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HOME LETTERS OF
GENERAL SHERMAN

The Sherman Letters. Correspond
ence between General and Senator
Sherman from 1837 to 1891. Ed
ited by Rachel Sherman Thorn-
dike. With portraits. 8vo, $2.00

"Their historic value is incalculable."
¦ — Chicago Tribune.
" We may fairly compare the value of these
papers to that of the commentaries on the
Roman Civil War, and that of the letters and
other autobiographical material left by some
of the chief military actors in the contest be
tween Charles I and the Long Parliament."
— New York Sun.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

HOME LETTERS OF
GENERAL SHERMAN

EDITED BY
M. A. DeWOLFE HOWE

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1909

/if I * . ' . ' '
/«¦ - - - - -
/ -

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

Published October, 1909
HO?,

P o n

NOTE
After a process of many eliminations from a large
mass of material, General Sherman's daughter, Mrs.
Paul Thorndike, placed in my hands the letters from
which the following selections have been made. To
her and to her brother, Mr. P. T. Sherman, I am
indebted for valuable assistance in preparing the letters
for publication.
M. A. DeW. H.
Boston, July, 1909.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introductory  1
I. The Young Soldier. 1836-1846 . . 3
II. Round the Horn to California. 1846 36
III. A Soldier in California. 1846-1850 . 83
IV. Two Years in the Mississippi Valley.
1850-1852  120
V. The Man of Business. 1853-1859 . 133
VI. Directing a Southern Military School.
1859-1861  160
VII. The War Begun. 1861-1862 . ... 196
VIII. Vicksburg. 1863  234
IX. Mississippi and Georgia Campaigns.
1863-1864  274
X. The War Ended. 1865  331
XI. Years of Peace. 1886-1891 .... 355
Index  403

HOME LETTERS OF
GENERAL SHERMAN
INTRODUCTORY
Ten years after General William Tecumseh Sherman
attained the height of his military achievement he pub
lished (in 1875) his Memoirs, an outspoken record of
his career in peace and war. Ten years later he re
vised the Memoirs in the light of the abundant com
ment and criticism which they called forth. When
nearly two more decades had passed, one of his chil
dren gave the public (in 1904) a liberal portion of the
life-long correspondence between the General and his
brother, the Hon. John Sherman. Both the Memoirs
and the Sherman Letters brought to the readers of such
books an animating knowledge of General Sherman as
a writer — forcible, individual, fearless, the very coun
terpart in expression of everything which the history
of his country records of him in action.
Now the Civil War is in its fifth decade behind us,
and the time has come for drawing upon the last con
siderable collection of General Sherman's writing to
which the public may expect even a limited admission.
These are the letters which he wrote to Ellen Boyle
Ewing, who, in 1850, became his wife. To the house
1

2 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
of her father, the Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, he
went to live as a son upon the death of his own father
in 1829. The first of the letters bears the date of 1837.
In 1836 the boy of sixteen had left his adopted, and
adopting, home to become a cadet at West Point. Mr.
Ewing was then a United States Senator from Ohio,
and to his influence with the Secretary of War young
Sherman owed his appointment to the military school.
This debt, he would have been the first to say, was
quite secondary to that of the whole-souled boy-and-girl
relationship which grew into the vital devotion and
confidence of man and wife. In and out of the army
Sherman was of necessity long and often separated
from the domestic centre in which his strong affections
were deeply rooted. His letters home, therefore, were
always the frank and authentic records of the events
which most nearly concerned him. The historic im
portance of these events would of itself justify the
publication of the letters. But to this must be added
their biographical significance. Through their fresh
illumination of an important period, and through their
spontaneous revealing of the more intimate human
qualities of Sherman himself, they belong to the annals
both of American history and of American biography.
In passages which necessarily run parallel with pas
sages in the Memoirs and the Sherman Letters, it will be
found that the new merely supplements, but does not
duplicate, what has been printed before.

I
THE YOUNG SOLDIER
1836—1846
From June of 1836 to June of 1840 Sherman was a
cadet at West Point, graduating sixth out of the forty-
three survivors of a class that numbered one hundred
at entering the Academy. He was clearly of the fittest,
and the few citations which it seems worth while to
make from his West Point letters show him further to
have been a healthy, affectionate boy, already com
mitted loyally to his profession. The reader may be
glad to remember that the boy, at the time of writing
the first letter, was seventeen years old, and his corre
spondent but twelve. The six years following gradua
tion were spent almost entirely in Southern posts, where
he is seen, through his letters, to have occupied himself
with the laying of firm foundations, personal and pro
fessional, for the structure of his later years. It was
in this period, also, that the intimacy between him and
Miss Ewing passed naturally into an engagement of
marriage. The marriage itself came considerably later,
when Miss Ewing's health had gained what it lacked
in these early years. 3

4 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
[TO MISS ELLEN BOYLE EWING]
"West Point, New York, August 30, 1837.
"I had already written and sealed an answer to
your last when William Irvin * returned from furlough
and satisfied my curiosity concerning so many things
concerning which I had asked information that
I concluded that it would be best to defer writing
a little longer in order that I might give a descrip
tion of our military ball and the other ceremonies
that usually take place before breaking up the en
campment. . . .
"William Irvin arrived last Friday at the Point after
having escorted his sister up to Troy but without first
bringing her here as I think he should have done,
because most undoubtedly she would have liked to see
the place where her brother had been for the two last and
would be for the two next years; but that is none of my
business. He brought me those presents, the knife
from Boyle, the handkerchief from Tommy2 and the
pencil and candy from yourself for which I cannot too
warmly express my thanks. The knife and pencil are
too good for me to u«e, and I have wrapped them up
and put them at the bottom of my trunk to be used only
on special occasions. The candy was so very good, as
well as the first I have seen since I left home, that I
invited some of my eastern friends, who had never
eaten any homade sugar before to come and taste it.
They liked it so very well that they put it beyond my
1 A cadet from Lancaster, Ohio.
2 Hugh Boyle and Thomas Ewing, brothers of Mrs. Sherman,
both of whom became prominent officers in the Union army.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 5
power (although very desirous to do so) to reserve
some for the next day.
"I am sorry that I am not able to give you a better
description of the ball, not having attended. I only
know that there were a great many ladies in attendance
and that the room was decorated in true military style;
the walls were literally covered with burnished sabres
and bayonets, as well as with wreaths and flags.
" Last night the camp was illuminated and we had a
royal 'stag dance' (I believe you call them country
dances) on the parade ground. I think I never saw
the encampment so enlivening. There were about 150
cadets dancing before a double row of candles and a
great many ladies and gentlemen looking on and walk
ing about. This morning at half past eleven we went
through the ceremony of breaking up camp and march
ing into barracks where we are now; everything out
of order, and no studying. I suppose they will give
us today and tomorrow to prepare our books, etc., and
that on the next day, we'll commence reciting and will
continue to do so until next June when I expect to have
the extreme pleasure of visiting Lancaster. ..."
"Military Academy,
"West Point, New York, March 10, 1839.
"It is now exactly one month, since the date of your
last and in it you spoke of my long delay. Indeed I
am ashamed of myself although not much to blame, for
during our examination, and some time previous, it
was absolutely necessary that my whole attention should
be paid to my studies. . . .

6 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"The river is open again, all is life where but a few
days since could only be seen heaps of ice and snow.
In fact I never saw the winter break up so suddenly
as this has done. Two weeks ago I crossed the river
on the ice and now but a few floating pieces remain.
Steamboats pass up or down almost every hour and the
water is literally covered with sloops and other kinds
of sail boats; the weather also is exceedingly fine. It
is almost a natural impossibility to confine ourselves
to our rooms. We often feel disposed to break over
our imposed limits, and 'go forth' but the consequences
would be of too serious a nature to admit of such an
idea for a moment.
"All the talk in this part of the world now is about
war with England.1 Every person seems anxious for
it and none more so than the very persons who would
most suffer by it, the officers of the army and the corps
of cadets. But ours, I fear, arises more from selfishness
than true patriotism, for should war break out we would
be commissioned and sent into the 'field' — at all times
preferable to studying mathematics or philosophy, and
it would undoubtedly prove a better school for the
soldier than this. But I cannot think that England will
take the same stand in this controversy that her colony
has done. If, however, she does, war will be inevitable,
and Capt. Ewing's Company of archers2 will have a
fine opportunity to display their valor and patriotism.
I have no doubt that he, in his official capacity, will
1 The north-eastern boundary dispute with Canada was at this
time at an acute stage.
2 A company of boy archers in Lancaster.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 7
willingly volunteer the services of his little band to his
country for its defence and that of its honor. I pre
sume by this time they have become so well disciplined
as to be able to astonish the veterans of Europe by the
celerity and regularity of their movements. Probably
your father is anxious to hear who has been selected for
special minister to Great Britain. It is not absolutely
known, but there is every reason to believe that J. C.
Calhoun has been appointed. . . ." l
" Military Academy,
"West Point, N. Y., May 4, 1839.
"... I am delighted that there is a probability of
your coming here during the coming summer, and why
shouldn't you? Will you ever have a better oppor
tunity? Is not West Point worth visiting? Is not the
scenery of the finest order in the world in its vicinity?
Are there not incidents in its history that render it dear
to us all ? I might ask a hundred such questions which
any individual who has ever been here would be com
pelled to answer in the affirmative. Here's Old Fort
Put, in itself a curiosity, with its damp and gloomy cells,
and Kosciusczko's Garden, with its jet of water and
marble basin on which is inscribed the Pole's name, as
also a large monument erected a long time ago by the
Corps of Cadets to the same person. I might go on and
enumerate many more things which have attracted
every summer and probably will continue to attract
' None was sent. Schouler records the report that Web
ster was seriously considered. — History of the United States,
IV, 318.

8 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
crowds of visitors, and I hope soon to learn that you
and your father will be of the number next summer.
" Since the probability of a war is over the commander
of the Army seems to desire some military sport any
how, for it is the intention to concentrate nearly half
the army at Brandywine Springs next summer to camp
out as though in the presence of an enemy. If this
be the case, of which there is little doubt, it will be the
largest body of men ever congregated together for that
purpose, in this country during peace. . . .
" We have had a most beautiful spring so far, and I
do not remember of having seen the Point look half as
well. The reason is that they have just completed the
building at which they have been engaged ever since
I have been here. It is a beautiful building and adds
much to the general appearance of the place. The
contrast makes our old barracks look ten times as dis
mal as ever; so much so, indeed, that they contemplate
tearing them down and erecting new ones.
" I have almost despaired of ever receiving that long
wished for and expected letter from your mother. I
presume however she is too busily engaged to write.
I intend to write to Phil * in a few days, but whether he
is at home or Oxford I know not, his last being dated
at Lancaster.
" Give my love to your mother, father, Abba and all.
Tell Charley2 that he is a hard case. I suppose by this
time little Teresa 3 can run about and prattle like a fine
1 Philemon Ewing, Mrs. Sherman's brother.
5 Charles Ewing, Mrs. Sherman's brother, later a prominent
officer in the Union army.
8 Theresa Ewing, Mrs. Sherman's sister.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 9
girl. Let me once more advise vou to come east this
summer if you can." "Military Academy,
"West Point, N. Y., August 21, 1839.
"... When I wrote last we were in camp, our last
encampment, and its termination was celebrated in a
manner to show how rejoiced we were at its being the
'last.' I wish you had been here among the very great
many visitors to see it. The Ball was a grand affair,
in a fine large hall, the walls decorated with wreaths of
laurel and cedar, crossed swords, sabres and bayonets,
and the flags of nearly all nations of the world. From
the ceiling hung a great number of elegant and tasty
chandeliers, and when filled with ladies and officers
both naval and military in their uniforms it presented
the most dazzling and brilliant appearance I ever be
held. But what most accorded with my taste was the
'Stag' dance the last evening we were in camp. The
tents were illuminated, and the parade-ground in front
was covered with lights, but in consequence of the wind
we were not able to arrange them as nicely as we
could have wished. In front of these the Corps as
sembled to dance a figure, similar to what we in the
West term a country dance, only that each one can
shuffle and cut up as much as he pleases, provided he
goes through the figure. The whole presents a very
picturesque appearance, so much so that it attracts
always a crowd of ladies and gentlemen to the camp.
Indeed that evening, although quite cold and chilly,
the dancers were literally encompassed with lady spec-

10 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
tators. After this, the first class, whose last night that
was to spend in a Cadets' encampment, all sang songs
appropriate to the occasion. Early the next morning
(yesterday) we marched into barracks where we now are
comfortably situated.
" You certainly misunderstood me with regard to your
mother. Although I should feel highly honored did she
condescend to notice me, still, I am fully aware how
slight are my claims to her regard and how many
troubles and cares she must experience since you and
Abba have left home.1 Very often I feel my insignifi
cance and inability to repay the many kindnesses and
favors received at her hands and those of her family.
Time and absence serve to strengthen the claims and
to increase my affection and love and gratitude to those
who took me early under their care and conferred the
same advantages as they did upon their own children.
Although I have rarely spoken of it still I assure you
that I have always felt sincerely and deeply grateful,
and hope that some event may occur to test it. Indeed
I often feel that your father and mother have usurped
the place which nature has allotted to parents alone,
and that their children [hold] those of brothers and
sisters, with regard to myself. ..."
"Military Academy,
"West Point, N. Y., November 1, 1839.
" I have been intending for some time to write to you
for the purpose of acknowledging the reception of
1 This letter and others in the two years immediately following
were addressed to Miss Ewing at the Academy of the Visitation,
Georgetown, D. C.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 11
those slippers which you were kind enough to make for
me some time since. They were brought by William
Irvin. They fit exactly but are so neat and beautiful
as to preclude all ideas of my ever wearing them. In
deed it would amount to sacrilege for me to do so. I
will keep them carefully in remembrance of her who
gave them and hope that at some time or other I will be
able to present something in return as acceptable as
these are to me. Why is it that you have been silent so
long? Did you not receive my last, written almost
immediately upon the reception of yours ? I have been
very anxious lest you may have been unwell or had re
turned home and hope that I may soon be relieved by
hearing from you. I mentioned that William Irvin
had brought me the slippers, but he did not come on
the Point and of course I was unable to see him and
have a talk about Lancaster and all the folks, which I
have all along been anticipating He is now on duty
as an officer at Fort Gratiot, Michigan, within two days'
journey of home. I hear from home but seldom now
adays, but it is all my fault as I am so careless and
negligent myself about writing. At last accounts all
were well.
" For my own part here, I am getting along very com
fortably indeed — very little military duty to attend to and
not much study, so that from morning to night we are
laying schemes of what we intend to do next year when
we graduate, and if even half of these are realized a
most happy set we'll be. But should some little Ind
ian War break out, or the Canadian Patriot rise again,
or anything else interfere with our furlough upon which

12 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
all our expectations centre, we'd be in a pretty plight.
Instead of dancing, hunting, fishing and the like we
might be sent to some remote corner of the globe to
drill drunken Irish recruits by way of serving our coun
try. Thus you see that we live in continual hope and
fear of the future, but as everyone's mind pictures the
future in the brightest colors we are necessarily con
tented. " I have no doubt that by this time you have entirely
recovered from your homesickness, and, as the session
of Congress approaches and the members and visitors
arrive at the Capitol, you will no doubt find among them
some acquaintances from Ohio, which will tend to ren
der your situation much pleasanter. Indeed if Mr.
Bond * of Chillicothe should take his family with him to
Washington you would be peculiarly favored. I should
like, above all things, to spend about a month at Wash
ington during the session to hear and see those men who
rule and direct the affairs of our government. 'Tis true
I was there when on my way here for the first time, but
then I was a Plebe and not capable of appreciating the
many things I saw and heard. I intend to come to
Washington when I graduate on my way home if I
possibly can. The fact that your father once occupied
a seat in the Senate, no doubt adds great interest to
that beautiful place in your eyes. . . ."
After graduating at West Point in June of 1840, and
spending the summer in Ohio on furlough, Sherman
sailed in October for Savannah, whence he proceeded
¦William Key Bond, member of the 24th, 25th, and 26th
Congresses.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 13
to join his regiment, the Third Artillery, occupying
posts along the east coast of Florida. His own com
pany was stationed at Fort Pierce on the Indian River.
The gathering in of scattered Seminoles and other em
ployments of the post are fully described in the Memoirs,
which a single letter will serve to supplement at this
point: "Fort Pierce, E[ast] Fflorida], September 7, 1841.
" I cannot express how great was my pleasure upon
receiving this morning your very kind letter. I can
only show my sense of it by punctuality.
" I sincerely thank you for pardoning me the apparent
adherence to ceremony in my letter to you, for believe
me, that no one regrets more than I the disposition of
this world, to surround the sweetest and best pleasures
of this life with the cold garb of formality, and if at
any time I should bow to its dictates it is because I fear
that a departure from them would give offence.
" You are anxious to know when you may expect to see
me. Indeed I cannot tell, but it appears pretty certain
that we will not leave Florida this year and when we do
it seems to be the intention to post us at the Southern
and Gulf posts, in which case many years may elapse
before I may have the pleasure of going home. But a
soldier's life is so varied that it is impossible to see even
a month ahead, and possibly some occasion or oppor
tunity may occur whereby I may have the pleasure of
seeing you all at Washington. Hope is, however, a
fickle staff to lean upon. All, you see, is uncertainty
and depends upon the authorities at Washington.

14 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Although Florida is losing many of the charms
which novelty inspires, still I cannot say I am very tired
of staying here. We have many of the comforts of life,
and what is the greatest of all blessings, good health,
with just active enough kind of fife to give experience
to the mind, and strength to the constitution. This is
also a kind of warfare which every young officer should
be thoroughly acquainted with, as the Indian is most
likely to be our chief enemy in times to come. You
doubtless little sympathise with us in hunting and har
assing a poor set of people who have had the heroism to
defend their homes against such odds for such a period
of time. Even an enemy must admire those qualities
which have enabled the Seminole to maintain the coun
try this long, although those qualities have been chiefly
cunning and perfidy. We have had during the past
year a great many here in every capacity, prisoners,
captives, visitors, guides and interpreters, in all which
they display the capacities with which they are endowed
by nature, sharpened by the straits to which they have
been accustomed from their childhood up.
" A few days since we learned that a Dutch vessel had
run ashore about seventy-five miles south of this, and
that the Indians had come down to the beach and stolen
some beef and pork they had put ashore to hve upon in
case the vessel went to pieces before they were picked
up. We would instantly have gone in search, but un
luckily about one half the command were absent on a
scout with near all our boats. They returned last
evening and tomorrow we start and will doubtless be
absent eight or ten days.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 15
" I suppose but little of the turmoil and excitement of
the Capitol reaches you in the peaceful and quiet halls
of the Academy and reaches you though near, like it
does us, as a faint, distant echo, devoid of all its original
harshness. It certainly is a disgrace to Washington
that the President should be insulted in his own house
and burned in effigy in the face of the whole city because
he differed from them in opinion.1 It is to be hoped
that the actors will be held up to the contempt of the
world. No wonder you are anxious to go back to
Lancaster, the best of homes, but I fear the four years
residence in the city will wean you all from the peaceful
and quiet home of the west. I wrote to Philemon not
long since by a brother officer who has been stationed
here for the past season and has now been ordered to
West Point. I hope Phil may see him before he has
left for Lancaster, which he contemplated when he last
wrote to me. I likewise sent, some time ago, a box of
Florida curiosities which I hope he may receive in time
to take home with him. He has been my most regular
correspondent and I feel under great obligations to him
for his kindness and punctuality. The night is now
pretty well advanced and the mosquitos very trouble
some. You must therefore permit me to conclude
with the hope that a very long period shall not elapse
before I shall have the pleasure of hearing from you
again. Give my best love to your father and mother.
1 In August and September of 1841 President Tyler vetoed the
First and Second Bank Bills passed by Congress, and reached the
point of disagreement with leading Whigs which caused the
resignation of Ewing (Secretary of the Treasury) and three other
members of the Cabinet.

16 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
. . . When you write home remember me to your
mother and all the family and connections. Charley
and little sister will soon, or doubtless ere this have
forgotten their ' Cumpy,' • and the way he used to ride
them on his pony. I have a real Indian one here
which I wish I could get to Charley; it would suit him
so well to learn what is so essential to all persons, to
ride well. I hope that you have opportunities and
avail yourself of them to take a gallop across the coun
try, and if ever I have the pleasure to come home again
the first thing I will expect of you will be to mount the
wildest horse and charge over the hills and plains.
Next to drawing it is the most ladylike accomplishment
in my mind. A brother officer, in looking over the
paper a short time since, pointed out a column in which
were recorded the prizes awarded to your Academy. I
was very proud to see you take one, the second in
Drawing. "Good night."
On November 30, 1841, Sherman was promoted to a
first-lieutenancy, and soon afterwards was assigned to
a post at Picolata on the St. Johns River, straight inland
some eighteen miles from St. Augustine.
"Picolata, East Florida, January 13, 1842.
"... I cannot without entering into minute and
uninteresting details give you any idea of my life for
the past three months. Now at Fort Pierce, then at
Lauderdale in the Everglades, in the Big Cypress on
1 Nickname used by his family for Tecumseh.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 17
the other side of the peninsula, then at Fort Dallas,
back again to old Fort Pierce, all in rapid succession,
and just as we supposed we would have a short respite
I got an order announcing my promotion to a first lieu
tenancy in another company. So I had to turn about
and come up to the old City of St. Augustine to report
to my captain who is stationed there. By him I was
ordered to take command of this post. Thus you see
an entire change has taken place in my affairs, removed
suddenly from the war district to this peaceable one;
but the change is a very pleasant one, for I have here an
independent command, have a large good house, and
what is better than all, mails twice a week. . . .
" Now for a description of my post. Picolata was an
old settlement before this war, consisting of a large frame
building intended for a hotel for invalids, with barracks,
outhouses, guard houses, stables, etc., built since the
war; also a family of citizens who keep a kind of board
ing house for passers by. It is situated on the St. Johns
River, opposite, and eighteen miles distant from St.
Augustine, between which there is a good road with a
military escort twice a week. Along this road many
murders have been committed but none since we took
Coacoochee,1 whose party had formerly infested the
road. Now there is considered no danger and persons
pass backwards and forwards constantly in parties of
two and three. Still the escort which guards the mail
is usually accompanied by the cautious.
" It is a very beautiful spot indeed. Magnificent live
oak trees shade the yard, enclosing my splendid quar-
1 See Memoirs, I, 23-26.

18 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
ters, and the St. Johns, a noble sheet of water, about one
and a half miles broad, adds beauty to the whole. In
fact I would much prefer being here to St. Augustine,
for 'tis like being in the country with all the advantages
of both town and country, for with a good horse I can
ride over at any time in a couple of hours, get books,
see the ladies, etc.
"St. Augustine, you know, is the oldest town in the
North American continent, nor does its appearance
belie its age. An old fort overlooks the town with its
narrow crooked streets. The houses are low, close and
dirty except some few built by Americans since the pur
chase of Florida from Spain.
"The best society of the place is made of American
families who, from its delightful climate, have made it
their home, and some few old English families. The
Spaniards or Minorcans, with some few exceptions,
are ignorant but very pretty, with beautiful hair and
eyes which have so allured many officers, who have
been a long while [so] exiled from the world that, in
spite of their good sense, they have been captivated.
In fact as many as a dozen or twenty officers have been
married at St. Augustine, so that there are but few
' aspirantes.' But they play so desperate a game that
the least penetrating cannot but perceive it. One
thing cannot be questioned. Their Spanish dance is
most beautiful, graceful and enchanting, and the ladies
know how to dance, nor do they seem ever to weary of it.
At the Barracks they had a ball the evening I was in
town, and although I did, in fact could, not participate
yet I admired it very much — much more the beauty of

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 19
the ladies themselves, and should we remain here many
months I must certainly make an attempt to learn the
Spanish dance. I have nearly filled my sheet without
telling you our prospects of going out of Florida. A
long time ago we were ordered to garrison the posts on
the Gulf of Mexico so soon as Colonel Worth1 could
spare our services. Of course we have been waiting
till his decision was made known, and when we met his
Mightiness on the Big Cypress did not fail to ask him
when we would be ordered out. He said between
'the 10th and 15th of this month,' but as this time has
arrived I fear he has forgotten his promise, neither do
I think he should send us out till the Campaign is over.
However, when the order comes it always is unexpected,
and I have no doubt we'll all be turned about and sent
off at a tangent, and the first thing we'll know we'll be
on our way to the Gulf. When we do I'll be stationed
at Mobile. . . ."
In February of 1842 came the anticipated orders to
Mobile, and there Sherman remained until June.
"Fort Morgan, Mobile Point,
"April 7, 1842.
"... But why don't I leave the Army? you ask.
Why should I ? It is the profession for which my edu
cation alone fits me, and as all appearances indicate
the rapid approach of a time when the soldier will be
'William Jenkins Worth, made brigadier-general, March 1,
1842, for his services as commander of the forces in the war
against the Florida Indians.

20 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
required to do his proper labor, when a splendid field
will be spread before him, every reason exists why I
should remain. Moreover, I am content and happy,
and it would be foolish to spring into the world bare
handed and unprepared to meet its coldness and trials.
Moreover, not a day passes without my meeting some
old fellow who once was an officer but was persuaded
by friends or a prospect of immediate wealth to aban
don a life for which his early habits and aspirations
fitted him, and all with very few exceptions say it was
the most foolish act of their life. Believing myself
similarly constituted, I intend, of course, to wait a more
auspicious moment than the present to abandon my
present life.
" You speak so liberally and feelingly upon the subject
of religion that I must satisfy a curiosity that you must
have felt. Since I left home six years ago I have prac
ticed or professed no particular creed, believing firmly
in the main doctrines of the Christian Religion, the
purity of its morals, the almost absolute necessity for its
existence and practice among all well regulated com
munities, to assure peace and good will amongst all.
Yet I cannot, with due reflection, attribute to minor
points of doctrine or form the importance usually at
tached to them. I believe in good works rather than
faith, and believe them to constitute the basis of true
religion, both as revealed in Scripture and taught by
the experience of all ages and common sense. You see
that my ideas are very general and subject to be moulded
to a definite shape by time, circumstances and ex
perience. . . .

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 21
" Although matters of religion is a source of much dis
cussion amongst us, I think I have written more on this
page upon the subject than I ever did before. I have
got into so serious a train that I fear I will not be able
to tell you of the thousand and one things I thought I
would of my last visit to Mobile, the people I met, etc.,
etc. Suffice to say that the ladies of Mobile, feeling as
they ever do for the desolate state of us woe-begone
bachelors, took pity upon us and made the gentlemen
charter a steam-boat to come down to see us. How
kind I So upon the first day of this month they played
us a most precious trick. Landing at our wharf, they
marched bodily into the very heart of the citadel and
carried the fort by storm. Imagine our surprise to find
about one hundred ladies and gentlemen descend, as it
were, from the clouds. But after our surprise was fairly
over, we showed them the various points of the fort —
the guns, embrasures, casemates, etc., etc., and after
we had exhausted our means of hospitality, were in
vited on board the boat, where they had a band of
music, wine, refreshments, etc., etc. Not satisfied
with this, they played their batteries so well that they
prevailed upon five out of the seven officers to go up to
the city with them, myself among the number. It
would take a volume to record their kindness, to name
the ladies, their beauties and accomplishments. Three
of the officers stayed only one day and returned, but
another and myself spent six days, and a more delight
ful time you could not imagine. We were invited
everywhere and the bright button was a passport at all
times to the houses of the best. Temperance and tem-

22 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
perance processions (in which the ladies took part),
balloon ascensions, visits of an Ex-president and Sec'y
Paulding, theatres, paintings, etc., were some of the
attractions, but where I was delighted most was in the
country. "Mary Keeler has a sister, Mrs. Bull, who resides
about two miles in the country — one of the most delight
ful spots imaginable. I had received a letter from her
sister in Brooklyn, with whom I correspond, and who
insisted that I should call. I did so, of course, and
found a most delightful family, — Mr. Bull, a fine man —
merchant — and my cousin, a most charming woman
with a family of three lovely children. Imagine what
a chance! to be welcomed as one long known into such
a family; to be made, as it were, at home so soon after
returning from the roving life in Florida. They in
sisted upon my making it my home whenever I should
visit Mobile. Think of a fine well painted house, with
a portico in front — with roses of every hue, and shape,
and size, and color, creeping over it, in all directions —
approached by a walk, shaded by lovely flowers and
shrubbery, and an air of quiet and Home spread over
all, that rendered it a perfect paradise to me. And the
strawberries and cream — but I can't talk of them for
want of space, for I must tell you of our delightful rides!
But as I see I'll have to cross this, I may as well first
give you a general description of Mobile Port. On the
river it resembles any other business city, but as you
leave the wharves and go back, you find beautiful
streets of hotels, stores, shops, etc., all as gorgeously
ornamented as at New York. A little further back,

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 23
the streets are ornamented with trees; and in front of
the houses a little garden bed, now and then, shows a
profusion of roses and shrubs; a little further and they
begin to assume a beauty, neatness and comfort, I never
anywhere beheld. These houses are the residences of
merchants, residing in town, and as nothing can be
more delightful than after a hard day's work, amongst
dirty cotton bales, presses, carts, drays, etc., to go home
to a beautiful quiet home, they spare no pains or ex
pense in furnishing and ornamenting their residences
and grounds adjacent. The houses are mostly white,
with piazzas all round, with all kinds of roses and
flowers creeping up the latticed portico. They are gen
erally situated one or two hundred yards back from the
road, or rather street, with a carriage road to the very
door, passing under an arbor of shade trees. In all
other respects, each exercises his own taste and judg
ment and thereby have created for Mobile the most
beautiful suburbs and country seats in this coun
try. ..."
Sherman's next station was Fort Moultrie in Charles
ton Harbor, and here he remained for nearly four years.
The Memoirs show what a varied knowledge of the
South he acquired during this period, not only through
his Charleston associations, but also from the journeys
he made to Georgia, Alabama and elsewhere in fulfil
ment of military duties. The letters represented in the
following passages speak of many points of personal
interest and development.

24 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Fort Moultrie, S. Carolina,
"November 28, 1842.
"... Not long since I took a notion into my head
that I could paint. I went to the city and laid in a full
set of artist's equipments, prepared my studio, and
without any instructions whatever have finished a
couple [of] landscapes and faces which they tell me are
very good. I have great love for painting and find that
sometimes I am so fascinated that it amounts to pain
to lay down the brush, placing me in doubt whether I
had better stop now before it swallows all attention, to
the neglect of my duties, and discard it altogether, or
keep on. What would you advise? . . ."
"Fort Moultrie, S. C, February 8, 1844.
"... For nearly four years I had been exceedingly
diligent in not writing to your father, but the other day,
I did so for the purpose of asking him to let Boyle under
certain contingencies come and spend the winter and
spring with me. This day I got his answer, which was
very kind but wound up with a hope that I was study
ing for ' Civil life.' Now I thought he had long since
relinquished that idea and his opposition to the army.
He knows my perfect dependence, and that were I to
resign, I would have to depend upon some one till I
could establish myself in the practice of some profession.
Do you think I could do so ? Certainly not, and should
health be preserved to me, I shall never depend upon
anybody, nay, not even were he a brother. I would
rather earn my living by the labor of my own hands.
Beside I have now studied for the military profession,

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 25
and hold a place envied by thousands and for which
hundreds of the best young men of this country toil
every year. It would then be madness itself at this late
day to commence something new. If Susan ' has not
hid our Bible you will see that this day completes my
24th year. ..."
The next letter has much to do with Sherman's
future, especially in its relation to Miss Ewing, and
shows that his benefactor's wishes were not wholly dis
regarded. " You know," he says, " that I am endeav
oring so to qualify myself that should you not like to
encounter the vicissitudes that I am now liable to, I
may be enabled to begin life anew in a totally differ
ent sphere." The single longer passage to be taken
from the letter reveals one of the efforts toward self-
improvement: "Fort Moultrie, S. C, June 14, 1844.
"... After casting about me and some reflection I
have seized upon a book that young lawyers groan
over — Blackstone, and I have with avidity swallowed
its contents and shall continue to study and read hard
all summer instead of idling my time in securing friends
temporary and changing. I do not want many friends
and have never met with any that have so complete
hold on my heart as my oldest and best, and therefore
shall so guard my intercourse with the world as to
become attached to none, save those with whom I may
be associated in life for a long period. But as to the
1 A sister of Sherman's.

26 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Law. Somehow or other I do not feel as though I would
make a good lawyer, although I meet with but little
difficulty in mastering the necessary book knowledge.
Yet not being naturally fitted for public speaking, and
my education being such as to give me almost a con
tempt for the bombast and stuff that form the chief con
stituents of Modern Oratory, it would not seem that my
prospect in that quarter were very brilliant; yet honesty
and industry could not but secure a comoetence. . . ."

"Fort Moultrie, S. C, September 17, 1844.
"... Rumor too says that there is a decided war
spirit at Washington caused by a late message from
Texas and a report that England is supplying Mexico
with arms and munitions of war to enable her to capt
ure Texas. Newspapers have been crying war so
much that nobody will believe them when there is real
danger. Should there be the least foundation for such
reports, they will soon be made public, and if any
movement of troops is made in consequence, ours will
surely go to Galveston. But it is all surmise as yet,
and I do not believe there is a shadow of chance for so
fortunate a war. War as such is to be deprecated, but
if it is necessary for the interests or honor of the country
of course I may with perfect propriety rejoice at the
opportunity of being able to practice what in peace we
can only profess. But I never believe that we are to
have a war that costs money. Our Government talks
and bullies a good deal, but when they talk of money
they are frightened. Without it, war cannot be carried

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 27
on. No doubt you are in the midst of election excite
ments 1 and have to grieve at the constant absence of
your father. For his sake I do really wish the elections
over and that Clay may be our President, but it is my
belief that such will not be the case. I am not very
sanguine. The people of this country are truly sov
ereign and, like such, are fickle in the extreme, varying
from one party to the other without rhyme or reason.
I call myself a Whig and usually in conversation advo
cate their claims, for the simple reason that my family
and friends belong to that party; but as long as I hold
a commission in the service of the government it is my
intention and duty to abstain from any active part in
political matters and discussions, and for that reason I
never permit myself to become interested in the success
of either party. Like a veteran of our service who has
served and fought under every President once remarked
in his native Dutch tongue, 'I've fought for every
chief magistrate, Washington and all. I've heard all
branded as liars and scoundrels, eulogized as patriots
and statesmen, but for his part he thought all bad
enough for him.' Here in Carolina we have no
politics except now and then a blow out like Nullifica
tion, which ends in smoke. ..."
"Fort Moultrie, S. C, June 9, 1845.
" I am now officer of the guard. All of my comrades
are away at a small party at the other end of the island,
whilst I alone sit here in dead silence, listening to the
echo of the sentinel's monotonous tread as he walks
1 In the campaign which ended with Polk's election.

28 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
his post in the archway that pierces our battlements.
Where my thoughts are you can tell, and to her I de
vote the night. Would that for a few short hours you
could enjoy it, sitting on our piazza by the faint light
of the new moon, listening to the rustling surf of the
sea, and cooled by the fresh breeze that comes over the
ocean. It is truly a lovely night when one may sit for
hours and enjoy undisturbed that gentle quiet and re
pose that resembles a life of dreams rather than actual
existence in this rascally world. I've got to sit up all
night and see that no enemies disturb the peace, but,
luckily or unluckily, we have no enemies and therefore
keep awake merely to become accustomed to the rough
usage to which we are so liable, in case of war. A
book serves to while away the time until all the letters
mingle together and the reader spins his own drowsy
tale and flatters himself that it is all written down and
likely does not discover his error till a hitch of his neck
or a tumble from his chair convinces him that he slept.
I do not feel sleepy at all, therefore shall write on,
though I have naught to say. I have already acknowl
edged the receipt of your letter in part answer to my
last long one, and am now patiently expecting its sequel
when you shall hear from me again. . . .
" I went to Charleston Sunday and found the city all
agog on account of intelligence direct from Mexico that
that Government, backed by British authority, had
declared war against this; but at the time I gave it
little belief, and subsequent information from New
Orleans confirms my disbelief. The way the rumor
came was this. The British vessel of war Eurydice

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 29
arrived at New Orleans from Vera Cruz, with a person
by name of Mun [?] bearing dispatches to the English
minister at Washington, which dispatches are destined
to England. Some inquisitive fellows in the city
learned Mr. Mun's character, and no doubt bored him
with questions, till he in self defence said that war was
already or soon would be declared. This was deemed
authentic and the evening paper was full of it, but now
it is known that up to the time of the sailing of that
vessel there was no definite news at Vera Cruz. No
doubt the Mexicans feel hostile towards us and merely
want the ability to support a war to openly declare it.
I have no doubt that there is some underhanded work
between the English government and that of Mexico to
secure the independence of Texas, provided she will
abolish slavery, but a Congress will assemble on the
4th of July in Texas which will decide the question,
and as there seems little doubt that the result will be
for annexation, then it is possible that Mexico may re
sort to force. But she is unable to carry on war, her
government is hardly secure, their provinces are re
belling, and it will require all her force and influence to
maintain their own dependants. I see that already
there is some difficulty as to the boundary line, but
Texas will have to define clearly her claims, and it is
much doubted whether she will be received into our
confederacy if she is impudent to advance her frontier
to the Rio Grande. I would give anything in the world
to go down there and seriously contemplate exchanging
into an infantry regiment now in Louisiana. I could
easily effect a transfer, but I feel loth to quit the 3rd,

30 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
to which I feel much attached; besides, I feel a decided
preference for artillery to infantry service in time of
actual war. We have mounted most of our guns and
our little fort presents quite a savage aspect as the grim
bull dogs peer over the parapet as though anxious to do
their duty right away. I have almost written a com
plete military letter, but that must not be wondered at
as I am in uniform with sword, etc., surrounded by all
the paraphernalia of 'my profession. . . .
" Do you correspond- with Mrs. William Anderson
now ? If you do, you may say that Robert Anderson's '
wife is rapidly improving in health. She is always
busy about her house and not infrequently walks out
to see her friends. The other day, her husband being
busy, I escorted her to the city and had quite a shopping
tour, and we brought back plenty of ice cream and cake,
off of which we made quite a pleasant evening. ... I
don't know when I was more amused than to see her
sitting on a rock by the seashore screaming almost with
childish delight at the big Newfoundland dog, which
ran into the surf and brought to her the stick which she
threw into the water. Her husband, the captain, is a
man of great taste and has quite a pretty collection of
paintings and a most expensive selection of engravings
which I love to look over. No sooner do I enter the
house than the servant brings me one of the large
volumes as naturally as he would a chair, and I am
privileged to devote to it as much time as I choose,
which I highly prize here where in visiting one is com-
1 Captain Robert Anderson, later the defender of Fort Sumter,
was at thiB time Sherman's superior officer in the Third Artillery
at Fort Moultrie.

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 31
pelled to be silent or join in the gossip and scandal that
idleness begets. You say you will have your revenge
on me. Now I think if you pretend to follow me
through these pages I will have accomplished my com
plete revenge first, for certainly I could not award you
a severer punishment. . . ."
"Fort Moultrie, S. C,
"January 31, 1846.
"... All apprehension of war with England seems
to have subsided, and no occupation is left us but the
proposed invasion of Mexico, which holds out but a
slim prospect to a military aspirant. If Mr. Slidell is
sent from Mexico, and that nation throws every ob
stacle in the way to an adjustment of boundary with the
United States, it will be incumbent upon our Govern
ment to compel her to it, or to proclaim our boundary
and maintain it by military force. I have not the least
idea what will be the course pursued, but I know that
the President has ordered the troops to be kept in readi
ness at Corpus Christi to await the issue of events.
Mexico may threaten again under her new government,
but her threats are likely to end in the same words and
inactivity as heretofore; nor would it surprise anybody
if as soon as Gen. Parades has fairly established himself
in power, that he would see the absolute necessity of
making some definite arrangement with this country
which will remove the last warlike bone of contention
that we have. So, upon the whole, the prospect of a
peaceful year is strong, and it therefore becomes me
to make all possible preparation to leave the service. . . .

32 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
" The coming month is the grand time of festivity in
Charleston. It is the time fixed by custom for the
planters to throng the city for all public balls and the
races. I have already received an invitation to attend a
wedding party on Thursday next, and a public ball a few
days after, but I doubt much whether I shall attend
either unless it should be incumbent on me so to do, to
do my share of party going, for as we are invited prin
cipally on account of our profession we are compelled
some of us to go, if for no other purpose than to ac
knowledge the compliment. On Sunday last ... I
attended both Church and Vespers at the Cathedral.
Mr. Lynch preached on the Neck, some distance from
the place where our ferry boat lands. The text was,
'He came to his own and his own received him not,'
and the sermon opened with a very pretty peroration
on family affection, how a person, however much he
may have drawn upon himself the envy and malice of
the world, whenever he turned to his own family would
experience those endearing attentions that would make
him forget the cares of life; but should they too reject
him, how miserable would he be. Then followed the
history of Christ, a Jew, fulfilling the prophecy of this
Patriarch and illustrating all that is perfect in life by
his doctrines, miracles and deeds. His claims upon the
Jews, to their gratitude, was perfect; and yet not only
did they not receive him, but they persecuted, tortured
and crucified him. How great their sin! And yet they
had been taught to expect a different sort of Savior,
one invested with worldly power to rescue them from the
servile bondage to which they were reduced. They

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 33
thought he blasphemed their law, their God, they tried
him by their common custom, and condemned him to
the common death of a felon. They knew not what
they did! Therein was a palliation. But how different
with us, who have not only the testimony that influenced
the Jews, but that which has accumulated for 1800
years till doubt is rendered certainty by the unparalleled
spread of the faith, by the innate truth of his preaching,
and all the evidence the church has collected together.
If at this age we reject him, we are far more guilty
than the Jews, for we know what we do. Then fol
lowed a description of what is meant by receiving the
Savior, not in the mere acknowledgement of the divinity
of his mission, a silent assent to the truths of his faith,
or a bare conformity to the rules of the Church, but an
actual, conscientious reception of the spirit of the faith
and a zealous, hearty cooperation with all the meas
ures that are resolved upon by Christ's disciples and
representatives on earth. This is, of course, but a bare
outline of the sermon, which was long and embraced
much feeling and many figures of speech. The Vespers
were as usual, but the singing not as good as usual. . . .
" The news of your improving health fills me with the
brightest hopes and I trust that after the reception of
your next, the future will not be darkened by the smallest
speck of apprehension or fear. You shall hear from me
as soon as it is received and for the present I must beg
you to excuse the length of this which was not intended."
In the spring of 1846, Sherman was ordered north,
and before the first news of warfare with Mexico

34 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
startled the country, he was engaged in recruiting ser
vice with headquarters at Pittsburg. Late in May he
heard of the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la
Palma, and precipitately offered himself for active
service. His method was indeed so precipitate that
he met with a rebuff; but this was soon followed by
the order which brought the first chapter of his military
career to an abrupt close, and gave to the next one an
unexpected color. The following letter sets forth the
situation with clearness: "Pittsburgh, Pa., June 30, 1846.
"I sat up till 2 o'clock last night and am now writing
by the first dawn of day, but what can I say in the few
moments spared me? When I was delaying in Lan
caster an order was upon my table which must deter
mine my future destiny. Ordered to California by
Sea round Cape Horn ! Is not this enough to rouse the
most placid ? Indeed it is so great an event that I can
not realize it in its full force. I start this morning and
shall be ruined if the ship has sailed, but unless their
orders are peremptory they will wait for me, I know.
I have merely thrown a few things in my valise and
leave all else in confusion to be packed up and sent to
Zanesville, where I want Phil to have it sent for. He
will have notice of its being sent after I am fairly afloat.
The book case is my pet and will, I trust, receive a few
caresses from you. It is left with all its memorandums,
etc., to tell a tale for or against me. Your letters I
leave in their places as I know they are sacred and will
not be touched till the case comes to hand. I ought to

THE YOUNG SOLDIER 35
take a few with me, for you haVeTet me go forth upon a
wild and long expedition without any token, any me
mento save a small lock o" hair that has been guarded
when all else was neglected. Your miniature, how it
would be prized now, but you will give it to me when
we meet in Cincinnati. Can you say when that will be ?
"The route usually pursued by vessels bound to the
Pacific is from New York to Madeira, Rio Janeiro,
Cape Horn, Valparaiso, and destination. Ours is
California with a single company of artillery to meet
an expedition from Missouri. It will be a happy co
incidence if we meet them at all, but I do not permit
myself to look deep into the future; others must do that
for us. All we can do is to obey our orders spiritedly
and cheerfully. The hardest part to me is that we can
no longer communicate by letter, and that I have not
seen Mother. What will she think of me ? What will
the family think? The little coincidences that offered
to my mind ready excuses are now lost, and I away,
unable to explain them. But this is no time to think.
If another opportunity offers to make amends it must
be done. ... I have the fullest confidence in the officers
with whom I am to go, and believe I shall be benefitted
in every way by the change. We shall be pioneers at
least in a far off world. . . ."

II
ROUND THE HORN TO CALIFORNIA
1846
The chief incidents of the voyage to California are
recorded both in the Memoirs and in the Sherman
Letters. Yet the wealth of descriptive detail in the
letters to Miss Ewing gives them an historical value
which justifies the preserving of liberal extracts. The
reader, familiar with the reports of life on modern war
ships rounding the Horn, may draw his own compari
sons. This experience of Sherman's may be further
related to the present by a citation from a letter written
during the voyage to his sister Elizabeth: "If you hear
about a subscription opening to dig a canal across the
Isthmus of Panama, you may put me down any amount,
for really I do not fancy a voyage of twenty-four thou
sand miles to accomplish a distance of less than two
thousand." 1
The Lexington sailed July 14, 1846.
"On Board the United States Ship Lexington,
"Monday, July 12, 1846.
"I wrote you a hasty note today enclosed in one to
Phil. Now, however, I am on board the ship that is to
be my home for many a long month. I have a good
1 Sherman Letters, p. 34. 36

ROUND THE LIORN 37
state-room in company with my old friend Ord.1 A
chest of drawers with a small board to hold a basin con
stitute the entire furniture. This is one of about eight
such all opening into a kind of passage called the ward
room. "The Captain's cabin is just behind ours, and all in
front, between decks, is fitted up with temporary
shelves, whereon our men are stored. Upon the whole
the arrangements are as comfortable as possible for sea.
"There will be four Naval officers and six of the
Army in the ward room, making a very comfortable
mess. A caterer was selected some days since, and he
has laid in a supply of ham, salt beef and crackers
enough to last till we get to Rio Janeiro. The Govern
ment has been exceedingly liberal in the supply to us,
that is in furnishing tools and machinery which upon
our arrival will enable us to work to advantage, saw
mills and flour mills, small sizes but sufficient to spare
our men the excessive labor usually imposed on men
sent on expeditions of this kind. If we will have to
fight we are amply provided with arms and munitions.
Of these things probably you little think, but we are
compelled to, else our condition would be wretched
indeed. By foresight, however, the greatest evils may
be avoided. That we are to take possession of some
point in California there is no doubt — San Francisco
perhaps. A port, if guarded and supplied with such
articles as ships need, would soon become of vast im
portance. Now, apart from the mere fact that we will
be usurpers, do you not think it will be a great thing to
1 Edward O. C. Ord, later Major-General U. S. A.

38 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
be the pioneers in such a move, to precede the flow of
population thither and become one of the pillars of the
land? . . ." "August 3, Ship Lexington at Sea.
"The day is beautiful, and our good or bad ship
is pitching along at a good rate which soon must carry
us upon the high road that leads from Africa and Asia
to the United States. We have now been out twenty
days, and though many vessels have passed within view
none have been near enough to hail. The officers say,
however, that soon we must meet some, and if we are
desirous of sending word back home we had better be
prepared. Need I say that I am, for though the days
have glided by so smoothly as to leave no space between
the departure and the present, yet the certainty ofthe
vast journey before us, bids me be prepared. You
of course cannot be sufficiently familiar with the ar
rangements on board a ship to form a rational idea of
my position, but yet books make you familiar with the
phrases I may be forced to use. The Ship Lexington
was built for war purposes, rated as a sloop of war to
carry twenty guns, ship-rigged and all the necessary
appendages to give a warlike appearance. Upon trial
she proved herself too slow for such purpose and was
converted into a store-ship to carry stores of all kinds
to the Pacific or other squadrons. Six guns were still
left for her own defence. These are on the upper
deck, called the spar deck. This deck is a strong floor,
covering the vessel in its whole length and is surrounded
by the bulwarks about breast high. Through this

ROUND THE HORN 39
deck there are several square hatchways, with steps
leading down to the next deck called the berth deck.
Beneath this deck is the cargo, and magazines. Our
cargo is very heavy as we carry out so many heavy guns
for California service, and the magazine of the ship
could not contain half our powder which amounts to
about eight hundred barrels.
"The berth deck is therefore our house — that part of
it forward of the main (middle) mast is appropriated to
the soldiers and sailors, the former in fixed bunks, and
the latter in swung hammocks. The after [part], or
behind the main mast, is divided into two parts, the
ward room and cabin. The latter is the Sanctum
Sanctorum of the Captain.
"The ward room is a kind of passage way fifteen
feet broad, with eight state rooms, four on each side,
each containing two berths just large enough to hold
one person. Lieut. Ord and I have one of the best
and have a bureau in common. The rest of the ward
room officers are paired off two and two, but we are
seldom in these narrow rooms, except to sleep, but
lounge upon the quarter-deck or at the table where I
now am writing. This is the mess table in the ward
room and it is around it that we all gather twice a day —
breakfast at eight and dinner at four, no supper. You
may feel a little curious at some of our little details and
therefore will I even tell you what is our usual meal.
Tea and coffee for breakfast with hard tack (biscuit)
and butter, with cold ham or tongue, and occasionally
boiled rice or hominy. For dinner we usually have
boiled ham, hot or cold, boiled rice, boiled corned beef,

40 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
soup of peas or chicken, and dessert of apple (dried)
pie or a pudding called (dough) duff— flour, raisins, etc.,
boiled in a bag. There you have all the elements of
the larder, and may vary them in the same manner that
we do to add zest to the meal. I forgot to add that we
have a coop full of chickens and half a dozen pigs
aboard which are the happiest and most comfortable
beings aboard. All from the Captain to the lowest hand
is put on allowance of one gallon of water a day, which
must answer for cooking, washing and drinking. Of
course but little is left for washing and we give our
faces a rub each day with a promise to scour when the
sun becomes less hot and our throats less dry. Salt
water is not good to use as it is harsh and unpleasant
till one gets used to it. Fortunately I have been to sea
so often that these restrictions did or do not seem an
inconvenience, nor have I been in the least sea-sick
since leaving New York.
"The spar deck is divided also into two parts like
the berth deck, the forward part assigned to the men,
and the after part or quarter-deck to the officers. Over
this when the sun is hot are awnings spread, rendering
a most pleasant place to read. We have many books
aboard of all kinds, but our voyage will be so long that
we will be forced to read even the tables in Bowditch.
I wish I could give you a picture of this upper deck as
it now exists : the sun bright and beautiful and the sky
unobscured save by a few fleecy clouds; the wind just
stiff enough to allow of all sail set, the vessel barely
rising and sinking upon the gentle swell, a motion
agreeable to all save sea-sick passengers of whom fortu-

ROUND THE LIORN 41
nately now we have none on board. Stand with me on
the quarter-deck and cast your eyes up at the sails as
they tower over each other, gently swelling out with the
stays and halliards all taut, and gradually let them fol
low the masts to the deck with its coils of rope hanging
from the belaying pins; the long-boat lashed fast with
the whale-boat inside; on the bows a group of soldiers
in all attitudes and postures discussing the future and
California; all about sailors in the bare feet and loose
dress, fixing and scraping and coiling; anything except
idleness, and as you look farther aft, the guard with
their white belts on, nodding and walking to and fro
to seem watchful. Near them are seated four women,
with their stools, needle and thread, working as easily
and quietly as though on terra firma. They are the
wives of four of our men and are the pioneers to a new
land. At first they were very sick but now are cheerful
and contented. There are but two children to whom
the sailors are fast teaching all the oaths in their calen
dar. At last you come to the quarter-deck and see near
you a sailor standing at a wheel with spokes which he
is constantly turning round with his eye upon the
compass, before him.
" Backwards and forwards walks the officer of the
deck with trumpet in hand through which the commands
are given to the sailors up in the rigging. All round
and in the quarter-boats in all attitudes and postures
may be seen the officers reading, talking or ruminating.
Thus day after day passes with no variations save those
created by a change of wind, of which we have had
sufficient, from the calm to a half-gale; but all these are

42 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
forgotten so soon as a fair wind fills our sails and the
gurgling of water under the stern tells of rapid progress.
"A man fell from the fore-top during a storm but
was not killed, and another has turned crazy from the
thoughts of parting from friends. One steward and
cook have each had punishment for delinquencies, and
as you may want to know how it is done I will endeavor
to give it. A sailor offends, he is called to the main
mast on deck where the offence is investigated by the
Captain, who if he thinks proper orders punishment.
All hands are summoned to witness punishment, the per
son is tied by the hands and feet and twelve blows inflicted
on his back by the boatswain. All parties are dismissed
and the matter forgotten. A record of it is kept and
sent to the Secretary of the Navy at the end of the cruise.
Our Captain Bailey1 is very mild and has ordered punish
ment upon but two, they negroes who fully deserved it.
"In consequence of the immense quantity of powder
on board the greatest precautions are taken against fire.
Sentinels are posted at the cook's galley which is near the
bow of the ship, and at night sentinels are at each of
the necessary lamps. All lights are prohibited in the
ward room after ten at night, and cigar smokers have
to go forward of the foremast. I have quit it altogether
and have not touched a cigar since aboard. The
reason was, it hurt my breast and I gave it up before
leaving Pittsburgh and already experience relief. The
habit shall never be resumed, though nowhere is the
temptation so great as on ship-board where one has so
'Theodoras Bailey, later Rear- Admiral U. S. N.; with Far-
ragut at New Orleans.

ROUND THE HORN 43
much time hanging heavily upon his hands. We are
now in Latitude 34 degrees, longitude 37 degrees 52',
which by the map you will see is well out in the ocean,
more than 2,000 miles from New York. At the same
rate it will take us about fifty-seven or sixty days to Rio
Janeiro. We were in hopes the Captain would run
over to Madeira or the Cape DeVerdes, but he has
orders to touch at no place but Rio Janeiro and Val
paraiso, unless pushed for wood and water, of which
we have yet a sufficiency. If we do go to Port Praya I
will send this from there. At Rio we will stay from
five to ten days during which I will try hard to see all
I can of the city and suburbs, of which you shall hear;
the same at Valparaiso. Tell me, if ever you get an
opportunity to write, if you do not think me right under
the circumstances to come on an expedition that holds
out so fair a chance to see the world and take part in
the events that must mark this period of time.
"All authors seem to agree that the part of California
we are going to is a perfect paradise and should belong
to the United States. If no violence be done to the
present inhabitants of that country and our government
can make a plausible pretext for the capture of the
country, then need we not scruple at the part we take,
more especially as we encounter and endure much to
accomplish it; but I will not look to the future but
endeavor to confine my thoughts to the present till
some better clue is opened to give a glimpse at the
destiny and destination of the expedition.
"You have Fremont's Expedition on the parlor
table. Look at the map and you will see Monterey and

44 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
San Francisco with the back country. It is in that
region that I believe we shall be for some time. . . .
" August 7.— -Two vessels are now in sight and from
our positions we may possibly communicate. If either
be for the U. States, it shall bear this to you. . . .
"August 8.— How provoking! Neither ship would
vary her course and so did not come near us. So my
sheet still remains open. The variable winds of the
two past days have given place to a fine breeze from the
north east and we are now sailing free to the south east.
The reason we keep so much to the eastward is, because
the prevailing winds on and south of the equator are
from the east, so that the further we go in this direction
the fairer they will be for us. All well except the cat,
a poor little kitten that finds few friends, but its sickness
this morning excites no little sympathy and if medicine
can aid it, it may live to see better times.
"Noon, August 8. — Sail in sight straight ahead; may
board her. All well, fine day and fair wind. Lat. 28°,
13'; Lon. 33°, 46'. Be careful to direct my letters in
full with as many titles as possible to insure its not
stopping by the way. This is a budget to be sure and
I have a notion to destroy it and merely send a line, but
you will make all due allowances. The sea is uncertain,
so I will leave the balance blank for another chance
should this fail." "At Sea, August 28, 1846.
"This day we crossed the equator on Longitude 16°,
with a fine south east wind which sdon must take us to
Rio Janeiro, whence my next letter must be mailed.

ROUND THE HORN 45
This day is usually among sailors a species of April
fools' day when all sorts of practical jokes are enacted
upon the persons of those who have never crossed the
Line. "Old Neptune usually mounts the bow of the ship
dripping with his brine and accompanied by his beauti
ful wife. They then propeed to initiate the novices. Our
ship is a war vessel and such irregularities are not per
mitted, and it was forbidden to our men for the simple
reason that those who have been south of the equator
bear too small a proportion to the fresh men that Old
Neptune's decrees might not be enforced by his accepted
children. The ship was pronounced on the equator at
eight this forenoon when I was summoned to the Cap
tain's cabin where a holystone (piece of hard stone used
for cleaning decks) was presented for me to rest my
hand upon when the following oath was administered
by the Captain in person: 'You do swear that you
will not chew pig-tail when you can get good cavendish,
that you will not eat hard tack when you can get soft
bread, unless you like the hard best, that you will not
kiss the maid instead of the mistress, unless you like the
maid best, and in all other things comport yourself like
a true son of Neptune. So help you salt water,' — a dash
of which was sprinkled in my face. I was then duly
initiated, and in my turn administered the same oath to
all of our officers on the quarter deck, taking care to
baptise them well in salt water.
"This is the only ceremony which distinguishes this
day from any other, and now as we consult the charts
and maps there appears a dark magic line separating

46 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
us from our friends and homes. This must again be
crossed after weeks of sailing around Cape Horn. I
sent my last letter by a French bark, the only vessel
that we have sent a boat aboard though we have met
great numbers. That bark was bound for Havre and
according to our calculations you should receive a letter
by the middle of September, about the time I will
arrive at Rio. Forty-six days have now passed .since
our departure and looking back upon them nothing is
seen that will leave an impression save the monotonous
flight of time. One night, and a beautiful one it was,
when all were asleep save the officer of the deck and the
men on the lookout, there appeared right in front of
us, like the flying Dutchman, a nice pretty little brig,
long, low and painted black, piratical like and sus
picious. She came quite close and tried to pass our
bows, but could not without coming in contact when
she, the smaller, would have been sunk. Again and
again she tried to cross our bows, we moving majesti
cally along without varying our course. Her motions
appearing suspicious she was hailed but gave no answer,
when all of us were roused and ordered on deck, our
men with their muskets and the sailors at their guns.
"As we lay close alongside in the bright moonlight,
each vessel gliding noiselessly through the water, with
no apparent animation on board of the brig, one could
not but think of the stories of slaves and pirates. When
all was ready again she was hailed in English, French
and Spanish and ordered to stand clear or a shot would
be sent aboard. Such jabbering as arose from her was
never heard, her history and place of destination were

ROUND THE HORN 47
soon made known, she fell astern, and soon again we
were all sleeping away as quiet as ever.
"Her attempting to cross our bows was doubtless
accidental and in a dark night would certainly have
been fatal to all on board of her. She was bound
to Pernambuco and may have been freighted with
slaves, but that was not our business and no delay
was permitted.
"August 29. — Was interrupted yesterday by the ser
vants clearing our only table for dinner, but it makes
but little difference as I am determined to fill the sheet
as a letter to be despatched upon our arrival at Rio.
The wind is now blowing fiercely from the eastward,
and the astronomical instruments have just put us 2
degrees, 23' to the south of the Equator, distance made
in the last twenty-four hours 179 miles — steamboat
speed which if continued will soon show us land again.
"No wonder sailors soon incur a sort of contempt for
land, when for months they live without a peep of it.
The weather is delightful, not at all hot, far less so
than it was when we left New York. Woolen clothing
is not uncomfortable and a blanket at night is not re
jected. We have moonlight nights now, and we usually
assemble upon camp stools at night, with the clear sky
above and the moon casting its soft light upon the sea
around, and there talk of times gone and events in
prospect. Last night when so situated we heard a
hearty laugh from and among the sailors and our men,
and knowing the passage of the equator could not be
passed over without some joke, we were drawn to the
capstan (the limit to all save officers) and soon saw the

48 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
cause of merriment. Old Neptune had paid our ship
a visit on a donkey. It was got up in good style, the
donkey consisting of two sailors covered up in cloths so
as to represent the legs of the beast with a false head
and tail that would have done credit to Niblo. The
old Sea King bestrode his beast, with his trident and
crown. After having made his circuit of the ship he
passed over the bows and disappeared, among the ele
ments of his kingdom — dissolution. . . ."
"September 9. — Well is the sea [called] a fickle thing,
for we are still upon it. Tomorrow land is to be in
sight, Cape Frio, 60 miles from Rio, and on the day
after tomorrow we expect to tread upon a more steady
surface than this deck affords, to taste something more
savory than salt beef and pork. Yes, the oranges must
suffer and all sorts of fruit, but my sheet is now full of
speculation and I will attempt to make its envelope
more real if not more interesting." "September 12, 1846.
" Saturday.
"About three p. m. the day before yesterday the lookout
cried Land Ho! and sure enough a little on our weather
bow there appeared through the hazy air, a huge mass
that changed in form and shape as the mist blew by.
Soon, however, it assumed a shape and form, we glided
by it and as the shades of night closed upon us we found
our vessel between two high islands that mark the ap
proach to the harbor. Anchor was dropped, for the
mist hung heavy and low. Soon the lights on the
lighthouse opened and all night we lay within a couple

ROUND THE LIORN 49
of miles of the light on Rasa Island. There we lay
till one p. m. yesterday, when a gentle breeze rising,
the anchor was hoisted, and noiselessly we slipped into
the harbor — a heavy smoky mist enveloping all save the
immediate shores of the bay. Even those still bear a
fanciful appearance, so that for a fair description of
the harbor I must await a fair day. Forts abound
guarding the entrance and every island in the harbor.
We are now at anchor abreast of the City of St. Sebas
tian, half a mile distant, with a smoke enveloping it so
that it seems a mass of roofs in a quiet nook between
very high hills, with orange and palm and cocoanuts
hanging their boughs in the quiet still air. Large vessels
of war lay all round us, of all nations, but conspicuous
stands the frigate Columbia with the star-spangled
banner hanging from the peak. All the officers have
been on board of us to talk of home and the news, to
ask for letters and see soldiers at sea. Indeed, we find
our arrival has created quite a sensation and all the
Americans consider themselves unlucky to be here in a
land of plenty and sunshine whilst others are engaged
in war. We came to anchor yesterday and immediately
a boat was lowered for town. I went of course. We
landed at steps leading to a fine stone pier, with iron
railing, immediately back of which stood the Hotel
Pharoux, towards which we directed our steps — seven
in number. We entered a large room where tables
were arranged as at an eating house. Groups of
officers of all nations and mustachioed gentry clustered
about with their cigars and wine. We did not stay
long but strolled across a square resting on the bay, to

50 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the central building called Palacio, the city residence
of the Emperor, a fine large building of stone, three
stories, with large vestibule and hall. We passed on,
through the streets where churches stood thick and
then passed into a long narrow street, paved, on either
side of which were stores and shops in which were dis
played every article of use and luxury that man or
woman could desire: ladies' bonnets, artificial flowers
made of shells, silk and feathers, all made by girls who
sit in rows at their task looking their prettiest. Of
course we stopped and looked, and on we strolled for
nearly a mile, then turned back through all the streets
to Pharoux where we sat down to a good supper,
beefsteak, potatoes, coffee, omelet, bread and butter,
with oranges, bananas, ice cream, segars, and iced
liquors. I need hardly add after fifty-nine days'
abstinance from such luxuries ample justice was done.
After snpper we again strolled through the city observ
ing the mules and soldiers that abounded, the omnibus
drawn by two donkeys, and carriages with the same
animals bestrode by a postilion, with boots to their
eyes and spurs that would convict any criminal of
cruelty to animals at first sight; but every country has
its fashions, and I am not disposed to criticize them,
but during my stay here shall conform in all things to
the customs of the place.
"Today I am officer of the day, and will be on duty
till tomorrow, Sunday morning, when I propose attend
ing the Cathedral in the morning, ride out to the
botanical garden in the afternoon, and go to the theatre
in the evening like a good Portuguese. . . ."

ROUND THE HORN 51
"On Board the U. S. Store Ship, Lexington,
"Harbor of Rio Janeiro, Brazil,
"September 16, 1846.
" I wrote you a hasty letter upon my arrival four days
since, and am now seated at the earliest leisure to re
sume the thread of my story, as I take it for granted that
you feel an interest in my travels. I wrote you on
Saturday. On Sunday morning the officer of the deck
called me to see a beautiful barque under sail with the
American ensign at the peak, on board of which our
letters were to be sent. Down she came before a fine
land breeze, and soon our small gig pulled off with the
Captain's clerk armed with a mail bag full of letters
for home. We saw him mount her sides, go aboard,
and soon returned and the barque filled away beauti
fully, worthy to be a messenger in any cause. . . .
"That was Sunday morning, the smoky mist still
enveloping the beautiful scenery of the harbor, but we
hurried our breakfast and inspection and pushed off
for the city to see its strange people and places. We
landed at the public steps, crossed the public square, by
the palace to the Cathedral, but it was closed, morning
mass having been said at daylight. There we stopped
and tried to talk bad Portuguese to some loafers, but
utterly failing in a compound of bad English, Spanish,
Dutch and Indian, we resumed our journey, bound on
seeing some of the magnificent churches with which
the city abounds. Soon we separated into parcels of
two and three, each by a different route. Seeking to
allay that spirit of curiosity that stamps the Yankee
character, I with another, strolled up the Rua do

52 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Ouvador, the street of the city, and though it was
Sunday, it was as gaily thronged as on Saturday night,
shops all open, carts going in the street, hucksters crying
out their heathenish calls and nothing to distinguish it
from any other day. . . .
"On we passed, up one street, down another, till
we reached a ramp or ascent leading up to the chief
monastery of the place. We ascended, and got a fine
view of the city as it lay round the base of the rock, —
then entering the church, by a side door, passed into
a court-yard about 100 feet square, surrounded by a
two-story stone building and colonnade. The stones
of the floor were all coverings for vaults below and on
them were recorded long Latin eulogies upon the
merits of those who lay below — the dates went far back.
Loitering there to decipher the names of some of the
departed bishops, we were soon interrupted by a black
boy carrying on his head a waiter with some eatables,
but we could get nothing out of him but to point to a
stairway, up which we passed into a vestibule, where were
hung four large pictures, groups of saints, badly exe
cuted in glaring colors. Several doors led from this —
one of which by a gallery led to the gallery prepared
for the Choir of the Church of the Establishment. I
felt as though I intruded, not a soul was near but my
companion, and there I stood in the Sanctum Sanctorum
of the Conventa do Pradus, or Santo Bento. It was
beautiful, for it is the chapel of the richest monastery
and convent of the Brazilian Empire. How shall I
describe it, for I know you would like to know. First
then, it is the central building of a large establishment

ROUND THE HORN 53
that stands on the most conspicuous hill of the city, is
oblong, about forty by seventy feet, floor paved with
variegated marbles laid in mosaic. A graceful colonnade
with gilded pillars supports a tasty gallery on three
sides of the building. That part of it opposite the altar
is devoted to the choir, with a fine organ, near which I
stood. All parts of the building are gilded, with the
exception of several spaces reserved for paintings of
the Virgin Mary, during all the chief scenes of her life.
Lamps were suspended from the pillars by curved bars
of gold elaborately wrought. There were no benches
or seats in the church, and no part was carpeted save
that in the immediate vicinity of the altar. This I will
not describe further than that it stood in a large niche,
curtained and ornamented in rich style. All round the
church and beneath the gallery and behind the colon
nade were several private altars for the devotion of the
priests. Thinking we intruded, we were about leaving
when we met a black servant boy who gave us to under
stand by signs that strangers might see anything. So
we loitered all about the church and building for more
than an hour, looking at the groups of priests with their
dark grey robes and shaven crowns, just as Gil Bias
described them a century ago. A nunnery is attached
to the same establishment, but admission is not given to
strangers. By this time we were obliged to hurry to our
boat, and came off to dress for dinner aboard the
frigate Columbia. It was a most excellent one, oi
course, and we did not get back on board the Lexington
till the night was well advanced and all disposed for
sleep. Most opportunely a fine rain occurred that night

54 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
so that as the sun rose on Monday the smoky mist
disappeared and the Sugar Loaf, the Corcovado and
Organ mountains, before but dimly seen, rose up in all
their majesty and frowned upon the bright slopes
beneath, the glittering spires of the city, the red tile
roofs and the harbor with its numerous fleet of merchant
and war ships. Really it far surpasses New York bay
in every respect — in the facility for entrance, the depth
of water and bold outlines of scenery. Would that I
had time to attempt a sketch to send you.1 I have
searched all the book-stores in the city, but find nothing
mailable that can convey to you an idea of the natural
beauty of the place, but Geography teaches you that it
is under the tropic of Capricorn, a generous climate,
that in the hands of the lazy Portuguese a city of 250,000
people has risen up and has become the seat of the only
Empire in America. But I am yarning and must con
fine myself to my own experiences, else there is no telling
where my pen may wander. On Monday, then, with
a bright sun and clear sky, as soon as breakfast was
despatched, a boat might have been seen pushing from
the Lexington's side with six officers on board, all bent
upon adventure. Soon they stood upon the quay and
into the Hotel Pharoux to discuss plans, then to a livery
stable, where all sorts of horses,, mules and vehicles
were inspected, and at last a coach and four with two
saddle horses were selected to accommodate the six.
Ord and I took the horses and led through the narrow,
curved streets of the city, paved with broad, rough
' An excellent map of the harbor was drawn, in ink, on the last
sheet of this letter.

ROUND THE HORN 55
granite blocks, which rattled as our smart ponies gal
loped along. For three miles we rode between houses of
real Spanish or Portuguese style, and then we reached
the suburb Gloria, so called from a fine church by that
name — thence through a pass where the road came upon
a beautiful lake or bay, from which the mountains rise
all round, shutting it off from the rest of the world save
by a very narrow strait connecting it with the main
harbor. This is a famous place in these parts, known
by the name of Bota Fogo Bay. Thence we passed
along a valley, with beautiful houses surrounded by
gardens containing oranges, pineapples, bananas, cocoa-
nuts, and other tropical trees. On, on we rode to the
country, the mountains rising higher and higher on
either side till at last the sea came full in sight, the break
ers dashing high in air. We were bound for the botan
ical gardens, kept up by the government to encourage
the growth of tropical fruits.
"It was more beautiful than I was prepared to see,
arranged with considerable taste at the same time ex
hibiting some of the most useful trees in nature, — such
as coffee, tea, nutmeg, pepper, cocoa, cinnamon, cloves,
everything in fact we could think of. Water was
brought in from the mountains to irrigate the gardens
first and then pass into a pretty lake. Near it too some
cedar trees were trained so as to form a pretty cottage
with doors and windows quite rural and natural. We
spent a couple of hours, having for a guide an old
negro, who could converse in signs with anybody, from
the frequent visits of strangers like us who speak a
barbarous language. Near the garden a Maine man

56 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
has established a sort of resting place, and had taken
charge of our horses before we had fairly lighted, so that
by the time we had reached the gate in returning, he
had them finely stabled and a fine lunch prepared for
us, which we did ample justice to. We then returned to
the city and struck up the valley of the Tijuca to see
the palace of the Emperor. The scenery was more
beautiful than that towards the botanical garden. The
palace is about three miles out from the city, and stand
ing upon an eminence is seen .at a distance. We ap
proached to the very door without hindrance, though
soldiers and officers were lingering near, rode round the
fountain in front of the palace called San Christovao,
stood our horses, took a good look and could see no
difference between that building and any other, though
it were the Emperor's. It consists of two three-story
buildings connected by a curtain two stories high. In
the middle is a semi-circular projection with a corridor.
Each story is marked by the iron walk in front of each
row of windows, but such is the fashion in all the houses
and it is in there that the Senoritas show themselves in
the cool of the evening. Night was fast approaching
and long rows of oil lamps glittered along the streets as
we rode to the stable. We found that our stylish
friends who sported the chariot, in making too grand
a display, had a grand breakdown and had to walk
home. This was a good subject for us and we made the
most of it, though our hard ponies made our bones ache
not a little; indeed I feel the hard jog-trot of my nag yet.
I think of taking another ride again but fear our man
won't let us have his horses again as they were not spared.

ROUND THE HORN 57
"Yesterday we went regularly a-shopping, and such
a compound of languages was never before heard.
Many amusing scenes necessarily occurred, but it is
impossible to name them, nor do I see at this instant
what better use I can make of my next leaf than at
tempting to give you a map of the scene, so here goes :
[The map mentioned in the previous foot-note is
drawn here.]
"Well, the sketch of the harbor is done and is toler
ably good, except it is a little too narrow, and without
drawing and color it is impossible more than to give
you a general idea of the place. Ships and boats to
which you are unaccustomed enter so in the view from
here that they almost conceal the city. Many ships of
war are quite near us, so that we hear their drums and
music, but I still think the Columbia beats them all, for
they have a regular band, which plays 'Lucy Long'
and 'Dan Tucker,' 'Yankee Doodle,' or something of
the kind every night, which sounds so strangely in this
distant land. The frigate sails on Thursday and we
shall again start on Friday or Saturday. This is
Wednesday, and I am on board on duty as officer of the
day; have been interrupted a dozen times but shall per
severe, for to-morrow I must take another ride and scale
the craggy sides of the Corcovado which commands a
view of everything. By the way, we have all met Mr.
Wise," the Minister, who has been very kind, gave a
large dinner party to-day, from which I am absent on
account of its being my day's duty. It is now going on
1 Henry A. Wise, later Governor of Virginia during John
Brown's raid.

58 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
and is no doubt a good one. His house is back of
Gloria hill and I will have to call upon him to-morrow.
" One of the first things in Rio that strikes the stranger
is the large quantity of negroes carrying bags of coffee
on their heads, trotting after each other like Indians,
chanting an African chant. Carts or drays are not
used — omnibuses drawn by mules run hourly to San
Christovao and Gloria — steamboats of small size and
curious make across the bay to Praya Grande every
hour — the sedan chair is in common use by ladies, they
are carried by two slaves. But of all things that amused
me is the common volante — a sort of gig, with high
springs behind, one mule in the shafts and one outside,
ridden by a postillion with big boots and spurs. When
in a hurry, the postillion's arms and legs flying about
and the lumbering concern flying along, they look like
a structure of a past age compared with the buggy;
however they are peculiar to the Spanish, who doubtless
prefer them to Yankee inventions. A large stream of
water is brought into the city from the country by a
fine aqueduct, which leads it to several public fountains,
around which are always assembled a crowd of negroes
with their kegs to be filled for use. No wells are thought of .
These fountains are variously and prettily ornamented,
all erected by the Government for public use. The peo
ple generally are well dressed, but form a curious medley
of all colors, blacks being able to attain all ranks in society,
though slavery in its worst form is practised openly, even
the importation of slaves by the thousand from Africa 
"Rio Janeiro is a well governed city and it is safe to
walk the streets at any time day or night. It is a great

ROUND THE HORN 59
place for diamonds, great quantities of which are sent
abroad to England and elsewhere. Ornaments of the
most beautiful kind are displayed, of jewelry, neck
laces, head ornaments, breast pins, everything that can
be made of gold, silver, diamonds and precious stones.
Large quantities of artificial flowers are made of
feathers that are very beautiful. I would purchase
some were I bound the other way, but they could not
easily be sent.
" Thursday.— -I was officer of the day yesterday and my
duties required my presence on board all day. During
it I managed to write thus much, but as soon as my
turn was passed I went to the city for the purpose of
going to the Corcovado mountain which overtops all
others and stands like a king among the many peaks
that are in sight. Unluckily the day was cloudy and
threatened rain so as to induce us to postpone the trip
till to-morrow. Lieut. Halleck ' and I then set out to
examine the aqueduct that supplies the city with water.
It is a hundred years old, built by the Jesuits who were
the original founders of the colony. It is merely a
stone pipe or duct that brings the water from the
mountain to the city, to its various public fountains,
whence it is carried to all the houses on the heads
of negroes. These fountains are variously arranged,
some like monuments, the water flowing continually
from certain points, others like the side of a house,
with cornice and painted spaces. We followed the
aqueduct from point to point, all the while ascending
for five miles, and then we met the Minister, Mr. Wise,
1 Henry W. Halleck, later Lieutenant-General U. S. A.

60 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
with a young naval officer, who likewise were visiting
the source of the duct, called the 'Mother of Waters,
a beautiful mountain stream. It was raining and we
sat for a while under a shelter of leaves erected by some
workmen, and then Mr. Wise commenced his return
home. Lieut. Halleck and I continued up the Corcovado.
It was steep and long, the path was winding round and
round the hill, so that it was half past two before we
stood upon the summit. The scene was magnificent,
though the misty air prevented our seeing as far as we
expected, but Rio and the surrounding country. We
had walked ten miles, and the same distance lay be
tween us and dinner, so we hadn't much time to look,
and commenced our descent. We returned through
the most beautiful valley of Brazil, that of Larangeiras
(of oranges) in which the cottages looked really inviting,
in their whitewashed walls, peeping out from rows of
orange and banana trees. Coffee trees are in great
abundance, resemble somewhat the haw bush. Two
seeds of coffee are enclosed in a berry like a very large
red cherry. I have now a beautiful bush of them
brought to-day from the Corcovado. It was near sun
set before we reached the hotel, where we ordered a
hearty, substantial dinner, to which ample justice was
done, for we were hungry, wet and cold. We are now
on board again and I must think of closing this as
to-morrow we are to be ready for sea, though the chances
are that we will not get off till Saturday. This depart
ure will be as bad as the last, as it will be impossible
to write you again till we reach Valparaiso, about the
first week in November, which will take three or four

ROUND THE HORN 61
months to reach you. This long exemption must be
my excuse for so long a letter this time. Several vessels
have arrived here since we have been in, bringing news
as late as the 30th of July wherein it seems that the war
is to be prosecuted with vigor— it must be a long one
unless peace is made this winter, for the Mexicans are
a proud people. The war excites much speculation
here, but all seem to think the people of the United
States are determined to possess North Mexico, re
gardless of the principles involved. Such is pretty
near the truth, but we will hear all about it when we
get to California. ..."
"On Board the U. S. Store Ship Lexington
"Harbor of Rio Janeiro, Brazil, "September 18.
"I was off this morning inspecting two of the prin
cipal forts — Cobras and Villegagnon, and I have just
finished my sketch in pencil. Now that my hand is in
I'll add a few more embellishments, making a sort of
pictorial envelope. This1 is the shape of the ordinary
house of the city, roofed with tiles of a greyish red color
— walls of plastered stone, the balcony of iron. It some
times extends the full front of the house and sometimes
only in front of each window. In them are seen the
women or ladies peering upon the street with their
black hair combed back tight, — painfully so. In gen
eral the ladies are not beautiful, but of course there are
exceptions. The windows and doors of the lower
1 Referring to a pencil sketch at the side of the page. Sher
man's facility in drawing was often exercised in his letters.

62 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
stories are barred — over the windows with iron, some
times with wood, so that questions are asked and an
swered before a latch is touched. No fireplaces or
chimneys are used — never cold enough to sit by, and
all the cooking is done in brazeiros or pots of charcoal.
Yesterday I noticed a funeral of some poor person. The
coffin was like a large trunk — not shaped as ours, and
the corners covered with gilt papers. It lay across the
foot board of a volante; no procession followed but four
negro boys carried candles four feet long, lighted two
on each side. It was raining hard, so the boys had
great trouble to keep the candles lighted. The volante
had to be stopped several times till the boys could re
light their extinguished tapers: that looks odd enough
in a shower in broad daylight. When a person of dis
tinction dies they always associate military pomp with
the ceremonies of the church. Today as I passed a
church I observed a body of troops drawn up in front
of a church. I walked in. A double row of persons
with lighted torches lined the way to a side altar in
front of the principal one. Six or eight priests in robes
were singing the funeral service for some female who
was distantly connected with some noble family. As
the service terminated the bells tolled and were followed
by the bells of fifty other churches. All are Catholics
here, and of course the church stamps a strong char- *
acter upon all the people. Priests are seen in the streets
at all hours with their broad hats, black gowns and cord
girdles. Upon all of the church festivals all the city
turns out to enjoy the day. Rest and festivity, music
and dancing, mark the day and all evince real happiness,

ROUND THE LIORN 63
hollowing and burning gunpowder to an alarming ex
tent. Upon Sundays and all festivals the Theatre is
thronged. I attended it, and heard the opera of
'Beatrice di Tenda,' in [letter torn] better than any
opera in New Orleans. The Theatre too is larger
than that of the St. Charles, the largest in the United
States. . . ."
It was on the 21st of September that the Lexington
sailed from Rio for Valparaiso, and though the circum
stances of the voyage are described in the Sherman
Letters somewhat more fully than the matters with
which the preceding letters have dealt, the following
account of them is individual enough to be preserved :
"The Lexington, At Sea, Pacific Ocean,
"October 27, 1846.
"The Horn is passed, and all now look upon our
arrival at Valparaiso as a matter of course, in a very
short time. My first thought is of you and a letter is
begun, to which I fear I shall be tempted to make so
many additions that it will be more ponderous than
interesting. I wrote you twice from Rio. The day
after my last we succeeded in getting to sea, where at
once the old routine was resumed, and storms and
calms succeeded each other, exciting but little interest
to those most affected. Time wore on, the sun became
less genial and warm, rain turned into hail and snow,
the air assumed a keen and more searching feel and
began to sigh and moan about the rigging telling us
plainly that winter was coming. The hint was taken,
the lighter spars and sails were stored away, every

64 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
moveable article secured with lashing and the ship put
in Cape Horn trim. We had several pretty severe
storms on the way down the Patagonian coast, a pampero
or two off the La Plata, but they merely served to pre
pare us for the gales we were doomed to encounter at
the Cape. On the twenty-first day out, land was dis
covered ahead and soon made out to be Staten Land.
We sailed round it at night and when the sun rose bright
and clear the next morning, the snow clad mountains
looked so hard and forbidding that even a landsman
would prefer the decks of a ship to such a specimen of
his element. Look to the map and you'll see that as
soon as we rounded Cape St. John, or the easternmost
end of Staten Land, we looked upon the broad Pacific.
I could not see that it differed from the element upon
which we had dwelt so long, but a majestic roll or swell,
characteristic of the place, bade us be prepared for
storms. "There is a current from the Pacific to the Atlantic
and the prevalent winds are from the south-west, so a
ship has to stem both of these, besides encountering the
head swell that almost defies the skill of the navigator.
Sailors hate land and only approach it for fresh grub
or to take a fresh departure. It was for the latter
purpose that we took a peek at the land and then
steered to the south to keep clear of the Horn. The
day was fair but ere night fell a heavy mass of clouds
rose to the south-west, which boiled up and up till it
gave way to a howling wind that came on charged with
snow squalls that swallowed up everything. Then
began the scuffle, and for twelve whole days and nights

ROUND THE HORN 65
these clouds of snow with gales followed each other in
quick succession, dead ahead, driving us further and
further off till really it was feared we would have to run
for it and take shelter behind the coast of Terra del
Fuego. But everything has an end and so had the
south-wester, which gradually slacking away gave place
to a fair wind of which advantage was taken and the
day before yesterday Cape Horn was in sight. It is an
island of hard snow-clad rock that rises out of deep
water and is rough, unfashioned, a sample of that chaos
out of which earth was made or as sailors say, God got
tired when he got this low down and flung the rocks
down without regard to symmetry or order, as the
potter flings the loose mud from his fingers after he has
completed his pot. There are several other rocky
islands that are grouped about it, whilst the cold snowy
mountains of Terra del Fuego form a pretty background
for the picture. We passed quite near for the wind was
fair and light and we all felt a curiosity to stare this
monster in the face. The Sea Gull 1 was lost here when
the exploring expedition was in these parts, and many a
stout ship that had circled the world has gone down
whole in this sea. Not a sailor but what has his yarn of
shipwreck and many a history bears the words, ' Swamped
off Cape Horn,' for no soul ever escapes to tell the tale.
" During the twelve days we had one night that beat
anything I had ever seen, and our Captain, who has
been here repeatedly, says he never had such a rough
1 The Sea Gull was one of the vessels of the U. S. Exploring
Expedition which sailed under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, in
1838. She was lost, according to his record, about May 1,
1839.

66 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
time of it. The sea ran very high and made many
breaches over us. Snow sometimes lay on the decks
and clogged the rigging, and icicles dangled from every
point that would yield a place. The lowest the ther
mometer has been was 22°, or 10° below freezing.
This, too, coming so soon after we had languished under
a tropical sun chillblained our hands and feet, for we
have no fire on board and had to do the best with coats
and blankets. I missed my cloak much, and now I
cannot imagine why I did not bring it along. I have
caught a severe cold and my fingers are now swollen
with cold. Amidst the heaviest of the storm I had to
go on deck, that is I was impelled by curiosity to see the
gale, to watch the big wave coming on as though it
would engulf all, and the old Lexington rise slowly to
its very summit and majestically sink into the next
valley, ready to rise upon the next height; or to listen
to the wind whistle, and watch the management of the
gear by which this mass of a hulk is made to defy the
very elements. I believe I have made some proficiency,
both in the technical phrases and in the philosophy of
the machine, so that should this Fortune (that has
sported not a little with me) place me where nautical
knowledge would be called for, I might seize the
speaking trumpet, 'clewlines, buntlines, let go the
haulyards, lay aloft and furl, etc.,' and work the ship
to her port. Upon the whole, however, I think that
Cape Horn has fully convinced me that at least the
Army is better than the Navy, and land a better element
to operate on than water; yea, more than once, a
species of conviction has come across my mind that I

ROUND THE HORN 67
did not act the wisest part in throwing up my tame
prospect at Pittsburg for this wild goose chase; but
Cape Horn is passed and now for the first time since
leaving New York the vessel heads towards our real
destination, California. Every day and week will
bring us nearer that destination which is to be some
sort a home for most of us, till we are disposed of or
called back to the States. ..."
"November 6, Lat. 58° S., Long. 76° W.
"of Greenwich, or 1° E. of Washington.
"I flattered myself in thinking that Cape Horn was
done with us. The sun played the hypocrite, putting
on a smiling face to beguile us into a feeling of security,
for the very night after I had finished the first sheet,
when we were looking for a fair wind, a foul one arose
dead ahead and here we are, after ten more days of
gale that at times was terrific, still south of Cape Horn,
the crew worn out and all dispirited at the bad prospect.
The wind still continues from the north-west and God
only knows when it will cease. For the last twenty-
four days we have been literally tempest tost, making
no progress towards our destination, whilst the sailors
always superstitious consider us as Jonahs punished
by Heaven for being the instruments in an iniquitous
cause. "We have had bad luck, sure enough, and according
to the usual course of nature are entitled to some com
pensation for the future to which I trust, still hoping
to reach Valparaiso. How do we pass our time, you
probably would ask. One of the officers (Navy) and

68 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
half the crew has to be on the upper deck at all times,
exposed to the elements. As the crew is short, we have
made one fourth of our soldiers remain on deck all the
time to assist in hauling at the ropes, and doing any
deck work. These must be superintended by one of
us (officers) for we will not allow the Navy officers to
command our men except through us. This duty
keeps us on duty one day out of four, on which we spend
a great portion on deck, coming below, however, when
ever we choose. The other three days are spent in the
ward room, reading, playing cards, or sleeping. This
latter being a labor rather than pleasure, and he is
considered the happiest man who can punish his bed
most. I have read all of Washington Irving's works
that are aboard, Pickwick, Barnaby Rudge, Shake
speare, everything I could get, and yesterday cast about
to determine which I should attempt next — the Bible,
History of the Reformation or the Wandering Jew, but
have postponed such a task till even a time more
urgent than the present. Hours too, day and night,
have I lay in my berth listening to the creaking of
the timbers and wondering how man with his limited
strength could make a vessel so strong as to stand this
violent rolling and tossing; how long this particular one
can stand it, whether it would be better in case of wreck
to run on deck and try the chance of a floating spar, or
like the monkey clap my hands to my head and go
down without a struggle. These are mere thoughts,
for were you to see a group of us on deck, with the sea
foaming and roaring all round as though inevitably
bound to swallow us up, you could detect no sign of

ROUND THE LIORN 69
apprehension, or fear. Should a poor fellow then pre
tend to offer up a prayer to his Maker he would be
laughed at and ridiculed in such a manner as to turn
devotion into resentment.
"How different is real danger to those who encounter
it and those who from a comfortable fireside or terra
firma merely contemplate it!
"Great quantities of birds are constantly about the
ship picking up every piece of bread or meat that is
thrown over. Large albatross like huge geese, and a
small pigeon exactly like the tame ones, with white and
black spots, are so thick and tame that we have got
tired of catching them. We have caught great num
bers of them and also of the albatross by a fishing line
and hook baited with pork, and really it is a curious
proceeding to haul in a great big goose-like bird with
wings expanded and resisting with all its might till at
last it stands upon the deck of a ship surrounded by a
singular race of wingless birds, who are so cunning as
to catch them. It is to the great number we have
caught that the sailor attributes our unusually hard
luck off this Cape Horn. One of our chief objects of
merriment is at meal time, to see some ten hungry
mortals strung around the ward room, with backs
braced against the bulk head, a cup of tea in one hand,
a hard biscuit and piece of beef in the other, and an
appetite not diminished by being at sea. Presently
the old ship rises higher and higher upon a huge sea,
and pitches headlong into the next valley. Away goes
the negro boy with his plate of hard tack, on him the
other with the tea pot and mixed up in all sorts of order,

70 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
chairs, camp stools, and officers' legs, etc. This sea
is no respecter of persons or things, for not one of us
but in his turn has served as a laughing object for the
rest, and every thing breakable in shape of plates, cups,
etc., are among the missing; and should any strangers
pay us a call they would find us poor enough, and
might be forced to eat a dinner out of tin plates and
wait for their turn for a drink of water out of the cup.
I can now understand why all sailors are so good-
natured — not that nature made them so originally, but
because the sea kills or banishes all who have any
malice in their composition. Who but a philosopher,
and a kind one too, could behold without swearing, a
nice plate of rice, boiled and brought with great care
from the galley, suddenly cast into the dirty scuppers
full of dirt and salt water, with a broken plate and nigger
boy close by if not actually in it! Yet if one were to be
angry at such a sight he would be voted unworthy of
the sea, a reproach indeed. . . .
"Friday, November 20. — We are now within two
hundred miles of Valparaiso. The sky is serene, the
sea very smooth and pacific, and a light breeze gives us
assurance that tomorrow or next day we shall once
more drop our anchor. Our stay will be so short that
I will have but little time for letter-writing and there
fore will enclose what I have already written upon my
arrival. How glad we all were to get away from the
cold damp weather off the Cape ? The sun, or Old
Jamaica, as it is termed, is regarded as a kind friend
and our chief occupation is picking out the sunny parts
of the deck to enjoy the genial rays. Birds have

ROUND THE HORN 71
gradually left us and this morning a school of whales
came quite near to bid us adieu.
" What fools they are for preferring such cold stormy
regions to the sunny equator. A month hence no doubt
we will be seeking shade and a cool draught of air as
much as we now do the sunny side. It has occurred
to me several times that I ought to have sent Phil an
inventory of the things I left at Pittsburg. I did not
conceive them of sufficient value, but now remember
my map (Tanner's), some silver spoons (four of each
kind), and a box of mathematical instruments that I
may want again. Should we remain at Valparaiso
long .enough to see anything of interest I will write
again. We have now been out sixty days, twenty-six
of them off Cape Horn, a long passage and unless we
have better luck the rest of the way it will be pretty
close to March before we land in California. . . .
" Tuesday, November 24. — This morning we ran
round the rocky headland that forms the harbor of
Valparaiso, and are now lying near one American sloop
of war, Levant, one English line of battle, two frigates,
two sloops, and other foreign shipping. We find that
we did very well for sixty-four days. The Saratoga,
not having arrived that left Rio eighty-four days
ago, apprehensions are felt for her safety. One
of the English frigates was driven back three times
and was detained near three months off Cape Horn.
So we had no just reason to complain of the
Lexington. "Here we find news from the California coast, all
the towns in possession of our fleet, so that we'll have

72 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
but little to do else than land and fortify either San
Francisco or Monterey— no fighting— that's too bad
after coming so far. . . ."
"United States Ship Lexington,
"Harbor of Valparaiso, Chili,
"November 26, 1846.
" We have been here for three days. I had prepared
my letters and given them to a merchant, Mr. Hobson,
to be sent by the British steamer that sails for Panama
the day after tomorrow. We have just lear.ned that
there is some difficulty in getting the English agents to
insure their despatch to the United States. I will go
on shore tomorrow and if I find such to be the case will
despatch this by the steamer and send the more lengthy
and ponderous letters by the ship Seaman that sails
for Baltimore around Cape Horn. We are all well,
merely engaged in getting water and provisions, which
will detain us about a week longer when we shall push
out for Monterey. You will have seen in the papers
Commodores Sloat's and Stockton's proclamations,
with an account of the taking of California and the
anarchy that prevails there and can fancy the task we
will have in reconciling a proud people to a new yoke.
We do not yet know whether we will establish ourselves
at Monterey or San Francisco.
"We find that vast importance is attached here to
our expedition. The idea is that we are terrible and
we encourage the idea, for our stores are superior in
kind and quantity to any thing ever seen in Spanish
countries. There is a very large fleet of English

ROUND THE LIORN 73
vessels here. Many of the officers have paid visits of
etiquette. "Yesterday the Admiral, Sir George Seymour, sent
intimation that he would visit us today and accordingly
did so in uniform with his suite. This is unusual, for
a store-ship is not strictly warlike and prepared for dis
play, yet the old Lexington was brushed up and looked
quite well. But it was not the ship they wished to see,
but our men.
"The conversation turned chiefly upon California
from which the Admiral has lately arrived in the
Collingwood, line of battle ship. He gave preference
to Stockton's proclamation which by our Naval officers
is not deemed comparable to Sloat's. The English
evidently dislike our following their example in making
conquests, but I do not believe, however, they intend
any opposition to our steps. They say the French have
despatched a large fleet for the Pacific, so that it is
within the range of possibility that stirring scenes are
yet in the future for us. I purposely refrain from de
scribing the city and harbor as it will afford me ample
means for a long letter to be written on the next stage
of our voyage. We were sixty-three days from Rio
here and had a very severe time off Cape Horn which I
have partially described in my long letter by the Seaman.
Should I send this letter by steamer it will be the only
one. If you can convey to Mother a hint of my progress
and safety and tell her my letters are sent round the
Cape, it will relieve her uneasiness at my long silence.
Of course you have written me before this and I shall
expect to find several [letters] awaiting my arrival at

74 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the fleet on the coast. The Seaman will be at Balti
more in about 110 days, when you will receive a long
letter." "United States Ship Lexington,
"Valparaiso, December 5, 1846.
"... Since my last two ships of war have come in —
the frigate Independence from Boston, whence she
sailed August 29, nearly six weeks after us. She is a
faster sailer than the Lexington and did not have bad
weather at the Cape as we did. She brought letters for
all the officers but me. I got a paper from Cincinnati.
I consoled myself that my most valued correspondents
were in the West where they have no timely notice of
the sailing of vessels. The Independence is destined
for the north-west coast. The line of battle ship Co
lumbus is also here from China by way of the Sandwich
Islands. They were on their way home but found here
despatches, which may compel them to sail for the
north-west coast. Commodore Biddle, who com
mands, will first go to Callao before deciding. I hope
the Columbus will go on the station, for she is a beautiful
ship carrying 86 guns and would have much weight in
case England or France should interfere with us. . . .
"I might give you a pictorial letter of Valparaiso, but
can get no good paper for the purpose and in my next
will attempt to describe the city and its peculiarities.
I do not attempt it now because I have not time. We
shall sail to-day and will in all probability cross the
equator in twenty days, thence to Monterey it will take
us from forty to sixty days. Probably we may go to the

ROUND THE HORN 75
Sandwich Islands, at least I hope so, as I want to see
them before I return to the United States.
"The weather has been delightful, but I have been
too much busied by private and public business to
make a trip to the Capital, Santiago; have confined
my journeys to the different valleys within ten miles of
the city, all of which are sufficiently barren, the very
opposite of those green rich gorges about Rio Janeiro.
This city will not at all compare with that, except in
having better horses, ponchos and larger spurs, nor are
there any slaves here, all work being done by free lazy
Spanish Chileno fellows who seem to say as they bend
under severe loads that they work, to be sure, but wish
it to be distinctly understood that it does not detract
from their being Cavalleros. . . ."
The following letter, which has in place of the date
a sketch-map of Valparaiso, was apparently begun
after the voyage to California was resumed:
"There now have I finished a sketch of Valparaiso,
which may be as incomprehensible as so much Chinese
marks; but conceive yourself on a high range of hills,
bare, barren and desolate, looking out upon the bound
less Pacific. At your feet, is an indentation in the
coast which is the Harbor of Valparaiso somewhat in
the form I have given: the high point of hill to the
left on which stand the light-house and a battery of
guns; next it at the very margin of water, the old part
of the city arranged, the two well built streets, with a
kind of public square at the further end, where the band
plays of a moonlight night to the delight of hundreds of

76 SHERMAN'S LIOME LETTERS
Senoritas and their ponchod Caballeros. Near it is
the custom house, the centre of the city; in front of it,
the public wharf, where are congregated boats of all
countries and nations, from which arise a perfect bedlam
of sounds, Dutch, French, Spanish, but above all,
loudest of the loud, is heard the earnest Irishman or
persevering Yankee. It is in the plaza, between the
custom house and wharf, where a stranger is first im
pressed with the character of this new people.
"No negroes are here, but a swarthy set of active
fellows carrying bales and bags from the wharf to the
custom house, edging their way among sailors and
peons (or country people) either lounging in groups or
bestriding their shaggy horses. The Almendral is the
new part of the city and is dignified by the principal
churches and theatre which occupy nearly the whole of
the new plaza. You know that Plaza merely means a
public square, usually paved like a street. In Val
paraiso they were not ornamented by trees or fountains,
but were dusty, hot and dirty. Indeed the absence of
vegetation is a marked deformity in this picture, nature
having given but the scantiest furze, and these people
having only raised a few peach, almond and poplar
trees. These, scanty as they are, are only to be found
at the base of the hills back of the Almendral, in gardens,
owned chiefly by certain convents and monasteries of
great antiquity and wealth.
"To the right of my map the hills rise again, com
pleting the small amphitheatre upon which stands the
City. From it the roads lead in zigzag tracks to the
summit of the coast range of hills and penetrate far

ROUND TLIE HORN 77
back among the Andes, affording all Chili a means of
exchanging their wheat, etc., for the cloths of Europe
and nicnacs of Yankees. . . .
"I did not go to Santiago or Quillota but confined
my wanderings to the city and its immediate neighbor
hood, taking frequent opportunities to gallop their
sturdy horses over the steep and crooked roads that
looked exactly like their donkeys, tough and stubborn.
"I attended the opera and church, both on Sunday,
in the same public square, attended a hurdle-race just
back of the light-house, where hundreds of ladies were,
and where six tolerable horses were required in run
ning about a mile to leap four hurdles of wicker work
about four feet high. The riders were chiefly English
(one a midshipman) dressed in fancy coats and caps.
They made a fine start and at the first leap one horse
fell with his rider and another threw his rider. The
balance ran the race making the leaps, the English
midshipman winning on a horse owned by the Admiral
of the fleet, Sir George Seymour. This would be
deemed discreditable, were our navy officers to patron
ize such sports and even ride a horse race. 'Tis different
with the English who by all means encourage athletic
sports and, go where they will, must introduce the
hurdle race or some similar sport. On this race
course were all sorts of people, nearly all mounted-
many native ladies. These are pretty looking on
horse-back because they ride well and have their hair
dressed prettily, wearing no bonnets. Fashion, how
ever, is making rapid inroads upon the native grace and
dress, substituting bonnets for the reboso, and other

78 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
changes that 'enrich the milliner but make the wearers
poor indeed.' Indeed the progress of civilization and
fashion is depriving the traveller of all reward for his
toil, showing him the same identical dress and manner
that he left behind him. Thank God that the French
have no effect upon the common herd, who may dress
as much or as little as they please and to them one must
look for the characteristics of a people. At the hurdle-
race one might have imagined himself near New York,
for all the ladies with some exceptions wore a hat and
feather with the long skirt. To study the native groups,
then, one must go on the road to Santiago where at
every rod groups are met that are purely Chileno.
There you see a herd of mules and donkeys loaded with
bales of hay, vegetables, wood or fagots, chickens in
coops, everything imaginable, trudging along up hill and
down hill, without bridle, but patiently bearing their
burden to market. Ahead is the madre mule with a
bell, whose sound is known and followed by the ugly,
shabby, patient group. Behind them is the Peon, or
muleteer, a peaked straw hat, a poncho over his shoul
ders and lasso in hand. His saddle consists of any
number of shaggy cloths or pillions secured to a saddle
tree by thongs of leather and from it are suspended two
huge wooden stirrups holding the feet of the rider,
weighted down by spurs truly huge and cruel to behold, •
the whole making a real Spanish 'Picter.' Indeed
somehow or other I have associated the donkey with
the Spaniard, whether from groups in pictures we had
to draw at West Point or from the sketches of Gil Bias
I know not. The poncho is a piece of cloth woven

ROUND THE HORN 79
coarse of goat's hair, nearly square, of the size of a
small blanket, three stripes of fancy colors, one near
each edge and one down the middle. In this last there
is a hole, through which the head is passed allowing the
poncho to rest lightly and gracefully on the shoulders,
giving to the wearer the truly Spanish, magnificent air.
This garment is worn at all times, by the merchant in
his store and the beggar in the street. The poor devil
that can't get anything else picks up a piece of old
carpet, cuts a hole and soon struts under his poncho.
The brighter the colors the more it is prized. Deeming
them well suited for our expected life we supplied our
selves with them, as also leggins, saddle pillions, etc.,
that seemed remarkably well suited for a frontier life.
"Wilkes * on his exploring expedition visited Val
paraiso and gave a full account of all he saw, so if you
feel anxious to study the place I would advise you to
refer to him. I deemed the whole place so very inferior
in natural beauty to the Harbor of Rio Janeiro that I
was disappointed and for many days could not reconcile
myself to it. The city itself looked so cramped, the
high, rugged, barren hills seeming ready to crowd the
city into the very ocean, and, worse than all, the deep
gashes (bare and unseemly) in the mountain contrasting
so badly with the delightful beautiful valleys on either
side of the Corcovado near Rio. Whilst there2 five
of our men deserted and it fell to my task to search for
1 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, commander of expedition pre
viously mentioned, author of Narrative of United States Exploring
Expedition During the Years 1838-1842; later the central figure
of the "Trent Affair."
2 Evidently Valparaiso, not Rio.

