Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-07
THE WATERBURY EVENING DEMoCRAT FRIDAY SEP ' 1888

During the Franco German war General Sheridan visited Europe and was present as spectator at several famous engage ments. November 1, 1888, by direction of President Arthur, he assumed command of the army of the United States, with head quarters at Washington, in place of General Sherman, who was relieved by request, pre- paratory to his retirement in the spring of 1884. On the first day of June, 1888, a bill reviving the rank of General passed both houses of Congress, and on the same day the President appointed Sheridan General. His death, which occurred Sunday, August Q, lSSS, was due to heart failure, an affliction from which he had been suffering for eleven weeks previous to his demise
 General Sheridan has told in his own words Of how the poem '' 'Sheridan's Ride" 1" came to be written. It seems that Mur- doch, the elocutiOnist, was great friend of hls during the war. He had a son with Sheridan who was killed at Missionary Ridge, and the old man came from Cincin- natl to get the body. The Confederates were occupying the place where the young soldier was buried, and the father decided to wait until the ground was regained. On Sundays the elocutionist used to recite po- ems to the troops around headquarters, and there was one of Brownlng's that the soldiers always called for, namely, the story of the ride from Ghent to Aix.
 "Wen, you see," continued the General, 'after the battle of Cedar Creek there was published in Hdrper's Weekly story of my ride from Winchester and a picture of me on the back of old Rienzi. Murdoch had agreed to recite poem at fair then being held in Cincinnati and Read had promised to write something new and appropriate for him. But when Murdoch called in for the ms jpt he he hadn't touched a pen to paper-said he didn't know what to write about. We'll, Murdoch had just seen a man who was in the battle and was full of the battle, being friend of mine, you see; so he just pulled the copy of Hdrper's Weekly from his pocket and repeated to Read all the officer had told him. Read jumped up, locked himself in his room, wrote the poem 0ff-hand in an hour, got his wife to make copy, and had it over to Murdoch before dark. The elocutionist was delighted with 1t and recited it that nlght'
 The expression used in the poem which describes his riding down with ''terrlble oath" has been a source of aE toyance to the General. There has been an idea among those who did not know him personally that he was very pr9fane man, and this has been proved bySnecdOtes concerning him, in which he has been so quoted. DuIing the war he received number of curiqne,J letters on the subject. The good fathers Sl8 moth CTS of the soldier boys wrote him earhestly, begging that he would not set such an ex- ample before their sons, who admired him so much that they might even emulate his faults. General Sheridan on some occS &ons du ring the war found the ordinary vocab- ulary of conversation inadequate to express his thoughts in action, and probably maSe use of language that could not be mi59A- derstood, but the prevalence given such yarns about his profanity was always great lY annOYing