UNITED STATES. 



809 



edging the supremacy of the Constitution and the 

 laws of the United States, their loyalty will be un- 

 reservedly given to the Government whose leniency 

 they cannot fail to appreciate, and whose fostering 

 care will soon restore them to a condition of pros- 

 perity. It is true that in some of the States the 

 demoralizing effects of the war are to be seen in oc- 

 casional disorders ; but these are local in character, 

 not frequent in occurrence, and are rapidly disap- 

 pearing as the authority of civil government is ex- 

 tended and sustained. 



Perplexing questions were naturally to be expected 

 from the great and sudden change in the relations 

 between the two races; but systems are gradually 

 developing themselves under which the freedman will 

 receive the protection to which he is justly entitled, 

 and by means of his labor make himself a useful and 

 independent member of the community in which he 

 has his home. 



From all the information in my possession, and from 

 that which I have recently derived from the most 

 reliable authority, I am induced to cherish the belief 

 that sectional animosity is surely and rapidly merging 

 itself into a spirit of nationality, and that repre- 

 sentation, connected with a properly adjusted system 

 of taxation, will result in a harmonious restoration 

 of the relations of the States to the national Union. 



The report of Oarl Schurz is herewith transmitted, 

 as requested by the Senate. No reports from the 

 Hon. John Covode have been received by the Presi- 

 dent. 



The attention of the Senate is invited to the ac- 

 companying report of Lieut.-Gen. Grant, who re- 

 cently made a tour of inspection through several of 

 the States whose inhabitants participated in the re- 

 bellion. ANDREW JOHNSON. 



This reply of the President was accompanied 

 by the following letter from Lieut.-Gen. Grant : 



HEADQUARTERS ARMY OP THE UNITED STATES, | 

 December 18, 1S65. f 



To His Excellency A. Johnson, President of the Umted 

 States. 



Sir : In reply to your note of the 16th instant, re- 

 questing a report from me giving such information as 

 I may be in possession of, coming within the scope of 

 inquiries made by the Senate of the United States in 

 their resolution of the 12th instant, I have the honor 

 to submit the following with your approval, and also 

 that of the Honorable Secretary of War. 



I left Washington on the 27th of last month for the 

 purpose of making a tour of inspection throughout 

 some of the Southern States lately in rebellion, and 

 to see what changes were necessary in the disposition 

 of the military forces of the country, and how these 

 forces could be reduced and expenses curtailed, etc., 

 and to learn, as far as possible, the feelings and in- 

 tentions of the citizens of the States to\yard the Gen- 

 eral Government. The State of Virginia being so 

 accessible to Washington City, and information from 

 this quarter, therefore, being readily obtained, I hast- 

 ened through the State without conversing or meet- 

 ing with any of the citizens. In Raleigh, N. C., I 

 spent one day ; in Charleston, S. C., two ; and in 

 Savannah and Augusta, Ga., each one day. Both in 

 travelling and while stopping I saw much and con- 

 versed freely with citizens of those States, as well 

 as with officers of the army who have been stationed 

 among them. The following are the conclusions 

 come to by me : 



I am satisfied the mass of thinking men of the 

 South accept the present situation of affairs in good 

 faith. The questions which have hitherto divided 

 the sentiments of the people of the two sections 

 slavery and State rights, or the right of a State to se- 

 cede from the Union they regard as having been 

 settled forever by the highest tribunal of arms that 

 man can resort to. I was pleased to learn from the 

 leading men whom I met that they not only accepted 

 the decision arrived at as final, but now that the 



smoke of battle has cleared away, and time has been 

 given for reflection, that this decision has been a 

 Fortunate one for the whole country, they receiving 

 the like benefits from it with those who opposed them 

 in the field and in the council. Four years of war, 

 during which the law was executed only at the point 

 of the bayonet throughout the States in rebellion, 

 have left the people, possibly, in that condition not 

 to yield that ready obedience to civil authority the 

 American people have generally been in the habit of 

 yielding. This would render the presence of small 

 garrisons throughout those States necessary until 

 such time as_ labor returns to its proper channel, and 

 civil authority is fully established. I did riot meet 

 any one, either those holding places under the Gov- 

 ernment or citizens of Southern States, who thought 

 it practicable to withdraw the military from the 

 South at present. The white and black mutually re- 

 quire the protection of the General Government. 

 There is such universal acquiescence in the authority 

 of the General Government throughout the portions 

 of the country visited by me, that the mere presence 

 of a military force, without regard to numbers, is 

 sufficient to maintain order. 



The good of the country requires that a force be 

 kept in the interior where there are many freedmen. 

 Elsewhere in the Southern States than at forts on the 

 sea-coast no force is necessary. The soldiers should 

 all be white troops. The reasons for this are obvious. 

 Without mentioning many of them, the presence of 

 black troops, lately slaves, demoralizes labor both by 

 their advice and furnishing in their camps a resort 

 for the freedmen for long distances around. White 

 troops generally excite no opposition, and therefore 

 a smaller number of them can maintain order in a 

 given district. Colored troops must be kept in 

 bodies sufficient to defend themselves. It is not the 

 thinking man who would do violence toward any 

 class of troops sent among them by the General Gov- 

 ernment, but the ignorant in some places might ; and 

 the late slave, too, who might be imbued with the 

 idea that the property of his late master should by 

 right belong to him, at least should have no protec- 

 tion from the colored soldier. There is no danger of 

 a collision being brought on by such causes. 

 _ My observations lead me to the conclusion that the 

 citizens of the Southern States are anxious to return 

 to self-government within the Union as soon as pos- 

 sible ; that whilst reconstructing they want and re- 

 quire protection from the Government that they 

 think is required of the Government, and is not un- 

 military to them as citizens, and if such a course was 

 pointed out they would pursue it in good faith. It is 

 to be regretted there cannot be a greater commingling 

 at this time between the citizens of the two sections, 

 and particularly of those intrusted with the law- 

 making power. 



I did not give the operations of the Freedmen' s 

 Bureau that attention I would have done if more 

 time had been at my disposal. Conversation, how- 

 ever, on the subject with officers connected with the 

 Bureau, lead me to think that in some of the States 

 its affairs have not been conducted with good judg- 

 ment or economy, and that the belief widely spread 

 among the freedmen of the Southern States that the 

 lands of their former owners will, at least in part, be 

 divided among them, has come from agents of the 

 Bureau. This belief is seriously interfering with the 

 willingness of the freedmen to make contracts for the 

 coming year. In some form the Freedmen' s Bureau 

 is an absolute necessity until the civil law is estab- 

 lished and enforced, securing to freedmen their 

 rights and full protection. At present, however, it 

 is independent of the military establishment of the 

 country, and seems to be operated by the different 

 agents of the Bureau, according to their individual 

 notions. Everywhere, General Howard, the able 

 head of the Bureau, has made friends by the just and 

 fair instructions and advice he gave, but the com- 

 plaint in South Carolina was, that when he left, 



