John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

A few days later he reported in detail that General Grant had relieved General McClernand from the command of the Thirteenth army corps and sent him to Illinois to await further orders from the government, gave a full account of the new arrangements made necessary by the change, and set forth a multitude of circumstances connected with the progress of the siege, the operations of Johnston, Taylor, and Kirby Smith, and the conditions prevailing in the country occupied by their forces. In all this correspondence not a despondent thought was expressed, not an uncertain note was sounded. While Dana was the trusted representative of the War Department, he was sparing of his comments and suggestions, and yet when necessary he did not hesitate to criticise the highest officers, whether they were regulars or volunteers. His position required the greatest discretion in speech and consummate tact in his relations with the officers about him. Although he was a commissioner of the War Department, whose duty it was to report upon all, he put on no airs and assumed no responsibilities beyond the strict letter of his instructions. What to report and what not to report was a question constantly before him; and while it was not to be expected that in an army of volunteers drawn from every walk of life there should not be some who were suspicious and many who were envious, it is evident that Dana gave but little ground for either class to take offence at his personal or official conduct while connected with the Army of the Tennessee.

As his correspondence shows, Dana was in every way the eyes of the government from the first to the closing day of the Vicksburg campaign. He participated in the councils of the commander--in--chief as well as in most of the operations of the troops. As the official representative