Note (return) — XIII. ASPECTS, CHIEFLY MILITARY, 1864-1865

preference for the two brigade plan.905 The promotion of Cooper, implicit in the three brigade plan, was not at all pleasing to General Smith; for he thought of it as reflecting upon Steele, whom he loyally described as having "labored conscientiously and faithfully in the discharge of his duties."906 With Steele removed from the scene907—and he was soon removed for he had been retained in the Indian country only that Maxey might have for a brief season the benefit of his experience908—the case was altered and Boudinot again pressed his point,909 obtaining, finally, the assurance of the War Department that so soon as the number of Indian regiments justified the organization of three brigades they should be formed.910