The statement is revived that General Garfield, when chief of the staff
of General Rosecrans in the campaign which ended at Chickamauga was
false to Rosecrans. The allegation and the fact are that he wrote to
Mr. Chase, then in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, that Rosecrans was incompetent
to the command. Garfield's statements, as I recall the letters, were
free from malice and the professional and ethical question is, "Was
Garfield justified as a citizen and soldier, in giving his opinion to
the Administration?" His view of Rosecrans was confirmed by events, and
it may be assumed that the opinion was free from any improper influence
when the letters were written. On this assured basis of facts I cannot
doubt that Garfield did only what was his duty. Neither the President
nor the War Department could obtain specific knowledge of the officers
in command except through associates and subordinates unless they
trusted to newspapers and casual visitors to the army. The struggle
was a desperate one and the volunteer army was composed of men who were
citizens before they were soldiers and they remained citizens when they
became soldiers. Garfield was of the citizen soldiery and to him and
to the country the etiquette of the army and the etiquette of society
were subordinate to the fortunes of the nation. Of General Rosecrans'
unfitness for any important command there can be no doubt. After the
disaster of Chickamauga, Rosecrans was relieved and General Thomas was
put in command and General Grant was ordered to the field. He met
Rosecrans at Nashville where they had an interview. From General Grant
I received the statement that Rosecrans had sound views as to the means
of relieving the army; "And," said General Grant, "my wonder was that
he had not put them in execution."
This one fact expresses enough of the weak side of Rosecrans as a
military leader to warrant the opinion given to Chase by Garfield,
and that opinion having been formed upon a knowledge of facts and of
Rosecrans as a military man and not from prejudice or rivalry, Garfield
should be honored for his course, rather than condemned.