The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-09
Grant and Sherman at yicksburg.

General Sherman's portrait is the 'front.'
ispiece Of the January Century. And to
commemorate his retirement from the
army, the magazine prints an anecdotal
sketch of his life, by E. V. Smalley. Gen.
eral Grant has helped to make the paper
authoritative by giving information and by
reading the proofs. The cordial relations
of the two leading generals of the war are
indicated in the following extract: Ger
tain incidents connected with the Vicks-
burg campaign of 1868 are we'll worth
narrating here, as showing Sherman's
lack of the jealousy and egotism which
marred the characters of many of the
generals of the late war. All the rainy
winter, when the country along the Mis-
sissippi was flooded and the army was in
active, General Grant held to purpose,
never once divulged to any person, of
sending the feet past the Vicksburg bat
teries when the spring opened, and throw
ing his army below the town to invest it
from the south. When fair weather came,
he secured the cooperation of Admiral
Porter, and then issued his orders to his
division commanders. Sherman's part in
the plan was to go up the Yazoo and make
feint against Haines' Bluff. When he
received his orders, he fastened to Grants
headquarters and argued against what
seemed to him very hazardous move.
He thought Grant was placing himself in
position where an enemy would have
unanswered year to get him-a hostile
force on both sides of him, and one of
them between him and his base of sup
plies. Sherman failed to convince Grant,
who had been cut off from his base at
Oxford some months before and had
learned that he could subsist an army
upon the country. Besides, he believed
that, in the critical condition of opinion
in the North, a great risk ought to be
taken for the prospect of great success.
In letter to Rawlins, Grants chief of
staff, written next day, Sherman reiter-
ated his objections to the plan of cam.
| paign. The letter was shown to Grant
and remained unanswered. With perfect
loyalty to his chief, and without the least
feeling of resentment for the rejection of
his plan of falling back on Memphis and
operating on the line of the railroad,
Sherman carried out his part of the cam
paign as zealously and energetically as
though the whole scheme had, been his
own. During eighteen days OF forced
marches and fighting and forty.nine days
of siege, he did not once take off his
clothes to sleep. After Grants forces had
crossed the Big Black, Sherman was given
the lead in the advance upon Vicksburg
The two generals rode out one morning
ahead of the marching columns, careless
of the occasional bullets that came whist.
ling by from squads of retreating rebel
pickets. They reached the top of Walnut
Hills, which Pemberton, the confederate
general, had occupied the year before, and
which Sherman had in vain assaulted
from the low land in front. There Sher-
man exclaimed with enthusiasm: Grant,
this is the biggest campaign in history.
You ought to write report on it at once.
Napoleon never made campaign like
this A few days later, when Sherman
was holding the lines facing east from the
Big Black to Haines' Bluff Governor
Yates came down from Illinois to visit
the camps, accompanied by all the state
officers. As Grant was passing along the
lines one day, he came upon Sherman
whose back was toward him, and who
was saying to knot of the Illinois visi
tors: This is the greatest campaign in
history, and Grant deserves all the credit
for it. / wrote him letter before We
started, in opposition to the whole plan.
Now the letter was never sent to the wal
department. nor made public in any way
but he was not willing to have any credit
given to him which belonged to Grant,
January Century.