Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, July 13, 1864

It is no doubt true that the Rebels have left. I called on General Halleck on a matter of business, and while there, about 11, he had a telegram saying the Rebels passed through Rockville to the northwest about 3 this A.M. They are making, I remarked, for Edwards Ferry and will get off with their plunder if we have no force there to prevent. He said it was by no means certain they would cross at Edwards Ferry. We looked over the map together, and he, like myself, thought it probable they had taken that course. I remarked that they appeared not to have concentrated their force at any one place. Halleck asked by what authority I said that. There was harshness and spite in his tone. I coolly said by my own judgment and the observation of almost any one who had any intelligence on the subject. He said he did not think I had heard so from any military man who knew anything about it. I said no military man or any other had been able to tell me where they were concentrated to the amount of five thousand. Nor have I found any except Halleck, Hitchcock, and a few around the Department express an opinion that there was a large number, or that they were concentrated. They were defiant and insolent, our men were resolute and brave, but the Bureau generals were alarmed and ignorant, and have made themselves and the Administration appear contemptible.

The Rebels, before leaving, burnt the house of Judge Blair, Postmaster-General. This they claimed to have done in retaliation for the destruction of the house of Governor Letcher, — a disgraceful act and a disgraceful precedent. I have no idea that General Hunter or any officer authorized the burning of Letcher's house. It was doubtless done by some miscreants, hangers-on, stragglers, who ought to be punished. But men in authority appear to have had direction in burning Blair's house.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 76

Edwin M. Stanton to Reverend Heman Dyer, May 18, 1862

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.]

WASHINGTON, May 18, 1862.

Rev. HEMAN DYER:

MY DEAR FRIEND: Yours of the 16th is welcomed as an evidence of the continued regard of one whose esteem I have always been anxious to possess. I have been very well aware of the calumnies busily circulated against me in New York and elsewhere respecting my relations to General McClellan, but am compelled, from public considerations, to withhold the proofs that would stamp the falsehood of the accusations and the base motives of the accusers, who belong to two classes:

1st. Plunderers, who have been driven from the Department, where they were gorging millions.

2d. Scheming politicians, whose designs are endangered by an earnest, resolute, uncompromising prosecution of this war, as a war against rebels and traitors.

A brief statement of facts — an official record — which I can make to you confidentially, will be sufficient to satisfy yourself that your confidence in me has not been misplaced.

1. When I entered the Cabinet I was, and for months had been, the sincere and devoted friend of General McClellan, and to support him, and, so far as I might, aid and assist him in bringing the war to a close, was a chief inducement for me to sacrifice my personal happiness to a sense of public duty. I had studied him earnestly, with an anxious desire to discover the military and patriotic virtue that might save the country; and if in any degree disappointed, I hoped on, and waited for time to develop. I went into the Cabinet about the 20th of January. On the 27th, the President made his War Order, No. 1, requiring the Army of the Potomac to move. It is not necessary, or perhaps proper, to state all the causes that led to that order, but it is enough to know that the Government was on the verge of bankruptcy, and, at the rate of expenditure, the armies must move or the Government perish. The 22d of February was the day fixed for movement, and when it arrived there was no more sign of movement on the Potomac than there had been for three months before. Many, very many, earnest conversations I had held with General McClellan, to impress him with the absolute necessity of active operations, or that the Government would fail because of foreign intervention and enormous debt.

Between the 22d of February and the 8th of March, the President had again interfered, and a movement on Winchester and to clear the blockade of the Potomac was promised, commenced, and abandoned. The circumstances cannot at present be revealed.

On the 6th of March, the President again interfered, ordered the Army of the Potomac to be organized into army corps, and that operations should commence immediately.

Two lines of operations were open. First. One moving directly on the enemy by Manassas, and forcing him back on Richmond, beating and destroying him by superior force, and all the time keeping the capital secure by being between it and the enemy. This was the plan favored by the President. Second. The other plan was to transfer the troops by water to some point on the Lower Chesapeake, and thence advance on Richmond. This was General McClellan's plan. The President reluctantly yielded his own views, although they were supported by some of the best military men in the country, and consented that the general should pursue his own plan. But, by a written order, he imposed the special condition that the army should not be moved without leaving a sufficient force in and around Washington to make the capital perfectly secure against all danger, and that the force required should be determined by the judgment of all the commanders of army corps.

In order to enable General McClellan to devote his whole energy to the movement of his own army (which was quite enough to tax the ability of the ablest commander in the world), he was relieved from the charge of the other military departments, it being supposed that their respective commanders were competent to direct the operations in their own departments. To enable General McClellan to transport his force, every means and power of the Government was placed at his disposal and unsparingly used.

When a large part of his force had been transferred to Fortress Monroe, and the whole of it about to go in a few days, information was given to me by various persons that there was great reason to fear that no adequate force had been left to defend the capital in case of a sudden attack; that the enemy might detach a large force, and seize it at a time when it would be impossible for General McClellan to render any assistance. Serious alarm was expressed by many persons, and many warnings given me, which I could not neglect. I ordered a report of the force left to defend Washington. It was reported by the commander to be less than 20,000 raw recruits, with not a single organized brigade! A dash, like that made a short time before at Winchester, would at any time take the capital of the nation. The report of the force left to defend Washington, and the order of the President, were referred to Major-General Hitchcock and Adjutant-General Thomas to report—

1st. Whether the President's orders had been complied with.

