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Correspondence Between General
Grant and President Johnson.
IV.asulsoroN, February 4,1868
The Speaker laid before the House
a communication from the War De
partment, closing with the following
document:
War Department, Feb. 4, 1868—Sta :
In answer to the resolution of the
House of Representatives of the Bth
ult., I transmit herewith copies fur
nished me by General Grantor the cor
respondence between him and the Pres
ident relating to the Secretary of War,
which he reports to be all the corres
pondence he had With the President on
the subject. I have had no 6orrespon
deuce with the President since the 12th
of August last. After the action of the
Senate on his alleged reasons for my
suspension from the office of Secretary
of War, I hav6 resumed the duties of
that office as required by the act of
Congress, and have continued to dis
charge theme without any personal or
written communication with the Pres
ident. No orders have been issued
from this Department in the name of
the President with my knowledge, and
I have received no orders from him.
The correspondence sent herewith em
braces all the correspondence known
to mo on tho subject referred to iu the
resolution of the House of Representa
tives.
I have the honor to be, Sir, with
great respect, your obedient servant,
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
lion. Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
Headquarters Army of the United
States, IVashington, D. C., January 25th,
1868. His Excellency Andrew Tohnson,
President of the United States. Sin:
On the 24th inst., I requested you to
give me, in writing, the instructions
which you bad previously given me
verbally, not to obey any order from
lion. B. M. Stanton, Secretary of War,
unless I know it came from yourself.
To this written request I received a
message that has left no doubt in my
mind of your intention. To prevent
any possible misunderstanding, there
fore, I renew the request that you will
give mo written instructions, and un
til they are received will suspend ac
tion on your verbal ones.
I am compelled to ask those instruc
tions in writing in consequence of the
many gross misrepresentations affect
ing My personal honor circulated
through the press for the last fortnight,
purporting to come from the President,
of conversations which occurred either
with the President, privately in his
office, or the Cabinet mooting. What
is written admits of no misunderstand
ing. In view of the misrepresenta
tions referred to it will bo well to state
M) facts in the case. Some time after
I assumed the duties of Secretary of
War ad interim the President asked my
views as to the course Mr. Stanton
would have to pursue, in case the San-
Ate should not concur in his suspension,
to obtain possession of this office. My
reply was. in substance, that Mr. Stan
ton would have to appeal to the Courts
to reinstate Lim, illustrating my posi
tion by citing the grounds I had taken
in the case of the Baltimore Police
Commissioners. In that ease I did not
,doubt the technical right Of Gov. Swann
to remove the old Commissioners and
.appoint their successors. As the old
Commissioners refused to give up,
however, 1 contended that no resource
was left but to appeal to the Courts.
Finding that the President was desir
ous of keeping Mr. Stanton out of of
fice, whether sustained in the suspen
sion or not, I stated I had not looked
particularly into" the Tenure of Office
bill, but that what 1 bad stated was a
general principle, and HI should change
my mind in this particular case I would
inform him of the fact. Subsequently,
on reading the Tenure of Office bill
closely, I found I could not, without
violation of law, refuse to vacate the
office of Secretary of War the moment
Mr. Stanton was reinstated by the
Senate, even though the President or
/dared me to retain it, (which he never
did.) Taking this view of the subject,
and learning on Saturday, the 11th
inst., that the Senate had taken up the
subject of Mr. Stanton's suspension, af
ter some conversation with Lieutenant
.General Sherman and some members
,of my staff, in which I stated the law
loft mo no discretion as to my action
should Mr. Stanton be reinstated, and
that I intended to inform the President.
I went to the President for the sole
purpose of making this decision
known, and I did make it so known.
In this I fulfilled the promise made
in our last_ proceeding conversa
tion on the subject. The President,
however, instead of accepting my view
of the requirements of the tenure of
office bill, contended ho had suspended
Mr. Stanton under authority given by
the Constitution, and that the same au
thority did not preclude him from re
porting, as an act of courtesy, his rea
,ions for the suspension to the Senate.
That having been appointed under au•
pority given by the Constitution, and
pot under an act of Congress, I could
not be governed by the act. I stated
:the law was binding in me, Constitu
tion or not, until set aside by the prop
er tribunal. An hour was consumed,
each reiterating his views on this sub
ject, until, getting late, the President
said he would see me again. I did not
agree to call again on Monday, nor at
any other definite time, nor was J sent
for by the President until the follow-
Tuesday. From the 11th inst., to
the Cabinet meeting on the 14th inst.,
a doubt neveilcintered my mind ahout,
the President fully understanding, my
position, namely, that if the Senate re
fused to concur in the suspension of
Mr. Stanton, my powers as Senretary
of War ad interim would cease, and Mr.
