St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-10
GOOD SHORT STORIES.
Gen. GordOn's Meeting With Sher
i0an

Gen. Gordon's Meeting With Sher-
idan.
Gen. Gordon, now governor of Geor-
gia, tells this story of Sheridan at Apo
mattox to the New York World:
ga cavalry officer came to me from
Sheridan with flag of truce. He was
a handsome fellow and very polite.
Saluting, he said:.
els this Gen Gordon? I am the
bearer of Gen. Sheridan's compliments,
and he demands your unconditional sur
render
"'Well, colonel Tor whatever saw
his rank was). l answered, you will
please return my compliments to Gen.
Sheridan aud say that l shall not sur
render
"Then,' he said, you will be annihi-
lated in half an hour. We have you
/, completely surrounded
. Every well, SIR l replied, i am
probably as we'll aware of my situation
as you are, but that is my answer
"'Y GU don't mean thatr he exclaimed.
5 "'Yes / do, sir said, the only thing
propose to say is what l have already
said through my staff Officer-that a flag
of truce is in existence between Gen.
Lee and Gen. Grant. l was not going to
surrender because knew it was coming.
l was not going to let Sheridan capture
me in that way
"'Then you will be annihilated.' he
said, and rode away.
while | had been sitting there wait
ing, the firing had almost ceased. The
infantry on my TANKS had not changed
their position much, as they had been
c1nvulv I ipip
artillery at the time, so as to check
them. In few minutes Sheridan him.
self came up with his staff. He was
riding an immense black horse. | will
never forget how he looked with his
short legs sticking out on either side.
We had very much the same sort of par
ley as hadOccurred between the other
officers and myself, indeed the language
was almost literal repetition. Finally
l said to him: General, hardly think
it is worth while for us to parley. L
have made up my mind not to surrender,
and shall accept any consequences that
may follow this determination. | wish
simply to give you the information
which was sent me by Gen. Lee. All |
know is that there is a flag of truce in
existence, and only know the bare
fact
Ibid you say that you have a letter
from Gen. Lee?' he asked.
II handed him the letter.
''He looked over it and said: L sup
pose. then, the only thing we can do is
to cease firing
81 think so, | replied.
HE then said TO me: If you will
withdraw your forces to a certain place
/ will withdraw mine and wait to see
what happens
I'VE got down off our horses, and,
taking a seat on the grass, talked there
for some time. In the meantime. | had
forgotten that early in the morning L
had detached force to go back and
over on the brow of the hill
to prevent the cavalry from
coming around between Longstreet and
myself. While we were sitting on the
grass | heard roll of musketry, and
looking over to where the force had
been placed, saw it firing into some
cavalry that had ridden down in that
direction. "'H-ll, sir, what does this
mean?' cried Sheridan.
81 am very sorry about 1T, replied,
as | explained the circumstances, and
he and | each sent an officer over the
hill to stop the firing.
81 saved Sheridan's life that morning
beyond question. One of my sharp
shooters was sour sort of fellow, and
his only idea was that when he saw a
blue coat it was his duty to shoot at it.
/ had the SharpShOOterS around me
when Sheridan came up with the flag
of truce, and | saw this fellow draw his
gun. What do you mean?' | cried, this
is flag of truce He did not pay the
slightest attention to me, and was just
about firing when / knocked up his gun,
and it went off over Sheridan'S head.
Let him stay on his own side, general
he muttered.
''Gen. Sheridan and / sat on the
ground, close to the brick house where
Lee and Grant met in the orchard. l
had passed the house in the morning.
We chatfed each other little in the
course of conversation, Sheridan say
ing: Il believe have had the pleasure
of meeting you before L replied that
we had some little acquaintance in the
Valley of Virginia. He turned the
thread of the conversation to some guns
he had received in the valley. Sheridan
had captured nearly all OF Early'S az
tillery, and some more had been sent
to HIM from RichOmd. Some
wag had written with chalk on
one of those guns: ''RespectfullY
consigned to Maj. Gen. Sheridan,
through Gen. Early Sheridan had
heard of this, and he was very much
amused at it; but whether he ever saw
such words upon gun l do not know.
When he was through with his story
suggested that | also had two guns
which could cOnsign to him, and with
the more grace because they had come
from him that very morning.
sheridan came with full staff and
remained with me about an hour and a
half My recollection is that we stayed
at that place until we received intOrma-
ton that Gen. Lee and Gen. Grant had
agreed"