Flag Officer Samuel F. Dupont to Gustavus V. Fox, January 8, 1862

Private

Wabash 8" J any 62

Port Royal      

My Dear Sir

One word on a subject which has considerable effect on the morale of officers — viz — the publication or non publication of official reports.

I always intended to have suggested to Mr Welles the publication of my reports or such portions of them as could see the light by way of keeping up consecutive and correct information of our doings here, and thus carry along the antidote to the mistakes made and ignorance of letter writers. Some people are writing yet to know what has become of our people driven away from Tybee. The country believe at this moment that we are shut up in Port Royal and have not advanced a foot—while I am holding seven harbours of refuge in lieu of the two you required me to take. I say seven because South Edisto, and Ossabaw are nullified by North Edisto and St. Helena it being between the two, and Wassaw inlet covering Ossibaw.

Now comes the point. You have lately published some such reports and reconnaissances and not others — so that some officers are chronicled while others in equal operations are not. Drayton's report on N. Edisto I see reported—it is very interesting but his two previous ones on St. Helena much more so, and on the negro condition especially coming from him would have caused a good deal of effect.

So with R. Rodger's reports. You gave his capital one on Wassaw but not the one on Ossibaw. And then of all others, you have not published Davis's on yr favorite stone fleet. Now, different officers go on these Exp. and it is on their acct that I write.

I see more than I want of my own name, and wish to live through my officers.

I am going to lose two Lts. Please let me have Lt. Mackenzie. Excuse great haste.

Yrs most faithfully

S F DP

What are your views about the commanding officers for Dale and Wyandotte?

Upshur has applied for one or the other, on principle he being Senior — the last has filled an immediate emergency. Luce too has to go to the Academy and will go North on R. Island. The young Masters must work up in their places but Luce and Upshur are tiptop men and Rodgers was so sorry to lose them and then Corbin I presume will go soon.

SOURCE: Robert Means Thompson & Richard Wainwright, Editors, Publications of the Naval Historical Society, Volume 9: Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1865, Volume 1, p. 99-100

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, May 6, 1864

At the Cabinet-meeting each of the members read his opinion. There had, I think, been some concert between Seward and Stanton and probably Chase; that is, they had talked on the subject, although there was not coincidence of views on all respects. Although I was dissatisfied with my own, it was as well as most others.

Between Mr. Bates and Mr. Blair a suggestion came out that met my views better than anything that had previously been offered. It is that the President should by proclamation declare the officers who had command at the massacre outlaws, and require any of our officers who may capture them, to detain them in custody and not exchange them, but hold them to punishment. The thought was not very distinctly enunciated. In a conversation that followed the reading of our papers, I expressed myself favorable to this new suggestion, which relieved the subject of much of the difficulty. It avoids communication with the Rebel authorities. Takes the matter in our own hands. We get rid of the barbarity of retaliation.

Stanton fell in with my suggestion, so far as to propose that, should Forrest, or Chalmers, or any officer conspicuous in this butchery be captured, he should be turned over for trial for the murders at Fort Pillow. I sat beside Chase and mentioned to him some of the advantages of this course, and he said it made a favorable impression. I urged him to say so, for it appeared to me that the President and Seward did not appreciate it.

We get no tidings from the front. There is an impression that we are on the eve of a great battle and that it may already have commenced.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 24-5

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, May 7, 1864

Some fragmentary intelligence comes to us of a conflict of the two great armies. A two days' fight is said to have taken place. The President came into my room about 1 P.M., and told me he had slept none last night. He lay down for a short time on the sofa in my room and detailed all the news he had gathered.

Mr. Wing, a correspondent of the New York Tribune, called upon me this evening. He brings the first news we have had, but this is not full and conclusive.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 25

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, January 26, 1864

Another large squad of veterans and the most of the remaining officers left for Ohio yesterday. Recruiting seems to be active in Ohio. I think we shall get our share.*

Plan of spring campaign from Kanawha Valley. — Ten or fifteen thousand men can move from the head of navigation on the Kanawha River (Loup Creek) via Fayette, Raleigh, Flat Top, and Princeton to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad between New River and Wytheville, a distance of one hundred and thirty-nine miles, in a week or ten days; spend a week on the railroad destroying New River Bridge and the track for twenty-five miles; return to Loup Creek in one week more and be carried in steamers into the Ohio, and thence East or South for other operations. One week is time enough to convey such a force to Loup Creek from the Potomac or the West. The roads and weather will ordinarily allow such a column to move April 20. Supplies and transportation should be provided at Fayette during February and March. The utmost secrecy should be observed so that the first information the Rebels would have would be the approach of the force. Such a destruction of the railroad would effectually cut the communications of Longstreet and Jones in east Tennessee and compel him [the enemy] to abandon that country. The Rebels could not reconstruct the railroad during the next campaign. It would perhaps compel the evacuation of Richmond.

