Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman at City Point—Surrender of Lee—Murder of Lincoln—Negotiations with Johnston—Stanton's Disapproval—An Outcry Against Sherman—The Grand Review—Sherman's Refusal to Shake Hands with Stanton—Farewell Address to the Army.
Soon after his arrival at Goldsboro, Sherman received a long letter from Grant warmly congratulating him on the successful completion of what was his third campaign since leaving the Tennessee River, less than a year before.
Grant cordially gave him a brief but comprehensive account of the situation of the Army of the Potomac and of Lee's Army, and of his own plans for the immediate future. He already pointed Appomattox as the place at or near which he hoped to bring affairs to a crisis. Sherman decided thereupon to go up to City Point and have a personal interview with Grant. He issued orders, leaving Schofield in command and giving general directions for the operation of the army in his absence. On the evening of March 27 he reached City Point and was welcomed with salutes from Porter's fleet. A number of officers met him at the wharf and escorted him to headquarters, where he met Grant for the first time since the memorable leave-taking in Cincinnati. Their meeting was characteristic of the two men and deserves to be made historic. Sherman spoke first: "How are you, Grant?" was all he said. "How are you, Sherman?" was Grant's reply. Then Sherman, looking around at the other officers who were assembled remarked: "I didn't expect to find all you fellows here." That was all. No more time was wasted in compliments, but the two generals in a few minutes were seated at a table poring over maps and planning the ending of the war just as at Cincinnati they had planned Sherman's Georgia Campaign.
Sherman quickly indicated on the map what he thought best to do. He would bring his army up to Weldon, where it would be within supporting distance of Grant, and where he could quickly either join Grant or move westward and head off Lee. Grant hesitated to have him come so near, fearing that it would alarm Lee and put him to flight before he could be captured. He told Sherman that he would best wait awhile while the Army of the Potomac moved up to Dinwiddie in the hope of forcing Lee to fight.
Then the two generals went to the steamboat, "River Queen," to see Lincoln, who was on board. A notable trio they made—Lincoln, the tall, round-shouldered, loose-jointed, large-featured, deep-eyed, with a smiling face, and dressed in black, with a fashionable silk hat on his head; Grant, shorter, stouter and more compactly built, wearing a military hat with a broad brim, a cigar in his mouth, and his hands in his trouser's pockets; Sherman, almost as tall, but more sineury than Lincoln, with sandy whiskers closely cropped, and sharp, flashing eyes; his coat worn and shabby, his hat shapeless, and his trousers tucked into his boot-tops. Sherman did most of the talking, speaking hurriedly and moving about, often gesticulating. Presently Meade and Sheridan joined them: the former tall and thin, stooping a little, with gray beard and spectacles; the latter the shortest of all the party, with bronzed face and quick, energetic movements.
It was several times suggested that some of Sherman's men, or some troops from the West, should be added to the Army of the Potomac, but this Grant would not listen to. He deemed it wisest that the Army of the Potomac should "finish up the job." They finally decided that Sherman should come up to the Roanoke River, near Gaston, and if not needed to head off Lee, make Johnston's army his objective point, prepared, above all, to keep Lee and Johnston from joining forces. Says Grant:
"I explained to him the movement I had ordered to commence on the 29th of March, that if it should not prove as entirely successful as I hoped, I would cut the cavalry loose to destroy the Danville and Southside railroads, and thus deprive the enemy of further supplies, and also prevent the rapid concentration of Lee's and Johnston's armies. I had spent days of anxiety lest each moment should bring the report that the enemy had retreated the night before. I was firmly convinced that Sherman's crossing the Roanoke would be the signal for Lee to move. With Johnston and Lee combined, a long, tedious, and expensive campaign, consuming most of the summer, might become necessary."
With Grant's operations against Lee, and their successful termination we have not here to deal, but with Sherman's movements, which were directed against Johnston. Sherman had said at City Point, "I can command my own terms, and Johnston will have to yield." Lincoln had replied to this: "Get him to surrender on any terms." Grant said nothing about it, so it was inferred that he approved of Lincoln's remark. On April 10 Sherman's army moved toward Smithfield, reaching that place the next day and finding it abandoned by Johnston. That night word came from Grant that Lee had surrendered, and Sherman announced the thrilling news to his army in the following terms:
"The General commanding announces to the army that he has official notice from General Grant that General Lee surrendered to him his entire army on the 9th instant, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
"Glory to God and our country, and all honor to our comrades in arms, toward whom we are marching!
"A little more labor, a little more toil on our part, the great race is won, and our Government stands regenerated after four long years of war."
It was now evident that Johnston must quickly come to terms, and Sherman was not surprised to receive, on April 14, a letter from the rebel general requesting a truce and a conference. Sherman's chief subordinates dreaded the consequences of chasing Johnston's army to the West or back to the South, and agreed with Sherman that his surrender should be obtained on any reasonable conditions. But before this could be effected, the dreadful news came of the Good Friday tragedy at Washington and of the death of Lincoln. This saddening event materially changed the feeling of the Washington authorities toward the rebel armies, and doubtless had much to do with the disagreement between the former and Sherman that followed.
