Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

_Ordered_, That the City of Fitchburg accept the donation of
Honorable Rodney Wallace to it of the lot of land on the corner
of Main street and Newton place, and the Library building to be
erected by him thereon, upon the conditions and in accordance
with the terms and provisions contained in his written
communication and proposal to the Mayor and City Council; and
places on record its profound appreciation of the public spirit
and munificence of the donor, and its recognition of the
incalculable benefits which will result to his fellow citizens
and their descendants and successors for all time from this
noble gift.

Alderman Joel said the surprise was so great and so agreeable
that words were not at his command to express the thanks he, in
common with all other members, felt for the munificent gift
presented by Mr. Wallace. He moved that a committee be appointed
to prepare and forward a vote of thanks to Honorable Rodney
Wallace for his gift. The motion was unanimously adopted, and
Mayor Davis appointed Alderman Joel, Councilmen Flaherty and
Parkhill as the committee."

From the _Sentinel_ of April 10, 1884, I clip the following:

"The following resolutions have been presented to Honorable
Rodney Wallace by the special committee appointed at the joint
convention of the two branches of the City Council, March 25:

To HONORABLE RODNEY WALLACE: FITCHBURG, Mass.

_Whereas_, the Mayor and City Council of the city of Fitchburg
have received and accepted a proposition tendered by Honorable
Rodney Wallace of this city, by the terms of which a lot of land
situated at the corner of Main street and Newton place is
donated to the city of Fitchburg, and a sum not less than forty
thousand dollars is to be expended by him, with the advice and
approval of the Trustees of the Public Library, within the next
two years in erecting a building on said lot, said building to
be used for a Free Public Library, Reading Rooms, and an Art
Gallery; therefore,

_Resolved_, That this body desires to voice and place on record
the universal appreciation on the part of our citizens of the
generosity and public spirit of the honored donor, of the
timeliness of the gift, and not less, of the wisdom and
foresight manifested in the particular mode by which the city
is made the recipient of the munificent present.

_Resolved_, That we recognize the fact that a gift of this
nature will result in incalculable benefits to the community so
fortunate as to receive it, enlarging and intensifying, as it
does, all the privileges of acquiring information and securing
culture which a public library affords; providing in a most
accessible and useful form the means by which our young people
and those whose daily toil leaves them little leisure for study,
may draw to themselves the results of all past experience; and
rendering both attractive and easy to all classes of our people
opportunities of turning their thoughts from the sterner
features of their daily occupations to the amenities of life as
presented by specimens of artistic and literary merit.

_Resolved_, That while sharing in the delight of our citizens in
view of the valuable gift thus unexpectedly placed at their
service, we congratulate them even more upon the presence among
them of men whom Providence has blessed in three-fold
measure--with hearts abounding in philanthropic instincts, with
material resources ample for the gratification of such impulses,
and with that rarer gift than either, the judgment requisite to
secure for their donations the widest and most permanent range
of influence.

_Resolved_, That we cannot resist the inclination to felicitate
our honored benefactor upon the deep and abiding joy which must
be the most adequate reward for this expression of his good will
toward our city--the joy arising from the knowledge that every
home within our corporate limits will enter into the enjoyment
of his gift and that not a few of our youth will be allured from
scenes of degrading and immoral pleasure by the presence in a
most convenient location of a beautiful edifice within which are
at their disposal the graces of art and the riches of
literature.

_Resolved_, That the distinguished giver by this gift, the most
valuable ever received by this community at one time from a
single citizen, has "erected a monument more enduring than
bronze and loftier than the regal structure of the pyramids" in
the establishment of a lasting sense of gratitude within the
hearts of his appreciative fellow citizens.

ALONZO DAVIS,
JOEL JOEL,
BERNARD H. FLAHERTY,
JOHN PARKHILL,
(_Committee_)
FITCHBURG, April 1, 1884."

Although $40,000 is the lowest limit named, it should be said that the cost of the noble pile will far exceed that sum. It was a generous and princely act for which he will be held in lasting and greatful memory. He will leave behind him a monument which will forever identify his name with the intellectual and moral culture of all classes of the citizens of Fitchburg.

On the seventh of April, the Trustees of the Public Library took appropriate action on the gift of Mr. Wallace. The following account appeared in the _Sentinel_ of April 8:

"At a meeting of the Trustees of the Public Library, Monday
evening, the board adopted the following resolution, offered by
Henry A. Willis, and on motion of Rev. P.J. Garrigan it was
voted to enter the same on their records, request the daily
papers of the city to publish the same, and that Rev. P.J.
Garrigan, Henry A. Willis and L.H. Bradford be appointed a
committee to present the action of the board to Mr. Wallace:

_Resolved_, That we have heard with great satisfaction of the
proposed gift by Honorable Rodney Wallace of land and a building
for the use of the Public Library, thus providing for a want
long felt by the Trustees, viz: facilities for making the
Library fully available to the people of the city, which it
never could be in its present confined quarters; that we will
fully co-operate with the generous donor in any manner desired
by him in carrying out the details of his proposed undertaking;
and that we desire here to place upon our records our keen
appreciation of the generous spirit which has moved him to
tender this munificent gift."

