El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-08-13
BRAVE MEN IN BATTLE.
Nearly All Our Great Generals Con-
fess To Weak Moments.

less 10 weak HOincntS
| Detroit Free Press.
Ask any man who ever followed Gen
eral Sheridan in one of his dashing
charges, and he will declare with all
the emphasis at his command that no
Drawer man than Little PHIL ever
wore a sword or went into battle. One
enthusiastic admirer speaks of him as
the typical American fighter of his
generation, and all laud the daring
which won him such rapid promotion
and such signal victories.
Long following the war Sheridan sat
beside the late Charles A. Dana at an
evening dinner party. General" said
Mr.. Dana, with his wonted directness,
"between ourselves, were you ever
afraid in battle?'
"My dear fellow" came the i'm
mediate reply. 81 have never seen the
beginning of battle without fear. and
had | followed my first impulse, |
would have run away every time.
The men VITO say they have never
known fear, are liars End hum
bugs
General Grant, of whom a grizzled
old veteran said that he hadn't
nerve in his body or a
cowardly drop of blood, used
almost precisely the same language as
did Sheridan, and always distrusted a
man who loved to vaunt his own fear
lessness Hancock, with his maQniti-
cent figure, his martial mien and his
gallant conduct, was the idol of his
men, who called him THE SUPERB
yet he said in his own impressive way
that there were times Immediately pre-
ceding a general engagement that it
was with the most determined exercise
of will power that he overcame his
sense of apprehension.
''StOnewsll' Jackson, whose title
every soldier that ever fought with
him or again t him, knows to be we'll
earned one, said that he depended up
on moral rather than ply sjcal courage,
and that on the days that he fought
with the most intrepidity, it was not
the excess of his own spirit that moved
him so much as the desire to inspire
his men by an example
of courage. Sherman had the heart
lest contem pit for soldiers who declared
that they feared "nOthing or nobody
and it was the opinion OF this same gen.
eral who made the famous march to
the sea that they we're responsible for
much of the incompetenoy, confusion
and disgrace in 1861.
Farragut was our greatest naval
hero of the war. and his exploit while |
lsshed to the ,rlgging OF
has given him a place among the i'm
Is of history, yet he was soldier |
upon principle. He never did any |
thin! for dramatic effect He was |
mild hammered and good tempered and |
did his bravest deeds from sense of
duty rather than animal courage.
When he came down from his perilous
place aloft on the Hartford, where he |
had won the fame that will live for
ever, he wept like as woman would |
over the poor fellows who had been |
killed and were laid out on the deck.
Jefferson, who WAS physically timid, |
thought that Washington was born |
sense of fear: but those who |
are closer readers OF character attr1b- |
ute the bravery of the great leader to |
that more exalted courage which can |
overcome fear. 1t is conceded on all |
sides that MAD Anthony" Wayne |
was something OF daredevil,
yet be was much the same stamp of |
man as Sheridan, and Sheridan knew |
what fear was. The latter, with Sher- |
man in council, once estimated that
one soldier out of four. in the volun- |
teer service, would prove a coward and |
fail to meet the demand made upon
him when the greatest nerve and per- |
was required. They hunted
cover when things became hot. They
would fall to the ground, pretending TO
be sick, wounded or exhausted.
One thing clearly established in the
late war was that the best soldiers did
not come from the tough city quarters,
W here brute courage is supposed to be
at it's best, but from the ranks of bust
ness, professional and industrial life,
clerks, lawyers, artisans,
farmers sons, college students and
society men.