Omaha daily bee., 1897-03-13
CAMPAIGNING with GRANT
The Critics Of the Great Captains Policy Of
Hammering the Enemy.
PAPER BULLETS WERE NOT EFFECTIVE
RecolIections of tho Battle of Cold
Harbor - Drumming n Corrc-
spondent Ont of Camp
Anecdotes.

Will uidutf hOW IuHtllib III IL Nv .
deals with the battle of Cold Hurbor in the
March issue. General Porter says: r
There were critics who were severe In
their condemnation OF what Grant called
"hammering'' and Sherman called pound
ing but they we're found principally among
the stay-at-homes, and especially the men
who sympathized with the enemy. A SOL
der said one night, when reading by a camp
fire an account of a call issued by a dis
loyal newspaper at home for al public meet
ing to protest against the continued blood
shed in this campaign: who's shedding
this blood, anyhow? They better wait till
we fellows down here at the front hollo,
Enough" The soldiers were as anxious
as their commander to fight the war to a
finish, and be allowed to return to their
families and their business.
Grant could have effectually stopped the
carnage at any time by withholding from
battle. He could have avoided all blood
shed by remaining north of the Rapidan, in
trenching, and not moving against his enemy;
but he was not placed in command OF the
armies for that purpose. 1t had been
demonstrated by more than three years OF
campaigning that peace could be secured
only by whipping and destroying the enemy.
Nc one was more DESTROYS of peace; no one
wac BopSNGSCu vi Il hNoih IN -
every form of human suffering than the
commander; but he realized that paper bull
lets are not effective In war1are; he knew
better than to attempt to hew rocks with a
razor; and he felt that in campaigning the
hardest blows bring the quickest relief. He
was aware that in Wellington's armies the
annual loss from disease was 113 out of 1000;
in our Mexican war, 1852; and in the Crimea,
600; and that In the campaigns thus FAR In
our own war more men had died from sick
ness while lying in camp than from shot and
shell in battle. He could not select his
ground for fighting in this continuous siege
Of fortified lines; for. though he and his
chief officers applied all their experience and
skill in endeavors to maneuver the enemy
out of strong positions before attacking him,
his foe was often too able and willy to fall
into the traps set for him, and had to be
struck in positions which were far from
Grants choosing. When Lee stopped fight
ing the cause Of secession was lost. If Grant
had stopped fighting the cause OF the union
would have been lost. He was assigned one
of the most appalling tasks ever Iintrusted
to a commander. He did his duty fear
lessly to the bitter end, and triumphed. In
thirteen months after Lincoln handed him
his commission of lieutenant general, and
intrusted to him the command of the armies,
the war was virtually ended.
SUFFERING AT THE FRONT.
Referring to the battle Of Cold Harbor,
General Porter says.
The general-in-chief realized that he was
in a swampy and sickly portion of the coun-
try. The malaria was highly productive OF
disease, and the Chickahominy fever was
dreaded by the troops who had a %recollec-
ton of its ravages when they campaigned
in that section. of the country two years
before. The operations had been so active
that precautions against sickness had neces-
sarily been much neglected, and the general
was anxious, while giving the men some
rest, to improve the sanitary condition. by,
dint of extraordinary exertions the camps
were we'll policed, and large quantities OK
fresh vegetables were brought forward and
distributed. Cattle were received in much
better condition than those which had made
long marches and had furnished beef which
was far from being wholesome. Greater
attention was demanded in the cooking OF
the food and the procuring of better water.
Dead animals and offal were buried, and
more stringent sanitary regulations were
enforced throughout the entire command.
What was most distressing at this time
was the condition of affairs at the extreme
front. No one who did not witness the
sights on those portions of the line where the
opposing trcoDs were i'll exceptionally close
contact can form an idea of the sufferings eX-
perienced. Staff officers used to work their
way ON foot daily to the advanced points, so
as to be able to report with accuracy these
narrowing scenes. Some of the sights were
not unlike those OF the bloody angle at
Spotsylvania. Between the lines where the
heavy assaults had been made there was in
some places a distance of thirty or fcrty
yards completely covered by the dead ana
wounded OF both sides. The bodies of the
dead were fostering in the sun, while tie
wounded were dying a torturing death from
starvation, thirst and loss of blood. In
some places the stencil became slcka1ing.
Every attempt to make a change In the
picket line brought on heavy firing, as both
sides had become nervous from long watch
iulness, and the slightest movement on either
front led to the belief that it vas the begin
ming of an assault. In the night there was
often heavy artillery firing, sometimes accom-
panied by musketry, with a view to deterring
the other side from attacking, or occasioned
false rumors Of an attempt to assault. The
men on the advanced lines had to lie close
to the ground in narrow trenches, with little
water for drinking purposes, except that OBJ
tanned from surface drainage. They were
subjected to the broiling heat by day and
the chilling winds and fogs at night, and had
to eat the rations that could be got to them
under the greatest imaginable discomfort.
DRUMMED OUT OF CAMP.
General Meade had been u~ntiring in his
efforts during this e~ventful week. He was
General Grants senior by seven years, was
older than any of the corps commanders,
and was naturally of an eXcitable tempera-
ment, and with the continue. annoyances to
which he was subjected he not infrequently
became quite irritable. He was greatly dis
turbed at this time by some newspaper re-
ports stating that on the second night of the
battle of the Wilderness he had advised a
retreat across the Rapidan; and in talking
this matter over with General Grant, his
indignation became so great that his wrath
knew no bounds. He said that the rumor
had been circulated throughout the press,
and would be believed by many Of the peo-
pie, and perhaps by the authorities In Wash
ington. Mr.. Dana, the assistant secretary of
war, who was still with the army, was pres
ent at the interview, and he and General
Grant tried to console Meade by assurances
that the story would not be credited. and
that they would give a broad contradiction
to il. Mr.. Dana at once sent a dispatch to
the secretary OF war, abiding to the rumor,
and saving: This is entirely untrue. He
has not shown any weakness of the sort
since moving from Culpeper, nor once In
tlmated a doubt as to the successful issue
of the campaign"
The secretary replied the next day June
1Ol. saying. "Please say to General Meade
that the lying report alluded to in your tele-
gram was not even for a moment believed
by the president or myself. We have the
most perfect confidence In him.. He could
not wish a more exalted estimation OF his
ability, his irmness, and every quality OF o
commanding general than is entertained for
him." The newspaper correspondent who
had been the author OF this SANDER was
seized and placed on a horse, with large
IL. hWnnaf anA hnnK