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WM. L.E; wi.S, HUGH LINDSAY', Publishers.
VOL, XXIII,
Stanton's right to resume at once the
functions of his office would, under the
law, bo indisputable, and I acted ac
cordingly. With Mr. Stanton I bad no
communication, direct or indirect, on
' the subject of his reinstatement during
his suspension I know it had been
recommended to the President to send
the name of Governer Cox, of Ohio,
for Secretary of War ;and thus save all
embarrassment, a proposition that I
sincerely hoped be would entertain fa
vorably, General Sherman seeing the
President at my particular request to
urge this. On the lath, on- Tuesday,
Mr. Stanton re-entered the office of the
Secretary of War. General Comstock,
who bad carried my-official letter an
nouncing that by 'Mr. Stanton's' rein
statement by the Senate Iliad ceased
to be Secretary of War, ad
. interim, and
who saw the President open and read
the communication, brought back to
me from the President a message that
he wanted to see mo that day at Cabinet
meeting, after I had made known the
fact that I was no longer Secretary of
War ad interim. At this meeting, after
opening it as though I were a member
of his Cabinet, when reminded ef the
notification already given him that I
was no longer Secretary of War ad in
terim, the President gave a version of
the conversation alluded to already in
this communication. It was asserted
that in both conversations I had agreed
to hold on to the office of Secretary of
War until displaced by• the Courts or
resigned, so as to place the President
whore he would have been had I nev
er accepted the office. After hearing
the President through, I stated our
conversation substantially as given in
this letter.
I will add that my conversation be
fore tho Cabinet embraced other mat
ters not pertinent here, and is, there.
fore, left out. lin no wise admitted
the correctness of the President's state
ment of our conversation, though to
soften the evident contradiction of my
statement, I said, alluding to our first
conversation on the subject, the Presi
dent might have understood me the
way he said, namely, that I had prom
ised to resign, if I did not resist the
reinstatement. I made no such state
ment.
•
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
Your obedient serv't.,
U. S. GRANT, General
Headquarters Army of the United
States,
January 24, 1868—ILis Excel.
lency Andrew Johnson, President of
the United States—Stn. :—I have the
honor Very respectfully to request to
have in writing the order which the
President gave me verbally, on Sun
day, the 19th inst., to disregard the
orders of the Hen. E. K. Stanton as
Secretary of War, until I know from
the President himself that they were
his orders.
I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
Your obodientserv.'t
U. S. GRANT, General.
The following is the endorsement on
the above note :
As requested in this communication,
Gen. Grant is instructed in writing not
to obey any order from the War De
partment assumed to be issued by the
direction of the President, unless such
order is known by the General Com
manding the Armies of 'the United
States to have been authorized by the
Executive.
Jan. 29th, 1868
Headquarters Army of the United
States, Washington, D. C, January 30,
1867.- —His Excellency Andrew John
son, President of the United States—
Six :—I have the honor to aeknowl7
edge the return of my note of the 24th
inst., with your endorsement thereon
that lam not to obey any order .from
the War Department assumed to be
issued by order of the President, un
less such order is known by mo to be
authorized by the Executive, and in
reply thereto to say that lam inform
ed by the Secretary of War that he
has not received from the Executive
any order or instructions limiting or
impairing his authority to issue orders
to the army, as heretofore has been
his practice under the law and customs
of the Department. While his author
ity to the War Department is not
cotintermandedit will be satisfactory
evidence to me that any orders issued
from the War Department by direc
tion of tho President are authorized by
the Executive.
I have tho honor to bo very respect
fully your obedient servant,
U. S. GRANT, General.
Executive Mansion, Jan. 31, 1868.
GENERAL :—I have received your com
munication of the 28th inst., renowing
your request of the 30th, that I should
repeat in a written form, my verbal
instructions of the 19th join., v iz That you obey no order from E.
