f 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