The National tribune., 1909-06-10

"&AAoI11NJ1 1OAp - c
Memoirs" is far from satisfactory or
convincing. He SAYS:
But it first became necessary to set
tie the important question OF WHO
should succeed Gen. McPherson. Gen.
Logan had taken command OF the army
/ of the Tcnnesxep b,.yirtue of his senior
| fty, and had 4fonsssvell; but did not
consider hinf<equaL to the command
of three corp&5 Hs&Seen him and Gen.
Blair there Rssfa4 a natural rivalry.
Both were men offsgreat courage and
| talent. but were btsliticians by nature
| and experieucp anil IL may be that for
| this reason Nov 3r{ere uIiStrusted by
Regular ArmH off3DeFs Ike Gems. Scho-
field, Thomas< d nd 5fnyself. 1t was all
important tha theiS should exist per-
tfect understandings among the army
commanders, and at d conference with
Gen. George H Thomas at the head
quarters Of Gen Thomas j. Woods,
| commanding division in the Fourth
Corps; he (Thomas)- demonstrated
warmly against my recommending that
Gen. Logan should be regularly as
| signed to the command of the Army of
the Tennessee by. reason or his acc1-
dental seniority.St We discussed fully
| TIE merits and qualities of every Off
Ger of high rank in the army, and final
SClticu upou O' " AAo
| as the best officer who was present and
available for the purpose. On July "a
telegraphed to Ger. Halleck this pref
erence, and II was promptly ratified by
the President. Gen. Howard's place IN
command OF the Fourth Corps was
filled by Gen.. Stanley. one of his divi-
sion commanders. on the recommenda-
ton of Gen. Thomas. ALI these pro-
motions happened tn fall upon West
Pointers, and doubtless Logan and
Blair had some reason to believe that
we intended to moncpolize the higher
honors of the war for the Regular OFF,
GERS. remember we'll my own thoughts
and feelings at tine time. and feel sure
that was not Intentionally partial to
any class. I wanted to succeed in TAX
ing Atlanta. and Eeeded commanders
who were purely and technically SOL
diers, men who would obey orders and
execute them promptly and on time;
for knew that we would have to exc
cute some most delicate manuvers, re-
quirins the utmost skill. nicely and pre-
cision. 1 believed that Gen. Howard
would do all this faithfully and well,
and 1 think the result has justified my
choice. 1 regarded both Gems. Logan
and Blair as volunteers that looked
to personal fame and glory as auxiliary
and secondary to their political au1bi-
ton, and not as professional soldiers"
Fails to Convince.
Somehow, this statement of Sher-
mans fails to carry conviction. 1t is
true that there had been much friction
between Gems. Thomas and Logan. Gen.
Thomas had been so long in command
Of parts or the whole of the Army of
the Cumberland that he naturally came
TO regard the territory in which it op-
Grated, including Chattanooga, Nash
Vile and Louisville, with the railroads
connecting them, as the exclusive prop
erty of his own army. It had fought
for those cities and railroads, it was
charged with their defense, and the
control and management of the terri
tory had been systematized by Gems. |
Rosecrans and Thomas. Logan was
imperious by nature, and when he
brought the Fifteenth Corps into Gen.
Thomas's territory he naturally wanted |
it to have the hest .aof everything and |
was quite Impatient of Thomas's regu-i
latfens and system for giving the best |
to the Army of the Cumberland And |
so a strong friction had developed be-
tween the two commanders, but it |
hardly seems credible that Thomas |
would have shown 50 much resentment |
as to object to Logan's deserved pro-
motion to the command of the Army |
of the Tennessee.
Nor is it any more convincing what |
Gen. Sherman says about having as his
subordinates technical soldiers, who
would obey orders and execute them |
promptly and exactly. Sherman and |
Grant had never found Logan remissl in |
the execution of orders: but, on the |
contrary. he had shown himself the |
most obedIent, as well as the most |
Jealous of the division commanders be
fore Vicksburg. As a corps commander
on the Atlanta campaign he had scored
more decided successes than any other.
II.
pieion that. the West Pointers were
fighting L0gan's growing too fast.
The Resignation of Hooker.
AS soon as it was known that Gen.
had been assigned to the, COM
mand of the Army of the Tennessee,
Gen. Hooker applied to Gen. Thomas
to be relieved from command of the
Twentieth Corps. Hooker had not got
ten on at all we'll with either his subor-
dinates or his superiors. He claimed to
outrank every one in the army except
Gems. Thomas and Sherman. and he
goaded Gems. Mcpherson and Schofield
by his assertion that IL they came upon
the field of battle together he should
assume command by virtue of his sem
iority- He had not been at all subor-
dfnate to Gen. Thomas, nor disposed to
carry out his orders as they should
have been, giving Thomas great deal
OF trouble at times Dy MS errat1c move
ments, and Thomas was quite willing
TO relieve him from his command, and
accepted his request, forward
ing 1t to Gen. Sherman with a strong
approval of its acceptance
: Gen. Slocum, commanding the
Twelfth Corps, had refused to serve
under Hooker, and had been put in
command at Vicksburg As soon as
Rockers resignation was accepted Slo-
cum was teIegraphed to come on and
take command of the corps, and Sher-
man and Thomas felt that a good ex-
change had been made. Sherman says
that Hooker felt that both he and
Thomas were jealous of him, which
was not the case, and Sherman was
convinced that Hooker went to the rear
from purely personal reasons. Hooker
thought that the campaign was likely F.,
to be a failure, and wanted to leave in
time to have it said that the failure
his retirement. The army was
then 250 miles from its base, depending
upon the single line of railroad for
supplies, with bold, determined. vigf-
lant enemy in front, and the chances
quite favorable for an overwhelming
disaster. Sherman says that it was
to him that Hooker, on reach
ing Cincinnati, said openly that the
army had run up against rock, and