Stanton, Secretary of War, unless you
have information that it was issued by
the President's direction. In submit
ting this request, with wiiich cqm
plied on the 2pth inst., you. take occa
sion fe Allude to recent publications in
reference to the circumstances con
nected with the venation by yourself
of the of;dce of Seeretary of War ad
interim, and with a ykow ef correcting
the statement which you term gross
misrepresentations / and give at Length
your own recollection of the facts un
der which, vittLoilt, thp pmetion of the
?resident, from whom you had receiv
ed and accepted the appointment, you
yielded Vie pepartn l opp of War to the
presoup Tptn.hent. 4.8 Qtated in your
nommunioution, some time after yqu
had assumed the Lluties as Secretary of
War ad it!,.teritn, we intercharged views
respecting the course that should be
Pursued in:the,ovent,:of thencri-conour
ranee by the Senate in the suspension
of Mr. Stanton. I sought that inter
view, calling .myself at the War De
partment. My sole object in then
bringing the subject to your attention
was to ascertain what would bo your
own action should such an attempt be
mado for his restoration to the War
Department. That object was accom
plished, for the interview terminated
with the distinct understanding that
if under reflection yon should prefer
not to become a party to the contro
versy, or should conclude it would- bp
your duty to surrender the Depart
ment to Mr. Stanton, upon action in
his favor by the Senate, you wore to
return the offieo to me prior to a de
' cision by the Senate; in order that if I
desired to do se I might designate
some ono to succeed you. It must have
been apparent to you that had not this
understanding been reached, it was
my purpose to relieve you from furth
er discharge of duties as Secretary of
War ad interim, and to appoint some
other person in that capacity. Other
conversations on the subject ensued,
all having on my part the same objeot
and leading to the same conclusion as
tho first. It is not necessary, how
ever, to refer to any of them, except
ing that of the 11th inst., mentioned in
your communication. As it was then
known that the Senate had proceeded
in the ease of Mr. Stanton, I was anxi
ous to learn your determination. Af
ter a protracted interview, during
which the provisions of the Tenure of
Office bill were fully discussed, you
said that as it bad been agreed upon
in our first conference you would eith
er return the office to my possession
in time to enable me to appoint a suc
cessor before final action by the Sen
ate upon Mr. Stanton's suspension, or
would remain at its head awaiting a
decision by judicial proceedings. It
was then understood there would bo a
further conference on Monday, by
which time I supposed you would be
prepared to inform me of your final
decision. You failed, however, to ful
fill the engagement, and on Tuesday
notified me in writing of the receipt' of
your official notification of the action of
the Senate in reference to Mr. Stanton
and at the same time informed me
that according to the act regulating
the tenure of certain civil offices your
funotions of Secrotary of War ad inter
im. ceased from the moment of receipt
of notice. You thus, in disregard of
the understanding between us, vacated
the office without havin g given notice
of your intent to do so., It is but just
to say, however, that in your commu
nication you claim you did inform me
of your purpose, and thus fulfilled the
promise mado in our last preceding
conversation on the subject. The fact
that such a promise existed is evidence
of an arrangement of the kind I have
mentioned. You had found in our first
conference that the President was de
sirious of keeping Mr. Stanton out of
office, whether sustained in the sus
pension or not. You know what rea
sons had induced the President to ask
from you a promise. You also know
that in case your views of duty did
not accord with his own convictions, it
was his purpose to fill your place by
another appointment. .Even ignoring
the existence of a positive understand.
ing between us, the conclusions were
plainly deducible from our various con
versations. It is certain, however,that
even under these circumstances you
did not offer to return the place to my
possession, bat according to your own
statement placed yourself in a position
where, could I have anticipated your
action, I would have boon compelled
to ask you, as I was compelled to ask
of your predecessor in the War De
partment, a letter of resignation, or to
resort to the more disagreeable expe
dient Of suspending yo t by the ap
pointment of a successor. As stated
in your letter, the nomination of Gov
ernor Cox, of Ohio, for Secretary of
War was suggested to me. This ap
pointment, as Mr. Stanton's successor,
was urged in your name and it was
said that his selection would save fur
ther embarrassment. I did not think
that in tho selection of a Cabinet offi
cer I shout be trammelled by such con
siderations. I was prepared to take
the responsibility of deciding the ques
tion in accordance with my ideas of
constitutional-duties, and having de
termined upon a course which I deem
ed right and proper' was anxious to
learn the steps you would take, should
the possession of the War Department
be demanded by Mr. Stanton. Had
your action boon in conformation with
the understanding botwoon gs, do
not believe that the embarrassment
would harp attained its present pro
portions, or that the probability or its
repetition would havp been so groat,—
know that with a view to an early
termination of a state of affairs so do.
trimental to the public interests, you
voluntarily offered, both on Monday,
the 15th inst., and on tho succeeding
Sunday, to call upon Mr. Stanton and
tugs) noon him that the good of the
service required his resignation. I con : .
fess I considered your proposal as a sort
of reparation for the failure on your
part to act fg accordance with an un
derstanding more than once repeated,
and which Ithotight received your fill
assent, and under which you could
have returned to no the office which I
had conferred upon you, thus saving
yourself from embarrassment and leav
ing the responsibility whore it proper
ly belonged, with the President, who
is accountablo for the faithful execu
tion of the incr. I have not yet boon
informed by You wliotbpr, ' ap twice
proposed by y'ourapit, non bad called
Upon Mr. Stanton and made an effort
to induce him to voluntarily resign
frUBS the War flepartment.