80 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
them. For two days I searched assisted by many
vigilantes, but to no purpose; they were not found,
having escaped towards Santiago. This search, how
ever, brought me to, and through, sailors' boarding-
houses and all sorts of low places that are seldom seen.
Never before did I see the exhibition of so much vice
and iniquity, nor do I believe there are places to compare
with the suburbs of Valparaiso in any city of the
United States. If missionaries were to give them a
call instead of sowing dissension amongst so-called
heathens, they would have stronger claims upon the
charity of the world. In Chili the Catholic is the
state religion, but all others are tolerated. All the
Americans speak well of the people, as honest and well
disposed, and the amount of vice I speak of is confined
to the portion 'of the city where foreigners, sailors, etc.,
are congregated. To them this state of things is owing.
Sailors ought to be a good set of people from the dangers
they constantly are threatened with, but on shore they
are the worst class of people. I wrote to you several
times from Valparaiso and presume with this sheet will
have said enough of the place and therefore bid it farewell.
"We hoisted anchor near sunset of the 5th of December
with a fine south-east breeze, which soon carried us
out upon the broad ocean. Eor twenty odd days we
sailed with a fair wind and truly Pacific sea, delightful
indeed, when at the last day of last year, we crossed the
equator in Longitude 117 W. The next day, New
Year's, we celebrated in rather a boisterous manner.
"Soon again we found the north-east trades and are
now in Latitude 34°, 51' and Longitude 130°, 40' with

ROUND THE LIORN 81
a strong north-east wind and heavy sea. It is quite
cold, too, reminding us of old Cape Horn. We are all
praying for a north-west wind which in four days
could run us into Monterey Bay, but our usual luck may
keep us bobbing on the ocean's surface for weeks in
sight as it were of our destination. Should you ever
meet Mr. Corwin or any other person in Congress,
advocate eloquently the establishment of a mail route
to California by steamers, for I am perfectly satisfied
with sail vessels and would decidedly prefer returning
by way of Mexico and steamers. Just think, we have
been 191 days, more than six months on board this
vessel, and yet are not there. Our Captain Tompkins *
is confident we will find peace upon our arrival, in
which case I would not be astonished if he would im
mediately return to his wife and family, a citizen. So
too with Loeser 2 who is wealthy. Ord, Minor ' and I
will then have to conduct the affairs of the colony,
shoot grizzly bears, spear the salmon, hunt the elk and
exist till our time comes to return. God only knows
when that is to be. I hope the war ain't over, and I
will be so selfish as to wish enough promotions to make
me a captain.
" Tuesday, January 26. — Yesterday morning we made
land and ran along it for a couple of hours not knowing
whether we were north or south of Monterey, but at
noon an observation of the sun made us forty miles
north. We then began to beat south against a head
1 Captain Christopher Q. Tompkins, U. S. A.
2 Lieutenant Lucien Loeser, U. S. A.
' Lieutenant Charles Minor, U. S. A.

82 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
wind, which gradually increased into a gale and last
night we lay to in a gale which would have done credit
to Cape Horn. With day the wind abated and now
this evening we are not far from Monterey Bay which
we expect to enter tomorrow morning. The night is
beautiful, just cold enough to be pleasant, with the
moon shining with a soft misty light like it used to do
at Charleston. We can barely discern the high hills
of land through the mist. These hills look bare and
rocky, very much like those at Valparaiso. Some few
pines are the only trees that are seen, but as there is a
probability that every foot of these hills will be crossed
I will withhold description till then. I do hope and
pray that we shall not disembark at Monterey but find
orders there to go up to San Francisco where we will
not be compelled to live in old flea-bitten Spanish bar
racks. Should any mails have arrived via Panama I
shall expect at least half a dozen letters from you.
" By the way, now when I think of it, I must tell you
that the map of California in Tanner's atlas in my col
lection of books is very wrong. The coast as laid
down on the general maps of North America is more
nearly true; but I remember to have seen on your parlor
table Lieut. Fremont's report of his second expedition
with a map. That is correct and by referring to it, you
will see how very wrong Tanner's map is. At some
future time I will send a sketch so that you may under
stand any movements we may make."

Ill
A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA
1846—1850
In June of 1846, a month before Sherman sailed from
New York on the Lexington, the American settlers in
California had proclaimed a republic. In July, only
a few days before he sailed, Commodore Sloat, com
manding an American fleet, had occupied the town of
Monterey. The first knowledge of these facts had
met the Lexington, as we have seen, at Valparaiso.
When the Lexington herself reached Monterey, she
ended a voyage of one hundred and ninety-eight days.
During all this time the Mexican War had been running
its course, and Sherman knew well that he was missing
opportunities for military distinction that were all too
rare for the young soldier. In his Memoirs he wrote of
his sensations on hearing at a later day of the exploits
of his brother officers in the army: "I felt deeply the
fact that our country had passed through a foreign
war, that my comrades had fought great battles, and
yet I had not heard a hostile shot. Of course, I thought
it the last and only chance in my day, and that my
career as a soldier was at an end." J Indeed the life
into which he was plunged upon reaching California
1 Memoirs, I, 110. 83

84 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
must have seemed barren of openings for professional
advancement. Yet the records already published show
it to have been highly varied and highly interesting.
To have borne a part in the beginnings of a common
wealth like California, to have seen at close range the
effects of so far-reaching an event as the discovery of
gold, to have stood so near to the elemental in modern
civilization were experiences that atoned for much.
And the letters to Miss Ewing give further evidence
that Sherman was putting his eyes and his intelligence
to good use. "1847.
"We reached our anchorage late this afternoon,
Wednesday, January 27, 1847, and found here the ship
Independence, which left Valparaiso after us but out
sailed us and reached this harbor some days since.
The sloop of war Dale is here too, but leaves tomorrow
for Panama with a mail, in which this comes. Besides
these two, there is but one other vessel, a small brig
captured by the squadron. Not a mail has reached
this place from the United States since we left, and of
course none of us found the letters which we expected,
but a vessel is daily expected from Panama which may
bring us letters, unless our government still continues to
make no arrangements for letters to cross the Straits of
Panama. Indeed for the first time we feel the want
of protection by our government, of which our citizens
residing in foreign countries so frequently complain.
We have picked up a vast deal of news, but I can give
you but an outline; the details would fill volumes.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 85
"The town, Monterey, lies in a beautiful nook, with
high hills covered with pines back and on each side of it.
It is composed of straggling mud or adobe houses with
out order. Since its capture a strange state of things
has existed, nearly all the males having taken to the
woods, the females remaining and communicating by
stealth with their husbands, fathers and brothers.
Some are gradually returning. A military guard
is stationed in the town, of sailors, marines, and
volunteers made up of the strangest medley of men
on earth. These men are to be discharged and
we are to take up our abode on a point of land
overlooking the bay and town. This is the present
supposition, although we are going to make an effort
to go to San Francisco.
" This harbor is perfectly open, no harbor at all, but
the shores are very green and pretty and the naval
officers who have been on shore describe that back of
the hills as still more beautiful. Game abounds, but all
sorts of provisions except beef are scarce and exceeding
dear: flour at twenty-eight dollars a barrel and hard to
get at that, potatoes several dollars a bushel. In fact
there have been so many depredators here that the poor
inhabitants stand a fair chance of starvation. These
volunteers employed by Fremont have been so fierce
and unrestrained that they have committed many ex
cesses, and many murders have been committed in re
taliation. Several naval officers have been drowned,
murdered and captured, but all the names are not
familiar to me, so I can not tell names. Commodore
Stockton is down the coast at St. Diego or Puebla de

86 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
los Angeles where he has had some skirmishes. Fre
mont is hurrying there to assist with California Rangers,
and, last and best, General Kearny ' has fought his way
from Missouri to the south of California, has lost some
men and officers, but here again the news are so hasty
that I cannot give them this time. St. Diego is nearer
Panama than this and it is more than probable that all
these details will reach you as soon or sooner than this.
"Thank God, after 198 days at sea we have got here,
find war raging, but at a distance from us and a quiet
little inoffensive town ready to receive us as oppressors
and guards. Some events will transpire when General
Kearny approaches us, by which time I will be more
familiar and better situated to tell you tales of war and
adventure. I am in good health and spirits, ready for
a fight or horse race, just as fate may place at my ser
vice. Should we land here I'll have hard work in
getting my stores 2 under shelter and making the pur
chases that fall to my share, but of all these details
when next an opportunity offers. Should my past
letters seem blank and unsatisfactory you must remem
ber that the sea is not a brightener of fancy or pen.
The Dale will sail by the first fair puff, and I must
write a line to Mother and some other of my friends.
"The map I have made as a harbor of Valparaiso
will answer well for Monterey, if you increase it so as to
make this bay twenty miles wide instead of two. They
are strongly similar in all save here we have fine forests
of pine and oak. ..."
1 Stephen Watts Kearny, uncle of Gen. Philip Kearny.
2 Sherman was quartermaster and commissary.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 87
"Monterey, California,
"March 12, 1847.
"Near two months have elapsed since our arrival
here and not a single opportunity has presented itself
for writing home, and I hear that the frigate Savannah
will sail in a few days for home by way of Cape Horn.
'Tis a long road to send by, yet 'tis a certain one and
may bear you a true if not a new letter. I wrote last
by the sloop of war Dale, that sailed for Panama the
day after our arrival here, and sent by her to Chagres
a deposit of money, so that our consul there will for
ward any of my letters that reach him. Having secured
that advantage I was ready for California, nor had I
to wait long, for we began to disembark our men and
took post on a hill, partly fortified on one side of the
town. I, as Quarter Master, occupied with a guard the
Custom House, a large building near the wharf and the
most conspicuous house in Monterey. In one wing
is the hospital, in the centre the stores, and the other
wing my office and quarters. All the other officers are
under tents on the hill and envy me my papered, com
fortable room, where I can write in comfort and sleep
without fear of the cold rains that fall here in the rainy
or winter season. Being thus situated we began to
drill our men and hold ourselves in readiness for ser
vice, for we had heard of Gen. Kearny's fight at San
Pasqual. First rumors came and then letters that an
armistice was concluded, that all was peace and that
California belonged to the United States. That was
hardly to our taste but could not be helped, and we
began to be anxious to get to San Francisco about eighty

88 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
miles north of this, a place we regarded as our ultimate
destination. One day a vessel hove in sight and soon
came to anchor. I was dining with the ward room
officers of the Independence at the time and heard that
the stranger was the Cyane, and that General Kearny
was on board. Commodore Shubrick sent his boat
and Gen. Keafrny] came on board and received a
hearty welcome to the Bay of Monterey. I had met
him before. He looked haggard, worn and rough, for
he had endured a hard, march from Santa F^, had got
into a tight place, lost two of his captains, one lieutenant
and twenty men out of forty-five. He too had received
two lance wounds in the fight, but nevertheless his face
wore that smile so characteristic of him. He has
always been a favorite model of mine and I was pecul
iarly glad to see him. He remained at Monterey and
then sailed for San Francisco in the Cyane and returned
to Monterey about ten days after in the Savannah,
since which time he is here, which is the head quarters.
Upon his return from San Francisco, he stated that we
would have to go there as soon as Col. Stevenson's 1
regiment arrived on the coast, but has changed his
mind and resolved to keep our company here till peace
is declared and Stevenson's regiment discharged when
we will shift our station to an old Spanish fort at the
mouth of the Bay of San Francisco, which is considered
one of the best harbors in the world, but until peace is
declared will remain here at Monterey. Thus much
of our history and I might give you an account of the
1 Col. John D. Stevenson, with regiment of New York Volun
teers.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 89
doings of men out here, but the newspapers will do that
for me.
"Monterey is composed of houses built of adobe or
sun-dried brick, of one or two stories, with a narrow
balcony [across] the whole front. About a dozen
houses are comfortable and the balance mere hovels.
There are some families that style themselves Dons, do
nothing but walk the streets with peaked broad-brimmed
hats and cloaks or serapas which are brightly colored,
checkered ponchos, a colored shirt, silk or fancy pants
slashed down the outside, with fringe and buttons,
shoes on their feet and cigar in their mouth. Such
characters were scarce when we first arrived, but Mon
terey is again repopulated, for all have come back from
the war to the southward. The poorer classes are
exactly like Indians and most of them are descended
from those Indians that were taught Christianity and
civilization by the old missionaries. The women are
like all other Spanish women, the prouder the more
Castilian blood they can boast of. Some are pretty, all
dance and waltz well, but scorn the vulgar accomplish
ments of reading and writing. They are fond of dancing
and every night of the carnival before Lent, there was a
fandango at some of the houses, at which a custom
prevailed of which you must have read: ladies and
gentlemen (Senoritas and Caballeros) carry egg shells
filled with essences, a gold leaf and spangles mixed
with colored papers, which they break over the heads
of favorites. I went to several of these fandangos, be
ginning before sundown and ending after daylight.
By midnight every head was bespangled and besmeared

90 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
with cologne. Sunday was the favorite night for fan
dangos, but since Lent there has been but one and that
on the occasion of the wedding of a Don Pablo. About
the beginning of Lent, I was invited to attend a 'Repre
sentation' that much interested me, viz. 'the Tempta
tion and Fall of Man,' performed by the most respectable
people in the house of a Senor Gonsalez. We found
about four in the afternoon, the hour appointed, the
room quite full of ladies, natives and officers of the
Army and Navy. A curtain cut off a part of the long
room and one of the family stood in the corner, ready to
raise the curtain when the signal was given. The cur
tain rose showing a room scene roughly executed, and
soon entered a man dressed very dark, with wings and
all sorts of diabolical traps, and he was followed by a
counterpart, a woman. They held a talk on the stage,
which was interpreted to me as the plot between Satan
and his wife (the Serpent) to mislead newly created
man. Next scene represented the Garden of Eden,
executed with great taste, displaying trees of all kinds
and conspicuous that of the forbidden fruit. In came
Adam, (a young Spaniard in simple dress) and God,
represented as a bishop. A long dialogue ensued in
Spanish, when Adam soliloquized about matters and
things in general and lay down to sleep. In came the
priest again and after some talk stooped down to take
a rib and raised up (most skillfully) Eve blushing and
very pretty, like an illusion that struck all. It was
little Dolores Gomez who played the part to perfection.
Adam wakes delighted with his companion, but she
gets a glimpse of the beautiful trees and must have some

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 91
of the fruit. At that moment the Devil and his wife
the Serpent come in and persuade her that she will be
come as God by eating it and she does so and persuades
Adam to do likewise. The next scene, God calls them
and banishes them from Eden and makes the little angel
Gabriel with a flaring sword (such as children use as
toys) turn them out in chains and disgrace. Time
wears on and the last scene is a room in heaven, God
on a highly decorated throne, with the Devil and wife
on one side and an angel of mercy (Panchita Gomez)
on the other beseeching pity upon poor fallen man, but
the Devil asks justice and a rigid execution of the decree.
A long controversy ensues, Adam and Eve are sum
moned, their chains taken off and God modifies his
first sentence to his present rule, the angel of Mercy
rejoices, the little angel Gabriel chuckles at his fine
gauze wings and lace dress, the Devil and wife exeunt
in a rage and the curtain falls.
"The whole struck me forcibly, especially the good
taste that marked the stage, the dresses and the per
formance; but much of the morality was lost by want
of understanding the language, but as I had heard the
story before, I could keep pace with the act. Some
thought it stale, some were pleased and others not,
some blasphemous and others decidedly having a moral
tendency, . . . [Paper torn]
"The child of Don Castro, (still in arms against us)
a little girl about nine years old and very beautiful,
died about three weeks ago. All the girls of the town
repaired to the house, and two days were spent in
decorating the person of the little girl. A miniature

92 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
couch with delicate lace curtains, neatly drawn from
the decorated canopy, made her bier on which she was
borne slowly through the town to the church. A
promiscuous company followed, not silently two by
two but gaily, without order and with a band of music.
I was on the piazza of the Government house, near
which it passed and saw the little child lying as though
sleeping upon its little bed. Its bearers were women
who set their burden down frequently to talk or rest
and during this time the band, consisting of violins,
harp and some jingling instruments kept playing Span
ish tunes. Guns were fired from the houses which
they passed, and upon inquiry, finding that such was
the custom of the country, we got out several pistols
and fired a perfect salvo, of rejoicing that the child had
gone to heaven. Such is custom. . . . Elsewhere there
would be a year's lamentation and dressing in ugly
black colors for a whole fashionable season, in a more
polished community. I like this custom best, and want
no one to weep my exit or to let it detain them one
minute from any occupation or pleasure.
"There is a church here and the chime of bells calls
to Mass every morning, and on Sundays a Spanish ser
mon is preached. The padre is a Mexican and a
clever man. Many of our men attend every Sunday,
and occasionally Ord and his brother1 go, producing
a most excellent effect as the Californians regard the
Americans as all infidels. I went last Sunday but got
too late for Mass. Heretofore, under the old Spanish
1 Dr. James L. Ord had sailed on the Lexington as acting-
assistant surgeon.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 93
rule every American or foreigner who wanted to marry
in the country and settle had to become a Catholic.
This, instead of doing good, has worked evil, for these
men conform to the rule, as to a tax, and now laugh if
you ask them if they are not real Catholics. This coun
try has undergone so many revolutions, every successful
party coming down upon the rich missions have de
stroyed them all and dismantled almost every church
in the land. For that reason I think the church will be
essentially benefitted by the annexation of California
and the strict enforcement of the laws of justice.
Some sailors belonging to one of the ships broke into
the church, when the town was under martial law, and
stole some silver chalices, crosses and other valuables
which after a time were partially recovered, the offend
ers most severely punished, and ample restitution made
to the padre. Also in every instance since we have been
here, whatever damage to property which was done by
soldier or sailor has been fully repaired and offender
punished. These people see this and begin to feel that
they are protected instead of oppressed. When we
first landed it was considered unsafe to go far into the
country unarmed, but now parties of one and two go
hunting daily thirty to forty miles. I have some forty
horses grazing about seven miles out in Carmel Valley
and a guard of six soldiers. I go out frequently, spend
the night and hunt alone in the morning. And here I
must mention that the country is lovely in the extreme,
the hills are bare but covered with high grass and wild
oats, the slopes and valleys near towns are wooded with
pine and live oak, and in the valleys farther off syca-

94 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
more and hemlock. You know my fondness for riding,
especially in a new country as an explorer. You will be
sorry to hear that this has made me instrumental in risk
ing a poor fellow's life. It happened thus. Before
our arrival here, there was a guard stationed on shore,
composed of marines and sailors. These were posted
about town and one at the door of the jail, where some
malefactors and troublesome state prisoners were con
fined. A villainous sailor on post opened the jail, let
all escape, enticed his neighbor sentinel to desert and
all left the town for the country. They were promptly
pursued and after shooting one man, the two sentinels
were captured. Either desertion or letting prisoners
escape in time of war is death. Both of these fellows
were put on board our old ship Lexington to await
trial, and a few nights since one of them managed to
slip thro' a port hole and swim on shore. He took to
the woods. About three days ago, Loeser and I rode
out to my horse camp, slept there and at daylight started
out to hunt. About ten o'clock we stopped at an Ind
ian hut and got some eggs and heard that at a ranche
(farm) some distance over the mountain, an American
had come the night before, barefooted, very tired and
very much distressed. After some inquiries I con
cluded it was one of our men that had deserted some
days before, hired a guide and started for the ranche.
The distance was great and it was late in the afternoon
before we got there, but the man had gone. Then
hearing that the man was in much distress I followed,
poor Loeser complaining bitterly of the wild goose
chase I was taking him on, till our horses were fairly

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 95
broken down. I sent the Indian on, he having pro
cured a fresh horse at the last ranche, and awaited his
return. He overtook the man and brought him to me,
when to my sorrow he proved to be the poor devil that
had run from the Lexington, a sailor. He begged me
not to take him as his life was forfeited. I knew it, but
it was too late. He had to go to Monterey, which was
full fifteen miles off. I took him behind me on my old
broken-down horse and slowly plodded into town,
reaching my quarters at ten o'clock, having had nothing
to eat but a couple of eggs fried in tallow and having
ridden more than fifty miles. I have turned the sailor
over to his ship and he will have to take his chances at
a Naval Court Martial. I hope the poor devil will get
off thro' some flaw, for I would not like to be the im
mediate cause of his being hung. As I may remain at
Monterey some months I'll make a kind of sketch on
the next unruled leaf of Monterey, for you to refer to
in case you feel an interest in the place. . . .
"The map 1 is before me and gives the faintest idea
of this place, for the picture is unfinished without the
rounded hills and green trees and grass that mark it in
midwinter. The prospect from a ship at anchor is fine.
The amphitheatre in which the town is situated, the
green hills back looking as though cultivated, and the
groups of live oaks resembling apple trees, all deceive
one and make him believe he is looking upon an old
highly cultivated country. Such is not however the
case, for there is not an orchard or vineyard in the
country save those attached to the missions; no fields
1 An excellent map of Monterey forms part of this letter.

96 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
save little patches of beans and wheat planted by Ind
ians and no gardens except the miserable ones begun
by foreigners. Everything used by the people comes
from abroad save beef. That abounds and is meat
and drink for all. Bread can scarcely be purchased in
the market and at exorbitant prices, butter the same
and even eggs are worth their weight in silver, though
every hut might raise its hundreds of chickens. In
deed these people have not done justice to the country,
and by law of nature it has passed into hands more
enterprising if not more honest and happy. The
horses of the country are small and poor, but all admit
they are hardy and enduring. Besides, during the
recent outbreak Commodore Stockton ordered all the
horses to be seized, which was done by the volunteers
employed by Col. Fremont and others, who have abused
them most wantonly. Since, however, the new dynasty
of General Kearny and Commodore Shubrick, these
horses are given up to their owners, and I already see a
sensible improvement in the stock. We intend to have
horses trained for part of our beautiful field battery, so
that should Mexico be able to send an army here you
may hear of a battery playing a part similar to those in
the other Monterey. . . .
"I don't permit myself for a moment to believe that
the war with Mexico is over or more than fairly begun,
though General Taylor has won his way bravely, skil
fully, and victoriously to Saltillo. Mexico is a large
country and contains a population who are not averse
to the excitement of war. To maintain armies with
them is not the costly work it is with us. The loss of

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 97
towns they care not for, and the number of valuable
lives lost to them is few, whereas our government is
stingy, and have set in motion a tremendous machine
that they cannot maintain without millions of expense.
The volunteers, too, I fear will find it rather hard work
to risk being killed, and marching without bread or
water for seven dollars a month. However, here we
are, already from three to six months behind the world.
Peace may now exist. I don't think we'll have much
war out here, though it is our duty ever to be on guard.
General Kearny will stay here till summer, when, if all
is quiet, he will come home by land across the continent
leaving Colonel Mason,1 1st Dragoons, in command.
Four companies of Stevenson's volunteers, (200 men)
will be quartered here in Monterey, three companies
(150 men) at Santa Barbara, and three companies at
San Francisco. Capt. Cooke 2 with about 450 Mis
souri volunteers that came from Santa F6", are at
Puebla de los Angeles, the capital of California, a
town about thirty miles inland and about four hundred
miles from here. About a hundred dragoons will be
stationed at San Diego. Gen. Kearny tells me also
that he expects a regiment of Missouri Volunteers
under Col. Price to come across on his Santa F6" trail.
These, if good troops, will make an ample force to hold
California and to check the incursions of the Indian
horse stealers, which will do more towards reconciling
the Californians to their new masters than anything
else, for, lazy devils though famous horsemen, they
1 Colonel Richard Barnes Mason, U. S. A.
2 Captain Philip St. George Cooke, U. S. A.

98 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
have not perseverance enough to follow these Indians
back to the Toolary [Tulare] plain on the San Joachim,
where they live. I will try and follow these fellows,
should the Indians steal horses near Monterey, if Gen.
Kearny will give me men. A great many emigrants
have come into the country, most of whom have been
enrolled as volunteers and are to be discharged. The
natives complain much of them as robbing them,
whether friendly or not, of their horses, cows, beans,
everything, regardless of their wishes. This is what
aroused them to what is termed the Revolt that was
put down just before our arrival. These emigrants
intend mostly to squat on land about San Francisco, if
they go to work. In a few years this will be a pros
perous country, but it is so easy here to make a living
that soon the imported foreigners, English or Yankees,
are just like natives, their children learning from the
Indian servants the Spanish language, and none other.
Such is the case here, but I'm told it is different up at
San Francisco Bay. Many of the officers are purchas
ing land in this country, but I'll not speculate as I pur
pose coming back to the United States. We found on
the coast a large fleet which has received additions
since our arrival. The Columbus, 90 guns, Commo
dore Biddle, the Independence, 60, Commodore Shu-
brick, Savannah frigate, Warren sloop of war, and the
Lexington and Erie store ships, are now here. The
Congress, frigate, is at San Diego, Cyane, sloop, at
San Francisco, Portsmouth blockading at Mazatlan
and Preble daily expected from U. S. convoying the
other two vessels of Col. Stevenson, Loo-Choo and

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 99
Susan Drew. Hundreds of naval officers are here, of
course, and my room, right by the wharf is the general
rendezvous, so that with my duties as an officer on the
hill, quarter-master here, and in charge of the camp
seven miles off in Carmel Valley, I have my hands
full. ...
" I'm in good health, better pleased with the country
than expected, anticipate no fight, but rather a quiet
life than otherwise; expect to stay here till we hear of
peace and then remove to San Francisco; expect to
stay in California till promoted, or the term of service of
our men expires, which will be in 1850 and 1851. Better
to make up my mind to that so as to be prepared for
disappointment, which I should certainly experience,
if I made plans like our Captain to come home im
mediately upon the close of war. He cannot do it,
nor could I, till permission be given and that would take
a full year to receive by writing to Washington. ..."
"Monterey, California, April 25, 1847.
"... I have my horse and gun and am in the hills
all the time when not on duty. Deer are pretty plenty,
but I want to kill a grizzly bear, the terror of the land.
. . . There is no war here or appearance of it. Every
thing is settled down and quiet save some of the wild
Indians known as horse-stealers. They are to be pur
sued by a company of volunteers who will have a wild
goose chase of it I |fear. Gen. Kearny made an at
tempt to get some Californians to agree to serve the
United States in this company to go for the Indians,
but they still fear we will give up the Californians when

100 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the war is over, and then the Mexican government
would be sure to be down on them for favoring our
cause. A few, only seven, agreed to serve. However,
the country is filling up so rapidly with emigrants that
the native population will be lost. Such is already the
case up at the Bay of San Francisco, but here and far
ther south the natives predominate. . . .
" Yesterday I read the President's x message, and
today the Secretary of War's2 report, both of which
touch upon the affairs of California and give unbounded
praise to Fremont. These praises are only partly due.
He is a most energetic man, but of late has allowed his
ambition to mislead him. Some months before we
arrived, there was an outbreak here in consequence of
little provocations, such as quartering a midshipman
and five or a dozen sailors as a garrison in a large town,
contemptuous expressions and actions. Fremont and
Stockton were in the act of putting down this insurrec
tion when they heard of Gen. Kearny's arrival from
Santa F6. You know enough of rank to know that at
once Fremont as Lieut. Colonel must yield to Kearny
as General, but he would not, said he was Governor
of California and superior to Kearny. A series of
events occurred, which no doubt you have read in the
papers, which, had it not been for General Kearny's
mildness and decision, would have led to a civil war.
However, whilst Fremont was holding his court at
Puebla de los Angeles, four hundred miles south of
this, Gen. Kearny comes here, makes his arrangements
1 James K. Polk.
2 Wilham L. Marcy.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 101
with Commodores Shubrick and Biddle, awaits the ar
rival of Stevenson's Regiment, also the Mormon bat
talion from Santa Fe^ puts all in possession, summons
Fremont here and makes him obey his original or
ders. Were it not for Fremont's strong friends at
court, his commission would be forfeit. Col. Mason
is here, having just come up from Puebla where he dis
charged Fremont's volunteers, the original Bear party,1
men of buckram, sheepskin, and buckskin, who scorn
civilization. Stevenson's men are a hard set, and it
is still a question whether they are a blessing or a
curse to the country. Several are now under trial by
a court martial for offences that may cause them to
be shot. I believe that Gen. Kearny designs keep
ing Stevenson so situated that he cannot do much
harm. Here he is at headquarters where the Gen
eral or Col. Mason can prevent his exceeding his
authority. . . .
" Gen. Kearny is soon going to make a tour of Cali
fornia, and is going to take me along as his staff officer.
This I shall like, as it will enable me to see all the coun
try and be thrown in contact with men that are to
influence this new country. This tour will consume
probably two weeks, after which the General will leave
for St. Louis by way of Fort Hall. You have my map
and can trace routes. This will come by the Gila
route down south. . . . Promotions are going on very
fast, I suppose, and to it alone must I look for my chance
of getting back. I still place the date some years forward.
Rumors are now here from Sonora of a great battle
1 The "Bear Flag Republic," supported by Fremont's troops.

102 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
fought at Saltillo.1 Former rumors have been quite
true, and if this one is only partly so, we have again
been victorious and terrible havoc done. I fear that I
leaped the mark in search of glory by coming to Cali
fornia, but such is the cast of fortune and all must abide
its decrees. . . ."
"Monterey, California, May 1, 1847.
"... I was out all the day before yesterday tramp
ing over the mountains to get a shot at a grizzly bear.
I saw one, but the fellow made tracks and I pursued
till I was exhausted and sick, and really I feel sick yet.
My poor horse no doubt hopes I will continue so till
he can recover his spirits in the wild oats pasture that he
enjoys during my temporary confinement. I am now
officer of the day and have been writing on business all
day. An expedition started today to seek the horse
stealing Indians and on Monday Colonel Stevenson
embarks in our old ship Lexington for San Pedro with
two of his companies, whence they march to Puebla de
los Angeles, the former capital of this Territory.
General Kearny is sick and has not said anything to
me lately about his trip south, but I have no doubt he
will make the tour and take me along as his staff officer
agreeably to his promise. This will enable me to see the
whole of Alta California, an opportunity I much desire.
"There are a great many strangers flocking into
Monterey and soon the original Spanish population
1 The greater part of Sherman's regiment, the Third Artillery,
was in the fights at Saltillo and Buena Vista, February 22-23,
1847.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 103
will disappear before the progress of American in
truders. Lawyers, doctors, too, are coming in, much
to the mortification of all people, as they must do some
thing to live by, and will soon produce dissension, for
not a poor devil, native, Indian or foreigner, has a
paper to show his title to land and houses. Moreover,
no person knows the limit of his own property, so that
the ranches overlap and several claim the same hill
and valley. This is to be expected and will offer
plenty of employment for lawyers, though it will pro
duce distress in the land. A ranche is a farm, consisting
of one, two and sometimes as much as a dozen leagues
square. On each there is generally a house or hut
made of adobes (unburned brick) covered with rushes
and clapboards; near it, a pen called a corral where at
night the horses and cattle are herded to be safe from
theft by the Indians. Near some of the ranches there
are small fields of wheat, corn, potatoes and beans, but
these are by no means plenty as it is difficult to hoe
potatoes on horseback, and any employment on foot is
degrading. No one will plant seed unless necessity
compels them. The ox pulls the plough which is
nothing but a stick sharpened and sometimes shod with
a piece of iron. A tree-top is a hammer and the hand
is the hoe. The old missionary Indians do most of
the labor, thus becoming the slave of the Spaniard in
return for the benefits of a religion they neither under
stand or comprehend. This, however, was not the
case till the missionary priests were stripped of all
temporal power in the country by the Mexican govern
ment some years ago. Since that act, nearly all the

104 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
missions are without priests and in decay. There is a
priest here, but none at San Carmelo, four miles from
here. There is a mission in operation about thirty-five
miles from here called St. Juan Beautista (St. John the
Baptist) which has its priest, work-shops, orchards, etc.,
with some horses and cattle. Still, it has received a
vital blow by depriving the priests of the necessary
power and authority over the persons resident at the
mission. " Ord and I rode out one day and got there Sunday
morning at ten o'clock. We rode in at the open angle
of a square space, enclosed by adobe buildings, some
two stories high and the most prominent one being a
church with a bell hung in a wooden frame before the
door. We saw several horses hitched about and hear
ing the church music, we tied our horses and walked in.
It was a high, long rectangular room, with the altar at
the further extremity. The mass was going on, the
priest in the usual robes, candles lighted, the women
were grouped quite close to the altar, and the men close
to the wall on either side, leaving a wide space inter
vening. The church was comparatively empty, but all
were most intent upon the devotions. Stillness was bro
ken only by the choir of violins, triangles and jingling
instruments, occasionally assisted by Indian music of
a plaintive, peculiar sound. This could have been but
a faint imitation of the former magnificence of some of
the missions which boasted of its [their] thousands of
horses, cattle and laboring Indians. The mass did not
last long and church broke up without a sermon, after
which the appearance of two strange officers fully

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 105
armed among them excited some attention but no rude
ness. These people are very polite indeed. We went
with the crowd to the Tienda, or grog shop, where some
drank aguardiente, some gambled at cards, and the
better part, including the priest in his gray robes and
cap, passed into an inner room to play billiards. We
were told that the 'Padre' played a first rate game of
billiards. We did not see him attempt it, though he
looked on as a connoisseur. Neither that priest or the
one here can talk English, though the latter is styled
the American from favoring our cause. He has no
reason to be disappointed, for it was absurd in Mexico
pretending to govern this territory, and poor California
was not capable of governing herself. 'Tis but fair,
then, that she should be assisted and no nation can
do it better than our own, as heretofore our vessels
have engrossed the trade of the country and resident
American citizens are the most influential men of the
country. " I have heard several of the Californians say that had
it not been for Commodore Stockton's measures for
subduing the people here, there never would have been
the least resistance to the change of flags. No one here
now dreams of a retrocession to Mexico, though all
admit that these Guachos or Rancheros are not afraid
of us, and if encouraged from Mexico would try again
the chances of war, more for the fun of the fight than
with any ultimate design of securing their own inde
pendence. Last accounts from home represent peace
as far off as ever. This country must remain in statu
quo till the war is over, when the question will arise,

106 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
shall California be annexed? All here take it for
granted that such will be the case. I do not think
California will ever be much of an agricultural country
or rich in any other way, but it will be useful to our
ships in the Pacific, supplying them with safe harbors
for repair, for water and provisions. Under the old
Mexican rule the charges and impositions on ships and
cargoes were so heavy that few came. Now, however,
we already see a change. Both San Francisco and
Monterey bays are quite filled with ships. Still, clothing
and stores of all kinds, save beef, are exceedingly
dear. ..." "Sonoma, California, July 11, 1847.
"I arrived here last night with a party of seamen, to
arrest a citizen who is kind of rebellious and needs a
little military law. I shall take him tonight, by force,
down the bay of San Francisco to the U. S. Ship
Columbus.1 "By a mere accident I met here a Mr. Norris, clerk
or secretary to Commodore Stockton, whose camp is
fifteen miles from here and who starts this evening for
the United States sure. The Commodore is half crazy
and has been buying a ranche, and doing other Cali
fornia acts of foolishness, and winds up by his land
cruise home. He has a fine set of horses and hopes to
get home in September. I continue well, as you may
infer by my riding about so, but I will have to send you
•The capture of Nash, resisting his removal as Alcalde of
Sonoma, by General Kearny, is described fully in the Memoirs,
I, 58-65.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 107
a map home that you may trace my journeys. I am
now at a little village, quite American, at the head of
the Bay of San Francisco, forty miles from the town at
the mouth of the harbor, and about two hundred from
Monterey.1 "I expect to grab a fellow tonight, a sort of state
prisoner, that may end in a row, but I have laid such a
plan that I expect to get him out of the village without
its being known. Everything is quiet in the country.
We know of the capture of Vera Cruz, the battle of
Cerro Gordo and the advance of the army as far as
Puebla. These brilliant scenes nearly kill us, who are
so far off, and deprived of such precious pieces of
military glory. This war still rages, it seems, in
Mexico, and the President seems to find more trouble
to check it than he imagined.
"Mr. Benton's letter declining to accept the Major
Generalship is regarded by us as a most beautiful in
stance of vain-glorious confidence that he, as a civilian,
does not approve of movements and plans he does not
comprehend, and declines to take a subordinate com
mand under Taylor or Scott. A good excuse and a
happy riddance to the Army.
"We feel the effect of the late success of our army
even here. It has excited some of the Mexican families
even to tears, and to treat with rudeness those of our
officers who were before quite favorites. They pre
tend that General Scott's course at Vera Cruz was cruel
and Taylor's in laying a contribution still more so.
Poor Mexico! she is entitled to the sympathies of every
1 Overestimated.

108 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
human person, whilst her constant defeats, under the
most favorable circumstances, cannot but excite feel
ings of contempt. I write in haste, for Norris is booted
and spurred, and had not the most distant idea of meet
ing anybody here. This will be the latest date that
leaves California unless Stockton takes another Paseo
to the South. My latest dates from you are of Octo
ber 1846, ten months, too long, dearest, to be at all
comfortable. I know you are not to blame but
have written without success. Your letters may come
in time.
"I do not like California as a country. It is dry and
barren notwithstanding some of the glowing accounts.
I have been in its garden spots and regard them only as
beautiful and fertile in contrast to the dry parched-up
hills that envelope them. Several of the officers are
buying ranches and town lots, but I wouldn't give two
counties of Ohio, Kentucky or Tennessee for the whole
of California.
"Mr. Norris is waiting and I must close the last note
from California by the Sailor General Grandioso,
Stockton. He is a great blatherscyte, talks too much
and does too little. May he have a pleasant passage
and bring this to you and find you well."
"Monterey, California, November 10, 1847.
"I have not heard from you since last January
though several ships have arrived from Boston, but we
expect a couple of ships from New York, and Uncle
Charles 1 will send by them anything he may have. I
1 Charles Hoyt, of Brooklyn, brother of Sherman's mother.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 109
am so completely banished that I feel I am losing all
hope, all elasticity of spirits. I feel ten years older than
I did when I sailed, and though my health is good I do
not feel that desire for exercise I formerly did. To
hear of war in Mexico and the brilliant deeds of the
army, of my own regiment and my own old associates,
everyone of whom has gained honors, and I out here
in California, banished from fame, from everything that
is dear and no more prospect of ever getting back than
one of the old adobe houses that mark a California
ranche! There are so few officers here that if one does
get orders or promotion, he can't go, because he can't
be spared. One of our officers is promoted and ordered
home, but they won't let him go; why? because he has
to wait for relief and it will take a year for his successor
to come out to take his place, and now that the novelty
of the thing is over, I fear no officers will be so great
fools as we were, to break their necks to get here. How
ever, [now] that I am here, I must make the best of a bad
bargain. I keep a house, and three of the officers mess
with me, and I wish you could see the household. A
widow Spanish woman is the housekeeper, and an
Indian man kind of cook, and a black boy we brought
out with us is the servant. This is a new concern, got
up down town because the rainy season makes it too
uncomfortable to walk up the hill to the fort from the
Governor's office, where I am daily engaged, upon the
whole quite as comfortable as I might be elsewhere
though not so satisfactory as in Mexico, where an oppor
tunity is offered to all to gain personal and professional
experience if not military fame. . . ."