_______________

*A Columbus dispatch of February 14, in the Cincinnati Gazette, had this paragraph: — “It has been ascertained at the muster-in office, that the Twenty-third Ohio, Colonel R. B. Hayes, Department of West Virginia, was the first regiment from this State to enlist as veterans. Several regiments have claimed that honor.”

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 450-1

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, February 7, 1864

Camp White, February 7, 1864.

Dear Uncle: — The capture of General Scammon and two of his staff, will postpone my coming a few days, only a few days, I hope. I must be cautious what I say, but to you I can write that his capture is the greatest joke of the war. It was sheer carelessness, bad luck, and accident. It took a good many chances, all lost, to bring it about. Everybody laughs when he is alone, and very intimate friends laugh in concert when together. General Scammon's great point was his caution. He bored us all terribly with his extreme vigilance. The greatest military crime in his eyes was a surprise. Here he is caught in the greenest and most inexcusable way.

We shall come, I think, in a week or so via Cleveland.

Sincerely yours,

R. B. Hayes.

S. BIRCHARD.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 451

Public Meeting, published July 20, 1832

A meeting of a portion of the citizens of Adams County was held at the court-house in Natchez on the 19th hist., pursuant to public notice in a hand-bill signed "Many Citizens,” calling a meeting of citizens adverse to the election of judges by the people and opposed to nullification, for the purpose of bringing out, if reconciliation should be found impracticable, another candidate for the convention in the place of Chancellor Quitman.

Fountain Winston, Esq., was called to the chair, and R. M. Gaines appointed secretary.

Judge Quitman explained his reason for appearing at the meeting, after having declined to do so in his handbill of the 17th inst., by stating that he had been since requested to attend by many of his known friends. He then addressed the meeting at considerable length on the subject of the respective rights of the general and state governments, after which Dr. Duncan, in a spirit of conciliation, submitted a resolution which, being modified on the motion of John T. McMurran, Esq., was unanimously adopted by the meeting in the following form, to wit:

Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, that we are opposed to the doctrine of nullification, and believe that its propagation would endanger our dearest and best interests; that John A. Quitman having at this meeting made a distinct exposition of his views upon the subject of the relation which the state and federal governments bear to each other, said views do not amount to nullification, according to the usual acceptation of the term, and that said John A. Quitman ought to be supported for the convention on the ticket as originally selected at a general meeting of the citizens of this county, in this place, in May last.

Fountain Winston, Chairman.

R. M. Gaines, Secretary.

SOURCES: John F. H. Quitman, Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman, Volume 1, p. 114; “Public Meeting,” The Natchez Weekly Courier, Natchez Mississippi, Friday, July 20, 1832, p. 2

George M. Bibb to John J. Crittenden, March 8, 1824

Washington, March 8, 1824.

