Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-01-18
A WAR STORY.

Lew wallace Charges EnlIcck with
Desire TO Accomplish the Downfall
of ~rant-The Battle OF N0nocucy.
| Cluclnnatl specIai: Gen. Lew Wal
lace, late minister to Turkey, III an inter.
view prioted in the Commerciul-Ga
20 day, makes the following stunning
statement:
General Grant, in his report of 1868,
| says einphaticully that the battle ul
Monocacy did save Washington
nave no hesltancy III saying that it saved
the capital contrary to the wishes OF
haileck. am convinced that at that
time out OF jealousy OF Grant, Haleck
was willing 10 hetray bis couDtry and
permit Washington to be capture d,
kno%lng that such thing would destroy
Grant. Until Grant was called east,
Hnltcck had been commander III chIet.
dc was then let down with the title of
chief OF strh, but nobody has ever
been able TO discover whose staff he was
ehlet OF. 1t was this that made him envI
ous OF Grant. lu June. 1864, when Early
made his movement on Washington,
the first information of it was when he
appeared before Martinsburg and drove
Sigel out. Sigel telegraphed to Halleck
that Early, with 10000 men, was in his
| front, and was bent on going either to
Washington OF Baltimore. Eaiieets re-
fused to believe the report, and said
Slgel was scared at a smal! raIdiDg party.
he also failed to notify Grant of what
Sigel had reported. Sigel telegraphed
the same thing to me at Baltimore. [
thought | would satisfy myself, but knew
II | went in the daytime Haleck would
hear OF 1t and remove me, 30 [ went out
to Monocacy, the limits of my depart
ment, in the night time. | soon became
sltisted that the enemy was moving 10
force, but just what his Objective point
was could not be so readily determined
L Immediately began concentrating my
force at the crossing of the Monocacy,
near Frederick. The road to Baltimore
and the road to Washington cross the
river on bridges shout two
miles apart. 1t was an
excellent place for defense, and by the
morning of the 9th of July [ had $500
men well posted. A great part of my
men were only 100-day men, and had
never been under fire. The rebels began
theattack early in. the morningwith about
10000 men, with several Thousand more
at Frederick. The battle lasted till 5
O'clock IN the evening, when [ withdrew
without the loss of gun or flag; the
enemy was SO much discouraged by the
stubborn resistance that they did not
cross the river until noon the next day;
thus they were delayed thirty six hours.
had succeeded IN making Early show
his force and demonstrate his real OBJ
lective point. L Immediately telegraphed
to Grant the result of the matter He
did not disbelieve my report as Halleck
had pretended to do that of Sigel, but
at once dispatched by transport an army
corps to Washington, and it arrived
just in time, as Early was
skirmishing at the outworks when the
re-enforcements disembarked. Just
then was where Grant showed his won
derful genius. Other commanders in at
tempting to take Richmond had always
left behind q large army to defend
Washington. Grant was determined to
utilize his forces, aud he kept fleet of
transports at City Point under steam at
all times by which to send men back to
defend Washington, but in 1864 he
would have been to late if had not tel
egraphed to him instead of to Halleck.
For winning that battle Halleck remo7-
ed me from command, but Grant tele-
graphed ali order restoring me and in
yiting me to spend week or two with
him at City Point 1t was that first COM
munIcation we had had for two years.