Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1885-01-22
SHERMAN AND DAVIS.
Another Letter from the Hero Of
the March to the Sea.
His Charges Against Jsn Davis Reiterated
and Sustained by weil-DIrectcd Blows
Papers Captured by sherman and
Returned to Davis.

General Sherman has written a long letter
70 Secretary Lincoln to be filed with the war
records Ia the War Department, explanatory
TO his recent charges against Jen Davis In
connection with tho threat of the latter to use
force against any State OF the Southern Con-
fcderacy which should attempt to sccede.
General Shcriuan says he had no expectation
that his srcaoh at the meeting of the Grand
Army az 81. Louis, at watch the charges re-
fofrcd 10 were made against Davis. would be
rublished, yet he docs not shrink from just
responsibility OF every word uttered upon
that or any other occasion. The General says:
Two OF the st. Louis morning Papers did
pubiish reports of that meeting, including
''my Speech" much oondonso oil, and, rs usual,
much inyrOyed by the intelligent reporters,
Who ignoring the context, laid particular
stress on "the letter of President Davis 10 tho
Governor OF a State, now Senator, whose
came was not given" Mr.. Davis, from his
home at Beauvoir, has quoted these reports.
and in a card addressed 10 the st. Louis Re
1DuL lean has pronounced my assertion false
mo 10 inquire how much Of truth was con-
tanned In the quotations, nor has any friend
of his done so. Many others have, and have
answered them frankly, always discounte'
nanc'ng discussion i'm the newspapers The
world heeds but little what think of Davis
or he Of me, but all do want TO know the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. ! have said "A thousand times and now
FAY again. there was a conspiracy throughout
the Southern States in the winter of ls606l (;
that myself was approached by member of
the Knights CT the Golden Circle; that tho
head of that conspiracy was in Washington;
that its object was to destroy our Govern
inent and raise on it's ruins a plutocracy at
the South. lean not state the proposition
better than John G. Nicolay has already done
in his admirable work-"The Outbreak of Re.
bellion"-the first of the Scrfbner series; and
that the cause permeated the navy is demon
strated by Admiral Ammen i'm his contribu-
ton to the same series, entitled, The Attain
tic Coast" both using the plain words CON
sp'racy' ana "con' p rators.
For the nature and kind of Government in
Richmond in 1850 ! refer the student to
DR. Draper's third volume, page 44S and 40,
Civil War IN America" and as for the con-
spirncy itself to "McPherson's History of
the Rebellion" last ed ton, pages 39l and
S2 But IL Is nv own personal experience TO
which propose In the main to limit myself,
not to one single dsjointed paragraph, but to
the whole subject matter. Page 496, volume
]. seres official record of the Union
and Confederate armies. contains two
dispatches; the first from Senators Benjamin
and Slidc'l to D.. w. Adams, President of
second from John Slidell alone to Governor
MGagoso of 40 co%1e tho
State authorities 10 seize by force the arsenal
at Baton Rouge. the forts at the mouth of the
Mississippi. etc. These two dispatches were
not all of sn'd correspondence, because when
I'm New Orleans from February 20 to "a, 1851 |
was much OF the time with my old army COM
rade Colonel BraxtOn Bragg, who contended
that the seizure of the arsenal and forts was q
defensive measure and he showed me copies
of letters from Senators benjamin and Slidell
addressed to Governor Moore Whose aid
Bragg wasl, written on paper headed United
States Senate for they were then Senators
under the cath prescribed by the Constitu-
ton.
/ kept up my correspondence with the
officers of the institution over which had
presided till May IL, 1861. ana have before me
a copy of this correspondence, with the
original letter of Braxton Bragg and many
C0NCERNING JEFF DAVIS.
Now as 10 Mr.. JEFF Davis. His general his
tory is pretty well known and appreciated.
Southern Confcderdcy," a Ia Gibbon, is public
to every mans crit cism; hut of him, too.
have personal knowled &c, not meant for pub
lication, but to become part of the Ira
dt'ous of the Civil War;" which the Grand
Army of the Republic will preserve.
