A superb letter in which Welles writes that the leading figures need to pass away before “a full, true and dispassionate history of” Civil War events “can be written.” He goes on to divulge his thinking on writing his own history of naval operations during the war: “I feel that there are reasons why I should not attempt it. There are, it is true, many facts in my possession which are not public, but I could not narrate them without sometimes subjecting myself to the charge of egotism.” Welles mentions President Grant, saying: “As regards the President, I make no personal controversy, but you must know, as I certainly do, he is no statesman…I am, I believe, without political expectations or aspirations, but I love my country, the union and the government, and I say to you in the sincerity of my hand, that are all endangered by the sordid, ignorant and disingenuous mind which is placed at the head of the government…”