The National tribune., 1902-02-27


some pleasant things about the old vet
eran, mainly during his latter days, thai
cannot fail TO prove Interesting to ouI
readers.
1t was May "a, 1855, that Sherman's
famous Army of the West, whose drums
had been heard from the Ohio to the sea,
and back again to the Potomac passed
before the President, the Cabinet and hun
dreds of thousands of spectators drawn
to Washington to witness the reviews of
the Armies of the Potomac and of the
West-the most magnificent military spec
tacle ever seen on the American contl-
nent. What glorious pageant! What
cheers filed the air when the First Sol
dier of the Union," as Sherman was fire.
Quently styled, rode along Pennsylvania
Avenue at the head of those invincib!e
veterans who had marched victoriously
through seven of the seeding States!
With what an easy, careless, accurate
swing the gaunt veterans moved forward.
How weather-beaten and bronzed, and
how dingy, as if the smoke of number
less battlefelds had dyed their garments,
nnd the soil of Southern States had ad-
hered to theml And the flags they car
I1eu. IeTIlDlG Is dl dIDlg VIII.
il those banners are torn by the shot and
shell of hundred well-fought fields. Bel
mont, Donelson. Shiloh, Jackson, Vicks-
burg. Corinth, Chattanooga, Nesaca, Ken
esaw, Atlanta. AveTasbOro and Ben
tonville were some of the names written,
not in letters, but in bullet-holeS, on the
dear old tattered and torn banners. But
no standards, however gay and gorgeous
with new beauty, could be half so inter-
esting to the thoughtful eye, and it was
rot surprising that the usually calm coun-
tenance of Gen. Grant should have glowed
with enthusiasm, and that he bent his un-
covered head with reverence and deep
feeling, as the grand old historic colors
were borne past the reviewing stand by the
sturdy and stalwart Western campaign
ers, who had followed his victorious course
from Cairo to Vicksburg, and from NIcks-
burg had marched with Sherman to At
lanta and from Atlanta 10 the sea. Per
feet harmony prevailed among the part-
sans of both armies. The country was
proud of them and their gallant deeds,
and the review was the most marvellous
panorama in American history, as the
great dispersion of almost a million, of
well-seasOned soldiers, many of them
SCARED veterans who knew
'HThe stern JOY which warriors feel,
In foemen worthy of their steel,"
who laid aside their swords to return TO
the pursuits of peace, was one Of the
greatest and most significant events in the
history of the world.
Having asked Skerman's advice as to
the propriety of including Prince Murat
and Marshal Won Moltke in volume of
"Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers" then in
preparation, Gen. Sherman wrote, under
date of Washington, Jan. 8, 1874:
"Of Won Moltke, still living, you must
deal on your own responsibility and not
depend on others. You must have pho
tograph of his face and person and pen
descriptions by scores of the sharp eyes of
the newspaper men who have scanned
him. l saw him twice-frst in his own
room at perfect ease in a sort Of neglige
dress, when he reminded me of many
German doctor or professor | had met in
this country. He is rather slender, not
very military in his form, about six feet or
q little less in hight wears wig, and his
face is clean-shaven and smoother than
the photographs represent him, complex
ion quite fair; and unless you knew him
to be q man of fame, he would not arrest
your attention in & crowd. 1 next saw
him in his uniform at a dinner party, |
which was a military frock, buttoned up
TO the throat, with one or two orders on
his breast. His face was the same, calm
and thoughtful, and his speech slow and
measured He remarked that he could |
read and write English fuently, but in |
speaking was not confident that he always |
conveyed his exact meaning. MOltke must |
be near 20, and well preserved, Of good |
habits and even temper. His fame is we'll |
earned; derived from a large experience in |
the East, in Turkey, in Asia and in Eu- |
rope; a close observer of men and things, !
and q tireless student of geography, sta |
tistics and facts. His value in war was
In his rapid divination Of the purpose OF
his enemy, and the accurate knowledge or
M - j.. 4Ln% .ial i'm m oil
wonderful combinations by cOnvergent |
lines that marked the campaigns of Ko- |
niggratz and Sedan. The movements pre-
ceding the battle OF KoniggratZ were his |
and form as good a model for study as any |
battle of this century,"
Writing from st. Louis, June 26, 1888,
Sherman says, in alusion to the meeting |
of the Society OF the Army of the Ten
nessee: Dear General: Yours of the 23d
is received. At our last meeting st Lake
MinnetOnka we selected Chicago as the
place of meeting this year, and the second |
"Wednesday and Thursday of September as
the days. By reference to the almanac
find that these days fall on the 9th and
10th Of September. | trust that you will
come. / viii be there. Gen. Grant was
chosen to make the Grafton. We now know,
of course that he cannot be present, and
the Committee are in search of another
speaker. | am not willing to cOnfide to my
most intimate 1fleI0 my opinion as 10 lue
place Gen. Grant will occupy in future
history Much depends upon his memoirs
now in the hands of his publishers. Still,
as our civil war was in the interest of all
mankind, and as Grant was unquestiona-
ably the first, his place will be very high,
even higher than you place him"
Glancing through my journal find men
tion of occasional meetings with Gen.
Sherman in Washington after the civil |
war, and more frequently when he came
to live In New York. The following par
sgraphs have been selected to share with |
my readers:
At dinner April II, 1875, Gen. Sher
man spoke with some degree Of bitterness
Of the fact that no appropriations could
be obtained from Congress for the publi-
cation of the army recOrds-both North
and South of the civil war, while such
large sums were spent in distributing tur-
njp-seed and in appropriations for other
equally important purposes. He had there
fore determined to give the world the rec
ord of his own operations, as a debt and a
duty that he owed to the truth of history.
He had submitted his manuscript to
George Bancroft and DR.. John Ii. Dra-
per. He declined to permit his publishers
to issue "Sherman's Memoirs as a sub
scription book, although by SO doing he
would receive a much larger sum as copy
right from its greater circulation. Il
don't want any man importuned to buy
my work." said the General. In answer
to my inquiry why it was, as he stated,
that no appropriation could be obtained