On the beautiful morning of April 17, Sherman and Johnston met near Durham's Station. Sherman first conveyed to Johnston the news of the murder of Lincoln, at which Johnston was deeply affected. They then discussed the terms of surrender and the best means of disbanding the rebel army. Sherman urged Johnston to accept the same terms from him that Lee had accepted from Grant, but Johnston hesitated, and asked for a few days' delay, during which time he hoped to hunt up the fugitive Jefferson Davis and get him to consent to a surrender of all the remaining Southern armies.
A second interview took place the next day. Johnston had not been able to find Davis, but he brought with him to the meeting John C. Breckinridge, the rebel Secretary of War. The conference broke up without settling the surrender, but Sherman prepared a memorandum, on which there was agreement, stating the terms on which he proposed to receive Johnston's surrender. This he forwarded to Washington for approval. It read as follows:
"Memorandum or basis of Agreement, made this 18th day of April, A. D. 1865, near Durham's Station, in the State of North Carolina, by and between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the Army of the United States, both present.
"I. The contending armies now in the field to maintain the status quo until notice is given by the commanding general of either to his opponent, and reasonable time, say forty-eight hours, allowed.
"II. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded, and conducted to their several State capitals, there to deposit their arms and public property in the State Arsenal, and each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and to abide the action of both State and Federal authorities. The number of arms and munitions of war to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at Washington City, subject to the future action of the Congress of the United States, and in the meantime to be used solely to maintain peace and order within the borders of the States respectively.
"III. The recognition by the Executive of the United States of the several State Governments on their officers and Legislatures taking the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States; and where conflicting State governments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States.
"IV. The re-establishment of all Federal courts in the several States, with powers as defined by the Constitution and laws of Congress.
"V. The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaranteed, so far as the Executive can, their political rights and franchise, as well their rights of person and property, as defined by the Constitution of the United States and of the States respectively.
"VI. The executive authority or government of the United States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they live in peace and quiet and abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey the laws in existence at the place of their residence.
"VII. In general terms, it is announced that the war is to cease; a general amnesty, so far as the Executive of the United States can command, on condition of the disbandment of the Confederate armies, the distribution of arms, and the resumption of peaceful pursuits by officers and men hitherto composing said armies.
"Not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfill these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain authority, and will endeavor to carry out the above programme."
This Sherman sent to Grant, inclosed with the following letter:
"General:—I inclose herewith a copy of an agreement made this day between General Joseph E. Johnston and myself, which, if approved by the President of the United States, will produce peace from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. Mr. Breckinridge was present at the interview, in the capacity of a major-general, and satisfied me of the ability of General Johnston to carry out to the full extent the terms of this agreement; and, if you will get the President to simply indorse the copy, and commission me to carry out the terms, I will follow them to the conclusion. You will observe that it is an absolute submission of the enemy to the lawful authorities of the United States, and disperses his armies absolutely; and the point to which I attach most importance is, that the disposition and dispersement of the armies is done in such a manner as to prevent their breaking up into guerrilla bands. On the other hand, we can retain just as much of an army as we please. I agree to the mode and manner of the surrender of the armies set forth, as it gives the States the means of suppressing guerrillas, which we could not expect them to do if we strip them of all arms.
"Both Generals Johnston and Breckinridge admitted that slavery was dead, and I could not insist on embracing it in such a paper, because it can be made with the States in detail. I know that all the men of substance South sincerely want peace, and I do not believe they will resort to war again during this century. I have no doubt but that they will, in the future, be perfectly subordinate to the laws of the United States. The moment my action in this matter is approved, I can spare five corps, and will ask for orders to leave General Schofield here with the 10th Corps, and go myself with the 14th, 15th, 17th, 20th, and 23d Corps, via Burkesville and Gordonsville to Frederick or Hagerstown, there to be paid and mustered out.
"The question of finance is now the chief one, and every soldier and officer not needed ought to go home at once. I would like to be able to begin the march North by May 1st.
"I urge, on the part of the President, speedy action, as it is important to get the Confederate armies home, as well as our own. I am, with great respect, your obedient servant,
"W. T. Sherman, Major-General Commanding."
Grant's reply to Sherman was as follows:
"General:—The basis of agreement entered into between yourself and General J. E. Johnston for the disbandment of the Southern army, and the extension of the authority of the General Government over all the territory belonging to it, sent for approval of the President, is received.
"I read it carefully myself before submitting it to the President and Secretary of War, and felt satisfied that it could not possibly be approved. My reasons for these views I will give you at another time in a more extended letter.
"Your agreement touches upon questions of such vital importance that, as I read, I addressed a note to the Secretary of War, notifying him of its receipt, and the importance of immediate action by the President, and suggested, in view of its importance, that the entire Cabinet be called together, that all might give an expression of their opinions upon the matter. The result was a disapproval by the President of the basis laid down; a disapproval of the negotiations altogether, except for the surrender of the army commanded by Johnston, and directions to me to notify you of the decision. I cannot do so better than by sending you the inclosed copy of a dispatch penned by the late President, though signed by the Secretary of War, in answer to me on sending a letter received from General Lee proposing to meet me for the purpose of submitting the question of peace to a convention of officers.
"Please notify General Johnston, immediately on receipt of this, of the termination of the truce, and resume hostilities against his army at the earliest moment you can, acting in good faith. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General."
