St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-08-23
sHERIDAN,s GREAT TEMPTATION.
He Might Have Taken Richmond But
Didn't.
ReeoHeetions Of Senator Plumb.


| ReeOHections Of Senator Plumb.
/ always think of Sheridan in con-
nection with one conversation | haG
with him. General" said /, "yor
were in the West before you came East
What was your opinion of the army oil
the Potomac You remember it was
criticised about that time as not doing
it's share of the work"
/ "Oh, the army of the Potomac wal
all right" said Sheridan. "The troub,
lie was the commanders never went
out to lick anybody, but always
thought first of keeping from getting
| licked"
| Sheridan came East when the caval-
~ of the army of the Potomac was not
in good condition, and Grant gave him
the task of recognizing it and raising
it's efficiency. He had worked away
some time when Meade sent him over to
the RappahannOck on a reconnaissance
Sheridan came back, and in making
his verbal report, referred to a brush
he had had with Stuart's cavalry.
"Never mind Stuart" said Meade,
interrupting, che will do about as he
pleases anyhow. Go on and tell me
what you discovered about Lees for
ces."
That made Sheridan mad, and he
retOrted: "Damn Stuart ] can thrash
hell out of him any day."
Meade repeated the remark to Grant,
who queried: "Why didn't you tell
him to do it 7n
Not long after, sure enough, Sheri-
dan got an order to cross the river,
engage Stuart, and clean him out.
81 knew could whip him." said Sher-
idan, "if could only get him where
he could not fall back on Lees infan-
try. So | thought the matter over, and
to draw him on started straight for
Richmond. We moved fast, and Stu
art logged us right at our heels. We
kept on second day straight for
Richmond, and the next morning
found Stuart in front of us, just where
we wanted him. He had marched all
night and got around US. Then rode
him down. / mashed his command
and broke up his divisions and regi-
ments and brigades, and the poor fell
low himself was killed there. Right
there, senator, [ resisted the greatest
temptation of my life. There lay
Richmond before us, and there was
nothing to keep US from going in. 1t
would have cost 500 or 600 lives, and
we could not have held the place, of
course. But knew that the moment
it was learned at the North that I'm
ion army was in Richmond, then every
bell would ring, and [ should have
been the hero of the hour. [ could
have gone in and burned and killed
right and left. But | had learned this
thing-that our men knew what they
were about. [ had seen them come
out of fight in which only a handful
were killed, discontinued, mad clear
through because they knew an oppor-
tunity had been lost, or a sacrifice,
small as it. was, had been needlessly
made and had seen them come out
goOd-natured, enthusiastic, and spoil
ing for more, when they had left the
ground so thickly covered with dead
that you could have crossed it on bod
les alone. They realized that, not
withstanding the terrible sacrifice, the
object gained had been worth it. They
would have followed me, but they
would have known as we'll as l that
the sacrifice was for no permanent
advantage"
That exhibits the man and the COM
mander. He aimed to win and keep
the confidence of his men, and he did
it. He fought for results and not for
glory.