The new library building fronts on Main street, and looks out upon Monument Park and the beautiful Court House of North Worcester County. It is of Greek classic style, and is built of Trenton pressed brick. It has sandstone trimmings. It has a frontage of seventy-four feet on Main street, and is sixty-five feet deep. The basement is ten feet in height. It is two stories above the basement. The library floor is sixteen feet high. The second story, which contains the picture gallery, is ten feet high on the outside, and thirty-two in the centre. The extreme height is therefore fifty-eight feet. The front of the building is especially imposing. It has a projection in the centre, twenty-five feet wide and six feet deep, which extends the whole height of the structure and terminates in a gable, which is surrounded by a decorated pediment. The main entrance is approached by massive steps of granite, twelve feet wide, flanked by heavy buttresses. At the top of the steps is the entrance porch, eleven feet wide, six feet deep, and arched overhead. Polished granite columns with carved capitals on either side support the archway above. In the belt of sandstone above this arch is cut the legend "Library and Art Building." Above this belt is a row of windows separated by columns of brick. Above these is a sandstone belt in which is cut the name of the donor, by vote of the City Government. The title of the structure is therefore "Wallace Library and Art Building." Above is a row of circular windows separated by sandstone columns with carved capitals. The hip roof of the building is crowned by a monitor top, which admits light into the art room below. Over the entrance is to be the city seal, in antique and Venetian glass. The whole structure is amply lighted by a large number of windows.

The basement provides for a store-room, a work-room, and reading-room, which opens off Newton lane. The public will have full access to this room. It will specially accommodate the workingmen. The late Honorable Wm. H. Vose left $1,000, the income of which is to be used in supplying suitable papers for this room. There are also in the basement a coal room, and the boiler which heats the whole building. On entering the building one stands in a large hall, on the right of which is a reading-room for magazines, and on the left is a large reference room, and a winding stairway by which the second story is reached. Across the whole rear of the building is the library room, which is high enough to admit of galleries. Ample provisions are thus made for all the possible future needs of the city. In the second story is the art gallery. Around it are five other rooms, which can be devoted to any of the uses such an institution may require. When completed the inside will be finished in hard woods, and according to modern ideas of taste and elegance. The art gallery will be a model of its kind.

With a collection of books and of works of art to match the thought of the donor expressed in the building the library will be a lasting blessing to our city. A gift so timely, and so well adapted to the needs of a city like Fitchburg, with its population of young people, could not fail to commend itself, and win the gratitude of every right-minded citizen. Therefore, any one who will stand in front of this building for an hour, and listen to the remarks made by those who look up to it as they pass, will readily learn how deep a hold on the esteem of all classes of the citizens of Fitchburg this generous act has given Mr. Wallace.

Lest my estimate of Mr. Wallace may seem extravagant to those who do not know him, I add the following from the pen of Professor H.M. Tyler of Smith College, Northampton, formerly Mr. Wallace's pastor. He writes:--

"It gives me great pleasure to send a few lines in answer to
your note, though it would be easy for a critic to say that I
have long since passed the point where I could give a
cold-blooded opinion of Mr. Wallace. I can write only from the
stand-point of warm friendship and cannot be cold in my respect
and admiration for my friend. Mr. Wallace is pre-eminently a
business man; to this the chief energy of his life has been
directed. It seems an impertinence for me to pass judgment upon
his career, but I have loved to study him in his business
habits. By his affability, correctness, and fairness in all his
work he has succeeded marvellously in attaching every one to
himself. All instinctively gravitate toward him, and never wish
to break off their association with him. I never knew a man so
master of his own ways and yet so universally popular. People
love to be influenced or even controlled by him. His office
would be the centre of any community in which he should be
placed. All men love to fasten to him their faith. He has
everywhere learned to gather friends by showing himself
friendly. His interest in the people of his own community has
been shown not merely by his public benefactions. Every one in
want of help has turned to him, and all have had a patient
hearing and generous response.

He has been associated with people of every position and among
all has been a favorite companion. Everyone has felt at home
with him. It is rarely true that a man has gained success with
so thorough a desire that his friends should enjoy what he has
gathered with him. He is thus remarkable for his prosperity, for
the use which he is making of his prosperity, for his delight in
giving pleasure to others, and for the disposition and temper
which finds its enjoyment in such rational and kindly ways.

It is not that one never disagrees with Mr. Wallace. He would
scorn the flattery which yields convictions to attempt to
please. Even when we differ he is none the less congenial. If I
have ever had the feeling that in any respect I should like to
make him over it has generally yielded to the conviction that on
the whole I could not hope to do better than has been done.
Among all the men with whom I have come in contact in places of
business responsibility and honor I do not know another to whom
I give more unqualified respect and esteem than I do to Mr.
Wallace. Cordially,

HENRY M. TYLER."

Mr. Wallace, as has appeared, was for three years associated with Governor Long in the Government of Massachusetts. In response to a note from me Mr. Long writes as follows:

"I am glad to know that you are writing a sketch of Mr. Wallace
for publication. If a good subject will make a good sketch your
work will be a success. He is one of the men, however, who write
their own lives, not in the pages of any autobiography, but in
their conduct and character. I have served with him in public
life, and sat with him as one of my Councilors in the Executive
Chamber, and have found him always a fund of practical good
sense, of excellent judgment, trained by great experience in
affairs, and of thorough integrity. He is a representative
Massachusetts man, the builder of his own fortune, equal to the
enterprise of acquiring wealth and position, and magnanimous in
their use and enjoyment. But I like best to recall, as I am sure
do all who know him, his generous friendship, his great public
spirit, and his good heart, of which I have witnessed many
proofs. I trust that it may be many years before his life is
taken in any other way than in such an appreciative and kindly
sketch as you will write of him.