2d. Whether the force left to defend this city was sufficient.

They reported in the negative on both points. These reports were submitted to the President, who also consulted General Totten, General Taylor, General Meigs, and General Ripley. They agreed in opinion that the capital was not safe.

The President then, by written order, directed me to retain one of the army corps for the defense of Washington, either Sumner's or McDowell's. As part of Sumner's corps had already embarked, I directed McDowell to remain with his command, and the reasons were approved by the President.

Down to this period there had never been a shadow of difference between General McClellan and myself. It is true that I thought his plan of operations objectionable, as the most expensive, the most hazardous, and most protracted that could have been chosen, but I was not a military man, and, while he was in command, I would not interfere with his plan, and gave him every aid to execute it. But when the case assumed the form it had done by his disregard of the President's order, and by leaving the capital exposed to seizure by the enemy, I was bound to act, even if I had not been required by the specific written order of the President. Will any man question that such was my duty?

When this order was communicated to General McClellan, it of course provoked his wrath, and the wrath of his friends was directed upon me because I was the agent of its execution. If the force had gone forward, as he had designed, I believe that Washington would this day be in the hands of the rebels. Down to this point, moreover, there was never the slightest difference between the President and myself. But the entreaties of General McClellan induced the President to modify his order to the extent that Franklin's division (being part of McDowell's corps that had been retained) was detached and sent forward by boat to McClellan. This was against my judgment, because I thought the whole force of McDowell should be kept together and sent forward by land on the shortest route to Richmond, thus aiding McClellan, but at the same time covering and protecting Washington by keeping between it and the enemy. In this opinion Major-General Hitchcock, General Meigs, and Adjutant-General Thomas agreed. But the President was so anxious that General McClellan should have no cause of complaint, that he ordered the force to be sent by water, although that route was then threatened by the Merrimac. I yielded my opinion to the President's order; but between him and me there has never been the slightest shadow since I entered the Cabinet. And excepting the retention of the force under McDowell by the President's order, for the reasons mentioned, General McClellan had never made a request or expressed a wish that had not been promptly complied with, if in the power of the Government. To me personally he has repeatedly expressed his confidence and his thanks in the dispatches sent me.

Now, one word as to political motives. What motive can I have to thwart General McClellan? I am not now, never have been, and never will be a candidate for any office. I hold my present post at the request of a President who knew me personally, but to whom I had not spoken from the 4th of March, 1861, until the day he handed me my commission. I knew that everything I cherished and held dear would be sacrificed by accepting office. But I thought I might help to save the country, and for that I was willing to perish. If I wanted to be a politician or a candidate for any office, would I stand between the Treasury and the robbers that are howling around me? Would I provoke and stand against the whole newspaper gang in this country, of every party, who, to sell news, would imperil a battle? I was never taken for a fool, but there could be no greater madness than for a man to encounter what I do for anything else than motives that overleap time and look forward to eternity. I believe that God Almighty founded this Government, and for my acts in the effort to maintain it I expect to stand before Him in judgment.

You will pardon this long explanation, which has been made to no one else. It is due to you, who was my friend when I was a poor boy at school, and had no claim upon your confidence or kindness. It cannot be made public for obvious reasons. General McClellan is at the head of our chief army; he must have every confidence and support; and I am willing that the whole world should revile me rather than diminish one grain of the strength needed to conquer the rebels. In a struggle like this, justice or credit to individuals is but dust in the balance. Desiring no office nor honor, and anxious only for the peace and quiet of my home, I suffer no inconvenience beyond that which arises from the trouble and anxiety suffered by worthy friends like yourself, who are naturally disturbed by the clamors and calumny of those whose interest or feeling is hostile to me.

The official records will, at the proper time, fully prove—

1st. That I have employed the whole power of the Government un-sparingly to support General McClellan's operations in preference to every other general.

2d. That I have not interfered with or thwarted them in any particular.

3d. That the force retained from his expedition was not needed, and could not have been employed by him; that it was retained by express orders of the President, upon military investigation, and upon the best military advice in the country; that its retention was required to save the capital from the danger to which it was exposed by a disregard of the President's positive order of the 6th of March.

4th. That between the President and myself there has never been any, the slightest, shadow of difference upon any point, save the detachment of Franklin's force, and that was a point of no significance, but in which I was sustained by Generals Hitchcock, Meigs, Thomas, and Ripley, while the President yielded only to an anxious desire to avoid complaint, declaring at the same time his belief that the force was not needed by General McClellan.

You will, of course, regard this explanation as being in the strictest confidence, designed only for your information upon matters wherein you express concern for me. The confidence of yourself, and men like you, is more than a full equivalent for all the railing that has been or can be expressed against me, and in the magnitude of the cause all merely individual questions are swallowed up.

I shall always rejoice to hear from you, and am, as ever, truly yours,

EDWIN M. STANTON.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 19, Part 2 (Serial No. 28), p. 725-8

Diary of Ethan Allen Hitchcock: February 3, 1861

I have been a greatly distressed observer of this movement, though I have made little note of it. The cotton States have passed “ordinances of secession.” Our hopes now rest upon the Northern line of slave States. If they remain in the Union, and no blood be shed, there is a slight hope that something may be done to heal the breach.

