GRANT AND SHERMAN. 721 CHAPTER XXVIII. GRANT AS GENERAL OF THE ARMY AND SECRETARY OF WAR The Friendship of Grant and Sherman.-General Grant's Tour in the Southern States. Grant's Reply to General Lee's Application for Pardon.-Grant appointed General of the Army.-The Military Districts.-Appointed Secretary of War ad interim.-Grant's Protest against Removal of Sheridan and others.Correspondence with the President.-Nomination by States for the Presidency. NOTHING can be more striking or admirable than the cordial friendship which has prevailed between Generals Grant and Sherman throughout the war. The following correspondence, which occurred over three years ago, though it now comes to light through a recently published volume of the Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, is interesting as an illustration of their relations: (PRIVATE.) NASHVILLE, TENN., March 4, 1864. DEAR SHERMAN:-The bill reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General in the army has become a law, and my name has been sent to the Senate for the place. I now receive orders to report to Washington immediately in person, which indicates either a confirmation, or a likelihood of confirination. I start in the morning to comply with the order, but I shall say very distinctly on my arrival there, that I accept no appointment which will require me to make that city my head-quarters. This, however, is not what I started out to write about. While I have been eminently successful in this war, in at least the confidence of the public, no one feels more than me how much of this success is due to the energy, skill, and harmonious putting forth of that energy and skill, of those whom it has been my good fortune to have occupying a subordinate position under me. There are many officers to whom these remarks are applicable in a greater or less degree, proportionate to their ability as soldiers. But what I want is to express my thanks to you and McPherson, as the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had of success. How far your advice and suggestions have been of assistance, you know. How far your execution of whatever has been given you to do entitles you to the reward I am receiving, you cannot know as well as me. I feel all the gratitude this letter would express, giving it the most flattering construction. The word "you" I use in the plural, meaning it for McPherson also. I should write to him, and will some day; but, starting in the morning, I do not know that I will find time just now. Your friend, U. S. GRANT, Major-General. (PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.) NEAR MEMPHIS, March 10, 1864. DEAR GENERAL:-I have your more than kind and characteristic letter of the 4th. I will send a copy to General McPherson at once. You do yourself injustice and us too much honor in assigning to us so large a share of the merits which have led to your high advancement. I know you approve the friendship I have ever confessed to you, and will permit me to continue, as heretofore, to manifest it on all proper occasions. You are now Washington's legitimate successor, and occupy a place of almost dangerous elevation. But if you continue, as heretofore, to be yourselfsimple, honest, and unpretending-you will enjoy through life the respect and love of friends, and the homage of millions of human beings, that will award you a larger share in securing to them and their descendants a government of law and stability. I repeat, you do General McPherson and myself too much honor. At Belmont you manifested your traits; neither of us being near. At Fort Donelson, also, you illustrated your whole character. I was not near, and General McPherson in too subordinate a capacity to influence you. Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost cowed by the terrible array of anarchal elements that presented themselves at every point; but that admitted the ray of light which I have followed since. I belie you are as brave, patriotic, and just, as the great prototype, Washington; as unselfish, kind-hearted, and honest, as a man should be; but your chief characteristic is the simple faith in success you have always manifested, which I can liken to nothing else than the faith a Christian has in his Saviour. This faith gave you victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also, when you have completed your best preparations you go into battle without hesitation, as at Chattanooga-no doubts, no reserves, and I tell you it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew, wherever I was, that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come, if alive. My only points of doubt were in your knowledge of grand strategy and books of science and history; but I confess your common sense seems to have supplied all these. Now, as to the future. Don't stay in Washington. Halleck is better qualified than you to stand the buffets of intrigue and policy. Come West. Take to yourself the whole Mississippi Valley. Let us make it dead sure, and I tell you the Atlantic slopes and Pacific shores will follow its destiny as sure as the limbs of a tree live or die with the main trunk. We have done much, but still much remains. Time and time's influence are with us. We could almost afford to sit still and let these influences work. Even in the seceded States your word now would go further than a President's proclamation or an Act of Congress. For God's sake and your country's sake, come out of Washington. I foretold to General Halleck, before he left Corinth, the inevitable result; and I now exhort you to come out West. Here lies the seat of the coming empire, and from the West, when our task is done, we will make short work of Charleston and Richmond and the impoverished coast of the Atlantic. General GRANT. Your sincere friend, W. T. SHERMAN. Soon after the opening of Congress, in December, 1865, a special Message from the President was read in response to à resolution calling for "information as to the condition of the States lately in rebellion." This Message was accompanied by a report from General Grant, who had been making a brief tour through GRANT'S TOUR IN THE SOUTH. 723 portions of the South, "in order to see what changes were necessary in the disposition of the military forces of the country, and to learn, as far as possible, the feelings and intentions of the citizens of those States toward the General Government." The following are some of the leading points in his report:-- "I am satisfied that the mass of the thinking men of the South accept the present situation of affairs in good faith. The questions of slavery and of the right of a State to secede from the Union they regard as having been settled by the highest tribunal-arms-that men can resort to." It is universally admitted, says General Grant, that it is not practicable at present to withdraw the military entirely from the South. The force in the interior should be white, because "the presence of black troops, lately slaves, demoralizes labor, both by their advice and by furnishing in their camps a resort for the freedmen for long distances around;" and "colored troops must be kept in bodies sufficient to defend themselves;" while "white troops generally excite no opposition, and therefore a small number of them can maintain order in a given district." General Grant spoke cautiously respecting the Freedmen's Bureau. He said that, "In some form it is an absolute necessity until civil law is established and enforced, securing to the freedmen their rights and full protection, and "everywhere General Howard, the able head of the Bureau, made friends by the just and fair instructions and advice which he gave.' But added: "Conversations with officers connected with the Bureau led me to think that in some