After the war.
The condition of the people of
Alabama and
Mississippi was at this time deplorable.
The waste of war had stripped large areas of the necessaries of life.
In view of this I suggested to
General Canby that his troops, sent to the interior, should be limited to the number required for the preservation of order, and be stationed at points where supplies were more abundant.
That trade would soon be established between soldiers and people—furnishing the latter with currency, of which they were destitute—and friendly relations promoted.
These suggestions were adopted, and a day or two thereafter, at
Meridian, a note was received from
General Canby, inclosing copies of orders to
Generals Granger and
Steele, commanding army corps, by which it appeared these officers were directed to call on me for, and conform to, advice relative to the movement of their troops.
Strange, indeed, must such confidence appear to statesmen of the ‘bloody-shirt’ persuasion.
In due time Federal staff officers reached my camp.
The men were paroled and sent home.
Public property was turned over and receipted for, and this as orderly and gently as in time of peace between officers of the same service.
What years of discord, bitterness, injustice and loss would not our country have been spared had the wounds of war healed ‘by first intentions,’ under the tender ministration of the hands that fought the battles?
But the task was allotted to ambitious partisans, most of whom had not heard the sound of a gun.
As of old, the lion and the bear fight openly and sturdily; the stealthy fox carries off the prize.
