[589]
paper in open session as soon as it can be copied.
No word of warning as to its character is given.
Much of it is but a repetition of the charges made by the late Secretary of War, and, if they can be sustained, it is manifest that our present disasters are not to be attributed to General Johnston's removal, but to his ever having been appointed.
It follows, too, that he should not be continued in his present command.
It becomes necessary, therefore, to examine into the correctness of these charges.
The Senate did not ask for a review of General Johnston's campaign, but for a report of the operations of the army while under the command of General Hood.
Though uncalled for, it is before us and the people, and I propose to give it a fair and calm consideration.
In reviewing the review I shall refer to the official “field returns” on file in the Adjutant and Inspector-General's office, made and signed by Colonel Mason, Assistant Adjutant-General, and approved by General Johnston, and not to those with the army, revised and “corrected,” which I have never seen.
The field returns on file here are, or should be, duplicates of those with the army, which are made up from the returns of the corps commanders.
Not having the honor of a personal acquaintance with Colonel Falconer, I do not know what reliance is to be placed on his corrections of official documents.
I do know Colonel Mason and General Johnston, and I do not believe either capable of making a false or fraudulent return.
General Hood in his review gives the effective total of General Johnston's army, “at and near Dalton,” to be seventy thousand on the 6th of May, 1864.
These returns appear to have been made tri-monthly, on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month.
The last official “field return,” previously to the 6th of May, on file in the Adjutant and Inspector-General's office, is of the 1st of May.
It shows his effective total to be forty thousand nine hundred and thirteen infantry and artillery, and twenty-nine hundred and seventy-four cavalry, amounting in all to forty-three thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven.
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