New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-10-16
General lSherman's Story, Told an
His Letters to His WTe.

f6arles SCribner's Sons.
,rbese letters. which cover the most important
,hases OF General W. r. Sherman's hfe' nave
heep admirably edited. References to many
matters of intimate personal and domesuc con-
,.-D ,,,,,e evidently been eliminated, but enough
remain toughingly to reveal the mans earnest
nature and depth OF feeling All these epistles
vsere addressed 70 her who the one love OF
l,ss life from the time wien they were boy and
cs,l together in the home OF Ellen Ewlngs
father The first was penned before their be-
trotllal when the youth was cadet at West
Point: the last written by the husband TO
the wife not long before her death, and when he
was in his sixty-eighth year His military ser
vice brought about OF necessity, long absences
from his family. and his letters became, in con-
sequence. brief story of his career
There IS a quaint gravity and decorum in the
Young soldiers advice to the schoolgirl five
wears younger than himself. and now and then
there is a faint hint OF humOr, conscious or un-
conscious. The little maiden made him pair OF
slippers which sore conveyed by friendly traV-
erer to the Point They fit exactly" writes
the cadet, hut are so neat and beautiful as TO
preclude all ideas OF my ever wearing them
Indeed il would amount 10 sacrlege for me to
Go so. I will keep them carefully in remem-
brance II her who gave them. and hope that at
some time or other ] viii be able to present
something in return as acceptable as these are
70 nc Those slippers had. no doubt the old
fashioned cheerful colorngs, and we can imag-
inc tie chan which young Williams classmates
would have bestowed upon him had he dared to
don them. He was anxious that the girl should
ride well. q thing ne thought essential to all
persons. If ever have the pleasure 10 come
home again. he wrote from Florida fort, the
first thing viii expect of you will be TO mount
the widest horse and charge over the hills and
plains Next to drawing. it is the most lady
like accomplishment in my mind 1t is inter
esting 10 note that in another letter from Fort
Moultrie he tells his fair correspondent that he
had taken a notion into his head that he could
paint. had set up a studio, and. without any in
structions whatever. had finished a couple of
landscapes and faces which he adds they
tell me are very good. / have great love for
painting, and find that sometimes am so fasci-
mated that it amounts TO pain TO lay down the
brush placing me in doubt whether had better
stop NOW before it swallows all attention 10 the
neglect ~ my duties and discard il altogether or
keep on"
ordered to California in 1886. the year in
whiea the American settlers had proclaimed
republic The young lieutenant continued 10 give
his betrothed a full account Of his daily life in
letters which for months at a time. had no
Spouse, SO difficult was il then TO get mails
through To that far-of land He had much TO
say az the lazy ways Of the people out of whose
~ session the country was 20 ssing-they had
not done justice TO il. he declared. and by law
81 nature" il had gone into more enterprising
hands At the moment. however. Sherman did
not realize the marvellous possibilities of the
region. He speaks of Commodore Stocktons
buying ranch and doing other California acts
Of fooiishness"; and he asserts that he wouldn't
give two counties of Ohio Kentucky Ten
nessee for the whole of California. II did not
bring him fortune when. after his marriage. he
resigned from the army and entered the bank
irg business at san Francisco. In the panic of
1871 his seeming prosperity vanished, and two
years later he was trying TO build a business
lie anew in Kansas in a mood of sadness and
discouTagenent. J. am doomed TO be a vaga-
bond" he writes To his wife and shall no longer
struggle against mS fate. / look my
self - dead cock in the pit, worthy of
further notice. and VIII take the chances they
come" The end toward which all the training
and experiences Of his youth had prepared him
hand. He spend a year super
intendent Of a Southern military school-a ser
vice which gaze him a knowledge, invaluable
afterp ard OF The region in which the school was
placed. Then came the war and there was no
longer question as 10 his proper career
in the early days Of the conflict the skilled
soldier WAS wTathful over the behavior of the
volunteers. After RuH Run he wrote TO his
wife:
had reaG Of retreats before. have seen the noise
and -onfusion Of crowds Of men AT fires and ship
wrecks, .but nothing hlIe this II disgrace
~ as words can portray. bat doubt II volunteers
INNS ~ a,1~sf II i Har-e 10 e,o for u ~ he
asks leave Of nj ere If he thinks right ne takes
are oats and corn and even burns the house Of his
enemy A. We could n0' vent these disorders
the way ont. ) always feared the result. for
everywhere We found The people against No
curse could DC greater ti4n INVASION by volunteer
ior ne lives and IIoIeriT o. friends and foes: and
henc forth we ought never q hope for any friends
AirgGDla Mcdowell 2
az We lc,3y,,ndea tIlat a~rv Is no s,,cb tbrg
our men are not good soldiers They
don't gei everything tlcy want. and a march Of a
few miles uses them un. T. win take a long time
10 overcome taese things. and what is in store for
rs e. the Future ] know not
Ten Gays later ZEE writes in the same worried
tone. wishing that we lad more regulars to tie
to-" lie complains that they do not enlist, 'be-
cause 5C the preference always given to volun-
teers. whose votes are counted even in the
ranks ] doubt II our democratic form of GOV
eminent admits Of that organization and disci-
pine without which army is mob" In an
other letter written the same day. he says
Indeed. / never saw such a set Of grumblers as
cur volunteers are about their food. cbthing
arms. etc, and ] shall make a requsit.on for
.w3 nurses per soldier to nurse hem in their
heirieass pitifU condition" 1t is not wonderful
that there should have been such conditions at
the opening Of a war The letters which follow
THIS describe ever increasing effectiveness. and
in contrast 10 such outburst of Worry is one
penned in North Carolina early in April 1860
when tEe generals splendid march to the sea
had ended end his fame had spread over the
world
Ohicers and soldiers have in nay foresight and
l14oHleoge childke confidence that is really most
and heaying at mred wagons The soldiers did not
sndulge p s,Asie 6roWi out always SAID and fe!t