ly above suspicion, that the camp follower
and money getter did not presume to even enter into his presence.
Notwithstanding all this, by the time of the return of the Army of the
Cumberland to Louisville, though that army had then performed services
that justly entitled it to the lasting gratitude of the country, and
notwithstanding its eminent commander enjoyed, so far as I knew, the
entire confidence of the officers and men in regard to his loyalty,
patriotism and ability, yet there had sprung up a fire in the rear party
that was constantly impugning his loyalty, his ability, and his fitness
to command, and demanding his removal. In the light of what has already
been said, it can now be seen whence, and from what source this hue and
cry proceeded.

On account of a contemporaneous popularity that Gen. Rosecrans had
achieved about that time, at the battle of Iuka, there arose a demand in
the press that Gen. Buel be superseded in the command of the Army of the
Cumberland by that officer. As I have said, my acquaintance with Gen.
Rosecrans previous to his assuming command of the Army of the
Cumberland, had been confined to the ten months I had been stationed
with him at Newport, R.I., in '52-3.

My recollections of him were not such as to inspire me with confidence
in him as the proper person to be placed in command of an army. At that
time he seemed to be a great enthusiast in regard to the Catholic
Church; seemed to want to think of nothing else, talk of nothing else,
and in fact do nothing else, except to proselyte for it and attend upon
its ministrations. No night was ever so dark and tempestuous, that he
would not brave the boisterous seas of Newport Harbor to attend mass,
and no occasion, however inappropriate, was ever lost sight of to
advocate its cause; in fact, he was what would nowadays be called most
emphatically a crank on that subject, and might not inappropriately be
considered a one-ideaed man lacking in the breadth and poise, so
necessary to success in the commander of an army in the field. While
Buel's Army was in Louisville getting reinforcements and preparing to
renew operations against Bragg, I obtained a few days leave of absence
and had no end of inquiries on my way home and after arriving there, as
to what I thought of the propriety and necessity of relieving Buel. I
uniformly replied that as far as the Army was concerned there was not
that I knew of, any want of confidence in Buel, but on the ot