Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/388

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General Hood, in substance, represents—for that is the meaning and effect of the context (pages 249-254-255)—that these charges and imputations (of many of which his subsequent official report, as we have seen, gave no intimation) were brought to the attention of the President, who was invited to visit the army for the purpose of passing upon them; and that the President came, heard and rendered judgment, and that, thereupon, General Hardee, as upon a conviction, was removed from command.

Perhaps a sufficient comment upon this is the fact that General Hardee was promoted to the command of the "Military Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida," then constituting one of the four chief commands in the service, and which had been previously commanded by General Beauregard, who was now simultaneously assigned to a military department which included General Hood's army. And as pertinent to the conclusion and judgment which President Davis may have arrived at in the premises, I might quote his language, in a public address at Augusta, Georgia, a few days later, when Generals Beauregard and Hardee were present en route to their respective new commands.

The following is an extract from his address as reported in the daily press of the city, a copy of which I have chanced to preserve:

But I have the statement of President Davis, showing the occasion of his visit to the army, and the real reasons for General Hardee's assignment to a different command. It is as follows: