The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-08
SIDNEY HERBERT'S LETTER.
REFERENCE TO WAR ARTICLE
WRITTEN by JUDGE SPEER.

JeHersOn Davis the First West
Pointer to Receive "A Brigadier
Generals AppOintment-The APP
pOintment, However, Was De-
cIined-SOme Remarks About Tam
many-Gen. Miles and His Troubles.
BnrtOw's Heroic Death on the Bat
tlefieId Confederate Generals
Who Would Meet Mt n Centennial
Roll Call at West POint-Other
Matters of General Interest.
Pine Crest Villa, Maitland, Fla,
June IL am indebted to Capt. NJ. Ed.
Wilson, 1.-The photographer" of Sa-
vannah, for a large photo of the CEN
tennial parade of the Guards Battal-
ion, with the monument of Col w. w.
Gordon in the background. If this
photo is enlarged to the size reported,
not only will it be a fine work of art,
but it will become valuable historical
military picture, one of which all Sa-
vannah can be justly proud.
Judge Emory Speer, the boy soldier"
of Wheeler's Cavalry, has written a
! sketch of his army career, in which
he refers to the bloody battle of Girls
woldville, Ca, and mentions Col Dan
iel Hughes and Dupont Query as be-
ing there with him, and adds: IF l
mistake not, the late Judge Kent Nc
Coy was also there. Yes, Gen. Henry
Kent Mccoy was there, Brig. Gen. c. d.
Anderson of Fort Valley and Brig.
Gen. P. j. Phillips of Marietta. Maj.
Gen. Gustavus w. Smith was in com
mand of these Georgia forces, and 1
think Brig. Gen. Robert Toombs was
then his chief of staff. 1t is creditable
| to the militia, somewhat slightingly
called Joe Browns Pets that they
fought bravely whenever they met the
enemy in battle array.
| 1t will surprise many thousands of
readers to learn that the first grad
uate of West Point to win brigadier
| generals appointment in the regular
army, was Jefferson Davis. This was
on May II, 1S47, after he had so distin-
guished himself in the Mexican war as
colonel of the Mississippi Ri1emen.
! Col. Davis, however declined the COM
mission, and the next graduate to be
| thus honored was Joseph E. Johnston,
who was made quartermaster general,
with the rank of brigadier general, on
June 2S, 1860 OF brevet rank is to be
|
bert Sidney Johnston, who was made
brevet brigadier general on Nov. Is,
| 1857. At that time he was colonel of
the Second Cavalry and Joseph E.
Johnston was lieutenant colonel of the
First Cavalry. George Brinton McClel-
Ian was the first graduate to be made
major general in the regular army, his
commission dating from May IA, 1861.
The sketch of "Tammany Hail." by
! Congressman William Sulzer of New
York in last Sundays Morning News
was quite a startling revelation to me.
l knew Tammany Hail and it's cohorts
fifty years ago, and during the palmy
| days of BOSS" Tweed, Capt. Reynolds
and Hon. Fernando Wood, not to men,
ton less notorious characters. But 1
never imagined that Tammany was of
| patriotic origin, born along with the
| Society of the Cincinnati, the latter an
aristocratic organization of officers of
the Revolution and the former a more
| democratic society of the rank and
file. If such was its origin, and l pre-
sumo it was, all l can say, from fifty
/ years acquaintance with it is that the
| "Tammany Society of the Columbian
| Order has had a wonderful descent.
| If / had been looking for heroes or pa
triots l should not have gone up to the
| top floor of what is now the Sun
| DullQlHS
| the brave and patriotic Revolutionary
soldiers who founded the society, could
| they return to earth again, would fail
| to recognize any feature of the present
organization that might in any way
| remind them of the good old days when
their patriotic fires were lighted in the
wigwam of the Columbian Order.
There seems to be a tempest in
teapot" about Gen. Miles not being al
| lowed to act as Secretary of War ad
interim. He has not shadow of claim
to any such honor. 1t is true that
Mai. Gen. Winfield Scott, U. S. A.,
was an ad interim from July "a, 1850,
to Aug. Is; and Gen. U. S. Grant, from
Aug II, 1867 to Jan. Is, 1861 yet Meth
er of them were assigned to that duty
simply because he was then the COM
manding general. Nearly all the ad
nterims have been cabinet officers, yet
the chief clerk has sometimes been ap-
pointed as in 1909, when John Smith
succeeded Gen. Henry Dearborn, and
in 1917, when George Graham succeed
ed William H. Crawford, of Georgia.
and in 1S41, when Albert NJ. Lea sue
ceeded John Bell. Only on two occa-
sions has the adjutant general of the
army been an ad interim. Col. Samuel
Cooper in 1857 and Col. Lorenzo Thorn
as in 1868. Once, and only once, has
| the Assistant Secretary of War been
an ad interim, and that was Gen. Lewis
A. Grant, in 1891. 1t would seem, Ito
a man up a tree" that naturally all ad
interims would go to the assistant sec
rotary yet only one such case is on
record The Secretary of the Navy, the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney
General, and even the Post
master General have been war
office ad interims. Therefore
no slight is put upon Gen. Miles
in this matter, any more than upon
Gen. Corbin or the Assistant Secretary
of War. The President can put any
one he chooses into the war office as
an ad interim.
In last Sundays Morning News. in
! the sketch of "Col. Francis Stebbins
Barlow" it is stated that there can
! be no doubt that had Col. Barlow sur
vived the battle of Manassas Plains
| he would have been commissioned a
brigadier general" At the time of mis-
death Gen. Barlow was in command
| of a brigade, and ito all intents and
| purposes" he was a brigadier gen.
! eral. l presented his case to ex-Presi-
| dent Davis and ex-Secretary of War i.
| p. Walker and both gave it as their
opinion that he should be placed in
| my Roster of Confederate Generals"
| The confirmation of the Senate, in such
a case, was not needed, as his heroic
death on the field of battle was an all
tow a general for all time to come
Ii n