Friday, February 20, 2015

Brigadier-General John A. Rawlins to Mary Emeline Hurlburt Rawlins, March 23, 1864

Washington, D. C, March 23, 1864.

. . . To-day the General has been in consultation with the Secretary of War and the President. I know of no plans agreed upon by them as to the coming campaign, but suppose all will be left to the General. An order for the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, by breaking up the First and Third Army Corps and attaching the troops composing them to other corps, has been issued by the War Department. With this order I am not wholly pleased. I fear it may be the cause of hard feeling in the corps broken up, for it is but natural that these corps should be proud of their former history, and desire to maintain their organization rather than to be attached to any they have sought to rival in the race of glory. I may be mistaken and I trust I am.

General Grant, Comstock and myself go out to the Army of the Potomac in the morning, and will not return here again, so far as headquarters are concerned. I hope our former success in the West will be with us here. . . .

I send you a paper containing a biographical sketch of General Grant. It was written by a personal friend of mine, Mr. J. N. Morris of Illinois, formerly a member of Congress. He is in favor of the General for the Presidency. So am I, if we win here, but this is confidential. . . .

SOURCE: James H. Wilson, The Life of John A. Rawlins, p. 403-4

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