DEAR JOHN,—That there are men who will ascribe my actions to any motive but a reasonable one, I know, but that any should suppose that I have come to Washington for the purpose of electioneering against Mr. Clay is an extravagance that I did not anticipate would have been charged against me. My great motive in coming here was to get a hearing and decision in my suit for the land at Falmouth; in this I have succeeded. The opinion is delivered, and is in my favor. I endeavored to lay a contribution on other suitors in the court to help pay expenses of the trip, but the people of Kentucky are not drilled to paying fees to the lawyers. They pay in promises. As to Mr. Clay, he has broken the cords of friendship which bound me to him; they can never again be tied. I have no desire to interfere with your friendship for him, nor to trouble you with complaints of his conduct to me. Beware of such sunshine friends! As to electioneering upon the subject of President, I am as far removed from it as Washington is from Kentucky. I have heard a great deal; said little. I am not a member of Congress, and have, therefore, no right to go to caucus or vote in caucus, nor have I a vote when the question shall come before the House of Representatives. A listener, who hears all parties, is perhaps better able to form his opinions than those who are heated, busy, bustling managers. The grand Harrisburg Convention has decided, with but a single dissenting voice, for Jackson. Roberts was the only man who did not, upon the first vote, declare for Jackson. This has given a new impetus to him. The anticipation that Pennsylvania would declare for him gave him great advantages. The undivided voice of the Convention at Harrisburg has surprised the friends of all the other candidates, — save those of Calhoun, — they looked for it after the meeting in the county of Philadelphia, for the purpose of choosing a delegate to the Convention at Harrisburg. It seems that the people of North Carolina are taking up Jackson, as Pennsylvania did, against their politicians and of their own mere will. So it is in New York. The majority of the Senate are disposed to keep the appointment of electors in the legislature, — that is their calculation for Crawford; but a large majority of the House of Representatives of that State are decidedly opposed to Crawford. Adams is the most potent there. With the people, Jackson is next to Adams, and should the election go to the people Jackson may prevail in that State. The indications in Maryland are for Jackson. Tennessee and Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri, for Jackson. All New England for Adams. As for Indiana and Ohio, it is difficult now to say for whom their vote will be. The most knowing say that the substantial controversy is now between Adams and Jackson, and by a union of the slaveholding States with Pennsylvania Jackson may be elected. Unless Clay gets the votes of New York he cannot be one of the three from whom the House of Representatives is to choose. What revolutions in the electoral votes may take place before the time of choosing the Electoral College, should the friends of Crawford find out what everybody else seems to have found out (that he cannot be elected either by the people or the House of Representatives), cannot be foreseen. Jackson's ticket is every day acquiring new friends. Since the Convention at Harrisburg his pretensions are placed before the people by means of newspapers that were devoted before to other candidates. So much for politics. The great case, between Jersey and New York as it is called, upon the constitutionality of the law of New York, giving to Fulton the exclusive right to navigate the waters of New York by steamboats, is decided against New York. In this cause, I heard from Wirt the greatest display that I have ever heard at the bar since the days of Patrick Henry. His legal argument was very strong; his peroration was beautiful and grand. I did not hear Webster, nor Oakley, nor Emmett in this case, but all are said to have exhibited great talents. I have heard Webster, Sergeant, and White, of Tennessee. Wirt, Webster, White, and Ogden are the ablest lawyers, and Walter Jones should also be ranked among the first. Emmett I have not heard, but his reputation is high. After all, I have not been convinced that the bar of Kentucky does not contain as much talent and force as any other bar in the Union.

SOURCE: Mrs. Chapman Coleman, The Life of John J. Crittenden, Volume 1, p. 60-1

George M. Bibb to John J. Crittenden, March 17, 1824

March17th. I have heard Wirt in another great case, opposed by Clay and Harper. Wirt rises with the occasion and the opposing force. The bill for putting the choice of the electors of New York to the people has been rejected by the Senate, so that it cannot now be foreseen how New York will be. The majority of the Senate for Crawford, the majority of the House of Representatives against him. Mr. Clay's prospects there, feeble as they were, are gone. We may now begin to settle down between Jackson and Adams. I can have no hesitation; my voice is for Jackson.

Monroe is here, our Tom, and is charged with a speech. I have no mission in view; I expect to be a pleader of causes as long as I am able to follow the profession. I had not, in coming here, any other motive or prospect. This day week I expect to be off to Kentucky.

Yours, as ever,

George M. Bibb.

SOURCE: Mrs. Chapman Coleman, The Life of John J. Crittenden, Volume 1, p. 61-2

James F. Cooper to Howell Cobb, October 20, 1848

Dahlonega [ga.], Octo./20/48.

My Dear Sir: The great Whig barbecue has come and gone, and some Democrats are left yet to tell the tale. I will not venture to estimate the numbers. Without much trouble however I could give the names of all the visitors. The Whigs are no doubt much mortified. After circulating Hand Bills far and wide, riding, drumming, coaxing, etc., they succeeded in getting together a crowd altogether smaller than wd. assemble at 24 [hours] notice that Colquitt wd. speak. The orators were Berrien, Hull, and our old semper parati Peeples, and Underwood. Gen. Clinch was the chairman and, it is said, really made a speech! Our County of Lumpkin, I believe, is entitled to the honor of drawing out the maiden speech from this veteran of Whiggery.