Very truly yours,
JOHN D. LONG."

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 7, 1885.

December 1, 1853, Mr. Wallace married Sophia Ingalls, daughter of Thomas Ingalls of Rindge, New Hampshire. She died June 20, 1871, leaving two sons, Herbert I. Wallace and George R. Wallace. Herbert is a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1877. George studied at the Institute of Technology in Boston. They are associated with their father in the management of his business. December 28, 1876 Mr. Wallace married Mrs. Sophia F. Bailey of Woodstock, Vermont. Mr. Bailey was a member of Congress from the district in which Fitchburg is included. Mrs. Wallace is one of the well-known Billings family of Woodstock. Mr. Wallace lives in a beautiful house on Prospect street, which is surrounded with beautiful lawns and green-houses which, gratify his taste. From his front door he can overlook the city and its varied industries in whose development he has borne so conspicuous a part.

We are near the end of a story which it has been a pleasure to tell. Vastly more could be told. A volume of incidents could be written. There are precious secrets of every generous and noble man's life which no pen may profane by giving them publicity. These are the choice treasures reserved only for those who know him best, and live nearest his heart. But the writer desires, as Mr. Wallace's pastor, to add the testimony of observation and personal knowledge to the rare purity and uprightness of character, to the generosity of spirit, to the thoughtful kindness, and to the deep and reverent regard for spiritual things, of his distinguished parishioner. As an example of untiring energy, of probity of character, of cleanness of soul, of uprightness of life, of sincerity of purpose, of firmness of moral principle, he may safely be held up as a model for young men.

* * * * *

FITCHBURG.

BY MRS. CAROLINE A. MASON.[A]

[Footnote A: Mrs. Mason is a resident of Fitchburg. Her home, on Rollstone Street, is shown in the "Sketch of Fitchburg." Her reputation as a writer of verse is not confined to the State. She is the author of the words of the familiar ballad "Do They Miss Me at Home?" and has, for many years, contributed poetry to leading weeklies and magazines.--Ed.]

Nested among her hills she lies,--
The city of our love!
Within her, pleasant homes arise;
And healthful airs and happy skies
Float peacefully above.

A sturdy few, 'mid hopes and fears,
Her fair foundations set:
And looking backward now, through years
Of steady gain, how small appears
Her old estate!--and yet,

She dons no autocratic airs,
In scorn of humbler days,
But shapes her fortunes and affairs,
To match the civic wreath she wears
And justify her bays.

Honor and Truth her old renown:
Conservative of both,
The virtues of the little town
She holds in legacy, to crown
The city's larger growth.

Nor ease nor sloth her strength despoil:
Her peaceful farmers till,
With patient thrift, th' outlying soil,
Her trained mechanics deftly toil,
Her merchants ply their skill;

Her ponderous engineries supply
A thousand waiting needs;
Her wheels revolve, her shuttles fly,--
And ever where the prize hangs high,
Her foot, unfaltering, leads.

Her sympathies are large and sweet:
And when, at Freedom's call,
The war flags waved, the war drums beat,
She sprang, responsive, to her feet,
And freely offered all!

Alert in War, she emulates
The Arts of Peace, as well:
Religion, Order, guard her gates;
Wealth, Culture, Thrift, like happy Fates,
Her destinies foretell.

So, through the round of years, she keeps
Advancing on her Past:
Her old-time vigor never sleeps,--
And even as she sows she reaps.
God bless her to the last!

* * * * *

MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE AT SHILOH.

GENERAL U.S. GRANT'S VINDICATION OF GENERAL WALLACE.--THE WALLACE AND GRANT LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

BY GENERAL HENRY B. CARRINGTON.

[Author of "Battles of the American Revolution."]

It seems common to all great wars that the true version of leading actions is rarely assured by the immediate reports of commanders. Many causes secure to such reports substantial accuracy, but the development of details seldom fails to show that justice to subordinates cannot be done by the simple statement of general plans and general results. There are historians who still claim that Arnold had no part in the battle of Freeman's Farm, September 19, 1777; and many other battles of the Revolutionary war lacked clear definition until nearly a century had passed and the records were supplemented by careful examination of the battle-fields and a more thorough scrutiny of British, French, and Hessian archives, thereby to correct topographical data and harmonize conflicting statements.

The case of General Fitz John Porter forcibly illustrates the difficulty of changing public opinion, once formed, even when supplemental data enforce military recognition of their value. The Battle of Franklin, which secured to General Thomas the opportunity to fortify Nashville and ultimately defeat Hood, and the battles of Stone River, Gettysburg, Chicamauga and Monocacy, are among the actions of the late war in which differences of statement as to positions and movements have greatly qualified first estimates of the relations which various officers sustained to those actions.

The battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, has been the latest under scrutiny. It is not the purpose to consider whether the action of the day was influenced by the arrival of Buel's army, or by the non-arrival of General Lew Wallace's division; nor whether General Wallace did, or did not, march by scientific methods, when he moved for the nearest firing. Among voluminous papers touching the civil war are the copies of original papers received from General Wallace himself, and of present interest. These papers received notice from the Western press at one time, but seem to demand a more formal record, as essential factors in the better understanding of the Battle of Shiloh.

The following outline is suggested by these documents:

1st. That the Federal line of battle, early in the morning, stretched out from Pittsburg Landing nearly to the Purdy Road, with General Sherman's division on the right, within about a mile of that road.

2nd. That General Wallace's division was at Crump's Landing, not more than five miles from Pittsburg Landing; it being then uncertain which of the two would be the objective of attack.

3d. That General Grant visited General Wallace at Crump's Landing and ordered him to hold his command subject to orders, and then steamed onward to Pittsburg Landing.

4th. That before 6 o'clock, A.M., the sound of firing had led General Wallace to put his command under arms; and he was prepared to move wherever active work should demand, even before he was ordered to be thus ready.

5th. That he concentrated his brigades, then in three camps, into one mass, at the forks of the Purdy Road and the road to Pittsburg Landing, so that he might take either road, as orders should decide.

6th. That he understood the original line of battle and the disposition of its divisions, and knew that General Sherman held the right.

7th. That the order received by him, before 12 o'clock, M., from Captain Baxter, staff officer of General Grant, was in writing; and while pronounced verbally, at first, the form it assumed, when reduced to writing and subsequently delivered to General Wallace, was a direct order to "unite with the right," and that involved the march on the Purdy Road.

If the verbal order of General Grant to Captain Baxter, to hasten General Wallace's Division to Pittsburg Landing, was reduced to writing by that officer, after he noticed the early success of the Union Line, he would have shaped the approach of the fresh division to the best possible advantage, to join the _army_, not the precise _Landing_, if the army was not there; since General Grant, still being on crutches from a sprained ankle when his horse fell under and upon him, on the fourth, was compelled to depend largely upon staff-officers for judicious action, in exigencies which fell under their eyes, and where his riding was greatly limited. There is full harmony of events, by giving full credit to all the data which seem, at first, to work conflict.

8th. That the Staff Officer who delivered the order assured General Wallace and his staff that the Federal line was successful and driving the enemy at every point.

9th. That a movement at that time, toward Pittsburg Landing, would have taken General Wallaces' Division out of possible contact with the enemy, instead of supporting, and perfecting victory.

10th. That when the Division of General Wallace moved, as it did, within ten minutes after receipt of the orders, "impatiently waited for," it could see the distant smoke and hear the roar of battle, and moved directly toward the point of danger by the shortest route, with the greatest celerity and in harmony with the order received.

11th. That the defeat of the main army, the enforced retirement of Sherman's Division, and, in fact, the withdrawal of the entire original line, were new conditions, to be considered, when other Staff Officers notified General Wallace of the same; and then, the addition of his division to the rallying army, at Pittsburg Landing, seemed to be an important element to the very safety of that army, except as it could lean upon the divisions of Buel, already within supporting distance.

12th. That the original advance of General Wallace's Division on the Purdy Road, while thoroughly suited to the original conditions as they existed when the order was delivered to him, was, of necessity, useless and dangerous, when he found himself alone and unsupported, and that the enemy had already swept over the position which he expected to occupy.

13th. That there was no alternative, then, but to pass around the left of the enemy, and rejoin the army, at such expense of time or labor as the new conditions imposed; and that this was done, at great pains and with great celerity, without straggling or loss.

14th. That the prominent idea of withdrawing General Wallace's Division from Crump's Landing, to support the main army in its advance, is to be kept in mind;--whereby, confusion ceases as to the hour of the day when the order to report at Pittsburg Landing was delivered or became operative;--thereby, also, reconciling memories with the incidents of the day, with no discredit to any.

15th. That every theory of supporting an advanced line, from reserves sent forward from the base, must so bend to facts, that it may be the best thing possible, to strengthen the right of a successful line, even to overlapping and turning the enemy; and that such a movement has the emphatic endorsement of standard critics, and marked experience; while a formal movement to the rear, in order to move to the front and the right, as if on parade, would, under conditions such as presented to General Wallace, have been, simply, to wear out his men in marching, with small chance for taking any part in the assumed pursuit of a defeated enemy.

16th. That it is an unsound way of dealing with the facts of history, to gauge the responsibilities of officers and men, of small experience, by the rules which apply to the same officers and men after their experience has matured; and that, when the battle of Shiloh took place, and citizen regiments took part, with very slight knowledge of arms, it was equally true, that the officers themselves, both regular and volunteer, were proportionately unfamiliar with battle action on a large scale, and that, as a matter of fact, the Generals and Colonels, for the most part, had never seen a batallion drill, unless at West Point, much less drilled more than a company; and their conduct and opinions, in 1861-2, are not to be measured by the ripened experience of the years succeeding and succeeding years of reflection.