Peolsolado your communication
with a reference to our conversation
at the mooting of tho Cabinet, hold at
the 14th inst. In your account of what
there occurred you say : "that after.
ANDREW JOHNSON
HUNTINGDON, PA„ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1868.
-PERSEVERE.-
the President had given his version of
our previous conversation, you stated,
substantially as given in your letter,
and that you in no wise admitted the
correctness of his statements, though
to soften the evident contradiction my
statement made, I said, alluding to our
first communication on the subject, the
President might have understood in
the way ho said, namely, that 1 had
promised to resign if I did not resist
the reinstatement. I made no such
promise."
My recollection of what then trans
pired is diametrically tho reverse of
your narration in the presence of the 1 1
Cabinet. I asked you first, if, in a
conversation which took place shortly
-after your appointment-as Secretary
of War ad interim, y ou did agree to re
main at the head of the War Depart
ment and abide any judicial proceed
ings that might follow the non-concur
rence of the Senate in Mr. Stanton's
suspension, or should you not wish to
become involved in such controversy,
put me in the same position with refe
rence to the office previous to your ap
pointment by returning it to me in
time to anticipate such notion by the
Senate. This you admitted.
Second. I then asked you if at the
time of the conference on the preceding
Saturday I had not, to avoid misun
derstanding, requested you to state
what you intended to do, and, further,
if in reply to that inquiry you had not
referred to my former conversations,
Baying that from them I understood
your position, and that your action
would be consistent with the under,
standing which had been reached. To
these questions you also replied in the
affirmative.
Third. I next asked if at the conolu
sion of our interview on Saturday it
was understood that wo were to have
another• conference on Monday, before
final action by the Senate in the case
of Mr. Stanton. You replied that such
was the—understanding, but that you
did not suppose the Senate would act
so soon ; that on Monday you had been
engaged in a conference with General
Sherman, and were occupied with ma
ny little matters, and asked if General
Sherman had not cialltid on that day.
What relevancy General Shorman's
visit to me on Monday had with'the
purpose for which you were to have
called, I ant at a loss to perceive, as he
certainly did not inform me whether
you had determined to retain the office
or to afford me opportunity to appoint
a successor in advance of any attemp•
tod re-instatementof Mr. Stanton.
This account of what'passed between
us at the Cabinet meeting on the 14th
instant widely differs front that con
tained in your communication, for it
shows that instead of having stated
our conversations as given in tho letter
which has made this reply necessary,
you admitted that my recital of them
was entirely accurate. Sincerely anx
ious, however, to be correct in my
statements, I have to-day read this
narration of what occurred on the 14th
inst., to the members of the Cabinet
who wore then present. They with
out exception agree in its accuracy.
It is only necessary to add that on
Wednesday morning, the 15th, you
called on me in company ; with Lieut.
General Sherman. After some preli
minary conversation you remarked
that an article in the National• latch&
geneer of that date did you much in
justice. I replied I had not read the
latelligeneer of that morning. You
told me it was your intention to urge
Mr.• Stanton to resign his office after
you bad withdrawn. I carefully road
the article of which you spoke and
found its statement of the understand
ing between us was substantially cor:
rect. On the 17th I caused it to be
read to four of tho five members who
wore present at our conference on the
14th, and they concurred in the gene
ral accuracy of the statements respect
ing our conversation on that occasion.
In reply to your communication I
have doomed it proper to prevent fur
ther misunderstanding to make this
simple recital of facts.
Very respectfully yours,
ANDREW SOEINSON.
General U. S. Grant, Commanding
U. S. Army.
Headquarters of the Army of the Uni
ted States, Washington, D. C., Fob. 3,
1863.—11 is Excellency, Andrew John
son, President of the United States—
Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your communication of
the net ult.. in answer to mine of the
23th ult. After a careful reading and
comparison of the articles over the in
itials of "J. B. S." in the New York
World of the 27th ult., purporting to
he based upon your statement and that
of thp members of the Cabinet therein
named, J find it only to be but a reite
ration, only somewhat more in detail,
of the many and gross misrepresenta
tions contained in these articles and
which my statement of facts sot forth
in my letter of the 24. th ult., was in
tended to correct, And lioroia I reassert
the correctness of my statements in
that letter, anytl4ng in yours, in re
ply, to the contrary not!.vithstanding.
