Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-06-17


from mental alienation. This his friends
denied. The order Of difference will now
be reversed. Since the publication Of his
book, the only apology the General has
left his friends is that distraction had
usurped his judgment, and frightened his
reason from its pEopriety.
The assertion is advanced with confidence
that no book, ancient or modern, was ever
voluntarily given to the vorld by its au-
thor under circumstances so remarkable as
those attending the publication of the Me-
moirs The author tells US that he has
been offered large sums Of money again and
again to write his personal recOllections, all
Of which offers be had declined for tie
reasons, he says, that ''the truth is no. al
ways palatable, and should not always be
tOld;" that '.many Of the actors still live,
and they and their friends are quick to con-
troversy, which should be avoided" and
'that the duty Of all good men is to allow
the passions Of that period TO subside" BE
then solemnly declares that his recollec-
tiOns are written "not with any view to
their publication, but rather for Preserva-
ton until am gone" He declares, it will
be observed, as the result Of his deliber-
ate Judgment, that the general good de-
manded the suppression of his book
until sf.er his death, and yet the book is
before us without any explanation other
than that afforded by his admission that he
had been offered large SONS Of mOIey
therefor. Ii follows that Gen. Sherman
publishes book, without explanation or
apology, which he well knew, and admits
be knew, should be suppressed, for the
public good, until after his death, and thai
he was induced to consent to its publication
alone by large money consideration.
The book is remarkable in that it gives
no hint of the birthplace, parentage or any
other fact connected with the early life Of
the author. This appears ell the more
singular, when it is found that from the
period he chooses for the inception of his
narrative there is no fact, incident CT detail
connected with hinIselftoo trivial for men
ton. Forexample, we can determine from his
book his Whereabouts, occupation and who
was with him at any given period Of time,
from the spring of 1916, up to the hour of
his triumphal entry into Washington City
in 1865. We knog, indeed, all the houses
he occupied, their number and description,
who his neighbors were, and whether up
on any given occasion he rode a horse or a
mule.
Whether this silence was suggested by
desire to give all the States Ofthe American
Union an equal chance, in after-ages, TO
claim the birth place of the hero; or wheth-
er the period when be was Lieutenant of
artillery was seized upon to suggest to the
mind of the reader, the striking parallel
between him and the great CoTsican, who
from q common rank rose to an equal mar
tial fame; or whether it was suggested by
the hope that il would be imagined that he
had sprung, like the war goddess, full
panoplied from the head Of the g0d-are
fruitful sources Of inquiry for all vino are
fond Of such speculations.
The first service rendered by Gen. Sher-
man, Of which ne gives US an account, is |
that Of recruiting, and this service seems to |
be related for the sole purpose of acquaint- |
ing the reader with the fact that, while the
flowers Of glory were blooming along the |
front of fisgrant war, and, while be was
ambitious TO gather 4 gorgeous bouquet Of |
them, that q "pleuty" Of his brother officers |
were ready TO Jump az" his bomb-proOf |
place, TO avoid the danger Of active service |
in the field. It is to be trusted that the |
future historian, for whom the General pro |
tesSedly writes, will not find this imputag |
ton upon our Old army officers sustained |
by the evidence, nO5 outstanding the teSti- |
mOuy Of this yeraciOus chrOnicler that there |
were ''plenty7 Of them so craven.
Sherman relates that Col. Tanning was |
in charge Of the recruiting service, and tina. |
without orders, he reported to him. This |
is the first officer wiki whom the author |
had relations of which we have an account |
In this book, AID as the Colonel was an |
old officer, suffering from the loss of an |
arm in the service Of his country and No |
doubt long since dead, it would seem that |
all this would have ensured him repose and !
his memory exempted from reprOach; but |
Sherman, without kind word fO- the |
faithful old officer, undertakes to stamp |
mis- name with perpetual disgrace, by writ |
ingit in his immortal book that Col. Fan !
ming could not appreciate patriotic zeal and !
rewarded it by 'cuTsing and swearing al" |
the embryonic hero. Poor flaming, All |
that posterity will ever know Of him will |
be that he had but one arm, and |
that he cursed and swOre at Hercules
when in his cradle. There IS
one consolation left him, EOWever-he has |
company! And more: in virtue of his |
seniority in years, and in virtue Of the o. |
der of time in which he is named in the |
Generals book, he stands at the head of |
that vast corps Of distinguished men who |
are 70 be known in history as "Sherman's |
Corps Of the Abused"
Immediately after this recruiting episode |
Sherman, with his battery, was ordered to |
California. Col. Mason succeeded Gen. |
Kearney in the command Of the forces in |
California, with his headquarters at Mon |
terey Bay, and Sherman was assigned to |
duty as his Adiutant General. While act
ing in this capacity he performed his first |
campaign. This campaign is related with |
great elaboration, and, as its history so &C |
curately fOreshadOwed campaigns then in |
the distant future, and SO completely illus |
trafes the character Of the man, it |
deserves particular notice. The causes |
which led TO it are stated to have been as
follows: Commodore Sloat took military |
possession Of California as a conquest, and /
after it was reduced to firm military Occu
patton, issued a proclamation to the cili-
zens, reciting that they "were now free and
enlightened American citizens, entitled 10
all the rights and privileges as such, and TO
elect their own officers" The town Of
SonomaEwas inhabited almost exclusively
b7 immigrants who had come from the
States and located there. Under the
authority Of this proclamation the citizens
of SCnOma held an election and it resulted
in the election of ole Nash, a former resi-
dent of the States, 10 the office Of Alcade of
Sonoma. One Boggs coveted Nash's
office, and he set up claim to it by an
unpublishe order of Gen. Kearney, giving
him the appointment, subsequent to the
election Of Nash. No effort was made by
Gen. Kearney, however, to depose Nash,
and. so far as we may understand from |
the facts, Gen. Kearney made the appoint
men in ignorance of the fact that the
people had elected their own officer
under the proclamation Of Com
modore Sloat, and, afterwards learn
ing the facts, did not prOmulgate the order.