Chapter I: From the Tribune to the War Department

First meeting with Mr. Lincoln--Early correspondence with Mr.
Stanton--A command obtained for General Frémont--The new energy in
the military operations--Mr. Stanton disclaims the credit--The War
Secretary's opinion of McClellan--Mr. Dana called into Government
service--The Cairo investigation and its results--First acquaintance
with General Grant.

I had been associated with Horace Greeley on the New York Tribune for about fifteen years when, one morning early in April, 1862, Mr. Sinclair, the advertising manager of the paper, came to me, saying that Mr. Greeley would be glad to have me resign. I asked one of my associates to find from Mr. Greeley if that was really his wish. In a few hours he came to me saying that I had better go. I stayed the day out in order to make up the paper and give them an opportunity to find a successor, but I never went into the office after that. I think I then owned a fifth of the paper--twenty shares; this stock my colleagues bought.

Mr. Greeley never gave a reason for dismissing me, nor did I ever ask for one. I know, though, that the real explanation was that while he was for peace I was for war, and that as long as I stayed on the Tribune there was a spirit there which was not his spirit--that he did not like.

My retirement from the Tribune was talked of in the newspapers for a day or two, and brought me a letter from the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, saying he would like to employ me in the War Department. I had already met Mr. Lincoln, and had carried on a brief correspondence with Mr. Stanton. My meeting with Mr. Lincoln was shortly after his inauguration. He had appointed Mr. Seward to be his Secretary of State, and some of the Republican leaders of New York who had been instrumental in preventing Mr. Seward's nomination to the presidency, and in securing that of Mr. Lincoln, had begun to fear that they would be left out in the cold in the distribution of the offices. General James S. Wadsworth, George Opdyke, Lucius Robinson, T. B. Carroll, and Henry B. Stanton were among the number of these gentlemen. Their apprehensions were somewhat mitigated by the fact that Mr. Chase, to whom we were all friendly, was Secretary of the Treasury. But, notwithstanding, they were afraid that the superior tact and pertinacity of Mr. Seward and of Mr. Thurlow Weed, Seward's close friend and political manager, would get the upper hand, and that the power of the Federal administration would be put into the control of the rival faction; accordingly, several of them determined to go to Washington, and I was asked to go with them.

I believe the appointment for our interview with the President was made through Mr. Chase; but at any rate we all went up to the White House together, except Mr. Henry B. Stanton, who stayed away because he was himself an applicant for office.

Mr. Lincoln received us in the large room upstairs in the east wing of the White House, where he had his working office. The President stood up while General Wadsworth, who was our principal spokesman, and Mr. Opdyke stated what was desired. After the interview had begun, a big Indian, who was a messenger in attendance in the White House, came into the room and said to the President:

"She wants you."

"Yes, yes," said Mr. Lincoln, without stirring.

Soon afterward the messenger returned again, exclaiming, "I say, she wants you!"

The President was evidently annoyed, but instead of going out after the messenger he remarked to us:

"One side shall not gobble up everything. Make out a list of places and men you want, and I will endeavor to apply the rule of give and take."

General Wadsworth answered:

"Our party will not be able to remain in Washington, but we will leave such a list with Mr. Carroll, and whatever he agrees to will be agreeable to us."

Mr. Lincoln continued: "Let Mr. Carroll come in to-morrow, and we will see what can be done."

This is the substance of the interview, and what most impressed me was the evident fairness of the President. We all felt that he meant to do what was right and square in the matter. While he was not the man to promote factious quarrels and difficulties within his party, he did not intend to leave in the lurch the friends through whose exertions his nomination and election had finally been brought about. At the same time he understood perfectly that we of New York and our associates in the Republican body had not gone to Chicago for the purpose of nominating him, or of nominating any one in particular, but only to beat Mr. Seward, and thereupon to do the best that could be done as regards the selection of the candidate.