I confess my surprise that the Cabinet
officers referred to should so greatly
Misapprehend the facts he the matter
of adinissions alleged to have been
made by me at the Cahinet meeting
op the 140 'ult., as tosuffer th,eir names
tq ho Made the basis of the pimps in
the news raper article referred to, or
to agree to the acopraey, us you affirm
they do, of your aedount of what oc
curred at that meeting. you know
that wo parted op t4o 11th ult. with
out any promise prOuy pad, expressed
or.implied, to the effect that I would
hold On to the office - of S.eprotary of
War ad interim against t4m option of
the Senate, o x ciep)iping tq go so,
1Foo).4 agrronder it to ypu before such
action was had, qr that I would see
you again at any fixed -time on the
subject. The performance of the pro
mises alleged to have been made by
me would have involved a resistance
of the law, and an inconsistency with
tlm,whole history of my connection
with the suspension of Mr. Stanton.—
From our conversation, and my writ
ten protest of August 1, 1867, against
the removal of Mr. Stanton, you must
have known my greatest objection to
his removal was the Tear that some
one would be appointed in his stead
who would by opposition to the laws
relating to the restoration of the Sou
thern States to their proper relations
to the Government, embarrass the ar
my in the performance of the duties
especially imposed upon it by the laws,
and that it was to prevent such an ap.
pointment that I accepted the appoint
mont of Sooretary • of War, ad interim,
and not for the purpose of enabling
you to got rid of Mr. Stanton by with
holding it from him in opposition to
the law, or not doing so myself, sur
render it to ono who, as the statement
and assumptions in your cpmmunica.
tion plainly indicate, was sought.—
And it was to avoid this danger, as
well as to relieve you from tho per
sonal embarrassment in which Mr.
Stanton's reinstatement would place
you, that I urged the appointment 'of
Governor Cox, believing it would bo
agreeable to you and also to Mr. Stan
ton, satisfied as I was the good of tho
country, and not the ofb.ce, the latter
desired. On the 13th ult., in the pres
ence of General Sherman, I stated to
'you 1 thought Mr. Stanton would re.
sign, but did not say I would advise
him to do so. On the 18th I did agree
with General Sherman, and go and
advise him to that course, and on the
19th I had an interview with Mr. Stan
ton which led me to eonelude that any
advise would bo useless and so inform
od General Sherman. Before I con
sented to advise Mr. Stanton to resign,
I understood from him, in a conversa
tion on the subject, immediately on his
reinstatement, it was hie opinion that
the act of Congress : entitled an act
temporarily to supply vacancies in the
Executive Department in certain ea
ses,. approved February 20th, 1863,
was repealed by subsequent legislation,
whicih materially influenced my action.
Previous to this time I had no doubt
that the law of 1863 was still in force,
and notwithstanding my action a fuller
examination of the law leaves a ques
tion in my mind whether it is or isnot
repealed. This being the case, I could
not now advise his resignation lest the
same danger I apprehended in 'this
first removal might •follow.-- The
course you have it understood I agreed
to pursue was in violation of law, and
that by orders from you, while the
course I did pursue, and which I never
doubted you fully understood, was in
accordance with the law, and not in
disobedience to any orders of my supe
riors. And new, Mr. President, when
my honor as a soldier and integrity as a
man have been so violently assailed,
pardon me for saying that I can but
regard this whole matter, from begin
ning to end, as an attempt to involve
me in the resistance of the law for
which you hesitated to assume the re
sponsibility, in order thus to destroy
my character before the country. I
am in a measure confirmed in this eon
elusion by your recent orders directing
me to disobey orders from the Secre
tary of War, my superior and your
subordinate. Without having coun
termanded his authority, I am to die
obey. With the assurance, Mr. Presi
dent, that nothing less than a vindica
tion of' my personal honor and charac
ter could have induced this correspon
dence en my part, I have the honor to
be, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
U. S. GRANT, General.
Executive Mansion, Feb. 10, 1868.
GENERAL :—The extraordinary charac
ter of your letter of the 3d inst., would
seem to preclude any reply on my part,
but the manner in which publicity has
been given to the correspondence of
which that letter forms a part, and tho
grave questions which are involved, in
duce me to take this mode of giving as
a proper sequel to the communications
which have passed between us, the
statements of the five members of the
Cabinet, who were present on the oc
casion of our conversation on the 14th
ult. Copies of the !otters which they
have addressed to me upon the subject
aro accordingly herewith enclosed.
