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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03341.01 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to the 1870s |
| Title | William Tecumseh Sherman to John Conness regarding a quarrel with Edwin M. Stanton over Johnston's surrender |
| Date | 9 January 1876 |
| Author | Sherman, William Tecumseh (1820-1891) |
| Recipient | Conness, John |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Commander in Chief of the Army Sherman writes to Conness about the quarrel he had with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton over the terms of Confederate General Joseph Johnston's surrender in 1865. Sherman suggests that he may have acted wrongly. " ... I do not profess to be infallible, or more than mortal. I have made some fearful mistakes in life which in a retrospect would be corrected, among them in regard to Mr. Stanton." Admits that he felt Stanton was trying to destroy him, " ... because he supposed I was not acting in full harmony on the then policy with the Negros - And failing there, he had used the last possible opportunity in making public the Johnston Terms at a time of profound National Excitement." Written on stationary marked Headquarters Army of the United States. |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Union Forces Union General Surrender Confederate States of America Confederate General or Leader Lincoln's Cabinet Lincoln Assassination Assassination Slavery African American History |
| People | Sherman, William Tecumseh (1820-1891) Conness, John (1821-1909) Stanton, E. M. (Edwin McMasters) (1814-1869) McPherson, James Birdseye (1828-1864) |
| Place written | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Theme | Reconstruction; Government & Politics; African Americans |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Additional Information | The surrender terms Sherman proposed to General Johnston were so liberal that they were promptly rejected by President Andrew Johnson, Stanton, and General Henry Halleck. Sherman felt attacked, insulted, and humiliated. He describes the incident in his Memoirs. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |