Year: 1867

For more than seven years Gen. Sheridan
has been uninterruptedly in the service of the
country. During the war he was constantly
with the army, and when the Rebellion ended
was at once ordered to the South West. No
man has earned the right TO brief rest by
harder work, yet this visit to the North ap-
pears to be reluctantly permitted. The Presl-
dent, when he removed Sheridan from the COM
mand of the Fifth District reversed Grants
order recalling him to Washington, and sent him
at once to fight the Indians. That he is now
in New York is, we presume, due to the inter
ventiOn of Gen. Grant; and important rs our
Indian affairs may be, we are sure that they
will suffer no injury by his brief absence. On
the contrary, Sheridan's Northern journey is of
no small benefit to the country; we have long
wanted to see the hero of the Shenandoah and
New Orleans, and are rejOiced and cheered
that he is with US. Whatever his politics may
be- there is no patriotic citizen who does not
welcome the man whose name is a synonym OF
all that makes military fame splendid and en-
during.


Enthusiasm could 90 no further than the
name of Sheridan has carried it. In Balti-
more where the people took him prisoner and
|
crowd; in Philadelphia, and in all the towns
along his route, his reception was a tIiumphal
march And wild as the welcome is, it has
an element of eanestness which proves it to be
more than a Sudden excitement. Years have
passed since Sheridan fought his battles, and
| the story of the Shenandoah has long ceased
to startle or surprise; the war has passed into
history, and the sober Judgment of the people
has weighed its worth and measured the
regulations of its heroes. But the glory
of his achievements dazzles us still. We
do not forget how the magic of his
presence changed defeat into victory at
Winchester, or how, in the darkest days of the
war, his name was inspiration to our army and
encouragement to the foe. Many brilliant
regulations have faded since Lee surrendered,
but Sheridans is not among them; time has not
only confirmed but increased it. In the lust
and critical estimate of the war, Sheridan is
included as one of the main elements of sue
cess. There is little doubt that the next gen.
Grafton will confirm the Judgment of this-that
he is one of the few absolutely great generals
that America has produced. Thus the enthu-
siasm with which he is received is not the re-
suit of temporary excitement; it is based upon
conviction.


Nor must it be forgotten that, since his military
fame was won, Gen. Sheridan has been placed
in a position Of extraordinary difficulty. Long
before Congress had fixed the principles of
Reconstruction he was charged with its Iespon-
sibility. He was taken from the head of his
cavalry and placed at the head of a State. No
mere military man could have ruled treacher-
GUS Louisiana and turbulent Texas as Sheridan
did. Unusual capacity for administration sup
piled the want of experience, and his govern
ment was not of a conqueror, but of friend.
So far as we know his administration in the
South, his great aim was to be just. He sup
pressed disloyalty with an iron hand, but there
rs no instance in which his punishment of in
dlvlduais was arbitrary or severe he was re-
| solved that the Reconstruction acts, letter and
| spirit, should be enforced in his department, but


nc never entered the service of any party, or med


uic" WIN the politics of the people he governed.


lie was removed from his command because
he chOse 10 obey the plain meaning of the law,
rather thah the forced construction the Presi-
dent wished TO substitute, and couId have mo
higher compliment than the increased affection
and confidence of the people. The tost no hos
successfully borne is of all tests tho ,,,oat
severe, for the office of District Commando
combines civil and military responsibilities and
the mere soldier or the mere statesmen would
have failed TO dscharge tbeu both. Tie moral