110 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
" Monterey, California,
"February 3, 1848.
". . . This is the season of dancing and there has been
a good deal of it, in fact one is looked for every Sunday
night. The officers gave the 'great ball' of the season
on New Year's Eve. You have no doubt heard of the
Mexican custom of filling egg shells with cologne and
other fragrant water to break upon passers by. Here it
is carried to a great extent, but is confined to the house
and chiefly at balls and dances. Here the shells are
mostly filled with gilt and colored paper cut very fine,
which broken over the head leave it covered with
spangles. The ladies break over the gentlemen's heads
and the reverse, and so great are the liberties taken to
accomplish the feat that some from behind will clasp
your arms tight whilst others shower on the 'Casca-
rones' (filled shells). Here they do not like the shells
filled with perfumed water as it produces stains on the
dresses, and also colds to which these people are very
subject. It is polite to avoid a Cascarone and even to
grasp a lady's hand to crush the shell in it, if she be in
the act of breaking it, but when a gentleman gets a
Cascarone on his head he is bound to return it which is
sometimes quite difficult when the ladies are skilled in
dodging. You can scarcely imagine the extent to
which this is carried. At a small party a few nights
ago, there were upwards of four hundred Cascarones
broken among a party of not over twenty-five persons.
The ladies sit all day clipping up their tinsel, the finer
the more valuable, and the whole is destroyed in a few
hours' flirting. As I mentioned, a gentleman who is

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 111
honored by an egg, for it is conceived a compliment, is
bound in courtesy to return it and has to pay sometimes
as high as one or even five dollars for an egg shell filled
with tinsel stuff. I have often laughed to see a whole
party of grown men, myself included, sitting round a
table clipping this stuff in preparation for a coming
dance, but the customs of Monterey are as sensible as
the customs of other places, and must be respected. . . .
"Candidly I must admit that I entertain no sure
prospect of getting home from here under three years
more and not even thus soon if the war continues, for
the regular officers are so scarce here that no com
manding officer here will let one go even if promoted
and ordered elsewhere. . . . Yet no blame can be at
tached to the government, for it is the natural and
proper operation of affairs. The worst will be to be
disbanded out here, as I fear will be the case at the close
of the war, for we, not doing anything brilliant that has
been the round of the newspapers, must step aside to give
place to those volunteer officers who have gained a name.
But I hope old Taylor will be President and will have
sufficient sense to dispose of matters properly. Old Taylor
is a slow thinking, good man and will make a better Presi
dent than most politicians, for he is honest, as is proven
by his whole history, and has no preexpressed political
opinions to bring his nose to the grindstone. . . ."
"Monterey, California, April 10, 1848.
"The time is rapidly approaching when Lieut.
Carson, the Kit Carson of Fremont's narratives, will
start for home. He goes from Los Angeles to Santa

112 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
F6, and thence to Saint Louis where he will put his
mail in the Post Office, a long and rough route to en
trust papers to, but letters have come that way and may
possibly go again. . . .
"The other day a vessel arrived from Mazatlan
and brought some newspapers which had come through
Mexico. One, of December 6, contained a bril
liant description of General Taylor's reception at
New Orleans. How proud the old man must be! I
hope they won't spoil him, as I see from the papers he
is likely to be our President. Our dates from Mexico
city are of January 6, when General Scott was in quiet
possession of the city, and in fact of the most impor
tant places in the country. On this side Commodore
Shubrick is at Mazatlan, with two or three hundred
sailors on shore. They are tired enough of it, and
every effort is making to get volunteers to replace the
sailors but thus far without success. The Americans
here will not volunteer again, and Colonel Mason has
been compelled to buy a vessel and send her to Oregon,
to try there and arouse the Americans to a sense of
patriotism to go to Mazatlan, but I fear the emigrants
there are not very anxious to exhibit their patriotism
in that way.
"Mazatlan is a tolerably important place, about
12,000 people, brick houses, paved streets and hotels,
luxuries not known higher up. They import a great
deal there from some cities in the interior, and it is also
the point whence much silver is exported. Now Uncle
Sam appears to be hard up and has imitated Mexico so
well in the science of squeezing money out of the poor

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 113
people of Mexico, that we are a little ahead of them.
At Mazatlan they have collected a good deal of money,
and Commodore Shubrick is loth to give it up, but it is
an open roadstead and ships cannot lie there in the
summer months when the coast is frequented by the
most dreadful hurricanes, so unless the Oregonians are
a little more patriotic than the emigrants were, Uncle
Sam will be compelled to give up one place on this side
of the continent. In Lower California the people have
been in arms all winter and have disturbed the peace of
the small garrisons not a little, and our last accounts
state that they had managed to catch a couple of mid
shipmen with eight sailors. One of the midshipmen
was named Duncan, son of Dr. Duncan of Cincinnati,
a great stout fellow that ought to have whipped half a
dozen Californians, but our accounts do not recount
the manner of their capture. I have no apprehensions
that they will be ill used, but they will be short of
eatables and must keep up their flesh and spirits on
dried beef.
" Lower California is a great distance from here, as
far as Florida from Maine, with this difference that a
vessel never or very seldom goes from here to Lower
California unless she be specially chartered. It is
entirely cut off from Upper California by a villainous
range of country that is almost impassable, so that
although the people of Lower California have been in
open rebellion, those of Upper California have become as
quiet as lambs. Not an act or deed have they committed
that has afforded ground of disquiet, and even for the
past four months we have not had even a rumor of an out-

114 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
break, so that we may put it down as subject, and ready
for the orders of Congress. O that that great body would
declare this 'God-forsaken land' free and independent,
a part of the Great Republic, declare martial law at an
end, military force unnecessary and let us go where it
is necessary! But this is a foolish dream which I know
cannot be attempted. These Californians are quiet
because we have five or six hundred men, strung through
their midst that would likely detect the first move in any
serious row, call a military commission and hang a few.
Now very few people here have love enough for Mexico
to run that risk. They do not love us, they do not like
our ways, our institutions, our restlessness. Our in
ternal taxes, our labors all are too complicated for their
lazy brains, and lazy hands. All they want is a bueno
cavallo (good horse) a lasso, a glazed hat and tassels,
a flashy serapa, slashed pantaloons tipped with velvet
and corded with bright silk ties, and a pair of spurs as
big as a plate. Then he is happy, sits down and eats
his greasy platter of beans and mutton and pities the
poor Yankees. The women are better, kinder, and
more industrious. They have to wash all the clothes,
grind all the corn on a stone by rubbing another over it,
plant their patches of onions and red peppers, and do
all the cooking. Some of them are quite pretty,
amiable, and have good minds which if cultivated would
make them above the average. As they now are,
however, they are servants. In the towns they pretend
to some luxury, have pictures hanging on the walls,
looking glasses, Yankee clocks, and a sofa. Carpets
are very rare and no fires until the Yankees began to

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 115
burn brick and build fire-places. Now they wonder
they did not do so before. But the truth is, simply,
that all that the Mexicans attempt to arrive at is the
state of their forefathers. Those living in a warm
country had no fire-places and these concluded that
none were needed here, and if you were to transplant
a Mexican from his native city to Canada he would not
think of warming his house by artificial heat. Many
a night have I shivered in a big cold adobe house but
little consoled by the assertion that this is a mild
climate. "I have during the past winter hunted a good deal,
mostly for wild geese, which abound on the plains of
Salinas, about eighteen miles from here. Generally
two or three of us go together, taking spare animals to
pack the game. Sometimes we go to a ranche to
sleep, but invariably we prefer sleeping out upon the
open plain. Yesterday I returned from a hunt. The
days were intensely hot, but we had frost each night and
ice formed on the edge of the pond near which we slept.
Yet the letter writers assert that frost and ice are un
known here. This climate is severer than that of
Charleston, but, dearest Ellen, I am writing about what
cannot interest you. The country such as it is you will,
I hope, never see or care about, but so perfectly devoid
of interest is everything about me that I have nothing
else to write about. Since I wrote you last I have been
constantly in Monterey engaged principally in my
office duties but I hope soon more officers will arrive
here, when I will relinquish my present berth for one of
more activity and out-door exercise. . . ."

116 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Monterey, California, August 28, 1848.
". . .1 have felt tempted to send my resignation to
Washington and I really feel ashamed to wear epau
lettes after having passed through a war without smell
ing gunpowder, but God knows I couldn't help it and
so I'll let things pass.
"I scratched off a long letter to Phil today, telling
him as near as I could the state of affairs here, of the
gold mines,1 of the news of peace,2 and the condition of
things in consequence. Many despatches on these
subjects go home with this, as also private letters that
will get into the papers, and it is useless to repeat, so I'll
tell you simply that since my return from the mines I have
been and still am living very comfortably in the family
of Dona Augustias, the very first lady of Monterey and
in fact of California. She is very kind and intelligent
and her pretty little daughter Manuelita makes a good
sister. The husband Don Manuel Jimeno passes most
of his time on his ranche about forty miles off, so that I
am a species of guardian to the family. I have not been
so comfortably situated for a long time and know it can
not be of long duration, as Colonel Mason will, soon after
the squadron comes up from Mazatlan, go to the gold
mines to be in the midst of the population of the country.
I go along, of course, and will try if possible to pick up
some of the loose particles so plenty and abundant.
During our former visit we were hurried by the state of
1 Sherman's observations on the discovery of gold in California
are fully set forth in the Memoirs, I, 68-88.
2 The ratifications of the treaty of peace were exchanged May
30, 1848. The official news did not reach Sherman till September.
Memoirs, I, 85.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 117
affairs, but now that the war is over and the volunteers
soon to be discharged we can stay there a longer time.
"Monterey is now nearly abandoned by the male
population, and the same may be said of San Francisco
and other towns. All are gone to the gold mines. We
have no mails from any part of the world and seldom
receive letters — as complete a banishment as was ever
imposed upon criminals. We look, however, to this
gold to open the channels of the world to us, but this
will require a long time, and probably before it happens
we may have a chance to get home. I do not anticipate
such chance now, for with the war stops all chance of pro
motion, and at the latest dates from Washington, viz. De
cember of last year, I was a lieutenant still. My chance
of continuing so is, therefore, good. I am high on the list
and would have been promoted by this time if the war
had continued. The state of feeling of the Mexican peo
ple toward the Yankees is of such a hostile character that
peace cannot last long. They want and deserve richly a
better whipping than they have got, and they will have
to receive it before they are content. You, of course, are
horrified at anything like war, but you cannot imagine
anything like the obstinate pride, egotism and nonsense
that characterize them as a people. These, in California,
are bad enough, but in Mexico they are far worse. ..."
"San Francisco, California,
"March 5, 1849.
"The Steamer California arrived at Monterey on the
23 of February and has turned us all crazy. I received
a good lot of letters, yours and Phil's, from May till

118 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
December last. You can hardly imagine the effect of
this arrival upon us poor devils out here, who, for years
had received scarce a letter once in six months. Until
this arrival I had not heard from you or any of my
correspondents for a whole year. Merchant ships
would not bring letters lest they might convey mercan
tile intelligence, and there is now no doubt that many
a mail bag was cast into the sea. Indeed, a man of
war picked up a letter for me floating in the Pacific
Ocean. But at last a regular mail has come and we
begin to feel better. Still the steamer is here, out of
coal, and all her haads have gone to the gold mines, so
that it is doubtful whether she will return for a long
while. An opportunity now offers to send to San Bias,
Mexico, from which place letters may cross to Vera
Cruz and thence to the U. S. When the steamer
arrived at Monterey I was Adjutant General to Col.
Mason and living most comfortably in the family of
Dona Augustias. When Gen. Smith x arrived he offered
to take me as his staff officer. I preferred being ordered
to the U. S., but he said he could not do so for the present,
so I stay as his Adjutant General, headquarters San
Francisco. I did not like to leave Monterey, but it was
to my interest to come with General Smith and here I
am. How long I am to stay no one knows. The Ad
jutant General at Washington writes in October last
that the Artillery Company will be relieved in the course
of eighteen months. That settles the question and I
have really little or no hopes of ever getting back. I
would resign but it would take two years to conduct
1 General Persifor F. Smith.

A SOLDIER IN CALIFORNIA 119
the correspondence and by that time the favorable
chance will have passed. This country is worse than
ever. A house cannot be rented here for any price and
men will hire for twenty times the wages of any other
country on earth. I really don't see how our officers
can stand it much longer. I'll make great efforts to
get away when the 2nd Infantry arrives in May. I
will then try and go to the gold mines myself. I have
already been there twice with Col. Mason to gather
information, and I see by the newspapers that that in
formation has turned half the United States crazy.
There is no doubt that gold exists in great abundance
in California, that fortunes have been made and are now
making, but these will be less as the number of com
petitors increase. I am glad to hear that ships are
coming out with clothing, etc. I am out and can't
afford to pay the exorbitant prices now charged. ..."
The change in Sherman's fortunes which this letter
indicates, the transfer from the command of Colonel
Mason to that of General Smith, from Monterey to San
Francisco, was soon to lead to the greater change for
which he had almost ceased to hope. After ten more
months filled with a variety of experiences in the country
suddenly metamorphosed by the discovery of gold, he
was assigned the coveted duty of delivering despatches
to General Winfield Scott in New York, and at the be
ginning of January, 1850, he sailed for home by way
of Panama, arriving in New York about a month later.

rv
TWO YEARS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
1850—1852
The brief chapter of Sherman's life for which the
following letters speak was, with one important excep
tion, less eventful than the chapters before and after it.
The letters deal with matters of less general concern,
and may be represented by a mere handful of their
more interesting passages. The exceptional event —
his marriage on May 1, 1850, to Miss Ellen Boyle
Ewing at the Washington house of her father, then
Secretary of the Interior in Taylor's Cabinet — was of
course an event of crowning importance in Sherman's
more personal history. But it is not the purpose of
this volume to open wide the doors of intimacy which
Sherman's own reserve kept closed throughout his
Memoirs. It is enough to realize that the letters hence
forth are addressed not to Miss Ewing but to Mrs.
Sherman. About four months after his marriage he went, in
September of 1850, to join his company of the Third
Artillery at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. Shortly
after arriving there he received news that four new
captains had been added to the Commissary Depart
ment, and that he was one of them. His duties from
120

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 121
this time until September of 1852 were chiefly at St.
Louis. Then he was transferred to New Orleans,
where the few remaining months of this period of his
life were passed. There would have been no letters
to Mrs. Sherman but that for considerable portions of
the time she was with her family at Lancaster, Ohio.
"Saint Louis, Mo.,
"January 25, 1851.
"... My days are nearly all alike and of an evening
I visit some one or more of my acquaintances. Night
before last I attended a fancy ball, given by a Mrs.
Russell, one of the rich persons of this city. Two
brothers occupy a house so arranged that they can be
thrown open into one, making four large parlors on the
first floor, and four large rooms on the second. The sup
per room was up stains and the dancing below, there being
a band of music for each set of parties. It was one of
the finest parties I ever saw and far surpassed in splen
dor anything I ever saw before, excepting probably a
masked ball I once attended in New Orleans. The
room was crowded with elegantly dressed Greeks,
Armenians, Turks, Jews, French and English of the old
and modern school, with every variety of monks, nuns,
of any a_ge and time. Yankees and boatmen, with Dutch
musicians all mingled together, made groups as novel
as picturesque. The officers, many dressed in full
dress uniform, all played their parts to admiration and
I never saw ladies appear better, in their pretty Greek
costumes, some with skirts of pure gold. I went at
ten o'clock, and came away at two a. m., but the party

122 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
did not break up until four. I was very temperate and
intended to leave at one, before supper, but Mr. Russell
would not let me go, so I had to remain and do my
share toward consuming the elegant supper of all the
substantials and delicacies that he had provided.
Hardie 1 and his Susan were there, and he did not get
to bed until an hour after two.
"There has been great rejoicing in this city among
the politicians at Benton's defeat. The great 'I am,'
seems to be humbled at last, and I am glad because it is
a just retribution for his vindictive abuse of Generals
Kearny and Mason because they interfered with the
ambitious designs of his son-in-law, Fremont. . . ."
"Independence, Missouri,
"May 21, Friday, 1852.
"I find myself here, on a rainy day, and know no
better disposition to make of my time than to write to
you. I last wrote from Fort Leavenworth. . . .2
"Fort Leavenworth is in the Indian Country on the
west bank of the Missouri River, on a high promontory,
affording a beautiful prospect down and up the river,
and of the opposite Missouri shore. Tuesday proving
a most beautiful day I ordered my horse to be saddled,
and, putting a change of underclothing in a cavalry
valise buckled behind the saddle, and wearing my over
coat, the common one, not dragoon, I mounted the
steed, which I found to be a long legged sorrel dragoon
1 First Lieut. James A. Hardie, later Major-General U. S. A.
2 In the spring of 1852 Sherman went to Fort Leavenworth
"on duty, partly to inspect a lot of cattle." — Memoirs, I, 117.

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 123
horse, which having crossed more than once the plains
was pronounced by the soldier a good traveller. He
may have been once, but his joints now are stiff, and
his muscles weak, so that he moves with evident
reluctance, with the constant aid of spurs, and an evi
dent mental determination to split me in two. Thus
mounted I sallied forth, bound down the steep hill to
the river, which I crossed in the ferry boat. The road
for the first three miles lay in the Missouri bottom,
filled with immense trees, and the ground a deep black
mud, just like the river bottoms in Ohio. The road
then strikes the hard firm ground which is rolling, cut
up into hills and valleys very much like the country
near Mount Vernon [Ohio]. I had expected to find a
common prairie country, but was much mistaken, and
agreeably so, for I never beheld prettier or finer farms
anywhere. New brick houses all along the road, with
cattle, sheep, horses, etc., in abundance show a good
condition of things, and upon inquiry I found that the
County Platte, opposite Fort Leavenworth is next in
population and wealth to that of Saint Louis. The day
was very fine, so passing through the county seat,
Platte City, and on for twenty-six miles I reached my
first stopping place, Mr. Gordon's, the lame man you
met in the office, the day of letting the contract. None
of the family except the overseer was at home, but said
all would be back in the evening, having gone to Liberty.
He had dinner got for me, and then showed me the
place. Mr. Gordon is a very wealthy man having six
thousand acres of fine land, more than two thousand
under fence; counts his cattle, horses and mules by

124 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the hundreds, has his flour, saw and threshing mills,
and cultivates with slave labor. I did not expect to see
so fine and extensive a farm; his house was a two story
frame, with a brick wing standing back. A yard with
ornamental trees enclosed the house, with stable yard,
cow yard, etc. , distributed around. As night approached,
the children, three boys and two girls, returned from
school two miles off, and shortly after Mr. and Mrs.
Gordon, with a young lady from town, rode up on horse
back. They received me very well, and could not pos
sibly have treated me better. I stayed there all of next
day, visiting on horseback different pastures, some of
which are five miles from the house. In the course of
the day we discussed fully the contract he had agreed
to make. I found him perfectly fair, though anxious
if possible to obtain various modifications and stipula
tions, very few of which I could grant, and yesterday
morning we rode to Liberty his county seat, where we
entered into the formal contract for the delivery in New
Mexico of 1340 beef cattle. We then parted, he re
peatedly inviting me if ever I came to Leavenworth to
renew the visit and if possible to bring you along, a
promise I promptly made and which it is not very im
probable we will fulfil. That business was all I had
to attend to, but on my old rule never to return by the
road I had come, I determined to go back to the fort
by this side of the river. Accordingly after dinner I
remounted old Fogy, and prevailed on him to carry me
to the river, six miles, and then six further to this
'City,' the great starting place for the Great West,
California, Oregon and New Mexico. It is a busy

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 125
thriving town of 2,000 inhabitants, has a good court
house and public square, lined with stores containing
everything that a traveller on the plains can ask for.
The streets bounding the court house square extend
back for a long distance having many pretty, neat
houses with yards as much like the country towns of
Ohio as two peas, except this town is newer and ap
parently more thriving — this, the Noland House, being
the biggest hotel. I rode up and true to my luck found
several people of my acquaintance, one a Mr. Mason of
Fort Atkinson and another Mr. F. X. Aubrey who is
considered the most 'rapid man' in the Santa F^ trade,
who is always just arriving from New Mexico. I did
think of staying here only a few hours, but they pre
vailed on me to stop all night and I woke up this morn
ing to find myself storm-bound. Yet I am not sorry
for I have learned many things here, which it is my
interest to know, have talked a good deal with Aubrey
and others about new roads and cut offs, and about
affairs generally in New Mexico, and the road thither.
If you should hear of my joining some expedition or
other, you must not be surprised, for had I authority
or permission I would certainly make some summer trip
of the kind. A great many have gone to California
from here, and yet more are going. Mule teams and
ox teams are loaded in the streets and California sub
jects are careering about, before bidding a last adieu to
houses, stores, trees, and other luxuries they will not soon
see again. A train started yesterday for Chihuahua in
Mexico, with goods imported from France. I mention this
merelyto show the variety of things done in this city. . . ."

126 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Saint Louis, Mo., May 30, 1852.
"... I wrote you last from Independence. As I
expected, the weather cleared up enough and after
dinner I started. Twelve miles of good road brought
me to Westport, a town on the very verge of the state
of Missouri. Thence to Fort Leavenworth lay through
the country of the Shawanese and Delawares. En
quiring the road I determined to make twelve miles
more, so as to make an easy journey for the following
day. The house where I was to sleep was that of one
Monday, blacksmith of the Delawares, on the north
side of the Caw River.1 There were no houses by the
way and the road being recently cut up by the California
wagons, the old road appeared faint compared with a
new one made by the emigrants so that I got on the
wrong track, and at night found myself fifteen miles
on the bank of a swollen creek, seeing many Indian
huts on the opposite bank. I hailed and was motioned
to cross. I did so, the water being about saddle skirt
deep. When over I found an Indian who could talk
English, who explained to me where I had taken the
wrong road, and that I was eight miles from Monday's
ferry. It was then dark and too late to rectify my
mistake, so I had to make a virtue of necessity and ask
to stay all night. I was taken to the house of a Chief,
a hewn log house, with one room, two good beds, look
ing glass, pictures, etc. — very snug indeed for an Indian.
The old man had gone to Washington on some business,
but the old lady squaw, with her son, daughter-in-law
1 The Kaw or Kansas River. Memoirs, I, 118. Monday's house
and ferry seem to have been near the site of Kansas City.

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 127
and some boys, was at home. They got me supper,
coffee, bacon and eggs, and corn bread, and set a table
with knives, forks, dishes, etc., as good as any frontier
whites. After eating my supper and talking with the
young man who talked English, I made arrangements
to have one of the boys at daylight show me the nearest
road to the ferry, paid fifty cents for my supper and corn
for my horse, and then enquired where I should sleep.
He said in the big bed. I saw it was a feather bed with
calico curtains enough to stifle anybody, much more
an asthmatic; so I insisted upon not disturbing the
family arrangements, but asked for a blanket which,
with my saddle and blanket, would make a soldier's
bed outside. But after some time they made a straw
bed in a shed outside where the younger boys slept, and
where also their harness, saddles, etc., were kept.
Accordingly, though the smell of musty corn and
saddle blankets was strong, I turned in booted and
spurred, and barring the rats jumping over my face
a little too often for comfort's sake I made out for
the night. Before day I aroused the boy, and started
on the back track, till he put me on the right
road from which by sunrise I was on the banks of
the Caw river, and soon after ferried across to
'Monday's.' There I stayed several hours to rest my
horse and get breakfast, after which resuming the
journey, I rode quietly along over a beautiful country
of prairie or timber land, reaching the fort late in the
afternoon. . . ."

128 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"St. Louis, Mo.,
"September 30, 1852.
" I have just received the sad tidings of poor Mother's x
death, so sudden, and unexpected to me. The tele
graph failed to deliver it to me, and I am glad it took
the slower road, for it is now known to me that though
sudden, she died easily and that all was done that could
be done to prolong her stay on earth.
"Poor Mother! she has had hard times, and nothing
but the kindest, most affectionate and simplest heart
would have borne her up under her varied fortune.
Hardly a week since I had a long letter from her in her
usual style telling me of her childish delight at the
sights she saw at Cleveland. ... I did think that in
case I could so arrange matters at New Orleans as to
make it convenient for her to come, I would invite her
to come with you. I wrote her so and she was delighted
with the idea. I knew she would, but it is ordained
otherwise. . . .
" Mother's letter to me is dated the 21st of September
in which she reiterates how good her health was, and
how she stood the exposure at the fair better than the
girls. Taylor's 2 letter telling me of her fatal sickness
is dated the 23rd only two days [later]. Could Mother
have been sick and flattering herself that she was so
well ? I fear so."
1 Sherman's mother, Mary Hoyt, was, like his father, a native
of Norwalk, Conn. She died in Mansfield, Ohio.
2 Charles Taylor Sherman, an older brother.

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 129
"New Orleans, November 4, 1852.
" . . .At this moment the wires are busy in bringing
the minute details of General Scott's utter defeat,1 such
an overwhelming defeat as never before shocked the
nerves of any presidential candidate. I feel for the
General and regret to hear in what bad taste he ex
presses himself at a result so general that silence alone
should mask his feelings. For my part, I am sorry at
the result, but feel that the army is better off with a
Democratic administration which has always a strong
majority in congress to carry out the measures the party
thinks prudent and right. Here, Cuba is all the go,
but I don't know what the northern Democrats think
on the subject. If Cuba can be got fairly, it will be a
beautiful state, and I would not object to a station at
the Havannah as commissary. Of that in due time.
"Since my arrival I have not lost sight of the neces
sary preparations for your coming. Boarding is ex
orbitantly high, beyond our means, house-keeping too
is no sinecure, but then we can endeavor to control
expenses. There are many houses for rent, all by
custom by the year dating November 1 . I have taken one
on Magazine Street, about six or eight squares from the
office, in a very genteel neighborhood, and decidedly bet
ter than our last abode on Chouteau Avenue [St. Louis].
Paved streets and side-walks continue far beyond the
house and an omnibus passes every few minutes, running
to the limits of the city in one direction, and starting from
Canal Street the heart of this curious emporium. ..."
1 Franklin Pierce received 254 electoral votes, Winfield Scott,
42.

130 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"New Orleans, December 2, 1852.
"I hasten to acknowledge the receipt this morning of
your mother's letter for which I wish you to thank her.1
The mails are so slow and uncertain that I have little
patience with them. . . .
"Here no one makes society a pleasure or study, but
an excitement to kill time. When you arrive you must
expect but few calls, and not much calling and visiting.
Everybody goes to shows, theatres, and operas for
pastimes, and Sunday more especially. . . . Yesterday
very early in the morning by invitation I joined Gen
eral Twiggs 2 and party of officers to go down to inspect
Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip. These are on the
banks of the Mississippi River, opposite each other and
seventy-five miles from here. We went down in the
Government steamer Fashion and reached our destina
tion by three p. m. The shores all the way down are
lined with sugar plantations, and the farther down the
more orange trees appeared, some loaded with fruit.
At the Fort itself were about a dozen trees from which
the sergeant in charge was just gathering the fruit,
which was partly loaded in a small sail vessel, and
partly lying under the trees, in piles like apples in an
orchard. Nothing can be more beautiful than an
orange grove loaded with fruit, and when I remembered
at this minute how bleak, cold and inhospitable is the
north, and how green, bright and beautiful are the
sugar fields and groves of Louisiana at this season of
1 Sherman's second child was born in November.
2 General David E. Twiggs, then commanding the department
including New Orleans.

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 131
the year, I rather incline to prefer this with its long
summer and mosquitoes to the former. Should we
get Cuba that will be for the better, for there they have
high lands, instead of this flat swamp upon which
Louisiana is placed. The morning papers contain a
long letter from Secretary Buchanan to our Spanish
Minister more than four years ago, which will no doubt
form the policy of Pierce's administration, to buy Cuba
for a hundred millions of dollars. Should Cuba be so
acquired during the next two years I shall feel tempted
to relinquish my Pacific plans.1
"I am going to dine today at Colonel Bliss's,2 with
General Persifor Smith and others, and on Saturday
am going up the river about a hundred miles to spend
some days on a sugar plantation. I have seen sugar
made often, but never on a Louisiana plantation. The
river banks here are called the coast, probably a corrup
tion of the french c6te, (shore or side). So in passing up
or down the river you say, up or down the coast. . . ."
"New Orleans, La., December 14, 1852.
"I have not heard from you since my last letter, but
the mails have been so irregular that I do not attribute
the delay to you. Since my last nothing has transpired
worthy of record, excepting perhaps a visit I made a
few days ago to Jackson's battle ground. It is about
a mile below the barracks. They are about four miles
down stream from here, or two miles from the omnibus
1 Further service on the frontier was at this time a strong de
sire of Sherman's.
* Colonel W. W. S. Bliss, son-in-law of General Taylor.

132 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
stand. I went in the omnibus as far as it went, then
walked to the barracks where I got a horse and in com
pany with Lieut. Fry,1 rode on horseback down to the
battle ground. Strange to say there is nothing to mark
the spot save a small granite block not more than thirty
inches long, which has inscribed January 8, 1815, and
that stone has fallen into the small ditch that runs by
the road side. The old ditch remains, with large trees
on its margin, and a common lane runs along the inside,
used alone by the curious who visit the site of one of
the most bloody and decisive battles of the war of 1812.
An old negro with deformed hand, blind in one eye and
the other a hideous one, is the guide and historian, lives
in a clapboard hut, and stands ready to repeat his oft-
told tale, how the cannon roared, and the rifle and
musket, etc., when Pakenham fell and where "Massa
Jackson" broke through the roof of a house (still stand
ing) to look at the British with his spy glass. Plain as
the field of Lundy's Lane which we visited at Niagara,
this is still more devoid of military points or features,
and the only wonder excited to a military mind is, that
the old British soldiers had not been more prudent than
to advance over such smooth war ground to attack the
wall of cotton bales, guarded by skilful marksmen.
However now it makes little difference and the ground
yields its crop of sugar cane the same as though a fierce
battle had never trampled upon an ungathered crop. . ."
1 James Barnet Fry, later well known as Provost Marshal-
General, U. S. A.

THE MAN OF BUSINESS
1853—1859
It was at about the end of 1852 that Sherman's family
arrived in New Orleans to share with him the house
he had taken in Magazine Street. Almost simultane
ously a St. Louis friend brought him a tempting offer
to go to San Francisco as a partner in a banking firm,
Lucas, Turner & Co., about to be established there.
In letters not printed in the preceding chapter there
were indications that Sherman was growing restive
under the routine of his commissary work. On August
2, 1852, he wrote: "I am getting tired of this dull, tame
life and should a fair opportunity occur for another
campaign on the frontier, I cannot promise to keep
quiet. Commissaries are not fighting men, but I could
effect an advantageous exchange." On November 21
he reverted to the idea of a frontier campaign, and on
November 26, 1852, wrote, "Nothing but activity and
continued interest contents me, and when these fail,
an impulse moves me that reason, nor pleasure, nor any
ordinary motive accounts for." These sentences re
flect a state of mind which was a fertile soil in which to
plant the suggestion of going to California for a cam
paign of unexpected novelty — a campaign of business.
133

134 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Sherman had the prudence, however, not to resign
immediately from the army, but to ask for a leave of
absence in which to investigate the business prospects.
The Magazine Street house, therefore, could hardly
have become a home when in February, 1853, he sent
his family back to Ohio, and concluded his arrange
ments for setting out to the Pacific Coast.
The first letter from California, April 12, 1853, de
scribes the shipwreck, near San Francisco, of the vessel
which bore Sherman to his new venture. But the cir
cumstances are related in such detail in the Memoirs
that the letter would be superfluous here. For about
three months Sherman remained in San Francisco,
looking over the ground. His first impressions were
not favorable, and near the end of a discouraged letter
of May 11 he wrote: "I fear I will never enjoy a full
and fair field for my natural activity of mind and body,
until both are crippled." Finally satisfied, however,
with what he foresaw, he returned East, consulted with
business associates and family, and wrote his resigna
tion from the army, taking effect September 6, 1853.
Two weeks later he sailed for San Francisco with Mrs.
Sherman and one of his two children. Except for a
visit to the East which Mrs. Sherman made from the
spring to the autumn of 1855, they were together for
most of the next four years — with a consequent dearth
of letters. But here, and elsewhere in later days, some
of the gaps are filled by letters to Mrs. Sherman's
father, the Hon. Thomas Ewing.
The time of the California experiment was unpropi-
tious for business success. In the winter of 1855 a panic

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 135
in San Francisco brought all financial undertakings there
into peril, and in May of 1857 Sherman and his family left
the closed bank behind them. In spite of the impending
general panic of this year, the bank had not failed, but
merely discontinued its business. A continuance of the
same business in New York where the panic soon em
barrassed all banking enterprises, proved no more for
tunate for him, and in 1859 he found himself, sorely buf
feted and perplexed, a lawyer in Leavenworth, Kansas.
The letters will expand this brief outline of a trying
period. "San Francisco, Cal.,
" June 30, 1853.
"... This is a great country for rich people, but
death to a poor one. Turner has shifted his quarters
to another house, but we all get our meals together at
a restaurant. This is the usual way and it suits very
well indeed — breakfast of tea, beefsteak, muffins, and
radishes, dinner according to call, fine soup, fish, roasts,
stews and all sorts of French notions, — indeed I would
not ask a better table. Very few make more than two
meals, but as my room is over the restaurant I fre
quently take a cup of tea. Our evenings are spent in
various ways, visiting, walking the streets to see
mountebanks, auctioneers, and gambling rooms. These
things which usually in all cities are hid in the dark
alleys, here occupy the most conspicuous places. The
gambling rooms are elegantly lighted with mirrors and
pictures of the most costly kind. A bar room with ser
vants supplies gratis the crowd with drinks and the

136 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
tables at which gambling is conducted are attended by
pretty French girls who rake in the piles of money lost
or pay the winners their stakes. There are four of
these within hearing of the plaza with the finest music
I almost ever heard. Lola Montez has been drawing
crowds at five dollars a ticket. She gave three benefits,
one to the Asylums, Catholic and Protestant, clearing
near $5,000. Such are the characters that suit the
California atmosphere. Yet times are changing. La
dies are thronging here by each steamer, churches
are springing up in every quarter. Lectures on
temperance are nightly listened to by crowded audi
ences. The city council has already prohibited street
gambling and the tendency of things is to root out the
gamblers. Their race is run, and their days are num
bered. Auctions form an interesting lounge. One
street is lined literally with Jews, who standing on a
box cry out to the crowds their wares at awfully low
prices. Some of them are funny and witty, attracting
listeners, if not buyers. Raffling is another subject of
excitement. All the time there are three or four on
hand — one now for $65,000 with 2,400 prizes. One
prize is a piece of gold worth $5,000. A great many
watches, jewels of great value, shawls, Chinese Gods,
etc., make up the bulk of prizes. So common is the
spirit of gambling that crowds are at the place of raffle
each night to raffle for tickets, that is ten persons each
pay $1 and then cast dice who shall have the whole ten
tickets. This raffle is to come off July 5, and I have
always intended to take some chances, but can't afford
to lose and therefore think I shall resist temptation. I

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 137
have already purchased some things to be brought
home as presents for you if I return or send you in case
I do not. The Fourth of July is to be celebrated here
with all pomp. Old Captain S  is to be the hero,
if they can keep him sober enough. A committee is
appointed for that purpose, but from my appreciation
of the members another committee must be appointed
to look after them. I have been pretty free of asthma
for a long time, though this climate is peculiarly suited
to produce it. Our mornings are warm, bright and
pleasant, but about noon comes from the sea a regular
blow accompanied by dust, sand and mist. By night
it is cold enough for an overcoat or cloak. I had a
pretty severe attack shortly after my arrival, but Dr.
Hitchcock says it was not owing to lungs but a kind of
fever, and, strange to say, prescribed quinine. It re
lieved me promptly, and upon a recurrence of any
symptoms I have taken quinine. It has more re
lieved my breast than any medicine I ever before at
tempted, and it may be that it will continue to have
that effect. I doubt much, however, if it will ever leave
me except for a time. If you hear by telegraph of my
arrival in New Orleans write promptly to Saint Louis
and hold yourself in readiness to leave home for New
Orleans by September 1. I will not be able to stay more
than a few hours in Lancaster as I must be in New
Orleans September 7. . . ."
"San Francisco, Cal., May 8, 1855.
"We have had a week of unusual hard and un
pleasant work. The mail steamer Sonora came in,

138 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
just after the Golden Age1 had gone on the 1st inst.
with an account of the failure of Page and Bacon,2 in
volving as a matter of course the failure here, with a
new run, another panic, worse if possible than the last.
Some malicious scoundrel started also the story that
the house of Lucas and Simonds 3 too had failed, and
you know how all here are blind in a case of the kind
and no assurances from us were of any avail, so instead
of a single day of panic we have had a whole week. But
the Nicaragua steamer came in last night and brought
no news, which is good news that Lucas and Simonds
had not failed, so the thing has subsided back again to
the same old condition of things. Instead of making
a month's journey into the mountains I only went to
Sacramento, where, as usual, I could not sleep and had
to come back. I shall, however, make another effort
after the next mail steamer arrives and departs. By
her I shall hear of your safe arrival at Panama. Ac
cording to my account you will reach New York today
or tomorrow. ..." "San Francisco, May 16, 1855..
"The John L. Stevens is coming in, the express boats
have arrived and you must imagine my horror to hear
that the Golden Age 4 was wrecked. Hardly a minute
1 The Golden Age, with Mrs. Sherman on board, sailed April 17.
Memoirs, I, 145.
2 A New York and St. Louis banking house, with a San Fran
cisco branch, Page, Bacon & Co.
3 The St. Louis house, of which Sherman's firm, Lucas, Turner
& Co., was the San Francisco branch.
* The wreck of this vessel, April 29, is described in the Memoirs,
I, 145.

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 139
elapsed till the full particulars were given saying that all
the passengers were safe, and were hardly delayed in the
journey. Mr. William Duncan came in this moment
with your letter written on the 28th of April, the very
day when the ship is said to have been wrecked. I
know full well the horror you have of shipwreck and
am very anxious to hear from you. There are several
letters in town from Mr. Aspinwall and others which
will be published in the papers. According to the
accounts that have reached me thus far, you must have
had a great fright and some inconvenience. This will
serve to increase your dread of the sea, but having once
been wrecked and seen no loss of life or property, it
may be that you will appreciate how seldom a steamer
causes the loss of life at sea when properly commanded.
"I observe you formed one of the Captain's party,
and can infer that all were polite and attentive. Of
this I feel assured from the character of Mr. Aspinwall
and the other gentlemen passengers. I feel very anxious
to hear more. I left the children at 9 o'clock in a per
fect glee watering the flowers. Biddy's management is
perfect. She is like an old hen with two chickens. . . ."
"San Francisco, May 31, 1855.
"Just on the eve of departure of the last mail we
heard of the wreck of the Golden Age, but I did not get
[the news] until too late to answer all your letters. But
they all came safely, some by hand and some by mail,
the one by Acapulco, that written just before the wreck,
the long one from the wreck, and last from the John L.
Stevens. I instantly complied with your request to

140 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
call on Mrs. Watkins,1 who had already learned the
details in a short note from her husband, and Mr.
Aspinwall; but she was much gratified to hear from
you that Commodore Watkins was not blamed by the
passengers. It was a narrow risk, very much so in
deed, but all the following circumstances at this time
look so favorable that you cannot get much sympathy
for the dangers and troubles of shipwreck. That Wat
kins' prompt determination to beach the vessel saved
you all is too evident, for those rocks are in deep water,
and had the ship filled in deep water, the boats alone
could have saved you, and it is doubtful if that crowd
of men would have had the courage and gallantry to
give the ladies first chance. But all turned out well,
as well as a wreck could, and you can now tell your tale
of a traveller of shipwreck and disaster. Such is the
love of danger and the marvellous in the human com
position that you will have to tell again and again of
your wreck on Quicaron Island. . . ."
"San Francisco, Cal., May 31, 1855.
"It is now past midnight. I have got through my
heaviest letters and propose now to write you via
Nicaragua lest any delay occur to the mail in which
you will receive several letters from Mrs. Stevens,
Mrs. Bowman, Biddy and myself. I sent also by mail
a daguerrotype of the children, and by express I will
send another. This latter is the best, though neither
is as good as we wanted. We took six or eight and
selected these two. Willy would not keep quiet. He
1 Wife of the captain of the Golden Age.

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 141
struggled and though Biddy managed to hold his hands,
he kept his eyes moving so that they are not given at all.
His eyes, too, are light and the daguerrotype does not do
them justice. You will observe that Lizzie held Biddy
to hold him quiet. She seemed to comprehend the
necessity of being quiet, and was as steady as a die,
and aided to keep Willy's arm still. Of course we had
a good deal of fun with them, and I think you will be
satisfied at least that they are in good condition. They
are both very fat. Willy is as heavy a load as I want
to carry, and he tyrannises over me completely, making
me carry him all round the yard an hour after each
meal. He cries for me, and I have to steal away as I used
to from Lizzie. Lizzie, on the contrary, considers herself
a reasonable being and can easily be satisfied with a
promise that I am coming back. She still says you have
gone on the party to get Minnie, and to bring her candy,
spoons, dishes, etc. She has a set of pewter that are served
up on all occasions, but Willy plays sad havoc with
her arrangements. She is perfectly in awe of him, and
runs in perfect dread when he approaches. He can rise
by a chair and walk sideways holding on. I think next
steamer I can report that he walks. He begins to talk a
lingo of his own, perfectly incomprehensible, but that he
understands much that is said to him there is no doubt.
"In business, times are mending slowly. Lucas and
Simonds have at my request made modifications in our
contract that is to my benefit some three or four thou
sand a year. Indeed they do anything I ask and I
would be foolish to find fault with any of them. I only
fear they may form too high an estimate of me, and in-

142 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
crease my responsibility, in proportion. Nisbet is a
partner of their own selection, yet they look to me in
dividually to manage all things important. I ought to
relieve my mind from so much, and yet I don't see how
it can be done. In order to accomplish success there
must be but one head, and that head must know every
thing even to the minutest details. From what Turner
writes, if I could be replaced here, they would like to
have me in Saint Louis, but I don't think of it. It is
better for all hands that I should stay here my six years.
"I was rather amused last Sunday a week at being
invited to accept the nomination of the Democratic
party for City Treasurer. When waited on I explained
that although no politician I was not entitled to the name
of Democrat. They insisted that made no difference,
they only asking a pledge against ' know-no thingism.'
This I could have given, but as an acceptance of a
Democratic nomination might have been misconstrued I
thought it best to decline, though the salary of four thou
sand would have been acceptable and the office would
have chimed in well with my present business. The
Democrats at the election carried their ticket, so had I ac
cepted the nomination I should have been elected. . . ."
[TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"San Francisco, Cal.
"April 15, 1856.
" . . .Of course we feel deeply interested here in every
thing that looks like war with a nation of such formidable
naval strength as England, and we read with care all

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 143
the papers of our own and that country touching the
subject. We cannot believe that any clique of politi
cians would involve us in such a war, for such con
temptible subjects as that of the logwood colony of
Belise or the enlistment of a few men, who were,
doubtless, a good riddance to our country.1 Still, wars
have sometimes arisen from slighter pretexts and I hope
the General Government will from this simple cause
continue to fortify those cities of commercial importance
that lie exposed to sudden attack. War would be fatal
to California — not that any European nation could
capture or occupy it, but England could blockade the
coast and reduce us to exchange our gold for their goods
at their own prices. The entrance to this harbor is
one of the strongest and most capable of defence in the
world. Forts are projected and in the course of con
struction, which will make it utterly impossible for any
fleet to enter, and should war arise before the completion
of these works temporary batteries could be constructed
in a few days, capable of sealing the entrance to any
fleet. So the worst I apprehend from war to us is
blockade. The great railroad is at present an impos
sibility, but a wagon road is easy and would be of im
mense use to us, and if the worst comes to the worst
we could, under escorts, send our treasure that way.
But the distance is too great to haul goods, though the
Russians do send trains of travellers and goods from
1 At this time the relations of the United States with Great
Britain under the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty were under a somewhat
critical tension, the greater because of questions of enlistment
and of filibustering expeditions to Central America. See I. D.
Travis's History of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, p. 175.

144 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Moscow to the Sea of Okotsch on the Pacific, a distance
of double that from the frontier of Missouri to Cali
fornia. I have taken an active interest in this wagon
road, and we shall send forward with this mail a petition
with enough signatures to show the preference of our
people. . . .
"Since I embarked in this scheme, affairs have much
changed. Almost every bank has failed. A large pro
portion of the wealthy have become embarrassed and
bankrupt. Real estate has fallen from an exaggerated
rate to almost nothing. As all this time we have had
much money loaned it has been a period of deep
anxiety to me, and I have thought more of acquitting my
duties to my associates to [than of] making anything for
myself. Were the arrangement to be made over again
I would act more advisedly, but as Mr. Lucas and
Major Turner have done everything I could expect, I
am determined if I live to stick out my full term of six
years, and then will be prepared to act for the future.
... I am better known here than anywhere else. I
have been so long identified with California that it
would be foolish to change, so I look upon this as my
home, and whether I ever change is a question I leave
to be solved by the future. . . .
"At times I do think I would like to free myself from
the anxiety attending credit transactions in so desperate
a country, but I am in for it, and must take the
chances. . . ."
A month later Sherman wrote to his father-in-law
about the stirring episodes between the Vigilantes and

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 145
the " Law-and-Order party" following the murder of
one San Francisco journalist, James King, by another,
James Casey. Sherman had just been made a major-
general of militia, and was naturally arrayed on the
Law-and-Order side. The letter of May 21, however,
has been printed in the Century Magazine for December,
1891, and is so much less comprehensive than Sher
man's account of the affair in his Memoirs that it seems
best to pass at once to the next letter bearing more
closely upon his personal fortunes.
[TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"San Francisco, Cal.
"January 3, 1857.
"Mrs. Ewing mentions in one of her letters that
you were disappointed in not hearing from me.
The fact is I have a good deal to do, and besides
I did not think you cared about hearing from me
unless I had something specific to write about.
To be sure, in this strange land there is no scarc
ity of topics, yet this, unless connected together in
somewhat of a history, cannot much interest you,
for our tales are of trouble and anxiety and disorder.
In your last to me you spoke of the probability of
my being promoted to New York. This plan was
based on the supposition that a Capt. C. P. Stone1
in business here could succeed me, but that has
become impossible. . . .
1 Charles Pomeroy Stone, afterward distinguished for military
service in the Civil War and in Egypt, had recently resigned from
the army.

146 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"We have had awful times in California during my
administration here. When we began we were on the
top of a high wave rolling towards a dangerous but
hidden reef. Page, Bacon & Co. had the reputation
of having amassed a vast fortune, and Adams & Co.1
were supposed to be made of pure gold. Lands and
houses here were yielding fabulous rents, and gold was
a drug. People paid their three and five per cent a
month without a blush. Houses were building in
every direction and the cities were pushing their streets
over hills and out upon the bay, where but a year before
ships were riding at anchor. Indeed even yet many of
our houses are old ships imbedded in mud, on whose
bulwarks are erected the framework of a house. We
all supposed these magical changes were the result of
gold from our mountains. This was but partially the
case, for our gold was going East about as fast as it
came down from the mountains, but foreign monies
were coming here for investment at the high rates of
interest then prevailing. The first bursting of the
bubble was caused by the flight of Meiggs 2 who was
the great financier of the city, who led his associates
on to build streets and wharves until he made the city
bankrupt. Then came the failure of banks, showing that
the profits, however enormous, had been more than con
sumed by expenses; and now at the last moment our
1 A San Francisco banking house, with " numerous offices
scattered throughout the mining country." Memoirs, I, 137.
2 Henry Meiggs, who, owing about $1,000,000 in San Francisco,
fled with his family to Peru, where he made a vast fortune in
railway construction and subsequently paid many of his American
debts.

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 147
Supreme Court has decided that all the banks of the
State and all public securities have been issued in vio
lation of the Constitution of the State and are therefore
void. I have always mistrusted California politicians,
and therefore never touched bonds as securities.
These decisions of the Supreme Court in fact repudiate
over four millions of public debt. The Courts here
have absolved bankrupts from about nine million of
debts, and property has in the same time depreciated
full fifty per cent. You can readily understand how
anxious I have had reason to be in this long period of
downward progress. I believe our losses have been
less than any banking house here, but it would be wrong
for me to expect in a crisis of this kind, in a business
where credit is everything, to accumulate and save
money. ..."
Leaving California in May of 1857 Sherman was
ready to make a fresh start when the New York office
of Lucas, Turner & Co. opened its doors on July 21,
1857. A more unfavorable time for the new enterprise
could hardly have been hit upon, for one month later the
failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company precipitated
the panic of 1857, and close upon its heels came the loss
of a steamer bearing sixteen hundred thousand dollars
of treasure from California. One result of these ca
lamities was that in October, less than three months
from the beginning of the business of Lucas, Turner &
Co. in New York, it came to an end, though with no
loss of honor to the firm. During this time Mrs. Sher
man was in Lancaster, Ohio.

148 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
[TO MRS. SHERMAN]
"Banking House of Lucas, Turner & Co.,
"No. 12 Wall Street, New York.
"July 29, 1857.
"... I know no position in life so unenviable as one of
fame not deserved, of position not merited, and like most
persons I think I occupy that most unenviable post.
As we begin to draw to a settlement I feel what has been
a nightmare to me for years, that the causes which have
led to the bankruptcy of all we lived amongst has been
telling on the business subject to my control. Of course
we did not break. We held high reputation among men,
but who can tell the secret sorrows of the most pleased
looking man who walks the highway? Of all lives on
earth a banker's is the worst, and no wonder they are
specially debarred all chances of heaven. Bound at
any and every moment to produce the very dollar de
posited, compelled to keep up an expensive outshow,
and yet compelled to lend the money on chance, and
depending on that chance for profit! I can only,
therefore, now say that, as I long feared, as we draw
our California affairs to a close I fear our profits, if any,
will be small, and first of all I will be in debt to the
house for whatever I used over and above the stated
income, $6,000 a year. What this will be I cannot now
foretell, but I feel certain it will be something. Several
officers sent money to me to invest and I did so. I
fear the utter depression in California is such that I
cannot get that money in at once, and they are asking
me for it, and appearances must in my position be

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 149
maintained, so that I must sell my St. Louis property
— all — and trust myself to the San Francisco securities.
Our fate has been cast in a wrong time and I regret I
ever left the Army, though at every turn flattery and
magnificent future prospects are held out to me. If I
could feel satisfied that I could extricate myself from
this dilemma I would feel great relief. . . ."
"New York, August 24, 1857.
". . .1 seem to fall on bad times in business,
for I am not fairly installed before failures have be
gun. Today the great Ohio Life and Trust Com
pany failed. We had one of their checks which I went
down to recover — the drafts for which the check was
given, and it reminded me of San Francisco. I am
convinced they are going to see sights here. I am sat
isfied many of the stocks on which mercantile and
banking wealth are founded are as valueless at bottom
as those mining stocks of San Francisco, which blew
up the great men there.
"It won't do to croak in business, but I don't like the
aspect of business generally. This view of things makes
me too cautious — safety rather than profit. I can lose
my own money and property without feeling much,
but to lose what is confided to me by others I can't
stand. . . .
"I think this failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Com
pany is likely to give us a large part of the business they
formerly did, but my notion is that it is all work and
responsibility and little pay. Everybody wants to be
a banker. To be a banker implies plenty of money,

150 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
and pretension is as good as the real thing. Now Mr.
Lucas is so situated that he cannot break. Failure
would entail on him heavy loss, whereas nine bankers
out of ten can fail and be better off than when they
began. But these pretended bankers get quite a name,
and the world at large don't know the difference, and
as they promise so very much, the business is worth
little or nothing to those who expect to fulfill their
obligations. I am satisfied it don't suit me, and I wish
I were out of it at some honest employment, but I am
in it and must persevere. . . ."
"New York, September 18, 1857.
"You will have heard that the Central America, our
George Law,1 is lost, swallowed up in the terrible storm
of the 11th. But meagre reports are yet come that some
sixty out of five hundred people belonging to her are on
a sailing vessel, the rest all gone.
"We who have been on her can fancy the terrible
scene, as wave after wave swept over her, filling her, and
sinking her, leaving five hundred people struggling and
clinging to fragments to be picked up at chance, or to
sink forever. Capt. Herndon was in command and of
course is lost. His wife and daughter are here, and on a
visit I made last evening on Mrs. Myers at the New York
hotel, I heard they were deeply anxious, then knowing
nothing. . . . Well, we are all safe ashore, and I guess
you will not again be called on to tempt the dangers of
1 Apparently Sherman and his wife had sailed on this ship be
tween New York and Nicaragua. The story of her loss is given
fully in the Memoirs, I, 163-4.

