Connecticut western news., 1891-02-18
GEN. SHERMAN'S CAREER.

Uncle Billy" For years the grizzled giant had been going up and down the land to the stirring notes of Marching Through Georgia" the tune which shrined his great est achievement, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific he had recently stood as the great living memento of the days whose heroes are fast gathering to the dust. From West Point to Washington, from the Battery to the Golden Gate, no mill tary reunion of consequence had been es- teemed complete unless William Tecumseh Sherman sat at the right hand of the presi dent, and preached his warmly applauded little sermons on duty and bravery and honesty, for he was one who believed them all to be integral parts of a hero's compo- sition.
 A Soldier from Early Youth.
 The profession of arms was his from early youth. With only brief break in his military career he served in the United States army from the time he reach the minimum age for admission to West Point until the maximum limit of age brought his retirement from the highest military office in the nation. Gen. Sherman sprang from one of the oldest and best known of New England colonial families, the most prominent member perhaps being Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Decla- ration of Independence. His father, Charles R. Sherman, established himself and his family at Lancaster, O., in 1911, and there William TecumseA, the third son, was born on Feb. 8, 1920. He was edu- cated at Lancaster, and in 1886 went to West Point He was graduated in 184O and stood No. 6 in class Of forty-three.
 The young cadet of 20 was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the Third cavalry. His first service was against the Indians in Florida during the winter of 184O41. Promotion to first lieutenant came in November, 1S41, and then followed four or five years at garrison duty in south ern forts. It fell to him in this period to spend several weeks on horseback in Geor- gia, traversing the very ground where twenty years afterward he conducted vast armies and fought great battles. To use his own words, That the knowledge thus acquired was of vast use to me, and conse- quently to the government. I have always felt and stated.'
 He passed the ten years following in California, but took no active part, much to his disgust, in the Mexican war. Soon after his departure from California he married Emily Boyle Ewing, daughter of Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing, who at the death of Gen. Sherman's father had reared the lad.
 Bull Run His Frst Real Battle. From 1853 to the breaking out of the re- bellion he divided his time between mili- tary duty, banking and the practice of law. He had become Capt Sherman by this time and was one of the few men who realized the full significance of the fall of Fort Sumter With his characteristic bluntness, he declared that the presidents call for 75,O 900 volunteers was but trifiing with serious matter, that the rising of l secessiOnists meant a war to be fought out | by great armies The call for three months volunteers brought no response | from him. He was soon commissioned, however, as colonel of the Thirteenth regu- lar infantry, assigned to the command of | brigade of Tyler's division of tte army | composed of the Thirteenth, Sixty y-ninti, and Seventy ninth New York and the Sec ond Wisconsin regiments.
 | The army of raw recruits advanced tC the battle of Bull Run. In that desperate l fight Sherman's brigade was actively en. gagged, and it suffered severely It was Sherman's first real battle. After the bat tie Col. Sherman did much to quell the spirit of mutiny the ninety days men felt l whose time was up, and once threatened 1 to shoot an officer who said he was going home. Soon after the battle of Bull Run
 Col. Sherman was made a brigadier gen
 eral of volunteers.
 | The Battle of Shiloh.
 Just after Grant captured Forts Henry
 and Donelson in February, 1862 Sherman
 was placed in command of the Fifth divi
 sion of his Army of the Tennessee. TheI
 came the terrific battle of Shiloh, the brun,
 of which fell upon Sherman's division. Hi
 orderly, Halliday, was killed at his side
 and Sherman was severely wounded in tht
 hand, but pluckily remained in the field.
 The battle ragged two days, and the los:
 in Sherman's division was 2,034. Grant
 bestowed on him richly deserved praise
 when he said of him in his report of tn,
 battle: 'I feel it duty to gallant ane
 able officer, Brig. Gen. w. T. Sherman, tt
 make mention. He was not only with hi
 command during the entire two days O.
 the action, but he displayed great judg
 ment and skill in the management of hi
 men. Although severely wounded in thu
 hand on the first day, his place was neve
 vacant To his individual efforts I am in
 debted for the success of that battle
 From January to July, 1863, Sherman wa
 with Grant before Vicksburg and he wa
 one of the most prominent figures in tha
 long and finally successful siege He wa
 appointed, in recognition of his services a
 that time, brigadier general of the regula
 army.
 Sherman's views of the general situa
 tion at that time, when many were urging
 a relaxation of effort and patching up o
 peace, again evidenced his broad compre
 hension of the facts. Summarizing hi
 opinions in a letter to Grant in September 1863, Sherman said: "I would make this wa : as severe as possible, and show no symr toms of tiring till the south begs for mercy Indeed know and you know that the en, ! would be reached quicker by such cours than by any seeming yielding on our part
 The south has done her worst, and now i
 the time for us to pile on our blows thicl
 and fast.''
 The March to the Sea.
 Sherman's heroic effort to relieve Burn side was his next notable achievement , Gen. Grant in an open letter to Gen. Shel man March 3, 1864, acknowledged his grat itude for the cooperation and skill whic
 had so largely contributed to his own sut cess. Congress also rendered it's thank . for his services in the Chattanooga cam paign. When Grant was made lieutenan
 general he assigned Sherman to the con i rnand of the military division of the Mis
 sissippi. In April he received instruction for his movement against Atlanta. The . began the great campai0n-the march t