Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/266

260 would turn Lee's army against any State that might attempt to secede from the Southern Confederacy.'

"This public assault, under the covert plea that it is based upon evidence which regard for a United States Senator does not permit him to present, will, to honorable minds, suggest the idea of irresponsible slander.'

"It is thus devolved upon me to say that the allegation of my ever having written such a letter as is described is unqualifiedly false, and the assertion that I had any purpose or wish to destroy the liberty and equal rights of any State, either North or South, is a reckless, shameless falsehood, especially because it was generally known that for many years before, as well as during the war between the States, I was an earnest advocate of the strict construction State-rights theory of Mr. Jefferson. What motive other than personal malignity can be conceived for so gross a libel?

"If General Sherman has access to any letters purporting to have been written by me which will sustain his accusations, let him produce them or wear the brand of a base slanderer.

"Yours, respectfully,

The publication of the above letter attracted very general notice, and two interviews were had with General Sherman by reporters of the Globe-Democrat and from the St. Louis Chronicle. In the Globe-Democrat of November 25, 1884, General Sherman is reported as having said: "Whatever explanation I make will be made over my own signature. I do not propose to get into a fight with Jeff. Davis. * * When a man makes a newspaper statement he is never sure of being quoted correctly, but when he makes a statement in his own handwriting, he is sure of being placed in the right place."

The St. Louis Chronicle of November 24, 1884, reports General Sherman as saying: "This is an affair between two gentlemen. I will take my time about it and write to Mr. Davis himself. We will settle the matter between us." When asked by the reporter, "Have the papers misrepresented you in your remarks before the Frank Blair Post, G.A.R.? " He replied, "I say nothing about that. My reply to Mr. Davis will not be through the newspapers. They are not the arbiters of this question, nor the go-between for any dispute. I have nothing more to say."

It is hardly necessary for me to say that General Sherman did not write to me, and we have not settled the matter between us otherwise