Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-29
A REMARKABLE POEM.
BUCHANAN READS SHeRIoAN'S
RIDe"-AOW IT WAS WRITTEN.

Painter and His Picture.
In that remarkable poem with which We |
arc all familiar, Buchanan Read describes |
Sheridan a. riding down the lines with a
terrible oath" which WAS so soul stirring as
to bring the demOralizei and scattered sol
dieIs to q realizing sense Of the responsibility
of the occasion and TO turn them from sheep
to men The general does not recollect ex-
actly what he did say. but hss no doubt that
he used language appropriate to the circum-
stances and meant precisely what hs said.
On some other occasions during the war he
found the ordinary vocabulary Of converse
tiou inadequate TO hts thoughts and made
use II language that could not liza miSunder
stood. but the yarns alout his profanity,
which were 50 widely quoted at the time,
have caused him much annoyance
The impression that his tongue WIS a mint
that was constantly coming imprecations Of
a unique and awful pattern WIS quite
general. and it grieved the hearts OF a great
many good people that a man they hsd
harmed To admire and love should tarniSh his
otherwise brilliant reputation by the Use Of
hlasphemy Many Of them wrote him TO ex
press their regret. The letters came from
clergymen and mothers Of boys, who gently
iNih'io'i nAf"A pcbe'u w sh'
vicious habit. not only for the sake Of his
own soul but for the benefit of their sons.
who admired him so much and were Inclined
tn initiate even ths vices Of great 50 disr.
1t is due to Gen. Sheridan that t1is false
impression should be corrscted, for he is not
habitually profane and never sweaIs except
upon rare occasions Of extraordinary provo
cation. Then he does not use the vulgar
hlaz,,haf,,v Of tbah har h,,t
of picturesque and striking originality, which
produce an instantaneous effect and a lasting
impression His words fall like a pile driver
He does not ase them for the sake of swear
ing, nor from the force of habit, and nevsr
utters the same oath twice, but to emphasz
his language and to supply a force which the
poverty Of his native tongue lacks
On some supreme occasion, at a great crisis
or emergency. when the souls of his men
were TO lie aroused, the ordinary adjective
would strike the soldier with no more forcs
than falling leaf, and the phrases Of the
drawing room would not even reach their
ears SO much is true OF Sheridan, that at
such times his tongue would frame a sermon
in a single sentence that never failed TO ar.
rest panic and inspire with courage men
who would have been deaf to the ordinary
mand
The retreat at Winchester was one Of tbsss
occasions member Of his staff. Gen.
George A Forsythe, or SANDY as he WAS
better known, who rode the famous twenty
miles by Sheridans side but did not get into
the immortal poem, may be considered pretty
good authority. He told me that when the
general met the first group of stragglers, in
! full retreat. and was informed by them that
the enemy had captured his camp during his
| absence, he turned white with rage and
modification, and exclaimed in a tone that
was not to lie misunderstood.
Boys those Of you who are not towards
follow me, for I'll sleep in that camp to night
! or I'll sleep in hell"
| That was the terrible oath" the author Of
"Sheridan's Ride" referred to, and it had the
| effect that was intended The soldiers knew
that Little Phil was rightfully in earnest,
! and there wasn't man in ell the shsttered
army who wouldn't SHARE his bed.
asked Gen Sheridan the other day IL be
| knew the author Of the poem.
Yes" he replied, Il knew him wsl first
met Mr. Read at the headquarters of Gen
| Rosecrans, just before the baths OF Stone
| River. He was guest Of the genesnl and re
ud1ncA Ia dAIOS q "Ls4cr ~ w ea 81
| to know him"
DO you know how he came 70 write the
! poemr
Yes" said the general, Il hsve heard him
tell about it several times nere have been
a number Of stories publishedsbout the origin
Of the poem, but will tell ysu the true one,
| Just as Mr. Read told il b me. Did you
know that James E Murdsk suggested the
| idea'"
"Murdock, the eiocutiouStF
The very man. He vs. an actor At ons of
the Cincinnati theatres q the nms, wbers
had known him Murdsck has always been
a great friend Of mins and / am glad 10
know the old man kegs so well. see that
he was able 10 appear at the memorial ser
vices in honor Of Chef Justice Chase the
other day He lost 0 son at tho battle Of
Missionary Ridge-Iurdock did The boy
was in nv commanL and the old man came
down to get the bod, don't you knowi The
enemy occupied th. place where the boy was
buried. and Mr.. Nurdock remained a guest
at nv headquarters until we recovered the
| -yround He useS to ride the lines with me
very day, and aFays used my black horse,
7ienzi'-the ons that was afterwards called
| yinchester,' an, the same that had under
,ie on that livery mile canuer. No man ever
added beser animal. and old Murdock
,'ame very fnd Of him. He was ifrrss
! It it was arhonor To mount, you see, and
that poem Read gave him good send of.
Well thiigs were very exciting down
round Chattanooga those days, and Mr..
! 'urlock saT q good deal Of war. On Sun
| .a,~ ho always used TO recite poems TO the
lrrrp.,, aruF1d headquarters, and there was
o. g. Brcsning's that the boys never missed
,, o call for. Ii was a great favorits
VI. don't you know, just As il was with
! IT, ii ITS, and we never let the old man off
.Grcading il. IL was the story of the
T. "a Ghent 10 AiN-you remember iti
l. YOU see, after the battle OF Cedar
! C. z.,.ia vas published in Harpers Weekly
.>..y ~ INV ride from Winchester, and
! pl,.Tr.s. " me on the back of old Rieuzi.
| yuvtrcK had agreed to recite poem at the
sauIhry fair that was being held at Cincinnati
at Tat time, and Read had promised to write
soIs-thing new and appropriate for him.
| Bu when Murdock called on him for tho
| manuscript the afternoon he was 10 reC:ite he
! h,dn't touched a pen TO paper-said he didn't
NOW what TO write about Well, Murdock
| had lust seen a man who was in the battle
! and was full of the story, being friend OF
mine. YOU see So he pulled the copy Of
Harpers Weekly from his pocket and rs
peated to Ped all the officer had told him
Road jumped up, locked himself in his room
wrote the poem offhand in an hour, got his
wife to make a copy and had it over To Muir
DICKS before dark. The latter was delighted
" th it and read it at the sanitary fair that
night"
Where did you first nee itr
The first ever saw Of it was in the news
papers. One of my officers brought it to m,
tent one morning in tho camp down in tn.
Shenandoah valley"
1t is said that you have the original manu-
scriptT
| Il wish / had, but have never seen it.
| cont suppose it is in existence. As ! unde
StsIId. it WAS originally written in pencil a
mn Kead copied it for Murdock-
Bow did Read come to paint the picture
! II SfNrdan's rider
Wei the poem made a great sensation,
you knew. and Read being a painter as well
Is poet go: commission from the Union
| League club. of Philadelphia, for the picture.