Copy.
Cincinnati, Apl. 1st.,
1863.
Gov. Chase
You do once in a while, don't you, say a word to the
President, or Stanton, or Halleck, about the
conduct of the War?
Well, now, for God's sake say that Genl. Grant, entrusted
with our greatest army, is a jackass in the original package. He is a poor
drunken imbecile. He is a poor stick sober, and he is most of the time more
than half drunk, and much of the time idiotically drunk.
About two weeks ago, he was so miserably drunk for
twenty-four hours, that his Staff kept him shut up in a state-room on the
steamer where he makes his headquarters — because he was hopelessly foolish.
I know precisely what I am writing about and the meaning of
the language I use.
Now are our Western heroes to be sacrificed by the ten
thousand by this poor devil?
Grant will fail miserably, hopelessly, eternally. You may
look for and calculate upon his failure in every position in which he may be
placed, as a perfect certainty.
Don't say I am grumbling. Alas! I know too well I am but
faintly outlining the truth.
Grant is shamefully jealous of Rosecrans, just as such an
imbecile would naturally be of his superior; and he and his staff would chuckle
to see Rosecrans cut to pieces.
Anybody would be an improvement on Grant!
If nothing else can be done, now while the Cumberland River
is up send all Grant's army at once,
except a division or two, to join Rosecrans and he can
instantly penetrate to Georgia.
Or let me suggest a plan. Have Grant's Army withdrawn from
below Memphis, and suddenly, without warning, send the force amounting to at
least 50.000 men up the Tennessee River as far as it is navigable. This would
throw them in the rear of Bragg.
Anything to get the army of the Mississippi out of the
control of the horrible fool, Grant!
There is another plan of operations. Here is Burnside's corps in Kentucky. The rebel invasion of Kentucky
is “played out”— Now then order Burnside to secure with his troops just arrived
all the places in Ky., and the Louisville & Nashville R. R: and order a
division of Grant's wasting and useless army
instantly up the Cumberland to garrison Nashville. Then Rosecrans can have
concentrated in a mass all the old troops of his and Wright's command now in
Ky., and at Gallatin, Tenn., and Nashville. He will thus have 120.000 men; and
give Rosecrans that many men, and he will with absolute certainty, break the
enemy's center. He will destroy Bragg's Army utterly, this side the Tennessee
River.
Rosecrans is the man to strike the blow. For Christ's and
the country's sake, put the weapon in his
hands.
With any sort of handling of the troops we have in the West
under Grant, Rosecrans & Burnside, and our enormous steamboat
transportation, not ten men of Bragg's Army of 65.000 should escape beyond the
Tennessee River. All that is wanted is concerted action — that can only be had
through an impulse from headquarters, which shall subordinate the proceedings
of Grant & Burnside to those of Rosecrans who is in the center, at the post
of danger; is the fighting man; and has the absolute and enthusiastic
confidence of his troops
Can you not do something to put the spear in his hands? That
is our only hope. If Burnside is allowed to fool away 50.000 men in Ky., and
Grant to bury 100.000 in the Mississippi swamps, we are gone up.
M. H.
SOURCE: Library of Congress, Washington D.C.:
Lincoln, Abraham. Abraham Lincoln papers:
Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833 to 1916: Murat Halstead to Salmon P.
Chase, Wednesday, Drunkenness of General Grant. April 1, 1863.
Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mal2276900/.