The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-09-25
LIEUT.. GEN. PHIL SHERIDAN LOOK
ING At A BATTLE PICTURE.
=" Nothing Nice About War".Men who
skulk Out Of . Fight-The War Of the
Future-A Humanitarian view.A Visit
to the Missionary Ridge Panorama.

The late visitors were leaving Missionary
Ridge panorama q little after 10 o'clock last
evening, when q stout citizen clad in a gray
travelling suit, sauntered up to the box office
A moment after q slight, active man emerged
from the wire door, and-"Gen Sheridan,
you are just the man I am glad to see!"
"HellO, old man; hello, Davis, are you herel
Well, - and OFF they started toward the
new diorama just finished and opened to-day
tho battle among the clouds, Fighting Joe
HoOker's Lookout mountain.
The general was interested in the diorama.
But his mind seemed to be busy, and his
thoughts were evidently at work on some
other subject than the grand painting before
him Presently the general turned and moved
toward the stairway leading to the platform
of the principal exhibition-the panorama of
Missionary Ridge. On the present occasion
the platform was nearly empty, and the gen.
eral, as he looked thoughtfully down on the
scene. spoke freely Of the and other battles,
OF the unhappy necessity which could force
men into such situations as we here saw.
LOSS IN THE SECOND DIVISION.
"This sort Of thing" said he, sis not nice.
There Is not one comfortable thing about 1t.
Look this field over. My loss that day In the
old Second division was a fearful one. Over
thirteen hundred men, brave, gallant fellows,
led by officers who did their duty, were lost
in the old Second division in a time so short
that it seems incredible that we could have
cOmpassed the distance and carried the crest.
Il have often thought We should have cap
tured Bragg, and l think it was q close thing
as it was If could have got Granger to
push a little there, after 1 got them over that
second crest you see there in Chickamauga
valley, we should have captured something
more than rations at that Chickamauga sta
ton By the way" continued the general,
''you know my men didn't have the chance to
get reported dead after a fight that they had
kept out Of had taken place, for had the
name Of every man who was either killed or
wounded, and my men knew they were being
looked after.
Il never did like to see men skulk out Of a
fight when the skir.nishers were pushing in
and the line dressed up and following close
after. You remember that lesson 1 gave
those fellows up in Tennesseei saw several
officers dropping out, leaving their companies
to go into the fight while they hunted safety.
had those fellows picked up the day after,
formed the division in hollow square, the
skulkers for a center piece. They didn't know
what was going to happen to them You
know l am not much on making speeches
in fact, l never wns. But what told those
men that day was clearly understood by every
man in the division. / told them that
~
Of my division by asking him to receive the
swords Of such cowardly whelps; and while
did not like the ilea Of infiicting unmerited
cruelty on the ,olored race, that should,
nevertheless, Gsh my negro servant if he
would take those swords away from those
things standing out there.
THE WAR OF THE FUTURE.
Possibly" said the general refectively,
'this may have had something to do with my
loss Of officers at Missionary Ridge"
There is nothing nice abcut war;" said the
general again, land, Davis, this scene before
US neither Of US will ever see, either it or any
similar scene War Of that day and war of
the present IS and must be a different thing
from what we have here. The advance in
war machinery, material and weapons of
every description makes u different mode of
warfare necessary. Armies will not attack
each other in the field like this. An army
must be dug out, starved out, or may be
forced out by position. At all events, we
must have one Of two things-either a long,
tedious method, wearing alike on men and
the impedimenta, or a rapid and vigorous
attack upon real property, commerce, rail
road, steamboat. What is naval warfare!
Simply a war OH commerce. Effective!
Very. Why not the same on land! There is
little doubt that the horse must play o larger
part in future war than anything we saw or
knew of. And am not sure but what this is
the humanitarian view.
I'VE should certainly save life, and lives of
human beings should always be preserved at
the expense Of real property. l think l am
right in this" went on the general. reflec-
lively. Anything that shortens a war, stops
the conflict, is desirable. OF course we
should have bitter fighting at points; that
would be necessary. But q war today
would be a new thing. News