The Whigs accuse us of keeping back the "cracked-heel" Democracy from their meeting. The "sore-eyed" fellows were not there, it is true, but some staunch Democrats from each of our sixteen election districts were present and we improved the opportunity of supplying each district with tickets. We have succeeded in furnishing every point in Lumpkin and Union with a full supply of Cass and Butler tickets, and we have the assurance that every Democratic voter will be seen by our committee men between now and the 7th November, and that all will be at the polls. This Whig powwow has not only facilitated our organization and equipment, but it will also operate to awaken the suspicions of our forces. and they will be out to a man.

The 5th and 6th Districts will give a majority of 6,000 votes — can the Whigs ever ride with that “load of poles”?

Never have I seen our Democracy more united and determined. Every hour since the October election has added new vigor and energy to our ranks. I could not have believed that one month could work such a change. The days of '44 are upon us here again, without perhaps as much excitement but with more organization and sterner determination to do our whole duty.

The vote of Georgia for Cass and Butler is as sure as any future event unless some untoward events happen to the Democracy of Middle and Lower Georgia, for I assure you that the estimate of 6,000 majority is based upon probable and reliable data. . . .

Gilmer will be the banner county. In October she voted only 700 votes and gave 420 majority. She can easily vote 12 or 1,300 and her majority will be proportional.

SOURCE: Ulrich Bonnell Phillips, Editor, The Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1911, Volume 2: The Correspondence of Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stephens, and Howell Cobb, p. 130-1

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: November 21, 1863

We have further reports from the West, confirming the success of Longstreet. It is said he has taken 2200 prisoners, and is probably at Knoxville.

The President left the city this morning for Orange Court House, on a visit to Gen. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.

We are a shabby-looking people now — gaunt, and many in rags. But there is food enough, and cloth enough, if we had a Roman Dictator to order an equitable distribution.

The Secretary of War is destined to have an uncomfortable time. After assuring the Legislature and the people that provisions in transitu would not be impressed, it is ascertained that the agents of the Commissary-General are impressing such supplies, and the Secretary is reluctant to interfere, the Commissary-General being understood to have the support of the President.

A committee of the Grand Jury yesterday submitted a paper to the President, on the subject of provisions — indicating the proximity of famine, and deprecating impressments. The President sent it to the Secretary, saying Mr. Seddon would no doubt take measures to keep the people of Richmond from starving; and directing the Secretary to "confer" with him. But to-day he is off to the army, and perhaps some may starve before any relief can be afforded.

A genteel suit of clothes cannot be had now for less than $700. A pair of boots, $200—if good. I saw to-day, suspended from a window, an opossum dressed for cooking, with a card in its mouth, marked "price, $10." It weighed about four pounds. I luxuriated on parsnips to-day, from my own little garden.

A dollar in gold sold for $18 Confederate money, to-day. Our paper is constantly depreciating; and I think it is past redemption, unless we adopt Mr. Moseley's plan, and cause some six or eight hundred millions to be canceled, and fix a maximum price for all commodities necessary for the support of life. Congress will never agree upon any measure of relief. But if the paper money be repudiated, nevertheless we shall have our independence, unless the Southern people should become mad, divided among themselves. Subjugation of a united people, such as ours, occupying such a vast extent of territory, is impossible. The tenure of its occupation by an invading army would always be uncertain, and a million would be required to hold it.

A hard rain commenced falling this evening, and continued in the night. This, I suppose, will put an end to operations in Virginia, and we shall have another respite, and hold Richmond at least another winter. But such weather must cause severe suffering among the prisoners on Belle Isle, where there are not tents enough for so large a body of men. Their government may, however, now consent to an exchange. Day before yesterday some 40,000 rations were sent them by the United States flag-boat — which will suffice for three days, by which time I hope many will be taken away. Our Commissary-General Northrop has but little meat and bread for them, or for our own soldiers in the field. It must be confessed they have but small fare, and, indeed, all of us who have not been "picking and stealing," fare badly. Yet we have quite as good health, and much better appetites than when we had sumptuous living.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 101-2

In The Review Queue: Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy

Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship

and the Limits of Liberal Democracy

By Jon D. Schaff

This bold, groundbreaking study of American political development assesses the presidency of Abraham Lincoln through the lenses of governmental power, economic policy, expansion of executive power, and natural rights to show how Lincoln not only believed in the limitations of presidential power but also dedicated his presidency to restraining the scope and range of it.