SOURCE: W. A. Croffut, Editor, Fifty Years in Camp and Field: Diary of Major-General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, U. S. A., p. 428

William Cullen Bryant to Dr. Dewey, August 17, 1862

August 17, 1862

 . . . I must answer your letter a little. Neither you nor I understand war nor medicine ; but of medicine we know enough not to employ a physician who regularly doses all his patients, nor one who proposes to cure an inflammation of the bowels by poulticing the little finger, I judge of the merits of military men in the same way. Again, I have a right to choose between the opinions of men well acquainted with the military art, and I know that officers of great merit hold that McClellan has mismanaged the campaign throughout. Pope, one of the most successful of them, does so. (I know this;) so does Wadsworth; so does General Hitchcock, a veteran officer personally kind toward McClellan, and disposed to judge him candidly (I speak from personal knowledge); so also, I have reason to believe, do hundreds of other officers.

What the “Evening Post” has said in regard to the course taken by the Government I said in still stronger terms to Mr. Lincoln himself ten days since, when I went to Washington for the purpose. With me was Mr. K—, a millionaire (or millionary — which?) of this city, who said to him that unless the war was prosecuted with greater energy — far greater — and the confiscation and emancipation act carried into vigorous execution, not sixty days would elapse before the Government securities would be so depressed that the administration would not have a dollar to carry on the war.

Mr. Lincoln knows that McClellan is wanting in some of the necessary qualities of a general officer. He said to Mr. Field: “McClellan is one of the most accomplished officers in all the army. No man organizes or prepares an army better, but when the time for action comes he is greatly deficient.”

As to emancipation, I have none of the fears which you entertain, and the conduct of the blacks already freed — more than fifty thousand of them — convinces me that there is no ground for them. Their peaceful and docile behavior assures me that we have neither “wild disorder nor massacre to dread.” The rebellion has buried its roots so firmly into the social system of the South that they must both be pulled up together.

You anticipate a bad effect upon the recruiting service from such criticisms on the conduct of the Government as the “Evening Post” had thought it necessary to make. The mischief was done before the “Evening Post” began to criticise. A gloomy and discouraged feeling prevailed, throughout this city and this State at least, which seemed to make the raising of the necessary number of volunteers hopeless. The only remedy that the case seemed to admit was the adoption by the press and by public speakers of a more vigorous style of animadversion on the conduct of the war, and the representations of disinterested persons made personally to the President. Mayor Opdyke, William Curtis Noyes, Dr. Charles King, and many others, singly or in pairs, have visited Washington for this purpose. There is not one of these men to whom such conclusions as you have reached would not be matter of exceeding surprise. They have all regarded the cause of the Union as drifting to ruin if instant and powerful means were not applied to give things a new direction. I believe their representations, and the language held in public meetings, and to some degree also the comments of the press, have had a certain effect. I hear this morning that it was Pope who recommended Halleek to the President as a fit person to force McClellan into action, and to push on the war with vigor. Other proceedings of the administration within a few days give token that it is waking to a sense of the danger we are in from causes very much like those of which you speak.

I have written thus largely because I had some things to say which I cannot print. If I could, I would have received your rebuke without a reply.

SOURCE: Parke Godwin, A Biography of William Cullen Bryant, Volume 1, p. 176-8

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, Sunday, September 11, 1864 – 8 a.m.

Ripon, Sunday, 8 A. M. (Sept. 11).

A lovely morning after one of the most stormy nights I ever remember. Torrents of rain and continuous thunder and lightning and wind for six or eight hours, — the Doctor¹ and I were quite washed out, — our tent seemed to be a through-drain for all the surrounding country. Did you see the moon last evening? — here, she was a perfect stage moon, — the whole scene what scene-painters aim at, when they have to put her to sleep on a bank. We had the band up and they were quite sentimental in their choice of music, and I grew as homesick as possible.

I received a long note yesterday from the Governor's Secretary, Colonel A. G. Brown, — it occupied me yesterday afternoon, and stimulated me to writing to such a degree that I wrote to Mr. H. L. Higginson and to Barlow and to Blagden and to Major-General Hitchcock and to Cousin John, — the latter about Will, who is soon to be released, and about Billy and about another little horse (two sizes smaller than Billy) which he wishes me to take and ride. I accepted the offer conditionally, and with scruples. It is a colt of “Countess's,” a “Bob Logic” colt, and Mr. F. says is good, though small. I hope it won't stop so many bullets as Billy.

I stopped here to send for a paper, and have read McClellan’s letter. It won’t do, though it’s much better than a Peace platform.

_______________

¹ Dr. De Wolf, then acting as brigade surgeon, occupied the same tent with the colonel. Some years after the war, he became the head of the Board of Health of Chicago.

SOURCE: Edward Waldo Emerson, Life and Letters of Charles Russell Lowell, p. 345-6, 463

Francis Lieber to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, February 20, 1863

New York, February 20, 1863.

