d not be tolerated. In fact, it became necessary to
call attention to the question of veracity involved in such a use
of the general's name. Such was the condition the War Department
had reached. The adjutant-general had acquired the habit of issuing
nearly all his orders to the army without the knowledge of any one
of his superiors--the President, the Secretary of War, or the
general-in-chief. In fact, the adjutant-general had in practice
come very near being "commander-in-chief."

Some time and much patience were required to bring about the
necessary change, but ere long the result became very apparent.
Perfect harmony was established between the War Department and the
headquarters of the army, and this continued, under the administrations
of Secretaries Proctor, Elkins, and Lamont, up to the time of my
retirement from active service. During all this period,--namely,
from 1889 to 1895, under the administrations of Presidents Harrison
and Cleveland,--the method I have indicated was exactly followed
by the President in all cases of such importance as to demand his
personal action, and some such cases occurred under both administrations.
The orders issued were actually the President's orders. No matter
by whom suggested or by whom formulated, they were in their final
form understandingly dictated by the President, and sent to the
army in his name by the commanding general, thus leaving no possible
ground for question as to the constitutional authority under which
they were issued, nor of the regularity of the methods, in conformity
with army regulations, by which they were communicated to the army.

It is, I think, to be hoped that the system thus begun may be fully
developed and become permanent, as being the best practicable
solution of a long-standing and dangerous controversy, and as most
in accord with the fundamental principles of our constitutional
government, under which the President, whether a soldier or a
civilian, is in fact as well as in name the commander-in-chief of
the army and navy.

[( 1) Grant's "Memoirs," Vol. II, p. 105.]

[( 2) Grant's "Memoirs," Vol. II, pp. 104, 105; Sherman's "Memoirs,"
second edition, Vol. II, pp. 446-450.]

[( 3) See General Grant's letter to President Andrew Johnson, August
1, 1867, in McPherson's "History of Reconstruction," p. 307.]

[( 4) See General Grant's letter to President Andrew Johnson,
February 3, 1868, in McPherson's "History of Reconstruction," p.
28