Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-09
That War and This War.

That War and This War.
| Among the men of high rank in the
| regular army in 1861 there was not one
| uHuer ~, and most of them were over
| that age.
| % coLt, lieutenant general, was crowdng
~. wool, Patterson and Cadwalla Ter
were past 40 Most of the brigader gem
| eidio ana colonels We're old men. General
Scott and the major generals soon fell
| PACK 70 give place to young men, and IA
| niue iater most of the old brigadiers and
cosoh na,,,j Joined them in the rear.
| "A couple OF resigned captains, gradu-
| ates OF west Point. VINO had been out of
the service Tor some years. were among
lhe hfst 10 tender their services TO the
government One of them after almost
losing MS patience waiting for recognition
was made colonel of a newly authorized
regular regiment and commanded a bri-
Sade at the flrst battle of Bull Run. When
viii the civilized world forget that SOL
dier-General w. T. Sherman?
The other WAS SO obscure that he never
heard from that tender of his services
and a few weeks later sought and was
given free transportation from his home
to Springfield, H., where he was glad TO
accept clerkship in the adjutant gen
| erals office His family needed the sal
airy. Great-hearted. patriotic Governor
Dick Yates--l bow IL his memory with a
grateful heart as | write--was quick to
discover merit in the quiet. Industrious
clerk. a new regiment, probably made up
of miscellaneous young fellows. was disin-
clined to submit to dctation from it's Of
ticcrs. was causing the governor no little
trouble. When spoken to about the mild
ly refractory volunteers, the quiet clerk
modestly expressed the belief that he
could handle the boys. and he was made
their colonel He did handle them. They
obcyed and liked him, and he liked and
made one of the prairie states best resi-
ments of them. AS long as there is a
world that modest. quiet clerk of thirty
seven years ago will be talked about
What an ending there was for these two
obscure begnners-f0r Grant and Sher-
man. What an inspiration their begin
ming in the other war will be to men who
participate in this war.
a captain Of regulars, 80 years old, was
buried in the quartermaster' department
or more than a year after the war be-
gan. A Michigan regiment of cavalry was
in need of colonel. Some one called
Governor Blair's attention to the plodding
quartermastcr. Would he accept the
command? He slipped away from his
piles of oats. corn, hay and other goods
and vaulted into saddle without a mo-
ment's delay, and a few days later was
winning victories. and during the next
three years he did little else but win vic
tories. II was in Phil Sheridan to plan
and fight, as 1t was in Grant and Sher-
man.
Who. thrty-seven years ago. now,
would have picked out these three cap
tains West Pointers, TWO retired and the
other an issuer Of forage for mules, as
the three men who Tour years later would
he recognized as the most eminent among
the land forces
l heard Uncle Jerry Rusk tell this story
about Sheridan. When an Ohio congress
man went To Phils father to look over a
boy for West Point he was inclined to ia
Vor another brother. The father said:
Don't take him. He is full of peace.
Take Phil, he is fun of fight, He fights
He'd If Th,. mind Of thp
| wish they would erect a monument to
John Sheridan, who knew which boy
would give the world a Phil Sheridan to
love and talk about.
BY the way, Pills fighting and mis-
chief nearly cost him West Point COM
mission He was sent home for a wear,
as it was THAT is why it required five
through the academy
Glorious Pap" Thomas, the Rock of
Chickamauga' was made a major of reg
ulars in 1861. Four years later he was one
Of the greatest army commanders in the
field.
General John F. Reynolds. who died at
the head of the First Army Corps, which
opened the battle Of Gettysburg. was a
captain when Sumter was fired upon.
General G. X. Warren. who from 1864
until the end of the war commanded the
consolidated first and fifth corps was a
first lieutenant. l guess no army ever
had better corps commander
Custer, Fitzpatrick. Wilson and several
other brilliant cavalry leaders We're sec
ond lieutendnts, fresh from West Point,
In the four years they strobe past cap
tdinS, majors and colonies Of the old ar
my. Shall we see some Clusters, Kilpat
ricks and Wilson's spring forth from the
class of ninety young fellows hurriedly
graduated last Tuesday? As likely as
not.
a captain of artillery was in Utah when
Lincoln first cali was made He reached
Washington the fall of 1851 The follow
| ing spring he was promoted to briSadier
general of volunteers and placed over
four western regiments. three from Wis
c0nsin and one from Indiana. With him
| To this command Went his old battery.
| Six months later, after he had made
| name for himself and his brigade IN tour
great battles John Gibbon was made
division ommander-placed over 10000
men instead of the 100 he had year be-
fore. and before the war ended he had a
| command of over 10000 and was
known as a superb fighter. In 1891 he re-
tired a brigadier general: in 1895 he was
made commander-in -chief of the Loyal
| Legion. He died last year. What cap
tain of our present artillery will become
the John Gibbon of this war?
\ slim, palefaced dry goods clerk in
| Boston. with no military experience in
1861. was major general in 1869 and he
is now a major general Of regulars, at the
| head of the American army.
! Where is the clern of today who will
develop into Nelson A. Miles?
Jonn A. Logan, an IlilnoiS congressman,
left his seat to lead a regiment. He
reached the highest honor given to a vol
unteer in that Wharf.-The command of a
great army. having been successor of
| Grant. Mcpherson and Howard in COM
mand of the army of the Tennessee.
| Who will be Illinois black eagle
John A. Logan? Her Dick Oglesby, John
| NJ. Palmer; her Hurlbut and Farnsworth?
| Who will be Wisconsins Ed Bragg. Ru-
ger. Hamilton. Fairchild, Tom Allen. Jer-
| ry Rusk. Rufus r. Dawes. Henry Harm
den and others who stepped from the
| ground floor to a high round
| Who will be Michigans Alger, Morrow,
| Williams Cutcheon?
| Who Indiana's Hovey. Sol Meredith,
| Ben Harrison. Lew Wallace?
Who Ohio's McCook, Wallichs, Leggett,
| Hayes and Garfield?
| Go down the line of states and ask the
question, and then as the war progresses
watch for the answer, advises the Chicago
Times Herald.
Some Stories Of Dewey.