My Dear General, — Here is the projet of the code I was charged with drawing up.¹ I am going to send fifty copies to General Hitchcock for distribution, and I earnestly ask for suggestions and amendments. I am going to send for that purpose a copy to General Scott, and another to Hon. Horace Binney. For two or three paragraphs you will observe we should want the assistance of Congress. That is now too late; but I suggest to you to decide with the Secretary of War whether it would be advisable and feasible to send the Code even now, and as it is, to our generals, to be a guide on some difficult and important points. I observe from some orders of General Rosecrans that he has used my pamphlet on “Guerilla Warfare,” unless there be a remarkable spontaneous coincidence.  . . . I do not believe that it will be possible to change for the present war, or at least immediately, the usage which has grown up regarding parolling privates, but you will agree with me that the law, as I have laid it down, is the law and usage. As parolling is now handled by us, it amounts to a premium on cowardice, e. g. in the affair of Harper's Ferry.  . . . You are one of those from whom I most desire suggestions, because you will read the Code as lawyer and as commander. Even your general opinion of the whole is important to me. I have earnestly endeavored to treat of these grave topics conscientiously end comprehensively; and you, well read in the literature on this branch of international law, know that nothing of the kind exists in any language. I had no guide, no groundwork, no text-book. I can assure you, as a friend, that no counsellor of Justinian sat down to his task of the Digest with a deeper feeling of the gravity of his labor, than filled my breast in the laying down for the first time such a code, where nearly everything was floating. Usage, history, reason, and conscientiousness, a sincere love of truth, justice, and civilization, have been my guides; but of course the whole must be still very imperfect.  . . . Ought I to add anything on a belligerent's using, in battle, the colors and uniform of his opponent? I believe when this has been done no quarter has been given. I have said nothing on rebellion and invasion of our country with reference to the treatment of our own citizens by the commanding general. I have three paragraphs on this subject, but it does not fall within the limits, as indicated in the special order appointing our board. . . .

_______________

¹ This refers to the pamphlet entitled “Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field,” published by the War Department, in April, 1863, as General Orders, No. 100.

SOURCE: Thomas Sergeant Perry, Editor, The Life and Letters of Francis Lieber, p. 330-1

Diary of Major General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, March 15, 1862

Washington, March 15. On the 7th I received a telegraph despatch from the Secretary of War, saying that he would like a 'personal conference' with me, if my health would permit me to come to Washington “immediately.” I jumped into the next departing train, had a serious and violent hemorrhage at Pittsburg, arrived here on Monday the 10th, and, weak and covered with dust as I was, went directly to the War Department (at 11 A.M.). Secretary Stanton was with the President, and the Assistant Secretary said he would mention my arrival and send me word. I returned to my hotel, and there was seized with a profuse bleeding at the nose — the sixth or seventh time in three weeks. Two physicians finally stopped the bleeding by mechanical means and I was sent to bed, very much exhausted.

After an hour or so an a. d. c. came with the Secretary's compliments and a carriage. I could not go, and in the evening the Secretary himself came to see me. He was very kind; asked me to allow myself to be taken to his house, etc. He had wished to see me, he said, but would not talk with me exhausted as he saw I was, but would call in the morning.

In the morning he called, finding me in bed. He told me that he wanted me in the service. I replied that I was not fit for service, and appealed to his own eyes. He remarked, “You must leave that to us,” and went on to say that he and President Lincoln wanted the benefit of my experience — that they wanted me here, close by, where they could have the opportunity of consulting me. They did “not wish me in the field, but in Washington”; they “would put no more upon me than I could bear,” and a multitude of other assurances of the kind. He even offered to remove the Adjutant-General and put me at the head of the staff.

I turned these compliments all aside, with thanks, and said that I must go to New York to consult physicians — that if there was a return of the hemorrhage I wished to be with my friends, and should be, at all events, unfit for service.

He left me and returned to the White House, and there wrote me a note in which he suggested that any legislation I might desire could be had, if I would but mention it. I replied that special legislation begot jealousies, and that if my experience was deemed of value it could be had by my simply remaining within call.

I got up and started at 11 A.M. for New York.

At New York I finally determined to say by note to the Secretary that if, with his knowledge of my broken health, I could be useful in the way he had-pointed out, he might announce my acceptance of the commission if not now too late, and order me to report to him. That was done and I reached here this morning — March 15 [1862]. On reporting to the Secretary, almost without a word of preface he asked me if I would take McClellan’s place in command of the army of the Potomac!¹ I was amazed, and told him at once that I could not. He spoke of the pressure on the President, and said that he and the President had had the greatest difficulty in standing out against the demand that McClellan be removed.

He then asked me if I would allow him to put me at the head of the Ordnance Department, and remove General R. This surprised me almost as much as the other offer, and was entirely unlike anything I had anticipated, and I declined.

He then took me to President Lincoln and introduced me. I was civilly received. Secretary Seward was present and some despatches were read — reports from the army, etc.

The President took a letter out of his pocket and read it as a sample, he said, of what he was exposed to. It was anonymous, marked “urgent,” and called on him to “remove the traitor McClellan” — using the most extravagant language of condemnation. Judge Blair, Postmaster-General, came in and asked for a brigadier-general's commission for a relation of his wife.

I offered to go, but Mr. Lincoln detained me till the others went. He then expressed the wish to have the benefit of my experience: said he was the depository of the power of the government and had no military knowledge. I knew his time was important and shortly left him.

Now — what is to come of this? I want no command. I want no department. I came to be at hand for “contingent service,” and must adhere to my purpose. General Scott, whom I saw in New York, told me I could be very useful here. He even said that I ought to be in command of the army, but that that was now impossible.

