College Point, L. I.,
July 30, 1864.
Hon. S. Foot:
Dear Senator: — I am extremely anxious that my
friends in my native State should not think that the reasons of General Grant
relieving me from duty was brought about by any misconduct of mine, and,
therefore, I write to put you in possession of such facts in the case as I am
aware of, and think will throw light upon the subject.
About the very last of June or the first of July, Generals
Grant and Butler came to my headquarters and shortly after their arrival,
General Grant turned to General Butler, and said: “That drink of whiskey I took
has done me good,” and then directly afterwards asked me for a drink. My
servant opened a bottle for him and he drank of it, when the bottle was corked
up and put away. I was aware at this time that General Grant had within six
months pledged himself to drink nothing intoxicating, but did not feel it would
better matters to decline to give it upon his request in General Butler's
presence.
After the lapse of an hour or less the general asked me for
another drink, which he took. Shortly after his voice showed plainly that the
liquor had affected him and after a little time he left. I went to see him upon
his horse, and as I returned to my tent, I said to a staff officer of mine, who
had witnessed his departure: “General Grant has gone away drunk; General Butler
has seen it and will never fail to use the weapon which has been put into his
hands.” Two or three days after that I applied for a leave of absence for the
benefit of my health, and General Grant sent word to me not to go, if it were
possible to stay, and I replied, in a private note, warranted by our former
relations, a copy of which note I will send you in a few days. The next day the
Assistant Secretary of War (Mr. Dana) came to tell me that he had been sent by
General Grant to say what it becomes necessary to repeat in view of subsequent
events, to wit: That he, General G., had written a letter the day before to ask
that General Butler might be relieved from that department July 2, and I placed
in command of it, giving as a reason that he could not trust General Butler
with the command of troops in the movements about to be made, and saying also
that next to General Sherman he had more confidence in my ability than in that
of any general in the field. The order1 from Washington dated July
7, sent General B. to Fortress Monroe, and placed me in command of the troops,
then under him, and General Grant said he would make the changes necessary to
give me the troops in the field belonging to that department. I had only asked
that I should not be commanded in battle by a man that could not give an order
on the field, and I had recommended General Franklin or General Wright for the
command of the department. I was at the headquarters of General Grant on
Sunday, July 10, and there saw General B., but had no conversation with him.
After General B. had left, I had a confidential conversation with General Grant
about changes he was going to make. In this connection it is proper to state
that our personal relations were of the most friendly character. He had
listened to and acted upon suggestions made by me upon more than one important
occasion. I then thought and still think (whatever General Butler's letter
writers may say to the contrary) that he knew that any suggestion I might make
for his consideration would be dictated solely by an intense desire to put down
this Rebellion, and not from any personal considerations personal to myself,
and that no personal friendships had stood in the way of what I considered my
duty with regard to military management, a course not likely to be pursued by a
man ambitious of advancement. In this confidential conversation with General
Grant, I tried to show him the blunders of the late campaign of the Army of the
Potomac and the terrible waste of life that had resulted from what I considered
a want of generalship in its present commander. Among other instances I
referred to the fearful slaughter at Cold Harbor, on the 3d of June. General
Grant went into the discussion defending General Meade stoutly, but finally
acknowledged, to use his own words, “that there had been a butchery at Cold
Harbor, but that he had said nothing about it because it could do no good.” Not
a word was said as to my right to criticise General Meade then, and I left
without a suspicion that General Grant had taken it in any other way than it
was meant, and I do not think he did misunderstand me.
On my return from a short leave of absence on the 19th of
July, General Grant sent for me, to report to him, and then told me that he “could
not relieve General Butler,” and that as I had so severely criticised General
Meade he had determined to relieve me from the command of the Eighteenth Corps
and order me to New York City to await orders. The next morning the general
gave some other reason, such as an article in the Tribune reflecting on
General Hancock, which I had nothing in the world to do with, and two letters
which I had written before the campaign began to two of General Grant's most
devoted friends, urging upon them to try and prevent him from making the
campaign he had just made. These letters, sent to General Grant's nearest
friends, and intended for his eye, necessarily sprang from an earnest desire to
serve the man upon whom the country had been depending, and these warnings
ought to have been my highest justification in his opinion and, indeed, would
have been, but that it had become necessary to make out a case against me. All
these matters, moreover, were known to the general before he asked that I might
be put in command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, and,
therefore, they formed no excuse for relieving me from the command I held. I
also submit to you that if it had been proven to him that I was unfitted for
the command I then held, that that in no wise changed the case with reference
to General Butler and his incompetency, and did not furnish a reason why he
should not go where the President had ordered him at the request of General
Grant, and that as General Grant did immediately after an interview with
General Butler suspend the order and announce his intention of relieving me
from duty there, other reasons must be sought, different from any assigned, for
this sudden change of views and action. Since I have been in New York, I have
heard from two different sources (one being from General Grant's headquarters
and one a staff officer of a general on intimate official relations with
General Butler) that General Butler went to General Grant and threatened to
expose his intoxication if the order was not revoked. I also learned that
General Butler had threatened to make public something that would prevent the
President's re-election. General Grant told me (when I asked him about General
Butler's threat of crushing me) that he had heard that General Butler had made
some threat with reference to the Chicago convention, which he (Butler) said “he
had in his breeches pocket,” but General Grant was not clear in expressing what
the threat was. I refer to this simply because I feel convinced that the change
was not made for any of the reasons that have been assigned, and whether General
Butler has threatened General Grant with his opposition to Mr. Lincoln at the
coming election, or has appealed to any political aspirations which General
Grant may entertain, I do not know, but one thing is certain, I was not guilty
of any acts of insubordination between my appointment and my suspension, for I
was absent all those days on leave of absence from General Grant. I only hope
this long story will not tire you, and that it will convince you that I have
done nothing to deserve a loss of the confidence which was reposed in me.
Yours very truly,
Wm. F. Smith,
Major-General.
P. S. I have not referred to the state of things existing at
headquarters when I left, and to the fact that General Grant was then in the
habit of getting liquor in a surreptitious manner, because it was not relevant
to my case; but if you think at any time the matter may be of importance to the
country I will give it to you. Should you wish to write to me, please address
care of S. E. Lyon, Jauncy Court, 39 Wall Street, N. Y.
Wm. F. S.
_______________
1 This order was approved by the President in General Order
No. 36, adjutant-general’s office, July 28, 1864.
SOURCE: Benjamin F. Butler, Autobiography and Personal
Reminiscences of Major-General Benj. F. Butler, p. 1088-90
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