Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-02-11

furnishes the key to the controversy.
On Dec. Ii, Gen. Sherman wrote
letter to r. @. Drum, adjutant-gen-
eral of the army, bringing the con-
troversy with Gen. Fry to his atten-
ton, and concluding as follows:
Il have never authorized GEN. Fry
to speak for me in matters requiring
the use of precise language. and /
surely take direct issue with him in
the modern, monstrous newspaper
doctrine that reporter may publish
any falsehood or guess, leaving the
victim to follow It up with denial or
qualification. I assert moreover that
Gen. Fry is an officer of the army,
subject to discipline and bound in
honor to answer such an inquiry as
was addressed to him. l therefore,
with due respect, lay the matter be,
fore the honorable secretary of war,
and invoke his authority to compel
Gen. Fry to disclose the source of his
Information, or to qualify his positive
assertion that Gen. Sherman goes so
far as to have said, since Grants
death, that had Q. T. Smith lived.
Grant would have disappeared to his
tory after Dnnelson.
DRUM TO SHERMAN.
Dec %. Adjt. Gen. Drum replies:
The question, how far the unau-
thorized use, by an officer, of the ex-
pressions of another may render the
former amenable to discipline, is a
difficult one to answer, especially
when the language imputed is pot
offensive or calculated to cast odium
on the speaker or writer. If the quo
tation used by Gen. Fry in his article
were false and scandalous, or SO gar
bled as to give a false impression of
your utterances. he laid himself open
to grave accusations, but as there is
nothing to Indicate that the statement
is of that character, or that his intent
was to do you injustice Or injury, the
secretary of war iastructs me to say
he cannot see that it is in his power,
under the law, to take in this case the
action suggested in your letter. At
the same time he Is of the opinion
that the question raised is one of good
manners and proper courtesy rather
than of conduct subiecting Gen. Fry
to military discipline. I am, Gen
eraI. very respectfully, your obedient
servant, r @. DRUM,
Adjutant General.
Then followed two letters from Gen.
Sherman, as follows:
mo 912 GARRISON AVE, ST.. LOUIS,
Mo-, Jan. 2. 1S86.-Allen Thcrndike
Rice, Esq, North American Review.
My Dear Sir: / have the Review
for January and notice the manner
in which you treat the Sherman-Fry
matter. It is well and sliIfully done.
but you do not know Fry as well as
Grant and I did. He invented that
quotation 10 set up man of straw for
the honor of knocking it down. Gen.
Grant always regarded him Fyr) as
one OF the men most active In spread
ing the lies about us at Shiloh-'sur-
prise 'bayonetted in our beds, de
moralized, "a covering mass on the
river bank, etc, .etc,-and his De-
cember article shows that Grant lis
tened to him, as he could not help do
Jog, replying little. Now, for illustra-
ton, send to Van Nostran for little
book published IN 1884, The Army
Under Buell. Fry, on page s. says:
During the seven months, including
the winter season, he (BuelD organ
lied and disciplined an army which
had no superior, etc. moved With the
main body of his army to Pittsburg
Landing, rescued Grants army at the
battle of Shiloh, and converted the
disaster of the first day on that mem
orable field into the victory of the
second day. Again, on page 10:
Pressing their advantage the Union
armies of the Tennessee under Grant
and of the Ohio, under Buell., concen-
trated at PIttsburg Landing, On the
Tennessee, when, being attacked on
the 9Th of April, they gained the vic
tory of Shiloh Then turn to "Grant's
Memoirs" pages 330-331, ct. seq, and
read his plain, truthful narrative.
BATTLE OF SHILOH.
Seen. Buell. did not reach the field
of battle until the first day was over.
He came out to me mile and a half
from the landing after dark with Fry
and others, and I talked with both
On that first day we had fought from
morning till night short of one divis-
of our own army 0ew Wallace'sN;
had sustained loss Of 5000 men, and
Inflicted like loss to our enemy,
holding our ground against superior
mum bers and covering every vital
point of our position. We, Of the
army of the Tennessee claimed q vic
tory at nigh, Lew Wallace having ar
rived with 6 coo men before Buell. ap
peared, Gen. Grant ordered me
in person to assume the offensive the
next morning at daylight. Now, on
the morning of the 9th of April,
Wallace was only six miles off, and
we expected him momentarily; still
he did not cross the bridge, which I
covered till night. One division of
Buell's army (Nelson's), which had
marched from Nashville to Savannah
most leisurely, was there on the even
ing of April 5, and Gen. Grant
ordered it to march toward Pittsburg
Landing. The firing was heard at
Savannah early the morning OF the
9Th, yet the division did not start till
the afternoon of the 9Th, and its aa-
vance brigade (Ammen's) only reach
ed the Landing about dark, after the