I urged the Secretary to extend General Halleck's command over the whole valley of the Mississippi, and this has been done at once, putting Buell under his orders.

On the whole, I am uncomfortable. I am almost afraid that Secretary Stanton hardly knows what he wants, himself.²

__________

¹ The tardy engineer, McClellan, had now marched upon Manassas.

² During this week, an army board, of which General Hitchcock was President, decided that the safety of Washington required the retention in its front of one corps of the army. The President thereupon kept McDowell's corps between the city and Richmond.

SOURCE: W. A. Croffut, editor, Fifty Years in Camp and Field: Diary of Major-General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, U. S. A., p. 437-9

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, January 5, 1865

SAVANNAH, January 5, 1865

I have written several times to you and to the children. Yesterday I got your letter of December 23, and realize the despair and anguish through which you have passed in the pain and sickness of the little baby I never saw. All spoke of him as so bright and fair that I had hoped he would be spared to us to fill the great void in our hearts left by Willy, but it is otherwise decreed and we must submit. I have seen death in such quantity and in such forms that it no longer startles me, but with you it is different, and 'tis well that like the Spaniards you realize the fact that our little baby has passed from the troubles of life to a better existence. I sent Charley off a few days ago to carry to General Grant and to Washington some important despatches, but told him he must not go farther than Washington as by the time he returns I will be off again on another raid. It is pretty hard on me that I am compelled to make these blows which are necessarily trying to me, but it seems devolved on me and cannot be avoided. If the honors proffered and tendered me from all quarters are of any value they will accrue to you and the children. John writes that I am in everybody's mouth and that even he is known as my brother, and that all the Shermans are now feted as relatives of me. Surely you and the children will not be overlooked by those who profess to honor me. I do think that in the several grand epochs of this war, my name will have a prominent part, and not least among them will be the determination I took at Atlanta to destroy that place, and march on this city, whilst Thomas, my lieutenant, should dispose of Hood. The idea, the execution and strategy are all good, and will in time be understood. I don't know that you comprehend the magnitude of the thing, but you can see the importance attached to it in England where the critics stand ready to turn against any American general who makes a mistake or fails in its execution. In my case they had time to commit themselves to the conclusion that if I succeeded I would be a great general, but if I failed I would be set down a fool. My success is already assured, so that I will be found to sustain the title. I am told that were I to go north I would be feted and petted, but as I have no intention of going, you must sustain the honors of the family. I know exactly what amount of merit attaches to my own conduct, and what will survive the clamor of time. The quiet preparation I made before the Atlanta Campaign, the rapid movement on Resaca, the crossing the Chattahoochee without loss in the face of a skilful general with a good army, the movement on Jonesboro, whereby Atlanta fell, and the resolution I made to divide my army, with one part to take Savannah and the other to meet Hood in Tennessee, are all clearly mine, and will survive us both in history. I don't know that you can understand the merit of the latter, but it will stamp me in years to come, and will be more appreciated in Europe than in America. I warrant your father will find parallel in the history of the Greeks and Persians, but none on our continent. For his sake I am glad of the success that has attended me, and I know he will feel more pride in my success than you or I do. Oh that Willy were living! how his eyes would brighten and his bosom swell with honest pride if he could hear and understand these things. . . .

You will doubtless read all the details of our march and stay in Savannah in the papers, whose spies infest our camps, spite of all I can do, but I could tell you thousands of little incidents which would more interest you. The women here are, as at Memphis, disposed to usurp my time more from curiosity than business. They had been told of my burning and killing until they expected the veriest monster, but their eyes were opened when Hardee, G. W. Smith and McLaws, the three chief officers of the Rebel army, fled across the Savannah river consigning their families to my special care. There are some very elegant people here, whom I knew in better days and who do not seem ashamed to call on the “vandal chief.” They regard us just as the Romans did the Goths and the parallel is not unjust. Many of my stalwart men with red beards and huge frames look like giants, and it is wonderful how smoothly all things move, for they all seem to feel implicit faith in me not because I am strong or bold, but because they think I know everything. It seems impossible for us to go anywhere without being where I have been before. My former life from 1840 to 1846 seems providential and every bit of knowledge then acquired is returned, tenfold. Should it so happen that I should approach Charleston on that very ground where I used to hunt with Jim Poyas, and Mr. Quash, and ride by moonlight to save daytime, it would be even more strange than here where I was only a visitor. Col. Kilburn arrived here from Louisville yesterday, and begged me to remember him to you. I continue to receive letters, most flattering, from all my old friends and enclose you two, one from General Hitchcock and one from Professor Mahan. Such men do not flatter and are judges of what they write. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 324-7.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 2/20

Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Jesse Root Grant, August 3, 1862

Corinth, Mississippi,

August 3d, 1862.

Dear Father:

Your letter of the 25th of July is just received. I do not remember receiving the letters, however, of which you speak. One came from Mary speaking of the secessionist Holt who was said to be employed in the Memphis post office. I at once wrote to General Sherman who is in command there about it and he is no doubt turned out before this.

You must not expect me to write in my own defence nor to permit it from any one about me. I know that the feeling of the troops under my command is favorable to me and so long as I continue to do my duty faithfully it will remain so. Your uneasiness about the influences surrounding the children here is unnecessary. On the contrary it is good. They are not running around camp among all sorts of people, but we are keeping house, on the property of a truly loyal secessionist who has been furnished free lodging and board at Alton, Illinois; here the children see nothing but the greatest propriety.

