Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-12-24
GEN. SHERMAN INTERVIEWED.
His Opinion on the Captain Generally
and His Own Retirement.

and His Own Retirement.
New IoRK. December %. The Her.
aid has the following sharp and spicy
interview withGeneral sherman:
You have seen your statement about
your probable retirement, Generalr"
The General laughed, and replied:
"That's all newspaper talk, all rumor,
but il Gen. Grant should be made Cap.
tain General, l have no complaint
t. make. / simply say that
this is a rank hitherto unknown
in our army, aud that Congress would
have to enact legislation to define his
duties and to decide who is to command
the army. the General or Captain Gen.
eral. AS it is, no one now knows
whether he is TO be placed above the
General or below, or what the Captain
Generals duties are to be-"
81 suppose the very title indicates he
would be Captain, as it were. OF the Gen
erals?"
"Well, il is a rank unknown anywhere
except in Spain, for even in Cuba the
office has certain civil functions attached
to it besides military duties. The rank
OF General has certainly been the high
est thus far known to our country. You
know there have been only three Gener-
als-General Washington, General
Grant and myself" Gen. Sherman
said this without the slight
est ostentation. but with evil
dent feeling, and added, as il in the
continuous current OF his thoughts.
mo, have not the slightest objection
toward Gen. Grant being retired from
the service. which could be done by an
act OF Congress. and which would give
him three-fourths OF the salary OF $l3,-
500. That would prevent suoh confusion
and complication as would arise from
this new rank of Captain General. The
only possible objection which any one
in the army could have against that
would be that as the number OF retired
officers are limited to 800, it would, per-
haps, keep some one else out.
You can not be retired as yet, Gen
eral?"
40 begin with, there i, no provision
OF law for the retirement either OF Gen
eral or Lieutenant General. am
thoroughly independent; | can't be re-
tired by the President unless Congress
enacts some new legislation; that, OF
course, would be different thing. Then
l am not sixty two. / am only sixty,
and instead of being forty-fve years in
the service, as the law requires, ] have
only served thirty.two, as | was out OF
the service for some years after resign.
ing my commission as Captain. So you
see that even il the present law were
applicable to the General OF the Army,
can no. be retired as yet"
you wrote to the President about
Gen Ord's retirement"
"Yes, | did. did not protest against
it as it has been stated, but | simply
wanted the army to know that had
done it."
"And what was the cause of this in
justice being done to him.
"Well, | have the highest regard for
Gen. Garfield as large hearted, whole
souled, splendid man. who would not
commit an act OF palpaDle injustice, and
also for President Hayes, who | believe
to be of too kindly and just disposition
to do deliberate wrong, but | have
been told that politics had something to
do with it-that Gen. Mcdowell came
here to New York to vote for Gen. Gar
field in very ostentatious manner,
while Gen. Ord did not dn that
"That was an unfortunate affair, the
Whitaker scandal, it seems, General"
Gen. Sherman, after paying high
eulogium to Gen. Schotield's record as
an officer as well as the commander of
West Point, took up the negro question
and expressed himself in very decided
fashion:
wherever the negro appears politics
must always come into the race. Now,
We do not keep up West Point to equal
ize the negro with the white man, but
to make soldiers. The negro has the
same right as a white man, bat II YOU
want to compel me or anybody else to
invite him to my house to dinner and
introduce him to my wife, sister or
daughter, there'll probably be row,
that's all. The negro should have the
same rights and privileges OF study and
recreation in West Point as the white
man, but you cant compel the cadets to
put their arms around him.