My acquaintance with Mr. Stanton had come about through an editorial which I had written for the Tribune on his entrance to the War Department. I had sent it to him with a letter calling his attention to certain facts with which it seemed to me the War Department ought to deal. In reply I received the following letter:

WASHINGTON, _January 24, 1862_.

MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 22d only reached me this evening. The
facts you mention were new to me, but there is too much reason to
fear they are true. But that matter will, I think, be corrected
_very speedily_.

You can not tell how much obligation I feel myself under for your
kindness. Every man who wishes the country to pass through this
trying hour should stand on watch, and aid me. Bad passions and
little passions and mean passions gather around and hem in the
great movements that should deliver this nation.

Two days ago I wrote you a long letter--a three pager--expressing
my thanks for your admirable article of the 21st, stating my
position and purposes; and in that letter I mentioned some of the
circumstances of my unexpected appointment. But, interrupted before
it was completed, I will not inflict, or afflict, you with it.

I know the task that is before us--I say _us_, because the Tribune
has its mission as plainly as I have mine, and they tend to the
same end. But I am not in the smallest degree dismayed or
disheartened. By God's blessing we shall prevail. I feel a deep,
_earnest_ feeling growing up around me. We have no jokes or
trivialities, but all with whom I act show that they are now in
dead earnest.

I know you will rejoice to know this.

As soon as I can get the machinery of the office working, the rats
cleared out, and the rat holes stopped we shall _move_. This army
has got to fight or run away; and while men are striving nobly in
the West, the champagne and oysters on the Potomac must be stopped.
But patience for a short while only is all I ask, if you and others
like you will rally around me.

Yours truly,
EDWIN M. STANTON.

C. A. DANA, Esq.

A few days after this I wrote Mr. Stanton a second letter, in which I asked him to give General Frémont a chance. At the breaking out of the war Frémont had been made a major general in the regular army and the command of the Western Department had been given to him. His campaign in Missouri in the summer of 1861 gave great dissatisfaction, and in November, 1861, he was relieved, after an investigation by the Secretary of War. Since that time he had been without a command. I believed, as did many others, that political intrigue was keeping Frémont back. I was anxious that he should have fair play, in order that the great mass of people who had supported him for the presidency in 1856, and who still were his warm friends, might not be dissatisfied. To my letter Mr. Stanton replied:

WASHINGTON, _February 1, 1862_.

DEAR SIR: If General Frémont has any fight in him, he shall (so far
as I am concerned) have a chance to show it, and I have told _him_
so. The times require the help of every man according to his gifts,
and, having neither partialities nor grudges to indulge, it will be
my aim to practice on the maxim, "the tools to him that can handle
them."[A]

There will be serious trouble between Hunter and Lane. What Lane's
expedition has in view, how it came to be set on foot, and what is
expected to be accomplished by it, I do not know and have tried in
vain to find out. It seems to be a haphazard affair that no one
will admit himself to be responsible for. But believing that Lane
has pluck, and is an earnest man, he _shall have fair play_. If you
know anything about him or his expedition pray tell it to me.

To bring the War Department up to the standard of the times, and
work an army of five hundred thousand with machinery adapted to a
peace establishment of twelve thousand, is no easy task. This was
Mr. Cameron's great trouble, and the cause of much of the
complaints against him. All I ask is reasonable time and patience.
The pressure of members of Congress for clerk and army
appointments, notwithstanding the most stringent rules, and the
persistent strain against all measures essential to obtain time for
thought, combination, and conference, is discouraging in the
extreme--it often tempts me to quit the helm in despair. The only
consolation is the confidence and support of good and patriotic
men; to their aid I look for strength.

Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON.

C. A. DANA, Esq., Tribune Office.

Very soon after Mr. Stanton went into office military affairs were energized, and a forward movement of the armies was apparent. It was followed by several victories, notably those of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. On several occasions the Tribune credited to the head of the War Department this new spirit which seemed to inspire officers and men. Mr. Stanton, fearful of the effect of this praise, sent to the paper the following dispatch:

_To the Editor of the New York Tribune:_

SIR: I can not suffer undue merit to be ascribed to my official
action. The glory of our recent victories belongs to the gallant
officers and soldiers that fought the battles. No share of it
belongs to me.

