ty-six Years in the Army_, while
devoting many pages to the Battle of Franklin, Schofield has nothing to
say about his failure to give some personal attention to the very
extraordinary situation that developed right under his nose, so to speak.
The audacity he displayed in claiming credit for the victory, while in
Washington soon after the battle and finding that the administration was
ignorant of its details, was a brilliant stroke of genius of its kind--but
not such genius as any lover of his country will wish to see encouraged
among the ambitious officers in our army.

Cox was with Schofield in Washington and must have rendered invaluable
assistance. No doubt each certified to the meritorious services of the
other and Cox got his share of the reward in his promotion to the command
of the twenty-third corps. Is it any wonder that two such able but
unscrupulous men, while working together, with no one present to question
their claims, should score such a success in deceiving President Lincoln?
Was it for the meritorious services Schofield rendered, while sitting idly
in Doctor Cliffe's house, utterly indifferent to the reports coming to him
of the preparations of the enemy for assault; and was it for the gallantry
he displayed when he skedaddled to the fort across the river as soon as
the firing began, thereby abandoning the conduct of the battle to his
subordinates, that they claimed the promotion he was given? If he had
received the award his conduct that day so justly merited, would it not
have come in the verdict of a court-martial such as he declares in his
book ought to have been given to Wagner, Lane, and Conrad? "According to
the established rules of war these three commanders" and Schofield and Cox
"ought to have been tried by court-martial and, if found guilty, shot or
cashiered for sacrificing their own men and endangering the army."

If any of the blame attached to General Stanley, he washed it away
gallantly with the blood of his wound.

JOHN K. SHELLENBERGER.

Hampton, Virginia, November 5, 1915.

THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN

Any facts or information concerning the Battle of Franklin coming my way
has always been devoured with a greedy interest, and because of this
interest, I have given far more research to this battle than to any other
in which I was engaged. On account of the open character of the
battle-field, the limited area, where the fighting raged, and my presence
in the midst of that ar