writing the letters for a friend
OF his by the name of Reid, from Xenia,
Ohio" This was Immediately after the bat
ties. Our informant's understanding at the
time was that Reid was not there. This is
rather suggestive of the possibility that Sher-
man was not so far from the truth in declar-
ing that Reid was then going it lickity-cut
for Cincinnati. We may add, in conclusion,
that the Rev. Mr., Fullerton is a gentleman of
the finest talent, and capable of the highest
order OF literary performance.