Joseph E. Johnston
to
William H. Hardee, et al.,
31 January 1864
Lieutenant-General Hardee
Major-General Cheatham
Major-General Hindman
Major-General Cleburne
Major-General Stewart
Major-General Walker
Brigadier-General Bate
Brigadier-General Anderson
General:
I have just received a letter from the Secretary
of War in reference to Major General Cleburne's memoir read in my quarters
about the 2nd instant. In this letter the honorable Secretary expresses
the earnest conviction of the President "that the dissemination or even
promulgation of such opinions under the present circumstances of the Confederacy,
whether in the Army or among the people, can be productive only of discouragement,
distraction, and dissension. The agitation and controversy which
must spring from the presentation of such views by officers high in the
public confidence are to be deeply deprecated, and while no doubt or mistrust
is for a moment entertained of the patriotic intents of the gallant author
of the memorial, and such of his brother officers as may have favored his
opinions, it is requested that you communicate to them, as well as all
others present on the occasion, the opinions, as herein expressed, of the
President, and urge on them the suppression, not only of the memorial itself,
but likewise of all discussion and controversy respecting or growing out
of it. I would add that the measures advocated in the memorial are
considered to be little appropriate for consideration in military circles,
and indeed in their scope pass beyond the bounds of Confederate action,
and could under our constitutional system neither be recommended by the
Executive to Congress nor entertained by that body. Such views can
only jeopard among the States and people unity and harmony, when for successful
co-operation and the achievement of independence both are essential."
Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. E. Johnston,
General.
P.S. -- Major-General Cleburne: Be so good
as to communicate the views of the President, expressed above, to the officers
of your division who signed the memorial.
J. E. Johnston
SOURCE: Reprinted in Robert F. Durden,
The Gray and the Black: The Confederate Debate on Emancipation
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972), pages 66-67.
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