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 151
the sea. I may have to, but guess I am not doomed
to be drowned, else I would have been long ago.
"About your coming east, — do not commit yourself
for some weeks yet. Mr. Lucas is evidently not relish
ing these successive dangers which threaten his property,
and I would not blame him if he would conclude as soon
as this storm blows over, to draw out of this dangerous
business. If I were a rich man — of which there is not
the remotest chance — I would as soon try the faro table
as risk the chances of banking. We may talk of pru
dence and all that, but we might as well talk of avoiding
risk in this business as to avoid and escape danger at
sea. The loss of this Central America at this juncture
adds to the general distress. Here is a dead loss of
two millions of dollars to some people, but where the
loss will ultimately fall will not be ascertained for a long
time to come. In the meantime, the banks of this city
have got to sustain it for a time. Insurance companies
ought to pay, but to pay they will have to borrow and
that is going to be a difficult thing in these times.
"Don't make up your mind to come east till I have
time to think a little farther ahead. Affairs were com
plicated enough before, but this sad accident may be
the last ounce that broke the camel's back.
"The banks here are illy able to bear these losses
and if they begin to break, there is no telling where it
will stop."
The trouble stopped short of any losses to the creditors
of Lucas, Turner & Co., but the forced suspension of
James H. Lucas & Co. of St. Louis obliged the New

152 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
York house to bring its business to an end on October 7,
1857. On the very day before this misfortune Sherman
wrote to his wife: "I am going to quit clean-handed —
not a cent in my pocket. I know this is not modern
banking, but better be honest." He started at once
for St. Louis, remained there for nearly two months,
helping to settle the affairs of the firm, and then went
to California to realize all that was possible on their
San Francisco assets, which were considerable. A
long letter of March 3, 1858, described the difficulties
and discouragements of this process. A single passage
from it will sufficiently reveal Sherman's state of mind.
"San Francisco, Cal.
"March 3, 1858.
". . . It is too bad to oppress your mind with such
sad pictures, but you can easily imagine me here, far
away from you, far away from the children, with hope
almost gone of ever again being able to regain what
little self-respect or composure I ever possessed. I
wish I could, like most men, harden my conscience, and
say I could not [could no more] help the downfall of
this country or avoid the consequences thereof, than to
have dodged a cannon ball, or escape an earthquake.
You know I worked as hard as anybody could, that my
whole thoughts, too much so, were engrossed in this
business, which kept getting worse and worse from the
time Page and Bacon broke, till we got away. What I
did, and what dangers I avoided are of the past and
must be forgotten. What I failed to do, and the bad
debts that now stare me in the face, must stand forever

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 153
as a monument of my want of sense and sagacity.
Again I say I envy N  's nonchalance and the non
chalance of business men generally, who wipe out these
old sums, like the marks on a slate and begin anew with
no feeling or regrets for the past. . . ."
The remaining letters of this chapter were written in
the period during which Sherman, admitted to the bar
"on the ground of general intelligence," 1 was practising
law with his two brothers-in-law, Hugh and Thomas
Ewing, Jr., in Leavenworth, Kansas. Of his own fit
ness for the law he said in one of the Kansas letters not
printed hereafter: "If I turn lawyer, it will be bungle,
bungle, from Monday to Sunday, but if it must be, so
be it." "Leavenworth City, September 18, 1858.
"Sunday.
"... I have been round about here a good deal, and
tomorrow start on a little business for which I will be
paid by Van Vliet 2 to Fort Riley, some 140 miles west
of this, a trip I am glad to make for the reason that it
enables me to see the country, and also to look at that
tract of land on which your father counts so much.3
Also I will meet and see parties coming and going to
the gold mines of Pike's Peak. If there be real gold
placers of any extent, it will afford what Leavenworth
1 Memoirs, I, 168.
2 Major Stewart Van Vliet, quartermaster at Fort Leavenworth,
a West Point classmate of Sherman's.
3 Mr. Ewing owned land on Indian Creek, forty miles west of
Fort Leavenworth.

154 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
needs, a market on which she can rely, to support her
present population. If the gold mine story is a mere
Roorback, then it is going to be tight scratching here,
as it will be just like California — big towns, with plenty
of inhabitants but nothing to support them. Leaven
worth is out of all proportion to the back country, and
in my judgment will collapse, unless it has already col
lapsed, provided they cannot keep up some land or
political excitement to attract people here, to spend
what money they bring along. I have seen Van Vliet
very often, and he is the first to feel my true position.
"He asked me how I stood, and I told him at once
the whole fact that I was adrift seeking employment,
and he forthwith told me there was a small appropria
tion to be expended on the road between this and Fort
Riley; that if I would go, he would provide me a good
ambulance and four mules, driver, full outfit, and pay
me for my time. Also, he has an order to sell a large
amount of horses, mules, wagons, harness, etc., at
auction and that I might have that job. I accepted
both and they will employ me well for a month to come,
and will take up the very time that I am compelled to
spend here, waiting for others. . . .
"I'll tell you now my St. Louis ideas. Everybody
there of my old acquaintance laughed at the idea of my
living at Leavenworth. ... I have such unbounded
confidence in St. Louis generally, that I would go to
work with something like a conviction of success. Let
adversity fall upon any quarter of the world, St. Louis
is independent of all — numerical [ ?] enough to occupy
millions of men, armies of trade, north, south, east,

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 155
west, water and railway. Individuals may prosper in
a failing community such as San Francisco, but they
must be Jews, without pity, soul, heart or bowels of
compassion; but in a rising, growing, industrious,
community like St. Louis, all patient, prudent, honest
men can thrive. This is why my thoughts revert to St.
Louis, with its schools, libraries, places of diversion,
amusement etc. — all that we seek for, for ourselves and
children. . . ." "Fort Riley, Saturday,
"September 25, 1858.
"I write from this point, because there is a mail
which in due course should reach Leavenworth before
I do, though I start on my return in advance. I got
here the evening before last and am perfectly at home
with sound of bugle and drum, with officers and soldiers,
whom I know not of former acquaintance save of one,
but because I know their feelings and prejudices. I
doubt if ever I can gain the same knowledge of the
secret recesses of citizens at large.
"Here on the extreme frontier, I feel as much at ease,
and far more so than I could in Lancaster, but I must
not tarry too long here, but start back in a few hours;
but in the prosecution of the business on which I came.
This is a handsome post — six large officers' quarters and
six soldiers barracks, forming four sides of a rectangle,
enclosing a handsome parade ground. There are now
one company of artillery and two of dragoons here.
The soldiers seem well, but the horses have just re
turned from a long march of 1,500 miles, and look thin.

156 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
On my way up also I met four companies under Colonel
Sumner 1 encamped, and I spent four hours in their
camp talking of old times. It makes me regret my
being out of service thus to meet my old comrades, in
the open field, just where I most like to be. But I must
banish soldiering from my mind, and look to the bridges
and gullies and round holes of the road. On my way
back I will look again at your father's and Tom's land,
but as to selling anything in Kansas now [it] seems out
of the question. It is California all over. Everybody
has more land than they know what to do with, and no
money. The military posts and disbursements for
army purposes gave the people a market for hay, corn,
cattle, and horses, but now that the Utah and Indian
wars are over, it is going to be hard work for farmers to
dispose of their surplus cattle and stuff. I found the
road up very good, save at the crossing of some streams
which were bridged, but whose bridges were swept off
by the freshets of last spring. Now it threatens rain
and on my return I will have an opportunity to see the
effect. Part of the road down in the Kansas valley in
wet and frosty weather must be bad, but that on the
high upland prairie must be tolerably good at all
seasons. This is one vast prairie, not level but rolling,
with valleys leading from the divides to the water
courses. Along the water there is always timber and
also along the small ravines, where in rainy weather the
springs flow. But the great bulk of the country is
devoid of trees and bushes, but covered with a high
1 Edwin Vose Sumner then commanding the Department of
the West.

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 157
rank grass, heavier this season than ever before, as
evidenced by Colonel Sumner, who has been on the
prairies all his life. I have a close covered spring
wagon, called an ambulance, with four mules. One
of these died since my arrival here, and the driver is
having another shod to take his place. There are
houses all the way to Fort Leavenworth, and therefore
I will not have to sleep out. Some of these houses are
mere shells, indeed the best houses and farms along the
road are those of the Pottawottamie Indians. I should
judge that thus far Kansas has been settled by lawyers
and politicians instead of farmers and mechanics. ..."
"Indian Creek,1 [Kansas] April 9, 1859.
"I got today a package of letters from Tom, among
them two from your father, and yours from Cincinnati.
I was much gratified to hear you had so rapid and
pleasant a trip.2 I felt certain that the officers of the
Emma would do all in their power, and I think now I
ought to be a pretty good judge of men and boats. I
take it for granted that on Monday you got home and
by this time feel as though California and Kansas were
dream lands. They may be for you, but for others
they are stern realities. . . .
"I don't like the attitude of things about Pike's
Peak. No gold yet comes, yet a stream of men pours
thitherward, and should it prove a mere fabrication,
the reaction may injure rather than help Kansas. I
1 Sherman at this time was opening Mr. Ewing's farm, to which
reference has already been made.
2 Mrs. Sherman with the children had just returned to Ohio
after a visit to Kansas lasting from November till April.

15S SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
am satisfied those mines cannot be as rich as those of
California, for were they, much gold would have come
in. Even if they are half as good, it will be enough to
retain a large population in Kansas which will make
your property in Leavenworth valuable, as well as give
a good chance to operate here. It is this reason which
makes me try and prepare this farm to be ready for this
chance. Should Pike's Peak be a mere bubble, then
we must sell the corn at the best price possible, and
hereafter let the farm develope like any other. . . .
"We are here near the Pottawottamie Indians. Three,
all painted up, came to our cabin one day, and Luke
thought himself in danger, and was shocked, when I
got home, that I made them quit quick. They were
beggars and I won't let them come about the house
at all. . . ." "Indian Creek, April 15, 1859.
"... Thus far April has been the coldest month of the
year. Snow Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and
tonight though the wind has in a measure subsided, yet
it is so cold I can hardly hold my pen. San Francisco
can't hold a candle to the prairies of Kansas for wind.
Indeed they are a serious drawback to the country, and
are severer on stock and people than real cold and ice.
As yet there is no grass and no signs of leafing. This
lateness may be of service to me in our corn speculation,
as Pike's Peakers are strung along the road for hundreds
of miles, laid up, froze up, and their animals must be
fed to live. They counted on grass before this and
there is no sign of it, and I doubt whether grass will be

THE MAN OF BUSINESS 159
available till June, by which time I hope corn will have
reached the highest price. I only fear that Pike's Peak
itself may explode as a great humbug before we realize
our figures. . . .
"I have with you my doubts about Kansas. It has
not the elements of permanent prosperity — a hard
climate, neither one thing or other, poor timber, stone,
no fuel, and no prospect of manufactures. ... I am
doomed to be a vagabond, and shall no longer struggle
against my fate. ... I look on myself as a dead cock
in the pit, not worthy of further notice, and will take
the chances as they come. ..."

VI
DIRECTING A SOUTHERN MILITARY
SCHOOL
1859—1861
The note of disappointment and defeat which has
frequently recurred throughout the preceding chapters
sounds with a poignant sadness at the end of the chapter
just concluded. There was indeed reason enough for
Sherman to feel conquered by hostile circumstances.
Drawing close to forty, when, as he well knew, a man of
his abilities should have found himself established in
some definite and honorable place, he must in truth
have seemed to many of his contemporaries hardly
more successful than he appeared to his own relentless
vision. Yet he had never flinched. If the San Fran
cisco bank had not been directed by a man of foresight
and courage, there is every reason to suppose that it
would have failed, like its sister institutions, disastrously.
Those who had the fullest knowledge of Sherman's
course and its consequences must have seen that the
depression and discouragement were due rather to the
temperament of one who demands the highest things of
himself than to any essential failure. Through all this
ill-starred time, occasions came to him everywhere for
playing the part of the man, and everywhere he played
160

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 161
it manfully. Everywhere, too, the autobiographic
record speaks, though always indirectly, for the rare
accumulations both of intelligence and of the fruits of
character which he brought to his last considerable
employment before the outbreak of the Civil War.
This was the superintendency of the Louisiana State
Seminary of Learning and Military Academy, which
opened its doors to pupils on January 1, 1860. The
offer of this place, which came to him through the in
fluence of friends who did not share his own view of
himself, fell at a time when Sherman was at his wits'
end about the next step he should take, and it was cor
respondingly welcome. It must have been partly "on
the ground of general intelligence " again that Sherman
was selected for the work. Certainly he had had no
special training for the conduct of an institution of
learning. But the school was more than that. Its
founders had before their eyes the model of such an
academy as the Virginia Military Institute, which in
turn looked to West Point for many of its ideals; and
Sherman's military education and experience were, of
course, an important element in his equipment for the
new task. Had either he or the Louisiana authorities
known that secession and war were impending it is
obvious that a soldier so devoted to the Union would
never have gone into the South with the mission which
took him there. What he experienced in handling a
difficult administrative problem, what he gained in the
clarifying of his own outlook upon national issues, in a
word, what he learned in his brief period of teaching —
all this is set forth in the letters about and from the

162 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Seminary of Learning and Military Academy at Alex
andria, Louisiana.
On the way down the Mississippi to his new enter
prise he wrote as follows to Mrs. Sherman, who re
mained with their children in Lancaster, Ohio:
"Steamer L. M. Kennett,
"Saturday, October 29, 1859.
''...! find Southern men, even men as well in
formed as  are as big fools as the abolitionists.
Though Brown's whole expedition proves clearly that
the Northern people oppose Slavery in the abstract,
and yet very few will go so far as to act, yet the extreme
Southrons pretend to think that the northern people
have nothing to do but steal niggers and preach sedition.
"John's1 position and Tom's2 may force me at
times to appear opposed to extreme southern views, or
they may attempt to extract from me promises I will not
give; and it may be, this position as the head of a Mili
tary College south, may be inconsistent with decent
independence. I don't much apprehend such a state
of case, still feeling runs so high when a nigger is con
cerned that, like religious questions, common sense is
disregarded, and a knowledge of the character of man
kind in such cases induces me to point out a combina
tion that may yet operate on our fate.
"I have heard men of good sense say that the union
1 The Hon. John Sherman was especially conspicuous at this
time as the Republican candidate for Speaker of the House of
Representatives. 2 Mrs. Sherman's brother, with whom Sherman had just been
practising law in Leavenworth, Kansas.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 163
of States any longer was impossible, and that the South
was preparing for a change. If such a thing be con
templated and overt acts be attempted, of course, I
will not go with the South because with slavery, and the
whole civilized world opposed to it, they in case of
leaving the Union will have worse wars and tumults
than now distinguish Mexico. If I have to fight here
after I would prefer an open country and white enemies.
"I merely allude to these things now because I have
heard a good deal lately about such things, and generally
that the southern states, by military colleges and organi
zations, were looking to a dissolution of the Union. If
they design to protect themselves against negroes, or
abolitionists, I will help; if they propose to leave the
Union on account of a supposed fact that the northern
people are all abolitionists like Giddings and Brown,
then I will stand by Ohio and the North West. . . ."
"Baton Rouge,
"November 6, 1859, "Sunday.
"I wrote you from the Kennett at Cairo — but not
from Memphis. I got here last night about dark, the
very "day I had appointed, but so late in the day that when
I called at the Governor's residence I found he had gone
to a wedding. I have not yet seen him, and as to
morrow is the great election day of this state I hear that
he is going down to New Orleans to-day. So I got up
early, and as soon as I finish this letter I will go again.
"I have been to the Post Office and learn that several
letters have come for me, all of which were sent to the

164 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Governor. Capt. Ricketts x of the Army, commanding
officer at the Barracks, found me last night, and has
told me all the news, says that they were much pleased
at my accepting the place, and that all place great re
liance on me, that the place at Alexandria selected for
the school is famous for salubrity, never has been visited
by yellow fever and therefore is better adapted for the
purpose than this place. He thinks that I will have
one of the best places in the country, and that I will be
treated with great consideration by the Legislature and
authorities of the state. I will have plenty to do be
tween this and the time for opening the school. I have
yet seen nobody connected with the school and suppose
all are waiting for me at Alexandria, where I will go
to-morrow. ..."
"Alexandria, La.,
"Sunday, November 12, 1859.
" I wrote you a hasty letter yesterday whilst the stage
was waiting. Gen. Graham 2 and others have been
with me every moment so that I was unable to steal a
moment's time to write you. I left the wharf boat at
the mouth of Red River, a dirty poor concern where I
laid over one day, the stage only coming up tri- weekly;
and at 9 o'clock at night started with an over-crowded
stage, nine in and two out with driver, four good horses,
Troy coach, road dead level and very dusty, lying
along the banks of bayous which cut up the country
1 James Brewerton Ricketts, later a well-known officer in the
Union army.
2 General G. Mason Graham, Chairman of the Executive Com
mittee of the Board of Supervisors.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 165
like a net work. Along these bayous lay the planta
tions, rich in sugar and cotton, such as you remember
along the Mississippi at Baton Rouge.
"We rode all night, a fine moonlight, and before
breakfast, at a plantation, we were hailed by Judge
Boyce * who rode with us the rest of the journey. His
plantation is twenty-five miles further up, but he has
lived here since 26 and knows everybody. He in
sisted on my stopping with him at the plantation of
Mr. Moore,2 who is just elected Governor of Louisiana
for the coming four years, and who, in that capacity,
will be president of the Board of Supervisors who con
trol the Seminary of Learning, and whose friendship
and confidence it is important I should secure. He sent
us into town in his own carriage. Alexandria isn't
much of a town and the tavern where I am, Mrs.
Fellow's, a second-rate concern, as all southern taverns
out of large cities are. Still I have a good room open
ing into this parlor.
"Gen. Graham came in from his plantation, nine
miles west of this and has been with me some time.
At this moment he is at church, the Episcopal. He
will go out home tonight, and tomorrow I go likewise,
when we are to have a formal meeting and arrange
some rules and regulations, also begin the system of
study. He is the person who has from the start carried
on the business. He was at West Point but did not
graduate, but he has an unlimited admiration of the
system of discipline and study. He is about fifty-five
1 Judge Henry Boyce, of U. S. District Court.
3 Thomas O. Moore.

166 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
years, rather small, exceedingly particular and methodic
and altogether different from his half brother, the
General.1 "The building is a gorgeous palace, altogether too
good for its purpose, stands on a high hill three miles
north of this, and reached by crossing Red River by a
steam ferry and then three miles of bad road. It has
four hundred acres of poor soil, but fine pine and oak
trees, a single large building. Like most bodies they
have spent all their money in the naked building,
trusting to the Legislature for further means to provide
furniture, etc. All this is to be done, and they agree to
put me in charge, at once, and enable me to provide
before January 1 the tables, desks, chairs, washboards,
etc., the best I can, in time for January 1, and as this is
a mere village I must procure all things from New
Orleans. I may have to go down early next month,
but for the present I shall go to General Graham's
tomorrow, be there some days, return here and then
remove to the college, where I will establish myself and
direct in person the construction of such things as may
be had there.
"There is no family near enough for me to board and
so I will get the cook who provides for the carpenters
to give me my meals.
"It is the design to erect two buildings for professors,
but I doubt whether the Legislature will give any more,
$135,000 having already been expended. The institu
tion, styled by law the Seminary of Learning, has an
1 Colonel R. B. Mason, on whose staff Sherman served in
California.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 167
annual endowment of $8,100, but it is necessary for the
Legislature to appropriate this annually, and as they
do not meet till the 3rd Monday in January, I don't
see how we can get any money beforehand. I think
when the appropriation is made, however, my salary
will be allowed from November 1. . . ."
"New Orleans, Sunday, December 12, 1859.
". . . I am stopping at the City Hotel which is crowded
and have therefore come to this my old office, now
Capt. Kilburn's, to do my writing. I wish I were here
legitimately, but that is now past, and must do the best
in the new sphere in which events have cast me. All
things here look familiar, the streets, houses, levee,
drays, etc., and many of the old servants are still about
the office, who remember me well and fly around at my
bidding as of [old]. . . .
"I have watched with interest the balloting for
speaker, with John as the Republican Candidate. I
regret he ever signed that Helper's book 1 of which I
know nothing but from the extracts bandied about in
the southern papers. Had it not been for that I think
he might be elected, but as it is, I do not see how he can
expect any southern votes, and without them it seems
that his election is impossible. His extreme position on
1 The Impending Crisis of the South, by Hinton Rowan Helper,
published in 1857. It was widely used as a Republican cam
paign document in 1860. On December 24, 1859, John Sherman
wrote to W. T. Sherman: "You asked me why I signed the
recommendation of the Helper Book. It was a thoughtless,
foolish, and unfortunate act. ... I never read the book, knew
nothing of it, and now cannot recall that I authorized the use of
my name." — Sherman Letters, p. 78.

168 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
that question will prejudice me, not among the Super
visors, but in the Legislature, where the friends of the
Seminary must look for help. Several of the papers
have alluded to the impropriety of importing from the
North their school teachers, and if in the progress of
debate, John should take extreme ground, it will, of
course, get out that I am his brother from Ohio, uni
versally esteemed an abolition state, and they may
attempt to catechise me, to which I shall not submit.
I will go on, however, in organizing the Seminary and
trust to the future, but hitherto I have had such bad
luck, in California and New York, that I fear I shall
be overtaken here by a similar catastrophe. Of course,
there are many here, such as Bragg, Hebert, Graham
and others, that know that I am not an abolitionist.
Still, if the simple fact be that my nativity and relation
ship with Republicans should prejudice the institution,
I would feel disposed to sacrifice myself to that fact,
though the result would be very hard, for I know not
what else to do. If the southern states should organize
for the purpose of leaving the Union I could not go with
them. If that event is brought about by the insane
politicians, I will ally my fate with the North, for the
reason that the slave question will ever be a source of
discord, even in the South.
"As long as the Abolitionists and Republicans seem
to threaten the safety of slave property, so long will this
excitement last, and no one can foresee its result; but
all here talk as though a dissolution of the Union were
not only a possibility but probability of easy execution.
If attempted, we will have civil war of the most horrible

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 169
kind, and this country will become worse than
Mexico. "What I apprehend is that because John has taken
such strong ground on the question of slavery, that I
will first be watched and suspected, then may be ad
dressed officially to know my opinion, and lastly some
fool in the Legislature will denounce me as an aboli
tionist spy, because there is one or more southern man
applying for my place.
"I am therefore very glad you are not here, and if
events take this turn, I will act as I think best. As
long as the United States Government can be main
tained in its present form I will stand by it. If it is
to break up in discord, strife, and civil war, I must
either return to California, Kansas or Ohio. My
opinions on slavery are good enough for this country,
but the fact of John being so marked a Republican
may make my name so suspect that it may damage the
prospects of the Seminary, or thought to do so, which
would make me very uncomfortable. . . ."
"Seminary, Alexandria, La.,
"December 16, 1859.
"... It so happened that General Graham came
out the very day of my return, not knowing that I was
here, and he brought with him Mr. Smith,1 the Pro
fessor of Chemistry, who is one of the real Virginia
F. F. Vs, a very handsome young man of twenty-two,
who will doubtless be good company. He is staying
with General Graham but will move here in a few days.
¦Francis W. Smith.

170 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
General Graham seemed delighted at the progress I
had made, and for the first time seemed well satisfied
that we would in fact be ready by January 1st.
"I have not yet been to Alexandria, as I landed on
this side the river and came out at once, but I shall go
in on Monday and see all the Supervisors who are again
to meet. I know the sentiments of some about abolition
ism and am prepared if they say a word about John. I
am not an abolitionist, still I do not intend to let any
of them reflect on John in my presence, as the news
papers are full of bitter and angry expressions against
him. All I have met have been so courteous that I
have no reason to fear such a thing, unless some one of
those who came, applicants for the post I fill, with
hundreds of letters, should endeavor to undermine me
by assertions on the infernal question of slavery, which
seems to blind men to all ideas of common sense. . . .
"These southern politicians have so long cried out
wolf, that many believe the wolf has come, and there
fore they might in some moment of anger commit an
act resulting in civil war. As long as the Union is kept,
I will stand by it, but if we are going to split up into
sections I would prefer our children should be raised in
Ohio, or some northern state, to the alternative of a slave
state, where we never can have slave property. . . ."
"Seminary, December 23, 1859.
"... I have the New Orleans papers of the 18th in
which I see that the election of speaker was still the en
grossing topic, John's vote being 112, 114 being necessary
to a choice. Still I doubt his final success on account of

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 171
his signing for that Helper's book. Without that his
election would be certain. I was at Alexandria yester
day and was cornered by a Dr. Smith, a member of the
Board of Supervisors, and at present candidate of this
parish for a seat in the State Senate, to which he will
surely be elected. He referred pointedly to the deep,
intense feeling which now pervades the South, and the
importance that all educational establishments should
be in the hand of its friends. I answered in general
terms that I had nothing to do with those questions,
that I was employed to do certain things which I
should do, that I always was a strong advocate of our
present form of government, and as long as it re
mained I should be true to it; that if disunion was
meditated in any quarter I should oppose it, but that if
disunion did actually occur, an event I would not con
template, then every man must take his own course, and
I would not say what I would do. I still believe, some
how or other, efforts will be made to draw me out on these
points, and I shall be as circumspect as possible. . . ."
"Seminary, Wednesday, December 28, 1859.
"... I had rather a lonely Christmas, nobody here
but my poor drummer and myself. The three negro
women rushed to my room at daylight and cried
'Christmas gift, Massa'; and the negro boy, Henry,
that chops wood, and the old negro woman, Amy, that
cooks in an outhouse for the carpenters, all claimed
'Christmas' of me, thinking I am 'Boss' and rich as
Croesus himself. I disbursed about $5 in halves, for
each of them had done me some service uncompensated.

172 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
The old cook, Amy, always hid away for me the last
piece of butter, and made my breakfast and dinner
better than the carpenters,' always saying ' She knowed
I wasn't used to such kind of living.' She don't know
what I have passed through. . . ."
"Seminary, January 12, 1860.
"... Everything moves along satisfactorily,1 all seem
pleased, and gentlemen have been here from New Or
leans and other distant points who are much pleased.
I have knowledge of more cadets coming, and this
being the first term, and being preceded by so much
doubt, I don't know that we have reason to be dis
appointed with only forty. The Legislature meets
next Monday, and then will begin the free discussion,
which will settle the fact of professors' houses, and
other little detailed improvements, which will go far to
make my position here comfortable or otherwise. . . .
"I have two letters from John which I showed to
Gen. Graham, who gave them to the Senator from this
parish, who took them to Baton Rouge. In them John
tells me he signed the Helper card without seeing it, not
knowing it, but after Clark introduced his resolution 2 he
woukl make no disclaimer. He was right and all men ac
quainted with the facts will say so,even southern men. . . ."
1 The Seminary had duly opened at the beginning of January.
2 John B. Clark. After the first ballot for Speaker (December,
1859) "Mr. Clark of Missouri introduced a resolution which created
a most bitter controversy. It was to the effect that no member of
the House who had indorsed the work of Hinton R. Helper, en
titled 'The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It,' was
fit to be Speaker of the House." John Sherman, by Theodore E.
Burton, p. 62.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 173
"Seminary, January 27, 1860.
"... Things move along here about as I expected.
We have had many visitors, ladies with children, who
part with them with tears and blessings, and I remark
the fact that the dullest boys have the most affectionate
mothers, and the most vivacious boys come recom
mended with all the virtues of saints. Of course, I
promise to be a father to them all. We now have
fifty-one, and the reputation of the order, system
and discipline is already spreading and I receive
daily letters asking innumerable questions. The
Legislature also has met and the outgoing Governor
Wickliffe has recommended to us the special atten
tion of the Legislature, and a bill is already in
troduced to give us $25,000 a year for two years,
which is as long as the Legislature can appro
priate. I think from appearances this bill will pass,
in which case we can erect two professors' houses this
summer. "This sum of money will enable us to make a splendid
place of this. In addition it is also proposed to make
this an arsenal of deposit which will increase its im
portance, and enable me to avoid all teaching, which I
want to do, confining myself exclusively to the super
vision and management. Thus far not a soul has
breathed a syllable about abolitionism to me. One or
two have asked me if I was related to the gentleman of
same name, whose name figures so conspicuously in
Congress. I, of course, say he is my brother, which
generally amuses them, because they regard him as
awful bad. ..."

174 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Seminary, February 3, 1860.
"... I am half sick tonight — have had the troubles
that I anticipated with these boys. Some of them are
very good, but some are ill bred, and utterly without dis
cipline. A few nights since, one cadet reported another.
It resulted in mutual accusations, the lie, blow, and finally
the knife. Fortunately it was not used. I dismissed the
one with the knife instanter, the other after examination
I thought equally to blame for first giving the lie.
"Yesterday the friends of all parties came, and after
making all sorts of apologies I had to restore. Fort
unately both were fine young men, and no doubt the
affray was one of passion and of sudden broil. It is
against the rules here for cadets to use tobacco, but we
know that they do use it, but this morning one did it so
openly that I supposed he did it in defiance. I went
to his room to see him, but he was out, and in the drawer
of his washstand I found plenty of tobacco. I, of
course, emptied it into the fire place. Soon after the
young gentleman named C  came to me, evidently
instigated by others, and complained of ill treatment,
and soon complained of my opening his drawer, inti
mating that it was a breach of propriety. Of course I
soon advised him that his concealment, and breach of
regulations, well known to him, was the breach of
honor. He said he would not stay, and after some pre
liminaries I shipped him. Another came with a similar
complaint and I sent him off, and there the matter
ended. These two last were dull at books and noisy
quarrelsome fellows and a good riddance. We had
fifty-three, now fifty-one.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 175
"We have refused to receive many after the 1st inst.,
and I have now an application from thirty in one
school, but we think it best now to await the action of
the Legislature to ascertain what they propose to do for
us, and I also think it best to prepare some forty
steady young men, as a nucleus on which to build the
hereafter. . . ." "Seminary, February 10, 1860.
"I have now crossed the line1 and suppose I must
rest satisfied with the title of the ' Old Man,' the ' cross
old schoolmaster,' but time won't wait and we must
rush on in the race to eternity. . . .
"We have just passed through a critical week, the
struggle for mastery resulting in five boys being gone.
It would take a volume to record it, but I am now
rid of five noisy, insubordinate boys. Fifty-one still
remain, not a recitation was missed, and I am fully
supported. There can be but one master. I was pre
pared for this resistance but it hardly gave me a mo
ment's concern, but since, I learn from Dr. Smith in
the Legislature that it is doubtful whether Governor
Wickliffe's bill will pass. Since old Brown has run
out, Congress organized, Texas taken strong ground
against secession, the Louisiana politicians have cooled
down, and they are less zealous to build up a Military
School. Dr. Smith wrote me to let him know the least
sum we needed from the State to carry us through the
year. I have notified him that Governor Wickliffe's
sum is the least, that the institution must be sustained
1 February 8, 1860, was Sherman's fortieth birthday.

176 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
at the start, and that proper provision must be made for
the professors in the way of buildings. I wrote to
General Graham telling him the outline of the London
proposition, and that I expected Roelofson daily,1 and
that if I did not see in the proceedings of the Legisla
ture some signs of providing for the institution and for
me personally, I should be forced to leave. I have just
received a letter from him and he seems in great dis
tress. He has worked so long and so hard to build up
this college; he is so delighted at present management
and prospects, and so impressed with the belief that I
alone can manage its multifarious interests, that he
says while he will not stand in the light of my interest,
he will not lose my services to the State. . . .
"I see by the papers that John was defeated for
Speaker, but is likely to be prominent in the House,
but he will be more careful hereafter in signing papers
before he reads them and he has time enough before
him to recover lost ground. ..."
"Seminary, February 13, 1860.
"I received yesterday your letter of January 31.
Roelofson came Saturday, and was in a great hurry to
go off. He said he must be in Cincinnati February 18
to attend some business. I found the scheme was
pretty much the same condition as it was last winter.
. . . All admit the healthfulness of the place [Alex
andria] which is inferable from the kind of ground.
Indeed if you hear I have concluded to stay here, just
1 Sherman at this time was seriously considering an attractive
proposal from one Roelofson to go into business in London.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 177
make up your mind to live and die here, because I am
going to take the bit in my mouth, and resume my mili
tary character, and control my own affairs. Since I
left New Orleans, I have felt myself oppressed by cir
cumstances I could not control, but I begin to feel
footing and will get saucy. But if I go to England I
shall expect a universal panic, the repudiation of the
great National Debt, and a blow up generally.
"I suppose I was the Jonah that blew up San Fran
cisco, and it only took two months' residence in Wall Street
to bust'up New York, and I think my arrival in London
will be the signal of the downfall of that mighty empire.
"Here I can't do much harm, if I can't do any good;
and here we have solitude and banishment enough to
hide from the misfortunes of the past.
"Therefore, if Louisiana will endow this college
properly, and is fool enough to give me $5,000 a year,
we will drive our tent pins and pick out a magnolia
under which to sleep the long sleep. But if she don't,
then England must perish, for I predict financial mis
fortune to the land that receives me. . . ."
It is evident from other passages in the letters, not
in the ironic humor just illustrated, that Sherman
narrowly escaped making up his mind to go to London
under an arrangement which would have kept him
there for two years. He would then have been absent
from the country at the outbreak of the war, and
whether he would have re-entered the army at all is
clearly a matter of speculation. That the Legislature
of a Southern state was so unwilling to part with him

178 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
that it made the provisions for the Seminary which
finally decided him to remain in Louisiana was no less
clearly one of the inscrutable workings of destiny.
A letter of the summer when all men were beginning
to wonder what the next administration at Washington
would bring forth shows Sherman still a Northerner
who could hold office in the South as honorably and
consistently as any of his kind:
"Alexandria, July 10, 1860.
"... I feel little interest in politics and certainly
am glad to see it realized that politicians can't govern
the country. They may agitate, but cannot control.
Let who may be elected, the same old game will be
played, and he will go out of office like Pierce and
Buchanan with their former honors all sunk and lost. I
only wonder that honorable men should seek the office.
"I do not conceive that any of the parties would
materially interfere with the slavery in the states, and
in the territories it is a mere abstraction. There is
plenty of room in the present Slave States for all the
negroes, but the time has come when the Free States
may annoy the Slave States by laws of a general declara
tion, but that they will change the relation of master
and slave I don't believe. All the Congresses on earth
can't make the negro anything else than what he is;
he must be subject to the white man, or he must amal
gamate or be destroyed. Two such races cannot live
in harmony save as master and slave. Mexico shows
the result of general equality and amalgamation, and
the Indians give a fair illustration of the fate of negroes

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 179
if they are released from the control of the whites. Of
course no one can guess what the wild unbridled pas
sions of men may do, but I don't believe that the present
excitement in politics is anything more than the signs
of the passage of power from southern politicians to
northern and western politicians. The negro is made
the hobby, but I know that northern men don't care any
more about the rights and humanities of the negroes than
the southerners. At present negroes work under control
of white men and the consequence is the annual yield of
$200,000,000 of cotton, sugar, and other produce that
would not be without such labor; and so long as that is
the case, I don't fear a change in this respect. . . ."
Between August and October of 1860 Sherman paid
a visit to the North.1 Soon after his return to Louisiana
he wrote (November 3) to Mrs. Sherman :
"People here now talk as though disunion was a
fixed thing. Men of property say that as this con
stant feeling of danger of abolitionism exists they
would rather try a southern confederacy. Louisiana
would not secede, but should South Carolina secede,
I fear other southern states will follow, and soon gen
eral anarchy will prevail. I say but little, try and mind
my own business, and await the issue of events."
A week later he wrote as follows:
"Alexandria, November 10, 1860.
"We have had a week of cold stormy rains, but it
has cleared off and today is bright and warm. I am
1 See Memoirs, I, 178-9.

180 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
going into town today and will leave this at the post
office. The election came off on Tuesday and re
sulted in Alexandria for a majority for Breckenridge,
next Bell, next Douglass. Of course there were no
votes for Lincoln. Indeed he has no ticket in this
state. I received a note from a friend advising me to
vote. I thought the matter over, and concluded I
would not vote. Technically I was entitled to a vote
as I entered Louisiana just a year ago, but I thought I
ought not to vote in this election, and did not. I would
have preferred Bell, but I think he has no chance, and
I do not wish to be subject to any political conditions.
If I am to hold my place by a political tenure, I prefer
again to turn vagabond. I would not be surprised to
learn that my not voting was construed into a friendly
regard for Lincoln, and that it might result in my being
declared a public enemy. I shall, however, rest under
a belief that now as the election is over, all this hard
feeling will subside and peace once more settle on the
country. We have no returns as yet. Maybe the mail
tonight will bring some returns from New York, Penn
sylvania, and Ohio, those large states that determine
this election, but I do not count on any clear knowledge
till next Monday. . . .
"No matter which way we turn there arise difficul
ties which seem insurmountable. In case Lincoln is
elected, they say South Carolina will secede and that the
Southern States will not see her forced back. Secession
must result in civil war, anarchy and ruin to our present
form of government, but if it is attempted it would be un
wise for us to be here. But I still hope for quiet. . . ."

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 181
"Alexandria, November 23, 1860.
"... I now have all arrangements made for your
coming down about that time [Christmas], but pru
dence dictates some caution, as political events do seem
portentous. I have a letter from the cashier that he
sent you the first of exchange, the second I now enclose
to you for $290. But by the very mail which brought
it came the rumor that the banks are refusing exchange
on the North, which cannot be true; also that goods
were being destroyed on the Levee in New Orleans and
that the Custom House was closed. I also notice that
many gentlemen who were heretofore moderate in
their opinions now begin to fall into the popular cur
rent, and go with the mad, foolish crowd that seems bent
on a dissolution of this confederacy. The extremists
in this quarter took the first news of the election of Lin
coln so coolly that I took it for granted all would quietly
await the issue, but I have no doubt that politicians have
so embittered the feelings of the people, that they think
the Republican party is bent on abolitionism, and they
cease to reason or think of consequences. We are so
retired up here, so much out of the way of news, that
we hear nothing but stale exaggerations; but I feel that
a change is threatened and I will wait patiently for a
while. My opinions are not changed. If the South is
bent on dissolution of course I will not ally our fate
with theirs, because by dissolution they do not escape
the very danger at which they grow so frantically mad.
Slavery is in their midst and must continue, but the
interest of slavery is much weaker in Missouri, Ken
tucky, Virginia and Maryland than down here. Should

182 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the Ohio River become a boundary between the two
new combinations, there will begin a new change.
The extreme South will look on Kentucky and Tennes
see as the North, and in a very few years, the same con
fusion and discord will arise and a new dissolution, till
each state and maybe each county will claim separate
independence. If South Carolina precipitate this
revolution, it will be because she thinks by delay, Lin
coln's friends will kind of reconcile the middle wavering
states, whereas now they may raise the cry of Abolition
and unite all the Slave States. I had no idea that this
would actually begin so soon, but the news from that
quarter does look as though she certainly would secede,
and that Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Texas would
follow suit. All these might go, and still leave a strong
rich confederated government, but then comes Missis
sippi and Louisiana. As these rest on the Mississippi
and control its mouth, I know that the other states north
will not submit to any molestation of the navigation by
foreign states. If these two states and Arkansas follow
suit, then there must be war, fighting, and that will con
tinue till one or the other party is subdued. If Louisiana
call a convention, I will not move, but if that convention
resolves to secede on a contingency that I can foresee,
then I must of course quit. It is not to be expected that
the state would consent to trust me with arms and com
mand if I did not go with them full lengths. I don't be
lieve Louisiana would of herself do anything, but if South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas re
solve no longer to wait, then Louisiana will do likewise.
Then of course you will be safe where you are. . . ."

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 183
"Alexandria, November 26, 1860.
" I commenced writing a letter last night to Minnie,
but a friend sent us out a newspaper of New Orleans,
November 22, which had come up from New Orleans
in a boat. For some reason the papers come to us very
irregularly. The stage whenever it has passengers
leaves behind the paper mail, and only brings the bags
when there are few or no passengers. Well, of late,
though letters come about as usual, our papers come
along very straggling. Well, this newspaper so received
brings intelligence, how true I know not, of a panic in
New York, Baltimore and everywhere. Of course
panics are the necessary consequence of the mammoth
credit system, the habit of borrowing which pervades
our country, and though panics transfer losses to the
wrong shoulders still they do good. . . .
"This paper also announces that Governor Moore
has called the Legislature together for December 10,
and specially to consider the crisis of the country, and
to call a Convention.
"You know that the theory of our government is, as
construed by southern politicians, that a state, one or
more, may withdraw from the Union, without molesta
tion, and unless excitement abates, Louisiana will follow
the lead of her neighbors. You will hear by telegraph
the action of the Conventions of South Carolina and
Alabama. Should they assert their right to secede,
and initiate measures to that end, then you may infer
that I will countermand my heretofore preparations for
a move. Then it would be unsafe even for you to come
South. For myself, I will not go with the South in a

184 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
disunion movement, and as my position at the head of
a State Military College would necessarily infer fidelity
and allegiance to the state as against the United States,
my duty will be on the first positive act of disunion to
give notice of my purpose.
"December 10 the Legislature meets. It is hardly
possible a Convention will be called before January,
and until the Convention acts, the state is not committed.
Still, I think the tone of feeling in the Legislature will
give me a clue to the future.
"I confess I feel uneasy from these events, and more
so from the fact that the intelligence comes so piecemeal
and unsatisfactory." "Alexandria, November 29, 1860.
"This is a holiday — Thanksgiving and prayer; but
holidays and Sundays are my worst days as then the
Cadets are idle and mischievous.
"Governor Moore has issued his proclamation call
ing the Legislature together for December 10, and the
proclamation is couched in ugly language, different from
his usual more conservative tone. It is manifest to me
now that the leading politicians of the state have con
ferred together and have agreed to go out of the Union,
or at all events to favor the new doctrine of secession.
The Legislature will determine the call of a Convention,
and the Convention will decide very much according
to the other events that may occur in the meantime.
This imposes on us a change of purpose, and it will not
do for you or any one to come south unless this state
of feeling changes. I know the governor and believe

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 185
him an excellent thermometer of the political atmosphere
of Louisiana. I hear that business is dead in New Or
leans, all of which is an evidence that the abolitionists
have succeeded in bringing on the ' Irresistible Conflict.'
" I am sick of this everlasting subject. The truth has
nothing to do with this world. Here they know that all
you in Ohio have to do is to steal niggers, and in Ohio,
though the people are quiescent, yet they believe that
the South are determined to enlarge the area of niggers.
Like Burton in 'Toodles' I say, 'Damn the niggers.' I
wish they were anywhere or [could] be kept at their work.
"I observe more signs of a loosened discipline here.
Boys are careless and last night because the supper did
not please them, they smashed the crockery and made a
riot generally. Pistols were fired, which scared Joe 1
very much. His education^ has been neglected, but I think
he will get used to it. We have dismissed five cadets and
others must share their fate. . . . Still, this is a small
matter susceptible of remedy, but the secession move
ment underlays the very safety of everything. . . ."
"Alexandria, December 16, 1860.
"The telegraph has announced to you ere this that
Governor Moore, hurried on by the wild enthusiasm
which now pervades the southern mind, has caused the
forts at the mouth of the Mississippi to be occupied by
volunteers from New Orleans ; also those at the outlets
of Lakes Pontchartrain and Borgne, and moreover, that
he has caused a large force to surround the barracks
1 "A bugler I picked up in New Orleans, a kind of circus man."
—MS. letter, November 3, 1860.

186 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
at Baton Rouge, and the garrison to surrender. Major
Haskin 1 will be much blamed, but he is a plain brave
man, lost an arm in Mexico; but he had only a single
company, in an open barracks, and was stationed there,
as among friends, to protect the arsenal not against the
people but against the negroes. All these are acts of
hostility and war. The news will cause intense feeling in
the'North and West. They were entirely too precipitate,
and Governor Moore is even censured here; still, the
fact is manifest that the people of the South are in open
rebellion against the government of the United States.
"I went to Alexandria in a hard rain yesterday, and
saw Dr. Smith, Mr. Elgee Wise and others, members of
the Convention and Legislature, and spoke my mind
fully and clearly, that these were acts of unjustifiable
war, and that I could no longer remain silent. I asked
to be relieved. . . ."
"Alexandria, December 18, 1860.
"... I cannot remain here much beyond January
23, the time set for the State Convention to dissolve the
connection of this state with the United States. The
Legislature only sat three days and passed unanimously
the bills for arming the state and calling a convention.
That convention has only to decree what has already
been resolved on and proclaimed by the governor, that
Louisiana cannot remain under a Black Republican
President. The opinion is universal that disunion is
resolved on, and the only open questions are — what
states will compose the Southern Confederacy? I re-
1 Joseph A. Haskin.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 187
gard the failure of Buchanan to strengthen Major
Anderson at Fort Moultrie as absolutely fatal, as the
evidence of contemptible pusillanimity of our general
government — almost convincing me that the govern
ment is not worth saving. No wonder General Cass
forthwith resigned. The banks in New Orleans con
tinue good, and I will endeavor to send you a month's
pay at the close of this month; but for mercy's sake
be close and mean, for I cannot say how soon all my
supplies will come to a conclusion. ..."
At the opening of 1861 Sherman, as the two last
letters have shown, had found his place untenable, and,
having asked to be relieved of his post, was preparing
for that severance of his relations with the state of
Louisiana which is shown, in the official correspondence
preserved in the Memoirs, to have been effected so
creditably to all concerned in it. The letters to Mrs. Sher
man during these final weeks speak clearly for his more
intimate views of the conditions that surrounded him.
In the first of them the reader can hardly fail to be struck
with Sherman's prescience regarding the attack upon
Sumter and the importance of the Mississippi, where his
own powers were to be tested, in the impending conflict.
[Not dated: about the beginning of January, 1861.]
"... The Governor recommends the establishment
of a large arsenal here. We now have a limited supply
of arms. I have announced my position; as long as
Louisiana is in the Union I will serve her honestly and
faithfully, but if she quits, I will quit too. I will not for

188 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
a day or even an hour occupy a position of apparent
hostility to Uncle Sam.
"That government is weak enough, but is the only
thing in America that has even the semblance of a
government. These state governments are ridiculous
pretences of a government, liable to explode at the call
of any mob. I don't want to be premature, and will
hold on to the last moment in hopes of change, but they
seem to be pushing events ridiculously fast. There is
an evident purpose, a dark design, not to allow time for
thought and reflection. These Southern leaders under
stand the character of their people and want action
before the spirit subsides. Robert Anderson com
mands at Charleston, and there I look for the first actual
collision. Old Fort Moultrie, every brick of which is
as plain now in my memory as the sidewalk in Lancaster,
will become historical. It is weak and I can scale any
of its bastions. If secession, dissolution and civil war
do come, South Carolina will soon drop far astern, and
the battle will be fought on the Mississippi. The
Western States never should consent to a hostile people
holding the mouth of the Mississippi. Should I be
forced to act promptly I will turn up, either at St. Louis
or Washington. Turner knows full well where I am,
but he is angry with me about his charge against Ohio
of nigger stealing. You remember my answer from Lan
caster. I am very well. Weather cold and overcast."
"Alexandria, January 5, 1861.
" I have finished my Report, and placed all the papers
in the hands of Dr. Smith, Vice President. I walked

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 189
into town the day before yesterday, poor Clay 1 being
dead and buried. Dr. Smith was away and I only re
mained a few hours. Alexandria at best is not a cheer
ful town, but now decidedly the reverse. Everybody
naturally feels the danger which envelops us all in one
common cause. I have had nothing said to me at all,
and I discuss the questions of the day freely with my
equals, and try to keep my peace with loungers about
the street corners and ferry boat landing. I always say
what is my real belief, that though the Slavery question
seems to be the question, that soon it will sink into
insignificance. "Our country has become so democratic, that the
mere popular opinion of any town or village rises above
the law. Men have ceased to look to constitutions and
law books for their guides, but have studied popular
opinion in bar rooms and village newspapers, and that
was and is law. The old women and grannies of New
England, reasoning from abstract principles, must defy
the Constitution of the country. The people of the
South, not relying on the Federal Government, must
allow their people to favor filibustering expeditions
against the solemn treaties of the land, and everywhere
from California to Maine any man could do murder,
robbery or arson if the people's prejudices lay in that
direction. And now things are at such a pass that no
one section believes the other and we are beginning to
fight. The right of secession is but the beginning of
the end. It is utterly wrong, and the President ought
never for one moment to have permitted the South
1 A horse.

