Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-11-12
General Sherman He Never Will be a
Presidential Candidate.


Now, when distinguished militar
men are as prominently before th
public on account of their availabl
qualities as Presidential candidate
as they were during the war for thei
fighting qualities, am reminded Q
a conversation ! had with Genera
Sherman a little over a year age
the recital of which may not oe un
interesting to the general reader
/ La the spring of 1866 | was sent b,
one Of the New York dailies to Han
over, n. H., to attend the commence
ment exercises of Dartmouth College
General Sherman was 10 be present
and it was expected he would max,
a speech, which | was to report, anC
as he was about making a visit t
Canada, my instructions were to fol-
low him and keep the paper | rep
presented advised of all he said anC
/ done.
On the morning of the commence.
ment day" | paid visit to Genera
Sherman, and was very Kindly re-
ceiyed by him. asked him his pro.
posed route on leaving Hanover, al
the same time informing him of my
business and of my desire to accom-,
pany him. He said that he was
travelling for pleasure, that he desir
ed to travel quietly, and that he did
not intend to make any speeches. !
told him that he would undoubtedly
meet with an enthusiastic reception
in Canada; that we were already re-
celvlng accounts of preparations be-
ing made there to extend him a
hearty welcome, and that it would
be next to impossible to avoid maxi
ing speech occasionally. He said
that if they attempted anything of
the sort in Canada, he should immedi.
ately return within our lines" that
he had no taste for such things, and
that he had already been very much
annoyed since he started on his trip,
by finding everything he uttered re-
ported the next day in the New York
Herald, with many words added
which he did not utter, and which
he supposed the Imagination of the
reporter supplied. He had stopped
Yale or Harvard, | forget which
ow, and he said that while out on
the play ground during his stay there,
the boys had collected around him,
and 20 amuse them he had given
them little talk that he had told
them that they must not suppose
that Grant, and Sheridan, and Thorn
as, and himself, had done all that was
to be done, and wen all the distinc-
ton that was to be won; that there
would be opportunities for them, and
they would not have to wait long, so
they must not lose heart or despair
On receiving the New York papers
several days after, he was astcnished
to find that he was reported as pre-
dieting speedy war to students, in
which they would have a chance OF
Distinguishing themselves. Now,
snch a contingency as another war
he bad never contemplated, and he
hoped that the country would be
blessed with many years of peace
that it needed years of peace, for it
wanted men to develop its resources,
and that there was room for a hum
dred million Of men where now there
was only thirty or forty. told him
If he was not going to make any
speeches in Canada that | would re-
turn to New York. He said that
under no circumstances would he
make any speeches; that he did not
desire to occupy the attention of the
public and would never permit his
name to be used in connection with
any office in the gift of the people,
His brother John, he said, had taste
for politics, but he had not. He was
entirely satisfied with the position
he occupied. 1t suited him, and as
long as he suited it, be would hold it.
This was the gist Of the conversation
give it from memory after year
or more has passed, and [ know !
left him impressed with the idea that
he was not a Presidential aspirant
and could never be prevailed upon to
become a candidate for the Office
Philadelphia Post.