Much has recently been said of military combinations and organizing
victory. I hear such phrases with apprehension. They commenced in
infidel France with the Italian campaign, and resulted in Waterloo.
Who can organize victory? Who can combine the elements of success
on the battlefield? We owe our recent victories to the spirit of
the Lord that moved our soldiers to rush into battle and filled the
heart of our enemies with dismay. The inspiration that conquered in
battle was in the hearts of the soldiers and from on high; and
wherever there is the same inspiration there will be the same
results. Patriotic spirit, with resolute courage in officers and
men, is a military combination that never failed.

We may well rejoice at the recent victories, for they teach us that
battles are to be won now and by us in the same and only manner
that they were ever won by any people, or in any age, since the
days of Joshua, by boldly pursuing and striking the foe. What,
under the blessing of Providence, I conceive to be the true
organization of victory and military combination to end this war,
was declared in a few words by General Grant's message to General
Buckner: "_I propose to move immediately on your works._"

Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON.

On receiving this I at once wired to our representative in Washington to know if Mr. Stanton meant to "repudiate" the Tribune. I received my answer from Mr. Stanton himself:

WASHINGTON, _February 19, 1862_.

DEAR SIR: It occurred to me that your kind notice of myself might
be perverted into a disparagement of the Western officers and
soldiers to whom the merit of the recent victories justly belongs,
and that it might create an antagonism between them and the head of
the War Department. To avoid _that_ misconstruction was the object
of my dispatch--leaving the matter to be determined as to
publication to the better judgment of the Tribune, my own mind not
being clear on the point of its expediency. Mr. Hill called to see
me this evening, and from the tenor of your dispatch it seemed to
me that your judgment did not approve the publication, or you would
not speak of me as "repudiating" anything the Tribune says. On
reflection _I am convinced the communication should not be
published_, as it might imply an antagonism between myself and the
Tribune. On this, as on any future occasion, I defer to your
judgment. We have one heart and mind in this great cause, and upon
many essential points you have a wider range of observation and
clearer sight than myself; I am therefore willing to be guided by
your wisdom.

Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON.

C. A. DANA, Esq.

On receiving this letter we of course published his telegram at once.

When Mr. Stanton went into the War Department there was great dissatisfaction in the Tribune office with McClellan. He had been placed in command of the Army of the Potomac in the preceding August, and since November 1st had been in command of all the armies of the United States; but while he had proved himself an excellent drillmaster, he had at the same time proved that he was no general at all. His friends were loyal, however, and whatever success our armies met with was attributed to his generalship.

When the capture of Fort Donelson was announced, McClellan's friends claimed that he had directed it by telegraph from his headquarters on the Potomac. Now the terminus of the telegraph toward Fort Donelson was many miles from the battlefield. Besides, the absurdity of a general directing the movements of a battle a thousand miles off, even if he had fifty telegraph wires leading to every part of the field, was apparent. Nevertheless, McClellan's supporters kept up their claim. On February 20th the Associated Press agent at Washington, in reporting a railroad convention in Washington at which Mr. Stanton had spoken, said:

"Secretary Stanton in the course of his address paid a high compliment to the young and gallant friend at his side, Major-General McClellan, in whom he had the utmost confidence, and the results of whose military schemes, gigantic and well matured, were now exhibited to a rejoicing country. The Secretary, with upraised hands, implored Almighty God to aid them and himself, and all occupying positions under the Government, in crushing out this unholy rebellion."

I did not believe Stanton had done any such thing, so I sent the paragraph to him. The Secretary replied:

[Private.]

WASHINGTON, _February 23, 1862_.

