of the effect which had been produced on the mind
of General Thomas. From that time forward there appeared frequent
indications of the secret operations of that conspiracy; but no
public knowledge of its character or authors came to my knowledge
until 1881, when there appeared in the "New-York Times" of June 22
an article, copied from the Toledo "Northern Ohio Democrat," which
disclosed the character of the false accusations which had been
made to General Thomas at Nashville, and the name of their principal,
if not sole, author. That publication gave me for the first time
the means of refuting a vile slander which had been doing its deadly
work in secret for nearly seventeen years. The following correspondence
with General Grant shows the character of that slander, and its
complete refutation:

"London, England, July 12, 1881.
"General U. S. Grant, New York, U. S. A.

"My dear General: For a long time I have been made aware of the
fact that a base falsehood was secretly circulated throughout the
country, to the effect that while General Thomas's army was at
Nashville in December, 1864, I endeavored in some way to influence
you or somebody in Washington to remove him from the command and
to place me in his stead. I have not heretofore been able to defend
myself against this slander because of its secrecy. But now, for
the first time within my knowledge, this falsehood has made its
appearance in public print, in the form of an article in the Toledo
"Northern Ohio Democrat," copied into the "New-York Times" of June
22, of which I send you a slip.

"You, my dear General, are probably the only man now living who is
able to make an authoritative statement of the facts in respect to
this matter, such as must be accepted without question.

"I hope, therefore, it is not asking too much to request you to
give me, in a form which I may use publicly, a full and explicit
statement of the facts in respect to this accusation.

"Perhaps you may also be able to recall the substance of a conversation
between you and me, on the subject of the delay of Thomas to attack
Hood at Nashville, which occurred on the naval steamer on our way
from Hampton Roads to Cape Fear River, when we went down to see
Admiral Porter and General Terry while my troops were delayed by
the ice in the Potomac.

"In that conversation I tried to justify Thomas's delay during the
storm at Nashville, and, I thought, perhaps succeeded in modifying
to som