And finally, that the orders, movements, and results of the sixth day of April, 1862, must be judged by their relations to the passing hours and issues of that day, as practical men would act under changing conditions, and not by any formal order, which, however appropriate at one time, would, at any other time, defeat the work in hand. The Rules of Evidence, recognized by Civil and Military Courts alike, are but expressions of sound judgment of past experience; and Military Science, so called, has no other basis than that which belongs to the wise use of means to ends in all applied science and in all human endeavor. Whenever, therefore, the conduct of a battle is consistent with the conditions, as at the time understood, it is not exactly just to measure it by the terms of any instructions inconsistent with those conditions;--so that while an order to march to Pittsburg Landing became necessary upon the retirement of the original line, it ought not to be technically applied back to a time when that line was supposed to be sweeping on to victory and only sought fresh strength to mature that victory.

That a general action was precipitated by the Confederate forces under General Albert Sidney Johnson and was in the nature of a successful surprise of the Union Army, is the fact which harmonizes the reports of officers of both armies with the incidents of the day, and fairly distributes responsibility, without reflecting the narrow escape of the Union Army from destruction upon any single officer or command; especially, where all did so well, and so much is to be credited to the fall of General Johnson and the interruption of his deliberate plan, first to surprise, and then sweep on to victory, at whatever cost.

The Documents are as follows:

1st. Letter of Major General Lew Wallace to General U.S. Grant, February 26, 1869.

2nd. Letter of Lieutenant Colonel Ross, A.D.C. to General Wallace, January 25, 1868.

3rd. Letter of General J.A. Strickland to General Wallace, January 24, 1868.

4th. Letter of General G.F. McGinnis to General Wallace, February 20, 1868.

5th. Letter of General Fred. Knefler to General Wallace, February 19, 1868.

6th. Letter of Captain Ad Ware, A.D.C., to General Wallace (without date).

7th. Letter of General John M. Thayer to General Wallace, March 4, 1868.

8th. Letter of General U.S. Grant to General Wallace, March 10, 1868, commenting upon the letters cited and suggesting their publication, in justice to General Wallace.

General Wallace to General Grant:

WASHINGTON CITY, Feb. 29, 1868.

GENERAL:

About a year after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, it came to
my knowledge, that I was suffering, in your opinion, from
erroneous information upon the subject of my conduct and
movements as commander of the Third Division of your army during
the first day of the battle named. To place myself right in your
estimation and in that of the army generally, I asked a Court of
Inquiry, by letter to the Secretary of War (Mr. Stanton) July
17, 1863. After several months, during which the application
received no attention from the Secretary, I withdrew it, by
advice of friends, General Sherman amongst others. The course I
then resolved upon, that counselled by General Sherman, was to
carry my explanation directly to you; and such continued my
intention until the battle of Monocacy, after which your
treatment of me became so uniformly kind and considerate that I
was led to believe the disagreement, connected with Pittsburg
Landing, forgotten; a result, to which I tacitly assented,
notwithstanding the record of that battle as you had made it, in
the form of an endorsement on my official report, was grievously
against me.

A recent circumstance, however, has made it essential to my good
name, which I cannot bring myself to believe you wish to see
destroyed, to go back to my former purpose; in pursuance of
which, the object of this letter is simply to introduce certain
statements of gentlemen lately in the army, your friends as much
as mine, in hopes that the explanations to be found therein will
be sufficent to authorize you to give me a note of acquittal
from blame, plainly enough, to allay the suspicions and charges
to which I have been so painfully subjected. The statements are
in the form of extracts pertinent to the subject from letters
now in my possession, from General Fred Knefler, General George
McGinnis, Colonel James R. Ross, General Daniel MacCaulay,
Captain Ad Ware, General John A. Strickland, General John M.
Thayer, now United States Senator from Nebraska--all, of my
command, on the day in question, present with me, well known to
you, and of unimpeachable honor. I could have obtained many
others, of like import, but selected these because their authors
had peculiar opportunities for information upon points
considered of chief importance. It is possible that my
explanations of the matter would be sufficient for the purpose
in view. However that may be, it is my judgment now, that the
charges against me have gone so far, and been put in such grave
form, that public opinion may require an exoneration, though it
come from your hand, to be based upon the testimony of others.

Permit me to say, further, that as to the order you started to
me by Captain Baxter, I do not understand there is any question
of veracity between us. You tell me, that from the battle-field
you dispatched a verbal order by the officer named, to be
delivered to me, at Crump's Landing, directing me to march my
division to Pittsburg Landing by the road, parallel with the
river; and, supposing, as you did, that the order would reach me
by 11 o'clock, A.M., you reasonably concluded my command would
be on the field by 1 o'clock, P.M.

Now in all candor, if you have been, as I am informed, of
opinion that I received that order as it was given, and at the
time stated (11 o'clock, A.M.), and that for any reason, such as
personal feeling against you, or that I lost my way, or took the
wrong road, or lingered on the march, making but five miles in
seven hours, it must be admitted that you were justifiable in
any, even the most extreme judgment against me; and I must
confess that your moderation was greater than mine would likely
have been, had our positions been reversed. I do not flinch from
that conclusion, at all; but what I do say in my defence is that
the opinion and the conclusion, which is its corollary, are both
wrong, because the order admitted to have been dispatched was
not delivered to me, in form or substance, as dispatched. On the
contrary, the order I received from your messenger was in
writing, unsigned, and contained substantially the following
instructions:

"You will leave a force at Crump's Landing, sufficient to guard
the public property there; then march the rest of your division,
and _effect a junction with the right of the army_; after which
you will form your line of battle at right angles with the
river, and act as circumstances dictate."

