The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-24

of strong, well-equipped regiments being raised.
General Grant became very apprehenslve, and
feared that we were on the verge of a revolution.
| was with him constantly at this time, and by
his direction l spent several weeks In Maryland
obtaining what information / couG in regard to
the number and strength of these regiments and
the feeling of the people There was great
predomlnance of ex-confederate soldiers IN many
OF the regiments The President exercised
good deal of adroitness in attempting to win
General Grant over to his views, but in this he
utterly failed.n
"Do you recall any partic ular instances"
"The General was frequently invited to Cab
met meetings, whore his opinions were asked
with great Difference, and he was treated in a
manner that would easily have fattered and
controlled weaker man. The General was en-
tirely frank with the President, and told him
emphatically the stand he would have to take as
General of the army in case of any proceedings
that he considered revolutionary. 1t was known
that General Grant was very friendly toward
Mexico, and had taken deep interest IN seeing
European troops driven out OF that country.
The President directed him to make a trip to
Mexico, under the pretense of wanting bim to
ascertain the true situation there and to exert
himself to bring about close and friendly rela-
tions between the two republics. The instruc-
tons very general, and 1T was perfectly
evident to General Grant that this was mere
excuse for getting him out OF the country at this
crisis, and he declined to go. He was sent for
by the President during Cabinet meeting
The President said to his Attorney general:
~ have given General Grant an order to
proceed to Mexico, which he declines to obey. 1
want opinion from you as to whether the
General of the army cannot be compelled to
obey my ordersgi
General Grant spoke up at once, and said:
" MIR. President, think [ can give you as
good an opinion on that point as the Attorney
general We at peace with Mexico, and,
commander-in-chief of the army, you have no
right to order me there in military capacity.
You have rendered me simply diplomatic mis-
sion and have but availed myself of the right
which every citizen is entitled to-that of declin-
ing such mission
mfr Seward nodded his head approvingy to
General Grant as he made these remarks.
There were no coercive measures taken, and, as
far as this mission was concerned the matter
ended there. But curious complication lay In
the fact that General Sherman had already been
ordered to Washington to take General Grants
place it being taken for granted that General
Grant would go upon this mission, and Sherman
was already on his way to Washington General
Grant communicated with him, and asked him
to see him soon as he arrived In Washington.
General Sherman arrived in the morning and
went to General Grants house on l street where
the General told him of his alarm in regard to
the state of things at Washington, mentioning
what had transpired with the President, and the
stand he had taken in the matter. General
Sherman's patriotism was at once aroused, and,
with the promptness and frankness character
istic of the man, said
You did right, Grant; you did exactly
right
"The question with the executive then, was
what excuse he could make for having ordered
Sherman to Washington. AS he had arrived
there he was ordered a mission to Mexico,
accompanied if I remember rightly, by Lew
Campbell of Ohio That is about the secret
history of the matter. There is no doubt that
General Grant, by his force of character and de-
termination. and the strength he had on account
of the confidence of the people in him, prevented
occurrences at that time which might have beer
very disastrous"
'.You knew a good deal of President johnson,
General" suggested the reporter, land of the
way he acted at that time. Does anything
further occur to you that would be significant OF
his purposeSP
"Well, Mr. johnson, with view to convert
ing the people to his political views, inaugurated
a trip through the country, which is now known
in history as swinging around the circle He
ordered General Grant and Admiral Farragut to
accompany him. so that they would appear to
give their countenance to the trip. They were
very reluctant to 60. General Grant, at first re-
garding it merely as an invitation endeavored
to decline it as politely as possible, but it was
put in the form of an order, and he had to obey.
A great many disagreeable scenes occurred on
the expedition Mr.. johnson made q series of
speeches at the different stopping places, which
generally consisted of gross attacks upon Con-
gress, and it was soon seen that they were not
meeting with much favor from the large crowds
of people that assembled about the train when
it arrived at stations The President spoke
from the rear platform Of the car At first the
General and the Admiral accompanied him to the
platform out of politeness Before he proceeded
far in his speech the crowd would commence
yelling for Grant and Farragut, and the Presf-
dent seemed to get the idea that these officers
had appeared alongside of him to take the wind
out of his sails. To avoid any feeling of this
kind the officers would go to the front of the
train and take their positions there while the
President spoke from the rear. The crowds
would then rush to the front of the train and cry
out for Grant and Farragut, leaving the Pres-
dent with very diminished audience in the
rear. He doubtless thought that this
other ingenious move to annoy him, and the
breach became still more wdened, particularly
between him and General Grant"
why was not the peculiar attitude of Presi-
dent johnson toward the South embodied in the
impeachment chargesW
ut was because Mr.. Johnson's course finally
became so offensive to Congress and to many
people in the country that the attempt to inn
peach him was made All his speeches against
Congress and the attack Of the executive branch
upon the legislative branch of the government
were made part Of the impeachment proceed
ings."
M'CULLOCH AND DEPEW.