The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1886-06-20
HISTORY INDICATED.
NOT GRANTS ABILITY Bur TuE PEOPLES
HrR0Ism winch SAVED TRH UNION.
Grant. Stanton, and Thomas-sccond Volume OF
Grants Memoirs.
q. u. Reed In Cincinnati GazeItc.l

|
Grant's Memoirs.
| "a. u. Reed In Cincinnati Gazeitc,l
| The free Judgments which Gen. Grants Memoirs
| pronounce upon his contemporaries have strained
by the second volume by his dIsparaging Judgment
| on Secretary stanton and on Gen George H. Thomas
| To those VINO remember how Stanton q support OF
| Grant saved him to history more than once, when,
as Gen; sherman says OF the time after Donelson,
stanton supported him through ali the war, sending
| men aud means without stint for his enormous con.
sumption, ms lack OF appreciation savors OF inera
itude--a fault TO which human nature Is the least
| tolerant. 'N"''
Adam n,deau. whose history revised by Grant,
may he taken as Grants own-rclates that ten.
llallcck awarded the credit OF the victory OF Douc-
son TO Gen. G; 7. Smith, by the following despatch,
"Smlth, by his GOODNESS and bravery at Fort Dom
elson, when the battle was against us, turned the
| tide, and carried the enemy's outworks. Make him
cmol n oT victory can't and ge better
Will applaud"
hut bslcau narrs,es that '.lhe Secretary of War
at once recommended Grant for major generacy OF
volunteers, aud the President nominated him the
| same day. The Senate was In session and confirmed
And stanton emphasized this award OF the honor
| by his famous "Joshua" letter, IN which he nung
strategy and the military art to the win by pro-
"whai conceive to be the true Organization Of ylc
declared IN few words BY Gen Grants message s to
Cen Gen. Bnckner; propose to move Immediately on
This award was before the reports had been made
| These sustained Haeck. Smith personally led n
storming column and entered the works, when
demonstration Of an assault all along the line "save
Appearances" as he wrote Commodore Fooie
entered them and gained an enflladnv position which
| commanded them. This gave to Grant about four
tanned him through severe trials And Badean
adds:
"This was the beginning Of support bestowed
ny tue Secretary OF War on the Western General
which was never intermited while the need Of that
| support remained"
UNA In Inn s,f st.n
"bestowal' OF a great victory galnedby Gen. G. f.
This was the beginning o, great career. in which
aen. Grant continually received the support OF
Secretary Stanton, and continually needed 1t. In
popular feeling Tho reflections that followed IN, ine
naiilc OF Plttshurg Landing were hard upon Grant.
se Espp esa SsmeES AFTER s' n
sherman In his Memolrs after all was over, st de-
s,a.e to be the true line % Jackson and veksbure
| anu Pembertons army-met a disastrous failure nv
me destruction OF his stores at Holly Springs.
ne turned back from this, leaving Sherman TO 20
Grants part; e waste three thousand men in an
assault on Chickasaw bluffs The failure OF the In.
| teror campaign and the great destruction OF the
stores prepared for II, was disaster which would
nave been fatal to commanders who had not pres.
| tge gained by stnnon's comforting upcn Grant the
victory at Donelson The abandonment OF that cam
paign confessed blnnder OF Reneralship. But Sec
retary' stanton only poured In the more men and
MEANS diverting troops arms, Transports, and other
means from the central operations, to add to Grants
When this seemed to have sunk In the Mississipp,
morass. and the Intelligence OF the wasting Of the
without an effort that gave evidence OF plan OF mill,
| tary Intelligence, rang through the land and had
Grant, and when the Administration was con-
strained TO assent TO his plan OF covering up the
Join Gen. Banks at Fort Hudson, s, Secretary ~
stanton stood by Grant In the face Of unpopularity
WseR R me Rs sSry a. Port Sson and the pursuit
VcHsburg, turned Grant from the fatal Fort Hudson
plan To- an expedition TO Jackson, sixty miles away
from VcSsburg, Secretary Stanton pressed In more
troops and means, dvertlng tn him the Ninth CORPS
from the ong-tiesirei operations to East Tennessee
| Ia cooperation with Rosecrans. And now he gave
nun penary power to remove any general that he
DID not like; whereby he put ont Of his way Gen.
McClernand, whose rivalry and activity had long
been thorn In Grants flesh.
