The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-24
THE SECRET HISTORY OF TT.
General Horace Porter Gives the Details of
Grants Baking of Johnson.

Grants Baking of johnson.
New York Herald.
Gen. Horace Porter was aide-decamp to Gen.
Grant at the headquarters of the army in Wash
ington during the time of the occurrences mar
rated by Mr.. Depew. General Grant was in the
habit of talking with him about affairs as they
progressed, so that General Porter was addi-
tionally posted as to all that happened. He was
afterward General Grants private secretary
when the latter was President. He wheeled
himself about in his arm chair at his Office in
the United Bank building, yesterday, and re-
sponded to reporters questions as follows:
sit was just about two months after the war
ended that General Lee applied for amnesty and
pardon. The application was sent to General
Grant. who put the following Endorsement on it.:
Respectfully forwarded, through the Secretary
of War; to the President with the earnest rec
ommendaton that the application of General
Robert E. Lee for amnesty and pardon may be
granted him.
General Grants recommendation was not
complied with, and soon after it was found that
johnson was laboring to have Lee and the Off
GERS who had surrendered with him at Appomat-
tox indicted for treason. Lee was very much
disturbed, and in his trouble again applied to
General Grant by letter. General Grant for
warded General Lees letter to the President
with this Endorsement: In nv opinion the Off
and since, upon the same terms given to Lee, can
not be tried for treason so long as they observe
the terms of their parole. The action of Judge
Underwood, in Norfolk. has already had an in
furious effect and l would ask that he be or
dered to Quash all the indictments found against
paroled prisoners, and to desist from further
prosecution of them
johnson was in perfect frenzy on this sub
ject at the time, and sent for General Grant to
come to the White House. He said to him.
~ IF This iS the stand al han &c fha
hanging of rebels ever to beginP
General Grant replied to him very calmly
and very logically, and went into the reasons
which induced HIM to give Lee such terms at
Appomattox he did. He said that, as a con-
dition of these terms, Lee had surrendered his
army. and the example thus set had been fol-
lowed, AS he had expected, by the other South
ern armies. guerilla warfare had thus doubt
less been prevented and the whole war brought
to q sudden termination; that these officers had
all kept their paroles honorably, and until they
violated them they could not be arrested nor
punished. This led to a very heated discussion
and General Grant went SO far as to say that he
would resign his position in the army if he could
not protect his prisoners General Grant related
the interview to me upon his return from the
White House to the headquarters of the army in
Washington"
did he seem agtated over the position taken
by the President2"
He was man who always had control of
himself, and you could never read much in his
impassive face; but it was evident that he had
been very much aroused and was very indig-
nant."
''How did he express himself?"
HE said that he wanted to spare the country
the modification of so gross breach of faith as
that evidently contemplated by the President"
"Mr Depew says that General Grant told him
of sudden change in President Johnson's atti-
tude toward the South"
"It is true that President johnson, not long
after this, changed his whole attitude in regard
to the South and commenced to curry favor with
the higher class Of people in that section. He
entered upon an unseemly quarrel with Congress,
and spoke in his public addresses of Congress,
as then organized, as power Just hanging upon
tie verge of the government He evidently in
tended to see that Southern representatives were
admitted to Congress, and was determined to
use force, if necessary to install the Southern
members. Soon it was found that in Maryland
the militia was being reorganized, and number