Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-09-17
New Series-Vol. 25. No. SO

| RCuCddl cAUlCobl VI IcRIcJ GAdl uO
had been wrongly and unjustly repre-
sented to General Halleek, and he advisr
ed me to give to General Smith my most
loyal support. General Smith conducted
the expedition up the Tennessee river to
Savannah, Eastport and Pittsburgh
Landing, gave all the orders and instruc-
tions up to within few days of the
battle of Shiloh, when his health, shat,
tered by the merest accident, compelled
him to relinquish the command again to
General Grant, who quickly resumed it
where Smith had left off, accepted the
situation, made few or no changes, and
fought on the ground which had been
battle of Shiloh. During this fercely
contested battle he displayed the cool
ness, the personal courage. forethought
and deliberation which afterward made
him famous among men. Yet he was
tradnced, slandered and wronged, not
only by the press universally, but by
SAOoC WhO nOAC IL POoADAOuS Va oubAOAAby
over him. You, however, who were at
the battles front stood by him, true and
loyal always, and to his dying day he
loved the army of the Tennessee above
all others by reason of their loyalty to
him in these the darkest days of his
eventful life"
fhnn rudnk fn
scribe subsequent events of the war
with which Gen. Grant was connected
Passing on to the march of Corinth, du>
ring May, Gen. Sherman said: During
that month became eemented the per-
sonal friendship between US which last
ed until the end. Not word of com
the acts of his superiors or the Gevernt
ment, yet the trembling eyelid, the silent
tear and the averted head told that his
big heart was troubled. He knew that
every officer and soldier that followed
him with such noble courage and simple
faith at Belmont. Henry, DonelsoR and
OullOA 1Olb 1OA ulD1, ACOPOObCN hAAt osAA
understood the load of neglect if not
positive insult. He knew and felt that
he was in the way of the commanding
general as it were, fifth wheel 20 a
coach with no real authority, no com,
mand. no positive right to order or even
advise his former subordinates, but am
sure he knew that he was ever welcome
to onr bivouacs, and that We understood
and appreciated the entire situation"
The speaker then described the divist
ion of the army in which Gen. Grant
was sent to Memphis. Gen. Sherman
then continued: These circumstances
were in truth the fires designed by
Providence to test the ability, courage
and endurance of him on whom whole
epoch in history was destined to hinge.
Others have told the whole story of the
war, and still others are repeating and
celebrating it. Even he, himself, almost,
in bis dying hours, was engaged in re-
cording his experience, and we all await
the publication with great interest. He
aimed to achieve results, caring little for
manner by which they were accomplish
ed. He possessed and always asserted
the most perfect faith in the justice OF
our cause, and always claimed that SOON
er or later it must prevail, because the
interests of all mankind demanded the
existence of just such a republic as we
had inherited, and that as by the concur
renee of political causes the conflict had
fallen upon US we had only to meet it
like brave men and conquer as a matter
of course. He believed in deeds, not
words; in war of sggresson. not ma
neuver, and from Belmont to Appomat'
tox his strategy and tactics were the
same. Straight to the mark till all arm
ed resistance had ceased and absolute
submission to lawful authority was
promised.
Eyes, my comrades, there is Provi+
dence which shapes our ends, rough hew
them as we may, and fortunate was it
for us and all mankind that tive such
men as Lincoln and Grant were 'on dut
ty' during the critical year of 1868, each
the full complement to the other, the
one to think, the other to do, forming
the solid arch on which our glorious
Union could safely repose in the then
earthquake of passion and folly.
81 will not yield to the temptation to
trace the wonderful career of this our
comrade through his late life, which ia
its phases surpasses any Of which histor
~, ancient or modern, records. Surely
Plutarch gives no parallel, nor does
Spartas. To compare Grant with Alex
ander, Hannibal, Caesar, Napoleon or
Wellington seems to me folly, for he
was not similar to any Of them any
more than the period of time in which
they existed resembled ours. Each epoch
creates its own agents, and Gen. Grant
more nearly impersonated the Amerir
can character of 1S61-5 than any other
living man. Therefore he will stand as
the typical hero of the great civil war in
America of the nineteenth century.
Nevertheless we may continue to gather
chaplets to strew on his grave as loving
tokens of our remembrance"
In speaking of the burial of General
Grant at New York, Gen. Sherman re-
minded them of his comrades who would
have preferred that he should be buried
in Washington; that nearly all the dead
heroes of the country were buried in
other places Each city, town and even
hamlet may have whatever monument
they are willing to erect, but it seems to