The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-05-10
POSTMASTER. GENERAL

POSTMASTER GENERAL
to this district. I received instructions and
suggestions from Col. MARYLAND from time to
time regarding the mail service that were val
liable. He continued with the Army of the
Tennessee in his capacity as the PostofIice De-
partment agent, under the orders of Gen. Grant,
and / remained under military orders. As the
army progressed the service was extended on
the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, and
from the rivers into the interior as the move
ment Of troops required.
For want of proper facilities TO handle the
immense mail going to the army, the floor and
tables on steamboats, were used in asserting aud
distributing. Wagons and ambulauces were
likewise used in the field 1t must, however,
be born in mind that the greater portion Of
making up the mails for this grand old army
was performed at the Cairo postoiice until the
movement on Fort Henry in January, 1862,
which, so far as practicable, was made up IN
pouches and sacks for bFieades divisions, etc.
The entire mail for Gen. Grants army Operat-
ing against Fort DOnelsOn was distributed on the
steamboat New Uncle SAM en- route from Fort
Henry to Fort Donelson in packages for COM
panies regiments, brigadcs and divisions On
the arrival of that boat at Fort Donelson, in
charge Of Col. MarkIaBd, I personally delivered
the mails before any considerable number of
! Gen. Grants troops had moved into the fort.
/ That was the first distribution Of large mail
within the lines of the army while in transit.
Upon the occupation of Savannah, Tenn, I
was appointed Special Military Mail Agent, and
directed to take charge of forwarding and re-
ceiving all mails on the Tennessee River: also
to appoint a place where the mails for the
North could be received. Up to the time Of
the battle of Pittsburg Landing Tor SHILOH the
/ mails were received on some designated steam
boat and forwarded TO Cairo, Ill. They were
brought in from regiments, brigades and diyis-
/ ions by detailed soldiers Before the battle the
old log house, noted point on that famous
! battlefield, was first occupied as pOSt0tIce, w.
0. Ludlow, a detailed soldier from the ID Iowa,
being placed in charge. Nail was received and
/ forwarded from there until Corinth was Occu-
/ pied, when the offceWas transferred to the lat
ter place
No one who was at Pittsburg Landing imme-
diately before, at the time or after the battle
Of Shiloh can fail to remember that log house,
/ 1t was the only house on the bank, and was
/ the point from which the front was reached
( and the general rendezvous for those who came
/ to the rear on business. When the battle be-
/ gan on the bright morning of the 9th Of April
/ that house was nearly three miles TO the rear;
| when the battle closed in the afternoon on that
day it was at the front. It's gable was severely
PEPPERED BY THE MUsKETRY FIRING
/ of the enemy. The head of Gen. Grants scout
/ Carson was taken OF by a solid shot or she'll
/ in front of that house on the afternoon of the
/ 9th while he was in the act Of delivering a
/ verbal message from Gen. Buell. to Gen. Grant
/ The night OF the 9th the postofice was moved
! out of the house into a hospital tent between it
/ and the river, and the house was used for an
amputating hospital until the arrival of Gen.
Halleck, when it was again occupied by Col.
MARYLAND and the private soldiers who had
been detailed for p0stOtiice duty as pOsEOfIice
for the army. 1t was in that log house that
Gen. Grant sought rest after the days battle,
/ but the agonizing cries of the wounded drove
him to the foot of tree near by, where, with
no other shelter from the heavy rain than the
foliage Of the tree, he spent few hours Of the
night.
The railroad from Corinth, Miss, to Column
bus, Ky, was at once put in running order, the
towns along the line garrisoned, and the road
made the channel of mail communication with
troops moving or stationed away from the rail
road. Communication was kept open by wag-
Ons, ambulanccs and special mounted cOuriers.
The railroad from Jackson, Tenn, to Oxford,
Miss, and from CorInth, Miss, to Memphis,
Tenn, was put in condition and operated by
the United States Government while needed
for its purposes.
The mail for that portion of the army in
front of YicRsburg were sent by steamboat to
Youngs Point and AIilliken's Bend, La, aud
delivered by detailed men to the brigades and
divisions to which it belonged. After the oc-
cupation of Yick5burg, the river being opened
from ST. Louis to New Orleans for general traf-
fic, the mail service was under the entire
charge of Col A. H. MARYLAND, and was or
dered to coufine my duties to the mail and dis
patches from headquarters only. Thus it viii
be seen that the military mail service for the
Army of the Tennessee was iuaugurated by
Gen Grant and kept in successful operation
by the cooperative action of the military aDt
the United States postal authorities, the latter
ably represented by Special Agent Col. A. II
MARYLAND.
would here observe that the Army of thC
Tennessee never lost battle or a mail. II
the successful discharge of the duties assigned
me I was effectively assisted by detailed sol
diers, few of whose names 1 remember an6
take pleasure in appointing, viz: w. o. Lud
low, Charles Albright, Charles DELPHI, Loui:
WykoG, Ed. AbdilI George *. Steele, Thoma:
Holmes Hud. Higbee, James Rawlins, William
Burke, Jerry LOuusberry, John Simpson, -
EaSterbrook, and many others
was appointed Lieutenant in the Goth III
on the 1st of October, 1862; promoted to Capt
ain and Aid-de- Camp to Gen. Grant March II
1863, and remained in charge of military mail:
for the Army of the Tennessee until Gen
Grant was promoted to the command Of all thu
armies.