This order was read by Colonel Ross, under circumstances well
calculated to impress it upon his memory. It was also given to
Colonel Knefler, then my Adjutant General, and by him read and
unfortunately lost. Finally, its purport, as stated by me above,
is vouched for by Captain Ware as the aide de camp. To refuse
credit to my version of its contents will be very hard, indeed,
corroborated as it is by so many gentlemen of unquestionable
veracity, and such excellent opportunity for information on the
point.

I think myself warranted now in asserting upon the credit of
the three officers just named, as well as my own, that by the
terms of the order, as it was delivered to me, the object of my
march was not Pittsburg Landing, as you intended, but the right
of the army, resting, when the battle opened in the morning, at
a point quite three miles out from the landing, on the road to
Purdy.

As a general principle it must be admitted that when you
entrusted the order to a proper messenger for delivery to me,
your responsibility ceased; but, I turn and ask you, appealing
to your experience and justice, how am I held responsible for
the execution of an order if it never reached me; or, if it
reached me, conveying an idea radically different from that
originally given? Of necessity, I was accountable for the
execution of the order, only as it was received, and if it was
not received in a form to convey your true design, but was
promptly executed, neither of us are responsible for the result.
It was not your mistake, nor was it mine.

Having established the purport, at least, of the order as it
came to my hand, the next inquiry is: "Did I proceed to execute
it, and how?"

On these heads all the letters on file are applicable. They
show, as I think, that I took measures anticipatory to the order
you gave me, personally, in your passage up the river to the
battle-field, viz: to hold myself in readiness to march in any
direction; that my brigades were ordered to concentrate at the
place most proper and convenient for a prompt execution of the
orders, whatever they might be, because it was at the junction
of two roads, one leading to Pittsburg Landing, the other to the
right of the army. To one of these points, it may be added, I
was sure of being ultimately sent, if the exigencies of the
battle required the presence of my command. They show, that
after you parted from me, going up the river, I took measures to
forward your messenger to me instantly upon his arrival (see
Colonel Ross' letters), then rode to the place of concentration,
and waited impatiently and anxiously the expected instructions;
that they came to hand about 12 o'clock (my own remembrance is
11:30 A.M.), and that the officer who brought them, also brought
the news that you were driving the enemy all along the line.
(See letters of General Knefler and Colonel Ross.) Up to that
time, therefore, I was certainly blameless.

But let me ask you to stop here, and consider the effect on my
mind and subsequent movements, of the information, thus reliably
obtained, that the battle was won. What inducement could I have
had to march away from or linger on the road to a victory? Upon
the hypothesis that the good news was true, how could I have
imagined, (had there been so much as a doubt as to the intent of
the order received,) a necessity for my command at Pittsburg
Landing?

But, proceeding. The letters further establish, that,
immediately upon receiving the order, I put my column _en
route_, to execute it.

Now comes the questions. Did I take the right road to effect the
junction with the right of the army, or one leading to Purdy,
away from the battle? Pertinent to these inquiries, General
Knefler says, that the road chosen for the movement had been
patrolled and picketted by my cavalry. By their report, if by
nothing else, I must have been posted as to its terminus. In
corroboration of this assertion please notice that General
Macaulay, General Strickland, General Thayer and General
Knefler, all allude to the fact that the head of the column was
approaching, not going away from the firing, when the
countermarch took place. Consider, further, that the most
imperative necessities of my situation, isolated as I had been
from the main army, were, to know all the communications with
that army, and to keep them clear, and in order for rapid
movement. _Not only did I know the road, but every step my
division took from the initial point of the march up to the
moment of the change of direction, was, as is well known to
every soldier in the column, a step nearer to the firing and
therefore a step nearer to the battle_. While on this inquiry,
let me add that the report of my being set right after marching
upon the wrong road has in it this much truth, and no more. When
about a mile from the position which had been occupied by the
right of the army (General Sherman's division), Captain Rowley
overtook me and told me that you had sent him to hurry me up,
and that our lines had been carried by the enemy and the army
driven back almost to the river, a very different story from the
one brought me by Captain Baxter. Captain Rowley set me right as
to the conditions of the battle, not as to the road I was
following. Colonel McPherson and Major Rawlins, the other
members of your staff, mentioned as having been sent to me, met
me after the countermarch, when my command was on the river road
moving to Pittsburg Landing.

Concerning the countermarch, I would remark that the condition
of the battle, as reported by Captain Rowley, made it prudent,
if not necessary. My column was only five thousand men, of all
arms. Reflecting upon it now, I am still of the opinion that it
did better service the next day in your new line of battle, than
it could have done, operating alone and unsupported in the rear
of the whole rebel army, where I was certainly taking it, when
"set right" by the captain.

Instead of making the change of direction, when it was resolved
on, by a countermarch, the result proved that it should have
been effected by a general right about. The former manoeuvre was
chosen, however, because I was confident of finding a cross road
to the river road long before the head of the column doubled
upon its foot. [See Colonel Ross' statement of the effort made
to accomplish that idea.]