190 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Carolinians to believe he would ,not enforce the revenue
laws, and hold the public property in Charleston Harbor.
Had he promptly reinforced Major Anderson, the
Charlestonians would have been a little more circum
spect. My only hope is that Major Anderson may
hold out, that reinforcements may reach him, and that
the people may feel that they can't always do as they
please, or in other words that they ain't so free and in
dependent as they think. In this view I am alone here,
but I do so think and will say it. . . ."
"Alexandria, January 8, 1861.
"... From what I see in the New Orleans papers,
Anderson is still in possession of Fort Sumpter, and the
general government has failed to reinforce him and will
wait till he is attacked. This disgusts me, and I would
not serve such a pusillanimous government. It merits
dissolution. This fact will increase the chances of an
attempt to prevent Lincoln's installation into office,
and then we shall see whether the Wide-awakes will
fight as well as carry cheap lamps of a night zig-zagging
through the streets.
"I see every chance of long, confused and disorgan
izing Civil War, and I feel no desire to take a hand
therein. When the time comes for reorganization, then
will be the time. . . ." "Seminary, January 13, 1861.
"Yours of the 4th is at hand. Our mails have been
irregular, but this came on time. I see no change to note
here in public sentiment. The fact that Seward has

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 191
been named as Secretary of State to Lincoln enables
the leaders to show that their suspicions are right, that
the Republicans and Abolitionists are identical. I am
therefore confirmed in my opinion that the Cotton States
are off, and it is an even chance with all the Slave States.
I take the Missouri Republican and National Intelli
gencer, which seem to oppose secession, but they cannot
stem the torrent. The revolution has begun, and the
national government has shown weakness in all its
attempts. Anderson is the only one who has acted.
General Scott, in sending reinforcements, ought not to
have trusted the Star of the West, the same in which we
went to California seven years ago. She could not venture
to receive a fire. Frigates and strong war steamers should
have gone, which could have forced their way past the
land batteries. I hope still this will be done. It will
be a triumph to South Carolina to beat Uncle Sam.
"Still Charleston is nothing to New Orleans, and I
am satisfied the forts at the mouth and the Lakes will
be taken by order of Governor Moore of this state,
before they are occupied by the United States. All these
are acts of war. War has begun, and it is idle to say
that the South is not in earnest. Louisiana has not yet
seceded, yet the delegates favorable to such a course
are elected, even in New Orleans where the union feel
ing is thought to be strongest. ..."
"Seminary, January 20, 1861.
"Here is another Sunday. I have written you often
enough of late to keep you in a perfect state of uneasi
ness, but it does seem that each day brings forth some-

192 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
thing new. I now have official notice that 3,300 mus
kets, 70,000 cartridges, etc., are sent here from Baton
Rouge, which must be a part of those seized by the
State or otherwise stolen, and I must make provision for
their storage. I must move to the new house in order
to afford room for them in my present quarters. But
my stay here much longer is impossible. My opinions
and feelings are so radically opposed to those in power
that this cannot last long. I send you a copy of a
letter I wrote to Governor Moore on the 18th, on the
receipt of which he will be forced to act. . . .
"Those now in debt will suffer most, or least, for
they will likely repudiate all debts. Down here they
think they are going to have fine times — New Orleans
a free port, whereby she can import goods without
limit or duties, and sell to the up-river countries. But
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore will
never consent that New Orleans should be a free port,
and they subject to duties. The most probable result
will be that New Orleans will be shut off from all trade,
and the South, having no navy and no sailors, cannot
raise a blockade without assistance from England, and
that she will never receive. I have letters from General
Graham and others, who have given up all hope of
stemming the tide. All they now hope for is as peaceable
a secession as can be effected. I heard Mr. Clay's
speech in 1850 on the subject of secession, and if he
deemed a peaceable secession then as an absurd im
possibility, much more so is it now, when the commer
cial interests of the North are so much more in
fluential. . . ."

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 193
"Seminary, January 27, 1861.
" Since my last I have three letters from you — of latest
date 16th inst. The mails have been much disordered
by a break on the Mississippi Railroad. In my last I
sent you a copy of a letter written to Governor Moore,
to which I have received no answer. He is very busy
indeed, Legislature and Convention both in session at
Baton Rouge giving him hardly time to think of the
Seminary. . . .
"The ordinance of Secession will pass in a day or so,
but the Legislature was adjourned till February 4, so
that no business can be transacted there for some days.
It don't take long to pull down, and everybody is striv
ing for the honor of pouring out the deepest insult to
Uncle Sam. The very men who last 4th of July were
most patriotic and exhausted their imaginations for
pictures of the glories of our Union, are now full of
joy and happiness that this accursed Union is wrecked
and destroyed.
"This rapid popular change almost makes me a
monarchist, and raises the question whether the self
interest of one man is not a safer criterion than the wild
opinions of ignorant men. From all I can read Mis
souri and Kentucky will go with the crowd South and
will be more seriously affected than any other part of
the country. . . .
"As soon as I hear from Governor Moore I will let
you know when to expect me. I know that he, the
Governor, will feel inclined to get rid of me instanter,
but Dr. Smith wants me to stay for a successor, and he
has no successor in his mind. If he proposes I should

194 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
stay till March, I will feel disposed to agree to it for
pecuniary reasons, but I think the Governor will feel
hurt at my letter, and will be disposed to get rid of me.
At all events, my position being clearly defined I cannot
be complicated by these secession movements. I do
feel a little mean at being made partially accessory to
the robbing of the Baton Rouge Arsenal, by receiving
a part of the stolen property. . . ."
Writing on February 1, Sherman quoted Governor
Moore's letter and a portion of Dr. Smith's, which are
printed in full in the Memoirs, and express the genuine
personal and official regret caused by his separation
from the Seminary. His letter goes on to say:
"So you see I have at least the good will of my
associates. I have called the Board for February 9,
and expect to leave here by or before February 20. I
shall delay a while in New Orleans, not long, and get
to Lancaster by March. . . .
"I have a good letter from Turner in which he
infers I cannot stay here, and advises me to come to
Saint Louis, but points out nothing definite. He thinks
Missouri will not secede, but if she does not they will
have a severe contest there, for men who own negroes
are blind to all interests other than those of Slavery.
"Reason has nothing to do in these times of change
and revolution. Politicians start the movement and
keep it alive by a process known to themselves, and the
poor innocent people have nothing to do but follow
their lead. It may not be so there, but I am not con
vinced. I see John takes bold ground. He is right.

DIRECTING A MILITARY SCHOOL 195
If the government be a reality, it should defend its flag,
property, and servants. Anderson should be rein
forced if it cost ten thousand lives, and every habitation
in Charleston.
"Also the seizure of these arsenals should be resented
and the actors made to feel that the United States is a
reality. But the time is not yet. . . ."
About the end of February Sherman turned his face
northward, far poorer in prospects than he had been on
coming to Louisiana, far richer in knowledge of the
Southern people and of the nature of the problems to be
solved by the dreaded processes of war. He carried
with him also the experience of warm personal friend
ships formed in Louisiana. One of the staff of in
structors at Alexandria who returned to the Seminary
after fighting in the Confederate army, wrote to Sher
man in 1875 : " I remember well how it grieved you to
leave us, and how sorry were we to see you go, and how
great an influence was brought to bear on you to keep
you at your post at the head of our school. Moore and
Bragg and Beauregard and Dick Taylor all wrote you
most urgently to stay." J Sherman's own letters show
afresh how honestly reciprocal was all the reluctance
for his departure.
1 Memoirs, II, 504.

VII
THE WAR BEGUN
1861—1862
Sherman was no exception to the rule that the men
whose names were most closely linked with glory when
the Civil War was done were at its beginning virtually
unknown to fame. His military opportunities had
been few and unimportant. His business experiments
had been, by reason of the time at which they fell, mis
fortunes. Through a momentous conspiracy of cir
cumstances, his work in Louisiana, auspiciously begun,
had come to an unhappy end. Now, at forty-one, he
was again adrift.
It was necessary for him to provide at once for the
support of his family, and to this end he assumed on
the 1st of April the presidency of a street railway in
St. Louis. A few days later the government offered him
the chief clerkship of the War Department, which he
declined. He was unwilling, also, to volunteer for the
brief term of service in the army which at first seemed
sufficient to the authorities. When the three years'
call came he offered himself without delay, and on the
14th of May was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth
Regular Infantry, a regiment still to be formed. Be-
196

THE WAR BEGUN 197
fore he left St. Louis to report to Washington for orders
he wrote as follows to one of his brothers-in-law:
[TO THOMAS EWING, JR.]
"Office St. Louis R.R. Co.,
"St. Louis, May 23, 1861.
"... I am satisfied with Mr. Lincoln's policy, but
I do not like that of the Blairs. I know Frank Blair
openly declares war on slavery. I see him daily, and
yesterday had a long talk with him. I say the time is
not yet come to destroy slavery, but it may be to cir
cumscribe it. We have not in America the number of
inhabitants to replace the slaves, nor have we the
national wealth to transport them to other lands. The
constitution has given the owners certain rights which
I should be loath to disturb. I declined the chief
clerkship because I did not want it. You know enough
of the social status of a Washington office-holder to
appreciate my feelings when I say that I would infinitely
7 prefer to live in St. Louis. I have seen enough of war
not to be caught by its first glittering bait, and when I
engage in this it must be with a full consciousness of its
real character. I did approve of the President's call,
and only said it should have been three hundred thou-
"-i sand instead of seventy-five. The result confirms my
opinion. I did approve of Lyon's attack,1 and said it
1 Sherman's observations on this episode of the early days of
the war in Missouri are fully recorded in the Memoirs, I, 200-202.
The reader will find that from this point forward fewer anno
tations are made. The history and biography of the period are
so commonly accessible that many footnotes would appear su
perfluous.

198 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
was inevitable; only I thought the marshal should have
demanded the arms which reached the camp unlawfully
through the custom house. The firing on the citizens,
I know, was in consequence of the nervousness of the
new militia, was wrong, but just what every prudent
person expected. I have always thought that if it
could be avoided, Missouri should be held with as little
feeling as possible, because of necessity her people
must retain the rights of franchise and property.
Wherever I see that persons miscalculate the state of
feeling I endeavor to correct it, because a fatal mistake
in war is to underrate the strength, feeling and resources
of an enemy. ..."
Writing to Thomas Ewing, Jr. again on the 3rd of
June, Sherman declared, with characteristic foresight:
"After all the Mississippi River is the hardest and most
important task of the war, and I know of no one com
petent, unless it be McClellan. But as soon as real
war begins, new men, heretofore unheard of, will emerge
from obscurity, equal to any occasion. Only I think it
is to be a long war, — very long, — much longer than any
politician thinks."
On the way to Washington from St. Louis, Sherman
wrote thus to his wife:
"Pittsburgh,
"Sunday, June 8, 1861.
"... Now that the War has begun, no man can tell
when it will end. Who would have supposed old Eng
land, chuck full of Abolitionists, would side with the

THE WAR BEGUN 199
southern against their northern descendants. Nations
like men are governed solely by self interest, and
England needs cotton, and the return market for the
manufactures consumed in exchange. Again corrup
tion seems so to underlie our government that even
in this time of trial, cheating in clothes, blankets,
flour, bread, everything, is universal. It may be the
simple growl of people unaccustomed to the pri
vations of war. Again some three or four hundred
thousand people are now neglecting work and look
ing to war for the means of livelihood. These,
hereafter, will have a say in politics, so that I
feel that we are drifting on the high seas, and no one
knows the port to which we are drifting. The best
chance of safety is our old government, with all its
political chicanery and machinery, and to it we tie
our fortunes. . . ."
Ordered first to inspection duty in and about Wash
ington, Sherman found himself, June 30th, in command
of the Third Brigade of the First Division of the army
about to set forth on the march which ended at Bull
Run. "Fort Corcoran, Opposite Georgetown,
"July 3, 1861, Monday.
"... On Friday I received orders to report to
General McDowell at Arlington. I did so and received
orders to relieve Colonel Hunter in the command of this
Brigade composed of three militia regiments and two
companies of regulars, one of cavalry and one of artil-

200 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
lery. I occupy along with many others a beautiful
cottage in full view of Georgetown and Washington
City just over the aqueduct. The engineers have
erected a fort named after a New York colonel, Irish,
Corcoran, who is most enthusiastic in the cause, and
several other little redoubts, all designed to protect
Georgetown and consequently Washington from an
approach this way. . . .
"As yet I am simply studying the condition of affairs
in anticipation of a forward movement. Of course,
this depends on affairs with McClellan, Patterson and
Butler. When we do move it will be in some force, but
we know that Beauregard has long been expecting such
an advance, and is as well prepared as he can be. It
may be after all that he may retire, but I think he will
fight, and it may be it will be in the nature of a duel.
Better keep even this to yourself. I would not have
anything traced back to me.
"The manner and fact that nothing is now secret or
sacred from the craving for public news is disgraceful
to us as a people. The South manage to keep their
councils better than we.
"Beauregard has ceased even to think of attacking.
All his dispositions look to defense. . . ."
In a letter of July 16, the day on which the army
began its forward movement, Sherman wrote:
" I still regard this as but the beginning of a long war,
but I hope my judgment therein is wrong, and that the
people of the South may yet see the folly of their unjust
rebellion against the most mild and paternal govern-

THE WAR BEGUN 201
ment ever designed for men. John will in Washington
be better able to judge of my whereabouts and you had
better send letters to him. As I read them I will tear
them up, for every ounce on a march tells.
" Tell Willy 1 1 have another war sword which he can
add to his present armory. When I come home again
I will gratify his ambition on that score, though truly
I do not choose for him or Tommy 2 the military pro
fession. It is too full of blind chances to be worthy of
a first rank among callings."
"Camp 1 Mile West of Centreville,
"26 from Washington, July 19, 1861.
"I wrote to John yesterday asking him to send you
my letters that you might be assured of my safety.
Thus far the enemy have retired before us. Yesterday
our General Tyler made an unauthorized attack on a
battery over Bull Run. They fired gun for gun, and
on the whole had the best of it. The General finding
Centreville, a strong place, evacuated, followed their
tracks to Bull Run which has a valley, deeply wooded,
admitting only of one narrow column. I was sent
for and was under fire about half an hour, the rifled
cannon shot cutting the trees over head and occasion
ally pitching into the ground — three artillerists, one
infantry and three horses in my brigade, with several
wounded. I have not yet learned the full extent of
damage, and as it was a blunder, don't care. I
am uneasy at the fact that the volunteers do pretty
1 Sherman's oldest son.
2 A younger son.

202 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
much as they please, and on the slightest provoca
tion bang away. The danger from this desultory
firing is greater than from the enemy, as they are
always so close, whilst the latter keep a respectable
distance. "We were under orders to march at 6 p. M., but it
was properly countermanded as night marches with raw
troops are always dangerous. Now our orders are to
march at 2\ A. m. The division of Tyler to which my
Brigade belongs will advance along a turnpike road to
a bridge on Bull Run. This bridge is gone, and there
is a strong battery on the opposite shore of the river.
Here I am summoned to a council at 8 p. m. at General
McDowell's camp about a mile distant. I am now
there, all the Brigade commanders are present, and
only a few minutes intervene before they all come to
this table.
" I know tomorrow and next day we shall have hard
work, and I will acquit myself as well as I can. With
regulars, I would have no doubts, but these volunteers
are subject to stampedes.
"Yesterday there was an ugly stampede of 800
Massachusetts men. The Ohio men claim their
discharge, and so do others of the three months
men. Of these I have the Irish 69th New York,
which will fight. . . .
"My best love to all. My faith in you and the
children is perfect, and let what may befall me I
feel they are in a fair way to grow up in goodness
and usefulness.
" Goodbye for the present."

THE WAR BEGUN 203
In the first humiliation of defeat Sherman wrote
briefly to his wife: "Fort Corcoran, July 24, 1861.
"On my arrival back here, carried by the shameless
flight of the armed mob we led into Virginia, I tried to
stay the crowd, and held them in check to show at least
some front to the pursuing force. Yesterday the Presi
dent and Mr. Seward visited me, and I slipped over for
a few minutes last night to see your father. John S. and
Tom 1 have seen me and promise to write you. The
battle was nothing to the absolute rout that followed
and yet exists. With shameless conduct the volunteers
continue to flee. A regiment, the New York 79th,
Scots, were forming to march over to Washington, and
I have commanded them to remain. If they go, in
spite of all I can do, there will remain here but one com
pany of artillery, 90 strong, and a Wisconsin regiment
ready to run, and Beauregard is close at hand. So it
seems to be true that the North is after all pure bluster.
Washington is in greater danger now than ever.
"I will stand by my post, an illustration of what we
all knew, that when real danger came, the politicians
would clear out. The proud army characterized as the
most extraordinary on earth has turned out the most
ordinary. "Well, as I am sufficiently disgraced now, I suppose
soon I can sneak into some quiet corner. I was under
heavy fire for hours, touched on the knee and shoulder,
my horse shot through the leg, and was every way ex-
1 Thomas Ewing, Jr.

204 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
posed, and cannot imagine how I escaped except to
experience the mortification of retreat, rout, confusion,
and now abandonment by whole regiments. I am much
pressed with business regulating the flight of all, save
the few to remain on this side of the river.
"Last night I received several letters from you, and
took time to read them, and now trust to Tom and
others to tell you of the famous deed of Bull Run.
"Courage our people have, but no government."
Four days later Sherman found leisure to write a full
account of the battle and his part in it:
"Fort Corcoran, July 28, Sunday.
"I have already written to you since my return from
the unfortunate defeat at Bull Run. I had previously
conveyed to you the doubts that oppressed my mind on
the score of discipline.
" Four large columns of poorly disciplined militia left
this place, the Long bridge and Alexandria, all concen
trating at a place called Centreville, twenty-seven miles
from Washington. We were the first column to reach
Centreville, the enemy abandoning all defences en route.
"The first day of our arrival our commander, General
Tyler, advanced on Bull Run, about two and a half
miles distant, and against orders engaged the batteries.
He sent back to Centreville and I advanced with our
Brigade, when we lay for half an hour, amidst descending
shots, killing a few of our men. The batteries were full
a mile distant, and I confess I, nor any person in my
Brigade, saw an enemy.

THE WAR BEGUN 205
"Towards evening we returned to Centreville.
"That occurred on Thursday. We lay in camp till
Saturday night by which the whole army was assembled
in and about Centreville. We got orders for march at
2\ Sunday morning, — our column of three brigades —
Schenck, Sherman and Keyes — to move straight along
a road to Bull Run; another of about 10,000 men to
make a circuit by the right (Hunter's), and come upon
the enemy in front of us; Heintzelman's column of
about similar strength also to make a wide circuit to
sustain Hunter. We took the road first, and about 6
a.m. came in sight of Bull Run. We saw in the grey
light of morning men moving about, but no signs of
batteries. I rode well down to the stone bridge which
crosses the stream, saw plenty of trees cut down, some
bush huts, such as soldiers use on picket guard, but
none of the evidences of strong fortifications we had
been led to believe.
"Our business was simply to threaten, and give time
for Hunter and Heintzelman to make their circuit. We
arranged our troops to this end, Schenck to the left of
the road, and I to the right, Keyes behind in reserve.
We had with us two six gun batteries, and a 301b. gun.
This was fired several times, but no answer. We
shifted positions several times, firing whenever we had
reason to suppose there were any troops. About ten
or eleven o'clock, we saw the cloud of dust in the direc
tion of Hunter's approach, saw one or more regiments
of the enemy leave their line and move in that direction,
soon the firing of musketry and guns showing the en
gagement had commenced. Early in the morning I

206 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
saw a flag flying behind some trees. Some of the sol
diers seeing it called out, "Colonel, there's a flag, a flag
of truce." A man in the field with his dog and gun,
called out, "No, it is no flag of truce, but a flag of
defiance." I was at the time studying the ground and
paid no attention to him. About nine o'clock I was
well down to the Run with some skirmishers, and ob
served two men on horseback ride along a hill, descend,
cross the stream, and ride out towards us. He had a
gun in his hand which he waved over his head, and
called out to us, "You d d black abolitionists, come
on," etc. I permitted some of the men to fire on him,
but no damage was done. We remained some time
thus awaiting the action which had begun on the other
side of Bull Run. We could see nothing, but heard the
firing and could judge that Hunter's column steadily
advanced. About 2 p. m. they came to a stand, the
firing was severe and stationary. General Tyler rode
up to me and remarked that he might have to send the
N. Y. 69th to the relief of Hunter. A short while after,
he came up and ordered me with my whole Brigade,
some 3,400 men, to cross over to Hunter. I ordered the
movement, led off, found a place where the men could
cross, but the battery could not follow.
"We crossed the stream, and ascended the bluff bank,
moving slowly to permit the ranks to close up. When
about half a mile back from the stream, I saw the parties
in the fight, and the first danger was that we might be
mistaken for secessionists and fired on. One of my
regiments had on the grey uniform of the Virginia
troops. We first fired on some retreating secessionists,

THE WAR BEGUN 207
our Lieutenant Colonel Haggerty was killed, and my
bugler by my side had his horse shot dead. I moved
on and joined Hunter's column. They had a pretty
severe fight. Hunter was wounded, and the unex
pected arrival of my Brigade seemed a great relief to all.
I joined them on a high field with a house, and as we
effected the junction the secessionists took to the woods
and were seemingly retreating, and General McDowell
who had accompanied Hunter's column ordered me to
join in the pursuit. I will not attempt to describe you
the scene. Their batteries were on all the high hills
overlooking the ground which we had to cross, and they
fired with great vigor. Our horse batteries pursued
from point to point returning the fire, whilst we moved
on, with shot, shell and cannister over and all round us.
I kept to my horse and head of the Brigade, and moving
slowly, came upon their heavy masses of men, behind all
kinds of obstacles.
"They knew the ground perfectly, and at every turn
we found new ground, over which they poured their
fire. At last we came to a stand, and with my regi
ments in succession we crossed a ridge and were exposed
to a very heavy fire. First one regiment and then
another and another were forced back, not by the bay
onet but by a musketry and rifle fire, which it seemed
impossible to push our men through. After an hour of
close contest our men began to fall into confusion. One
hundred and eleven had been killed, some two hundred
and fifty wounded and the soldiers began to fall back in
disorder. My horse was shot through the fore leg.
My knee was cut round by a ball, and another had hit

208 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
my coat collar and did not penetrate; an aide, Lt.
Bagley, was missing, and spite of all exertions the con
fusion increased, and the men would not re-form. Sim
ilar confusion had already occurred among other regi
ments, and I saw we were gone. Had they kept their
ranks we were the gainers up to that point, only our field
batteries, exposed, had been severely cut up by theirs,
partially covered. Then for the first time I saw the
carnage of battle, men lying in every conceivable shape,
and mangled in a horrible way; but this did not make
a particle of impression on me, but horses running
about riderless with blood streaming from their nostrils,
lying on the ground hitched to guns, gnawing their sides
in death. I sat on my horse on the ground where
Ricketts' Battery had been shattered to fragments, and
saw the havoc done. I kept my regiments under cover
as much as possible, till the last moment, when it
became necessary to cross boldly a ridge and attack the
enemy, by that time gathered in great strength behind
all sorts of cover.
"The volunteers up to that time had done well, but
they were repulsed regiment by regiment, and I do think
it was impossible to stand long in that fire. I did not
find fault with them, but they fell into disorder — an in
cessant clamor of tongues, one saying they were not
properly supported, another that they could not tell
friend from foe; but I observed the gradual retreat
going on and did all I could to stop it. At last it became
manifest we were falling back, and as soon as I per
ceived it, I gave it direction by the way we came, and
thus we fell back to Centreville, some four miles. We

THE WAR BEGUN 209
had with our Brigade no wagons, they had not crossed
the river. At Centreville came pouring in the confused
masses of men, without order or system. Here I sup
posed we should assemble in some order the confused
masses and try to stem the tide. Indeed I saw but little
evidence of being pursued, though once or twice their
cavalry interposed themselves between us and our rear.
I had read of retreats before, have seen the noise and
confusion of crowds of men at fires and shipwrecks, but
nothing like this. It was as disgraceful as words can
portray, but I doubt if volunteers from any quarter
could do better. Each private thinks for himself. If
he wants to go for water, he asks leave of no one. If he
thinks right, he takes the oats and corn, and even burns
the house of his enemy. As we could not prevent these
disorders on the way out, I always feared the result, for
everywhere we found the people against us. No curse
could be greater than invasion by a volunteer army.
No Goths or Vandals ever had less respect for the lives
and property of friends and foes, and henceforth we
ought never to hope for any friends in Virginia. Mc
Dowell and all the generals tried their best to stop
these disorders, but for us to say we commanded that
army is no such thing. They did as they pleased.
Democracy has worked out one result, and the next step
is to be seen. Beauregard and Johnston were enabled
to effect a junction by the failure of Patterson to press
the latter, and they had such accurate accounts of our
numbers and movements that they had all the men
they wanted. We had never more than 18,000 en
gaged, though some ten or twelve thousand were

210 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
within a few miles. After our retreat here I did my best
to stop the flying masses, and partially succeeded, so
that we once more present a front: but Beauregard has
committed a sad mistake in not pursuing us promptly.
Had he done so, he could have stampeded us again, and
gone into Washington.
"As it is, I suppose their plan is to produce riot in
Baltimore, cross over above Leesburg, and come upon
Washington through Maryland. Our rulers think
more of who shall get office, than who can save the
country. Nobody, no man, can save the country. The
difficulty is with the masses. Our men are not good
soldiers. They brag, but don't perform, complain
sadly if they don't get everything they want, and a
march of a few miles uses them up. It will take a long
time to overcome these things, and what is in store for
us in the future I know not. I purpose trying to defend
this place if Beauregard approaches Washington by
this route, but he has now deferred it some days and I
rather think he will give it up.
"The newspapers will tell ten thousand things, none
of which are true. I have had no time to read them,
but I know no one now has the moral courage to tell the
truth. . . ." "Washington, August 3, 1861.
" I sent you a long letter a few days ago, telling you
all about Bull Run. The disaster was serious in its effect
on the men who, whether they ought or not to be, are dis
couraged beyond measure. All the volunteers continue in
a bad state, but we must do the best we can with them.

THE WAR BEGUN 211
" It seems regulars do not enlist, because of the prefer
ence always given to volunteers, whose votes are counted
even in the ranks. I doubt if our democratic form of
government admits of that organization and discipline
without which an army is a mob. Congress is doing
all that is possible in the way of laws and appropria
tions, and McClellan is determined to proceed slowly
and cautiously.
" I wish we had more regulars to tie to. We must be
the assailant and our enemy is more united in feeling,
and can always choose their ground. It was not en
trenchments but the natural ground and woods of
which they took good advantage, while we in pursuit
had to cross open fields and cross the crests of hills
which obstructed a view of their forces.
"This must continue to be the case. Beauregard
must have suffered much, else his sagacity would have
forced him to take Washington, which he well might.
"I prefer you should go to housekeeping in Lancaster.
Don't come here. I would not permit you to visit my
camp. I have as much as I can do to keep my officers
and men from living in Washington, and shall not set a
bad example. I never expect again to move you from
Lancaster. The simple chances of war, provided we
adhere to the determination of subduing the South, will,
of course, involve the destruction of all able-bodied men
of this generation and go pretty deep into the next.
-- "'Tis folly to underestimate the task, and you see
how far already the nation has miscalculated. The real
war has not yet begun. The worst will be down the
Mississippi, and in Alabama and Mississippi, provided,

212 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS

L

of course, we get that far. Already has the war lasted
since December last, and we are still on the border,
defeated and partly discouraged. I am less so than
most people because I expected it. . . .
"'Tis said I am to be Brigadier General. If so, I
know it not yet. I have closely minded my business,
which is a bad sign for favor."

o

"Washington, August 3, 1861.
"... I still am acting as a Brigadier General in com
mand of six regiments of volunteers called by courtesy
soldiers, but they are all we have got and God only knows
the issue. Our adversaries have the weakness of slavery
in their midst to offset our democracy, and 'tis beyond
human wisdom to say which is the greater evil. I learn
today that the President selected Hunter, Sherman and
Buell out of the list for Brigadier Generals of the Regular
Army, but Major Garesche" tells me the list has
been changed, that no appointments will now be
made in the regular army, but that a whole batch
of Brigadiers will be made, ranking according to
former commission. This will still keep me where I
want, in a modest position till time and circumstances
show us daylight.
" McClellan told me last night he should proceed with
great caution, endeavoring to advance so as never to
make a slip backward. I am now satisfied that the
Southern army is not much better than ours, else B eau-
regard would certainly have taken Washington. If
they could, they also from their central position would
throw their force on Banks or Rosecrans.

THE WAR BEGUN 213
"In East Virginia all are secessionists and we can
gain no authentic information of their movements by
spies. It is different, I suppose, in West Virginia. At
all events in invading Virginia from the Chesapeake
the army must be of a size to encounter the whole
southern army. Now that they have been successful,
Davis can assemble just as many men as he wants,
and they are as well armed, dressed and fed as we
are. Indeed I never saw such a set of grumblers
as our volunteers about their food, clothing, arms,
etc., and I shall make a requisition for two nurses
per soldier to nurse them in their helpless, pitiful
condition. " Oh — but we had a few regulars. But all our legis
lation has so favored the volunteer that no man will
enlist in the regular service. I propose to go on as
heretofore, to endeavor to fill my place as well as pos
sible, to meddle as little as possible with my superiors,
and to give my opinion only when asked for. . . .
"You may hereafter address me at the George
town Post Office. I send over there pretty often
for marketing. Address me, Colonel W. T. S., Fort
Corcoran, Georgetown, D. C. If I am made Briga
dier General, use General W. T. S. as above. I
know not why I feel no ambition. If we could
handle volunteers so that our plans could be carried
out I would launch out, but I know that they will
mar any plan and blast the fair fame of anybody.
They, of course, the people, can't do wrong. If
defeat arises, then it is mismanagement, masked bat
teries and such nonsense. . . ."

214 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
[Undated: apparently August, 1861.]
" The incessant wants of 5,000 men, all complaining,
with sick wives and children and fathers at home, want
ing to go to Georgetown and Washington and every-
wheres where they should not go, growling about
clothing, shoes, beef, pork, and everything! Now in an
army all these things are regulated by sergeants, cap
tains and colonels. A brigadier only has to operate
through them. An irregularity in a regiment is checked
by a word to the colonel; but here every woman within
five miles who has a peach stolen or roasting ear carried
off comes to me to have a guard stationed to protect her
tree, and our soldiers are the most destructive men I
have ever known. It may be other volunteers are just as
bad, indeed the complaint is universal, and I see no
alternative but to let it take its course. When in Fair
fax County we had a majority of friends. Now I sup
pose there is not a man, woman or child but would pre
fer Jeff Davis or the Czar of Russia to govern them
rather than an American volunteer army. My only
hope now is that a common sense of decency may be in
spired into the minds of this soldiery to respect life and
property. Officers hardly offer to remonstrate with
their men, and all devolves on me. As usual I cannot
lie down, go away, without fifty people moving after
me. Had I some good regulars I could tie to them.
As it is, all the new Brigadiers must manufacture their
Brigades out of raw material. Napoleon allowed three
years as a minimum, Washington one year. Here it is
expected in nine days, and Bull Run is the consequence.
I don't believe McClellan will be hurried, and the

THE WAR BEGUN 215
danger to our country is so imminent that all hands are
pow conscious that we must build up from the founda
tion. ...
"A good many little incidents, shooting of sentinels
and pickets, all the cruel, useless attendants of war
occur daily, but I no longer apprehend an attack by
Beauregard's forces, though strange to say he receives
news much more freely than we do. McClellan has
notice of large forces coming up from Georgia, Alabama
and the extreme South. . . ."
"Washington, D. C,
"August 17, 1861.
"... I have not undressed of a night since Bull Run,
and the volunteers will not allow of sleep by day. Two
regiments have mutinied, claiming that the United
States has no right to hold their services. Under the
influence of a battery of artillery and squadron of
regular cavalry the number who refused duty dwindled
down to sixty-five in one regiment and thirty-five in
another, all of whom were marched down to the Navy
Yard and placed in irons on board a man-of-war. The
remainder of the men and officers of these regiments are
sick of the war and want to go home. McClellan still
thinks Beauregard will attack the city. Most assuredly
he should do so, but it may be he will not.
"I was over here a few days ago and met Robert
Anderson who sent for me today. It seems he is to
organize some kind of a force in Kentucky and Tennes
see to support the general government, and has asked
for me. The President agrees to send me as soon as

216 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
McClellan can spare me and McClellan will not leave
me go, until he conceives the city to be out of danger —
say one week — then I am to be sent into Kentucky post
haste. Whether I am to be allowed to stop a day at
Lancaster or not I cannot imagine, but I suppose not. I
will endeavor to stop to see you for a moment, but I know
how it will be — McClellan will not relieve me from duty
till the latest moment, when Anderson will be calling for
me in Kentucky. The bluer the times the more closely
should one cling to his country. . . .
"I do not know why we should not have a govern
ment. The old government was as mild as any on
earth, and it may be that it is the best; but true it is, its
administration had become very corrupt. Even now,
it is hard to hold her people to their allegiance; but we
must have a future, and a government, and I will not
attempt to advise or guide events till I see some end to
this muddle. Thus far, the Union party has the worst
of the fight, and our armies are too scattered. If they
order me to any place I'll go if I can. With Ander
son I suppose we will have to go into Kentucky and
Tennessee to organize an army in the face of that
prejudice which you complained so much about in
Missouri. That prejudice pervades the public mind
and it will take years to overcome. In all the southern
states, they have succeeded in impressing the public
mind that the North is governed by a mob (of which
unfortunately there is too much truth) and in the South
that all is chivalry and gentility.
"Out of this chaos some order, in time must arise, but
how or when I cannot tell. . . .

THE WAR BEGUN 217
"I have just sworn in as a Brigadier General, and
therefore I suppose I might as well admit the title. . . ."
"Fort Corcoran, August 19, 1861.
"... Among my regiments are three who claim to
have been enlisted only for three months, but the Secre
tary of War has decided they are in for two years. In
each of the regiments there has been a kind of mutiny,
not open and decided, but a determination to do no
duty. "Yesterday, Sunday, I had two companies of regular
cavalry and one of artillery ready to attack one of these
regiments. For some hours I thought I would have to
give an order to fire, but they did not like the artillery
and have gone to duty; but I think this is a bad class
of men to depend on to fight. They may eat their
rations and go on parade, but when danger comes they
will be sure to show the white feather.
"Still, they are now in a state of subjection. I went
over to Washington on this business some days ago,
saw the President and General Scott; at the table of the
latter I met Robert Anderson for the first time. I only
had a few words with him, but on Saturday he sent for
me to meet him at Willard's. There I found Senator
Johnson, a Mr. Maynard, and two or three other mem
bers of Congress from Kentucky and Tennessee. One
of them, Senator Johnson I think, premised by "saying
that it was the determination of the government to send
assistance to the Union men of Kentucky and Tennessee;
that there were large numbers of them who merely
needed arms, money and organization; that Anderson

218 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
was the proper general to organize and lead the move
ment; but that his health was liable at any moment to
fail him, and the President had agreed that he might
select any three of the Brigadiers to go with him; that
he had at once asked for me, and two others, Burnside
and Thomas, which was conceded; that when McClellan
heard I was asked for he did not want to spare me, as he
thought there remained imminent danger of an attack
here. Then Anderson said he would prefer to wait a
few days till things assumed a more settled shape — say
seven to ten days, at the expiration of which time I
should be relieved, and ordered to Kentucky. I have
said or done nothing one way or other, but in about
seven days I will, if nothing threatening happens, apply
for relief that I may stop at Lancaster to see you, for a
day or so. I expect to go to Louisville and thence
through East Kentucky and Tennessee, to see myself
the state of the country, and if possible, to organize re
sistance to the southern Confederacy. It is a matter of
great importance and upon it may hang the existence of
the present government.
"Most assuredly events have favored the southern
Confederacy, and instead of making friends, the ad
ministration seems to have lost ground, not only in the
South and Middle States, but also in the North. The
clamor for discharge on every possible frivolous pre
text has been a severe blow to the army and may be to
the country. I hear that the new enlistments drag.
This every reasonable person must have apprehended
from the foolish cry first raised, a mere impulse sure to
be followed by reaction. . . ."

THE WAR BEGUN 219
In an undated letter written while Sherman was still
waiting to be liberated for the service in Kentucky and
Tennessee, he wrote: "I hardly know my sphere in
Kentucky, but it will be political and military com
bined. I think Anderson wanted me because he knows
I seek not personal fame or glory, and that I will
heartily second his plans and leave him the fame.
Most assuredly does he esteem my motives. Not till
I see daylight ahead do I want to lead. But when
danger threatens and others slink away I am and will
be at my post."
Sherman's experiences in Kentucky, where, through
the ill health of General Anderson, the command de
volved, against his will, upon him, were of the most
trying nature. Lacking the support which he felt the
government owed him, he tasted the very dregs of dis
couragement and chagrin. The Memoirs describe the
circumstances which led to the suspicion that Sherman's
troubles in Kentucky had unbalanced his mind, and
show how false the suspicion was. The unpublished
letters of this brief period throw little light upon the
more important aspects of the war, and may be passed
over. So, too, may Sherman's own movements through
the interval between his quitting the Kentucky com
mand in November and his participation in the Battle
of Shiloh. On April 3, 1862, he wrote to Mrs. Sherman
from camp at Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee: "On
our part McCook, Thomas and Nelson's Divisions are
coming from Nashville and are expected about Monday
(this is Thursday) when I suppose we must advance to
attack Corinth or some other point on the Memphis and

220 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Charleston Road." It was on Sunday and Monday,
the 6th and 7th, that the battle occurred — the Con
federate army making the attack. For Sherman's part
in it the two following letters speak:
"Camp Shiloh, April 11, 1862.
"Well, we have had a big battle where they shot real
bullets and I am safe, except a buckshot wound in the
hand and a bruised shoulder from a spent ball. The
first horse I rode was one I captured from the enemy
soon after I got here, a beautiful sorrel race mare that
was as fleet as a deer, and very easy in her movements to
which I had become much attached. She was first
wounded and then shot dead under me. This occurred
Sunday when the firing on both sides was terrific, and I
had no time to save saddle, holsters or valise. I took
the horse of my aid McCoy L till it was shot, when I
took my doctor's horse and that was shot. My camp
was in advance of all others and we caught the first
thunder, and they captured all our tents and two horses
of mine hitched to the trees near my tent were killed, so
I am completely unhorsed. The first man killed in the
1 After the first appearance of this letter in Scribner's Magazine,
April, 1909, Captain J. T. Taylor of Leavenworth, Kansas, who
was one of Sherman's aides at Shiloh, informed me that it was his
horse, and not Captain McCoy's which was shot under the Gen
eral. In corroboration of the statement, he sent me letters of
General Sherman vouching for the fact that Captain Taylor lost
a horse in the manner described, and calling upon the War De
partment to reimburse him for it. In Captain Taylor's letter
(April 12, 1909) he says: " Of course I do not expect any correc
tion or controversy to grow out of this. General Sherman had
greater things on his mind day and night than the name of an
aide." He informs me, further, that he is the sole survivor of
Sherman's staff at Shiloh. — Editor.

THE WAR BEGUN 221
battle was my orderly close by my side, a young, hand
some, faithful soldier who carried his carbine ever ready
to defend me. His name was Holliday, and the shot
that killed him was meant for me. After the battle was
over I had him brought to my camp and buried by a tree
scarred with balls and its top carried off by a cannon ball.
"These about embrace all the personal events con
nected with myself. My troops were very raw and
some regiments broke at the first fire. Others behaved
better, and I managed to keep enough all the time to
form a command and was the first to get back to our
front line. The battle on Sunday was very severe.
They drove back our left flank on the river, but I held the
right flank out about a mile and a half, giving room for
reinforcements to come in from Crump's Landing to our
north, and for Buell's army to land. Beauregard,
Bragg, Johnston, Breckenridge, and all their big men
were here, with their best soldiers and after the battle
was over I found among the prisoners an old Louisiana
cadet named Barrow, who sent for me and told me all
about the others, many of whom were here and knew
they were fighting me. I gave him a pair of socks,
drawers and shirt and treated him very kindly. I won't
attempt to give an account of the battle, but they say
that I accomplished some important results, and Gen
eral Grant makes special mention of me in his report
which he showed me. I have worked hard to keep
down, but somehow I am forced into prominence and
might as well submit.
"One thing pleased me well. On Sunday we
caught thunder and were beaten back. Buell arrived

222 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
very opportunely and came out to see me. The plan
of operations was agreed on, and his fresh Kentucky
troops to advance boldly out direct from the steamboat
landing to Shiloh, my headquarters. I was on the
right and to advance when he got abreast of me.
This was done, and I edged to the road, and reached
it about five hundred yards from here, just where the
hardest fighting was, and then met the same Kentucky
troops I had at Muldraugh's Hill. They all recognized
me and such shouting you never heard. I asked to pass
their ranks and they gave me the lead. I have since
visited their camps and never before received such
marks of favor. John's brigade is also here, indeed
we must now have 75,000 men. Figures begin to ap
proximate my standard. Halleck is coming with rein
forcements. We have been attacked and beaten off
our enemy. Now we must attack him.
"This would occur at once, but it has been raining
so that our roads are almost impassable. The enemy
expected to crush us before Buell got here. The scenes
on this field would have cured anybody of war. Mangled
bodies, dead, dying, in every conceivable shape, without
heads, legs; and horses! I think we have buried 2,000
since the fight, our own and the enemy's; and the
wounded fill houses, tents, steamboats and every con
ceivable place. My division had about 8,000 men, at
least half ran away, and out of the remaining half, I
have 302 soldiers, 16 officers killed, and over 1,200
wounded. All I can say this was a battle, and you will
receive so many graphic accounts that my picture
would be tame. I know you will read all accounts,

THE WAR BEGUN 223
cut out paragraphs with my name for Willy's future
study, all slurs you will hide away, and gradually con
ceive yourself that I am a soldier as famous as General
Greene. I still feel the horrid nature of this war, and
the piles of dead and wounded and maimed makes me
more anxious than ever for some hope of an end, but
I know such a thing cannot be for a long, long time.
Indeed I never expect it, or to survive it. . . ."
"Camp Shiloh, Tenn., April 24, 1862.
"I have written several letters of late to you, to Willy
and your mother. Tell Theresa 1 1 thank her for hers,
but writing is painful to my hand and she must excuse
me for a few days. At first the wound gave me no pain,
but I rode so much that when it began to inflame it got
very sore, and affected my fingers, and they are quite
stiff. I had to resort to poultice, but now simple band
age, and in a few days it will be well again. In the small
pain I have suffered I can feel for the thousands of poor
fellows, with all sorts of terrible wounds such as I have
been compelled to witness; but my time has been so
absorbed by the care of the living that I could pay little
attention to the dead and wounded, but they have been
well cared for. The only difficulty is that hundreds
and thousands tired of the war, and satisfied with what
they have seen, have taken advantage of slight wounds
and gone home. As usual the noisy clamorous ones,
"spiling" for a fight have gone home to tell of their
terrible deeds and left others to bear the battles still to
be fought. How few know the dangers attending this
1 Mrs. Sherman's sister.

224 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
war. The very men who were most clamorous for fight
were the first to run, and leave a few to stand the brunt
of Sunday. I knew this beforehand, and took it so
easily that many wondered, thinking me indifferent and
nonchalant. I sent a copy of my map to your father,
and now enclose the rough notes of my official report,
from which I think you can trace my movements. All
the troops south of the main Corinth road were forced
back to the river. I held my front line till 10| A. M.,
fell back to the line of McClernand's camps, and fought
there till near 4 p. m., and took up a final position for
night, back of McArthur's headquarters, at all times the
furthest out; on Monday advanced almost over the
same ground and reached Shiloh at 4 p. m.
"The hue and cry against Grant about surprise is
wrong. I was not surprised and I was in advance.
Prentiss was not covered by me, and I don't believe he
was surprised, although he is now a prisoner, cannot
be heard. It is outrageous for the cowardly news
mongers thus to defame men whose lives are exposed.
The real truth is, the private soldiers in battle leave
their ranks, run away and then raise these false issues.
The political leaders dare not lay the blame where it
belongs. They, like the volunteer officers, are afraid
of the men, but I will speak the truth and I believe still
there are honest men enough to believe me. In the 302
dead, and 1,200 wounded of my division, there was not
a bayonet or knife wound, and the story of men being
bayonetted in their tents is a pure lie, and even admit
ting that officers and men had not dressed at 7f A. m.,
I say they deserved it. Reveille is at 51. They should

THE WAR BEGUN 225
have dressed then, and if they were too lazy to get up
and dress before 7| they deserved to be bayonetted;
but it is all a lie got up by the cowards who ran to the
river and reported we were surprised and all killed.
By their false reports they may have prevented success
coming to us earlier than it did.
" The enemy treated our wounded well and kindly. I
sent Willy a box of cannon balls and bullets which he
must share with Tom. I would like to see Willy's eyes
when he sees the dread missiles. I know the enemy is
still in our front. They can surprise us tomorrow morn
ing quite as well as they did us that Sunday, but in at
tacking us they made a mistake. We must attack them
on their chosen ground. The next battle will be worse
than the last, and, of course, I don't expect to survive
all that follow. This gives me little trouble, but I do
feel for the thousands that think another battle will end
the war. I hope the war won't end until those who
caused the war, the politicians and editors, are made
to feel it. The scoundrels take good care of their hides,
run up after a fight and back again before there is a
chance for another. . . ."
Sherman's resentment against those who blamed
Grant for the loss of life at Shiloh broke forth three days
later (April 27) in a letter to his father-in-law, Thomas
Ewing. "We all knew," he wrote, "we were assem
bling a vast army for an aggressive purpose. The Presi
dent knew it. Halleck knew it, and the whole country
knew it, and the attempt to throw blame on Grant is
villainous. The fact is, if newspapers are to be our

226 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
government, I confess I would prefer Bragg, Beauregard
or anybody as my ruler, and I will persist in my deter
mination never to be a leader responsible to such a
power." At the end of this letter Sherman strikes a
new note of confidence, natural enough as his powers
were unfolding themselves: "I am not in search of
glory or fame, for I know I can take what position I
choose among my peers."
On the 26th of May Sherman wrote from the camp
before Corinth: "I received today the commission of
Major General, but, I know not why, it gives me far
less emotion than my old commission as 1st Lieutenant
of Artillery. The latter, I know, I merited; this I
doubt, but its possession completes the chain from cadet
up, and will remain among the family archives when
you and I repose in eternity." The dreaded collision
at Corinth between the Northern and Southern armies,
to the prospect of which the rest of the letter is devoted,
was averted by the evacuation of the town by the Con
federates. Sherman was immediately ordered to re
trieve and repair some of the destructions of Beaure
gard's departure, and in a long letter from "Camp at
Chewalla, 10 miles N. West of Corinth" (June 6, 1862),
reverted with vigor to the themes of Grant and the press :
"Daylight, June 6, 1862.
"... I get nearly all or all the papers here somehow
or other, and have seen most of the pieces you have
clipped out, but I had not seen that of your father from
the Louisville Journal signed E. It is sufficiently com
plimentary, more so than I merit, from such a high

THE WAR BEGUN 227
source, and the illustration of the fable of the warrior's
fight with the mud turtles is very strong and like your
father. I will get even with the miserable class of cor
rupt editors yet. They are the chief cause of this un
happy war. They fan the flames of local hatred and
keep alive those prejudices which have forced friends
into opposing hostile ranks. At the North and South
each radical class keeps its votaries filled with the most
outrageous lies of the other. In the North the people
have been made to believe that those of the South are
horrid barbarians, unworthy a Christian burial, whilst
at the South the people have been made to believe that
we wanted to steal their negroes, rob them of their
property, pollute their families, and to reduce the whites
below the level of their own negroes. Worse than this
at the North, no sooner does an officer rise from the com
mon level, but some rival uses the press to malign him,
destroy his usefulness, and pull him back to obscurity
or infamy. Thus it was with me, and now they have
nearly succeeded with Grant. He is as brave as any man
should be, he has won several victories such as Donelson
which ought to entitle him to universal praise, but his
rivals have almost succeeded through the instrumentality
of the press in pulling him down, and many thousands
of families will be taught to look to him as the cause
of the death of their fathers, husbands and brothers.
"The very object of war is to produce results by death
and slaughter, but the moment a battle occurs the news
papers make the leader responsible for the death and
misery, whether of victory or defeat. If this be pushed
much further officers of modesty and merit will keep

228 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
away, will draw back into obscurity and leave our
armies to be led by fools or rash men, such as  .
Grant had made up his mind to go home, I tried to dis
suade him, but so fixed was he in his purpose that I
thought his mind was made up and asked for his escort
a company of 4th Illinois. But last night I got a note
from him saying he would stay.1 His case is a good
illustration of my meaning.
" He is not a brilliant man and has, himself, thought
lessly used the press to give him eclat in Illinois, but he
is a good and brave soldier, tried for years; is sober, very
industrious and as kind as a child. Yet he has been
held up as careless, criminal, a drunkard, tyrant and
everything horrible. Very many of our officers, know
ing how powerful is public opinion in our government
have kept newspaper correspondents near their persons
to praise them in their country papers; but so intense
is public curiosity that several times flattery designed
for one county has reached others, and been published
to the world, making their little heroes big fools. It had
become so bad — and the evil is not yet eradicated —
that no sooner was a battle fought than every colonel and
captain was the hero of the fight. Thus at Shiloh, for a
month, all through Illinois and Missouri a newspaper
reader would have supposed McClernand and Lew
Wallace were away ahead of my division, whereas the
former was directly behind me, and the other at Crump's
Landing. Again, at Corinth you will hear of five hun
dred first men inside the works. Let them scramble for
the dead lion's paw. It is a barren honor not worth
1 See Memoirs, I, 283.