The dispatch inclosed by Grant with this letter was signed by Stanton. It stated that the agreement was totally disapproved, and that hostilities should be resumed at the earliest moment. "The President desires," added Stanton, "that you (Grant) proceed immediately to the headquarters of Major-General Sherman and direct operations against the enemy." Half distracted by the trying circumstances of the hour, Stanton had apparently lost faith in Sherman.
Immediately upon receipt of this, Sherman notified Johnston that the truce would be ended in forty-eight hours, and renewed his demand for a surrender on the same terms as Lee's at Appomattox. Grant now proceeded to Raleigh, but did not assume command, preferring to let Sherman complete the work he had begun. He, however, urged Sherman to have another interview with Johnston, which the latter had requested, and which was accordingly held on April 26. At this meeting, Johnston, realizing that he was powerless to resist any longer, agreed to and signed the following convention:
"Terms of military Convention, entered into this Twenty-sixth (26th) day of April, 1865, at Bennett's House, near Durham Station, North Carolina, between General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army in North Carolina.
"All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's command to cease from this date. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greensboro, and delivered to an ordinance officer of the United States Army. Rolls of all officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be retained by the commander of the troops, and the other to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman. Each officer and man to give his individual obligation, in writing, not to take up arms against the government of the United States until properly released from this obligation. The side-arms of officers, and their private horses and baggage, to be retained by them.
"This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities so long as they observe their obligations, and the laws in force where they may reside.
"W. T. Sherman,
"Major-General, commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina.
"J. E. Johnston,
"General commanding the Confederate State Army in North Carolina"Approved. U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General.
"Raleigh, North Carolina, April 26, 1865."
In the meantime intensely bitter attacks were made upon Sherman in the Northern press, for which the Washington government was largely responsible. Sherman was charged with exceeding his authority, with actual disloyalty, with acknowledging the validity of the rebel government, with attempting to re-establish rebel authority in the Southern States, and even to restore slavery. These attacks were as excessive as they were bitter, and after a time a reaction set in. Sherman's worth was fully recognized, and he was hailed with acclaim as second only to Grant in the leadership of the National hosts. After these events Sherman, his army marching northward, reached Alexandria, Virginia. He was so embittered against Stanton that he had determined not to enter the City of Washington but to remain in camp with his army. When Grant sent him word that the President wanted to see him, however, he went to the White House, and there learned that apart from Stanton the members of the Government had expressed no ill-will toward him.
The war was now ended and the armies of the Union about to be disbanded. Grant proposed to accomplish this after a grand review in the broad avenues of Washington. The Army of the Potomac was reviewed on May 23, and Sherman's army on the following day. There was a vast assemblage of the general public, as well as of all the officers of the Government to witness the event. Sherman's army was uniformed and equipped just as on a march in the field. There was no attempt at a special display. The foragers had their pack-trains loaded with provisions and forage, and the pioneer corps, composed of negroes, carried axes, spades, and shovels. Sherman, taking with him Howard, who had just been detached, rode at the head of the column. He was greeted with cheers and pelted with flowers. As he passed the headquarters of General Augur he halted and raised his hat with profound respect to Secretary Seward, who stood at the window wrapped in blankets, being too ill from his recent wounds to go to the reviewing stand with the President. When Sherman went to the reviewing stand he shook hands with President Johnson and with Grant, but curtly turned away from Stanton.
Sherman's army now consisted of 65,000 men in splendid condition. It is said he considered it the finest army in existence. For six hours and a half it marched along Pennsylvania Avenue, and thus brought to a fitting conclusion the triumphant campaign of more than two thousand miles in which it had been engaged.
On May 30 Sherman formally took leave of his comrades in the following special field orders:
"The General commanding announces to the Armies of the Tennessee and Georgia that the time has come for us to part. Our work is done, and armed enemies no longer defy us. Some of you will go to your homes, and others will be retained in military service until further orders.
"And now that we are all about to separate to mingle with the civil world, it becomes a pleasing duty to recall to mind the situation of national affairs when, but little more than a year ago, we were gathered about the cliffs of Lookout Mountain, and all the future was wrapped in doubt and uncertainty.
"Three armies had come together from distant fields, with separate histories, yet bound by one common cause—the union of our country and the perpetuation of the Government of our inheritance. There is no need to recall to your memories Tunnel Hill, with Rocky Face Mountain and Buzzard Roost Gap, and the ugly forts of Dalton behind.
"We were in earnest, and paused not for danger and difficulty, but dashed through Snake Creek Gap and fell on Resaca; then on to Etowah, to Dallas, Kenesaw, and the heats of summer found us on the banks of the Chattahoochee, far from home, and dependent on a single road for supplies. Again we were not to be held back by any obstacle, and crossed over and fought four hard battles for the possession of the citadel of Atlanta. That was the crisis of our history. A doubt still clouded our future, but we solved the problem, destroyed Atlanta, struck boldly across the State of Georgia, severed all the main arteries of life to our enemy, and Christmas found us at Savannah.
"Waiting there only long enough to fill our wagons, we again began a march which, for peril, labor, and results, will compare with any ever made by an organized army. The floods of the Savannah, the swamps of the Combahee and Edisto, the 'high hills' and rocks of the Santee, the flat quagmires of the Pedee and Cape Fear Rivers, were all passed in midwinter, with its floods and rains, in the face of an accumulating enemy; and, after the battles of Averysboro' and Bentonsville, we once more came out of the wilderness, to meet our friends at Goldsboro. Even then we paused only long enough to get new clothing, to reload our wagons, again pushed on to Raleigh and beyond, until we met our enemy suing for peace instead of war, and offering to submit to the injured laws of his and our country. As long as that enemy was defiant, nor mountains, nor rivers, nor swamps, nor hunger, nor cold, had checked us; but when he, who had fought us hard and persistently, offered submission, your General thought it wrong to pursue him farther, and negotiations followed, which resulted, as you all know, in his surrender.