They will not, however, remain here long. Julia will probably pay her father a short visit and then go to Galena or Covington in time to have the children commence school in September.

I expect General Hitchcock to command the Department of the West. Have no fears of General Pope or any one junior to me being sent.

I do not expect nor want the support of the Cincinnati press on my side. Their course has been so remarkable from the beginning that should I be endorsed by them I should fear that the public would mistrust my patriotism. I am sure that I have but one desire in this war, and that is to put

down the rebellion. I have no hobby of my own with regard to the negro, either to effect his freedom or to continue his bondage. If Congress pass any law and the President approves, I am willing to execute it. Laws are certainly as binding on the minority as the majority. I do not believe even in the discussion of the propriety of laws and official orders by the army. One enemy at a time is enough and when he is subdued it will be time enough to settle personal differences.

I do not want to command a department because I believe I can do better service in the field. I do not expect to be overslaughed by a junior and should feel exceedingly mortified should such a thing occur, but would keep quiet as I have ever done heretofore.

I have just received a letter from Captain Foley about this same Holt said to be in the Memphis post office. You may say that I shall refer it to General Sherman with the direction to expel him if it is not already done.

Julia and the children are well. I do not expect to remain here long but when I will go I can't say now.

U. S. GRANT.

SOURCE: Jesse Grant Cramer, Editor, Letters of Ulysses S. Grant to His Father and His Youngest Sister, 1857-78, p. 84-6

Gen. Hitchcock Reconsiders His Resignation

General A. E. [sic] Hitchcock, who recently declined the appointment of Major General of Volunteers, was summoned here from St. Louis some days ago, when he was visited by Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War.  What transpired at the interview has not been announced but it was of sufficient import to the interest of the country to induce Gen. Hitchcock to reconsider his declination of the Major Generalship. – {Herald’s Correspondence.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 3

Washington News

WASHINGTON, March 2. – It is now said to be clearly understood between the allied powers that a monarchy will be the result of the present invasion of Mexico.  Notwithstanding assurances given the United States that they did not have any political object there, it is believed they will say the monarchy will be extended by the free will of the Mexican people, just as the empire was established in France.

The War Department refuses to transmit any letters to Southern States.

Reports received from all the military departments the past week represent the condition of troops as very good and having a patriotic desire for action.

Major General Hitchcock declines his appointment on the ground of ill health not permitting him to perform his duties.

Gen. Lander died to-day at Pawpaw Western Virginia, from dysentery, exposure and wounds received at Edwards Ferry.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 8, 1862, p. 3

War In Dead Earnest – Gen. E. A. Paine’s Specific

The following facts and correspondence have just come into my possession, and I hasten to send them to you.  They show the exasperated nature of the wary in these parts. – Soon the cry will be “No quarter!”

Col. Kellogg, commanding at Cape Girardeau, telegraphs to Acting Brigadier General Paine, at Cairo, thus:

“Yesterday (Feb 8th) several companies of cavalry, with one company of Ross’ infantry, scoured the country west, bringing in fifty prisoners.  Our cavalry also encountered a large force of rebel cavalry fifteen miles beyond Bloomfield.  They succeeded in routing them, killing seven, wounding many, and taking twenty prisoners.  We had two missing and one wounded.  They found five bodies, known to be Union men, murdered.

W. P. KELLOGG, Col. Commanding.

Gen. E. A. PAINE, commanding Cairo.”

GEN. PAINE’S REPLY.

“Col. Kellogg, commanding Cape Girardeau:

Hang one of the rebel cavalry for each Union man murdered – and after this, two for each. – Continue to scout, capture and kill.

E. A. PAINE, Brig. Gen. Commanding.

Cairo, Feb. 8th.”

That’s laconic and specific.  Had this policy been pursued from the start, rebels would have been scarce in Missouri.  I hope Gen. Hitchcock, Gen. Paine’s successor, will act out the example of Gen. now Col. P. – Cairo correspondence of Cleveland Plaindealer.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 1, 1862, p. 3

From Washington

WASHINGTON, March 24.

Col. Segur representative from the Accomac district, arrived here this evening, confirming the intelligence about the destruction of the Privateer Nashville, and Fort Macon, by the rebels.

Times’ Correspondence

The commission on State prisoners will to-morrow take up the case of the celebrated Mrs. Greenough [sic], who will probably be transferred from a State prison to a lunatic asylum.

Gen. Montgomery has been transferred from his post as military governor of Alexandria and placed in a like command at Annapolis.

Painful rumors have been afloat for two days affecting a prominent officer in the civil department of the government.  We are promised the denouncement this week.

It is not true that the steamer Vanderbilt has been purchased by the Government to be altered to an iron-clad vessel.  She is merely charted for a short time as transport.

The commanding officer at Fort Craig writes to the Government that he has not a doubt of being able to hold that post.

Tribune Correspondence.

It is rumored that Green Clay will be transferred from the Secretaryship of Legation at St. Petersburg to that at Turin, the present incumbent, Mr. Fry, having resigned on account of ill health.

Dr. John Evans, of Chicago, has been nominated and confirmed as Governor of Colorado Territory, vice Gov. Gilpin.

