The National tribune., 1900-10-18
SHERIDAN WITH THE ARMY
OF THE CUMBERLAND.
Continued from first page

astic regard which continued undimin-
ished during the entire period of their ser
| vice together.
Sheridan fought this battle under g. G.
| Gilbert as corps commander. Gilbert at
that time was a Captain in the regular
| army, a Brigadier-General of Volunteers.
whose commission was vacated few
months later by the failure of the Senate
10 confirm his appointment, and was said
| to be a Major-General of Kentucky mill
tia. Sheridan outranked him by more
| than two months as a BrigadierGeneral,
and, of course, his Major-Generals COM
| mission, if he had one, was of no binding
force under the circumstances, although
Buell. had assigned him to command as OF
that rank, and he wore its insignia. Sher-
idan knew these things, and so did his
men; in fact, Gilbert was universally
spoken of as Captain" among the rank
| and file.
Nevertheless. Sheridan rendered loyal
| obedience until some days after the battle,
when he raised the question of rank by
refusing acquiescence in an order affecting
| the comfort of his men, but otherwise
unimportant, and Buell. settled the con
troyersy by transferring the division to
the corps of Gen. A. Med. McCook,
where it afterward served.
Sheridan's magnanimity is illustrated
by the fact that in his memoirs, written
when he was full General, and Gilbert
WAS still only Lieutenant Colonel in the
army, he only alludes in the vaguest terms
to this episode, not mentioning names or
recalling unpleasant Incidents His
thoughts may have been many and mighty,
but his expressions were closely guarded.
THE WRITER'S FIRST MEETING WITH sHER-
IDAN.
1t was during the Perryville campaign
that l first met Gen. Sheridan personally,
under circumstances which left an abid-
ing impression. | was serving as Acting
Quartermaster's Sergeant of the regiment
during the temporary absence of that
functiOnary. | was given horse to ride,
snd felt naturally desirous to do ali that
was expected of me. At the end of a long
days march l was instructed by the
Colonel to arrange for securing the daily
rations of beef on the hOof, a duty which
had been previously attended to by the
Quartermaster, who was that day far be
hind in charge of the regimental trains
Utterly ignorant of the first steps to be
taken, | proceeded to Brigade Headquar-
tiers, where the German-American Captain
promptly snubbed me. Then, on the
ColOnel's advice, l proceeded to Division
Headquarters in search Of information.
Riding up from the rear to a row of
tents pitched in an orchard, / saw young
man in his shirtsleeves sitting on a stump
enjoying a cigar, and evidently Illuminating
on the beauties of nature. l checked the
speed of my horse just in time to avoid
running into him as he raised his eyes and
exclaimed: "Who the - are you, any
hOwY | did not give him much satisfac-
ton on that point, but proceeded to ex
plain my dilemma and asked him where
to find the Division Quartermaster.
He seemed interested at once, and say
ing that he could tell me just what to do,
proceeded to give explicit directions as to
selecting the animals, detailing butchers,
dividing the beef among the companies,
ct cetera. Having accomplished my er
rand, was just thanking him preparatory
to my departure when a staff officer came
up, saluted and spoke to him as Gen.
Sheridan. /, Of course, promptly apollo
giZed for my unceremoniouS approach, but
was assured that in the absence of any
marks Of his rank my mistake was nat
ural to a new soldier, and was further
informed that the General was ready at
Ill times to instruct legitimate inquirers in
regard to any part Of their military du-
lies. ! afterward found that this acces-
sibility and Willingness to instruct was
one Of Sheridan's prominent characters
tics. and il was necessarily the means of
greatly increasing the efficiency of his
command.
After Perryville Buell. marched to Bow
ling Green, where he was superseded in
command by Gen. Rosecrans. The army
then proceeded to Nashville, where nearly
two months were spent in preparation for
the Stone River campaign. Here Sheri-
dams Division for the first time found
leisure in camp for the drill and discipline
which make soldiers. The drill was as
siduously attended to, while numerous
scouting and foraging expeditions into the
euemy's country laid the basis for active
operations which were to follow.
CTo be continued)