Though Lincoln’s presidency is inextricably linked to the Civil War, and he is best known for his defense of the Union and executive wartime leadership, Lincoln believed that Congress should be at the helm of public policy making. Likewise, Lincoln may have embraced limited government in vague terms, but he strongly supported effective rule of law and distribution of income and wealth. Placing the Lincoln presidency within a deeper and more meaningful historical context, Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy highlights Lincoln’s significance in the development of American power institutions and social movement politics.

Using Lincoln’s prepresidential and presidential words and actions, this book argues that decent government demands a balance of competing goods and the strong statesmanship that Lincoln exemplified. Instead of relying too heavily on the will of the people and institutional solutions to help prevent tyranny, Jon D. Schaff proposes that American democracy would be better served by a moderate and prudential statesmanship such as Lincoln’s, which would help limit democratic excesses.

Schaff explains how Lincoln’s views on prudence, moderation, natural rights, and economics contain the notion of limits, then views Lincoln’s political and presidential leadership through the same lens. He compares Lincoln’s views on governmental powers with the defense of unlimited government by twentieth-century progressives and shows how Lincoln’s theory of labor anticipated twentieth-century distributist economic thought. Schaff’s unique exploration falls squarely between historians who consider Lincoln a protoprogressive and those who say his presidency was a harbinger of industrialized, corporatized America.

In analyzing Lincoln’s approach, Abraham Lincoln’s Statesmanship and the Limits of Liberal Democracy rejects the idea he was a revolutionary statesman and instead lifts up Lincoln’s own affinity for limited presidential power, making the case for a modest approach to presidential power today based on this understanding of Lincoln’s statesmanship. As a counterpoint to the contemporary landscape of bitter, uncivil politics, Schaff points to Lincoln’s statesmanship as a model for better ways of engaging in politics in a democracy.

About the Author

Jon D. Schaff is a professor of political science at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. His essays have been published in several books and journals including Perspectives on Political Science and South Dakota History.

ISBN 978-0809337378, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2019, Hardcover, 280 Pages, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $34.50.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: November 5, 1861

Went into camp on Taylor's farm, about a mile west of the city, and Col. Upton has christened it Camp Hicks, in honor of Gov. Hicks, the present loyal governor of Maryland. The 51st New York is encamped near by us, and that regiment, with the 21st Massachusetts, were the only troops here before us.

SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 11

Diary of Corporal David L. Day: November 11, 1861

We are now fairly settled in camp life. Several other regiments from Massachusetts and other states are now with us, and drills, inspections and reviews are the order of the day. One can scarcely get time to wash his face, and take, as Gen. Scott said, a hasty plate of soup, before the drum calls to some kind of duty.

SOURCE: David L. Day, My Diary of Rambles with the 25th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, p. 11

Captain Charles Wright Wills: July 14, 1864

July 14, 1864.

Another hot day. We marched down to the river at Roswell and crossed it, and have gone into camp on the bank a mile above town.

This Roswell is a beautiful little town, such splendid trees all through it. Our cavalry four or five days ago destroyed some very large factories here. Judging from the ruins, they were more extensive than anything of the kind I ever before saw. About 1,000 women were employed in them; 700 of them were taken by our folks and sent to Marietta; I don't know what for. Can't hear of any enemy here.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 279

Captain Charles Wright Wills: July 15, 1864

July 15, 1864.

This is a glorious place. The current in the river is very swift, and it is the nicest stream to bathe in imaginable. I've a mind to stay here and have my meals brought to me. Expect we will catch some nice fish after they get over being scared at having so many Yanks bobbing around with them. It is too hot to write, and altogether too hot to enjoy good health, except in swimming. We are all glad to hear of those raids into Pennsylvania and Maryland. Go in Imboden and Early.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 279

Captain Charles Wright Wills: July 16, 1864

July 16, 1864, 76th of the Campaign.