"How far the operations of this army contributed to the final overthrow of the Confederacy and the peace which now dawns upon us must be judged by others, not by us; but that you have done all that men could do has been admitted by those in authority, and we have a right to join in the universal joy that fills our land because the war is over, and our Government stands vindicated before the world by the joint action of the volunteer armies and navy of the United States.
"To such as remain in the service, your General need only remind you that success in the past was due to hard work and discipline, and that the same work and discipline are equally important in the future. To such as go home, he will only say that our favored country is so grand, so extensive, so diversified in climate, soil, and productions that every man may find a home and occupation suited to his taste; none should yield to the natural impatience sure to result from our past life of excitement and adventure. You will be invited to seek new adventures abroad; do not yield to the temptation, for it will lead only to death and disappointment.
"Your General now bids you farewell, with the full belief that, as in war you have been good soldiers, so in peace you will make good citizens; and if, unfortunately, new war should arise in our country, 'Sherman's Army' will be the first to buckle on its old armor, and come forth to defend and maintain the Government of our inheritance."
Aiding the Pacific Railroad—A Fool's Errand to Mexico—Political Intrigues at Washington—The Tenure of Office Affair—Work among the Indians—A Trip to Europe—The Belknap Scandal—Sherman's Speech on Military Honor—Travels in the Northwest—Yellowstone Park—Writing His Memoirs—Life in New York—Death of Mrs. Sherman.
Soon after the "Grand Review" and his farewell to his faithful followers, Sherman went with his family to Chicago, to assist at a large fair held for the benefit of impoverished soldiers' families; thence to Lancaster, Louisville and Nashville, visiting old friends. He was then, on June 27, 1865, put in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, afterward changed to the Missouri, with headquarters at St. Louis. Immediately his attention was turned to the Pacific Railroad, then in course of construction. Many years before, when that great enterprise was scarcely dreamed of as a possibility, he had written of it to his brother, urging that such a road should be built, for the unification of the country, and saying that he would gladly give his life to see it successfully carried through. It was with much satisfaction that he witnessed the opening of the first division of sixteen and a half miles of the Union Pacific, westward from Omaha. He admired the energy with which the road was pushed forward, and looked upon its completion, on July 15, 1869, as "one of the greatest and most beneficent achievements" of the human race. It was to facilitate the building of the road by protecting it from the Indians that Sherman persuaded the President, in March, 1866, to establish the new Military Department of the Platte and to place strong bodies of troops at various points along the line.
As the mustering out of the army proceeded, many changes in organization occurred. The most notable was that of July 25, 1866, when Grant was made a full General and Sherman was made Lieutenant-General. At the same time political feeling was running high at Washington. President Johnson had virtually left the Republican party, and was at loggerheads with the majority of Congress. Grant was looked to as the coming President, and accordingly many of Johnson's friends manifested much jealousy and hostility toward him. Sherman was in the west and so kept aloof from these controversies and intrigues, for which he had no love. But he maintained his old friendship with Grant, and inclined toward his side of every disputed question.
While travelling on duty in New Mexico, in September, 1866, he was summoned to Washington, in haste. Going thither, he reported to Grant, who told him he did not know why the President had sent for him, unless in connection with Mexican affairs. Maximilian, supported by French troops, still held the imperial crown of that country, but was steadily being driven to the wall by the Republicans, who had elected Juarez President. The United States was about to send the Hon. Lewis Campbell thither as Minister, accredited to Juarez as the rightful head of the State, and President Johnson had ordered Grant to accompany him as an escort. Grant told Sherman that he would decline to obey this order as an illegal one, on the ground that the President had no right to send him out of the country on a diplomatic errand unaccompanied by troops; he believed it was a trick of Johnson's, to get rid of him.
Then Sherman went to the President, who was very glad to see him. Said Johnson: "I am sending General Grant to Mexico, and I want you to command the army here in his absence." "But," said Sherman, "Grant will not go!" That startled Johnson, and he began arguing to show the need there was of Grant's going. Sherman repeated the positive statement that Grant would not go, and added that he did not think the President in that matter could afford to quarrel with the General. The upshot of the matter was, that Johnson decided to send Sherman instead of Grant, and Sherman consented to go, believing that thus he was preventing an open rupture between Grant and the Administration.
Sherman and Campbell went to Mexico, and spent some weeks in trying to find Juarez, who was said to be with his army in the field. Not succeeding in their quest, they returned to New Orleans, and by Christmas Sherman was back at St. Louis, convinced that he had been sent as a ruse, on that idle errand. The President, he believed, simply wanted to send Grant somewhere to get him out of the way of his own political ambition.