One of the results I confidently anticipated from a reading of
the letter submitted, is, that you will be satisfied of the
wrong done me (unintentional, I believe), by Colonel Badeau,
when, in his book, he describes me as consuming seven hours in
marching five miles in the direction of the battle. The march
actually performed in that time was not less than fifteen miles,
over an execrable dirt road.

Your opinion, as advanced in your letter to the War Office,
July, 13, 1863, that General Morgan L. Smith, had he been put in
command, could have had the division in the battle by 1 o'clock
P.M., is in direct terms, based upon the condition that General
Smith received your orders as you supposed them communicated to
me. But, suppose he had not received the order as originally
given; suppose, on the contrary, the order actually received by
him had the effect to send him in another direction from
Pittsburg Landing; and suppose that, on approaching his
objective, he had found himself in the rear of the whole rebel
army, and in his judgment compelled, by that circumstance,
together with the bad fortune of our own army, to a further
movement of quite ten miles--all of which were terrible
realities in my case--I am sure you are too just a man to have
held him accountable for the hours, however precious, thus
necessarily lost.

With these remarks I place the letters of the officers named in
your hands. They will satisfy you, I think, that the exoneration
I seek will be a simple act of justice. The many misconceptions
which have been attached to my movements on that bloody Sunday,
have, it must be confessed, made me extremely sensitive upon the
subject. You can imagine, therefore, with what anxiety your
reply will be waited.

Very respectfully your friend,

LEW WALLACE.
To GENERAL U.S. GRANT, WASHINGTON CITY.

Colonel Ross to General Wallace:

CHICAGO, January, 25, 1868.

General: Having read the extract from "Badeau's Life of General
Grant," as published in the Chicago Tribune, of the twenty-fifth
of December, 1867, wherein he refers particularly to the battle
of Shiloh, and seeing the gross injustice done you, and the
false light in which you are placed before the country and the
world, I deem it my duty to make a brief statement of what I
know to be the facts in reference to your failure to reach the
field of battle in time to take part in the action of Sunday,
April 6, 1862.

I will first state the position of your command on that morning.
The First Brigade, Colonel M.L. Smith commanding, at Crump's
Landing; Second Brigade, Colonel John M. Thayer commanding, two
and one-half miles out on the Adamsville road; Third Brigade,
Colonel Charles R. Wood commanding, at Adamsville, five miles
out from the river. The first intimation you or any of your
staff had of the battle was between five and six o'clock, A.M.,
when my attention was called by one of the men on the boat on
which were your headquarters, to the heavy and continued firing
in the direction of the camp at Pittsburg Landing. You were at
once notified of this, and being satisfied that there was a
battle going on, directed me to go at once and order this
division to get ready to move at a moment's warning, and to
instruct Colonel Wood to move his baggage and camp equipage to
the river with the least possible delay, and march his command
to the camp of the Second Brigade, midway between his (then)
camp and that of the First Brigade, at the river.

After executing your order, as above, I returned to the Landing.
Soon after, you, together with your staff, went out to the camp
of the second Brigade, when the division had been ordered to
concentrate in order to be in position to take either one of two
roads, intersecting the Adamsville road from Crump's Landing to
Pittsburg Landing; one leading to Pittsburg Landing, the other
to the Purdy road from Pittsburg Landing, intersecting it at a
point not far from the right of our army under General Sherman,
as it was encamped when the battle began.

Before starting for Colonel Thayer's camp, orders were given by
you to Captain Lyman, A.Q.M., on your staff, for a horse to be
saddled and kept in readiness, in case a messenger should come
down the river with orders from General Grant to you.

Now for the order. Badeau says that a staff officer was
dispatched to General Wallace with verbal orders for him to
march by the nearest road parallel with the river. The order may
have been given verbally by General Grant to his staff officer,
but was not so delivered to you, nor did it direct you to march
by the nearest road parallel with the river. At about 11
o'clock, A.M., while at the camp of Colonel Thayer, I was
directed by you to go to Colonel M.L. Smith. I met Captain
Baxter, A.Q.M., who stopped me and handed me a paper saying, "I
wish you would take this to General Wallace." I took the paper,
read it and returned it to him, saying, I could not do so, as I
was on my way under orders from General Wallace. At the same
time I turned in my saddle, and pointed out a group of horsemen,
telling the Captain that you were among them. I went to Colonel
Smith, delivered my orders, and returning, met the Captain
again. I very distinctly remember that this order directed you
to move forward _and join General Sherman's right on the Purdy
road_ and form your line of battle at right angles with the
river; and then act as circumstances would dictate. Now the
shortest possible route by which you could reach the point
designated in the order was the one taken, viz: that one leading
from Colonel Thayer's camp (on the Adamsville road from Crump's
Landing), to the Purdy road (from Pittsburg Landing), a distance
of about five miles; whereas the distance to the point to which
you was to march as designated in the order, _via_ Pittsburg
Landing, would have been at least twelve miles. Perhaps I should
here state that this order was not signed by any one, but coming
as it did through one of the Staff Officers of the Commanding
General, could not be questioned. I would also state in this
connection, that when I met Captain Baxter first, I asked him
how things were going. He replied that Grant was driving the
enemy at all points. Had this been the case, the order as
delivered by Captain Baxter would have been all right, as we
could then have joined General Sherman as directed therein.
Within ten minutes after the receipt of the order, the troops
were on the road.

