St. Landry democrat., 1885-08-29
GORDON ON GRANT.
Lees Testimony to His Gene
raIship.
"Pickaway" in the Enquirer.
a NOBLE TRIBUTE TO LINCOLN.

He talks modestly of all the move
ments of the war in which he par
ticipated, but earnestly, eagerly
and eloquently, as if he were tight
ing and living them over again.
His language is the finest, with but
little of the Southern peculiarities,
and he is gentle, cautious, forbear-
ing and considerate, never making
one unkind allusion to any soldier
who served on either side, and re-
framing from criticism Of the con-
dnct Of any general or soldier, Fed
eral or Confederate, on or off the
battlefield, lest as he said, cit
should provoke a controversy and
lead to bad feeling"
The question was asked him:
"What do you think of Gen Grant
as a soldier 2" The reply was quick.
"He was one of the BEST" said
Gen. Gordon ''my views can bet
ter be expressed in the language OF
Gen. Lee. The day before Spots
sylvania had been one Of terrific
fighting, our troops had met with
varied success. My corps had been
more successful than some of the
others, and at dusk / rode up to
Gen. Lee to report and receive Or
derS. He said
"Gen. Gordon, what do your
scouts report 2"
"Uniformly that the enemy are
preparing to retreat"
'EThe report comes from all along
our front that Grant is preparing to
retreat" said Gen. Lee, who sat in
silence for time, as if engaged in
profound thought, which | dis
turbed by saying:
"What do gOW think, General !
Will Grant retreat ~
"No SIR" said Gen. Lee, turning
in his saddle and lifting up his
head "Grant can't retreat. He
won't retreat There is but one
thing for him to do as a good Gen
eral land Gen. Gordon, I rank him
among the best), he will renew the
fight in the morning at spottsylva-
MIA Courthouse, and you must move
in position at once p History tells
how correct was Lees estimate Of
Grants generalship, at Spottsylva-
MIA Courthouse next morning, and
so was Lee.
WASHBURNE AND LINCOLN.
"At Appomattox I made the ac-
Ouaintance of the man whom I es-
TEEN very much. / look upon him
as one of the ablest and best men
in the North. [ allude to Elihu
Washburne. He was then repre-
senting President Lincoln. ! rode
with him from Appomattox to Pc
tersburg. He gave me an entirely
new view or Lincoln's character. 1t
had been the policy of our papers
and politicians to present Lincoln
to us as horrid monster. had
been taught and had learned to
look upon him as the most brutal
and tyranical of men, and when
Mr.. Wasburn told me of Iincoln's
purposes and designs toward the
South, and how lovable, and broad
and unresentful he was, it was like
revelation to me | very natu-
rally thought that the North would
demand some sacrifices, and that
some, if not all, of the leading men
of the South in the war would be
put to death. AS I rode with Mr..
Washburn / told him tnat the as
pect of the future that troubled me
most was that my children would
be Outlawed and compelled to suffer
for what their father had done.
6 sDisabuse your mind for once
and forever of any such thoughts,
said Washburne, 1T is Mr.. Lin
coins purpose to restore the South
to thr Union terms OF equality as
soon as possible, and not punish
and destroy he then outlined
Lincopns plan, which was to call
together the Legislatures of the
States as far as possible which had
passed the ordinances of secession,
and have them rescind those meas
ures and let them begin again to
control their own affairs as equal
States in the Union. The plan was
very simple one, and would have
worked excellently had it been car
RED out. 4 learned,' said Gen.
Gordon, 'at the celebrated Hamp-
ton Roads Peace Conference, when
President Lincoln was asked upon