Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-07
A BROTHERS TRIBUTE.
John Sherman, the Statesman, Talks
of W. T. Sherman, the General,
AT THE LOYAL LEGION BANQUET.
A Simple Story of the Soldiers Life and o
Eulogy of His Virtues.
THE BEAUTIES OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE

| NEW YORK, April o.-Ine event OF INT
evening at the banquet of the Loyal LIE
gion was the tribute paid by Hon. Johr
Sherman, the statesman, to his brother
| General W. T. Sherman, of which the fol-
lowing is an abridged report
1t is a delicate task for me to respond tt
| your toast in honor of the memory of Gen
| eral Sherman. did not fully appreciate
this when I accepted the invitation of your
| commander, General Swayne. He and
| often, in the freedom of personal friendship
and intercourse, have talked of the traits
| and characteristics of leading soldiers in
| our Civil War, and especially of General
| Sherman, to whom each of us was bound by
the strongest ties; he by intimate associa
| tion, by the warm friendship that had ex
listed between his father and mine, and by
the closer ties of comradeship in war, and
by the natural ties of brothers, associated
during all our lives in the most intimate
confidence and affection.
As to the merits and services of General
Sherman as soldier, am not an impartial
judge. His standing as such will rest mainly
upon the opinions of his comrades and the
official record of events now being gathered
into volumes too numerous and large to be
read except by the compiler and proof
reader.
The Story OF the Generals Life.
He was born on the sth day of February,
1920. He was three years and three months
older than I, and therefore, was always to
me an elder brother.
"Cump," as we called him. entered the
family of Hon. Thomas Ewing, then OF soon
after Senator of the United States, and
and affection of Mr.. Ewing and his family to
as full degree as his own children. By his
influence William Tecumseh Sherman was
Point, and there laid the foundation for his
military career.
He took part in the Florida Indian War.
At that time he had strong prejudi!cs !s
would disturb the peace of the country to
carry out utopian views.
At the approach Of the Mexican War Lieu
tenant Sherman was ordered to Pittsbulg on
recruiting duty, but was SO impatient to
join the army then gaining laurels In
Mexico, that he applied in rather an abrupt
manner for leave TO join his company, but
the result was he was sent with another
company around Cape Horn to California to
take and occupy that distant territory of
Mexico until the result of the war
should determine its ownership. The first
detailed authentic account of the great dis
covery made known in Ohio was in a letter
from Captain Sherman, which was received
with incredulity. and many came from far
and near to see his letters and have assur-
ance from some one they knew that an in
dustriols man could earn an ounce of gold
OF more in day.
Roughing 1t During the Gold Frenzy.
General Sherman shared in the ups and
downs of this adventurous period. While
an officer in the United States Army his
daily pay became insufficient to buy a dim
ner. His servant deserted him 20 earn $40 a
day. To make living he was allowed leave
of absence, and earned, as a surveyor, ten
.lxs-
or three years he was compelled to resign
his commission in order to support his FAM
lily and embarked in banking. After re-
markable success he had to weather the
storm of general panic. He saved the
credit of his house by the sacrifice of all his
earnings.
He turned from banking to the law, in
which he was not much OF success. He be-
came the head of military institute in
Louisiana. Nevertheless. when the Secession
wave came he chose the side of the Union.
1t is certain he did not enter into the mill
tary service on account Of slavery. His
sympathies and friendship were largely
with the South. In a letter congratulating
me upon my election as a member of Con-
gress, he says: Gas young member hope
you will not be too forward, especially on
rising every year more and more into a
question of real danger, Notwithstanding
the compromises"
He acknowledged no fealty to any party,
dent but once and then acknowledged he
had made a mistake. He had an idea, too
common, ] think, among the graduates of
West Point. that there is something in
herently wrong in politics. His intense
patriotism led him into the war. The evils
of slavery had no influence with him. In a
letter to Governor Moore, of Louisiana, he
said:
He Chooses to Follow the Union
As occupy quasi-military position under the
laws of this State. deem 1t proper acquaint you
that accepted such position when Louisiana was
q State in the Union. and when the motto of this
seminary was inscribed in marble over the main
door, by the nberality of the general Cover
ment. the Union Esto rerpetua.' Recent events
foreshadow a great change, and it becomes all men
to choose. If Louisiana withdraws from the Fed
the old Constitution as long as fragment Of it
survives and my longer stay here would be wrong
in every sense of the word.
He came to Washington in March, 1861, to
advise the authorities of the condition of
affairs IN Louisiana and to offer his services.
He was amazed at the apathy he 1ound.
When he left he said to me, ''These men are
sleeping on a volcano, but have done INV
duty" He went to st. Louis and became
President of a street railroad.
His letters at this period exhibit the ex-
cited state OF his mind, due to the rapid drift
OF events, the firing on Fort Sumter, the
defense of that post by his old friend, Col
Onel Anderson, and the ordinances of seces-
sion of State after State.
He did not stipulate for rank or pay, but
he wanted assurance of an army" and not
q military muster. He had a clearer and
better view OF tho great task before this
country than any of us, and he was violent
and intoleTant with the politicians, and
with the newspapers of the day,
with their ION to Richmond" cry. But
there WAS not the slightest abatement of his
zeal in the cause of the Union or his deter
mination to uphold it and to fight for it.
The Government Folly Awake at Last.
When the call for three-year regiments
was made, and especially when the new reg
ular regiments were proposed, the doubts of
I'm SIl,