I can hear no firing to-day, but we are so far from the right or center that we could hear nothing less than a 13-inch mortar. I will tell you all I know of the situation just to let you know how little a soldier knows of what is going on. In papers of this date you will see twice as much. The 17th Army Corps lies on the right bank of the river, and to the right of the army, six miles below the railroad crossing, skirmishing with the enemy on the opposite side. Next comes the 20th, 14th and 4th on the same side, the 4th lying across the railroad four miles, further up the 23d crossed the river, but probably only holds a position, as we do. Then the 16th Corps joins the left of the 23d, and the 15th last, both on the left bank. Not being perfect in heavy strategy, I can't exactly see the point, but no doubt Sherman does. I suppose the 4th, 14th and 20th Corps will cross near the railroad bridge, and be the first to occupy Atlanta. If we can't get to give Johnston a sound thrashing, I don't care about marching another step until fall. Health of the regiment still good, but we are expecting sickness soon. We have had a terrific thunderstorm, killed five men and wounded eight in the 18th Missouri, and killed a teamster and some mules. I never saw but one or two more severe ones.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 279-80

In The Review Queue: Where Valor Proudly Sleeps

Where Valor Proudly Sleeps:

A History of Fredericksburg

National Cemetery, 1866–1933

By Donald C. Pfanz

Many books discuss in great detail what happened during Civil War battles. This is one of the few that investigate what happened to the remains of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Where Valor Proudly Sleeps explores a battle’s immediate and long-term aftermath by focusing on Fredericksburg National Cemetery, one of the largest cemeteries created by the U.S. government after the Civil War. Pfanz shows how legislation created the National Cemetery System and describes how the Burial Corps identified, collected, and interred soldier remains as well as how veterans, their wives, and their children also came to rest in national cemeteries. By sharing the stories of the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, its workers, and those buried there, Pfanz explains how the cemetery evolved into its current form, a place of beauty and reflection.

About the Author

Donald C. Pfanz has written five books, including Richard S. Ewell: A Soldier’s Life and War So Terrible: A Popular History of the Battle of Fredericksburg. In his thirty-two-year career with the National Park Service, he worked at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park, Petersburg National Battlefield Park, and Fort Sumter National Monument. 

ISBN 978-0809336456, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2018, Paperback, 272 pages, Photographs, Illustrations, Tables, Appendices, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $26.50.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Colonel Allnard B. Nettleton: The Grand Review At Washington, On May 23 and 24, 1865

This historic event, briefly covered in the diary, under dates of May 23 and 24, 1865, had had no precedent in the past and is not likely to have a parallel in future. It marked officially the close of the great war, the restoration of peace, the preservation of the American Republic from destruction, and the gratitude of the American people for a result perpetual and inestimable in its value not only to them but to all mankind.

The troops participating in the Review numbered nearly Two Hundred Thousand Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery, being the veteran soldiers of (1) the Armies of the Potomac and James commanded by Generals Grant and Meade; (2) the Army of the Shenandoah, commanded by General Sheridan, including Sheridan's Cavalry Corps which in full ranks numbered 16,000 troopers; (3) Sherman's Army, which he had led victoriously from the Ohio River, through Kentucky, Tennessee and “through Georgia to the Sea,” and thence through the Carolinas and Virginia to Washington. On the two successive days mentioned this combined host marched the length of Pennsylvania Avenue, and in front of the White House passed in review and saluted President Andrew Johnson and the distinguished group of men mentioned in Major Tenney's diary including Gen. U. S. Grant, Gen. W. T. Sherman, Generals Meade and Sheridan, Howard, Slocum, Logan, and Admirals Farragut and Porter. With these were also the members of the Cabinet including especially Secretary of War, E. M. Stanton and Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles.

This event was the signal for the disbandment and return to civil life of the nearly One Million volunteer soldiers and sailors then on the rolls of the Army and Navy of the United States. This was accomplished progressively and very rapidly, as fast as the troops could be paid off and transported to their homes.

Much to the dissatisfaction of the Second Ohio Cavalry that regiment was retained in service nearly six months after the close of hostilities, being sent to southwestern Missouri to look after some disorderly elements there, as mentioned under dates of May 27 to June 27, 1865, in the diary. — A. B. N.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 164-5

Diary of Captain Luman Harris Tenney: May 25, 1865

Nettleton returned to camp early. I went out at noon. Met M. and A. on Penn. Ave. Went up to Uncle's — discouraged. Started for Alexandria but was too late. M. and I went up to a restaurant for supper.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 165

Diary of Captain Luman Harris Tenney: May 26, 1865

Talked of going to camp today, but too rainy. Got a carriage and we six rode over to Arlington Heights, the forts, Arlington House and Freedmen's School. Wrote to Mother. Had a good time. Went to theatre.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 165