The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-12


ing ON to the aid of Grant at Rich
mond. II appears that Sherman seizeG
OH this bold proposition and proceed.
ed at once to put It in operation, but
as always with enough indifference t.
insure it's ruin. Sherman was troubled
with the fear that having accomplish
ed all that could be done at Atlanta
he would be ordered with the bull. OF
his forces to Richmond to serve un-
der Grant To avoid this he march
ed his army from the front to fight
the Georgia militia. and waste time
IN a useless march TO the sea, and
the authorities at Richmond found
themselves presented with an eytreor-
binary opening for their move TO the
Ohio"
OF tins move and results, Piatt says:
"Onc has only to read the kilograms
that poured in upon Thomas, to real.
ize that that great man had thrown
upon him for the third time the sal
vation of the Union. To vindicate the
fact I have SO frequently asserted that
of all the military men doing service
for the Government, Thomas alone is
entitled TO the position of first and
foremost, I want nothing more than
those kilograms. They tell their story
in the brief wording of the wire that
see,as to have vibrate6 With fear and
firm this statement. and il Is q most
deplorable one"
And here comes another surprise,
and it will be new TO many. Piatt
writes:
THE Government at Washington
from a sense Of humanity alone, was
hurrying through exchange, as rapidly
as they could be arranged, when
Grant telegraphed Secretary Stanton
hirty
thousand healthy Confederates added
to the armies of the South it would
prove the ruin of Sherman. There
seemed to be more anxiety at head
quarters over Sherman than over
Thomas"
In an assaul. that Sherman ordered,
which was both a bloody and tre-
mendous failure, the General tried TO
explain it away. I'iatt significantly
comments:
Gle should nave led the assault III
person. as that would probably have
resulted i'm placing General Thomas
in command OF the armies, which
would In some degree have compen.
stated for the bloody cost
Through the kindness Of Mr.. Grady,
am permitted to reproduce other
brief opinions and extracts from Gen
cral Piatt. with short comments by
to Lincoln. Piatt writes:
This on page 4S2 is good: while
il seemed cheap philanthropy to
free another mans slave, the fact
was il was not another mans slave.
The unrequited toll Of the slave was
more valuable to the North than to
the South. With our keen'-Till
thieving do as a substitute for keen?
instincts, we Of the free
kaf owl nf no
masters. They made, without saving,
all (sic) that we accumulated CThis
is hard on 'protection.D On page 4So
he says: ~ keen knowledge of hu-
man nature in a jury, more than
knowledge of Law. in his case, had put
our Prcsident-elect at the head of his
profession Same page: He had lit
tie taste for, and less knowledge OF,
literature etc On page 1913 he says,
and let me ask you to compare this
with some stuff ih RooseveItS letter
of acceptance. wherein he makes the
Northern armies fight for Union and
liberty: He well knew that the
North WIS not sg.'ting 10 Hibernate
slaves. nor the South TO preserve
slavery Again, on the same page:
AS I have said, aboiitionism was not
only unpopular when the war broke
cut. but it was detested. Il
driven from the camps Of the Po-
tnuac Army oy the soldiers for sing
ing their abolition songs. and I, re-
member well that for two years near
iy of our service as soldiers We we're
engaged in returning slaves to their
masters, when the poor creatures
sought shelter in our lines.
The interesting work OF the late DR..
Charles l.. c. Minor, Of Richmond,
IL, hoe
peared in q new edition, revised and
enlarged. it contains three times as
much matter rs the first edition. hav-
ing now $50 pages. j have read and
written Of this edition, and it Is well
worth attention.
take from q. Northern publication.
New York Saturday Review" the fol-
lowing concerning the author:
CDR Minor WAS a native Of Virginia.
and an officer in the Confederate
army: later he was professor at the
the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. and
a teacher at the Episcopal High
School, Alexandria. and IN Baltimore"
Dr. Minor was capable, scholarly
and frank. He was a seeker after
truth in the matter Of Lincoln. He
sought for all Ills witnesses but one III
the North. Ia the small volume he
published. lii its trSt eGittoa, lnHl'' lS
only some sixty pages, DIS | recall it.
He cites from some fifty or sixty
Northern writer to let hts readers see
how they regarded "Old Abe"
writer in thu. New York Saturday Re-
view" who believes that Lincoln Mas
great and a high kind of man. says,
however, that sit is equally Wen
known that many wise men and great
on his own side Of the fence did not
always agree with bin On matters OF
policy or methods Of administrations
seward. Chase. Horace Greeley,
even General Grant But he docs not
think that such things. including mui-
titudjuoUs hostile opinions to Lincoln,
amount 10 anything III the sum total
OF his cnaracter---that he was indeed
great. noble, or words to that effect
He calls adverse judgments "lcg"ida-
W. IL the Yankees could only ma
such criticisms Of General Lee among
the biographies Of him from southern
pens, and opinions SO derogatory OF
Lee us those cited against Llncoia pT
scores Of Northern writer's. coming
from tile foremost SoutnronS. iheE
would damn the greatest of Americans
without reprleYc, anG Send MIN 10
..!