You speak of my letter of the let
ult., as a reiterative of the many and
gross misrepresentations contained in
certain newspaper articles, and reas
sert the correctness of the statements
contained in your communication of
the 28th ult., adding, and here I give
your own words, "anything in yours
in reply to it to the contrary notwith
standing,"
When a controversy,upon matters
of fact roaches the point to which this
has been brought, further assertion or
denial between the immediate parties
should cease, especially when upon
either side it loses the charaoter of the
respectful discussion which is required
by the relations, in wk.leh the parties
stand tp eseh other, and degenerates
in tone and temper. In such a case, if
there 10 nothing to rely upon Out the
opposing °tat: 3 1)100, eonernsions Janet
bo'draWn from those statements alone,
awl from whnteyer intrinsic probabil
ity they afford in favor of. or against
either of the parties. shoglci nut
shrink from - the controyerey, but for
tunately it is not left to this test alone.
Thep wore five Cabinpt °givers pres
ent at the conversation, ei the details of
whiph isere given in ray letter of the
28th ult., whip)} you allow yourself to
Say, pcotaine many and gross 'initial).
reseutations. These geuldenapn heard
that eonyereation, and havereacl my
statement. They speak for themselves,
an.d I'leave the proof without a word
of comment
TERMS, $2,00 a year in advanee.
( I deem it proper helot.° concluding
this communication, to notice some of
the statements contained in your letter.
You say that a performance of the
promises alleged to have boon made
by you to the President, would have
involved "a resistance to law and an
inconsistency with the whole history
of my connection with the suspension
of Mr. Stanton." You then state that
you had fears the President would, on
the removal of Stanton, appoint some
one in - his place who would embarrass
the army in carrying out the recon
struction acts, and add, "it was to pre
vent such an appointment thatl accep
ted the office Secretary of War ad inter
im, and not for the purpose of enabling
you to get rid of Mr. Stanton by my
withholding it from him in opposition
to the law, or, not doing so myself,
surrendering it to one who would, as
the statement and assumptions in your
communication; plainly indicate, was
sought."
First of all you here admit that from
the very beginning of what you term
your whole history of your connection
with Mr. Stanton's suspension . you in
tended to circumvent the President.
it was to carry out that intent that
you accepted the appointment. This
was in your mind at the time of your
acceptance. It was not then in obedi
enco to the order of your superior, as
has heretofore been supposed, that you
assumed the duties of the•office. You
knew it was the President's purpose to
prevent Mr. Stanton from resuming
the office of Secretary of War, and you
intended to defeat that purpose. You
i accepted the office, not in the interest
of the President, but of Mr. Stanton.
If this purpose, so entertained by you,
had boon confined to yourself; if, when
accepting the offico, you had done so
with a mental reservation to frustrate
the President, it, would have been a de
ception. In the ethics of some persons
such a course is allowable; but you can
not stand even upon that questionable
ground. The history of your connee ,
tion with this transaction, as written
by yourself, places you in a difficult
predicament, and shows that, you - not
only concealed your dqsign,from-the
President; hutimi,.. - eml him to suppose
that you would carry out his.purpose
to keep Hr. Stanton out of office, by
retaining it yourself after ail attempt
ed restoration by the Senate, so as to
require Mr, Stanton to establish his
right by Judicial decision. • , .
- I now give that part of this history
as written by yourself
_in your totter
of the 28th ult
"Some time after I resumed the - du
ties of Secretary of War ad interim the
President asked my views as to the
course Mr. Stanton would have to pur
sue in case the Senate should not con
cur in his suspension to obtain posses
sion of the office. My reply was, in
substance that Mr. Stanton would have
to appeal to tho courts to reinstate
him, illustrating my position by citing
the ground I had taken in the case of
the Baltimore Police Commissioners."
Now, at that time, as you admit in
your letter of the 3d inst., you hold the
office for the very object of defeating
an appeal to the Courts. In. that let
ter you say that in accepting the office,
one motive was to prevent the Presi
dent from appointing some other per
son who would retain possession, and
thus make judicial proceedings neces
sary. You knew the President was
unwilling to trust the office with any
one who could not, by holding it, com
pel Mr. Stanton to resort to the Courts.