Now came on the famous "Tenure of Office" affair. Congress enacted, in March, 1867, a law providing that no civil officer appointed for a definite term, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, should be removed before the expiration of that term except with the consent of the Senate. On August 5, following, the President demanded Stanton's resignation as Secretary of War. Stanton, under the above named law, refused it. A week later the President suspended him and appointed Grant to act in his stead. Things remained in this state until January 13, 1868; when the Senate disapproved the President's action. Grant immediately gave up the Secretaryship, handed the key of the office to Sherman, and went back to army headquarters. Sherman took the key to Stanton and gave it to him.
Sherman was anxious to make peace, and strongly urged the President to appoint General J. D. Cox, then Governor of Ohio, to succeed Stanton, thinking he would be accepted by the Senate. This the President would not do, and the storm increased. At the beginning of February Sherman returned to St. Louis, glad to get away from the political intrigues of Washington, and steadfastly refused to return unless ordered, though the President himself requested him to do so. Then, determined to bring him back, the President assigned him to the command of the Division of the Atlantic. Sherman tried to avoid this appointment, and threatened to resign rather than return East. Had the President's plans been carried out there would have been at Washington these officers: The President, commander in chief of the Army under the Constitution; the Secretary of War, commander in chief under the recognition of Congress; the General of the Army; the Lieutenant General of the Army; the General commanding the Department of Washington; and the commander of the post at Washington. And the garrison of Washington consisted of an infantry brigade and a battery of artillery! Sherman protested so vigorously against such an arrangement that the President finally agreed to let him stay at St. Louis, and then appointed Lorenzo Thomas Secretary of War ad interim. And soon the famous impeachment trial came.
Sherman was appointed, in July, 1867, a member of the commission to establish peace with certain Indian tribes. In that capacity he travelled widely through the Indian country and had many conferences with the chiefs. He proposed that the great Indian reservations should be organized under regular territorial governments, but the plan was not approved at Washington.
So the time passed until March 4, 1869, when Grant was inaugurated as President. Sherman was then made General, and Sheridan Lieutenant-General. Under this arrangement Sherman of course had to return to Washington, and there he renewed his old association with George H. Thomas, whom, however, he presently assigned, at Thomas's request, to the command at San Francisco. There the hero of Chickamauga and Nashville soon died, and Sherman thought his end was hastened by supposed ingratitude. Congress ought, in Sherman's opinion, to have made Meade, Sheridan and Thomas all Lieutenant-Generals, dating their commissions respectively with "Gettysburg," "Winchester," and "Nashville."
On the death of General Rawlins, in the fall of 1869, Sherman was called upon to act for a time as Secretary of War. The experience did not please him. There was too much red tape, and too much division of authority, and he was glad to be relieved by General Belknap. In August, 1871, Rear-Admiral Alden asked him to go to Europe with him, in the frigate Wabash, and Sherman joyously accepted the invitation, as he had long wished to go abroad but had never yet done so. They sailed on November 11, and Sherman did not return until September 22 of the next year. He visited almost every part of Europe and Egypt, and had an opportunity of observing European methods in the great German army which had just been overrunning France.
Life at Washington, with Belknap's assumptions, was now increasingly distasteful to him, and he obtained permission from the President to remove the army headquarters to St. Louis. Thither he went in the fall of 1874, and once more was contented and happy. In the spring of 1876, however, he was recalled to Washington, on account of the Belknap scandal. General Belknap, Secretary of War, was charged with corrupt practices, and resigned, to avoid impeachment. Sherman was much shocked, for he had always esteemed Belknap highly. Referring to the case in a speech at a public banquet at St. Louis, before returning to Washington, he said:
"The army of 1776 was the refuge of all who loved liberty for liberty's sake, and who were willing to test their sincerity by the fire of battle; and we claim that the army of 1876 is the best friend of liberty, good order, and Government, and submits to any test that may be imposed. Our ancestors never said the soldier was not worthy of his hire; that the army was a leech on the body politic; that a standing army of 20,000 men endangered the liberties of 40,000,000 of people. These are modern inventions, modern party-cries to scare and confuse the ignorant. We are not of those who subscribe so easily to the modern doctrine of evolution, that teaches that each succeeding generation is necessarily better than that which went before, but each tree must be tested by its own fruit, and we can point with pride to our Sheridan, Hancock, Schofield, McDowell, and a long array of Brigadier-Generals, Colonels, Captains and Lieutenants, who, for intelligence, honor, integrity and self-denial, will compare favorably with those of any former epoch. We point with pride to our army, scattered through the South, along our Atlantic, Gulf and Lake forts, and in the great West, and claim that in all the qualities of good soldiers they are second to none. I see that some of you shake your heads and whisper Belknap. Why? What was his relation to the army? He was a Cabinet Minister, a civil officer, did not hold a commission in the army at all. We contend that when he was an officer he was an honorable man and rendered good service, and that this entitles him to charitable consideration. 'Lead us not into temptation' is a prayer some of us seem to have forgotten, and we of the army can truthfully say that this offence, be it what it may, is not chargeable to the army, for he was not subject to military law or jurisdiction.
