MANSFIELD, OHIO, May 2,
1865.
My Dear Brother:
Since my return home I have been constantly and often
painfully engaged. I spoke at a general jubilee at Columbus on the day of Mr.
Lincoln's assassination. This tragic event suspended business, and cast a
general gloom over all things. . . .
The universal topic of conversation and of discussion in the
newspapers was your arrangement with Johnston, and it is fair to say it was
generally disapproved. The stipulation to secure to the rebels their property
was construed to mean slaves, — an impossible condition after we had induced
them to enter our service by promise of freedom. It was felt also that to give
them the benefit of their state organizations with all their political power
would be unjust to those who have been friendly to us, especially in the border
States, and would inevitably lead to a renewal of the war. But while the
arrangement was disapproved, the manner in which Stanton and Halleck treated
it, and especially the gross and damnable perversions of many of the papers and
their arraignment of your motives, was more severely condemned than your
arrangement. The conduct of Grant is deserving of the highest praise. I shall
always feel grateful to him. What you were reported to have said about the
effect of a single mistake proved literally true. For a time, you lost all the
popularity gained by your achievements. But now the reaction has commenced, and
you find some defenders, but many more to denounce the base and malicious
conduct of a gang of envious scamps, who seized upon this matter as a pretext
for calumny. What to make of Stanton, I don't know. I was beyond measure
surprised at his conduct. He telegraphs me that he has written me in full. I
still think he only gave away to passion, and not to envy or malice. If you
have time, I hope to have some explanation from you. I suppose the war is about
over, and you will, I trust, come to Ohio.
Affectionately,
JOHN SHERMAN.
SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The
Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837
to 1891, p. 248-9
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