Adam Badeau, Military history of Ulysses S. Grant from April 1861 to April 1865. Volume 1

ordered, that Major-General McClernand be, and he is directed to proceed to the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, to organize the troops remaining in those states and to be raised by volunteering or draft, and forward them with all dispatch to Memphis, Cairo, or such other points as may hereafter be designated by the General-in-chief, to the end that, when a sufficient force, not required by the operations of General Grant's command, shall be raised, an expedition may be organized under General McClernand's command, against Vicksburg, and to clear the Mississippi river and open navigation to New Orleans.

Indorsement:

General McClernand to General Grant.

General,—Your dispatch of the 16th inst. came to hand at six o'clock p. M. this day, and I hasten, at the same moment, to answer it.

I take the responsibility of the expedition against Post Arkansas, and had anticipated your approval of the complete and signal success which crowned it, rather than your condemnation.

In saying that I could not have effected the reduction of Vicksburg with the limited force under my command, after its repulse near that place under General Sherman, I only repeat what was contained in a previous dispatch to you. From the moment you fell back from Oxford, and the purpose of a front attack upon the enemy's works near Vicksburg was thus deprived of cooperation , the Mississippi river expedition was doomed to eventuate in a failure.

I had heard nothing of General Banks when I left Milliken's Bend on the 4th inst.; and if, as you say, Port Hudson has been made ‘very strong,’ it will be some time before he 39 [610] will be in a situation to receive the cooperation of the Mississippi river expedition, unless he should prove more successful than the latter.

Had I remained idle and inactive at Milliken's Bend with the army under my command until now, I should have felt myself guilty of a great crime. Rather had I accepted the consequences of the imputed guilt of using it profitably and successfully upon my own responsibility.

The officer who, in the present strait of the country, will not assume a proper responsibility to save it, is unworthy of public trust.

Having successfully accomplished the object of this expedition, I will return to Milliken's Bend, according to my intention, communicated to you in a previous dispatch, unless otherwise ordered by you.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

General McClernand to General Grant.

Your order directing me to move the camp of the Fifty-fourth Indiana volunteers outside the limits of the camp hospital, and to furnish guards for said hospital, is received.

The officer who brought you a complaint upon this subject, should not have troubled you, but should have come to me, or, having come to you, I think ought, regularly, to have been referred to me.

I denounce his complaint as an act of insubordination. Please advise me who made the complaint.

If I am to be held responsible for the safety of this camp, I must be permitted to dispose of the forces within it as I may think proper. The internal organization of the camp, and the disposition of its forces, are matters that properly belong to me as their immediate commander.

The Fifty-fourth Indiana was assigned to the position, coveted by the medical director or hospital surgeon, for strategic [611] reasons, before the camp hospital was located. Those reasons are, in part, explained by the correspondence, a copy of which is herewith enclosed. Nevertheless, upon the application of the medical director, or rather upon my own suggestion, the huts occupied by the Fifty-fourth were vacated by them, and assigned for hospital uses, and the regiment ordered to encamp as far away as was consistent with strategic considerations. This they did.

Still complaint came. The surgeon objected to the neighborhood of the regiment; the colonel complained of the insolence of the surgeon, and stated that his men had voluntarily cared for the sick, who had been brought out and left on the ground uncared for. I settled the question, as already mentioned, by giving the huts and necessary space to the surgeon, and moving the regiment as far away as was considered proper.

With this statement, it remains for you to decide what ought to be done in the premises. The enforcement of your order will be the subversion of my authority at the instance of an inferior, who deserves to be arrested for his indirection and spirit of insubordination.

And having said this much, general, it is proper that I should add one or two other words. I understand that orders are being issued from your headquarters directly to army corps commanders, and not through me. As I am invested, by order of the Secretary of War, indorsed by the President, and by order of the President communicated to you by the General-in-chief, with the command of all the forces operating on the Mississippi river, I claim that all orders affecting the condition or operation of those forces should pass through these headquarters. Otherwise I must lose a knowledge of current business, and dangerous confusion ensue. If different views are entertained by you, then the question should be immediately referred to Washington, and one or other, or both of us, relieved.

One thing is certain: two generals cannot command this army, issuing independent and direct orders to subordinate officers, and the public service be promoted.

Your obedient servant,

General McClernand to General Grant.

General Orders, No. 13, is this moment received. I hasten to inquire whether its purpose is to relieve me from the command of all, or any portion of the forces composing the Mississippi river expedition, or, in other words, whether its purpose is to limit my command to the Thirteenth army corps.

