The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-02

come to me with copies Of papers In his hand,
aud say he could not understand it 1T all
told him that that was enc of the evils of life
which we would have to endure
What effect did this adverse criticism have
on President Linconl'
cit grieved him considerably but it did not
swerve him from the path ne had laid out He
saw his way clearly, and noting could make him
deviate from it. The words used by Halstead
ABOUT Lincoln were very brutal, to say the least.
Lincoln was one of the best and purest mex that
ever lived, and his writings will compare favor
ably with those of Sallust and Homer. Why,
would rather have written his first inaugural ad-
dress than to have won victory He was very
patient man; he did not ask for impossibilities;
be trusted his generals
"Do you think he saw this letter.
s'Oh, no. Chase was too sarewd and too dis
Greet man to do anything like that He was
the best man in the Cabinet at the time and had
great influence. He simply read the letter and
then filed it away His literary executor, very
unwisely, In my opinion, has permitted its pub
lication.s
WAS there any unnecessary deav at Vicks-
burg"
phatically. President Lincoln instructed US to
capture Vieksburg in order to open the river.
Vicksburg was essential to us. Otherwise we
would have been strangled. President Lincoln
said he would send all the men and provisions
he could. and asked us to do the best could.
And we did. Officers and men worked as nobly
as did the officers and men of any army that
ever existed. If we had assaulted Vicksbug
when Halstead wanted us to, we would have had
to wade our through forty feet of water to
do IT. Mr. Halstead might have done it. He
was better man than we WERE and, being in
Cincinnati knew more about it. of course than
We did Still, as couldn't wade our men
through forty feet of water, we didn't attempt
to capture the city till it was possible. The
Mississippi had overiowed its banks, and our
army, forty thousand men. was huddled on the
leyee on strip of land twenty feet wide in
places and elsewhere not more than nine feet.
In front of US was the Mississippi and back of US
were the swamps, with their constant miasma
and malaria producing exhaations. Forced
to live in climate that was unfit for a
white man, with irregular meals and 10
suitable shelter, there is no wonder that consld-
cradle sickness existed. The men were COM
PEELED to sleep on the ground during the inclem-
emit winter season. In other places, away from
the river, where fresh water was not accessible.
the men used the water found in neighboring
pools. All this gave rise to more or less sickness
of malarial kind"
WAS there a smallpox epidemie?s
by no means. Of course there was the usual
amount of disease that necessarily exists in an
army, but no more"
lis it true that the medical department was
afflicted with delirium tremensqn
That. Sir was as vile SANDER as was ever
uttered and the that wrote those lines
ought to hang his head in shame. No purer,
nobler men ever lived than the men who COM
posed our medical staff There was Dr. John
Rock Island; DR.. Kittle, and others. Why
have seen them work for several days without
taking any sleep. They were and still are of I'M
blemished reputation
1.-The letter states that Grant was drunk at
Donelson and surprised and whipped at Shiloh"
That is pure lie. General Grant never was
drunk AT Donelsen he won a great victory,
and at Shiloh we had two hard days fighting;
that doesn't look much like drunkenness. does
its Of course. General Grant took a glass of
wine or whisky occasionally. 1t was necessary.
| took glass of whisky myself once in awhile.
We could never have resisted the climate other
wise. Sometimes we worked knee-deep in
water; at.others we were exposed to unusual ia
tlgues. But to assert that there was anything
like drunkenness is a shameful untruth"
was desertion as common an occurrence as
Halstead asserts!"
mo. sir; there was nothing like the hourly
desertons mentioned by Halstead. Of course,
men were deserving; they always have deserted,
and always will. But there was no more than is
ordinarily the case The men were devoted and
enthusiastic, and would have done anything at
our command. They were devotedly attached
to Lincoln, and if ordered would have swum the
river in the face of the batteries The President
could not have given department command
ers the right TO shoot deserters He alone had
the power of life aud death.
"Why was Halstead alarmed about the negroY"
"Oh. he thought the army was engaged in
freeing the negro instead of fighting battles,
which was not the case Lincoln was waited on
daily by delegates from England and various
parts of America, asking that the negro be freed.
That was the ultimate purpose of the war, of
course. aud in this as in everything eise Lincoln
was actuated by purely humane impulses But
to say that the army affected by this or de-
layed In its work is nonsensical"
General Sherman. in conclusion repeated his
regret at the publicity attained by the letter. and
trusted that everything that would tend to
arouse a feeling of hostility would be avoided.