You perfectly understood that in this
interview, some time after you accep
ted the office, the President, not con
tent with your silence, desired an ex
pression of your views, and you an
swered him that Mr. Stanton would
have to appeal to the Courts. If the
President Lad reposed confidence be ;
fore he knew-your views, and that con
fidence had been violated, it might
have been said that he made a mistake;
but a violation of confidence reposed
after that conversation was no mistake
of his or yours. It is the fact only
that needs to bo stated that at the date
of this conversation, you did not in
tend to hold the office with the purpose
of forcing Mr. Stanton into Court, but
did held it then and had accepted it, to
prevent the course from being carried
out. In other words, you said to the
Presidert, that is the proper course,
and you said to yourself, "I have ac
cepted this office and now hold it to
defeat that course."
The excuse you make in a sobs° ,
quent paragraph of that letter of the
28th ult., that after wards you phange4 •
your views as to what would he a
proper course, has nothing to do with
the point now under consideratioP•
The point is, that before you change 4
your views, you had secretly deter
mined to 4o the very thing which at
-last you did—surrender the offico to
Mr. Stanton : "you may have changed
your views as to the law, but you cer
tainly did not change your views as to
the course you had. : market P 1 fpr .
yourself from the heginning.
I will 0 111.9 POPP One more state
ment in - yolk letter of the 3d inst.:,
that the performance of the promises'
which it, is alleged 'were made by. - you,
would have involved yea in the resist
ance of law. I know of Flo statute that
would bayp been vioiatedchad you .
carried out your promises in good faith,
and tendered year -.resignation when
you concluded not, to he made a party
in tiny Ipgal proceedings. You add, "I
set ampsittre eonfirmediu this con•
elusion by your recent orders, 4irpoting
me to, disobey ordor4 from the Sem°,
tary of War, my superior and your
sUbordinato, without haying noun ;
tern - plaided his authority to issue or :
Fiera T. am to disoboy."
On the 24.4 l ult., you addressed a
note tu• the 'resident, requesting in
writing r.m order given to you verbal
ly five days before, to disregard orders
from Mr. Stanton as §ocretary of War,
TO 'SUBSCRIBERS,
Til o s& 'anbseriiiitlg , for _three,O V .
tlyelvemninths •Wit4tho andersfanding
gMtitho paper he dkaeo,ntinaed
subscription
por marked with •a t before the naine
will - understand - ;:that the time fcxr.
which they subb'erlbed'is
wish the papc+T nontinned • th9y
renewitheir suhseription through• pia
mail or otherwise.
411 kinds of plain, faney and
ornamental Job Printing neatly and
expeditiously e:cecoted at tbo
office. Terms moderate. -
NO. 31.
• •
until you know from the President
himself that they wore his orders. ; 9.9
the 29th, in eetnpliunce with your.re,
quest, I did give you fristructums
writing not, to obey any order from
the War Department assumed to be is
sued by the direction of the President,
unless such order is known by the
General commanding the armies'of the
United States to have been authorized
by the Executive.
There are some orders whieh 4 Sec
retary of War may issue N . 7440 - kit MAO
authority of the President; there are
others which ho issues simply as the
agent of tho President, and which pur
port to be by direction of the President.
For such orders the Proisidenk is re„:,
sponsible,and ho should therefore know
and understand what' they are before),
giving such directiOn.
Mr. Stanton, in his letter of the 4th inst.,
which accompanies the ptiblished 'correspon{l ..
once with the President since the 12th °tau
gust last, further says that since he refaine,4
the duties of the office, he has continued to -
discharge them without any personal ' or,
written communication with the President,
and ho adds "no orders have been issued
from this Department in the name of tho
President with my knowledge, and havei
received no orders from him,' It thus•seeme
that Mr. Stanton now discharges the duties
of the War Department without any . refer-.
ence to the President, and without using bill
name. My order to you had only reference
to orders assumed to be issued by the . Prosi,
dent. It would appear -from Mr. Stanton'izt
letter that you have received no such order
from him.