When the splendid strategy OF Gen. Rosecrans
driven him over the Tennessee, crossed that FLYER IN
the face OF an equal force, and gained the lonRcov-
eted position Of Chattanooga, and nothing want
ments, stanton appointed Grant to this browning
fortune by placing hun in command, AMI by order
which he had refused utterly to give to R0secrans
The whole country knows the history OF Mission
| had not relied on-saying TO Sherman that it was
c0wei-had OF Its own voltiOn changed an ordered
advance. gaining the strong line OF Pilot Knob and
thereby changing the whole situation to Grants ad-
vanage me aay before the battle and bringing that
became OF its own volitlon the assaulling army,
| nile nearer TO The fODt OF The ridge,
Sherman's attack on the north end Of the rjne |
which was to he the browning operation, and to which
had been drawn the greater part Of the army front
ing the ridge, was spent. Ihomas's fonr divisions
fronting the ridge, which had been held as demon
stration to divert the enemy's forces from Sherman
were now ordered by Grant to demonstrate further
by advancing to the foot OF the ridge and hating
there TO await dispositions
But they could not halt under nre from the brea.t-
works at the foot OF the ridge, nor under the fire
from the ridge They stormed these works at the |
loot and went on and carried the ridge by storm,
"A In liarn dnfth mia
Of the battle. For this the rank oflieutenant gem
era was created for Grant, and with all this prestige
gained IN the West he was summoned to the East Ia
take command Of the veteran Army OF the Potomac |
In Ills enormous requirements 10 this field he had |
more than ever the support Of the Secretary of War
In forming men and means for consumption almost
without precedent.
Tor the campaign from the Rapdan. besides co-one-
railing armies on the James and In The Shenandoah
pause IN thirty miles OF inrenchmenta from Peters,
burg to Richmond had consumed hundred thou
s ann men, me furnished
lndom!iable generalshp which described itself TO
Gen Meade at the beginning by the memorable
a ~Srss rsSsSng suggestion OF man@nvre
Grant says In the Memoirs: "Sianton never aues.
TONED his own authority to command nnIess 70.
sisted. He cared nothing for the feelings OF others
IN iact II seemed peasanter to disappoint than to
lions OF the Executive or In acting without advising
with him Bnt surely Grant was not him whom /
srafy .onnn pIeasanler to dsappon than to
fants OF temper, aud some assumption OF RESPONSE
olty may be excused ln him who had the stern duty
Of ordering the sons OF America TO the Geld OF suo
vast and repeated slaughter. Not few patriotic
hearts qnaied under the drain OF the blood OF Amer
G0lgotha, Ia the Wilderness, al Cold Harbor at Pe.
tershurg, and all between; hut the stern Secretary
SO great was the ascendency which Stanton gave
70 Grant that be Joined him 10 the presumption that
rhomas's army at Nashville than Thomas on The
ground. ne assened 10 Grants order TO supersede
country from this monsrous blunder by hoidin1
back the order for twelve hours, which brought
aews OF me victory OF me st day. and caused the
The war had times OF dark disbursement under
tne enormous slaughter. TO have the responsibility
up nnninchlngly TO its requirements demanded
moral mora courage But Grant wrote that Stanton was
,mn', because Ne was concerned for the safety Of
1.-The secretary was very tlmii and It was impos.
covering the Capital when II was sought to defend il
~ an offensive movement against the army guard.
weakness but ne could not see that The enemy was
10 danger. The enemy wonld not have been 10 dan.
ger " MT. Stanton had been IN the neld.p
But history tells that 1t was the two divisions
which moved away from the Richmond lines To CITY
Point at midnight OF the 9th OF July, and embarked
road to the north front, arriving there al the same
time az Gen Early. on Tho afternoon OF the 18th.
was not saved by the danger to the enemy at Rich
mond from Grants pressure there Gen. EARLY says
~ wan tue dTrtthl VI luis force tna 06Ienteu
hopes OF getting possession OF the works by sur
prise"
Stanton knew that the taxing OF Richmond with
out the capture OF Lees army was OF lille capue-
quence to ns, and would not seriously lnjure the
military power OF the COnfederacy; but that the
capture OF Washington would be all In all to US aud
TO the confederacy, taking possession Of all the
national belongings, cutting OF Grants army, and
making the Confederaiy the nation. And military
history IN all time would have scoTed at the tactics
which uncovered the nations Capital TO gain the
Capital OF an lnsurreciion, whereas q more direct
operation on The vital part OF Lees Communications
on me northwest AMI west would have covered
Washington.
The jeerng world would have ikened this to the
wisdom Of the dog who dropped the meat to dive
Tor the shadow oil II In the water Grants remark
that "lhe enemy would not have been Ia danger N
Mr. stanton mad been IN the leld !" does not appear
10 be called for hut II IL certain that II was not the
danger 70 the enemy from Grant al Rlclmoad that
saved Washington from Early when he lad de,
feated the troops that guarded Baltimore and ap.
petred In front OF Washington. Nor was the reai-
zation OF the Importance OF the Capital aud care
for It's safety, iimdiiy.
The Ofice OF giving Judgment upon the character,
abilities, and services OF incorporates from the
supreme height OF infaliibiy has moi been created
and may not lie properly assumed Nor has human
nature 80 changed that narrative OF ones own ex.
plOits has become the infable method of writing