I aqree.  The case for MT's not liking WW seems to rest on Britton's
note to his MT Ency article:  Kaplan, Justin. "Starting from Paumanok
. . . and from Hannibal:

Whitman and Mark Twain." Confrontation. Vol. 27-28 (1984)

338-347.  I can't find it through my interlibrary loan.  Is the
citation correct as to volume number(s) and year"