Stephen S. Harding, of Ind., was, on Friday, nominated Governor of Utah, vice Gov. Dawson, rejected.

Small squads of rebel horsemen are scouring the country within five miles of Manassas, impressing all the able bodied men left, robbing the former for the hundredth time, and destroying what they can’t carry away.

The Saturday’s work of the ways and means committee on demands of delegations for modifications of the tax bill, was to put a 3 per cent ad valorem charge upon paper of every description; to adopt the schedules on leather substantially as they were presented to the committee by Mr. Alley, a tanner and a member of the House; to fix the rate on hoop skirts, umbrellas, and parasols, at 5 per cent ad valorem; on ready made clothing, at 3 per cent ad valorem; to leave salt as is in the bill; and after long discussion, to let the tax as first reported on tobacco and all its manufacturers stand unaltered.  The tax on billiard tables was reduced half to ten dollars a year; on rock oil, petroleum and coal oils, the only change was of phraseology, so that gas, tar, and the products from redistillation shall not be changed; for brokers the committee took off the tenth of one per cent on their stock sales, thinking that through their use of powers of attorney, transferred stamps and other assessable incidents of the business, they would get taxed enough.  Flour was not disposed, the desire to tax it of course duly exists of; the only difficulty in fixing the rate has been presented by the Canadian reciprocity treaty.  The belief has at least obtained in committee that flour can be taxed by branding the barrels and taxing the sales without violating the stipulations of that treaty; the charge on the gross receipts of horse railroads was reduced one half; it was decided not to tax coal at all; because it enters into the business and domestic life of nearly the whole nation.

During the discussions on the bill the work on the tariff progresses.  Reference is continually had to it, when an article is tax for internal revenue; at the same time an equivalent customs entry is placed on the tax list.  This principle will be adhered to throughout.

Herald’s Dispatch.

The party which left here on Tuesday ot look for the remains. Of Col. Slocum, Major Ballou, and Capt. tower of the 2d Rhode Island regiment, killed at Bull Run, returned this morning bringing their remains.  The party was composed of Gov. Sprague, Col. Arnold, Mr. Walter Coleman, his secretary Tristram Burges, Lieut. Col. Sayles and Capt. Dennison and Surgeon Greely, of the R. I. Cavalry, accompanied by two of the R. I. volunteers, who had been twin prisoners at Bull Run, and had noted the place where the officers were buried.  The party arrived Friday at Sudley’s Church.

Col. Slocum and Maj. Ballou were buried in the yard of a building near by, which was used as a hospital on the day of the battle.  This building had been destroyed by the rebels, but the graves were found.  After they had commenced to dig a negro girl inquired if they were digging for the body of Col. Slocum, and stated that about six weeks after the battle some soldiers of a Georgia regiment had dug it up, cut off the head, and buried the body at the side of the run close by, and taken the coffin away to bury a dead negro.  Her story was corroborated by a white boy and a white man who lived in the same neighborhood.  On repairing to the spot indicated, there was found a pile of ashes and bones, which were pronounced by the surgeon to be human. – Col. Slocum had been buried in a box, and Maj. Ballou in a coffin.  Upon opening the graves the box was recognized by Mr. Richardson, who was present at the interment, and the remains in it were identified as Col. Slocum.  Upon opening the other grave it was found to be empty, showing that the body dug up and burned by the Georgia barbarians was that of Maj. Ballou, only those two having been buried in that yard.

Gen. Hitchcock is here, aiding the war department by his advice.

Senator Lane, of Ind., has received advices from Savannah, Tenn., of the formation of a Union regiment in Alabama.

The Republican asserts that the President has remove Gen. Denver from the command of the department of Kansas.

The entire national debt is now four hundred millions of dollars.

The Senate to-day confirmed about 400 army appointment, principally of minor ranks.  Among them in the Adjutant General’s office department is R. J. Wagoner, of Ky.; Assistant Ad.t. Gen., with rank of Captain.  The only two Brigadier Generals of volunteers confirmed are Wm. K. Strong and Col. Mahon M. Monson [sic], of Ind.

Postmaster General Blair to-day issued the following notice to the Postmasters of the U. S.:

“The Secretary of War now regulates the transmission of information by telegraph affecting the conduct of the war.  In order to prevent the communication of such information to the rebels, it is also thought necessary by the secretary to put restrictions on the publication of facts of this character, however derived, and the aid of this department is requested for this purpose.

“You will therefore notify publishers not to publish any fact which has been excluded from the telegraph and that a disregard of this order will subject the paper to be excluded from the mails.

Signed,

M. BLAIR, P. M. Gen.”

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, March 25, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

WASHINGTON, March 16.

From contrabands who have acted as teamsters for the rebels, it is ascertained that the main body of the rebels have crossed the Rappahannock and were making a stand at Fredericksburg in conjunction with the army at Gordonsville.

Tribune Correspondence.

Messrs. Holt and Owen, commissioners to examine and allow or reject all contracts, orders and claims on the War Department for ordnance, arms and ammunition, will commence their labors to-morrow.  They have taken rooms in the War Department.

Gen. Fremont’s department extends, if we are rightly informed, no farther south than Knoxville.

Gen. Totten has advised the division of the seven million dollars appropriated this session for coast defences, to the construction of iron-clad vessels of war.