THE WAR BEGUN 229
contending for. If these examples and a few more will
convince the real substantial men of our country that the
press is not even an honest exponent of the claims of men
pretending to serve their country, but the base means
of building up spurious fame and pulling down honest
merit, I feel that I have my full reward in being one of
the first to see it and suffer the consequences. . . ."
From July till the middle of November Sherman was
in Memphis, building fortifications and dealing with
many problems connected with the occupation of the
place by Union troops. The letters of this time deal
with no events of the first importance, yet they contain
passages of general interest touching the progress of the
war. "Memphis, July 31, 1862.
"... As to freeing the negroes, I don't think the
time is come yet. When negroes are liberated either
they or masters must perish. They cannot exist together
except in their present relation, and to expect negroes
to change from slaves to masters without one of those
horrible convulsions which at times startle the world is
absurd. The war this fall and winter will be very
bloody, and the South will get the advantage. They
now have the advantage in numbers and position.
They are concentrated and we scattered. They were
nearly out of bacon and salt meat, but the desire of our
people to trade has soon supplied this. Cincinnati has
sent enough salt to supply all their army for six months.
In like manner the Jews and speculators have sent in

230 SLIERMAN'S LIOME LETTERS
enough gold to get all the cartridges necessary, so the two
wants of the army are supplied, a whole year lost to the
war, and some Jews and speculators have made ten per
cent profit. Of course our lives are nothing in the scales
of profit with our commercial people. The buying of
cotton by the people of the South was one act of folly, but
our buying the refuse of them for gold and especially
shipping salt, which from scarcity has risen to $100 a
barrel, is a greater act of folly. I have stopped it in-
stanter on reaching the river, but the thing is going on all
round me, by consent of the Board of Trade of Cincin
nati, Louisville, etc. I am getting tired of this, and of
the volunteer service, and would escape if I could. . . .
"Our camp is a pleasant one, ground enough, but
contracted, Secesh on both sides and all round. The
idea of making them take the oath is absurd. Of
course I know, and everybody knows, they prefer the
South to the North, and that they hope and pray that the
Southern army will in due time destroy us. I go on the
theory that all the leading men are Secesh and the labor
ers and mechanics neutral or tired of war. . . . We are
in our enemy's country and I act accordingly. The
North may fall into bankruptcy and anarchy first, but if
they can hold on the war will soon assume a turn to
extermination, not of soldiers alone, that is the least
part of the trouble, but the people."
"Memphis, August 10, 1862.
"... The fact is we are fast approaching a state of
war and if soon we don't awake to the dream we will
find ourselves involved in war. Thus far it has been

THE WAR BEGUN 231
by-play, and whilst the whole South is in deep intense
earnest we of the north still try reconciliation, etc. I
am putting the screws to some, but find more trouble in
combatting the North whose merchants and traders
think they have a right to make money out of the pres
ent state of things, and Memphis was on my arrival
fast becoming a depot of supplies for the hostile army
in the interior.
" If Mr. Lincoln had accepted the fact of war on the
start and raised his army, as I then advised, of a million
of men, the South would have seen they had aroused a
lion. Whereas by temporizing expedients, first 75,000,
then ten new regiments, then half a million, etc., they
find it necessary again and again to increase the call.
Well, at last I hope the fact is clear to their minds that
if the North design to conquer the South, we must begin
at Kentucky and reconquer the country from there as
we did from the Indians. It was this conviction then
as plainly as now that made men think I was insane.
A good many flatterers now want to make me a
prophet. . . ." "Memphis, August 20, 1862.
"... I see the Cincinnati papers are finding fault
with me again. Well, thank God, I don't owe Cincin
nati anything, or she me. If they want to believe re
porters they may. Eliza Gillespie can tell you whether
I take an interest in the sick or no. I never said I did
not want cowards from the hospital. I said the Sanitary
Committee had carried off thousands who were not sick,
except of the war, and for my part I did not want such to

232 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
return. Men who ran off at Shiloh and escaped in
boats to Ohio and remain absent as deserters will be of
no use to us here. This is true and those deserters
should know it; but the real sick receive from me all
possible care. I keep my sick with their regiments,
with their comrades, and don't send them to strange
hospitals. Our surgeon has a very bad way of getting
rid of sick instead of taking care of them in their regi
ments, and once in the general hospitals they rarely
return. This cause nearly defeated us at Shiloh, when
57,000 men were absent from their regiment without
leave. McClellan has 70,000 absent from his army.
This abuse has led to many catastrophes, and you can't
pick up a paper without some order of the President
and Secretary of War on the subject.
" If the doctors want to do charity let them come here,
where the sick are, and not ask us to send the sick to
them. As to opening the liquor saloons here, it was
done by the city authorities to prevent the sale of
whiskey by the smugglers. We have as little drunken
ness and as good order here as in any part of the volun
teer army.
"Cincinnati furnishes more contraband goods than
Charleston, and has done more to prolong the war
than the State of South Carolina. Not a merchant
there but would sell salt, bacon, powder and lead, if
they can make money by it. I have partially stopped
this and hear their complaints. I hope Bragg will
bring war home to them. The cause of war is not
alone in the nigger, but in the mercenary spirit of our
countrymen."

THE WAR BEGUN 233
"Memphis, September 12, 1862.
"... My predictions of last fall are not much wide
of the truth now. The southern leaders don't wait till
the time comes, they prepare beforehand. The whole
of last year has been consumed by them in preparation,
and now they have a larger army and as well armed as
we have. I still don't see the issue of events, but surely
we must do more than brag or else the South will carry
the war into Africa. I see the people have made a clear
sacrifice of Pope and McDowell, and are now content
with having killed two of their own generals. This is a
glorious war! With thousands of armed enemies now in
the loyal states of Kentucky and Maryland the people
are content to kill Pope and McDowell. Well, it may
be all right, but I would advise a different course. In
stead of thinking of us away to the front, they think of
themselves. ..."

VIII
VICKSBURG 1863
When the autumn of 1862 was well advanced, Mrs.
Sherman and the children came to Memphis for a visit.
About the middle of November Sherman was sum
moned to a meeting with Grant in Columbus, Ken
tucky, where they discussed the first movement towards
the taking of Vicksburg. In December Sherman set
out upon an unavailing attempt to capture the strong
hold in co-operation with Admiral Porter. This failure
was followed immediately by the success at Arkansas
Post, one of the early moves in the deadly game of
wresting Vicksburg from the Confederate army. To
this purpose a little more than the first six months of
1863 was devoted. It was a period of constant struggle,
not only with the enemy, but with the great ally of
whichever side could control it, the Mississippi River.
The final overthrow of Vicksburg was for Sherman, as
we shall see, "the first gleam of daylight in this war."
It marked a definite period of Sherman's own develop
ment, and with the letter written on the day after the
capitulation, the present chapter will end.
234

VICKSBURG 235
"On Board Forest Queen,
"Milliken's Bend, January 4, 1863.
"Well, we have been to Vicksburg and it was too
much for us, and we have backed out. I suppose the
attack on Holly Springs and the railroad compelled
Grant to fall behind the Tallahatchie, and consequently
the Confederates were enabled to reinforce Vicksburg.
Besides, its natural strength had been improved by a
vast amount of labor, so that it was impossible for me
to capture or even to penetrate to the road from which
alone I could expect to take it. For five days we were
thundering away, and when my main assault failed, and
Admiral Porter deemed another requiring the coopera
tion of the gunboats 'too hazardous,' I saw no alter
native but to regain my steamboats and the main river,
which I did unopposed and unmolested. To reembark
a large command in the face of an enterprising and suc
cessful enemy is no easy task, but I accomplished it.
McClernand has arrived to supersede me by order of
the President himself.1 Of course I submit gracefully.
The President is charged with maintaining the govern
ment and has a perfect right to choose his agents. My
command is to be an army corps composed of Morgan
L. Smith's old command (poor Morgan now lies
wounded badly in the hip on board the Chancellor, and
1 On January 2, Sherman had learned that McClernand had
" orders from the War Department to command the expeditionary
force on the Mississippi River" (Memoirs, I, 322). On January
24, Sherman wrote to his wife: " It was simply absurd to super
sede me by McClernand, but Mr. Lincoln knows I am not anxious
to command, and he knows McClernand is, and must gratify him.
He will get his fill before he is done."

236 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
his division is commanded by Stuart), and the troops
I got at Helena commanded by Fred Steele whom I
know well. These are all new and strange to me but
such is life and luck. Before I withdrew from the
Yazoo I saw McClernand and told him that we had
failed to carry the enemy's line of works before Vicks
burg, but I could hold my ground at Yazoo— but it
would be useless. He promptly confirmed my judg
ment that it was best to come out into the main river at
Milliken's Bend. We did so day before yesterday, and
it has rained hard two days and I am satisfied that we
got out of the Swamp at Chickasaw Bayou in time, for
now water and mud must be forty feet deep there. . . .
Regulars did well, of course, but they or no human
beings could have crossed the bayou and live. People
at a distance will ridicule our being unable to pass a
narrow bayou, but nobody who was there will. In
stead of lying idle I proposed we should come to the
Arkansas and attack the Post of Arkansas, fifty miles
up that river, from which the enemy has attacked the
river capturing one of our boats, towing two barges of
navy coal and capturing a mail, so I have no doubt
some curious lieutenant has read your letters to me.
We must make the river safe behind us before we
push too far down. We are now on our way to the
Post of Arkansas. McClernand assumed command
to-day, so I will not be care-worn again by the duty
of looking to supplies, plans, etc. ... It will in the
end cost us at least ten thousand lives to take Vicks
burg. I would have pushed the attack to the bitter
end, but even had we reached the city unassisted we

VICKSBURG 237
could not have held it if they are at liberty to rein
force from the interior. ..."
"Post of Arkansas, January 12, 1863.
"We carried the Post of Arkansas yesterday and cap
tured all its stores and garrison, and Brigadier-General
Churchill, and three brigades of soldiers, I cannot tell
yet how many. They now stand clustering on the bank,
and will today be put on board of boats and sent to
Cairo. This relieves our Vicksburg trip of all appear
ances of a reverse, as by this move we open the Arkansas
and compel all organized masses of the enemy to pass
below the Arkansas River, and it will also secure this
flank when we renew our attack on Vicksburg. . . ."
"Camp near Vicksburg, January 28, 1863.
"... The politician thinks results can be had by
breath, but how painfully it begins to come home to the
American people that the war which all have striven so
hard to bring on and so few to avert is to cost us so many
thousands of lives. Indeed do I wish I had been killed
long since. Better that than struggle with the curses
and maledictions of every woman that has a son or
brother to die in any army with which I chance to be
associated. Of course Sherman is responsible. Seeing
so clearly into the future I do think I ought to get away.
The President's placing McClernand here and the dead
set to ruin me for McClernand's personal glory would
afford me a good chance to slide out and escape the
storm and trouble yet in reserve for us. Here we are
at Vicksburg on the wrong side of the river trying to

238 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
turn the Mississippi by a ditch, a pure waste of human
labor. Grant has come and Prime 1 is here and they
can figure it out, but the canal won't do. We must
carry out the plan fixed up at Oxford. A large army
must march down from Oxford to Grenada and so on
to the rear of Vicksburg, and another army must be
here to cooperate with the gun-boats at the right time.
Had Grant been within sixty miles of Vicksburg, or
Banks near, I could have broken the line of Chickasaw
Bayou, but it was never dreamed by me that I could
take the place alone. McClernand or Grant will not
undertake it. Not a word of Banks. I doubt if he has
left or can leave or has any order to leave New Orleans.
Therefore here we are to sit in the mud till spring and
summer and maybe another year. Soldiers will soon
clamor for motion, life, anything rather than canal dig
ging. The newspapers are after me again; I published
an order they must not come along on pain of being
treated as spies. I am now determined to test the
question. Do they rule or the commanding general?
If they rule I quit. I have ordered the arrest of one,
shall try him, and if possible execute him as a spy.
They publish all the data for our enemy and it was only
by absolute secrecy that we could get to the Post of
Arkansas without their getting ahead. They did re
veal our attempt to attack Haines's Bluff. I will never
again command an army in America if we must carry
along paid spies. I will banish myself to some foreign
country first. I shall notify Mr. Lincoln of this if he
attempt to interfere with the sentence of any court
1 Captain Prime of the Engineer Corps.

VICKSBURG 239
ordered by me. If he wants an army he must conform
to the well established rules of military nations and not
attempt to keep up the open rules of peace. The South
at the start did these things, and the result has been,
they move their forces from Virginia to Mississippi and
back without a breath spoken or written. ..."
"Camp near Vicksburg,
"February 22, 1863.
"... As to my exposing myself unnecessarily, you
need not be concerned. I know better than C 
where danger lies and where I should be. Soldiers
have a right to see and know that the man who guides
them is near enough to see with his own eyes, and that
he cannot see without being seen. At Arkansas Post
the ground was nearly level and the enemy could see
me, with officers coming and going and orderlies
grouped near. Of course they fired at me, one rifled
10 pounder repeatedly, and when I was grouping the
prisoners I recognized the very gun and asked for the
gunner, who proved to be a real Paddy, and I gave him
fits for aiming at me, which the fellow did not deny;
but we gave them a fair return and the account was
squared. . . ."
"Camp near Vicksburg, February 26, 1863.
"I have yours of the 14th inst. and indeed I think all
your letters have come somewhat in bunches, but I
think all are at hand up to that of the 14th. Of course,
I will heed your counsel about the newspaper corre
spondents, but it is hard for me to know that they are

240 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
used to spy out and report all our acts of omission and
commission to be published at home to prejudice t_e
cause and advance that of the enemy. It is hard enough
to know that we have a strong well organized and vin
dictive enemy in front and a more dangerous insidious
one within our very camp. These causes must defeat
us unless the people have resources enough to learn by
the slow and sad progress of time what they might so
much easier learn from books or the example of our
enemy. We look in vain to their newspapers for scraps
from which to guess at the disposition of their forces,
and know and feel all the time that every thing we do
or attempt to do is paraded in all our newspapers which
reach Vicksburg by telegraph from Richmond, Va. or
Memphis long before we are ourselves advised. I feel
also that our government instead of governing the coun
try is led first by one class of newspapers, then another,
and that we are the mere shuttle-cocks flying between.
We get all the knocks and rarely see one grain of en
couragement from 'home.' I see the eulogies of the
brave and heroic acts of men at Springfield, Illinois,
and Cincinnati, and rarely anything but the paid and
hired encomiums of some worthless regiment here,
that, understanding the notions of our people, can get
cheap reputation by writing for the press, and neglect
ing all their duties here. The further we penetrate,
the further we remain from home, the less we are es
teemed or encouraged. I did not intend to resign unless
the public opinion of the North made it prudent for the
President to recall me nominally to some other command,
or unless I detected in my own corps some symptoms of

VICKSBURG 241
the natural results of the continued attacks of the press.
In either event being foot-loose I would be justified
before God and man in making my own choice of
vocation. My old troops believe in me, but in this
move I had a new batch that did not know me and I
had reason to apprehend mistrust on this point, as some
of them are known to me, like  , to be mere politi
cians who come to fight not for the real glory and suc
cess of the nation but for their own individual aggrand
izement. Let any accident befall me or any temporary
rumor like that at Vicksburg, the same howl will be
renewed because these buzzards of the press who hang
in scent about our camps know full well that death
awaits them whenever I have the power or when time
develops their true character and influence. You in
Ohio have one or two papers to conciliate, here we have
all — St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Charles
ton, Atlanta and Vicksburg. Now these are all an
tagonistic save in one particular, in esprit de corps.
They stand by each other as a profession, but each
gathers facts and draws its pictures to suit the home
market, and really the Southern correspondents are the
more fair. Were I to judge of public opinion by the
tone of the press I would say we were here regarded as
an enemy to the North and rather favorable to the South.
Of course, I shall no longer attempt to exclude spies
from camp, and allow these to come and go freely and
collect their own budgets. The ram Queen of the West
was captured by the enemy in Red River and yesterday
came close up to Vicksburg with the Rebel flag flying in
defiance. We have an iron boat below, the Indianola,

242 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
but night before last heavy firing was heard until about
one o'clock, when it ceased, and this fact being followed
by the appearance of the captured ram looks bad. I
fear the Indianola is gone, and that the enemy has re
covered the use of the river below Vicksburg. This to
us is a bad blow, and may lead to worse consequences.
I at once established a battery of 20 pound rifles below
the town and made other dispositions, but the ram
has again gone below. I fear for the safety of the In
dianola. If sunk it is not so bad, but if like the Queen
of the West she has fallen into the hands of the enemy,
it may prove a calamity. Rain, rain, — water above,
below and all round. I have been soused under water
by my horse falling in a hole, and got a good ducking
yesterday walking where a horse could not go. No
doubt they are chuckling over our helpless situation in
Vicksburg. Accounts from Yazoo and Providence
Lake favorable, but rain, rain, and men can't work —
indeed hardly a place to stand, much less lie down. ..."
"Camp before Vicksburg,
"March 13, 1863.
"... The waters are still rising and Kilby Smith's
Brigade is roosting on the levee with bare standing
room. McClernand's Corps is at Milliken's Bend, and
my Corps strung along the levee for four miles. The
levee is about ten feet wide at top with sloping sides
and can hold all the men and maybe horses in case of
an absolute flood. We have not steamboats enough to
float us and if we had there is no dry land to go to. An
expedition has entered the Yazoo from above, and

VICKSBURG 243
when it is heard from we probably will make another
dash at Vicksburg or Drumgould's. I see the whole
North is again in agonies about the amount of sickness
down here. It is not excessively hot, more than should
be expected, not more than we had on the Potomac and
Tennessee, and our supplies are the best I ever saw.
There is a deep laid plan to cripple us laid by Jeff Davis
who is smart and knows our people well. By a few
thousands of dollars well invested in newspapers he can
defeat any plan or undertaking. Many really well dis
posed men have come from St. Louis, Cincinnati and
Washington and have been amazed by the falsehood of
these stories. Only one man of the regulars has died
since we left Memphis. My old regiments are all in
fine health and spirits. Some of the new regiments
have passed through the ordeal which afflicts all new
troops. . . .
"The War Department have not given me any staff,
and yet have taken from me the right to appoint any.
The truth is now as it always was, that persons at a
distance are neglected and those near the seat of power
petted. We have made further progress than any
army, with less means. In Vicksburg we meet our
match and time must solve the difficulty; but so long
as our camps are full of newspaper spies revealing each
move, exaggerating our trouble and difficulties and giv
ing grounds for discontent, success cannot be expected.
"The new Conscript Law is the best act of our govern
ment and Mr. Lincoln can no longer complain of want
of power. He now is absolute dictator and if he don't
use the power some one will. . . ."

244 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Camp before Vicksburg, March 30, 1863.
"I got back from an excursion up to Deer Creek in
connection with Admiral Porter the day before yester
day, and being on General Grant's boat which lies about
four miles above me I wrote you a hasty note saying we
were all well. I don't know what the people and press
will make of this move, but I explain it to you. Our
difficulty at Vicksburg has been to get a foothold on
hard ground on that side of the Mississippi. We have
endeavored to get east of the Yazoo without success by
every possible channel, and Admiral Porter and General
Grant thought they had discovered a new route up Yazoo
and Steele's Bayou to Black Fork across into Deer
Creek, up Deer Creek to Rolling Fork and then into
Sunflower and Yazoo. I don't know if your maps show
this route, but there is a channel during high water.
Grant accompanied the Admiral up a short distance re
turned and ordered me to follow, to reconnoitre, to
ascertain if the route was feasible to move my Corps.
I got one of the Admiral's little tugs and with only two
aids, Col. Johnson and Lt. Pitzman and my orderly
Boyer, pushed up and overtook the Admiral in Black
Bayou. I took no troops with me, but had ordered the
8th Missouri and some pioneers to go up in a steamboat
to clear out trees and overhanging branches. I saw
very soon that the channel was too narrow and ob
structed by trees to be passable without a vast amount
of clearing, and soon reported that it would not do, but
the Admiral pushed up Deer Creek with his iron-clads.
He had not proceeded twenty miles before the channel
became so obstructed that he doubted his ability to pro-

VICKSBURG 245
ceed, and the enemy had detected the move and had
begun to fell trees across the channel. At last he called
on me for help; and having brought up three small
regiments I sent them forward and worked like a beaver
to get up more. I succeeded in getting up the better
part of two brigades and afoot started for the fleet. I
got there not a minute too soon. The enemy were
swarming about the fleet, had chopped down trees in
front and were in the act of doing the same below so as
to block them in. There were five iron-clads and three
little tenders or tugs. Their heavy guns could not con
tend with the rifle men who behind trees and logs picked
off every man who showed his head. I do believe if I had
not labored as I did, and moved as rapidly, the enemy
would have got the boats and the tables would have been
turned on us here at Vicksburg; but the Admiral had
actually resolved to blow them all up. The mud and
rain were terrific, but I marched afoot and the men were
tickled to see me there; and such cheers as the gun-boats
put up when they saw General Sherman! Of course
we soon cleared the ground, and not a shot was fired at
the gun-boats after I got there. For four days and
nights they were beset by a crowd of guerrillas and sol
diers and could not sleep or rest; it was the lion in a net.
"The admiral was in the act of backing out when I
got to him, and his judgment was that the route was
impracticable. Of course, we gradually withdrew slowly
and leisurely, and the enemy followed us at a dis
tance. No place on earth is favored by nature with
natural defense such as Vicksburg, and I do believe the
whole thing will fail and we will have to go back to the

246 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
original plan, viz : the main army to move by land from
Memphis, Oxford, Grenada to Yazoo City and Vicks
burg, whilst a smaller force hem in the river and attack
in flank contemporaneous with the arrival of the main
army. This was the original plan and the only one
certain of success. Grant may resolve to attack Haines'
Bluff, but we cannot bring our whole force to bear
there. The river does not admit of it. ..."
"Camp at Vicksburg, April 10, 1863.
"... I was really amused at a circumstance to-day
that may be serious. Grant has been secretly working
by night to place some 30 pound rifle guns as clo5e up
to Vicksburg as the water will permit, about 2,300 yards,
and to cover them against the enemies' cross batteries,
but to-day got the Memphis papers of the 7th giving a
minute and full account of them and their location.
Now he knows as we all do that the Secesh mail leaves
Memphis before day, as soon as the morning papers are
printed, reaches Hernando about 11 a. m., and the tele
graph carries to Vicksburg the news in a few minutes.
This explains a remark which Major Watts of the Con
federate Army made to me at parting day before yester
day. We met per appointment on a steamboat just
above Vicksburg, and after a long conference relating
to exchange of prisoners, Watts, who is a very clever
man, remarked: 'don't open those batteries to-morrow
(last) night, for I am to give a party and don't want to be
interrupted.' Of course the newspaper correspondents,
encouraged by the political generals and even President
Lincoln, having full swing in this and all camps, report

VICKSBURG 247
all news secret and otherwise. Indeed with a gossiping
world a secret is worth more than common news.
Grant was furious, and I believe he ordered the sup
pression of all the Memphis papers. But that won't do,
All persons who don't have to fight must be kept out of
camp, else secrecy, a great element of military success,
is an impossibility. I may not, but you will live to see
the day when the people of the United States will mob
the man who thinks otherwise. I am too fast, but there
are principles of government as sure to result from war
as in law, religion or any moral science. Some prefer
to jump to the conclusion by reason. Others prefer to
follow developments by the slower and surer road of
experience. In like manner Grant has three thousand
men at work daily to clear out Willow Bayou, by which
he proposes to move a large part of the army to Carthage
and Grand Gulf: also a secret, but I'll bet my life it is
at this moment in all the Northern papers, and is known
through them to the Secesh from Richmond to Vicks
burg. Can you feel astonished that I should grow angry
at the toleration of such suicidal weakness, that we
strong, intelligent men must bend to a silly proclivity
for early news that should advise our enemy days in
advance? Look out! We are not going to attack
Haines' Bluff or Greenwood or Vicksburg direct, but are
going to come round below by Grand Gulf! All the
enemy wants is a day or two notice of such intention and
Grand Gulf becomes like a second Vicksburg! But
this is a secret, remember, and though it is the plan it is
not a good plan. We commit a great mistake, but I am
not going to advise one way or the other. The govern-

248 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
ment has here plenty of representatives, and they must
make the plans, and I will fill my part, no more, no less.
"The only true plan was the one we started with.
The Grand Army should be on the main land moving
south along the road and roads from Memphis, Holly
Springs and Corinth, concentrating on Grenada;
thence towards Canton where the Central Road crosses
Big Black and then on Vicksburg. The gun-boats and a
small army should be here, and on the first sign of the
presence of the main force inland we should attack here
violently. "This was our plan at Oxford in December last, is
my plan now and Grant knows it is my opinion. I
shall communicate it to none else save you or your
father. ... It is my opinion that we shall never take
Vicksburg by operations by river alone.
" The armies on the Rappahannock and in Kentucky
pause for us at Vicksburg. That is folly; all ought to
press at the same instant, for the enemy has the centre
or inside track, can concentrate on any one point and
return to the others in time. Their position is very
strong, and they have skill, courage and intelligence
enough to avail themselves of all advantages. Their
country is suffering terribly by the devastations of our
armies and the escapes of their slaves, but nothing
seems to shake their constancy or confidence in ultimate
success. Could the North only turn out her strength,
fill promptly our thinned ranks, keep their counsels, hold
their tongues, and stop their infernal pens and press we
could make things crash, and either submission or utter
horrible ruin would be their fate.

VICKSBURG 249
" It may be, however, that God in his wisdom wants
to take down the conceit of our people and make them
feel that they are of the same frail materials of mortality
as the other thousand millions of human beings that spin
their short webs and die all over earth. In all former
wars virtues lost sight of in time of peace have revived,
and to any one who looked it is unnecessary to say that
our governments, national, state, county and town, had
been corrupt, foul and disgraceful. If war will change
this, it will be cheaply bought. . . .
"The last flag of truce brought me from Vicksburg
a beautiful bouquet with compliments of Major Hoadley
and Major Watts, the same who wanted me not to fire
last night to interrupt his party. The trees are now in
full leaf, the black and blue-birds sing sweetly, and the
mocking bird is frantic with joy. The rose and violet,
the beds of verbena and mignonette, planted by fair
hands now in exile from their homes occupied by the
rude barbarian, bloom as fair as though grim war had
not torn with violent hands all the vestiges of what a
few short months ago were the homes of people as good
as ourselves. You may well pray that a good God in
His mercy will spare the home of your youth the tread
of an hostile army. . . ."
"Camp opposite Vicksburg, April 17, 1863.
"... I have never been considered the advocate of
McClellan or anybody. I have often said that McClel
lan 's reputation as a scholar and soldier was second to
none after Mexico. I heard Gen. Persifor F. Smith in
1849 pronounce him better qualified to command than

250 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
any of our then generals. I remember once when we
were riding along and talking of certain events in
Mexico he named some half dozen young officers who
he thought should at once be pushed forward, and
McClellan was the first in order after Lee. I admit the
right and duty of Mr. Lincoln to select his own agents
and when one displeases him there can be no accord,
and he should set him aside. He is ex necessitate to
that extent king and can do no wrong. At all events
everybody must and should submit with good grace.
But knowing the very common clay out of which many
of our new generals are made I have trembled at any
shifting of commanders until the army feel assured that
a change is necessary. I know Hooker well and tremble
to think of his handling 100,000 men in the presence of
Lee. I don't think Lee will attack Hooker in position
because he will doubt if it will pay, but let Hooker once
advance or move laterally and I fear for the result. . . .
"Here we have begun a move that is one of the most
dangerous in war. Last night our gun-boats, seven of
the largest, ran the blockade and are below Vicksburg.
They suffered comparatively little. Three transports
followed, one of which was fired and burned to the
water's edge. The Silver Wave passed unhurt and my
old boat the Forest Queen had one shot in her hull and
one through a steam pipe, which disabled her. She is
below Vicksburg and above Warrenton and is being
repaired. " McClernand's Corps has marched along the margin
of an intricate bayou forty-seven miles to New Carthage,
and the plan is to take and hold Grand Gulf, and make

VICKSBURG 251
it the base of a movement in rear of Vicksburg. I don't
like the project for several reasons. The channel by
which provisions, stores, ammunition, etc., are to be
conveyed to Carthage is a narrow crooked bayou with
plenty of water now, but in two months will dry up.
No boat has yet entered it, and though four steam
dredges are employed in cutting a canal into it I doubt
if it can be available in ten days. The road used is pure
alluvium and three hours' rain will make it a quagmire
over which a wagon could no more pass than in the
channel of the Mississippi.
"Now the amount of provisions, forage and more
especially coal used by an army and fleet such as we will
have, will overtax the capacity of the canal.
"Again we know the enemy has up the Yazoo some
of the finest boats that ever navigated the Mississippi,
with plenty of cotton to barricade them and convert
them into formidable rams. Knowing now as they
well do that our best ironclads are below Vicksburg,
and that it is one thing to run down stream and very
different up, they can simply swop. They can let us
have the reach below Vicksburg and they take the one
above, and in the exchange they get decidedly the best
of the bargain. To accomplish such a move success
fully we should have at least double their force, where
as we know that our effective force is but little if any
superior to theirs. They can now use all the scat
tered bands in Louisiana to threaten this narrow long
canal and force us to guard it, so that the main army
beyond will be unequal to a march inland from Grand
Gulf. We could undertake, and safely, to hold the

252 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
river and allow the gun-boat fleet to go to Port Hud
son and assist in the reduction of that place so that
all could unite against Vicksburg. I have written and
explained to Grant all these points, but the clamor is so
great he fears to seem to give up the attack on Vicks
burg. My opinion is we should now feint on the river
and hasten to Grenada by any available road, and then
move in great force south, parallel with the river, leaving
the gun-boats and a comparatively small force here.
Grant, however, trembles at the approaching thunders
of popular criticism and must risk anything, and it is
my duty to back him though the contemplated and par
tially executed move does not comport with my ideas.
I know the pictorials will giving flaming pictures of
the successful running the batteries of Vicksburg, but
who thinks of their getting back ? What will be thought
if some ten large cotton freighted boats come out of
Yazoo and put all our transports to the bottom and have
us on the narrow margin of a great and turbid stream ?
The fear of public clamor is more degrading to the mind
than a just measure of the dangers of battle with an open
fair enemy in equal or even unequal fight. Hugh and
Charley 1 were with me last night at the picket station
below Vicksburg and saw the cannonading, and will
describe its appearance better than I could. I can't
help but overlook the present and look ahead. I wish
the enemy would commit this mistake with us, but no,
they are too cunning. General Thomas is here raising
negro brigades. I would prefer to have this a white
man's war and provide for the negroes after the time
' Brothers of Mrs. Sherman.

VICKSBURG 253
has passed, but we are in a revolution and I must not
pretend to judge. With my opinions of negroes and
my experience, yea prejudice, I cannot trust them yet.
Time may change this but I cannot bring 'myself to
trust negroes with arms in positions of danger and
trust. . . ."
"Camp before Vicksburg, April 23, 1863.
"Last night another batch of transports were pre
pared to run Vicksburg batteries. In order to afford
assistance to the unfortunate I crossed over through the
submerged swamp with eight yawls, and was in the
Mississippi about four miles below Vicksburg and three
above Warrenton. The first boat to arrive was the
Tigress, a fast side-wheel boat which was riddled with
shot and repeatedly struck in the hull. She rounded to,
tied to the bank and sunk a wreck; all hands saved.
The next was the Empire City, also crippled but afloat,
then the Cheeseman that was partially disabled, then
the Anglo-Saxon and Moderator, both of which were so
disabled that they drifted down stream catching the
Warrenton batteries as they passed. The Horizon was
the sixth and last, passed down about daylight. The
Cheeseman took the Empire City in tow and went down
just after day, catching thunder from the Warrenton
batteries. Five of the six boats succeeded in getting
by, all bound for Carthage, where they are designed to
carry troops to Grand Gulf and some other point across
the Mississippi. This is a desperate and terrible thing,
floating by terrific batteries without the power of reply
ing. Two men were mortally wounded and many

254 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
lacerated and torn, but we could not ascertain the full
extent of damage for we were trying to hurry them past
the lower or Warrenton batteries before daylight. The
only way to go to Carthage is by a bayou road from
Milliken's Bend, and over that narrow road our army
is to pass below Vicksburg, and by means of these boats
pass on to the east side of the Mississippi. I look upon
the whole thing as one of the most hazardous and des
perate moves of this or any war. A narrow difficult
road, liable by a shower to become a quagmire. A
canal is being dug on whose success the coal for steamers,
provisions for men and forage for animals must all be
transported. McClernand's Corps has moved down.
McPherson will follow, and mine comes last. I don't
object to this, for I have no faith in the whole plan.
"Politicians and all sorts of influences are brought to
bear on Grant to do something. Hooker remains
statu quo. Rosecrans is also at a deadlock, and we who
are now six hundred miles [ahead] of any are being
pushed to a most perilous and hazardous enterprise.
"I did think our government would learn something
by experience if not by reason. An order is received
to-day from Washington to consolidate the old regi
ments. All regiments below 500, embracing all the old
regiments which have been depleted by death and all
sorts of causes, are to be reduced to battalions of five
cornpanies in each regiment; the colonel and major
and one assistant-sergeant to be mustered out, and all
the officers, sergeants and corporals of five companies
to be discharged. This will soon take all my colonels,
Kilby Smith, Giles Smith, and hundreds of our best

VICKSBURG 255
captains, lieutenants and sergeants and corporals. In
stead of drafting and filling up with privates, one half
of the officers are to be discharged, and the privates
squeezed into battalions. If the worst enemy of the
United States were to devise a plan to break down our
army, a better one could not be attempted. Two years
have been spent in educating colonels, captains, ser
geants and corporals, and now they are to be driven out
of service at the very beginning of the campaign in
order that governors may have a due proportion of
officers for the drafted men. I do regard this as one of
the fatal mistakes of this war. It is worse than a defeat.
It is the absolute giving up of the chief advantage of
two years' work. I don't know if you understand it,
but believe you do. The order is positive and must be
executed. It is now too late to help it, but I have post
poned its execution for a few days to see if Grant won't
suspend its operation till this move is made. All the
old politician colonels have been weeded out by the
progress of the war, and now that we begin to have some
officers who do know something they must be discharged
because the regiments have dwindled below one half
the legal standard. We all know the President was
empowered to do this, but took it for granted that he
would fill up the ranks by a draft and leave us the ser
vices of the men who are now ready to drill and instruct
them as soldiers. Last fall the same thing was done,
that is new regiments were received instead of filling up
the old ones, and the consequence was those new regi
ments have filled our hospitals and depots, and now
again the same thing is to be repeated. It may be the

256 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
whole war will be turned over to the negroes, and I
begin to believe they will do as well as Lincoln and his
advisers. I cannot imagine what Halleck is about.
We have Thomas and Dana both here from Washington,
no doubt impressing on Grant the necessity of achieving
something brilliant. It is the same old Bull Run mania,
but why should other armies be passive and ours pushed
to destruction?
Prime is here and agrees with me; but we must drift
on with events. We are excellent friends. Indeed, I
am on the best of terms with everybody, but I avoid
McClernand because I know he is envious and jealous
of everybody who stands in his way. . . . He now has
the lead. Admiral Porter is there, and he is already
calling ' For God's sake, send down some one.' He
calls for me — Grant has gone himself — went this morn
ing. I know they have got this fleet in a tight place,
Vicksburg above and Port Hudson below, and how are
they to get out? One or other of the gates must be
stormed and carried, or else none. I tremble for the re
sult. Of course, it is possible to land at Grand Gulf and
move inland, but I doubt the capacity of any channel
at our command equal to the conveyance of the supplies
for this army. This army should not all be here. The
great part should be at or near Grenada moving south
by land. . . ."
"Headquarters 15 Army Corps,
"before Vicksburg, April 29th, 1863.
"... He [Grant] is down at Carthage, the fleet is
below Vicksburg, and I was on the point of following

VICKSBURG 257
when the order was countermanded; then I got an
order that he would like to have a feint made on Haines'
Bluff, provided I did not fear the people might style it a
repulse. I wrote him to make his plans founded on as
much good sense as possible and let the people mind
their own business. He had ordered me to attack Vicks
burg and I had done so. Now to divert attention from
his movement against Grand Gulf he wants another
demonstration up Yazoo. Of course I will make it and
let the people find out when they can if it be a repulse
or no. I suppose we must ask the people in the press,
i. e. some half-dozen little whipsnappers who represent
the press, but are in fact spies in our camp, too lazy,
idle, and cowardly to be soldiers. These must be con
sulted before I can make a simulated attack on Haines'
Bluff in aid to Grant and Porter that I know are in a
tight place at Grand Gulf. Therefore prepare yourself
for another blast against Sherman blundering and being
repulsed at Haines' whilst McClernand charges gallantly
ashore and carries Grand Gulf, etc. But when they
take Grand Gulf they have the elephant by the tail.
I say the whole plan is hazardous in the extreme, but I
will do all I can to aid Grant. Should, as the papers
now intimate, Grant be relieved and McClernand left
in command you may expect to hear of me at St. Louis,
for I will not serve under McClernand. ... I start in
an hour to make the demonstration up the Yazoo. I
shall have ten regiments of infantry, two ironclads, the
Mohawk and De Kalb, and a parcel of mosquitoes. I
don't expect a fight, but a devil of noise to make believe
and attract any troops in motion from Vicksburg

258 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
towards Grand Gulf back. I think Grant will make
a safe lodgment at Grand Gulf, but the real trouble
is and will be the maintenance of the army there.
If the capture of Holly Springs made him leave the
Tallahatchie, how much more precarious is his po
sition now below Vicksburg with every pound of
provision, forage and ammunition to float past the
seven miles of batteries at Vicksburg or be hauled
thirty-seven miles along a narrow boggy road. I will
be up Yazoo about three days. ... I am not con
cerned about the Cincinnati Gazette. The correspond
ent's insinuations against Grant and myself about
cotton are ridiculous. Grant is honest as old Jack
Taylor, and I am a cotton-burner. I have even for
bidden all dealing in cotton and not an officer of my
command 'ever owned a bale. As to myself, I would
burn every parcel of it as the bone of contention
and apple of discord. Now that Mr. Chase has un
dertaken to manage cotton as well as finance I wish
him a good time with it. . . ."
"Milliken's Bend, May 2, 1863.
"As I wrote you on Wednesday, I went up Yazoo
with two ironclad boats, four or five mosquitoes, or
small stern wheel gun-boats, and ten transports carrying
a part of Blair's division for the purpose of making a
simulated attack on Haines' Bluff to divert attention
from Grant's movements on Grand Gulf. The first
night we spent at our old battle ground of Chickasaw
Bayou, and next morning moved up in sight of the bat
teries on Drumgould's Hill. We battered away all

VICKSBURG 259
morning and the enemy gave us back as much as we
sent. The leading gun-boat got fifty-three shots in
her, but her men being in iron casemates were not hurt.
A wooden boat had a shot through the engine room.
I was in the Black Hawk which was a wooden boat with
two thirty pound rifles on the bow. We kept up a brisk
cannonade for about five hours and then hauled out of
range. I then disembarked the men in full view and
made all the usual demonstrations of attack and re
mained so till night when the men were recalled. Next
morning we made renewed examination, and I had just
given orders for a new cannonade when a messenger
came up from Grant saying they had had hard work at
Grand Gulf and were compelled to run below, but that
he would land at Bayou Pierre and turn back on Vicks
burg, ordering me to come with two of my divisions to
Perkins' plantation about forty miles down the river.
I sent down orders for Tuttle's and Steele's divisions to
march at once and yesterday afternoon we renewed
the cannonade and kept it up till night when he ran
down to our camp and moved up to Milliken's Bend.
Steele's and Tuttle's divisions have gone out and I start
to-morrow to overtake and pass them. I have noth
ing positive from below. Blair's division remains
here. . . ."
Writing from "Camp opposite Grand Gulf, Missis
sippi," May 6, 1863, Sherman spoke of the wanton
destruction wrought on a fine plantation in the path of
the army,1 and added: "It is done of course by the
1 See Memoirs, I, 348-9.

260 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
cursed stragglers who won't fight, but hang behind
and disgrace our cause and country. Dr. Bowie had
fled, leaving everything on the approach of our troops.
Of course devastation marked the whole path of the
army, and I know all the principal officers detest the
infamous practice as much as I do. Of course I ex
pect and do take corn, bacon, ham, mules and every
thing to support an army, and don't object much to
the using of fences for firewood. But this universal
burning and wanton destruction of private property is
not justified in war."
"15th Army Corps, Hankinson's Ferry,
" 18 mtles from Grand Gulf, May 9,
"1863.
"One week after hammering away at Haines' Bluff
I got here and overtook Grant's army, having marched
eighty-three miles and crossed the Mississippi. We are
short of wagons and provisions, but in this starving
country we find an abundance of corn, hogs, cattle,
sheep, and poultry. Men who came in advance have
drawn but two days' rations in ten and are fat. To
morrow I march to Big Sandy, nine miles. Next day
to Auburn fifteen miles, and we will then be within
striking distance of the railroad running east from
Vicksburg. The enemy must come out to fight us
soon or we will be in their rear. The army is in
good condition and if they fight us we will have a
desperate one. Grant was delighted to see me, and
everything works well. . . ."

VICKSBURG 261
"On Walnut Hills, above Vicksburg,
"May 19, 1863.
"We made a full circuit, entered Jackson first, de
stroyed an immense quantity of railroad and Confederate
property, and then pushed for this point which secures
the Yazoo and leaves [us] to take Vicksburg. We as
saulted yesterday, but it is very strong. We estimate
its present garrison at 15,000 or more, and Johnston is
hovering about with reinforcements. We had a heavy
fight yesterday. Regulars suffered much — Capt. Wash
ington killed, five officers wounded — Charley in the
hand. He saved the colors. He is now in the midst
of shells and shot. Hugh is also under fire, and had a
hard time yesterday. We reached the very parapet,
but did not enter the works. We are now encircling the
town. I am on the right, McPherson centre, and
McClernand left. We are all in good health and spirits
at this moment, and, having reached and secured the
Yazoo, will soon have plenty to eat. I must again go to
the front amid the shot and shells, which follow me but
somehow thus far have spared me. Charley's wound is
in the hand, slight, and he now commands the battalion.
Keep easy and trust to luck. This is a death struggle
and will be terrible. Thus far success has crowned our
efforts and we are on high ground, on a level with the
enemy, but they are fortified and we must attack,
quicker the better. Grant is off to the left with McCler
nand who did not push his attack as he should. Bang,
pop, go the guns and muskets, and I must to the front.
I have slept on the ground the last two nights to Hill's '
1 Sherman's body-servant.

262 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
disgust, and he hangs around me like a shadow with a
canteen. He is very faithful, but came up to me yester
day under fire with great reluctance!"
"Headquarters 15th Army Corps,
"Walnut Hills, May 25, 1863.
"Whilst the men are making roads and ditches to
enable me to get close up to the enemy's parapet without
crossing within full view and fatal effect [from] their
well prepared forts and trenches, I have availed myself
of the favorable opportunity to pitch a tent and get out
writing materials to write up. . . . Devastation and
ruin lay behind us, and a garrison of some fifteen or
twenty thousand men are before us, cooped up in Vicks
burg with about five or six thousand people, women and
children. The forts are well built and command the
roads, and the hills and valleys are so abrupt and cov
ered with fallen trees, standing trunks and canebrake
that we are in a measure confined to the roads. We
have made two distinct assaults all along the line, but
the heads of columns are swept away as chaff thrown
from the hand in a windy day. We are now hard at
work with roads and trenches, taking all possible ad
vantage of the shape of the ground. We must work
smart, as Joe Johnston is collecting the shattered forces,
those we beat at Jackson and Champion Hill, and may
get reinforcements from Bragg and Charleston and
come pouncing down on our rear. The enemy in Vicks
burg must expect aid from that quarter, else they would
not fight with such desperation. Vicksburg is not only
of importance to them, but now is a subject of pride and

VICKSBURG 263
its loss will be fatal to their power out west. Grant's
move was the most hazardous, but thus far the most
successful of the war. He is entitled to all the credit,
for I would not have advised it. We have now perfect
communication with our supplies, plenty of provisions,
tools and ammunition, and if vast reinforcements do not
come from the outside Vicksburg is ours as sure as fate.
"I suppose you have all been in intense anxiety.
Charley was very conspicuous in the first assault and
brought off the colors of the battalion which are now in
front of my tent, the staff \ cut away by a ball that took
with it a part of his finger. . . . We brought off nearly
all our dead and all the wounded, and the enemy called
from their pits warning the burial parties not to come
down as they could take care of those left. Our pickets
are up so close that they can hardly show their heads
without drawing hundreds of shots. In like manner
we can hardly show a hand without the whir of a
minnie ball. Our artillery is all well placed and must
do havoc in the town. We have over a hundred cannon
which pour a constant fire over the parapets, the balls
going right towards their Court House and depot.
"In about three days our approach will be so close
that another assault will be made, but the enemy like
beavers are digging as hard as we. ..."
"Walnut Hills [above Vicksburg], June 2, 1863.
"Since our arrival here I have written you several
short letters and one telegraph despatch, simply telling
you of our safety. I suppose by this time you have
heard enough of our march and safe arrival on the

264 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Yazoo whereby we re-established our communications,
supplying the great danger of this roundabout move
ment. We were compelled to feel and assault Vicks
burg, as it was the only way to measure the amount of
opposition to be apprehended. We now know that it is
strongly fortified on all sides and that the garrison is
determined to defend it to the last. We could simply
invest the place and allow famine and artillery to finish
the work, but we know that desperate efforts will be
made to relieve the place. Joe Johnston, one of the
most enterprising of all their generals, is assembling
from every quarter an army at Jackson and Canton,
and he will soon be coming down between the Yazoo and
Black. Of course Grant is doing all he can to pro
vide against every contingency. He sent to Banks, but
Banks is investing Port Hudson and asks for reinforce
ments from us. All the men that can be spared from
^Yest Tennessee will be called here, and I trust Rose-
crans will not allow any of Bragg's army to be detached
against us, but we hear he is planting gardens and it may
be he will wait to gather a crop. The weather is now
very hot and we are digging roads and approaches so
that it tells on our men, but they work cheerfully and I
have approaches and parallels within eighty yards of the
enemy's line. Daily we open a cannonade and make the
dirt fly, but the Rebels lay close in their pits and holes
and we cannot tell what execution is done. I pity the
poor families in Vicksburg. Women and children are
living in caves and holes underground whilst our shot
and shells tear through their houses overhead. Daily
and nightly conflagrations occur, but still we cannot see

VICKSBURG 265
the mischief done. We can see the Court House and
steeples of churches, also houses on the hills back of
town, but the city lies on the face of the hill towards the
river, and that is hidden from view by the shape of
ground. The hills are covered with trees and are very
precipitous, affording us good camps. I have mine
close up on a spur where we live very comfortably. I
go out every morning and supervise the progress of
work, and direct the fire of the guns. The enemy's
sharpshooters have come very near hitting me several
times, but thus far I have escaped unhurt. Pitzman,
my engineer, was shot in the hip and is gone North. . . .
"The Northern papers bring accounts of our late
movements very much exaggerated, but still approximat
ing the truth. I did not go to Haines' Bluff at all,
because the moment I reached the ground in its rear I
was master of it,- pushed on to the very gates of Vicks
burg and sent cavalry back to Haines to pick up the
points of the strategic movement. Grant is now de
servedly the hero. He is entitled to all the credit of the
movement which was risky and hazardous in the ex
treme and succeeded because of its hazard. He is now
belabored with praise by those who a month ago accused
him of all the sins in the calendar, and who next week
will turn against him if so blows the popular breeze.
"Vox populi, vox humbug. We are in good fighting
trim, and I expect still more hard knocks. The South
will not give up Vicksburg without the most desperate
struggle. In about three days we ought to be able to
make another assault, carrying our men well up to the
enemy's ditch under cover. ..."

