East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-11-25


fore a throng of several thousand
people the statute to General Sheri-
dan, the dashing cavalry leader of the
civil war, was unveiled here at 10
O'Clock today. The principal address
was delivered by President Roosevelt,
who was given the closest attention
throughout.
| A feature of the exercises was the
large number of old soldiers present,
both the union and confederate ar
mics being well represented. Among
the prominent men present was Luke
Wright, secretary of war, who was
himself a member of the confeder-
. ate army.
Roosevelt said:
1t is eminently fitting that the ma
tion's illustrious men, the men who
| loom as heroes before the eyes of our
people, should be fittingly commem-
GRATED here at the national capital,
and l am glad indeed to take part in
| the unveiling of this statue TO Gen.
eral Sheridan. His name will always
stand high on the list of American
worthless. Not only was he a great
general but he showed his greatness
with that touch of originality which
we call genius. Indeed this quality
of brilliance has been in one sense a
disadvantage to his reputation, for
it has tended to overshadow his solid
ability. We tend to think of him only
as the dashing cavalry leader, where
as he was in reality not only that, but
also a great commander. OF course,
the fact in his career most readily
recognized was his mastery in the
necessarily modern art of handling
masses of cavalry so as to give them
the fullest possible effect, not only
in the ordinary operations of cavalry
which precede and follow a battle,
but in the battle itself. But in addi-
tion he showed in the civil war that
er both as a subordinate of Grant
and when in independent command.
His record in the Valley campaign,
and again from Five Forks to Appo-
matoX, is one difficult to parallel in
history. After the close of
the great war, in a field where there
was scant glory to be won by the
general in chief, he rendered a signal
service which has gone almost unno-
ticed for in the tedious weary Indian
wars on the Great Plains it was he
who developed in thorough-going
"a lNi i'm l.n ~-tn NE
in winter, which at the cost of bitter
hardship and peril, finally broke
down the banded serength of those
warriors, the horse In
lians.
Typical American Career.
His career was typically American.
or from plain beginnings he rose to
he highest military position in our
and. We honor his momory itself:
md moreover, as in the case of the
Dther great commanders of his day.
lis career symbolizes the careers of all
hose men who in the years of the
iation's direct need sprang to the
ront to risk everything including life
self. and to spend the days of their
trongest young manhood in valorous
onfict for an ideal often we AM
ricans are taunted with having only
material ideal The empty folly Of
le tannt is sufficiently shown by the
resence here today Of you men of the
rand Army. YOU the comrades Of
lie dead general. the men who serv-
4 with and under him In all his
,ry we have no greater instance of
Ibordination of self Of the exalting
lofty ideal over merely material
ell-being among the people of
eat nation. than was shown by our
eople in the civil war
And You. the men who wore the
ne. would be the first 10 say that
lis same lofty indifference 20 tho
iugs of the body, when compared
the things of the soul. was shown
r your brothers who wore the gray.
readful was the suffering. dreadful
e loss, Of the civil war Yet it stands
one among wars in this. that. now
lt the wounds are healed. the men,
Y of the mighty deeds Of valor per-
rmed on one side no less than on
e other has become the common
ritable Of all our people in every
arter Of this country.
Blue and Gray Blended.
The completeness with which this
true is shown by what is occurring
re today. We meet together to