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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1963)
Grant Promoted; Rosecrans Out By MERTON T. AKERS United Press International A special train from the East pulled into the Indianapolis depot on Oct. 17, 1863 just as the Louisville train was about to pull out. A messenger ran from the special and ordered the Louis ville train held. Then a man left the special, hastened along the platform and swung aboard the Lousville train. There he met the ma. he wanted to see. The man who hastily left the special train was V. S. Secre tary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The man he greeted was Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. They never had met before. Further more Grant was in the dark about why he had been sum moned all the way from Vicks burg. Miss., via Cario, 111., to meet "an officer of the War Department. Handed Two Orders They introduced themselves and Stranton handed Grant two orders, signed by President Lincoln. Stanton told Grant to accept whichever he preferred. The orders were identical ex cept for one provision. They made Grant chief of a new Division of the Mississippi. The new division comprised all the Union armies west of the Alle ghany Mountains except the command of Maj. Gen. Na thaniel P. Banks in the south west. One order left departmental commanders as they were. The other replaced Maj. Gen. Williams S. Rosecrans as head of Chattanooga, Tenn., by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. Grant accepted the order re placing Rosecrans. For Grant this was more much more than a dramatic meeting on a train and a pro motion, as great as that was. It meant that Sam Grant, a cap tain the Army didn't want less than 10 years ago, now com manded more than half of the armies of the Republic in the vast area from the eastern mountains to a vague frontier fading some place in western Kansas and the Indian Terri tory. For Lincoln and Stanton it meant the first unified com mand in the West during the War and foreshadowed a Union national command to come. It meant also to the President and the war secretary that they had found a general who fought the enemy where he found it and with the troops and war material he had. No excuses . . . no alibies ... no carping about supplies ... no unsolicited advice about how to run the government. . . Lincoln now had in a key spot the general of whom he had said: "I can't spare this man; he fights." Talked All Day Stanton and Grant arrived in Louisville in a cold drizzling rain and talked all day in the Salt house about the military problems in the West, chief of which was the plight of Rose crans at Chattanooga. He was besieged by the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg. Rosecrans army was recovering from its defeat at Chickamauga but food and forage was scarce. The conference concluded, Stanton retired for the night. He had caught cold and his asthma returned. The general and Mrs. Grant went out to visit relatives in the evening. While he was gone Stanton re ceived a message from Charles A. Dana, assistant secretary of war, who was in Chattanooga. Unless prevented, he said Rose crans would retreat from the key city. Roused from sleep by the messenger, Stanton became agi tated as he was likely to do GRAVEDIGGER DIES WOTTON - UNDER - EDGE, England (UPI) Gravedigger Horace Webb, 62, collapsed and died in his churchyard Friday minutes after digging a grave for a cousin who was being buried today. IIP under stress. Where was Grant? Someone find him quickly! Guests and employees of the hotel were bidden to send the general to Stanton's room the moment he appeared. "About eleven o'clock I re turned to the hotel," Grant wrote in his memoirs, "and on my way, when near the house, every person I met was a mes senger for the Secretary, ap parently partaking of his impatience to see me. I hastened to the room of the Secretary and found him pac ing the floor in his dressing gown. "Saying the retreat must be prevented, he showed me the dispatch. "I immediately wrote an order assuming command of the Division of the Mississippi, and telegraphed it to General Rosecrans. I then telegraphed to him the order from Washing ton assigning Thomas to the command of the Army of the Cumberland; and to Thomas that he must hold Chattanooga at all hazards. . ." Soon the answer came from Thomas. "We will hold the town till we starve," "Old Pap" Thomas replied. "I appreciated the force ' of this dispatch later when I wit nessed the condition of affairs which prompted it," Grant wrote. Couldn't Keep Secret Rosecrans was out on an in spection tour when the order re lieving him arrived. One of his generals, Gorden Granger, read it and laid it on Rosecrans' desk. But Granger could not keep the secret and told it under the seal of secrecy to Maj. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, chief of staff for Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, who rode into headquarters from Bridgeport, Ala., where reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac were stationed. Rosecrans returned about dusk and read the order. He took it "coolly and composedly, exhibiting neither surprise nor chagrin," Col. John P. Sander son of his staff reported. THIS i?WAS THE CIVIL WAR SECTION B MEDFORD, PAGES 1 to S Tribune MEDFORD. OREGON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1963 SLUfkfor Sift.,, ZDlcrtC WEST Englishmen Still Prefer Cricket I 1 LINCOLN'S ORDERS On Oct. 17, 1863, Sec retary of War Edwin Stanton met at Indian apolis with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Stanton gave Grant- two orders signed by President Lincoln and told him to accept whichever one he preferred. The orders were identical except for one provision. They made Grant chief of a new division of the Mississippi, comprising all Union armies west of the Alleghany Moun tains except the command of Gen. N. P. Banks in the southwest. One order left departmental commanders as they were; the other replaced Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans as head of