The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-07-27

/
panion, but heavy, jovial and lazy,
| might write another letter on the stan OFF,
GERS and staff organization OF Grants Amy,
should you desire it :, Yours faithfully.
G. A. DANA.
CAIRO. H.. July 10. 1868.
DEAR Sir: In my letter OF yesterday acci-
| deutally omitted to notice Gen. @. c. Washburn
among the Generals OF division In Grants
army 1t is true he has never commanded a
division nor. 80 far as am aware. brigade
| either having generally been employed In COM
mand OF expeditions, detaohments. and scat
| tered bodies OF cavalry lie is now In com
| mand OF two OF the divisions detached from the
Sixteenth Army Corps, namely that OF Kimbal
| and that Of w. y. Smith: and. rs l happen to
know, is anxious to be put in command
OF an army corps, for which purpose It
has been suggested that q new CORPS
might be created out Of those two divisions,
| with the addition OF that OF Lauman, also de-
tached from the Sixteenth. or that Of Heron.
| But understand from Gen. Grant that he Is
not favorable to any such arrangement Wash
burn being ono OF the very youngest in rank Of
his Major Generals, no intends to put him In
command OF a single division as soon Us posi-
BILE. in order that he may prove his fitness Tor
| higher commands by actual service md give
| no occasion for older soldiers to complain that
he is promoted without regard to his merits
know Washburn very we'll, both rs poll
tician and ms military man. and say frankly
| that he has better qualities for the latter than
| for the former function. He Is brave steady
| respectable; receives suggestions and weighs
them carefully: is not above being advised
but acts with independence nevertheless His
| judgment Is good, nnd his vigilance sufficient.
have not seen him in battle, however. and
| l. l. II IL. 4 Al,
don't find in him. l am sorry to say. that ef
fort to learn the military art which every COM
mander ought to exhibit no matter whether
he has received q military education or not.
Washburn's whole soul Is not put into the
business OF arms, and for mo that is an unpar-
donable defect But he is a good man. and
above the average OF our generals, at least
Of those In Grants command.
l now come to the stan organization and
staff officers OF this army, beginning. of course.
with those connected with the head OF the de-
pRrtment Grants stat Is q curious mixture
Of good, bad. and Indifferent AS he is neither
an organizer nor q disciplinarian himself, his
stan Is naturally a mosaic OF accidental ele-
monts and family friends. II contains four
workingmen, two who nre able to accomplish
their duties without much work. and several
who either don't think Of work or who accom-
Lieut-Col. Raw!ns. Grants Assistant AdIu-
tant. General is very Industrious. conscien-
tious man. who never loses O moment. and
never gives himself any indulgence except
swearing and scoding. He is q lawyer by pro-
fession. q townsman of Granite, and has o
great influence over him. especially because
he watches him day and night, and whenever
he commits the folly OF tasting liquor. hastens
to remind him that at the beginning Of the war
he gave him tRawlinsl his word Of honor not
to touch drop as long as it lasted. Grant
thinks RawIns a frst-rate AdJutant, but
| think this is a mistake. He Is TOO slow. and
can't write the English language correctly
without a great deal Of careful consideration.
Indeed. illiterateness is general characters
tic OF Grants staff, and. in fact. of Grants gen.
erals and regimental officers OF al ranks.
Major Bowers. Judge Advocate of Grants
stall is an excellent mau. and always finds
work to do. Lieut. Col. Wilson. Inspector
General is a person OF similar disposition.
He Is o Captain OF engineers in the regular
army. and has rendered valuable services In
that capacity. The Qualifications OF Hainess
Bluff were designed by him and executed
under his direction. His leading idea Is The
idea OF duty. and he applies 1t vigorously and
often impatientlY to others. In consequence
he is unpopular among all who like to live with
little work. But he has remarkable talents
and uncommon executive power. and will DO
heard from hereafter.
The Quartermaster's department Is under
charge Of Lieut.. Bingham. who is one OF
those spoke OF as accomplishing much with
little work. he is an invalid almost. and l
have never seen him when he appeared to be
perfectly well; but he is n man of frst-rate
abilities and solid character. and barring
physical weakness mp to even greater respon-
sibilities than those he now bears.
The Chief Commissary. Lieut.-C Col. Macfeely,
Is Jolly. agreeable fellow. who never sOems to
be at work, but l have hoard no complaint OF
deficiencies in his department On the con-
trary, it seems to be ono OF the most ett'ca-
cious parts OF this great machine.
Lieut. Col Kent, Provost Marshal General, is
q very Industrious and sensible man. a great
improvement on his predecessor. Col Hilyer.
who was a family and personal friend Of
Grants.
There are two aides de-camp with the rank
OF Colonel. namely, Col. Lagow and Col. RiEgin.
both personal friends Of Grants. Lagow is q
worthless. whiskey- drinking. useless fellow.
Riggin is decent and gentlemanly. but neither
OF them is worth his salt so far as service to
the Government goes. Indeed In all my OBJ
servation. have never discovered the use Of
Grants aides-de-camp at all. On the battle
field he sometimes sends orders by them. but
everywhere else they are Idle loafcrs. l sup
pose the army would be better of II they were
all suppressed. especially tho Colonels.
Grant has three aides with tho rank OF Cap
tain. Cant. Ross is a relative OF Mrs
Grant He has been stage driver,
and violates English grammar at every
phrase. He Is OF some use for he attends
to the mails. Capt. Audenried Is an elegant
young officer OF the regular cavalry. He rides
after the General when no rides out The rest
OF the time no does nothing at all. Capt. Da-
deau. wounded at Port Hudson. since he was
attached to Grants staff. has not yet reported.
must not omit the general medical staff OF
this army tits In bad order. Its head. DR..
Mills. Is impracticable. earnest, Guarrelsome.
He was relieved several weeks since. but Grant
likes him and kept him on till the fall of Vicks-
burg In this he WAS right no doubt, for q
change during the sioGe would have been
troublesome. Tho change, ! presume. will
now be made. 1t must be for the better.
Tho Office OF Chiol Of Artillery on the general
staff had forgotten "a well US that OF Chief
Engineer. The former is occupied by Lieut.
Col Duff OF the Second Illinois Artillery. He Is
nj f., ba 10 he a.