The Washington critic., 1885-09-09
GRANT AND PORTER.
a CHAPTER or ALMOST FORGOT
TEN HISTORY.
TWENTY YEARS AGO.
TIE ADMIRAL'S LETTER TO SECRE.
TARY GIDEON wELLEs.
GRANTS MAGNANfMfTY.
The "Ccrtain Person" to Whom General
Bcaic in II Published Interview
Referred.
TWENTY YEARS AGO.
GRANTS MAGNANiMfTY.

In the course of an interview with u
newspaper reporter shortly after the
death of General Grant, the following
"reminiscences was related by General
t. +. Beale of this city
saw General Grant once while Mt white
heat Of voxation, In the library Of the White
House, put personal preludiccs anl wishes
aside aud do his duty without question. Tie
had Teen abused and slandcrcl by certain
person to such an extent that he could only
fecCL nizc him as z personal AMI bitter
enemy. The question arose whether tn It
Ior,on should be nominated to the Sen ltc or
rot for n position. | knew all the circun-
Stances, ana said 10 General Grant; What
are you going TO do about 2" 40 about
tie senate. lie has deserved his appoint
l. ont by lis services TO his country, aud no
Ierscngl ill-iecling ON my part shall prevent
Lis obtaining what he dc'erye.." lie sat
down and signed the nomination, ana it was
sent to tie senate at once.
Many persons who real the above
were no doubt in the dark as to whom
was meant 10y the certain person re-
fcrrCd TO. General |calc having de.
clinCd TO mention any names or had
forgotten an interesting chapter of pat
bCiiVm history that would at once have
suggested the probable individual.
Therefore, that the matter may be more
clearly understood, the following letter
from Admiral Porter (then II rear adj
miral), addressed to Secretary Wcles in
January, 1865, is reproduced, as point
ing with reasonable degree of GER
tainty TO the person whom General
Bcalc had in his mind nc the time of
the foregoing conversation.
Admiral David Glascoc Farragut
died August If, 1870, at Portsmouth,
n. H., and on August 20, by letter,
President Grant promoted Porter to the
vacancy, from vice-admiral (both of
which grades had been established in
1896 to correspond with those of gen,
eral and acknowledgement in the
army, to date August 10. There was
great objection raised in the navy,
where Porter was unpopular, and in
the efforts made to prevent his success
sion to the great admiral the letter be-
low was uncarthed and given to two
New York papers and published Friday
morning, Decent C, >, 1870, in antici-
patton of Grants sending POrtcr's
nomination to the Senate the following
| Monday, when that body assembled.
Admiral Porter at once called on
President Grant aud was very coldly
received; and retiring, wrote the sane
day, December 3, letter to Grant in
which he said, in substance, that on
reading the letter Of January 81, 1855,
at first, in the newspapers, his first i'm
pulse was to dcnouncc it rs forgery,
ms neither he nor his private secretary
Qieutcnant Alden, who had then been
with him eight years. could recall any
such letter to Secretary Wellcs, either
official or conidential but on reflection
concluded that eX.Secretury Welles
would not have had it printed had it
not been genuine. He said that mt the
time the letter was written he had Just
concluded the naval operations at Cape
Fear River, and was worn out in body
and mind by the long continued tension;
and when thus situated wasvery aptto be
nervous and easily vcXcd and irritable,
| but that at no time did he ever enter
tain the opinions regarding General
| Grant that the letter alleges. He dis
claimed any ill-fccling at any time
against General Grant, and asserted that
whether he did or did not write the let
| ter, he would far rather be its author
than to be the man who would stoop
so low as to make public private let
ter, and accounted for Mr. Welles'
action by the fact that when President
johnson entered upon his quarrel with
his party, Mr.. Wclles, then Secretary
Of the Navy, joined his faction and
became inccnscd at Porter, because the
latter not only refused to join the
movement, but thwartcd some of
| Wclles' schemes in that direction.