DEAR SIR: The paragraph to which you called my attention was a
ridiculous and impudently impertinent effort to puff the general by
a false publication of words I never uttered. Sam Barlow, one of
the secretaries of the meeting, was its author, as I have been
informed. It is too small a matter for _me_ to contradict, but I
told Mr. Kimlen, the other secretary, that I thought the gentlemen
who invited me to be present at their meeting owed it to themselves
to see that one of their own officers should not misrepresent what
I said. It was for them, and due to their own honor, to see that an
officer of the Government might communicate with them in safety;
and if it was not done, I should take care to afford no other
opportunity for such practices.

The fact is that the agents of the Associated Press and a gang
around the Federal Capitol appear to be organized for the purpose
of magnifying their idol.

And if such men as those who composed the railroad convention in
this city do not rebuke such a practice as that perpetrated in this
instance, they can not be conferred with in future.

You will of course see the propriety of my not noticing the matter
and thereby giving it importance beyond the contempt it inspires. I
think you are well enough acquainted with me to judge in future the
value of any such statement.

I notice the Herald telegraphic reporter announces that I had a
second attack of illness on Friday and could not attend the
department. I was in the department, or in the Cabinet, from nine
in the morning until nine at night, and never enjoyed more perfect
health than on that day and at present.

For _your_ kind solicitude accept my thanks. I shall not needlessly
impair my means of usefulness.

Yours truly, EDWIN M. STANTON.

C. A. DANA, Esq.

P.S.--Was it not a funny sight to see a certain military hero in
the telegraph office at Washington last Sunday organizing victory,
and by sublime military combinations capturing Fort Donelson _six
hours_ after Grant and Smith had taken it sword in hand and had
victorious possession! It would be a picture worthy of Punch.

Thus, when the newspapers announced my unexpected retirement from the Tribune, I was not unknown to either the President or the Secretary of War.

To Mr. Stanton's letter asking me to go into the service of the War Department, I replied that I would attempt anything he wanted me to do, and in May he wrote me that I was to be appointed on a commission to audit unsettled claims against the quartermaster's department at Cairo, Ill. I was directed to be in Cairo on June 17th. My formal appointment, which I did not receive until after I reached Cairo, read thus:

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., _June 16, 1862_.

SIR: By direction of the President, a commission has been
appointed, consisting of Messrs. George S. Boutwell, Stephen T.
Logan, and yourself, to examine and report upon all unsettled
claims against the War Department, at Cairo, Ill., that may have
originated prior to the first day of April, 1862.

Messrs. Boutwell and Logan have been requested to meet with you at
Cairo on the eighteenth day of June instant, in order that the
commission may be organized on that day and enter immediately upon
the discharge of its duties.

You will be allowed a compensation of eight dollars per day and
mileage.

Mr. Thomas Means, who has been appointed solicitor for the
Government, has been directed to meet you at Cairo on the
eighteenth instant, and will act, under the direction of the
commission, in the investigation of such claims as may be
presented.

EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.

Hon. CHARLES A. DANA, of New York,
Cairo, Ill.

On reaching Cairo on the appointed day, I found my associates, Judge Logan, of Springfield, Ill., one of Mr. Lincoln's friends, and Mr. Boutwell, of Massachusetts, afterward Governor of his State, Secretary of the Treasury, and a United States senator. We organized on the 18th, as directed. Two days after we met Judge Logan was compelled by illness to resign from the commission, and Shelby M. Cullom, now United States senator from Illinois, was appointed in his place.

The main Union armies had by this time advanced far to the front, but Cairo was still an important military depot, almost an outpost, in command of General William K. Strong, whom I had known well in New York as a politician. There was a large number of troops stationed in the town, and from there the armies on the Mississippi River, in Missouri, and in Kentucky, got all their supplies and munitions of war. The quartermaster's department at Cairo had been organized hastily, and the demands upon it had increased rapidly. Much of the business had been done by green volunteer officers who did not understand the technical duties of making out military requisitions and returns. The result was that the accounts were in great confusion, and hysterical newspapers were charging the department with fraud and corruption. The War Department decided to make a full investigation of all disbursements at Cairo from the beginning. Little actual cash had thus far been paid out upon contracts, and it was not too late to correct overcharges and straighten out the system. The matter could not be settled by any ordinary means, and the commission went there as a kind of supreme authority, accepting or rejecting claims and paying them as we thought fit after examining the evidence.

