Gen. Grant Appoints a Major General to Succeed Disgraced General Hurlbut

Stephen A. Hurlbut was an Illinois politician and Whig, as well as an old friend of President Lincoln. He used his political connections to secure an appointment as general, and he commanded the 4th Division of The Army of the Tennessee at Shiloh and in the advance towards Corinth and the subsequent siege. He also led a division at the Battle of Hatchie’s Bridge. Hurlbut was commander of the Union 16th Corps in Tennessee during the Vicksburg campaign in 1862–63 and his corps was responsible for the protection of Memphis. In 1863, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to relieve western Tennessee and northern Mississippi from the operations of Confederate General Van Dorn and large and destructive cavalry raids by General Nathan Bedford Forrest. In Memphis allegations surfaced against Hurlbut charging drunkenness, corruption and illegally trafficing in cotton to line his own purse.

By July 1863 Hurlbut had shown both Grant and Sherman that he lacked the ability or will to destroy or disperse either Van Dorn or Forrest. Recognizing this, General Grant left him in command at Memphis but detached large units from his command for service elsewhere. Grant’s growing lack of confidence in his military abilities, the dwindling size of his command, and also perhaps the accusations of his complicity in cotton smuggling in Memphis, led Hurlbut to submit his resignation to Grant on July 7. He told Grant that he urgently needed to return to his law practice, and saw his resignation as timely because he believed that Grant’s victory at Vicksburg had sealed the doom of the Confederacy in the West and thus effectively rendered his continued service unnecessary. Grant was only too happy to accept the resignation and endorsed it as approved. Meanwhile, on July 10, 1863, Hurlbut tendered his resignation directly to President Lincoln, with a side letter complaining to the President of his assignment to an obscure command at Memphis and the lapse of his legal endeavors.

In November 1862, Frederick Steele was made major-general of volunteers. At Vicksburg in 1863, he commanded the First Division of William T. Sherman’s 15th Corps, and he was rewarded for his service there with a promotion. His was a star rising as it was perceived Hurlbut’s was a star setting. Grant proceeded to recommend that Steele replace Hurlbut as head of the 16th Corps. Autograph Letter Signed, Headquarters, Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 27, 1863, to Adjutant General of the Army Lorenzo Thomas, replacing Hurlbut with Steele. “Major General S.A. Hurlbut having tendered his resignation, I would respectfully recommend, in case of its acceptance, the appointment of Major General F. Steele to the command of the 16th Army Corps.” Provenace:?Goodspeed’s Book Shop in Boston. This is the first letter of Grant appointing a major general in his command that we have ever carried.

But Lincoln had confidence in Hurlbut, saw him as an able field commander, and was displeased by the idea of resignation. Instead, on July 31, the President wrote Hurlbut urging that he reconsider. He did so; on August 11,1863, Hurlbut withdrew his resignation. He continued to serve in command until April 1864, when Sherman removed him. Hurlbut subsequently found himself that autumn in charge at New Orleans, where allegations of his smuggling activities reached significant proportions. There Hurlbut finally overreached himself by his disobedience of Federal cotton regulations and opposition to reconstruction policies in Louisiana. He was investigated by a special military commission and in June 1865 again resigned. This time his resignation was accepted.

As for Steele, he was instead given command of Union forces in Arkansas with orders to clear the state of organized Rebels. He took Little Rock on September 10, and afterwards was in command of the Red River expedition. The objective in that expedition was to defeat Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith and consolidate Union control of Arkansas and Louisiana. Hampered by supply problems and guerrilla activity, Steele was unsuccessful and retreated to Little Rock to avoid being surrounded by Confederates, fighting battles at Jenkins’ Ferry and Marks’ Mills.