WASHINGTON, Oct. 31,
1866.
Dear Brother: I got
your letter, and have this morning answered by telegraph, but wish to write
more fully. When here last winter, I did not call to say good-by to the
President, and wrote him a good letter of apology, enclosing my good wishes for
his success in his professed desire to accomplish in his term of office the
restoration of Civil Government all over our land. When I got in to Riley I
received a despatch from the President, asking leave to publish it. I answered
that he could publish anything I ever wrote if it would do any good, if Mr.
Stanbury would advise it, but desiring, if possible, to avoid any controversy.
On this he did not publish, and I have not made any request in the premises. I
don't believe he will publish it, and I don't care much, for it contains
nothing more than I thought then; viz., in February last, when I got here,
there was a move to send Grant to Mexico with Campbell in an advisory capacity.
Grant could not then be put to one side in that way, and on my arrival I found
out that the President was aiming to get Grant out of the way, and me in, not
only as Secretary of War but to command the army, on the supposition that I
would be more friendly to him than Grant. Grant was willing that I should be
Secretary of War, but I was not. I would not be put in such a category, and
after much pro and con we have settled down that I shall go with Campbell. The
Secretary of the Navy is preparing a steamer for us, and it will be ready next
week at New York, when we will go forth to search for the Governor of Mexico;
not a task at all to my liking, but I cheerfully consented because it removes
at once a crisis. Both Grant and I desire to keep plainly and strictly to our
duty in the Army, and not to be construed as partisans. We must be prepared to
serve every administration as it arises. We recognize Mr. Johnson as the lawful
President, without committing ourselves in the remotest degree to an approval
or disapproval of his specific acts. We recognize the present Congress as the
lawful Congress of the United States, and its laws binding on us and all alike,
and we are most anxious to see, somehow or other, the Supreme Court brought in
to pass on the legal and constitutional differences between the President and
Congress.
We see nothing
objectionable in the proposed amendments to the Constitution, only there ought
to have been some further action on the part of Congress committing it to the
admission of members when the amendments are adopted; also the minor exceptions
to hold office, etc., should be relaxed as the people show an adherence to the
national cause. I feel sure the President is so in the habit of being
controlled by popular majorities that he will yield—save he may argue against
Congress and in favor of his own past-expressed opinions. Congress should not
attempt an impeachment or interference with the current acts of the executive
unless some overt act clearly within the definition of the Constitution be
attempted, of which I see no signs whatever. Some very bad appointments have
been made, but I find here that he was backed by long lists of names that were
Union men in the war. Of course our army cannot be in force everywhere: to
suppress riots in the South, Indians in that vast region, only a part of which
we saw, where whites and Indians both require watching, and the thousand and
one duties that devolve on us. This army can never be used in the political
complications, nothing more than to hold arsenals, depots, etc., against riots,
or to form the nucleus of an army of which Congress must provide the laws for
government and the means of support. Neither the President nor Congress ought
to ask us of the army to manifest any favor or disfavor to any political
measures. We are naturally desirous for harmonious action for peace and
civility. We naturally resist the clamor of temporary popular changes, but as
each administration comes in we must serve its executive and the War Department
with seeming friendship.
I have called on Mr.
Stanton, who received me with all cordiality, and placed at my disposal ample
means to execute my present task with ease and comfort.
I start from here
to-night, and shall reach St. Louis on Friday night, ready to start for New
York as soon as the vessel is ready and as soon as Campbell is ready, say all
next week. . . . I don't know that I can come by, say way of Mansfield, as, you
see, I must move fast, staying every spare minute I can at home. Write me
fully, and let us all pull together and get past this present difficulty; then
all will be well. . .
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