New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-27
NAPOLEON, VoN MoLEKE, GBANE.
GENERAL sHERMANs ESTIMATE OF THEM
AS SOLDIERS.
WOW MoLTKs A MAN OF pETArrs-GRAvr's FArTu-.
LINCOLN MORE THAN A MACH FOR SEWARD.

| Li>CrLS MORE THAN A MATCH FpH SEWAHts
never fnew a man who could tell what be knew
any better than General W T. sherman can. When
I wa in WASHINGTON never failed to DO present at
pubic hearing military matters II General sher
man wa to male statement or be examined. That
which the mouth Of almost any other officer Of the
| Army would be bald details and confusing figures be-
came In his rs interesting a populr lecture And
In PIRATE conversation he Is equally entertaining
esrecaly when the topic IL the Army or the military
heroes Of this AMI other lands
ma In my mote book an entry made In the spring
OF 1os0, which recalled by reading the recent
81 eech Of Count von MOltke in favor Of increasing the
q ready enormous army Of Germany, and the COM
ments OF the American and foreign press upon it.
sTent an hour one evening in n small company OF
1Llch General Sherman one, and when by gen
eral consent he had been allowed 70 do most Of the
talk NJ. He began by comparing the military abil-
ties OF Napoleon Won Moltke and Grant, and sad In
sibsance:
"Nspo cons prominent characteristic his intel
iect As soldier b. strength lay in his power OF
conveyance and cuncentrat on. He knew his gen
erals and his men thoroughly. He knew Just what
they could a compli-h AMI what he had right TO
expert Of n He knew just how long IL would take
afo OF troops to 90 from one point 10 another
and he would Jrler them from W DEFY different eta
lions an voul1 plan their arrival at given pace
so accuFat ey as to make ; comb'nauOns irresist-
/ ible He was ke lens which brings the rayo Of
| light together &C one point
Napoleon ought TO have won the battle Of Water
| loo, AM woui have done II 1t hal been fought
On an open fed and If the Allies had not been on
the defensive. II 1t hal beer equal contest. or
one in With the Allie hal maize the attack upon
Napoleon, he w0u have go upon their flank, cut their
Ines OF communication, and whipped Wellington
Napoleon dill not understand the EngI-h character
be did not know how stod and sullenly stubborn the
English soldiers could be. The Germans ana Others
whom he had fought generally became panic -stricken
! n
| est the Old Guard when they male charge.
"Non Motke is man Of entirely different genius.
He las IN infinite knowledge of details. lie knows
how many People there in every part Of Europe;
how many horses mules, cattle, pigs and chickens they
have whore all the roads and their conditions at
different seasons of the year: all the rivers and the
best aces TO ford them: where all the bridges are
AMI whether they of stone, iron or wood. He
knows his thoroughly as he does the country
and II Is to his ability to put this knowledge to use
that he his success"
Some one in the company asked General Sherman
If lie thought that If Napoleon alive to-day
1sso-he could organize French army that coulc
whip IrUss.a. lie replied: 81 think he could, but
he would ntel three or four years to do 1t In. An
effective army OF about 100000 men would be re
quirel, and 70 command 1t Napoleon would have TO
create thirteen frst-class Generals"
OF General Grant General sherman said: ellis
distinguishing characteristic is his unbounded faith
IN his own ultimate success / never saw anyth
like It, If Grant was have arm and a leg shot
oil and a bullet through his L0dy, ana should NC
lying helpless the tie field he would still fully
expect to get up, mount his horse and win the day
And such absolute lef ultimate urcs 1t
a prominent Republican statesman who was present
said that, much he admired General Grants
military geuIus, he believed that history would not
record unqualified approval Of that Generals cam
raign from the Rappahannock to the James. II was
beyond all precedent a bloody campaign needles-B
he al Wilderness
terrible affairs. The losses in that campaign, he
believed, greater than those of Napoleon IN his
disastrous winter retreat from Moscow. With Nor
iolk and Fortress Monroe and Newport News in our
undisputed possession, on the south. and with such
a navy had, General Grant ought to have
accomplished what he di without the enormous losses
that he sustained.
General sherman defended General Grant and said
"The slaughter great but it necessary. Most
Of 1t nught have taken place during the two pre-
years. General Grant unfortunate in fall
ing heir to the efundor- his proecc--or-, and in
having to Iay the PENALTY OF those bunders"
The newspapers Of the country just at that
time full Of reports and comments upon the alleged
outrage upon tho cOlOTed cadet. Whitaker at West
r,iut. and many Republican journals we're unsparng
in their or clsms OF General scbofed, then superin
ten cut of the military academy. and Recorder
of the military court that examined the Whitaker
case. General sherman spoke with much severity
Of the of the Republican press, said "Of
what value Is reputation in this country Here il
schofeh who has been an AbolltiOnist all his life
and yet in the present unnecessary excitement he Is
charged with being southern sympathizer. and most
people believe it,"
OF Recorder sears he said "He Is an excellent
officer and a most honorable gentleman When
were at yicksburg in 1862 President Lincoln sent
down word that II we would select some boys from
the Army he would appoint them to West 20 Mt in
the ace of those who should have from the
Gfafaa all eIaotad lix
young men, three candidates and three alternates,
and sent them up. they were chosen out OF an
army OF 10000 men with the greatest care. Sears
q corporal In Ohio regiment, and his father
a chaplain Illinois regiment. Young Sears
then eighteen years old, was one Of the successful
ones, and graduated second IN his class
assisted him pecunarly at different times and he
religious paid back every penny-and that is
moro than many gentlemen have done"
OF Ir;sl eat lincoln WONDERFUL grasp ~ great
subjects. General sherman unmarked: Before he
became a candidate for the Presidency he little
more than country lawyer, and one with not large
pracJ at that. No ever heard of his studying
the mo intricate problems of International law, and
yet, when no Deal with such questions he
proved himself TO be more than a match for Seward
and the ATTEST diplomats | saw the other day
very striking demonstration Of that fact in the original
OF the first letter Of instructions 10 Charles Francis
Adams. Min user 10 England. Il was written by
sewar but it nterlncd, corrected and remodeled
by Lincoln until 1t became his production more than
seward g."
yes" said Mr. Blaine who present. "and
it has teen disgusting TO Adams claim so much.
In his OratiJn Seward after the laters death, The
central idea that ran through the whole OF it was
that sewar in the state Department and Adams in
England fought the to a successful conclusion.
600 lustrat of the reat that existed between
Lincoln and seward NAV be found in the letter which
tho former to the latter before the Fortress
Monroe tOnferrnre. After giving him quite minute
directions he closed with: But you will assume
TO concu e nothing until my arrival. That was not
the language of man who was managed by the one
10 whom he was writing L. l. '"