The National tribune., 1902-06-12
STORIES OF SHERMAN.
Gen. G. M. Dodge Entertains an
Iowa Campfire With Unpub-
lished Incidents of the War.

ment, IT, A. H., NeH. VI. VI. IouSe tol'
many interesting stories of his service
chiefly about Gen. Sherman.
Among other things he said:
''While Sherman and Mcpherson wen
to VfckSburg in connection with the Meri
dian campaign, in December, 1863. the,
left Logan and myself in the Department
of the Cumberland, without a commander
to take care of ourselves and do the bes
we could; and it was while we We're Their,
during that Winter that differences Oc
CURED between Logan and Thomas which
prevented the appointment of Logan Il
the command of the Army of the Tennes
see on the death of Mcpherson. 1t al
arose from simple annoyances. Logan
being of an authoritative disposition, and
having been with little army that held
its way and was omnipOtent where ii
stood, could not understand why he could
not send one of his own soldiers or officers
over the railroads in any other General S
Department with his own pass. without
applying to Gen: Thomas's staff for trans
portation. This brought or a conflict be-
tween Thomas and Logan, at first no big
ger than your hand, but finally growing
into matter of considerable moment.
When Gems. Sherman and Mcpherson re-
turned from their Meridian raid. March
IL, 1864, Sherman was appealed to by
both officers, and, desiring peace used all
his ingenuity to soften matters and to
satisfy Logan and Thomas; but neither
really fOrgave the other for the differences
that then occurred.
ut was while lying here that Grant
was ordered to Washington and in March,
1864, on SheTman's return from the Meri-
dian campaign, the corps commanders,
Gen. Rawlins and one or two others,
among them Gen. Sheridan, were ordered
to Nashville, where we met Gems. Grant
was that we should go to the theater.
We were all dressed in our rough cam
paigning clothes; in fact, we had nothing
else with us, Us we had not been able to
get any supplies since we left the Mis-
sissippi. That night we went to a thea
ter, paid our way and obtained seats in
the front row in the balcony. The play
Of Hamlet was upon the boards. You
all know what fine Shaksperean critic
Sherman was. The play was simply be-
ing butchered, to the great amusement
Of the theater full of soldiers, who were
either coming from leave of absence or
going upon one. No one in the audience
seemed to recognize us, and we sat there
quite while. Sherman, who was sitting
next to me, talked so loudly about the
play that everybody could hear him. He
said:
Dodge, that Is no way to play Ham
let And he went on so excitedly that
i said to him two or three times: Gen
eral, don't talk SO loud; some of the boys
will discover us, and there will be a
scene But he was so indignant at the
butchery Of the play that he could not
keep still. During the grave digger's
scene, where Hamlet picks up the skull
Of 'YOric' and soliloquizes on it, a soldier
In the back part of the audience rose up
and halooed out at the top of his voice:
Say. pard, what is it, Yank or reb" OF
course, the whole house came down, and
Grant said: we had better get out of
here. We left. and no one knew that the
two great soldiers Of the age had been
there listening
within Il day or two we were sent
back to OUR command. Grant was desir-
GUS of taking some of the officers who
bad served with him in the West to the
Eastern army. Sherman protested, desir-
ing to have his army left intact. but Sheri-
dan was finally selected and taken against
his protest, all the rest being left. Sher-
man went with Grant as far east as Gin
cinnati. During the Reunion of the Army
OF the Tennessee at Cincinnati in 1860, at
the banquet in the Burnett House, Sher-
man pointed out to me the room where
Grant and ne sat down with their maps
and came to their agreement as to the
general movement that was to be made
In Grants campaign in May, 1864. The
agreement, as Sherman stated it to me-
was for each to take care of the enemy
IN his part Of the country, and Grant was
to move all the armies at once Both
agreed that they would each hold the
enemy in their front; that, although the
rebels bad the interior lines, it would be
the duty Of each to prevent the movement
Of any OF the enemy's forces from the
front Of ore to the other.
Grant said to Sherman: If Lee sends
any of his troops to your front will send
you as many men as he sends Johnston
During the campaign Sherman often said:
we must press Johnston, SO that under
no circumstances can they detach a corps
or any part of their command to reinforce
Lee
Il had a corps command all the way
from Corinth, Miss, to Marietta. Ca.
with only the rank Of a Brigadier- General |
A. we marched down to Kenesaw I was
h command Of that portion in the field |
Of tbe Sixteenth Corps Of the Army OF |
the Tennessee. with officers of much high |
81 rank holding lesser commands. This |
Drought upon me many remarks that my |
stan would hear and repeat to me- and |
was annoying and made me uneomfort- |
able. 1 sat down and wrote to Gen Shers |
man, expla lining to him fully that these |
criticisms had come to me, and that they |
made me feel very uncomfortable; that |
my stan were all ticking about it, rumor |
stating that this officer and that officer |
was going to relieve me; and l said to |
Sherman that l thought he had better |
give me command better fitted to my |
rank, and to relieve me and him. he nut |
this Endorsement upon the paper:
"'Suppose you wait until some one that |
has right to complain does So and go |
ahead and do your duty and mind your !,
own business. W. T. SHERMAN
He did not even sign it officially. He |
never referred to it during the war. but |
aftsrward poked good deal of fun at me |
Tor my foolish action. He soon after sent |
me Geographic dispatch that came from |
the President, telling him that he had re-
heved him from his difficulty about Dodge |
Ny commission reached me and l donned |
my two stars.
Sherman always sustained his officers |
who assumed great authority in an emerg- |
ency, although they might do wrong. As |
an instance, L give you the following: Be |
fore Gen. Sherman crossed the Chatta- |
hoochee for his attack upon Atlanta, his |
army was stretched from Soap Greek to |
sandtowp Ferry, facing the river. My |
corps, the 10th, was upon the extreme |
night, and l thought the crossing was TO |
be by the right flank, as it was so much |
nearer to Atlanta. and my orders were to |
seize all ferry boats and other means of |
crossing. Gen. Sherman came 10 my head |
quarters, took out mis- map and asked how |
long it would take me to construct a |
bridge across the river at Roswell some
~ miles away, beyond our extreme left |
telling me it was rock bottom and could |
pc forded, and that there was a road |