The National tribune., 1896-04-23

to transport his army by sea to Virgini;
Was Sherman's army needed to hel
draw the sting from Lees forces? But o
the 9th Grant assented to Sherman
march through the Carolinas to Vii
ginia, and at the same time says:
have thought that Hood being so com
pletely wiped out for present harm,
might bring Gen. A, j. Smith here witt
$4,000 to 5000 men. With this increas
| can hold my lines and move out with
greater force than Lee. 1t would com
pei Lee to retain all his present force
in the defenses at Richmond, or abandon
them entirely"
On the 21st of January Grant hat
written letter to Sherman sharply cen
suring Thomas for lack of vigor in tn
pursuit of Hoods army, and also for hi
unwillingness to advance into Alabama
He says:
Before your last request to have
Thomas make campaign into the hear
of Alabama, | had ordered Schoield t.
Annapolis, Nd, with his corps The ad
vance 10000 will reach the seaboard by
the 23d. was induced to do this be
cause | did not believe that Thomas
could possibly be gotten off before
Spring. His pursuit of Hood indicated
sluggishness that satisfied me he would
never do to conduct one of your cam
paigns The command of the pursuit OF
Hood was left to subordinates. When
Hood crossed the Tennessee Thomas had
not much more than half crossed the
State, from which he returned to Nash
vile to take boat to Eastport, Miss. He
is possessed with excellent judgment and
great
GOODNESS AND HONESTY,
but is not good upon pursuit. He
also reported his troops tagged out, and
that it would be necessary to equip up.
This report, and the determination to
give the enemy no rest, determined me
to use his surplus troops elsewhere.
"Thomas is left with sufficient force
(surplus) to go to Selma under an ener-
getic leader. He has been telegraphed
to know whether he could go, and if
so, which of several routes he would
select No reply is yet received. Cav
airy has been ordered TO act Extensively
from the seacoast to the interior toward
Montgomery and Selma. Thomas's
force will move from the north at an
early day, or some Of his troops will be
sent to Canby."
The foregoing clippings from tele-
grams and letters from Grant and Hal
leck speak for themselves. That Gen.
Thomas, 600 miles away, would not be
entirely governed by either Grant or
Halleck, and commence campaign
against Hood until he was sure of sue
cess, was not pleasant to either of them,
and they resorted to a perfect system of
nagging, as has been shown. The War
Department at Washington, through
Secretary Stanton, emphatically denied
being in sympathy with either Grant or
Halleck s action towards Thomas Again,
Grant complains that Thomas should
have completely annihilated Hood'sarmy
at Franklin. Schofeld was in command
at Franklin, and he says that he could
not hold his position after IL o'clock p.
m.
Schofeld was at this time carrying on
a letter correspondence with Grant, and
Thatcher, in his book of Hundred
Battles" says that in this correspond
ence Schofeld says that he first saw
Gen. Wilson at Franklin Nov. 80, 1864.
Gen. Cox says distinctly that Wilson
joined Schofeld at Columbia, and as
sumed command of the cavalry forces
that were being slowly reinforced also,
that he was joined by Gen Ruger and
a brigade of the Twenty-third Corps
that had been left at Johnsonville, and
that Wilson had orders to operate on
Schofeld's left flank, covering the Lew
isburg and Shelbyville roads, as well as
watching the fords and crossing of Duck
River above Columbia. Sehofeld
reached Columbia with the Fourth
Corps on the morning Of the Oath, and
was there
JOINED BY WILSON.
During the Oath, Schofeld became
alarmed, and took up a new and ehorter
ine at Columbia. Wilson notified Scho-
ield that Forrest was trying the differ
mt fords along Duck River east of CO.
umbia, and on the night of the 9th
moved his whole command to the north
ide.
Gen. Schofeld, in his report of the |
,attle of Nashville, says: "During the |
therefore, our operations were |
limited to preparations for defense and
cooperation with the cavalry, which was
operating to strike the Granny White
like in the rear of the enemy. About
loon, the troops on my left, Gems. Smith
md Wood, having advanced and come
n contact with the enemy i'll his new
position, the enemy again withdrew from
lis left a considerable force to strengthen
lis right and center.
" / ordered Gen. Cox to advance in
with the cavalry, and en-
leavor to carry high wooded hill be-
'ond the flank of the enemy's intrenched
Inc, and overlooking the Granny White
like. The hill was occupied by the