Daily Kennebec journal., 1905-05-30
Surviving Leaders on Both Sides.

How time has thinned out the ranks
of the leaders on both sides of the
great conflict; and how steadily they
are falling these days before the sickl"
CT the grim reaper! Scarcely week
passes that TIE newspapers 10 not re-
cord the death OF some one who, as a
brigadier or major general. led long.
thin line of blue or gray to battle in the
days of els.
All the leaders of the foremost rank
are dead. and it is safe to say that.
without exception, their graves will be-
| covered with flowers two days hence.
| or the hundreds of generals who have
| served with the army of the Potomac.
| only twenty survive, according to tn
| records of the Society of the Army of
the Potomac. They are 0. o. Howard.
Wesley Merritt, Carl SchurZ. Daniel +.
| Sickles. julius Stahel, j. II. Wilson,
AIDE lbert Amcs. J. II. Brooke. J. {.
Caldwell. J. L. Chamberlain, n. NJ.
Curtis, l. p. Graham. L. A. Grant. d.
MCM. Gregg, ]. II. Ketcham, Nelson A.
Miles. Galusha Pennypacker. b. f.
Pierce A. S. Webb and o. b. Wilcox.
The only surviving Union generals
who are widely known for their Civil
| War records are Miles, Howard,
Sickles, Schurz and James M. Scho-
field. who, before he retired from tire
service. attained the rank of lieutenant
| general commanding the regular army.
| Miles owes his Civil War fame to cir
| cumstances that he was in direct
| charge of jefferson Davis during the
| lays Of his captivity. SirKl"s endeared
| himself to his countrymen by his gal
liant action at Gettysburg. where ne
| lost leg. SchurZ was one of two Ia
nous German leaders. the late Carl
Siegle being the other. HOwards s enVl-
| able record, from the first disaster AT
| Bull Run. where he commanded hfi-
GAGE. to the close of the war, when ne
was in command of the army and the
| Department of the Tennessee, is ia
miliar to all readers of American his
tory. Schofield is the only other sur
vivor who commanded department
and an army. his army being that CT
the Ohio.
On the confederate side the distin-
guished survivors can be named on less
than the fingers tf one hand. Most fa
| nous of ell, in the pubic estimation. is
little, wiry. grizzled, gallant Joe"
| Wheeler The two other surviving
| lieutenant generals are Ste pEen d. Lee
anG Alexander p. Stewart, the latter
icing the ranking confederate officer
now living. And until a month ago
there was Fitzhugh Lee, whose officiai
actions in Cuba prior TO the outbreak
of the Spanish American war and his
participation in that struggle made
even the most radical nOrtherner for
get that he ever wore the uniform OF
the south; just as Wheeler's services in
Cuba and the Philippines insured him
the unanimous friendship of the Union
veterans who have respected him since
the days when he led his cavalry in
| fierce onslaughts against them.
1t was at Shiloh that the federal
| forces first learned of Joe WheelerS
| fighting prowess. wi en-. as commander
| CT 4 briga lie. ne covered the confeder-
, ate retreat. AS leader cf the cavalry at
Chickamauga he made things pretty
lively for his opponents, and after the
battle intrepidly crossed the Iennes-
see. fell on RosecraDs' line of commur-
icatiors ard reduced twelve hundred
wagons and their stores to ashes. Ana
| all the time that Sherman was waSlng
his Atlanta campaign Wheeler was an
noying him greatly and fighting him
| daily. Judging solely from his activi
| ties. Wheeler is perhaps the most dis
| tinguishcd surviving leader on either
side: although. doubtless. there arc
these who would claim this distinction
Tor Howard, who certainly led siren
uous fighting life from the outbreak to
| IT, end of the war, we'll as subSe-
qucntly in the regular service.
Gen, Merritt is the last survivor of
that quartet of Union generals known
as the boy brigadiers." the other three
being Custer. Mckenzie and Upton.
Merritt became a brigtdier general Of
volunteers. commanding cavalry. on the
day that the armies were getting III
touch fo~ :he battle of Gettysburg and
all through that trying time he COM
manded the reserve cavalry. doing it so
well that lie was praised OF all sides.
He won his brcvct Of major general at
Winchester. where his style of hand
ling a division 50 pleased Phil Sheridan
that he lost nc time after the battle il,
recommending the brevet for his
youthful, though able. lieutenant.
Some of the other Union generals
surviving at the time the latest Army
and Navy Register was issued are:
Thomas H. RuSer. James w. Forsyth.
William r. Shafter of Santiago fame:
Francis Fesscnden. Martin ID. Hardin.
Daniel H. Rucker. Elwell S. Otis, Mar
shall !. LudiEgton. Thomas J. Wood.
Join +. Hawkins, Samuel &. Holabird.
Eugene f.. Carr William II. Whcrry.
George u. RugSlts. Edwin V. Sumner,
Grenville NJ. Dodge. who built the
Urion Pacific: T1or,as r. ECkert. who
was manager of the United States
military telegraph: Edward l.. Moli-
neux. Anson G. McCook and Martin L.
McMahOn.