HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
October 24, 1864.
Lieut. Gen. U.S.
GRANT,
Commanding Armies in the Field:
GENERAL: With
extreme reluctance I find myself compelled to call your attention to the
following extract from an article published in the New York Independent of
October 13, 1864:
He
is the general (myself) * * * who, in the campaign from the Rapidan to the
James under Grant, annulled the genius of his chief by his own executive
incapacity; who lost the prize of Petersburg by martinet delay on the south
bank of the James; who lost it again in succeeding contests by tactical
incompetence; who lost it again by inconceivable follies of military
administration when the mine was exploded; who insulted his corps commanders
and his army by attributing to them that inability to co-operate with each
other which was traceable solely to the unmilitary slovenliness of their
general; who, in a word, holds his place by virtue of no personal
qualifications, but in deference to a presumed, fictitious, perverted political
necessity, and who hangs upon the neck of General Grant like an old man of the
sea, whom he longs to be rid of, and whom he retains solely in deference to the
weak complaisance of his constitutional commander-in-chief. Be other voices
muzzled, if they must be, ours, at least, shall speak out on this question of
enforced military subservience to political, to partisan, to personal
requisitions. We, at least, if no others, may declare in the name of a wronged,
baffled, indignant army, that its nominal commander is unfit, or unwilling, or
incapable to lead it to victory, and we ask that General Grant's hands may be
strengthened by the removal of Meade.
It is not necessary
to inquire or surmise what source inspired the foregoing grave bill of
indictment, nor would I trouble you in regard to this matter, if this was the
first or only instance in which I had cause to complain of misrepresentation,
but you are aware that ever since I have had the honor to serve under your
immediate direction I have been held responsible for all the acts which a
certain portion of the public press have been pleased to designate as failures
or blunders. Indeed, the extract now quoted is an admirable summary of the
various charges which from time to time have been brought against me. Now these
charges are either true or false; in either case the public and those who are
near and dear to me are entitled to know the facts. In the absence of any
published official reports or any official records, to which I can refer, I
feel justified in appealing to you and asking as a matter of justice and a
simple concession to truth that you will furnish me with such evidence as will
place it in my power to correct the extraordinary misapprehension into which
the editor of the New York Independent appears to have been led through some
malign influence, the origin of which I am utterly unable to account for.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
GEO.
G. MEADE,
Major-General,
Commanding.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 42,
Part 3 (Serial No. 89), pages 316-7
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