In the simmer Of 1S6L when vicksburg sur.
with n sufficient force TO catch or drive back
the Confederate army under General Joe
Johnston, which had been assembled for the
relief of the beleaguered garrison. That
army took refuge in Jackson, Miss, which
] closely besieged.' Some of the foragers
OF the army found in the garnet of the
house OF Mr.. Joe Davis n brother Of JEFF
Davis box containing his private papers
and brought IL TO camp. Hearing that papers
of Mr. Davis were being scattered about for
autographs and as souvenirs, L sent for the
box and had IL brought to my bivouac, and
held IL I'm my personal possession from about
July u 10 August g. 1863. During that time
examined some of the contents, consisting of
q largo number of letters addressed to Mr.
Davis during period of ten years, including
the time when Montgomery. Ala. was the cap
ital of the Confcderacy, with marginal notes
of his hand and rolls OF memoranda and notes
in his handwriting OF speeches made or TO be
made. This box was sent to General Grants
Adjutant-G eneral CRawlins) in Vicksburg
with u request to send IL on to Washington
along with my letter, which ia of record, dated
Camp on Big Black, August s. 1873. Colonel
r. N. Scott, who has charge of the records OF
the war-Cnion and COnfederate-wrltes OF
recent date that his private papers had been
returned TO Mr. Davis bv Secretary of War
MoCrary. All ! wish to remark is that / sent
il as IL came into my possession, except that
withdrew and sent TO the authors three sew
by officers OF undoubted loyalty, which
feared might cOmprom SO them III they fell
into unfricndly hands, because mt that day the
treason.
JEFF DAVIS TYRANNY.
Again, in 1854, when we were in possession
of Atlanta, Ga l saw famil. arly a great mum
Dor of gentlemen OF that State with whom
conversed freely They spoke openly and un
reservedly of the tyranny of tho Confederate
authorities i'm Richmond and of Mr.. Davis
particularly. He was ut the head of the Gov
ernmcnt, the Commander-in-Chief of the
problem of the war for putting down the re
bellion i'm which at the time ! was an impor
tnnt factor The cost of the war was then q
matter of intense interest to Mr.. Lincoln, Mr..
Stanton, Mr.. Chase and other leaders in Wash
ington. On the 18th of September, 1854 tel
egraphed General Haleck i'm Washington:
"Govcrnor Brown has disbanded his militia
to gather the corn and sorghum of the State.
have reason to believe he and stephens want
TO visit me, and have sent them hearty invl-
tatlon."
Two days after I seceived from President
Lincoln this dispatch:
81 feel great interest in tho subjects of your
dispatch mcntlonlng the corn and sorghum
On the same day answered him direct by
telegram.
all developments connected with the subjects
I'm which you feel Interest Mr. Wright former
member of Congress from Rome, Ga, and
Mr.. King, of Marietta, are now going between
Governor Brown and myself | have said r.
them that some of the people of Georgia are
engaged in rebellion, begun in error and per-
petuatcd in pride. But that Georgia can now
save herself from the devnstations of war pre-
pairing for her only by withdrawing her quota
out of the Confederate army, and aiding me
to cxpel Hood from the borders of the State,
I'm which EVENT. instead of devastating the
land as we progress, I VIII keep our men 20
the highways aud commons, and pay for the
corn aud meat we need"
MIR, Lincoln with his wonderful sagacity,
saw that JET Davis visit TO Georgia, i'm Sep
. tembor, 1854 was rather on account of Ste
phens and Brown than Hood He was states
man. u more soldier, who watched the des-
perate move for its m ghty chances; and was
absolutely convinced a. at Davis then suspect
cd the fidelity of Stephens and Brown TO him
rs tho head and front of the Richmond Con.
fedcracy, for Il had ceased to be a confedera-
cy OF sovereign States.
The secession of lo8l had become separate
State act on In 1894, and Davis was opposed TO
IL, as well he might be.
Had Georgia withdrawn in 1894 the Confed-
eracy would have collapsed as bubble and
Georgia, South Carolina and North Carol ma
would have escaped the devastation which
necessarily followed. When i'm Atlanta had
possession of vast amount of captured let
ters and newspapers which enabled me to
trace the current of public opinion in the
South, which was rs much an element of force
as that of muskets