A military genius : $b Life of Anna Ella Carroll of MarylandBlackwell, Sarah Ellen
History
A military genius : $b Life of Anna Ella Carroll of Maryland
Blackwell, Sarah Ellen
Carroll, Anna Ella, 1815-1894; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Mr. Kellogg thinks all these suggestions derogatory to President
Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief. He desires "it to be remembered that
subordinate officers by law are under the control and command of the
Commander-in-Chief of the American Army." He believes "there is,
emanating from the Commander-in-Chief of the American forces, through
his first subordinates, and by them to the next, and so continuously
down to the soldiers who fight upon the battlefield, a well digested,
clear, and definite policy of campaign, that is in motion to put down
this rebellion;" and he "here declares that he believes that the
system of movements that has culminated in glorious victories, and
which will soon put down this rebellion, finds root, brain, and
execution in the Commanding General of the American Army and the Chief
Executive of the American people."
Mr. Olin says: "If it be the object of the House, before passing a
vote of thanks, to ascertain who was the person who planned and
organized these victories, then it would be eminently proper to
request the Secretary of War to give us that information. That would
satisfy the gentleman and the House directly as to who was the party
that planned these military movements. It is sufficient for the
present that somebody has planned and executed these military
movements. Still, if the gentleman has any desire to know who
originated these movements, he can ascertain that fact by inquiring at
the proper office, for certainly some one at the War Department must
be informed on the subject. The Secretary of War knows whether he had
anything to do with them or not; the Commanding General knows whether
he had anything to do with them or not. If neither of them had
anything to do with them, they will cheerfully say so."
But at the War Department it has been determined that the secret must
be kept so long as the war continues, and this noble, silent woman
sits in the gallery listening to all this discussion and makes no
claim, knowing well the injury that it would be to the national cause
if it should be known that the plan was the work of a civilian, and,
above all, a _woman_--a creature despised and ignored, not even
counted as one of "the people" in the sounding profession made of
human rights a hundred years ago.
The House of Representatives having failed to discover the author of
the campaign, on March 13th, 1862, the Senate makes a similar attempt.
Mr. Washburne and Mr. Grimes think "it is Commodore Foote who should
be thanked." But no one knows.
Again that wonderful, quiet woman in the gallery sits silently
listening to all their talking and discussing.
She speaks of it afterwards to Colonel Scott; refers to the
discussions which had taken place in Congress to find out who had
devised the movement, and to the fact that she had preserved entire
silence while the debate went on, claiming it for one and another of
the generals of the war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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