The National tribune., 1885-01-15

| IN 1HE ElkAD, ~"
LIEUT. GEN U. s GRANT, City Point, Va
We entered Raleigh this morning. Johnston has
retreated westward. / shall move to Ashville and
Salisbury or Charlotte. j hope Gen. Sheridan IL
coming this way with his cavalry. II can bring
| Johnston to a stand l will soon fix him. The peo-
pie here had not heard of the surrender of Lee, and
| hardly credit it. All well
| w. T. SHERMAN,
Msjor-General
HEAD'oRs Mn. DIVISION OF THE Miss,
IN THE FIELD, RALEIGH, \. c.,
10 p. m. April IS, 1865
Hon. WIN 4 GRAHAM, Raleigh.
DEAR SIR: You will. know, pardon my late
answer TO your note when tell you / was at AIr.
Badgers and was detained there little later than
IeXpected by the interest of the visit.
Inclosed please find the papers asked for Please
send the for the Provost Marshal, and if il is
be got tonight; otherwise, Gen. Wolcott will get
you pair. hope you will not be delayed by this
! second accident l can well appreciate how you
take these acts of war, and will not even offer
apology hui rather refer TO them to illustrate how
rapidly mems ideas OF propriety degenerate during
! should like to know if, during your brief inter-
view with WheeleT's men. you sent any message
likely TO reach Gov. Vance 10 assure him of your
safety and relieve his mind OF the idea that you
am with great respect your obedient servant,
W. I. SHERMAN,
Major-General.
HEAD6R's Nil. DIVISION OF THE Miss,
In THE FIELD, RALEIGH, n. c.,
All officers and men will respect the horses and
personal effects of eX-Govs. Graham and Swain
and permit them TO pass free and unmolested
through lines to their homes in Hillsboro' and
Chapel Hill. w. L. SIBERIAN,
Major-General.
HEADQ'Rs MIL. DIVISION OF THE Mss
IN TIE FIELD, RALEIGH, n. c.,
April 13, 1868.
To the PROVOST MARSHAL,
State House
Cause the carriage horses of Mr.. Thomas p.
Burgwin to be hunted up tonight and returned to
him. If they cannot be found want Gen. Wolcott
to procure pair OF carriage horses in time for Dir.
Burgwin. L want Gov. Graham to have the
of a carriage and pair of horses that he may pro-
ceed on his journey early in n the morning,
Major General Commanding.
GOV. vANCEs INTENTION.
These Commissioners said to me without re-
serve that when Gov. Vance dispatched them
from Raleigh to my camp at Gulley's he wanted
to make terms for the State, and afterwards
that he was afraid of JEFF Davis.
At Raleigh, though the mass of the public rec
ords had been carried of, yet number was left
behind at the State House, and at the Govern
ors Mansion, called the palace" which we
occupied as Headquarters during our stay
there, viz, from April 13 to April %, 1865
These records and papers were ovcrhauled by
provost marshals and clerks, who delivered to the
Adjutant-General (Sawyer) such as contained
material information, and my personals attention
was only drawn to such as were deemed of
sufficient Importance. Among the books col
lected at the " Palace in Raleigh was a clerks
or secretary's copy-book," containing loose
sheets and letters, among which was the par
ticular letter of Dir. Davis to which l referred
IN nay st. Louis speech" / gave it little at
tention at the time, because Mr. Davis was then
himself fugitive, and his opinions had little
or no importance; but il explained to my mind
why Gov. Vance, after sending to me Commits
sioners TO treat for his State separately, had
lot awaited my answer. 1t was the subject of
common talk about my Headquarters at the
time; or. as stated by Col. Dayton in recent
letter to me from Cincinnati,
81 am quite sure that generally talked THAT
it was the desire of Gov. Vance aud the State oil
caLs to take North Carolina out of the Confederacy,
as have stated, but they were afraid OF Jefferson
Davis, and wanted protection"
PAPERS AN INCUMBRANCE.
During the campaign of 1S64-5 did not
incumber myself much with papers. Many
were destroyed, and only essential reports re-
turns, and information were sent at convent
ent intervals to my Chief Of staff, Gen.Webstcr,
back at Headquarters in Nashville, which
Headquarters shifted TO Savannah, Washing
ton, and finally st. Louis. Here, in the Summer
of 1865, all were collected together by Adj't-
Gems. Sawyer and Rochester, properly filed and
indeXed. At that date there was no such thing
as a separate Bureau Of War Records, and each
Division and Department kept its own papers.
Col. Rochester is still living. but Sawyer died at
st. Louis, at his post, Dec. 2G, 1866 and was
ceeded by Adj't-Gen. w. 4. Nichols, who had
charge Of those records till February, 1869 when
was transferred to Washington, and my success
sor, Gen. Sheridan, removed the Headquarters Of
the Division, with its records TO Chicago where
his Office and most of its contents were con-
sumed in the great fire of 1871. Whether the
particular letter referred to was consumed in
that fire, know not, but / do know it existed
in 1865, and believe that its substance will be
revealed when Mr. Davis supplies to the Bureau
Of War Records copies OF his own letters during
the years 1o64-5.
RESPECT FOR BROWN AND VANCE.
feel for Senators Brown and Vance strong
personal respect and believe their action during
the war and since has been manly and fair; but
there wds a correspondence between the Gov
ernors Of States IN rebellion with the Rich
mond authorities about the conscript law
the suspension of the writ of hGbeGs corpus, and
the use Of State troops" which, if published,
would be a valuable contribution to tho lis
tory of Our Times"
never had any feeling of bitterness toward
the soldiers Of the South who fought and took
all the chances Of battle because ! knew the
influences which had made them believe they
were fighting for their own country and for
freedom; but toward the original conspirators
] did feel wrath somewhat akin to that Of
Mr.. Stephens in April, 1864, which he described
as enough to burst ten thousand bottles. Yet,
even as to them, if convinced that / have been
deceived or bamboozled," l shall not hesitate
TO admit it, though it will take more denials
than any have yet heard or seen in print.
FEELING TOWARD DAVIS.
have never been personally acquainted with
Mr.. Davis, because was in California during
the whole period of his administration of the
War Department {i653 157), but during the
civil war and since his name has been used
universally as Synonymous with treason and
the cause of the rebellion, with its lists of hun
dreds Of thousands of the bravest youth of our
land dead or mangled; with the necessary
waste and devastation of property; with an
awful national debt, and with pension roll of
sG0.oo0,000 at this very date. II am preju.