of the States its affairs have not been conducted with good judgment or economy, and that the belief widely spread among the freedmen of the Southern States, that the lands of their former owners will, at least in part, be divided among them, has come from the agents of this Bureau. This belief is seriously interfering with the willingness of the freedmen to make contracts for the ensuing year. . . . Many, perhaps the majority, of the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau advise the freedmen that by their own industry they must expect to live. To this end they endeavor to secure employment for them, and to see that both contracting parties comply with their engagements. In some cases, I am sorry to say, the freedman's mind does not seem to be disabused of the idea that the freedman has the right to live without care or provision for the future. The effect of the belief in the division of the lands is idleness and accumulation in camps, towns, and cities." The general conclusions are, that "It cannot be expected that the opinions held by men at the South for years can be changed in a day; and therefore the freedmen require, for a few years, not only laws to protect them, but the fostering care of those who will give them good counsel, and upon whom they can rely;" and that the Freedmen's Bureau, "while separated from the military establishment of the country, requires all the expense of a separate organization." General Grant would have "every officer on duty with troops in the Southern States regarded as an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau; and then have all orders from the head of the Bureap sent through the Department commanders. This," he says, "would create a responsibility that would cause uniformity of action throughout the South; would insure the orders and instructions from the head of the Bureau being carried out; and would relieve from duty and pay a large number of employees of the Government." This Message of the President, and the report of General Grant, elicited an animated debate in the Senate. On the 20th of June, 1866, General Grant replied to General Lee's application for pardon, as follows: General R. E. LEE, Richmond, Va. : HEAD-QUARTERS ARMIES UNITED STATES, GENERAL:-Your communication of date the 13th inst., stating the steps you had taken after reading the President's proclamation of the 29th ult., with the view of complying with its provisions when you learned that, with others, you were to be indicted for treason by the Grand Jury at Norfolk; that you had supposed that the officers and men of the army of Northern Virginia were, by the terms of their surrender, protected by the United States Government from molestation, so long as they conformed to its conditions; that you were ready to meet any charges that might be preferred against you, and did not wish to avoid trial, but that if you were correct as to the protection granted by your parole, and were not to be prosecuted, you desired to avail yourself of the President's amnesty and proclamation, and inclosing an application therefor, with the request that in the event it be acted on, has been received, and forwarded to the Secretary of War with the following opinion indorsed thereon: •In my opinion the officers and men paroled at Appomattox Court-House, and since, upon the same terms given to Lee, cannot be tried for treason so long as they observe the terms of their parole." This is ny understanding. Good faith, as well as true policy, dictates that we should observe the condition of that convention. Bad faith on the part of the Government, or a construction of that convention subjecting the officers to trial for treason, would produce a feeling of insecurity in the minds of all the officers and men. If so disposed, they might even regard such an infraction of terms by the Government as an entire release from all obligations on their part. I will state further, that the terms granted by me met with the hearty approval of the President at the time, and of the country generally. The action of Judge Underwood in Norfolk has already had an injurious effect, and I would ask that he be ordered to quash all indictments found against paroled prisoners of war, and to desist from further prosecution of them. U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. The office of General of the U. S. Army having been created by Congress, Lieutenant-General Grant was nominated by the President, July 25, 1866, as General, which was confirmed by the Senate. On the 21st of November, 1866, General Grant made the following brief report to the Secretary of War : HEAD-QUARTERS ARMIES UNITED STATES, Since my report for 1865, the volunteer force then in service has been almost entirely replaced by the regular army, mostly organized under the Act of Congress, approved 28th of July, 1866. The Report of the Adjutant-General of the Army gives exact statistics on this subject. CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. 725 CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. Passing from civil war of the magnitude of that in which the United States has been engaged to government through the courts, it has been deemed necessary to keep a military force in all the lately rebellious States, to insure the execution of law, and to protect life and property against the acts of those who, as yet, will acknowledge no law but force. This class has proven to be much smaller than could have been expected after such a conflict. It has, however, been sufficiently formidable to justify the course which has been pursued. On the whole, the condition of the States that were in rebellion against the Government may be regarded as good enough to warrant the hope, that but a short time will intervene before the bulk of the troops now occupying them can be sent to our growing territories, where they are so much needed. On the 12th of July, 1867, in response to a call from the House, the Secretary of War furnished copies of all the correspondence between the Government and the several commanders of the military districts. The following is an abstract of the most important of them : May 22.-The Secretary of War, with the indorsement of General Grant, directed each commander to be prepared to prevent or suppress all riots and breaches of the peace, especially in the towns and cities. General Pope wrote that he had written an order, deposing Governor Jenkins, of Georgia, on account of his publicly advising the people of that State not to register themselves. This order had been sent to General Grant for his approval; but, before a reply had been received, the Governor made such explanations and promises as induced General Pope to withdraw the order. General Grant, in transmitting this information to the Secretary of War, said the conduct of Governor Jenkins demonstrates how possible it was for discontented civil officers of nonconstructed States to defeat the laws of Congress, unless the district commanders have power to suspend their functions. He thought that power was clearly conferred by the bill upon the commanders to use or not, at their discretion, the provisional machinery set up in those States without the authority of Congress. He asked an early opinion upon the subject. Generals Pope and Sheridan asked whether the opinion of the Attorney-General as to registration, &c., is to be considered an order binding upon them. Grant replied that it had not been put in the form of an order, and presumed that it was not so intended by the President. The commanders were directed to put their own construction upon the Military Bill, until ordered to do otherwise. General Ord transmitted the instructions which he had given for the Boards of Registry in his district, directing |