"At this moment the air is full of calumny, and it is sickening to observe that men usually charitable and just, are made to believe that all honesty and virtue have taken their flight from earth; that our National Capital is reeking with corruption; that fraud and peculation are the rule, and honesty and fidelity to trust the exception. I do not believe it, and I think we should resist the torrent. Our President has surely done enough to entitle him to absolute confidence, and can have no motive to screen the wicked or guilty. At no time in the history of the country, have our courts of law, from the Supreme Court at Washington down to the District Courts, been entitled to more respect for their learning and purity; and Congress is now, as it has ever been and must be from its composition, a representative body, sharing with the people its feelings and thoughts, its virtues and vices. If corruption exist, it is with the people at large, and they can correct the evil by their own volition. If they have grown avaricious and made money their God, they must not be surprised if their representatives and servants share their sin. What are the actual facts? We have recently passed through a long civil war, entailing on one moiety of the country desolation and ruin,—on all a fearful debt,—States, counties, and cities follow the fashion, until the whole land became deeply in debt. The debts are now due, and bear heavily in the shape of taxes on our homes, on property, and business.
"Again, the war called millions to arms, who dropped their professions and business, and found themselves without employment when the war was over. These naturally turned to the National Government for help; and the pressure for office, at all times great became simply irresistible. The power to appoint to these offices is called 'patronage,' and is common to all Governments. Then, again, arose a vast number of claims for damages for seizures and loss of property by acts of war. These all involved large sums of money, and money now is, as it always has been, the cause of a life-struggle—of corruption. Yes, money is the cause of corruption to-day as always. Men will toil for it, murder for it, steal for it, die for it. Though officers and soldiers are simply men subject to all temptations and vices of men, we of the army feel, or rather think we feel, more in the spirit of Burns:
Sherman set out in July, 1877, for a tour through the Indian country and the far Northwest. He was absent from home 115 days, and travelled nearly 10,000 miles. After visiting Tongue River and the Big Horn, he went to the Yellowstone National Park. In relating the story of his adventures, he said:
"Descending Mount Washburn, by a trail through woods, one emerges into the meadows or springs out of which Cascade Creek takes its water, and, following it to near its mouth, you camp and walk to the great falls and the head of the Yellowstone canyon. In grandeur, majesty, and coloring, these, probably, equal any on earth. The painting by Moran in the Capitol is good, but painting and words are unequal to the subject. They must be seen to be appreciated and felt.
"Gen. Poe and I found a jutting rock, about a mile below the Seron Falls, from which a perfect view is had of the Seron Falls canyon. The upper falls are given at 125 feet and the lower at 350. The canyon is described as 2,000 feet. It is not 2,000 immediately below the Seron Falls, but may be lower down, for this canyon is thirty miles long, and where it breaks through the range abreast of Washburn may be 2,000 feet. Just below the Seron Falls, I think 1,000 feet would be nearer the exact measurement; but it forms an actual canyon, the sides being almost vertical, and no one venturing to attempt a descent. It is not so much the form of this canyon, though fantastic in the extreme, that elicited my admiration, but the coloring. The soft rocks through which the waters have cut a way are of the most delicate colors,—buff, gray, and red,—all so perfectly blended as to make a picture of exquisite finish. The falls and canyon of the Yellowstone will remain to the end of time objects of natural beauty and grandeur to attract the attention of the living.
"Up to this time we had seen no geysers or hot springs, but the next day, eight miles up from the falls, we came to Sulphur Mountain, a bare, naked, repulsive hill, not of large extent, at the base of which were hot, bubbling springs, with all the pond crisp with sulphur, and six miles from there up, or south, close to the Yellowstone, we reached and camped at Mud Springs. These also are hot, most of them muddy. Water slushed around as in a boiling pot. Some were muddy water and others thick mud, puffing up just like a vast pot of mush. Below the falls of the Yellowstone is a rapid, bold current of water, so full of real speckled trout, weighing from six ounces to four and a half pounds, that, in the language of a settler, it is 'no trick at all to catch them.' They will bite at an artificial fly, or, better, at a live grasshopper, which abound here; but above the falls the river is quiet, flowing between low, grassy banks, and finally ending, or rather beginning, in the Yellowstone Lake, also alive with real speckled trout. Below the falls these trout are splendid eating, but above, by reason of the hot water, some of the fish are wormy and generally obnoxious by reason thereof, though men pretend to distinguish the good from the bad by the color of the spots. I have no hesitation in pronouncing the Yellowstone, from the Big Horn to the source, the finest trout-fishing stream on earth.
"From the Mud Springs the trail is due west, and crosses the mountain range which separates the Yellowstone from the Madison, both tributaries to the Missouri, descends this tributary to the West Fork of the Madison, and here is the Lower Geyser Basin. It would require a volume to describe these geysers in detail. It must suffice now for me to say that the Lower Geyser Basin presents a series of hot springs or basins of water coming up from below hot enough to scald your hand, boil a ham, eggs, or anything else, clear as crystal, with basins of every conceivable shape, from the size of a quill to actual lakes 100 yards across. In walking among and around these one feels that in a moment he may break through and be lost in a species of hell.
"Six miles higher up the West Madison is the Upper Geyser Basin, the spouting geysers, the real object and aim of our visit. To describe these in detail would surpass my ability or the compass of a letter. They have been described by Lieutenants Duane, Hayden, Strong, Lord Dunraven, and many others. The maps by Major Ludlow, of the Engineers, locate several geysers accurately. We reached the Upper Geyser Basin at 12 M. one day and remained there till 4 P. M. of the next. During that time we saw the old 'Faithful' perform at intervals varying from sixty-two minutes to eighty minutes. The intervals vary, but the performance only varies with the wind and sun. The cone, or hill, is of soft, decaying lime, but immediately about the hole, which is irregular, about six feet across, the incrustation is handsome, so that one can look in safety when the geyser is at rest."
