Executive Mansion,
Washington, July 13, 1863.
Major General Grant
My dear General
I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now
as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have
done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached
the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do, what you finally did
--march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports,
and thus go below; and I never had any faith, except a general hope that
you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could
succeed. When you got below, and took Port-Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity,
I thought you should go down the river and join Gen. Banks; and when you
turned Northward East of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now
wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was
wrong. Yours very truly