A William Tecumseh Sherman Letter

Pointing to four Civil War letters, General Henry Van Ness Boynton, Washington correspondent for the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, reopened for public examination in the Sunday, January 23, 1887, New York Sun, the long-running subject of General Ulysses S. Grant's liquor drinking. The letters recalled a "foolish, drunken, stupid Grant," "drunk at Donelson," a Grant who had "pledged himself to drink nothing intoxicating," still "getting liquor in a surreptitious manner."¹ Instant reactions of indignation, abuse, protest, and some agreement sprang forth from the Sun's readers and from Grant's friends and relatives. The Reverend Doctor Funk remembered the battles that had been lost and the thousands of men slain needlessly because of drunkenness in high places.² Major William C. Carroll wrote that there were only three men remaining, besides himself, who were qualified to speak knowledgeably on the subject of Grant's intemperance: General John E. Smith, Forty-fifth Illinois, Surgeon J. B. Kitto, Forty-fifth Illinois, and Colonel A. H. Markham, Army of the Tennessee.³ Grant's son, Colonel Frederick Dent Grant, spoke out against those assassins of others' reputations who "have for years been trying to ruin the fair fame of the purest man and the best father that ever lived."⁴ Dr. E. D. Kittoe confirmed the factual validity of General Boynton's statements.⁵

The University of Iowa Library's recently-acquired William Tecumseh Sherman letter adds still another voice to the controversy:

Army Building,
New York, Feb 4, 1887

Dear Tourtelotte,⁶

Yours of Feb 1. is received and as it asks some questions I answer at once -- I have not heard of or encountered either of the two girls of Morgan L. Smith, both of whom must now be grown -- Some years ago I was told the elder girl had developed quite a character as Authoress or Poet, and that she was earning a good living by writing for the magazines. I think the mother had got low down before she died. She borrowed of me, [ ] Miller & Corkhill pretty heavy in Washington -- always on the assertion that she had some Claim against the PO Dept on the eve of Settlement.-- Of course I never expected to be repaid.-- That was a small matter for Bragg, to strike off the Army Bill the item for my Clerk -- John Sherman says Mr Allison of the Com on Appropriations promises it will appear on the Sunday Civil Bill -- but I am getting tired of being a beggar for such a small favor [ ] Mr. Lin Hodges has paid Mr. [ ] for January, the first cent he has received from Uncle Sam since he left St Louis -- I advanced him $400. and enabled him to earn $100. by selling to the Tribune Copies of two letters at the time of Logans death -- Now if the 4th of March passes without the appropriation, I will discharge my Clerk box up & store my papers and simply refuse to answer soldiers' letters.

The Newspaper Clipping you sent I had seen here in the Sun -- It fell still-born. Boynton is a Coyote, or hyena, scratching up old forgotten scandals, publishing them as something new -- We all knew at the time that Genl Grant would occasionally drink too much. He always encouraged me to talk to him frankly of this & other things and I always noticed that be could with an hours sleep wake up perfectly sober & bright -- and when any thing was pending be was invariably abstinent of drink -- After Vicksburg, you must remember that a delegation of preachers waited on President Lincoln to complain of Grants habit -- Mr Lincoln heard them patiently and enquired -- "Do you know where Grant buys his whiskey? I would like to present some to other Generals not so successful."

Grants whole character was a mystery even to himself -- a combination of Strength and weakness not paralleled by any of whom I have read in ancient or Modern History -- The good he did lives after him -- let his small weaknesses lie buried with his bones -- and Shame on the Curs and Coyotes who aim to rake them up again.

Mr. Thackara came over from Philadelphia yesterday and took Elly home to Bryn Mawr -- Lizzie will come back Monday--

Rachel is off today with the wife of Hamilton Fish Sr to wish [ ] for a Toboganning match. -- I am advertised for an Exhibition of Capt Pratts Carlisle Indian School at the Academy of Music, tonight --and tomorrow Dinner with Chauncey M. Depew -- Our expenses are gradually drawing ahead of my income, and I must begin to economise -- The item Carriage [ ] begins to run into the hundreds per month --

We all retain our usual health -- Genl Stone left 3 Policies of Insurance each $10,000 but I dont know as to their condition -- His family of 3 children are all delicate & must go to Louisiana, the native place of Mrs Stone--

as always Yr Friend,
Wm. T. Sherman

General Sherman's allegation that Murat Halstead, editor of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, was guilty of criticizing Civil War actions from a safe place in the rear may have had some validity, but the same could hardly be said of Medal of Honor recipient Henry Van Ness Boynton. One has only to refer to the several detailed accounts remaining witness to Lieutenant-Colonel Boynton's heroism at Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge, Tennessee⁷ and his immediate action taken to meet Sherman's army at Savannah on his first newspaper assignment after release from the service⁸; to disprove any such similar allegations made of Boynton. It was not Boynton's writing from lack of military experience that won him enemies in high places but rather his determined, ever-present insistence on correct, accurate historiography devoid of romantic frills. General William Tecumseh Sherman had personal reasons for resenting Henry Van Ness Boynton's probes into official records and his criticisms of writing history from memory alone. Sherman doubtless smarted a good deal from Boynton's attack on his Memoirs.⁹

Five days after General Boynton's article, "Grant's Liquor Drinking," first appeared in the New York Sun, the Sun's editor ran another article entitled "Gen. Grant's Occasional Intoxication." General Sherman's letter to Colonel Tourtellotte echoes the appeal made in this Friday, January 28, 1887 article.¹⁰ President Lincoln, Secretary of War Stanton, and the American people collectively could not be wrong. Occasional drunkenness in a General of the Army and President of the United States did not constitute a denial of responsibility, and Boynton was wrong to make such an implication publicly.

Biographers and historians have acknowledged Grant's liquor drinking. General Sherman in his letter to Colonel Tourtellotte conceded "that General Grant would occasionally drink too much." The remaining question raised in Sherman's letter is not whether or not Grant drank too much, but whether or not Boynton deserved the labels coyote, hyena, and cur for publicly reopening the subject of Grant's drinking. The records will show that he did not. Henry Boynton took his role as a journalist seriously.¹¹ If he won enemies from airing too publicly the findings of his researches, he also won respect and admiration.¹² General Boynton should be remembered for his courage in setting forth his views, not for the gods he made men.