Returning to Fort Ellis, they next rode to Helena, the Capital of Montana Territory, 106 miles in one day, by a relay of stages. They visited old Fort Benton, established long ago by the American Fur Company, also Fort Shaw, and then striking over the country to Fort Missoula, and then across the Bitter Root Mountains through Idaho and across Washington Territory to the Pacific coast.
Sherman devoted much time in his later years to literary work, chiefly in the form of magazine articles, about the war, early days in California, and other topics of historic and general public interest. In 1875 he published his "Memoirs," a large volume recording his military career. Its appearance caused a great sensation, as no other prominent army officer had, at that time, done such a thing as to write a history of his own career. The book was written in Sherman's characteristic style, breezy, vigorous, frank, fearless. Many of its statements of fact and opinion bore hardly upon others and provoked contradiction. Sherman took all criticisms upon it kindly, and in subsequent editions printed them, together with many other messages of praise, in an appendix to the book. Moreover, there were, as Sherman himself acknowledged, many errors in the book, originating in faults of memory and otherwise. As fast as these were pointed out and proved, Sherman corrected them.
Referring one day, in conversation, to the criticisms of his "Memoirs," he said:—
"They amuse me, make me laugh, and frequently, I am glad to say, serve me a good purpose by calling attention to real defects and errors which in time will be corrected. I have here a copy of my book with each error, so far discovered, marked and carefully annotated. When the work of correcting is completely finished, they will be made public, either during my lifetime or when I am gone. These 'Memoirs' have been the subject of much misconception in the public mind. I do not intend them as history. I offered them as my testimony, simply. I endeavored to describe accurately the stirring events therein referred to as I saw them. I do not pretend to say that everything occurred as I say it does, but as it occurred to me. Other men may have seen things differently. None of us see things exactly alike. But the records upon which my book is based are open to all. They consisted of my correspondence and official reports, making forty volumes of manuscript letters pasted in letter-books. These forty volumes are in the War Department at Washington. I had a duplicate copy. One day I sat down to glance at these letters, and conceived the idea of reducing their contents to narrative form, but not for publication. I did not intend that the public should ever read them, except as my posthumous papers. After I had made some progress in the work, I showed the first sheets to a few friends. I was urgently advised to complete the labor I had begun, and submit it to the public in the shape of 'Memoirs.' I took the advice and so published the book, expected severe criticism, and got it. I had sense and foresight enough to know that everybody would not agree with me. No writer ever gets justice from his contemporaries, and, outside of this, I knew I was liable to err, and only pretended to give things as they looked through my glasses.
"Now, there were a good many little prejudices among the soldiers and the armies of the West which the public, at this day, do not appreciate. For instance, there were three grand Western armies—the Army of the Tennessee, Army of the Cumberland and Army of the Ohio. There were unavoidable jealousies between these armies and their commanders. Their respective triumphs and defeats were the subjects of undue taunts, ridicule or criticism. My particular army was that of Tennessee, and it is more than possible, and quite probable, that I have colored things highly in its favor. Doubtless I was much prejudiced in its favor, just as you would be in favor of an old acquaintance as opposed to a comparative stranger. I knew every brigade and regimental commander in this army, and was familiar with the fighting capacity of each corps. I knew exactly what division to hold in reserve, and those to storm a breastwork. Besides I had this army so organized that I had only to give an order and it was executed. No red tape nor circumlocution was necessary. If I wanted one of Buell's corps I had to issue a command, and that had to be repeated, perhaps in writing from corps to division, and from division to brigade and regiment, and thus would take two hours to get a body of troops in motion when time was precious and impetuous action was needed. My army was one of wild fighters, never so well pleased as when driving the enemy before them. Buell had a splendid army, but it was slow and conservative, composed of as brave and stubborn fighters as any other command, and yet not accustomed to brilliant and quick movements.
"The attack made on me about the 'political Generals' was unfair. I never used such a term. My sole intention was to mention, in a spirit of fair criticism, certain circumstances that in a measure defeated my efforts to have a constantly efficient army. For instance, we would have a big fight and come out victorious. We would go into camp for an indefinite period, and with no prospect of an early campaign. At such periods I noticed that my subordinate commanders who had previously had political aspirations would strike out for home to see the 'people.' They would make a few speeches, and as the fighting season approached they would rejoin their commands. In the meantime, if I wanted to find out anything about the exact condition of each division, the transportation, or the commissary or quartermaster affairs, I could find no responsible head to give me official information. Such things tended to destroy the discipline, and consequently the efficiency of the army, and it was a matter to which I had good reason to object. I wanted commanders who would stay with their commands, and not those who cherished ambitious political projects, and who were continually running off to see the people at home."