In your note to the President of the goal
ult., in which you acknowledge the regeipt
of the written order of the 29th, you say that
you have been informed by Mr. Stanton that
be has not received any order limiting his au
thority to issue orders to the army according
to the practice of the Department, and state
"that while this authority to the War De,
partrnent is not countermanded, it will be
satisfaotory evidence to me that any orders
issued from the War Department by direc
tion of-the President are authorized by the
Executive." The President issues an order
to you to obey no order from the War De-,
partment purporting to be made by direction
of the President until you have referred it to,
him for approval. You reply you have re:
valved the President's order and will not
obey it, but will obey en order purporting to
be given by his direction, if it comes from
the War Department. You will obey no di
rect order of, the President, but itrPl obey hitt
indirect order., If,
,as you say, theiis.hne
been a practice in the War Department to ie,
sue orders in ,the name of ,the TreSident;
without his direction, doesnot the piecisq
order you have requested and have received,
change the practice as tolhe Ceneraiof the
army ? Could not the President countoretan4
any such order issued lo.you ,froin the, Wan
Department?, If you should . .receive an or.
der from that. Department," issued"' in: the
name of the President; to do a speciel act,
and an order directly froiii — the preeident
himself not to do the not; is there a doubt
which you are to obey'? You answer thei
question when you say to the President in
your letter of the 3d inst., ""the Secretary of
War is my superior and your subordinate,"
and yet you refuse obedience to the superior
out of deference to the subordinate,
Without further comment on
,the insebor ;
dinate attitude which you have assumed,
am at a loss to know bow' you can relieve
yourself from the orders of the President, whq
is made by the Constitution the Commander :
in-Chief of the army and navy. and is there :
fore the official superior as well of the Gene :
ral of the army as of the Secretary of War t
Respectfully yours,
Annum Amason.
General U. S. Grant, Commanding armies of
the United States, Washingten, D. C,
The letter of the FreiWent is SaaolnPani 6 4•
by letters from the Secretaries of the Nary,
Treasury, Interior, state, rind" Postmustef
Generals, supporting his positions !
Executive 21fansiou, Witshnigton, D. a.
February
. 5; 1868—Sir F The Chronicle of
this morning contains a correspondence be:
twerp the president 014 general grant, re ;
ported from the War Pepartment in answer
to a resolution of the Home of Represents,
tires. I beg to call your attention to that
correspondence, and especially to that part of.
it which refers to the conversation bet sett
}hp President and General Grant at the 'Cali :
met meeting on Tuesday ! ' the 14th of Janus :
ry, and to request you to state what was sail
in that conversation.
very respectfally yours,
4OREIV MUNSON!
Washiyuky, pbruary 5, 1808. Sir; yotiF
sots of this date was handed to mo this eves-
mg. My recollection of the conversation et
the Cabinet weeping on Tuesday, the 14th of
4 . ll : nuary, corresponds with your statement of
4 m the letter of the 310 Alt., ttip
ed porrpepotutonce, The thFep points sped
gad in that letter, giving you recollection of
the conversation, are correptly stated :
Very respectfully i
tilppoN IVELLE9!
Treasury Petuplegul, February 6, 1868.
Sir : I have reCotypil your note of the §th in
stant, calling ray attention to the correspond
once
14etwepe yourself and General Grant, eq
Publi!hpd the phrquipie of yesterday,
eppatally to that part or it whiph relates tq
what occurred in the Cabinet meeting on
T4P 8 4.9 , the }4th ult., and requesting me tq
state witat was said in thp conversation re;
fprred 'to. T pawn undertake to state the
Heppe language used, but I have no hesite;
tation in saying your accqpnt at that convpr.
senor? ? as givpn your letter tollien. Grant
on the 31st n it : , substantially in all impor t
tent particulars acpordi with r,eolleptiuq
91 . it.
With - great respect; your obedient servant,
• - Uses
To the 'President.' -
..,Pestoffice Peparting, }tr4sleingtan; X 1 1;
qh,lBQB. Sp: It= in receipt plyoqr lette,
of the §th'of calling W 4 attention
to the'porreepOndenee pebliehed in the. Chro4-
iplp •bptint . ep the president ;Ind' Pen. Prant,
end espectally to that part of it which feferq
tp the ponvereation betwppn thp ~'reside ntl 4." VI/Tim* Grant at the CAIRO meeting on
the 14th or Jantiry,:rprineet that
state what was said in that convarsation..l4
reply, J have the honor to state that . T. have
read carefully the correspendeppe in/ques
tion ; end particularly the letter - of the ?red :
dent to General Grant, of date January 31,
I.BbB. The following elttrnet from par
for of the Olst of aaniliffY - tp Pen. grant, it
according to my recollection a eprrept skate
went of tiro couyersation that toojr. place hp.
tween the Vresident and General Prant;
thp palling meeting on the 14th of
January last in the presence of the Cabinet
thp president asked General grant %Welber,
in a conversation which took place after hip
appointment as Secretary of War ad interinp,
he did not agree to either remain at the bead
of the War Department and abide any kali :
[Continued 0» ,Second Pagel