I am led to make this inquiry, because, while such seems to be the intention, it conflicts with the order of the Secretary of War, made under the personal direction of the President, bearing date October 31, 1862, of which the following is an extract:

‘Major-General McClernand is directed to proceed to the states of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, to organize the troops remaining in those states. . . . and forward them. . . . . to Memphis; Cairo, or such other points as may hereafter be designated,. . . . . to the end that, when a sufficient force, not required by the operations of General Grant's command [then in West Tennessee], shall be raised, an expedition may be organized, under General McClernand's command, against Vicksburg, and to clear the Mississippi to New Orleans.’

Also, with the order of the General-in-chief to you, dated December 18, 1862, of which the following is an extract:

‘It is the wish of the President, that General McClernand's corps shall constitute a part of the river expedition, and that he shall have the immediate command under your direction.’¹

Also, with your communication of the same date, based on the preceding order, and giving me command of the expedition; and with your verbal assurance of yesterday, that my relations to the forces here would continue undisturbed.

I repeat that I respectfully ask for an explanation of this seeming conflict of authority and orders, that I may be enabled to guide my action intelligently. By General Orders, No. 22, you extend your command as far west from the Mississippi river as your orders may reach. By General Orders, No. 13, you [613] charge the Thirteenth army corps with garrisoning Helena and other points south. Is it to be understood that my command west of the Mississippi is coextensive with the purview of General Orders, No. 22?

Again, you charge the Thirteenth army corps with garrisoning the west bank of the Mississippi. Am I to understand that I am to act on my own judgment in fixing the number, strength, and location of those garrisons, or simply by your directions?

It is quite obvious that the whole, or a large portion of the Thirteenth army corps must be absorbed by these garrisons, if the purpose is to afford complete protection to all lawful vessels navigating the river; and thus, while having projected the Mississippi river expedition, and having been by a series of orders assigned to the command of it, I may be entirely withdrawn from it.

For the reason last stated, and because the portion of the Thirteenth army corps taking part in this expedition is very much smaller than any other corps of your command, and because my forces are here, and those of others have yet to come; why not detach from the latter to garrison the river shore, and relieve all those here from liability to that charge?

Your obedient servant,

General Grant to General McClernand.

The intention of General Order, No. 13, is that I will take direct command of the Mississippi river expedition, which necessarily limits your command to the Thirteenth army corps.

I regard the President as Commander-in-chief of the army, and will obey every order of his; but as yet I have seen no order to prevent my taking immediate command in the field; and since the dispatch referred to in your note, I have received another from the General-in-chief of the army, authorizing me directly to take charge of this army. . .

General McClernand to General Grant.

General: Your dispatch of this date, in answer to mine of yesterday, is received.

You announce it to be the intention of General Orders, No. 13, to relieve me from the command of the Mississippi river expedition, and to circumscribe my command to the Thirteenth army corps; and undertake to justify the order by authority granted by the General-in-chief.

I acquiesced in the order for the purpose of avoiding a conflict of authority in the presence of the enemy, but for reasons set forth in my dispatch of yesterday (which, for any thing disclosed, I still hold good) I protest against its competency and justice; and respectfully request that this my protest, together with the accompanying paper, may be forwarded to the General-in-chief, and through him to the Secretary of War, and the President.

I request this not only in respect for the President and the Secretary, under whose express authority I claim the right to command the expedition, but in justice to myself as its author and active promoter. Your obedient servant,

General Grant to General Halleck.

Herewith I enclose you copy of General Orders, No. 13, from these headquarters, and the correspondence between General McClernand and myself growing out of it.

It is due to myself to state that I am not ambitious to have this or any other command; I am willing to do all in my power in any position assigned me. General McClernand was assigned to duty in this department, with instructions to me to assign him to an army corps on the Mississippi river, and to [615] give him the chief command under my direction. This I did; but subsequently receiving authority to assign the command to any one I thought most competent, or to take it myself. I determined at least to be present with the expedition.

If General Sherman had been left in command here, such is my confidence in him that I would not have thought my presence necessary. But whether I do injustice to General McClernand or not, I have not confidence in his ability as a soldier to conduct an expedition of the magnitude of this successfully. In this opinion I have no doubt but that I am borne out by a majority of the officers of the expedition, though I have not questioned one of them on the subject.

I respectfully submit this whole matter to the Generalin-chief and the President. Whatever the decision made by them, I will cheerfully submit to and give a hearty support.

General McClernand to General Grant.—(extract.)

. . .Great prudence needs to be exercised in detaching transports from this fleet to return to Memphis, as the Mississippi river is rising rapidly, and may deluge our troops at any time. You will at once perceive the great importance of this caution, as it involves the very existence of the army here. . .

Before closing this dispatch, I wish to say that the transports ordered back to Memphis should be returned here at the earliest possible moment, if the Mississippi river continues to rise.

These letters, it will be remembered, are addressed by a subordinate to his commanding officer.