The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-07-03
Anaersp,s gatslligsnter.
Gresham's War Story.

WASHINGTON, June IA touching
incident in the life of the late Secre-
tary Gresham is here related for the
first time. The evening before Secrc-
tary Gresham was taken sick he met
Prevate Secretary Thurber at the Ar
lington Hotel and invited him to walk
over to Mcpherson square, just across
the street from the hotel. They
strolled over to the park and sat down
upon bench directly in front of the
equestrian statue of Gen. Mcpherson,
in whose honor the park is named.
Mcpherson square was favorite re-
sort for Secretary Gresham in the
evening about dusk, and he frequently
sat there and related little incidents
of the comradeship that existed be-
tween Mcpherson and himself while
they were in the war together.
On this particular evening, while
seated in his accustomed place before
the statue of his old commander, he
recited the thrilling circumstances of
McPherson's death near the city of
Atlanta. ''McPherson," said 'Secre-
tary Gresham, chad nature as gentle
and kind as that of a lovely woman.
/ shall never forget the last converse
tion had with him, just after [ was
wounded at Atlanta. I was in COM
mancf of division. and he was the
commanding general. I was lying
upon the ground wounded when Nc
Pherson came up to me and inquired
the extent of my injury. AS soon as
he discovered how badly l was hurt he
ordered his own surgeon to take charge
of my case, and he superintended the
arrangements for removing me from
the field and conveying me to the hos
pital. / was always very fond of him
and he was like big brother to me.
With his own hands he helped to place
me on the stretcher, and as we parted
he grasped my hand and said he would
look for my speedy recovery.
ssI was carried down the road to
little railway station, where the train
was to come along and take me to the
hospital. I was in terrible agony, and
the stretcher on which 1 was resting
was placed on the platform, right out
in the broiling sun. I think | must
have remained there for several hours.
Finally guard Of our troops brought
a wooden coffin and placed it beside
my stretcher. Iobserved that the
officer in charge Of the guard was q
member Of Nc Pherson' s personal staff.
I knew the box contained a dead body
and / asked the officer in charge the
name of the victim. 1T is all that is
left Of MCPHERSON he responded,
sadly. I could hardly believe that
such thing could be-, for I left him
on the field but few hours previous,
evidently in perfect health and conf
dent Of ultimate victory. It was
terrible shock to have the dead body
Of my dear friend and comrade thus
brought to me. I thought I would go
wild with anguish, and the pain from
my wounds increased with the excite
nent under which I was laboring.
ssFinally the train came along and l
was placed in a box car, with the dead
body Of Mcpherson. The only other
occupants Of the car were the officer
in charge of the body and an Irish
soldier. The only light was from
tallow candle stuck~nc ina corner OF
the val. Inc surroundings were in
tensely gloomy and 1 did not much
care whether I survived or not. 1 felt
as though I wanted to get into eternity
side by side with my old commander
and friend. The solemnity of the sur
roundings were only relieved by the
constant efforts of the officer in charge
to try and keep the Irish sentry from
going to sleep. The poor fellow nod
ded and nodded, until finally the
officer became so enraged that he cufed
him over the head quite sharply. In
spite of my pain and anguish I could
not refrain from laughing moment
later when the sentry received another
sharp rap over the head and fell up
against the solitary candle and extin-
guished the light, leaving the car in
total darkness"
Secretary Gresham has always con-
tended that the humor of that occas-
ion asserted itself and saved his life,
for he was, up to that moment, in such
a morbid state that tits doubtful if he
could have lived through another hour.
He loved to sit in front of the bronzed
figure of Mcpherson and recall Incl
dents Of their army life. The next
day Secretary Gresham was taken sick
at Cabinet meeting and he never re-
covered. He was fond of anecdote
and he could always see the humorous
side Of almost any subject. He was q
great student of human nature, and
some Of his personal experiences with
ofice-seekers, especially applicants for
consulships, would make very amusing
reading.-Speciazto Ne,os and Courier.