The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-09-08

Comrades of Army of the Tennessee:
On the 18th of August, 1851, Gen. u.
). Grant was assigned to duty in COM
mand OF the District of Southeast Mis-
souri, with headquarters at Cairo, Ill.,,
and here commenced the organization and
growth Of the Army Of the Tennessee.
1t remained under his personal command,
or as unit Of his great army, from the
beginning until the end of the war, ex-
cept for two short intervals, one after
the great battle of Donelson, and the
other after the greater battle of Shiloh,
both of which he won. and gave the first
great light and hope to our country, and
it is hard now, after reading all the
records to understand the reasons for his
being relieved. 1t appears to have been
done through a misunderstanding, and
with no intention of doing injustice to
Gen. Grant.
Following Gen. Grant as commander
came ten. Sherman, member of the
army almost as long as Gen. Grant Gen.
Sherman was in direct command, or the
army served under him as a unit of his
greater army, from the time he assumed
command until the end of the war.
After Gen. Sherman came Gen. Me-
Pherson. that ideal soldier. who COM
manded the army until he fell in the great
battle of Atlanta on the 22d of July
Upon his death, Gen. Logan took COM
mand of the army, as the senior officer
present. and at the end of the battle of
July y he could say that he had met and
defeated Hoods whole army in the great
est battle Of that campaign.
Following Gen. Logan came Gen. o. O.
Howard, the only General taken from an
tory of the Army of the Tennessee, or
even any Of it's corps. The next day
after assuming command Gen. Howard
led the army into the great bait of the
18th of July, which the Confederates said
was not battle, but a simple killing
and slaughtering of their forces He re-
mained in command until the end of the
rebellion. and at the end of the war
GENEROUSLY GAVE WAY TO GEN. LOGAN.
so that one of its original members might
command it at the Great Review here
in Washingt0n-an act that could come
only from such a just and thoughtful SOL
der as Howard.
! speak of our army's commanders first,
as an army takes it's habits and character
from its head, and probably no other
army in the world was so fortunate as
to have always at it's head great soldiers
and great commanders, recognized as such
the world over-two of them the peers of
any commander that ever stood up in
great conflict.
The Army of the Tennessee covered
more ground in it's campaigns than all
the other armies combined, and all its
campaigns were marked by some great
struggle, battle or movement that chaI-
lenged the admiration of the world. First
came Fort Donelson, next. Vicksburg, and
following that Chattanooga, where it
fought on both tanks in that great battle,
one division taking the point of Lookout
Mountain above the clouds. Then came
the Atlanta campaign: following that the
strategical march to the sea, and. finally,
the bold movement from Savannah to
GOldsb0rO, which is considered by the
best critics as one of the bOldest and best
planned campaigns of history, one in
which every chance was taken, and every
opportunity given the enemy to concen-
trate upon an inferior force
THE RECORD OF THIS ARMY
is probably the most satisfactory of any
that ever existed, as it was harmonious
in oil it's parts, and had no jealousies,
each of its units to the best of it's ability
helping the others. Again. it was mod
est; it struck blow after blow, and let
the world sing it's praises. All its CAM
paigns were great successes, and it never
lost battle. All it's army, corps, divi-
sion and brigade commanders were excep-
tiOnally able men, and were seldom re-
commands. Its experiences were more
paigns. battles and marches, reaching
from the Missouri River to the Atlantic,
at Washington, over territory 2,OOO
miles long and 500 miles wide, it opened
the Mississippi, it forced it's way to the
sea. it was reviewed by the Government
of the Nation here in this city, and it dis