Headquarters Army Of The Potomac, 9 P. M., June 9,
1864.
I fully enter into all your feelings of annoyance at the
manner in which I have been treated, but I do not see that I can do anything
but bear patiently till it pleases God to let the truth be known and matters
set right. I have noticed what you say about the Inquirer, but, as you
observe, it is no worse than the other papers. Even Coppée, in the June number of his magazine, shows he,
too, is demoralized, he having a flaming editorial notice of the wonderful
genius of Grant. Now, to tell the truth, the latter has greatly disappointed
me, and since this campaign I really begin to think I am something of a
general.
I don't know whether you saw an article in the Inquirer of
the 2d inst. on me, which the writer intended to be very complimentary.1
At the close of it he refers to an eventful occasion when Grant saved the life
of the nation, when I desired to destroy it. I could not make out what in the
world this meant; but fortunately I found the author, one Edward Cropsey, and
having sent for him, he explained that he had heard that on the night of the
second day's battle of the Wilderness I had urged on General Grant the
withdrawal of the army across the Rapidan, but Grant had firmly resisted all my
intercessions, and thus the country was saved the disgrace of a retreat. I
asked his authority; he said it was the talk of the camp. I told him it was a
base and wicked lie, and that I would make an example of him, which should not
only serve to deter others from committing like offenses, but would give
publicity to his lie and the truth. I accordingly issued an order denouncing
the falsehood, and ordering the offender to be paraded through the lines of the
army with a placard bearing the inscription, "Libeler of the Press,"
and then that he should be put beyond the lines and not allowed to return. This
sentence was duly executed, much to the delight of the whole army, for the race
of newspaper correspondents is universally despised by the soldiers.
General Grant happened to be present when I was making out
the order, and fully approved of it, although he said he knew the offender, and
that his family was a respectable one in Illinois. After the man had been
turned out and the affair had become public, then I learned to my surprise that
this malicious falsehood had been circulated all over the country.
We find Lee's position again too strong for us, and will
have to make another movement, the particulars of which I cannot disclose.
_______________
SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George
Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 202-3
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