Com. Smith, the head of the bureau of yards and docks, has been authorized by Secretary Welles to build an iron-clad gunboat within 60 days.

A letter from Newport News, Dated 14^th, in the World, says: About 9 o’clock yesterday morning, companies of the 7^th N. Y. regiment, encamped at this place, started on a reconnnoisance on the Willliamsport road, running parallel with the James river.  About ten miles from camp, they came across 3,500 rebel cavalry stationed at the junction of the Williamsport and Great bethel roads.  When the enemy were discovered, our troops charged upon them. – The enemy after firing a few shots at our skirmishers and setting fire to the house they had lately occupied, turned and fled.

Times’ Correspondence.

Gen. McClellan’s proclamation to his army is the theme of universal conversation and enthusiastic praise.  His popularity with the army is unbounded, and his friends increase by thousands among the people who admire his patience under persecution and his single-hearted devotion to the union.

The docks at Washington begin to be thickly studded with masts of vessels that have reached here with supplies since the blockade has been raised – a vast relief to all who have to buy in Washington.

Messers. Odell and Baker, members from New York, yesterday called upon Secretary Welles and urged that Com. Stringham be assigned to active duty.  It is understood that the Secretary gave them assurance that the meritorious officer would soon have command.

Herald’s Correspondence.

Gen. E. A. Hitchcock, who recently declined the appointment of Major General of volunteers, was summoned here from St. Louis some days ago, when he was visited by the Secretary of War.  What transpired at the interview has not been announced, but it was of sufficient importance to the interests of the country to induce General Hitchcock to reconsider his declination of the Major Generalship.

WASHINGTON, March 17.

Gen. Fremont has had an interview with the President and Secretary of War.  We will press his affairs for promptly starting his department.  His staff will therefore be determined on at an early day.  His headquarters will be in the field.  Col. Shanks will accompany him.

The Senate was four hours in executive session to-day.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, March 18, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

It is said to be clearly understood between the Allied Powers that a monarchy will be the result of the present invasion of Mexico, notwithstanding assurances given the United States that they did not seek any political object there.  It is believed they will say the monarchy will be established by the free will of the Mexican people, just as the empire was established in France.

Maj. Gen. Hitchcock declined his appointment on the ground that his ill health will not permit him to perform the duties of the field.

Gen. Lander died to-day at Paw Paw, Western Va., from debilitating effects of the wound received at Edward’s Ferry. – Gen Shields succeeds him.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, March 4, 1862, p. 1

Gun Boats Going Up Cumberland River

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 13.

The Democrat learns that Com. Foote, with the gun boats St. Louis, Louisville and Pittsburg, left Cairo for the Cumberland river at 10 o’clock on Tuesday night. The Carondelet was expected to join them at Paducah. In consequence of high water and unusually rapid current on all the rivers, the fleet is not expected to reach Fort Donelson till this morning, and as it was presumed the attack will not be made until there is complete readiness on the part of both land and naval forces, the news of the result cannot be expected before to-night or tomorrow morning.

The Republican of this morning states that Gen. Hitchcock has not yet accepted the appointment of Maj. Gen., but will respond when his commission is received.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, February 14, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.

Ethan Allen Hitchcock was to-day appointed Major General. He is a grandson of Ethan Allen of ‘Reverend’ fame and one of the ‘Praise God Barebones’ kind, being equally effective in praying and fighting. He has the highest reputation for military capacity. Gen. H. is already a veteran in the service, having been Colonel of the 2d Infantry, and having ranked as brevet until within the past two or three years, since when he has been in private life. Gens. Abercrombie and Montgomery were his Lieutenant Colonel and Major, respectively, in old time. He has been urged for this appointment for months.

Efforts to discredit the well-authenticated fact that Gen. McClellan is to be reduced to the command of the army of the Potomac are futile. ‘Ion,’ of the Baltimore Sun, this morning, confirms my statement to that effect.

The nomination of Gen. Sigel as Major General will be sent to the Senate to-morrow.

Maj. Gen. Ethan Allen Hitchcock was confirmed to-day.

Dr. Ives one of the principal editorial writers of the N. Y. Herald, who has been here temporarily for the purpose of reorganizing its Washington Department and acting himself as its chief correspondent, was arrested to-day, by order of Secretary Stanton, and sent to Fort McHenry. He is suspected of being a rebel spy. He has a brother in the rebel army.

Maj. General Hitchcock is now living in retirement at St. Louis. He has been telegraphed to take immediate command at Cairo. He was Assistant Adjutant General to Gen. Scott, and Brigadier General Brevet in Mexico, but offending Jeff. Davis was forced to resign. He is not a slave catcher. His appointment was urgently advocated by Mr. Collamer. He is spoke of as one of the greatest military men in the country.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, February 12, 1862, p. 1

From New York

NEW YORK, Feb. 10.

Specials state that Secretary Chase and the cashier of the Ney York Bank of Commerce are conferring with the Senate finance committee, urgent the adoption of the legal tender clause.

Orders have been issued prohibiting and more furloughs, and all officers are ordered to return to their regiments.

Gen. Lane will probably be a Major-General, and the President will nominate Ethan Allen Hitchcock to a Major-Generalship.

The N. Y. weekly bank statement shows a decrease in loans of $87,852; do. circulation $327,376; do. deposits $1,300,079; increase in specie $693,080.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 11, 1862, p. 1