Headquarters 2d Division,
James Island, June 17th, 1862.
My dear Uncle:
I write to impose a solemn duty upon you, which involves the
lives of thousands of brave men.
Brig.-Gen. Benham is a native of the State of Conn., and I
understand it is to his native state he owes his present position. There is
only one way for the State to atone for so fatal a blunder — only one way to
wipe out the obloquy the State deserves at putting such a man in power — and
that is to give its weight to his immediate removal. Let there be no mercy
shown to one who shows no mercy. He must be crushed at once, or we are all
lost, and even as it is, God only knows whether his folly may not involve us in
destruction before any action can be taken. I will not enumerate half the
examples of imbecility he has shown, or the wickedness of which he has been
guilty. The last act is too real. His folly has culminated in one damning
enterprise which must make him eternally infamous.
You will learn from the steamer conveying this, of the
shocking battle of the 16th. There will be a struggle to suppress the truth, to
call fair names, and to shift the responsibility, but the blood of the murdered
men cries out for vengeance. This is no rhetoric. It is solemn truth. The
ill-fated enterprise to this island has been characterized by the grossest
mismanagement, and the men — poor dumb creatures — have had to suffer
privation, exposure, and death, where no excuse can be pleaded in extenuation.
On the night of the 15th, Genl. Benham assembled his
officers in council. Generals Wright, Stevens and Williams were present. He
unfolded to them his plan of taking the Enemy's Battery by storm. It was in
vain that the other officers entered their earnest protest against a needless
work of slaughter. It was useless to suggest that his object could be effected
in other ways. His decree was absolute that the work must be stormed in front —
and for what? Because visions of another Donelson or Newberne had smothered in
his breast every sentiment of mercy. A success would be but little gain to the
country, but the eclat might make Benham a Major-General. Men might die
to win a needless victory, could only his foolish vanity be gratified.
His orders were obeyed, and the next morning's work attests
their folly. But even then all might not have been lost, had not his conduct in
the field been marked by weakness, vacillation, and imbecility.
When the action was over, Genl. Benham tried to say that it
was only a reconnoissance. If this be so, then let us have a General in
command, who can reconnoitre without the sacrifice of an eighth of the force
engaged. 700 killed, wounded, and missing! Let the dead who died nobly have a
voice, I say. Let the wounded lying on their beds of pain, plead their sufferings.
Let those who lie in the prison houses of the enemy cry all shame, shame to a
General who makes such a reconnoissance! We are growing weary of patriotism.
We, who would have liked to have died to show our love to our country, begin to
sicken at the thought our country loves us so little, as to leave our fate to
the control of a man, already branded . . . It is as true as Holy Writ, that our bravest
men will never fight again with Benham in command.
Don't be deceived by printed reports of what took place on
the 16th. It was a terribly disastrous affair, and remember the author of it.
I wish the public safety would allow me to publish to all
what I write you. I do not fear the consequences if it be shown boldly to
Benham himself. But I beg of you to do what you can in this matter. Press it
with Governor Buckingham. Get Dr. Grant to help you. Let the influential men
help you, and for God's sake act quick, or the army here is sacrificed,
and we will begin to investigate too late.
I remain,
Affec'y. but sadly,
Your nephew,
W. T. Lusk,
Capt. & A. D. C.
SOURCE: William Chittenden Lusk, Editor, War Letters
of William Thompson Lusk, p. 153-5
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