The National tribune., 1905-11-23

ceived news in Washington that arrest
ed his further progress west. In each
case the orders were held I'm allegiance,
as advices came from Thomas in ex-
PLANTATION Of his delay.
The Impatient Authorities.
To make this condition more appar-
ent, and also to disclose the great i'm
portance Of the situation as IL impressed
| the Government and the country at the
| time, / here quote some of the more
| important dispatches that passed be-
| tween Washington, City Point and
Nashville bearing upon this phase Of
the situation:
Washington, Dec. ., 1854.
| "Lieut.-Gen. Grant City Point:
THE President feels solicitous about
| the disposition or Thomas to lie in
| Notifications for an indefinite period.
until Wilson gets his equipments This
Hooks like the Mcclellan and Rosecrans
| strategy of do nothing and let the enc
my raid the country The President
wishes you TO consider the matter.
Edwin NJ. Stanton, Secretary of War"
city Point, Va. Dec. .. 1864.
"Maj.-Gen. Geo. II. Thomas, Nashville:
IF Hood is permitted 10 remain
quietly about Nashville we will lose all
the roads back to Chattanooga and pos
sibly have to abandon the line of the
Tennessee River. Should he attack you
it is all well, but if he does not you
should attack him before he fortifies
u. s. Grant, Lieutenant-General.'
"City Point, Va, Dec . 1864.
"Maj.-Gen. Geo. II. Thomas, Nashville:
After the repulse Of Hood at Frank
lin, 1t looks to me that instead Of fall
ing back to Nashville, we should have
n kar off ofr
but at this distance may err as to the
method Of dealing with the enemy. You
Will suffer fncalculable injury upon your
railroads If Hood is not speedily dis
posed OF. Put forth, therefore, every
possible exertion TO attain this end.
Should you get him to retreating, give
him no peace.
~. s. Grant, Lieutenant-Gen
Nashville, Tenn, Dec. 2, 1864.
Gen. U. S. Grant, City Point, Va:
Your two kilograms Of IL a. m. and
1850 p. m. to-day received At the
time Hood was whipped at Franklin I
had at this place but about 5000 men
Of Gen. Smiths command, which, added
to the force under Gen. Schofield, would
not have given me more than $4,000
men. Besides, Gen. Schofeld felt con-
vinced that he could not hold the ene-
my at Franklin until the 5000 could
reach him. AS Gen. Wilson's cavalry
force numbered only about one-fourth
that OF Forrest, thought ii best to
draw the troops back to Nashville and
await the arrival Of the remainder Of
Gen. Smiths force, and also a force Of
about 5000 commanded by Gen. Steed-
man, which / ordered up from Chatta-
nooga. The division OF Gen. Smith arr
rived yesterday morning. and Gen.
Steedman's troops arrived last night.
I have infantry enough to assume the
offensive II I had more cavalry, and
Will take the field anyhow as soon as
the remainder of Gen. McCook's Divi-
sion OF Cavalry reaches here, which
hope 1t will I'm two or three days. We
can neither get reinforcements nor
equipments at this great distance from
the North very easily, and it must be
remembered that my command was
made up Of the two weakest corps of
Gen. Sherman's army, and all the dis
mounted cavalry except one brigade:
and the task Of reorganizing and equip-
ping has met with many delays, which
have enabled Hood to take advantage
OF my crippled condition. earnestly
hope, however, In a few days more
shall be able to give him a fight.
Geo. III. Thomas, Major-General Conn
manding."
"City Point, Va, Dec 6, 1864.
Maj Geo. II. Thomas, Nashville:
Attack Hood at once and wait no
AoHSCA AoI yOuT cavalry. 1nGT0 Is great
danger in delay resulting in campaign
back to the Ohio.
~. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General."
Nashville Dec s, 1864
Lieut.-Gen. Z. S. Grant, City Point:
Your dispatch of p. m. this day
received. I will make the necessary
and attack Hood at once,
agreeably to your orders, though I be-
lieve it will be hazardous with the small
force of cavalry now at my service
Geo. II. Thomas, Major General Conn
manding."
Washington, Dec. z, 1864.
"Lieut.-Gen. Grant:
Thomas seems unwilling to attack
because it is hazardous, as if all war
was anything but hazardous. II he
waits for Wilson to get ready Gabriel
will be blowing his last horn
Edwin NJ. Stanton"
"City Point, Va, Dec. s, 1864
Maj Gen. Halleck, Washington:
please direct Gen. Dodge to send all
the troops he can spare to Gen Thomas