no one man except Grant who was
clad with special powers for the emergency, could hope for the honor of
directing all movements. That became his exclusive function as soon as
he was made Lieutenant General, but unfortunately, as has been shown,
he and Smith began drifting apart from the day of their arrival in the
East, and long before the great task before them was accomplished they
had by their own peculiarities, looking at the problem from different
points of view, and aided doubtless by the misrepresentations and
selfish purposes of others, become hopelessly out of harmony with each
other.

This is not the place to pronounce final judgment between them. They
knew each other well, and although Grant had said towards the close of
their friendship, "General Smith, while a very able officer, is
obstinate, and is likely to condemn whatever is not suggested by
himself," he had shown an earnest desire that his great talents should
be utilized. On the other hand Smith, who was intimately acquainted
with both the strength and the weaknesses of Grant's character, had
full confidence in the soundness of his judgment, when left free from
prejudice and misrepresentation, to act upon a full statement of the
facts. Neither had hitherto shown himself to be particularly sensitive
to criticism from the other, and both were in the highest degree
patriotic and loyal to the cause. They had worked harmoniously and with
marked success together in the West. Not a shadow had come between
them. The case must therefore have been a most complicated one which
made it impossible for them to work together in the same manner and to
the same end in the East. The severance of their relationship, to
whatever influence it may be attributed, is profoundly to be regretted,
not only because it prematurely ended the military career of General
Smith, but because it must have injuriously affected the fortunes of
General Grant as well as of the country and the army, at a time when
both sorely needed the help of every capable soldier. These results are
all the more to be deplored because no one can study the circumstances
connected therewith, without reaching the conclusion that they were
brought about by methods which were themselves not above criticism, and
which finally resulted in the downfall of their author.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROES OF THE GREAT CONFLICT; LIFE
AND SERVICES OF WILLIAM FARRAR SMITH, MAJOR GENERAL, UNITED STATES