The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-03
BRAVE MEN FEAR A FIGHT,
Nearly All Our Great Generals Con-
feSs to Weak Moments.
From the Detroit Free Press.

less az w Cdk hOhenISs
From the Detroit Free Press.
Ask any man who ever followed Gen.
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 thg
daring which won him such rapid pro-
motion and such signal victories
Long following the war Sheridan sat be-
side the late Charles A Dana at an even
ing dinner party. General" said Mr..
Dana, with his wonted directness. DE
tween ourselves were you ever afraid in
battle?"
"My dear fellow" came the immediate
reply, II have never seen the beginning
of a battle without fear, and had 1 fol-
lowed my first impulse, would have run
away every time. The men who say they
have never known fear are liars and hum
bugsr'
Gen. Grant Of whom a grizzled old vet
eran said that he hadn't a 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 fearlessness.
Hancock, with his magnificent figure, ais
martial mien and his gallant conduct, was
the idol of his men, who called him THE
Superb" yet he said in his own I'M
pressive way that there were times i'm
mediately preceding a general engagement
that il was with the most determined eX-
ercise of will power that he overcame his
sense of apprehension.
''StonewaF' jackson, whose title every
soldier that ever fought with him or
against him knows to be a well-ear1ed
one said that he depended upon moral
rather than physical 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 heartiest
contempt for soldiers who declared that
they feared nothing or nobody" and It
was the opinion of this same general who
made the famous march to the sea that
they were responsible for much of the
incompetency, confusion and disgrace in
1861.
Farragut was our greatest naval hero of
the war, and his exploit while dashed to the
rigging of the Hartford in Mobile Bay has
given HIM pace among the immortals of
history, yet he was a soldier upon princi-
pie. He never did anything for dramatic
effect He was miid-mannered and good
tempered and did his bravest deeds from
a sense of duty rather than animal cour-
age When he came down from his peril
Gus place aloft on the Hartford, where he
had won the fame that will live forever he
went like as a 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 with
out a sense of fear; but those who are
closer readers of character attribute the
bravery of the great header to that more
exalted courage which can overcome fear.
Ii is conceded on all sides that Mad An
thony" Wayne was something of a dare
devil yet he was much the same stamp of
man as Sheridan, and Sheridan knew what
fear was. The latter with Sherman 10
council, once estimated that one soldier
out of four, In the volunteer service, would
prove a coward and fail to meet the de-
mand made upon him when the greatest
nerve and persstency was required. They
hunted cover when things became hot.They
would fan 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, where
brute courage is supposed to be at its
best, but from the ranks of business pro-
fessloual and industrial life, merchants,
clerks, lawyers, artisans, farmers sons,
college students and society men.