Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-08
Being Brought Out By the
Proposed Promotion.
COL. MORGAN'S LETTER
In Regard to the Charges That Corbin
Showed C0wardice During Civil
War--Was a Young Soldier at That
Time.

New York, March st. j. Morgan. late
colonel of the Fourteenth United States
colored infantry and brevet brigadier
general U. S. ", has written, an open
letter to the Tribune, with reference to
| Adjt. Gen. Corbin's military record dur
ing the civil war. He states that he is
| prompted to write the letter by the fire.
/ quent mentioning of his name in connec-
| ton with the senate resolution Of inquiry
as to the military record Of General Cor
bin.
Col. Morgan's letter deals principally
with the battle of Nashville. Tenn, Dec.
IA and Is, 1864, during which he was in
command of an improvised division of
white and colored troops. Officers COM
! manding regiments under him included
Lieut.. Col. Charles H. Grosvenor, now
| membe of congress; Col. (now GEM w.
r. Shafter and Lieut.. Col. (now GEM
Corbin. Writing of this battle. Colonel
Morgan says:
"Col. Shafter and Col. Grosvenor ac-
quilted themselves with great credit,
Shafter showing special activity and
courage, and suffering the loss of many of
his men. I was not with Lieut.. Col. Cor
bin, during the fighting. but officers re-
ported to me after the battle was
hi he had betrayed such cowardice as
to excite the ridicu1e of both officers n
men. l spoke to him. about it and he at
once rendered me his resignation. subse-
uuently, however, withdrawing it..
I'm my official report of the battle, l
said that I thought that Lieut.. Col. Cor
bin did not have the courage requisite to
command brave men. Many years after
ward. when the rebellion records We're
about to be published, l was urged to
- ho<~~o tho nrNnr
was published. This I declined to do on
! two grounds-first. because I did not feel
at liberty to alter the records, BELIEVING
that such action on my part and On that
of other officers would not only tend TO
destroy their historical accuracy and val
lie second, because subsequent events
closely connected with my report and my
record would be without proper explana-
ton.
II preferred charges against Lieut.. Col.
Corbin based upon the information I had
received and believed to be correct and
on these charges he was brought to trial
by a court martial which, however. &C
Quilted him.
subsequently he united with others
and preferred charges against me on
which I was brought to trial. The find
ings of the court martial were set aside.
I was given the command of a brigade By
the personal act of Governor Thomas, was
subsequently promoted by the president
as brevet b%rigadier general and was con-
tirrned by the senate. In August, 1865, the
war being over, l left the service. Lieut..
I Col. Corbin became colonel of the regt-
ment and if I mistake not, he has re-
manned continuously in the army from
that day to the present, a period of near
" 35 years.
II regret that any one has seen fit to
bring up this matter for I am of the opin-
j ion tina the Nashville incident ought not
at this time to have weight in determin-
ing the question as to whether the adju-
tant general of the army should be made
major general. Corbin n I We're at that
time both very young volunteer officers
with but little experience in either life Or
service and it seems to me that neither
his act as a soldier or mine as a COM
handing officer ought to be judged by the
severe military standard of the regular
army. I believed at that time that Col.
Corbin had betrayed cowardice, so re-
ported and felt it my duty to court mar
tial him.. But the Judgment Of the court
martial did not sustain me and the Incl
dent should be regarded as closed.
1.-THE question whether the adjutant
general of the army should be a majo,
general is one to be determined by ex-
perts and I do not feel called upon at the
present time to pass n opinion upon it.
My object in writing this communication
is to state facts as they occurred, so as
to remove from the public mind many
misapprehensions and misunderstood
ings."