The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-22

/ matters little what Healy meant Dy MS historic
/ group but it is certain we four sat pretty much
| as represen led, and were engaged In import
| ant conversation during the forenoon of March
%, 1865, and that we parted never to meet again.
| Grant and the Siege of Vicksburg.
| Admiral Porters Anecdotes and "reminiscences.
In the history of the worlds sieges nothing
oped, more endurance under privations, or more
courage shown than by the Union forces at the
siege of Vicksburg; while on the part of the be-
sieged it was marked by their great fertility of
resource in checking almost every movement of
ours. and for. the long months Of suffering and
hardships they underwent It belongs of right
to General Grant to tell the story of that event,
/ for in no case during the war did he clearly
/ show his title 10 be called great general, nor
did he elsewhere so fully exhibit all the qualities
which proved him to be great soldier III Cen
eral Grant had never performed any other mill
tary act during the war, the capture of Vlcks
| burg alone with all the circumstances attending
| the siege would have entitled him to the highest
renown. He had all enemy TO deal with of
twice his force, and protected by defenses never
surpassed in the art of war. l saw myself the
/ great strongholds at Savastopol of the MalakoH
town and the Redan the day after they were
taken by combined army of 12O. 900 men: and
these stronghods, which have become famous in
| ballads and story. never in any way compared
| WIN the O01enceS OF N1cKSDuIg, winch lOOkeu as
| IL a thousand TltanS had been put to work to
| make these heights unassailable. l am told that
| there ffty-slx miles of intrenchments
| thrown up, one within the other. The hills
above, with their granite rocks standing IN de-
| fiance, were enough to deter a foe without hay
| ing intrenchments bristling with cannon and
manned by the hardest troops in the Con-
| federacy. After it was all over, and General
| Grant could see the conquered city lying at his
| feet he could we'll afford to laugh at his vile
| bO al Tn
| hamper him by sending kilograms to the seat Of
| government questioning his fitness for SO i'm
portaut command. If those who lent them
| selves to such things could be followed through
the war; it would be found that they never
| made mark. put them where you would, nor
did they achieve any good for the government
That was happy Fourth of July when the
! confederate flag came down at Vlcksburg, and
the stars and stripes went up in It's place, while
Meade's force at Gettysburg was driving Lees
army back to Richmond, tattered and torn. That
uay so glorious in the annals of our history, lost
nothing by the two Brilliant rvenJo Which were
added to our fame, and made it still more dear
to the heart OF every true American. When the
Union flag was hoisted on the ramparts of Vcks-
burg my flagship and every vessel of the fleet
steamed up down to the levee before the city.
We discerned dust in the distance, and in a
| few moments General Grant, at the head of
nearly all his generals, with their staffs rode up
to she gangway and dlsmountng, came on
board. That was happy meeting. great hand
| shaking and general congratulation. / opened
| all my wine lockers, which contained only Ca
tawba on this occasion. 1t disappeared down
| the parched throatS which had tasted nothing
/ for some time but bad water Yet it exhila
rated that crowd as weak wine never did before
| There was one man III the party who preserved
| the same quiet demeanOr that he always bore
| whether in adversely in victory, and that was
General Grant. No one, to see him sitting there
with that calm exterior amidst all the jollity, and
without any staff, would ever have taken him for
the great general who had accomplished one of
the most stupendous military feats record
There was a quiet satisfaction in his face that
could not be concealed, but he behaved on that
occasion as if nothing OF Importance had occur
| red. General Grant the only in that
| assembage who did not touch the simple wine
offered him; he contented himself with cigar;
and let me say here that this was his habit dur
ing all the time he commanded before Vicksburg,
and also while he commanded before Richmond
though the same detractors who made false rep
| reservations of him before Vicksburg, misrep-
resented him also in the matter above alluded to-
why Rosecrans Opposes Grants Retirement.
| Utica IN. " Press.
The Southern senator's behaved so nobly on
the passage of the bill retiring General Grant
that it is safe to predict that the Southern mem
| bers of the House of Representatives will be-
have equally nobly. Nothing could possibly
occur in Congress that would so crafty the
North and copciliate the goodwill OF our people
as the prompt generos -'''".. on -"'a "'aasiSn
by the Southern representatives. There should
be nothing to disturb the general good feeling
But there is Clsp2stion on the part of few
members of the House, notably of General
Rosecrans, to prevent nearly unanimous pass
/ age of the bill in the House. General Rosecrans
! comes from California, where General Grant has
| many friends, and if he were as cautious poll
tcian as he was timid commander. he would
! think twice before he antagonized seriously the
proposition that is avowedly for General Grants
permanent relief.
We are, however able to account for General
| Rosecrans's present attitude toward this bill
| We will enable the reader also to account for
it by printing two dispatches from General
| Grant that we do not remember ever to have
seen in print The first is to Secretary of War
| Stanton:
Cry POINT, Oct. IL 1864.
The Hon. E. NJ. Stanton, Secretary of War:
On reflection, believe safety demands the removal
of Rosecrans and the appon tnent of subordinate
general in his place. Present movements of Hoods
army especiayif he should go on to the Mississippi
river, may make it necessary to have commander in
Missouri who will cooperate. U. :. GRANT,
Leutenantgeneral.
The second to Major-general Halleck:
CITY POINT Sept. 90 1864
Majcr-general IIalleck. Washington:
1t General Rosecrans does not send forward the
regiments belonging to General Sherman arrest him
by my order, unless the President will authorize his
being relieved from command altogether.
Z. S. GRANT. Acknowledgement
SO it may we'll be that General Rosecrans
THINKS he does not owe anything to General
Grant No matter now; the people and Congress-
are of opinion that great deal is owing to the
hero of the war, and they will disdainfuiy dis
regard the protests of the subordinate officer who
unfortunate as to fall under General
Grants weighty censure.
Lincoln, Stanton. and the Chaplain.
Washington Letter in Philadelphia Record.
l think have new Lincoln Stanton story
At least the Congressman who told it spoke as
though he had just discovered the document
which is its basis. 1t was an application for a
chaplaincy in the army. with series of indorse-
ments by Lincoln and Stanton on its back which