When we were about one mile from where we expected to join
General Sherman, we were overtaken by a messenger from General
Grant, Captain (since Colonel) Rowley, I believe, who informed
you that our troops had been defeated all along the line, and
driven back, till the right was within half a mile of the river,
and that the road we were on, would, if followed up, lead us
into the rear of the enemy. This being the case, it became
necessary to find some other way to form a junction with the
army. In order to do so, every mounted man attached to your
Head-Quarters was dispatched to find, if possible, some way to
get round the enemys' left without going back to the starting
point, or to find some resident to guide us by the nearest
possible route. Finally a man was found who was compelled to
act as guide. Nevertheless the march was continued as rapidly
as possible, until we joined the right of the army, just after
dark, in the position in which it lay when the battle closed for
the day. Badeau also says: "General Wallace was set right by
Captain (afterwards Colonel) Rowley, and Colonel (afterwards
Major General) McPherson, both at the time upon General Grant's
staff; that they set him right at 1 o'clock, and it took him
till seven to march five miles." It was near 1 o'clock when we
were overtaken by Rowley, but instead of having but five miles
to march, the distance could not have been less than eleven or
twelve miles. The first seen of General McPherson was when we
were met by him and General Rawlins, just as the head of the
column had reached the river road (from Crump's Landing to
Pittsburg Landing) who had come out to urge you to greater
haste. We had to march over the worst road I ever remember to
have seen. In many places it was almost impossible to get
artillery through. In my judgment the entire distance marched by
your command could not have been less than sixteen or seventeen
miles.

The above, General, are the facts relative to the movements of
your command on the day referred to, which fell under my
personal observation. I am, General, very respectively, your
obedient servant,

JAMES R. ROSS,

Late Brev. Lieut. Col. Major. A.D.C.
To MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana.

General Strickland to General Wallace:

HEADQUARTERS FIFTIETH REGIMENT, O.V.I. }
BIG RUN TRESTLE, Ky., June 24, 1863. }

CAPTAIN J.R. Ross, for MAJOR GENERAL LEW WALLACE:

DEAR SIR: In answer to your question as to my recollection of
the circumstances and time of the moving of Major General Lew
Wallace's command to the battle of Shiloh on the sixth of April,
1862, I will submit the following statement:

I was Acting Adjutant General for Colonel John M. Thayer (now
Brigadier General Thayer), he (Colonel Thayer) being in command
of the Second Brigade, General Lew Wallace's Division. On the
morning of the sixth of April (Sunday), 1862, the Brigade
commanded by Colonel Thayer, stationed at "Stony Lonesome," was
in readiness to march at daylight, or before. We were waiting
for orders to move, when Major General Lew Wallace and staff
rode to the headquarters of the brigade, I think between the
hours of 8 and 9 o'clock; it may have been earlier. General
Wallace ordered everything in readiness to move at a moment's
notice. I received the orders directly from General Wallace. I
assured him that the brigade, upon previous orders from himself
and Colonel Thayer, was ready to move, but went again, in
person, by order of Colonel Thayer, and notified Commanders of
Regiments, Batteries, etc., to be ready at the call from Colonel
Thayer's headquarters, to move. I heard General Wallace
addressing himself to Lieutenant Colonel McCord, commanding the
First Nebraska Regiment, to say, that he had received no orders
to move and that he was waiting for orders frown General Grant's
headquarters to move. I heard General Wallace request one of his
staff to watch the road to Crump's Landing for a messenger with
orders.

At half past 11 A.M. (it might have been fifteen minutes to 12)
a person rode up to General Wallace with orders to move. I was
standing by General Wallace at the time. _The Brigade commanded
by Colonel Thayer was in motion in just ten minutes after the
order was received_. I am particular about this, because Colonel
Sanbourn, of the Twenty-first Indiana Regiment, and other
officers of the Brigade, talked over the matter in the morning.
After the order was received we moved off rapidly.

After we had marched some distance, _and were getting nearer to
the sound of musketry continually_, we were met, I think, by
Major Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant General of General Grant, and
our direction changed. From my knowledge of the country, after
the battle of Monday, I am satisfied that, if we had not changed
our direction when we did, we would have gone in behind the left
of the rebel army. After the direction of the column was
changed, I was ordered by Colonel Thayer to go to the foot of
the column, for what purpose I cannot now recollect. I think it
was at the instance of General Wallace, to change direction on a
shorter route of Wood's brigade, and when going from the foot of
the column to the head, to report to my commanding officer,
Colonel Thayer. I remember noticing all _three_ of the
_Brigades_ in _close column, marching rapidly forward_. Just at
dusk we arrived at the valley of a small stream, where the mud
was very deep. We met an orderly, there, from the battle-field,
who said we could reach General Grant's forces by making great
haste, as Berdan's Sharp-shooters were holding the road by which
we were to enter. _The column was hurried forward as fast as it
was possible for it to move_. We arrived a little after dark, on
the right of General Grant's forces, but a few yards in front of
the enemy.

Not knowing for what particular purpose you wish this
communication, I have been precise in details as to time, etc.,
as it will be remembered by most of the officers of the Second
Brigade.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

J.A. STRICKLAND,
Colonel Commanding Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

General McGinnis to General Wallace:

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, February 21, 1868.