Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-10-31
AN ENGLISHMANS VIEWS OF OUR,
HEROES.
An EngIishman,s Review OF Grant
m Sherman-The Grand March
Down 20 the Sen. |

the "Story of the Grand March" 1t will
be found of interest:
ulysses Grant is a man of genius; a
soldier of new ideas; one who will be
found to have contributed fresh material
to the art of war. With him Il siege is a
campaign. Instead-O driving OF the COW
ering army from a fort orcity, as old rules
insisted they must be done, before COM
mencing operations against it, Grant
man0uvres TO keep the covering army
near him, to throw it within the lines, to
compel it to take a part in the defense, to
fall when the b%eleaguered fortress falls.
This plan has the disadvantage Of max
ing a siege appear long, perplexing critics,
who cannot see that the close of the siege
is to be, under this new system, the close
of Il campaign. At Donelson, at Vicks-
burg, Grants plan was carried out in
each the covering army fell with the
fortress, and in each the blow was final.
The fall of Fort Donelson and its covering
army put an end to the war in Kentucky
and Western Tennessee; the fall of Vicks-
burg and its covering army opened the
river Mississippi, never TO be closed again
by the Southern guns. Each campaign
was final not only sweeping away the
army in the field, together with the stores,
guns, clothing, ammunition, but crushing
in the catastrophe all sparks Of the rebel
lous fire. Where Grant had once been, it
was found impossible to raise Il second
rebel corps. The fighting spirit was sub
dued.
fisherman, when we came to know him
at all, was in some respects better compre-
hended by the critics than Granthad been.
After Savannah fell into his power, all
nonsense about his being drawn from his
base and flying to his ships died out
among us. The horse guards began to
study his remarkable march and the
Duke of Cambridge went to preside at a
meeting of the United Services to hear an
explanation of it i'll detail. From that day
forward, simply beoausa we hogan to know
him, Sherman became our hero of the war,
and once or twice newspapers ventured to
say that the South would be conquered by
his arms.
"At Gaylesville, Sherman may be said
to have stripped for the great march. He
was going to Richmond-a distance like
that from Paris to Bucharest and all
that way of Il thousand miles he would
have tc pass through an cnemys country
For some part of his long Journey he
COulu IcCkOu Oh uO uClps no slOIbsf no
forage, save those waits and strays which
his keen eye could see and his strong arm
seize. Aware that he might have to fight
for every mile of ground, for every beast
of burden, for every sack of corn, Il sharp
and short command from headquarters
reduced the army to its best fighting and
marching power. All the sick were sent
back. NOn-combatauts were driven off
/ -. IL .,. III @-A-aAT-,an4- -vral
as horses, tents, chairs, tables, were left
behind. Gustavus in Pomerania, Napier
in Scinde, were not more peremptory than
Sherman in Georgia. But the great Gen
eral never asked a soldier to put up with
worse fare and worse lodging than he re-
served for himself. He slept in his blank
ct ON the ground. He fed on bareback,
and when the Secretury-at-Nar his guest,
dined with him at Savannah, he apollo
gized for the appearance of ported meats
and fruits on his table as luxuries unbe-
coming a soldiers mess. The troops had
that undoubting faith in his genius which
Napoleon inspired in his army, and Mel
son in his feet. When he ordered things
to be done which they could scarcely UNI
dcrstand, t'ey merely said, "Wel, he
can't make IL mistake r and-then they
did it.
"Nothing like this finging of an army
of 40, 900 men from their base nto u vague
field of operation had ever been seen. A
movable column is a best Il perilous trial,
even when formed N Il small scale and
sent into the territories of such foes as
France encounters in Algiers and Eng
land in India. The nearest approach to
Sherman's movement Was the famous final
| ,,.roh aff.r th, Inn, v-h,D fba n1liaa !
broke up their camp and passed from
their base at Old Fort and set off in search
of u new one at Balaklava. 1t was a
dangerous feat, contrary to rule, and has
been sternIy condemned. Yet this change
of base was an affair of Il day; the French
and English ships were at hand and the
materials of war were all on board.
Sherman had no supplies to fall back on.
RAtUaen-him and the sea lay three hum
dred miles of Savannah swamp and sand. |
A hundred Ngater-courSes crossed his path.
He would ave roads to make, mOrasses to
turn, rivers to bridge and cross. Where
was he to find food for that mighty host?
asked one of his aides-de-camp. With
thirty days rations in stock, he was going
in search of his enemy and his supplies.
1t was an original and daring adventure;
one to have puzzled q martinez like Rag
Ian, and enough to have driven Aulic
councillors mad. But the officers and
men of the Northern army put their trust
in the man who, in their belief, could not
make Il mistake. Where he puts US
they would say to each other, we are
going III, and we are dead sure to whip
the rebs-sure.n 1t is the spirit in which
battles are won and republics saved.
"His staff is smaller that that of any
brigade commander in the service. He
denies himself and his staff the luxury of
a house. He has fewer servants, fewer
horses, than the regulations allow. He
has Just refused the commission of Major
General in the regular army on the ground
that such exalted rank should be kept in
reserve by the authorities until the war is
over when the Government will be able
to compare and Judge mems services with
greater GOODNESS. As he comes ~plunging
along, we see the mans character in the
way in which he rides. The road is oc-
cupied by 4 brigade in motion he turns
into the fields, dashing through brush and
briar, wadingthroUgh streams, ROundering
swamps, so long as these will yield a way;
and when forced TO take the road again,
you see that he. pulls up his horse and
halts until the brigade has passed. The
smooth path, he says, Is for the man on
foot. Men with rifles and kits, not the
General and his staff, have the first right
to the road. Can we wonder at the trust
in which sharp lawyers and solid farmers
follow such a man?' One day, looking
back, the men saw n line of bridges in
their rear in famis. Guess, Charley,
says u trooper. sherman has set the river
on fire. To which Charley answers
"Well, if he has, l reckon its all right"
"By marching through the heart Of
South Carolina, instead Of skirting the sea,
Sherman pierced the State in its most vital
part. 1t was the boast of Davis and
Breckenridge that the sea was not neces-
sary to the South. The ports might be
given up, and,the power would be stronger
for the loss. Their strength lay inland.
Well, Sherman marched inland; shutting
up one Confederate General in Augusta,
another in Branchville, u third in Charles
ton, and a fourth in Columbia. These
Generals neverknew where the blow would
fall, and it never fell where they thought it
likely to do. As Sherman moved up
northward, leaving Charleston -on the
right, Beauregard was confident that he
would have to assault Branchville a great
railway center, and a post from which he
could equally menace Charleston and Au-
pusta. Branchyille was, accordingly,