General Sherman in 1884 requested to be put on the retired list of the army, in order that Sheridan might be promoted to the full rank of General; and this was done on February 8 of that year. A couple of years later he removed to New York and for the remainder of his life made his home in that city. He was one of the most conspicuous figures in society there, a welcome and honored guest everywhere. After living for a couple of years in a hotel, he bought a house, at No. 75 West 71st St., and there gathered his family about him. In the basement he fitted up a room which he called his office, and here he received visitors and answered correspondence. In the hours which he devoted to these duties he presented a picture which strikingly impressed itself on the memories of all who saw it. His desk was in the middle of the room, and there he sat, amid piles of books, records and papers, and surrounded by old war maps and mementoes. He wore an easy office coat or a dressing gown, and for aids to his eyesight he had a huge pair of round-glassed, tortoise-shell-rimmed spectacles. Wielding his paper knife and taking up his pen occasionally, he would keep busy and at the same time would sustain conversation with a caller, on whom every now and then, as he addressed him, he would bend his keen, direct gaze, raising his brows and looking over the tops of his spectacles. The walls of this room, too, have often rung with laughter, responsive to the kindly joke, the ready jest, the queer reminiscence of old times, inimitably told, with which he made the time pleasant for groups of his intimate friends, especially his old comrades of the Army. When a reporter visited him he would get a cordial enough welcome to the General's nook, but presently old "Tecumseh" would look up and say something like this:
"Oh, what's the use of bothering with an old fellow like me? Haven't I had enough publicity? Umph! More than I wanted. Now, my dear fellow, I like you and your paper, but you mustn't print anything about me; you really mustn't."
He soon acquired a reputation as a ready and brilliant after-dinner speaker, and in that capacity figured at many public banquets. His first New York speech, after he made that city his home, was delivered at the dinner of the New England Society, on December 22, 1886. At this dinner Henry W. Grady made his memorable address on "The New South." General Sherman directly preceded Mr. Grady in the order of speech-making, and when he arose he got a tremendously enthusiastic greeting, which visibly affected him.
"Many and many a time," he said, "have I been welcomed among you. I came from a bloody civil war to New York in years gone by—twenty or twenty-one, maybe,—and a committee came to me in my room and dragged me unwillingly before the then New England Society of New York, and they received me with such hearty applause and such kindly greetings that my heart goes out to you now to-night as their representatives. God knows, I wish you, one and all, all the blessings of life and enjoyment of the good things you now possess and others yet in store for you, young men."
With this introduction, he told them that he had been celebrating the same event the night before in Brooklyn, that about two or three o'clock in the morning he "saw this hall filled with lovely ladies, waltzing," and he added, "here I am to-night."
"I have no toast," he remarked, "I am a loafer. I can choose to say what I may—not tied by any text or formula." Then he said that they called him "Old General Sherman," but that he was pretty young yet, "not all the devil out of me," and that he hoped to share with them many a festive occasion.
And he was with the New Englanders and with many other societies and clubs and parties on "many a festive occasion." His speeches were always brisk, spicy and enlivened by anecdote and reminiscence. Chauncey M. Depew regarded him as "the readiest and most original talker in the United States," and Mr. Depew had many opportunities to study him in this character, for the two men frequently sat at the same table and divided the oratorical honors of the evening.
General Sherman was a frequent patron of the drama, and was usually to be seen in important "first night" audiences. Among his personal friends were many of the foremost actors and actresses of the day, and he did many deeds of kindness to struggling but worthy members of the profession. He was one of the first members of the Players' Club, and made a notable speech at a supper given in honor of Edwin Booth.
At reunions of army men he was, of course, a most popular figure, and he greatly enjoyed such gatherings, where he could renew old acquaintances and refresh his memories of the great campaigns of the past. Sometimes he was called upon to preside at some army meeting, and a rare treat it was to see him. For parliamentary law he had no regard, but he "ran things" according to his own will, with charming indifference to points of order and procedure. A reporter has given this verbatim record of such a scene. Sherman took the chair and began thus:
"The meeting will come to order. Ah, yes! (Nodding to an officer about to rise.) General Hickenlooper moves the appointment of a Committee on Credentials (taking a paper from his left vest pocket). The committee will consist of General Hickenlooper, Colonel A. and Major B. We must be speedy, gentlemen, in arranging these details.
"General Smith—Did I see General Smith rise?" (A voice: "He's gone out for a moment.") "Well, never mind; it's all the same. General Smith moves the appointment of a committee on Resolutions, and it will consist of (taking a list from his right vest pocket) General So-and-So. (Looks blank.) That's not the committee, either. This list I just read is another committee, and it will be moved later. Here's the right one. (Reads it.) You see, gentlemen, we get our young staff officers who have nothing else to do to fix up these things in advance."
A voice: "Move to adjourn." The Chair: "Oh, no use putting that motion. We must fix these preliminaries first. I have three more committees prepared here."
And so on for an hour longer. But no one ever resented the old warrior's genial "bossism."
Sherman's last "interview" with a newspaper reporter occurred at his New York home less than a fortnight before his death.
When the reporter entered the General was seated at a square table in the middle of the room, and in a despairing sort of way was trying to find out from a directory where Dr. John Hall's church is situated. He wore a very extraordinary pair of spectacles—each lens like a jeweler's magnifying glass. When he had got the information he wanted, he pushed his spectacles up on his forehead, shook hands and asked what was wanted.
"By the way," he said, suddenly, "I have seen you before."
"Yes; at the Garfield memorial exercises in Cleveland."
"I remember now," General Sherman continued; "sit down. What can I do for you? I have very little time; I am going to a wedding at 12 o'clock."
He was asked to talk about Lincoln and old war-times.
"No, no," he said, shaking his head; "I have said all I have to say and written all I have to write on that subject and all others. I shall not write any more nor talk for publication."