Sixteen hundred and ninety-six claims, amounting to $599,219.36, were examined by us. Of those approved and certified for payment the amount was $451,105.80. Of the claims rejected, a considerable portion were for losses suffered in the active operations of the army, either through departure from discipline on the part of soldiers, or from requisitions made by officers who failed to give receipts and certificates to the persons concerned, who were thus unable to support their claims by sufficient evidence. Many claims of this description were also presented by men whose loyalty to the Government was impeached by credible witnesses. In rejecting these the commission set forth the disloyalty of the claimants, in the certificates written on the face of their accounts. Other accounts, whose rightfulness was established, were rejected on proof of disloyalty. The commission regarded complicity in the rebellion as barring all claims against the United States.

A question of some interest was raised by the claim of the trustees of the Cairo city property to be paid for the use by the Government wharf boats of the paved portion of the levee which protected the town against the Ohio River. We were unable to see the matter in the light presented by the trustees. Our judgment was that the Government ought not to pay for the use of necessary landing places on these rivers or elsewhere during the exigencies of the war, and we so certified upon the face of the claims. A similar principle guided our decision upon several claims for the rent of vacant lots in Cairo, which had been used by the military authorities for the erection of temporary barracks or stables. We determined that for these no rent ought, under the circumstances, to be allowed, but we suggested that in justice to the owners this temporary occupation should be terminated as soon as possible by the sale and removal of the buildings.

A very small percentage of the claims were rejected because of fraud. In almost every case it was possible to suppose that the apparent fraud was accident. My observation throughout the war was the same. I do not believe that so much business could be transacted with a closer adherence to the line of honesty. That there were frauds is a matter of course, because men, and even some women, are wicked, but frauds were the exception.

Our commission finished its labors at Cairo on July 31, 1862, and I went at once to Washington with the report, placing it in the hands of Mr. Stanton on August 5th. It was never printed, and the manuscript is still in the files of the War Department.

There was a great deal of curiosity among officers in Washington about the result of our investigation, and all the time that I was in the city I was being questioned on the subject. It was natural enough that they should have felt interested in our report. The charges of fraud and corruption against officers and contractors had become so reckless and general that the mere sight of a man in conference with a high official led to the suspicion and often the charge that he was conspiring to rob the Government. That in this case, where the charges seemed so well based, so small a percentage of corruption had been proved was a source of solid satisfaction to every one in the War Department.

All the leisure that I had while in Cairo I spent in horseback riding up and down the river banks and in visiting the adjacent military posts. My longest and most interesting trip was on the Fourth of July, when I went down the Mississippi to attend a big celebration at Memphis. I remember it particularly because it was there that I first met General Grant. The officers stationed in the city gave a dinner that day, to which I was invited. At the table I was seated between Grant and Major John A. Rawlins, of his staff. I remember distinctly the pleasant impression Grant made--that of a man of simple manners, straightforward, cordial, and unpretending. He had already fought the successful battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and, when I met him, was a major general in command of the district of West Tennessee, Department of the Missouri, under Halleck, with headquarters at Memphis. Although one would not have suspected it from his manners, he was really under a cloud at the time because of his operations at Shiloh. Those who did not like Grant had accused him of having been taken by surprise there, and had declared that he would have been beaten if Buell had not come up. I often talked later with Grant's staff officers about Shiloh, and they always affirmed that he would have been successful if Buell had not come to his relief. I believe Grant himself thought so, although he never said so directly in any one of the many talks I had with him about the battle.

FOOTNOTE:

[A] A month later General Frémont was assigned to the command of the "Mountain Department," composed of parts of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.