the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga. He was to be replaced with Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. Grant accepted the order replacing Rosecrans. Here, in photos from the Depart ment of the Interior, are from left, Thomas, Grant and Rosecrans. (UPI) Rosecrans sent for Thomas and when "Old Pap" arrived handed the dispatch to him without comment. "Slowly and solemnly," Thomas read the order. Rose crans reported, "turning pale and drawing his breath harder as he proceeded." Rosecrans went on to say to Thomas that "no cloud of doubt will ever come into my mind as to your fidelity to friendship and honor." Saying he could not bear to take leave of his troops, Rose crans departed early the next morning for Cincinnati to await orders. Rosecrans always denied that he was going to retreat from Chattanooga and attributed his removal from command to the ill will of Stanton and Grant. He had formulated a plan to break the stranglehold the Con federates had clamped on his supply line. But the plight of Chattanoo ga was critical whether Rose crans was planning to retreat or not and Grant applied him self to the problem. He arrived at Thomas' head quarters on Oct. 23. He still was crippled from a fall off his horse in New Orleans several weeks before and walked with crutches. He had to be lifted on and off his horse. Excellent Suggestions On the way he had met Rose crans at Stevenson, Ala. "He made some excellent sug gestions as to what should be done (in Chattanooga)," Grant wrote, adding, "my only wonder was that he had not carried them out." Thomas received Grant cold ly and so did other officers who had served with Rosecrans. Colonel Sanderson wrote that "most of the officers and men feel cool, doubtful and distrust ing." He thought Grant was "a clever and affable gentleman" but "not a great man." The next day Grant, his staff, Thomas and Brig. Gen . W. F. (Baldy) Smith, engineering of ficer, went over the ground. At one point on the Tennessee Riv er the party was within musket shot of a Confederate picket but was not fired on. Grant took this to mean the Rebels were confident they could take the city by stravation. Grant then ordered the sup ply line "cracker line" the soldiers called it opened at once, using the plan Rosecrans and his officers had worked out. United Press International WASHINGTON (UPI) - In view of all that has been hap pening in England recently, it was reassuring to chat with three policewomen from that country. The lady cops, who were here in a goodwill visit, were the very essence of stability and re spectability. I could tell that if they caught someone like Christine Kceler swimming in the nude they would pinch her immediately. As who wouldn't? In fact. Miss Jean Stewart, who is a police superintendent on the Lancashire County force, brushed aside my query about the sex problem in England. Prefers Cricket She made it plain that the average Englishman still pre ferred cricket, so we talked about police business instead. The superintendent and the other two policewomen, Wini fred Cross and Sheila Crigall, were driving an MG sports car, which is the same type of ve hicle they use for patrol work back home. Miss Stewart said lady cops in police-equipped sports cars were quite common in England. The Lancashire County force, which is the second 'argest in England, has been using police women on general duty since 1914 and now has 122 in its ranks. Miss Stewart said lady cops work out quite well because England has less crime than the United Status nnrl male police usually go about unarmed. "We don't work Ihrnnoh strength," she said, "we work through tact." Not The Same I told Miss Stewart that if the police in Washington left off their guns every bank in the city would be emptied by night fall. Miss Stewart said things' were different in England. "If we carried guns, it might encourage others to start carry ing them," she said. I asked Miss Stewart how they could apprehend a law breaker without being armed and she said they used persua sion. "Courage isn't physical in the British police," she said. "It's mostly patience." Because there are relatively fewer crimes, police in England have more time to serve the public in other ways, she ex plained. "We get a lot of calls from women who imagine that some one's putting bricks through their letter boxes," she said. One of the other lady rops commented that police in Eng land also are kept busy inves tigating complaints from people who claim they have seen "strange lights." I left the interview more con vinced than ever that "there'll, always be an England. Portland University Enrollment Hits 1,750 PORTLAND (UPI) -Enroll, ment for the fall semester at the University of Portland was 1,750, final registration figures showed Saturday. Enrollment for the fall semes ter last year was 1,756. JFK, Pearson Discuss Great Lakes Dispute WASHINGTON (UPI) - Pres. ident Kennedy discussed the Great Lakes Maritime disputa Saturday with Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson and expressed hope that it can be settled "quickly, fairly and with out further misunderstanding." POWERFUL PLUNGER CLEARS CLOGGED TOILETS in a jiffy NEVER AOAIN Ihot lick haling whan your tolltt overflows TOILAFLEX ToiUt Plunger Unlike ordinary plunsen. Ibilaflex does not permit compressed sir or messy water to splaih back or escape. With Toilaflcx the full oressure plows through the clogging mass and wishes it down. Can t miss! DESIGNED TO rLEX AT ANY ANGLE RECESSED RIM TRAPS AIR A WATER CENTERS ITSELF, CAN'T SKID AROUND lArtPlLO (All. GIVES AIR-TIGHT FIT $2" AT HARDWARE 510115 IVElrWHME 1 1 -,mMm' ICE CREAM Snider's Half Gallon 49c DETERGENT 49 lWkl! I ENERGY Blue and White Giant Size M SUGAR SPRECKEIS 10-lb. Bag 99c COFFEE ALTA-Drip or Regular 2-lb. 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I Old Fashion Donuts Doien tato U.S. No. 1 Klamath Sandlands 10-lbs. 37 GRAPES 2 lbs. 21) APPLES Local Golden Delicious Wonderful for Eating , ib. w MEDFORD-Westgate Center MEDFORD-13rh and Central Wt Rexrvt Tht Right To Limit Prieti fftctivt Thru Wtdnndiy, Oct. 16th (a)
