avail
myself of its schools, etc.; to remove Mr. Stanton from his office
as Secretary of War, and have me to discharge the duties.

"To effect this removal two modes were indicated: To simply cause
him to quit the war office building and notify the treasury department
and the army staff departments no longer to respect him as Secretary
or War; or to remove him, and submit my name to the Senate for
confirmation. Permit me to discuss these points a little, and I
will premise by saying that I have spoken to no one on the subject,
and have not even seen Mr. Ewing, Mr. Stanbery, or General Grant
since I was with you.

"It has been the rule and custom of our army, since the organization
of the government, that the officer of the army second in rank
should be in command at the second place in importance, and remote
from general headquarters. To bring me to Washington would put
three heads to an army,--yourself, General Grant, and myself,--and
we would be more than human if we were not to differ. In my judgment
it would ruin the army, and would be fatal to one or two of us.

"Generals Scott and Taylor proved themselves soldiers and patriots
in the field, but Washington was fatal to them both. This city
and the influences that centered here defeated every army that had
its head here from 1861 to 1865, and would have overwhelmed General
Grant at Spottsylvania and Petersburg, had he not been fortified
by a strong reputation already hard earned, and because no one then
living coveted the place. Whereas in the west we made progress
from the start, because there was no political capital near enough
to poison our minds and kindle into light that craving itching for
fame which has killed more good men than battles. I have been with
General Grant in the midst of death and slaughter--when the howls
of people reached him after Shiloh; when messengers were speeding
to and fro, between his army and Washington, bearing slanders to
induce his removal before he took Vicksburg; in Chattanooga, when
the soldiers were stealing the corn of the starving mules to satisfy
their own hunger; at Nashville, when he was ordered to the 'forlorn
hope' to command the army of the Potomac, so often defeated--and
yet I never saw him more troubled than since he has been in
Washington, and has been compelled to read himself a 'sneak and
deceiver,' based on reports of four of the cabinet, and apparently
with your knowledge. If this political atmosphere