266 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Walnut Hills, June 11, 1863.
"... I don't believe I can give you an idea of matters
here. You will read so much about Vicksburg and the
people now gathered about it that you will get bewildered,
and I will wait till maps become more abundant. I miss
Pitzman very much. I feel his loss just as I did that of
Morgan L. Smith at Chickasaw, both wounded in the
hip, reconnoitering. So far as Vicksburg is concerned
the same great features exist. The deep washes and
ravines with trees felled makes a network of entangled
abattis all round the city, and if we had a million of men
we would be compelled to approach it by the narrow
heads of columns which approach the concealed trenches
and casemates of a concealed and brave and desperate
enemy. We cannot carry our men across this continuous
parapet without incurring fearful loss. We have been
working making roads and paths around spurs, up hol
lows, until I now have on my front of over two miles
three distinct ways by which I can get close up to the
ditch, but still each has a narrow front and any man who
puts his head above ground has his head shot off. All
day and night continues the sharp crack of the rifle and
deep sound of mortars and cannon hurling shot and shell
at the doomed city. I think we have shot twenty thousand
cannon balls and many millions of musket balls into
Vicksburg, but of course the great mass of these bury
into the earth and do little harm. We fire one hundred
shot to their one, but they being scarce of ammunition
take better care not to waste it. I rode away round to
McClernand's lines the day before yesterday, and found
that he was digging his ditches and parallels further

VICKSBURG 267
back from the enemy than where I began the first day.
My works are further advanced than any other, but still
it will take some time to dig them out. The truth is we
trust to the starvation. Accounts vary widely. Some
deserters say they have plenty to eat, and others say they
are down to pea bread and poor beef. I can see horses
and mules gently grazing within the lines and therefore
do not count on starvation yet. All their soldiers are in
the trenches and none know anything but what occurs
close to them. Food is cooked by negroes back in the
hollows in rooms cut out of the hills and carried to them
by night. The people, women and children, have also
cut houses underground out of the peculiar earth, where
they live in comparative safety from our shells and shot.
Still I know great execution must have been done, and
Vicksburg at this moment must be a horrid place. Yet
the people have been wrought up to such a pitch of en
thusiasm that I have not yet met one but would prefer
all to perish rather than give up. They feel doomed,
but rely on Joe Johnston. Of him we know but little
save we hear of a force at Yazoo City, at Canton, Jack
son and Clinton. . . ."
" Camp on Bear Creek, 20 miles N. W.
"of Vicksburg, June 27, 1863.
" I am out here studying a most complicated geography
and preparing for Joe Johnston if he comes to the relief
of Vicksburg. As usual I have to leave my old com
panions and troops in the trenches of Vicksburg, and
deal with strange men, but I find all willing and en
thusiastic. Although the weather is intensely hot I

268 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
have ridden a great deal, and think I know pretty well
the weak and strong points of this extended line of
circumvallation, and if Johnston comes I think he will
have a pretty hard time to reach Vicksburg, although
from the broken nature of the country he may feign at
many points and attack but at one. Black River, the
real line, is now so low it can be forded at almost any
point and I prefer to fight him at the ridge along which
all the roads lead. Of these there are several some of
which I have blocked with fallen trees and others left
open for our own purposes, and which will be open to
him if he crosses over. . . .
"My military family numbers by the tens of thou
sands and all must know that they enjoy a part of my
thoughts and attention. With officers and soldiers I
know how to deal, but am willing to admit ignorance as
to the people who make opinions according to their
contracted knowledge and biassed prejudices, but I
know the time is coming when the opinion of men 'not
in arms at the country's crisis, when her calamities call
for every man capable of bearing arms' will be light as
[compared] to those of men who first, last and all the
time were in the van. . . .
" I doubt if history affoTds a parallel to the deep and
bitter enmity of the women of the South. No one who
sees them and hears them but must feel the intensity of
their hate. Not a man is seen; nothing but women
with houses plundered, fields open to the cattle and
horses, pickets lounging on every porch, and desolation
sown broadcast, servants all gone and women and chil
dren bred in luxury, beautiful and accomplished, beg-

VICKSBURG 269
ging with one breath for the soldiers' rations and in
another praying that the Almighty or Joe Johnston will
come and kill us, the despoilers of their homes and all
that is sacred. Why cannot they look back to the day
and the hour when I, a stranger in Louisiana, begged and
implored them to pause in their career, that secession
was death, was everything fatal, and that their seizure
of the public arsenals was an insult that the most abject
nation must resent or pass down to future ages an object
of pity and scorn ? Vicksburg contains many of my old
pupils and friends; should it fall into our hands I will
treat them with kindness, but they have sowed the wind
and must reap the whirlwind. Until they lay down
their arms and submit to the rightful authority of the
government they must not appeal to me for mercy or
favors. . . ."
"Camp near Black River,
"20 miles east of Vicksburg, July 5, 1863.
"You will have heard all about the capitulation of
Vicksburg on the 4th of July, and I suppose duly appre
ciate it. It is the event of the war thus far. Davis
placed it in the scale of Richmond, and pledged his
honor that it should be held even if he had to abandon
Tennessee. But it was of no use. and we are now in
full possession. I am out and have not gone in to see,
as even before its surrender Grant was disposing to
send me forth to meet Johnston who is and has been
since June 15th collecting a force about Jackson, to
raise the siege. I will have Ord's corps, the 13th
(McClernand's), Sherman's 15th and Parkes' 9th. All

V

270 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
were to have been out last night, but Vicksburg and the
4th of July were too much for one day and they are not
yet come. I expect them hourly. I am busy making
three bridges to cross Black River, and shall converge
on Bolton and Clinton, and if not held back by Johnston
shall enter Jackson and there finish what was so well
begun last month and break up all the railroads and
bridges in the interior so that it will be impossible for
armies to assemble again to threaten the river.
"The capture of Vicksburg is to me the first gleam of
daylight in this war. It was strong by nature, and had
been strengthened by immense labor and stores.
Grant telegraphs me 27,000 prisoners, 128 field guns
and 100 siege pieces. Add to these 13 guns and 5,000
prisoners at Arkansas Post, 18 guns and 250 prisoners
at Jackson, 5 guns and 2,000 prisoners at Port Gibson,
10 heavy guns at Grand Gulf, 60 field guns and 3,500
prisoners at Champion Hill and 14 heavy guns at
Haines' Bluff, beside the immense amounts of ammuni
tion, shot, shells, horses, wagons, etc., make the most
extraordinary fruits of our six months' campaign. Here
is glory enough for all the heroes of the West, but I con
tent myself with knowing and feeling that our enemy
is weakened by so much, and more yet by failing to
hold a point deemed by them as essential to their empire
in the Southwest. We have ravaged the land, and have
sent away half a million of negroes, so that this country
is paralyzed and cannot recover its lost strength in
twenty years.
"Had the eastern armies done half as much war
would be substantially entered upon. But I read of

VICKSBURG
Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia being threaT-
ened and Rosecrans sitting idly by, writing for personal
fame in the newspapers, and our government at Wash
ington chiefly engaged in pulling down its leaders, —
Hooker now consigned to retirement. Well, I thank
God we are free from Washington and that we have in
Grant not a 'great man' or a 'hero,' but a good, plain,
sensible, kind-hearted fellow. Here are Grant and
Sherman, and McPherson, three sons of Ohio, [who]
have achieved more actual success than all else com
bined, and I have yet to see the first kindly notice of us
in the state, but on the contrary a system of abuse de
signed and calculated to destroy us with the people and
the army; but the Army of the Tennessee, those who fol
low their colors and do not skulk behind in the North, at
the hospitals and depots far to the rear, know who think
and act, and if life is spared us our countrymen will
realize the truth. I shall go on through heat and dust
till the Mississippi is clear, till the large armies of the
enemy in this quarter seek a more secure base, and then
I will renew my hopes of getting a quiet home, where
we can grow up among our children and prepare them
for the dangers which may environ their later life. I
did hope Grant would have given me Vicksburg and let
some one else follow up the enemy inland, but I never
suggest anything to myself personal, and only what I
deem necessary to fulfil the purposes of war. I know
that the capture of Vicksburg will make an impression
the world over, and expect loud acclamations in the
Northwest, but I heed more its effect on Louisiana and
Arkansas. If Banks succeed, as he now must, at Port

SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
udson, and the army in Missouri push to Little Rock,
the region west of the Mississippi will cease to be the
theatre of war save to the bands of robbers created by
war who now prefer to live by pillage than honest labor.
Rosecrans' army and this could also, acting in concert,
drive all opposing masses into the recesses of Georgia
and Alabama, leaving the Atlantic slopes the great
theatre of war.
"I wish Halleck would put a guard over tlrt White
House to keep out the committees of preachers, grannies
and Dutchmen that absorb Lincoln's time and thoughts..
fill up our thinned ranks with conscripts, and then handle
these vast armies with the single thought of success re
gardless of who shall get the personal credit and glory.
"I am pleased to hear from you that occasionally
you receive kindness from men out of regard to me. I
know full well there must be a large class of honest
people North who are sick of the wrangling of officers
for power and notoriety, and are sick of the silly flattery
piled by interested parties on their favorites. McCler
nand, the only sample of that sort with us, played him
self out, and there is not an officer or soldier here but
rejoices he is gone away. With an intense selfishness
and lust of notoriety he could not let his mind get beyond
the limits of his vision, and therefore all was brilliant
about him and dark and suspicious beyond. My style
is the reverse. I am somewhat blind to what occurs
near me, but have a clear perception of things and
events remote. Grant possesses the happy medium
and it is for this reason I admire him. I have a much
quicker perception of things than he; but he balances

VICKSBURG 273
the present and remote so evenly that results follow in
natural course.
"I would not have risked the passing the batteries at
Vicksburg and trusting to the long route by Grand Gulf
and Jackson to reach what we both knew were the key
points to Vicksburg. But I would have aimed to reach
the same points by Grenada.1
"But both aimed at the same points, and though both
of us knew little of the actual ground, it is wonderful
how well they have realized our military calculations.
"As we sat in Oxford last November we saw in the
future what we now realize, and like the architect who
sees developed the beautiful vision of his brain, we feel
an intense satisfaction at the realization of our military
plans. Thank God, no President was near to thwart
our plans, and that the short-sighted public could not
drive us from our object till the plan was fully realized.
"Well, the campaign of Vicksburg is ended, and I
am either to begin anew or simply make complete the
natural sequences of a finished job. I regard my move
ment as the latter, though you and others may be dis
tressed at the guesses of our newspaper correspondents
on the spot (Cairo) and made to believe I am marching
on Mobile, on Chattanooga, or Atlanta. . . ."
1 In a letter of August 20, 1863, Sherman wrote: "I confess to
feel some pride that I have linked my name with Grant's in
achieving one of the stupendous works of this war." In his
Personal Memoirs (I, 543 n.) Grant wrote: "Sherman gave the
same energy to make the campaign a success that he would or
could have done if it had been ordered by himself."

IX
MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA CAMPAIGNS
1863-1864
Sherman, in his Memoirs, tells of the summer of
comparative rest which, for him, followed the taking
of Vicksburg. We find him established on the bank of
the Big Black River, about twenty miles from the cap
tured city, and sending for his wife and four children
to spend the summer in his camp. The oldest son, a
boy of nine, bore his father's name, and was the object
of a peculiar devotion and pride. The pathos of his
brief illness and death from typhoid fever at this time,
a pathos the more poignant for Sherman's self-reproach
at having subjected his boy to the very risk which was
his doom, shows itself clearly in the pages of the Memoirs.
It was at Memphis on October 3, 1863, that the boy
died. Sherman was hurrying his troops to the support
of Rosecrans after his defeat by Bragg at Chickamauga,
and at the same time was starting his family on its jour
ney back to Lancaster, Ohio. A letter preserved in the
Memoirs, expressing Sherman's gratitude for the sym
pathy of the officers and men immediately near him,
may well be supplemented by passages from three
letters which followed Mrs. Sherman on her northward
way. They illustrate memorably the essential tender
ness of Sherman's nature. 274

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 275
On October 6th he wrote at 7 a. m. from the Gayoso
Hotel in Memphis where his son died: "I have got up
early this morning to steal a short period in which to
write to you, but I can hardly trust myself. Sleeping,
waking, everywhere I see poor little Willy. His face and
form are as deeply imprinted on my memory as were
deep-seated the hopes I had in his future. Why, oh
why, should that child be taken from us, leaving us full
of trembling and reproaches ? Though I know we did
all human beings could do to arrest the ebbing tide of
life, still I will always deplore my want of judgment in
taking my family to so fatal a climate at so critical a
period of the year. ... To it must be traced the loss of
that child on whose future I had based all the ambition
I ever had. ... I follow you in my mind and almost
estimated the hour when all Lancaster would be shrouded
in gloom to think that Willy Sherman was coming back
a corpse. Dear as may be to you the Valley of Hocking,1
no purer, nobler boy ever will again gladden it. . . .
My command will be much smaller than the world
thinks, but I do not even name the fact to those about
me. Our country should blush to allow our thinned
regiments to go on till nothing is left. But I will go on
to the end, but feel the chief stay to my faltering heart is
now gone.
" But I must not dwell so much on it. I will try and
make poor Willy's memory the cure for the defects
which have sullied my character."
At the end of a letter written two days later (October 8)
Sherman exclaimed: "Oh! that poor Willy could have
1 Lancaster, Ohio, is on the Hocking, a tributary of the Ohio.

276 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
lived to take all that was good of me in name, character
and standing, and learn to avoid all that is captious,
eccentric or wrong. But I do not forget that we have
other children worthy of my deepest love. I would not
have one different from what they are."
Again on October 10: "I still feel out of heart to
write. The moment I begin to think of you and the
children, poor Willy appears before me as plain as life.
I can see him now stumbling over the sand hills on
Harrison Street, San Francisco, at the table in Leaven
worth, running to meet me with open arms at Black
River, and last, moaning in death at this hotel. ... I
see ladies and children playing in the room where Willy
died, and it seems sacrilege. I know you are now at
home, and I pray that Minnie ¦ has gradually recovered
her health and strength, and I hope all our children will
regain their full health. Why should I ever have taken
them to that dread climate! It nearly kills me when I
think of it. Why was I not killed at Vicksburg, and
left Willy to grow up to care for you ? God knows I
exhausted human foresight and human love for that boy,
and will pardon any error of judgment that carried him
to death."
Less than two years before the death of Sherman's
boy Lincoln had lost his eleven-year-old son Willie,
also through typhoid fever, and had put aside the private
grief to bear with all his strength the burdens of his
country. To Sherman's lot fell the same hard necessity.
The battle of Chattanooga (November 23-25) was to be
fought and won that the North might receive a Thanks-
1 Sherman's oldest daughter.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 277
giving day message of rejoicing such as had come from
Vicksburg on the previous Fourth of July; and Sher
man, leaving Memphis on October 11, had to march his
command over three hundred and fifty miles of hostile
country in order to contribute, in the very nick of time,
to the Union victory. Letters from Chattanooga itself
are lacking, but passages from two letters written on the
way thither illustrate yet again the depth of Sherman's
bereavement and that loyalty to Grant which has already
been shown: "Corinth, Miss., October 14, 1863.
" I was much relieved at the receipt of your two letters
from Cairo and Cincinnati, both of which came out last
night. I shew your message to Dr. Roler, who was
affected to tears. Poor Doctor, although I have poured
out my feelings of gratitude to him, he seems to fear
we may have a lingering thought that he failed somehow
in saving poor Willy. Your loving message may have
dispelled the thought, and I shall never fail to manifest
to him my heartfelt thanks for the unsleeping care he
took of the boy. I believe hundreds would have freely
died could they have saved his life. I know I would,
and occasionally indulged the wish that some of those
bullets that searched for my life at Vicksburg had been
successful, that it might have removed the necessity
for that fatal visit. . . .
" Everybody in Memphis manifested for me a respect
and affection that I never experienced North. I am
told that when the report went into Memphis that my
train was surely captured at Collierville, the utmost

278 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
excitement prevailed at Memphis, and a manifest joy
displayed when they heard the truth, that we were not
only safe, but that we had saved Collierville and the rail
road. At Lagrange, east of Collierville, Gen. Sweeny,
the one-armed officer you may remember at St. Louis
Arsenal, hearing that I was captured started south with
his whole force, determined to rescue Gen. Sherman.
As soon as I learned the fact I sent a courier to over
take him, advising him of my safety, but advising him
to push on and drive Chalmers far to the south. He is
still out. I. have this moment received a despatch from
Gen. Grant at Memphis. He is en route to Cairo to
communicate by telegraph with Washington. I know
there is a project to give him command of the Great
Centre, the same idea I foreshadowed in my days of de
pression and insult. I advise him by all means to assent,
to go to Nashville and command Burnside on the Right,
Rosecrans Centre, and Sherman Left. That will be an
Army, and if our ranks were full I would have hopes of
great and decisive results. I have stood by Grant in his
days of sorrow. Not six miles from here ¦ he sat in his
tent almost weeping at the accumulated charges against
him by such villains as Stanton of Ohio, Wade and
others. He had made up his mind to leave for good.
I begged him, and he yielded. I could see his good
points and his weak points better than I could my own,
and he now feels that I stood by him in his days of de
jection and he is my sworn friend. Corinth brings back
to me the memory of those events and bids me heed my
own counsels to others. Oh! that poor Willy could live
1 See p. 228.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 279
to reap the fruits of whatever is good in me, and avoid
the evil. If it so be that he can see our hearts from above
he will read in mine a love for him such as would not
taint the purest heaven that you ever dreamed of. God
spare us the children that are left, and if I am pardoned
for exposing them wrongfully I will never again. ..."
"Iuka, Miss., October 24, 1863.
"... I have had a pretty bad cold for the past two
days and am delayed here by bad breaks on the Railroad
ahead. The Tennessee is also swollen, and I expect
all sorts of trouble in getting over, unless boats are sent
up the Tennessee. We have had some fighting ahead
with the enemy's cavalry, a pretty formidable body sent
ahead from Mississippi, the same division that was in my
front at Big Black and all of Wheeler's cavalry that
escaped from Tennessee; but I can engage their atten
tion and then divert their minds from the road which
supplies Rosecrans' army. Grant I suppose now is at
Nashville, and will by his presence unite the army
more in feeling than it seems hitherto to have been. He
is so unpretending and honest that a man must be base
who will not yield to him. The only possible danger
is that some may claim his successes hitherto have been
the result of accident, but there too I hope they will find
themselves mistaken. I have telegraphic notice from
Memphis that he has assumed command of the Armies
of the Cumberland, Ohio and Tennessee, and that I am
to command the latter. My desire has always been to
have a distinct compact command, as a Corps, but spite
of my efforts I am pushed into complicated places that

280 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
others aspire to and which I wish they had. But with
Grant I will undertake anything in reason. . . .
" I see your thoughts as mine dwell with poor Willy
in his grave. I do not, and you should not, reproach
yourself a moment for any neglect of him. He knew
and felt every moment of his life our deep, earnest love
for him. The day he came on board the Atlantic 1 1
think I observed that usual suppressed feeling of pride
at having secured that gun. I know I joked him about
it and think he received it in his usual manner, and yet
at that moment he must have felt the seed of that dis
order which proved so fatal. He did not know it then,
and we could not so quickly detect the symptoms. . . .
God knows and he knows that either of us, and hundreds
of others, would have died to save him. . . ."
In the winter months following the victory at Chatta
nooga, operations on a large scale were impracticable.
For himself, Sherman planned an expedition, his
"Meridian Campaign," east from Vicksburg to impair
the strength of the Confederacy in the interior of Missis
sippi. One letter written on the eve of this expedition,
and two on its completion, illuminate his part in it:
"On Board Gun-boat Juliet,
"Mouth of White River, January 28, 1864.
"... I sent you a paper about the banquet 2 which
was really a fine affair. The hall of the Gayoso was
1 The boat from Vicksburg to Memphis. See Memoirs, I, 376.
'In a letter written on the same day to his brother John,
Sherman said: "I could not well decline an offer of a public
dinner in Memphis, but I dreaded it more than I did the assault
on Vicksburg." See Sherman Letters, p. 221.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 281
crammed and the utmost harmony prevailed. Every
thing passed off well. My remarks as reported by the
Argus were about right. The Bulletin got mere inco
herent points. I cannot speak consecutively, but it seems
that what I do say is vehemently applauded. The point
which may be wrongly conceived was this. As the South
resorted to war, we accepted it, and as they fought for
Slaves and States' Rights they could not blame us if they
lost both as the result of the war; and again, that they,
the South, prided themselves on high grounds of honor.
I am willing to take issue then adopting their own rules,
as those of the most fashionable clubs of London, New
Orleans, and Paris. If a member goes into an election
he must abide the result or be blackballed or put in
Coventry. Now as the Southern people went into the
presidential election they, as honorable men, were bound
to abide the result. I also described the mode and man
ner of seizure of the garrison and arsenal at Baton
Rouge and pronounced that a breach of soldierly honor,
and the firing on boats from behind a cottonwood tree.
People at the North may not feel the weight of these
points, but I know the South so well that I know what I
said will be gall and wormwood to some, but it will make
others think. I was at Memphis Tuesday and part of
Wednesday. The festival was on Monday and several
real old Southerners met me and confessed their cause
would be recorded in history as I put it. I was not
aware of the hold I had on the people till I was there
this time. Hurlbut did not mingle with them and was
difficult of access, and every time I went into a theatre
or public assemblage there was a storm of applause.

282 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
I endeavored to avoid it as much as possible, but it was
always so good-natured that I could not repel it. If I
succeed in my present blow I would not be surprised if
Mississippi would be as Tennessee, but I do not allow
myself to be deceived. The Old Regime is not yet dead,
and they will fight for their old privileges; yet so many
of our old regiments are going on furlough that we will
be short-handed. If we had our ranks full I know we
could take Mobile and the Alabama River in thirty
days and before summer could secure all of Red River
also, leaving the Grand Battle to come off in East
Tennessee or Georgia in June. We could hold fast all
we have and let the South wriggle, but our best plan is
activity. . . .
" I am about to march two hundred miles straight into
danger with a comparatively small force and that com
posed of troops in a manner strange to me; but my
calculations are all right, and now for the execution. I
expect to leave Vicksburg in a very few days, and will
cut loose all communications, so you will not hear from
me save through the Southern papers till I am back to
the Mississippi. You, of course, will be patient and
will appreciate my motives in case of accident, for surely
I could ask rest and an opportunity for some one else,
say McPherson, but there are double reasons: I will
never order my command where I am not willing to go,
and besides it was politic to break up the force at Mem
phis which was too large to lie idle, and Hurlbut would
not reduce it. I had to bring him away and make a
radical change. He ranks McPherson, and we have
not confidence enough in his steadiness to put him on

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 283
this expedition. He is too easily stampeded by rumors.
I have a better sense of chances. I run two chances,
first, in case the enemy has learned my plans or has
guessed them, he may send to Meridian a superior force.
A bad road may prevent my moving with the celerity
which will command success. Would that I had the
Fifteenth corps that would march in sunshine or storm
to fulfil my plans without asking what they were. I
almost wish I had been left with that specific command,
but confess I prefer service near the old Mississippi
which enables us to supply ourselves so bountifully.
I hear but little from Huntsville, but suppose all our
folks are comfortable there. I sent Maj. Taylor, Fitch
and McFeely back to Huntsville from Memphis, and
have with me only my aids and quarter-master. I
don't want any non-combatant mouths along to feed,
and am determined this time not to have a tribe of
leeches along to consume our food. Not a tent shall
be carried or any baggage save on our horses. The
wagons and packs shall carry ammunition and food
alone. I will set the example myself. Experience has
taught me if one tent is carried any quantity of trash
will load down the wagons. If I had ten more regi
ments I would be tempted to try Mobile, but as it is if I
break at Meridian and Memphis, I will cut off one of the
most fruitful corn supplies of the enemy, and will give
Mississippi a chance to rest. The State is now full of
conscript gangs carrying to their armies the unwilling,
the old and young. We will take all provisions, and
God help the starving families! I warned them last
year against this last visitation, and now it is at hand. . .

284 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"I feel the full load of care and anxiety you bear,
mourning for Willy, fearing for the future, and op
pressed with intense anxiety for parents. I believe you
can bear all, and that you will for our sakes. Just think
of me with fifty thousand lives in my hand, with all the
anxiety of their families. This load is heavier than even
you imagine. . . ."
"Steamboat Westmoreland,
"Approaching Memphis, March 10, 1864.
"Again I am approaching you. I have done all 1
undertook, and am now en route for Huntsville, but must
stop it may be a week at Memphis to complete certain
matters made necessary by General Grant's orders
received yesterday, when I expect to come to Cairo and
Louisville and Huntsville. I do not think I can come
to Cincinnati, for too much rests with me now, and how
ever disposed, I must go on for the spring campaign
which I judge will be the most sanguinary of all. . . .
"I have just received from General Grant a letter
in which he gives me and McPherson credit for having
won for him his present high position. . . .
"I have no doubt you were amused at the thousand
and one stories about my Meridian trip. It certainly
baffled the sharp ones of the press and stampeded all
Alabama, but in fact was a pleasant excursion. Weather
was beautiful, roads good and plenty to eat, what fight
ing we had was all on one side. Our aggregate loss is
21 killed, 68 wounded, and 81 missing, 170 all told.
But in a day or two I will send you my report which
will be clear and explicit. I have sent 10,000 men up

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 285
Red River under General A. J. Smith with Admiral
Porter to co-operate with General Banks. They are
to be gone only thirty days when they come around to
me at Huntsville. I want to make up my army there
to 40,000 men. So when we cross the Tennessee look
out. Grant in command, Thomas the Centre, Scho-
field the Left and Sherman Right — if we can't whip Joe
Johnston, we will know the reason why; Banks in the
meantime to come out of Red River and swing against
Mobile. If he had been smart he could have walked
into Mobile when I was in Meridian. I am down on
Wm. Sooy Smith. He could have come to me, I know
it, and had he, I would have captured Polk's army; but
the enemy had too much cavalry for me to attempt it
with men afoot. As it was I scared the Bishop out of
his senses. He made a clean run and I could not get
within a day's march of him. He had railroads to help
him, but these are now gone. Had I tolerated a corps
of newspaper men how could I have made that march
a success ? Am I not right ? And does not the world
now see it ? . . .
" On my way down I picked up at Natchez a prisoner
of war, Professor Boyd, my favorite among the officers of
the academy at Alexandria. I never saw a man evince
more gratitude. He clung to me till I came away. Stone
promised to be kind to him and to exchange him the first
opportunity. He told me all about the people up river
and said they talked about me a great deal, some with
marked respect and others with bitter hatred. . . .
"Many of the negroes are gone and the present trip
up Red River will clean out the balance. Boyd tells me

286 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the motto over the door of the Seminary is chiselled out.
You remember it in my letter of resignation: 'By the
liberality of the General Government of the United
States. The Union, Esto perpetua.' The fools!
Though obliterated it lives in the memory of thousands
and it may be restored in a few days. I wanted to go
up Red RrverTbut as Banks was to command in person
I thought best not to go. Grant wanted me to com
mand, but I reported my reason as before stated. Banks
ranks Grant and myself. But now Grant will be Lieu-
tenant-General and will command all he pleases. Of
course I can get anything I want, but as soon as the
spring campaign is over I want to come here and look
after the Mississippi. Like the story of Gil Bias, ' Here
lies my soul.' Though Willy died here his pure and
holy spirit will hover over this the grand artery of
America. I want to live out here and die here also,
and don't care if my grave be like De Soto's in its
muddy waters.1 . . ." "Memphis, March 12, 1864.
" . . . Of all the expeditions sent out this spring mine
has been best conducted and most successful simply be
cause of the secrecy and expedition with which it was
planned and executed. Had the enemy been informed of
these in advance by our prying correspondents I might
have shared the fate of Seymour.2 He did not go forty
miles from his base, whereas I went one hundred and
1 It was at General Sherman's own request that he was buried,
in 1891, at St. Louis by the side of his son.
2 In the previous month General Truman Seymour had met
defeat in Florida.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA (283
eighty-two miles. I have written Grant a long letter and
begged him to adhere to his resolution not to stay at
Washington. He would not stand the intrigues of
politicians a week. He now occupies a dazzling height
and it will require more courage to withstand the pres
sure than a dozen battles. I wonder if you kept a cer
tain despatch Halleck made me from Corinth in June
1862 and my answer from Moscow. I foretold to Hal
leck his loss, and the fact that the man who won the
Mississippi would be the man. I wish you would hunt
it up — I know I saw it among your papers — and show
it to Phil to satisfy him, however extravagant my early
assertions may have seemed, how they are verified by
time. I feel that whilst my mind naturally slights the
events actually transpiring in my presence it sees as
clear as any one's the results to be evolved by time.
Now Halleck has more reserve book-learning and
knowledge of men than Grant, and is therefore better
qualified for his present post; whereas the latter by his
honesty, simplicity, candor and reliance on friends, is
better suited to act with soldiers. I would rather occupy
my present relation to the military world than any other
command and therefore must serve out this campaign
which is to be the test. All that has gone before is mere
skirmishing. The war now begins, and with heavy
well-disciplined masses the issue must be settled in hard
fought battles. I think we can whip them in Alabama
and it may be Georgia. . . . No amount of poverty or
adversity seems to shake their faith: niggers gone,
wealth and luxury gone, money worthless, starvation in
view within a period of two or three years, and causes

-•sssj

SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS

enough to make the bravest tremble. Yet I see no
signs of let up — some few deserters, plenty tired of war,
but the masses determined to fight it out. . . ."
The "Meridian Campaign" was followed by minor
activities on Sherman's part, but a greater enterprise
than any he had undertaken was near at hand. On
Grant's removal to the East in March of 1864, to take
command of all the armies of the United States, the
command of the Military Division of the Mississippi
fell to Sherman. The prominence and responsibility
he had long shunned were no longer avoidable. His
immediate duty was to plan and direct the "Atlanta
Campaign," which was to last from May to September.
Not only was Sherman's chief antagonist, General
Joseph E. Johnston, one of the most elusive and skilful
of soldiers; but advancing into a hostile country, fed
from without by a single artery of supply, "it was mani
fest," as Sherman wrote in his Memoirs, " that we should
have to repair the railroad, use it, and guard it likewise."
The difficulties of the problem were innumerable.
Through April Sherman employed all his foresight to
meet those which could be met in advance. The fol
lowing letters, all but two written after his own start
from Chattanooga was made on May 5, deal with
events of the highest moment in the progress of the
Union cause. "Nashville, April 27, 1864.
"... To-morrow I start for Chattanooga and at once
prepare for the coming campaign. I will have 20,000

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 289
less men than I calculated, from the Red River disaster '
and two divisions of McPherson, whose furlough won't
expire. These furloughs have, as I feared, impaired if
not lost us this campaign. When men get home they
forget their comrades here, and though Governors are
very patriotic in offers of troops their acts fall far short
of their promises. Our armies are now weaker than at
any former point of the war. My old corps has dwindled
away to 10,000 though we had promises that all the
regiments would come with two or three hundred re
cruits each, but the recruits seem to have pocketed the
money and like selfish men staid at home.
"I will begin with Schofield, 12,000 infantry and
5,000 cavalry; Thomas, 40,000 infantry and 5,000 caval
ry; and McPherson, 20,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry.
Combined it is a big army and a good one, and it will
take a strong opposition to stop us once in motion.
"Dalton will be our first point, Kingston next, then
Allatoona and then Atlanta. All the attacks of the
enemy on Paducah, Fort Pillow and in North Carolina
are to draw us off from our concentration. As soon as
we move they will attempt to cut in behind and cut our
roads and fight us in front. So we are forced to detach
men to guard our railroads all the way from Louisville
to Chattanooga. . . ." "Chattanooga, May 4, 1864.
"... We are now moving. Thomas's whole army
is at Ringgold, Schofield is on his left near Red Clay,
1 The failure of the Red River expedition under General Banks.
See p. 285.

290 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
and McPherson is here and moves out to-morrow. I
will go to Ringgold to-morrow and will then be within
five miles of the enemy. We may have some of the
desperate fighting of the war, but it cannot be avoided,
deferred or modified. I will as heretofore do my best
and trust to the troops. All my dispositions thus far
are good. . . ." "Kingston, Geo., May 20, 1864.
" I have no doubt you will complain of neglect on my
part, but you have sense enough to see that my every
minute has been taken. According to appointment
with General Grant I got everything as far ready as pos
sible on the 5th and started from Chattanooga on the
6th. Troops had to be marched and collected from all
parts of the country without attracting attention, and I
got McPherson up to Chattanooga and on Johnston's
flank before he suspected anything more than a detach
ment of Thomas' command.
"Dalton lies in a valley, but the road passes through
a gap which was a most formidable place. I drew
Johnston's attention to it whilst I moved the army
round through a gap thirty miles further south and ap
peared on his rear and flank. He hastily evacuated
Dalton and succeeded in getting into Resaca, eighteen
miles, where he had prepared a strong position. This
we attacked at all points, getting closer and closer
whilst I got a bridge across the Oostenaula, and again
threatened his rear. Again he started and we chased
him fighting all the way to Cassville, and to-day the
army is pushing him across the Etowah. Having a

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 291
railroad and familiar with all the byeways he has got off,
but at a cost of about 6,000 men. We have a thousand
prisoners, have killed and wounded 5,000, and have
ourselves lost less than 4,000. We have had no time to
count noses. The enemy burned the railroad bridge
at Oostenaula, but we have repaired it and now have the
telegraph and cars to the very rear of our army. The
whole movement has been rapid, skilful and successful,
but will be measured by subsequent events. Difficul
ties increase as we go, for I have to drop men to guard
our roads, whereas our enemy gathers up his guards and
collects other reinforcements. I will cross the Etowah
and Chattahoochee and swing round Atlanta. If I can
break up that nest it will be a splendid achievement.
Grant's battles in Virginia are fearful but necessary.
Immense slaughter is necessary to prove that our
Northern armies can and will fight. That once im
pressed will be an immense moral power. Banks'
utter failure is awful, as that force should now be at
Mobile. It may be that Canby can straighten out
matters. Banks was so intent on civil government
that he underrated the military features of his territory.
All attempts at civil government in the midst of war are
folly  " "Kingston, Geo., May 22, 1864.
"To-morrow we start again for Atlanta. I would
like to go back and give you a connected narrative of
events, but I know that it would take more time than I
can devote to it and I suppose you will have curiosity
enough to read everything with Sherman at the top of

292 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the page. I believe the world now admits my right to
maintain public silence and recognizes it as a military
power. The officers and soldiers too have realized
that by bringing up McPherson's army with secrecy
and despatch and putting it through Snake Creek Gap
unobserved [?] that I saved them the terrible door of
death that Johnston had prepared for them in the Buz
zard Roost. We were forced to attack at Resaca, and
there too by catching the strong and weak points I en
abled the army to fight at as little disadvantage as pos
sible; and following up quick and strong we gave John
ston no time to fortify, though every pass was barricaded
all the way down. I think we inflicted more loss on the
enemy than we sustained ourselves, and up to this time
we have taken 15 guns, 2,500 prisoners and a large lot of
property. Of course, being compelled to guard our
communications, our strength is diminished as we ad
vance and that of the enemy increases. I have no
doubt we must have a terrific battle at some point near
the Chattahoochee. The main roads, however, [?]
cross the Etowah thirteen miles from here, and for six
miles lay among hills that afford strong positions.
These I must avoid, and shall move due south to Dallas
and thence to Marietta and the Chattahoochee Bridge.
You will no doubt recognize this very country as the one
I was in twenty years ago and to which I took such a
fancy. Yesterday I rode my lines and passed quite
close to Col. Tumlin's place, the same where the big
mounds are where I stopped in going from Marietta
to Bellefonte and back.1 I will probably pass by those
1 See Memoirs, II, 42.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 293
same big mounds to-morrow. The weather is oppres
sively hot and roads dusty. I do hope we will have rain
as it is choking to soldiers and mules. Our larger
trains make a fearful dust.
"I will put up a map to go to you by the mail by
which you can trace our progress. Thomas is my
centre and has about 45,000 men; McPherson my right,
25,000; and Schofield my left, 15,000; in all 85,000 men,
a vast army to feed and to move. I can't move about
as I did with 15 or 20,000 men. I think I have the best
army in the country, and if I can't take Atlanta and
stir up Georgia considerably I am mistaken. Our
greatest danger is from cavalry, in which arm of service
the enemy is superior to us in quantity and quality,
cutting our wagons or railroads. I have on hand, how
ever, enough for twenty days and in that time I ought
to determine a good deal. You will no doubt have full
accounts of the fighting. At Rocky Face I made our
display to attract attention away from McPherson. At
Resaca we had some pretty sharp fights; one, Hooker
pressing down from the north, another the 15th Corps
dashing for position close to the enemy's flank and
holding it against repeated night assaults, and Sweeny's
division holding the pontoon bridge at Lay's Ferry;
all were well and handsomely done. In pursuit I tried
hard to strike in behind Johnston with my cavalry, but
they did not accomplish it; but we did force the enemy
to abandon the line of the Coosa and Etowah which was
the first step in the game. Our next is to force him be
hind the Chattahoochee, and last to take Atlanta and
disturb the peace of central Georgia and prevent rein-

294 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
forcements going to Lee. If that Banks force could
only go to Mobile now, there would not be a shadow
of doubt of full success."
" Headquarters Military Division of the
"Mississippi.
"Acworth, Geo., June 9, 1864.
"I don't know that you can find this place on your
map, but it is on the main road from Chattanooga into
Georgia, 7 miles in front of Allatoona, 12 from Marietta
and 30 from Atlanta. The army lies about the place,
extending east, north and south. We are replenishing
our wagons with ammunition, forage and provisions.
The railroad to our rear is all in good order except the
bridge across Etowah burned by the enemy, which will
soon be done. I am forced to move with due delibera
tion to give time for other combinations from Memphis
and New Orleans, in Mobile, etc. But we will soon
move forward to the Chattahoochee eleven miles beyond
Marietta. Johnston may fight us at the ridge of hills
just this side of Marietta, but I think I can dislodge
him and this will leave the great battle on or near the
Chattahoochee, the passage of which he must dispute.
He has a strong, well-disciplined army, but I think we
can lick him on any thing like fair terms. So I will not
run hot-headed against any works prepared for us.
He thinks he checked us at Dallas. I went there to
avoid the Allatoona pass, and as soon as I had drawn
his army there I slipped my cavalry into Allatoona pass
and round the main army in its front, a perfect success.
I never designed to attack his hastily prepared works at

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 295
Dallas and New Hope Church, and as soon as he saw
I was making for the railroad around his flank he
abandoned his works and we occupied them for a
moment and moved by the best road to our present
position. We have captured several of their mails and
it is wonderful to see how the soldiers talk of driving me
back to the Ohio, and then returning to their loving
families in Tennessee and Kentucky. I fear they count
without their host, as they will have an awful reckoning
if they attempt to pass over or around this army.
"The paucity of news from the army at this time in
Northern papers is most satisfactory to me. My cir
cular was exactly right. Every officer and soldier
should keep his friends and family advised of his own
adventures and situation, whilst the busy and mis
chievous scribblers for newspapers are discountenanced.
I know my course is right and meets the unqualified
approval of all good soldiers. The press is angry at my
term, the 'cheap' flattery of the press. We all know
that Generals and aspirants bribe these fellows by the
loan of government horses and other conveniences not
at their individual cost but at the cost of the United
States, and in return receive the cheap flattery of the
press. The press caused the war, the press gives it
point and bitterness, and as long as the press, both
North and South, is allowed to fan the flames of discord
and hostility, so long must the war last. The Southern
press is just the same, and as long as people look to the
press for truth and counsel so long will war and anarchy
prevail. The liberty of the press, like that of individ
uals, must be restrained to just limits consistent with

296 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the good of the whole, and every fool must not be allowed
to print and publish falsehood and slander as he
pleases. . . ." "In the Field, Big Shanty, Geo.,
"June 12, 1864.
"... That it should have devolved on me to guide
one of the two great armies on which may depend the fate
of our people for the next hundred years I somewhat
regret. Yet you know I have been drawn into it by a
slow and gradual progress which I could not avoid.
Grant was forced into his position, and I likewise. I
think thus far I have played my game well. Had my
plans been executed with the vim I contemplated I
should have forced Johnston to fight the decisive battle
in the Oostenaula Valley between Dalton and Resaca;
but McPherson was a little over-cautious, and we cannot
move vast armies of this size with the rapidity of thought
| or of small bodies.
. "For the past ten days, our movements have been
/ vastly retarded by rains. It has rained hard all the time
( and to-day harder than ever, a steady cold rain. I am
in an old house with a fire burning, which is not uncom
fortable. Johnston was 60,000 Infantry, 15,000 Cavalry
and a good deal of militia. We must have a terrific bat
tle, and he wants to choose and fortify his ground. He
also aims to break my road to the rear. I wish we could
make an accumulation of stores somewhere near, but the
railroad is taxed to its utmost to supply our daily wants.
"The country is stripped of cattle, horses, hogs, and
grain, but there are large fine fields of growing oats,

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 297
wheat and corn, which our horses and mules devour as
we advance. Thus far we have been well supplied, and
I hope it will continue, though I expect to hear every
day of Forrest breaking into Tennessee from some
quarter. Jno. Morgan is in Kentucky, but I attach
little importance to him or his raid, as we don't draw
anything from Kentucky, and there are plenty of troops
there to capture and destroy him. Forrest is a more
dangerous man. I am in hopes that an expedition sent
out from Memphis on Tupelo about the 1st of June will
give him full employment. I have also ordered A. J.
Smith with the force he brought out of Red River to
move against Mobile by way of diversion. Johnston
is now between me and Marietta. As soon as these
clouds and storms clear away I will study his position
and determine to assault his line or turn it and force
him back of the Chattahoochee. As long as I press
him close and prevent his sending anything to Lee I
fulfill my part of the Grand Plan. In the meantime
Grant will give Lee all the fighting he wants until he
is sick of the word. Every man in America should
now be armed, and all who will not help should be put
in petticoats and deprived of the right to vote in the
affairs of the after nation. . . ."
"In the Field, Near Marietta, Geo., June 26, 1864.
"... I have written but little because my thoughts
and mind have been so intent on other matters.
Johnston has fallen back several times abandoning
long lines of intrenchments, but he still occupies a
good position with Kenesaw Mountain as the apex

298 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
of his triangle embracing Marietta. His wings fell
back four miles one day and I thought he had gone,
but not so.
"We have worked our way forward until we are
in close contact — constant skirmishing and picket
firing. He is afraid to come at us, and we have
been cautious about dashing against his breastworks,
that are so difficult to undertake in this hilly and
wooded country.
"My lines are ten miles long, and every change
necessitates a large amount of work. Still we are now
all ready and I must attack direct or turn the position.
Both will be attended with loss and difficulty, but one
or the other must be attempted.
"This is Sunday and I will write up all my let
ters, and to-morrow will pitch in at some one or more
points. "I am now 105 miles from Chattanooga, and all
our provisions have come over that single road, which
is almost daily broken somewhere, but thus far our
supplies have been ample. We have devoured the
land and our animals eat up the wheat and corn field
close. All the people retire before us and desolation
is behind. To realize what war is one should follow
our tracks. . . .
"Though not conscious of danger at this moment,
I know the country swarms with thousands who would
shoot me, and thank their God they had slain a mon
ster; and yet I have been more kindly disposed to the
people of the South than any general officer of the whole
army."

I

V

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 299
"In the Field, near Marietta,
" June 30, 1864.
" . . . It is enough to make the whole world start at
the awful amount of death and destruction that now
stalks abroad. Daily for the past two months has the
work progressed and I see no signs of a remission till one
or both and all the armies are destroyed, when I suppose
the balance of the people will tear each other up, as
Grant says, re-enacting the story of the Kilkenny cats.
I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple
thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash
— and it may be well that we become so hardened.
Each day is killed or wounded some valuable officers
and men, the bullets coming from a concealed foe. I
suppose the people are impatient why I don't push on
more rapidly to Atlanta, but those who are here are
satisfied with the progress. It is as much as our rail
road can do to supply us bread, meat and corn, and I
cannot leave the railroad to swing on Johnston's flank
or rear without giving him the railroad, which I cannot
do without having a good supply on hand. I am mov
ing heaven and earth to accomplish this, in which event
I shall leave the railroad and move to the Chattahoochee,
threatening to cross, which will I think force him to do
that very thing, when I will swing round on the road
again. In that event he may be all ready and attempt
to hold both road and river, but my opinion is he has
not force enough to do both. In that event you will be
without news of us for ten days. I think we can whip
his army in fair battle, but behind the hills and trunks
ourToss of life and limb oh the first assault would re-

300 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
duce us too much; in other words, at this distance from
home we cannot afford the losses of such terrible
assaults as Grant has made. I have only one source
of supply. Grant had several in succession. One of
my chief objectiTwas to prevent Joe Johnston from de
taching against Grant till he got below Richmond, and
that I have done. I have no idea of besieging Atlanta,
but may cross the Chattahoochee and circle round
Atlanta breaking up its roads. . . .
"The worst of the war is not yet begun. The civil
strife at the North has to come yet, and the tendency
to anarchy to be cured. Look at matters in Kentucky
and Missouri and down the Mississippi and Arkansas
where shallow people have been taught to believe the
war is over, and you will see trouble enough to convince
you I was right in my view of the case from the first. . . .
"I hardly think Johnston will give me a chance to
fight a decisive battle, unless at such a disadvantage
that I ought not to accept, and he is so situated that
when threatened or pressed too hard he draws off leav
ing us a barren victory. He will thus act all summer,
unless he gains a great advantage in position or succeeds
in breaking our roads. . . ."
"In the Field near Chattahoochee, "July 9th, 1864.
"... We are now on the Chattahoochee in plain
view of the City of Atlanta 9 miles off. The enemy
and the Chattahoochee lie between us, and intense
heat prevails; but I think I shall succeed. At all
events you know I never turn back. I see by the papers

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 301
that too much stress was laid on the repulse of June 27th.
I was forced to make the effort and it should have suc
ceeded; but the officers and men have been so used to
my avoiding excessive danger and forcing back the
enemy by strategy that they hate to assault; but to
assault is sometimes necessary for its effect on the
enemy. Had this assault succeeded I would have then
fought Johnston with the advantage on my side instead
of his having all the benefit of forts, ground, creeks, etc.
As it was I did not give him rest but forced him across
the Chattahoochee, which was the first great object. I
Lhave already got Schofield and Garrard across the river
and therefore can cross trie army when I choose. . . .
The army is very large and extends from Roswell factory
at the north around to Sandtown, but my centre is
directly in front of Atlanta. I will have to manceuver
some hereabouts to drive the enemy and to gain time
to accumulate stores by rail to enable me to operate
beyond reach of the railroad. Thus far our supplies
have been ample and the country is high, mountainous,
with splendid water and considerable forage in the
nature of fields of growing wheat, oats and corn, but we
sweep across it leaving it as bare as a desert. The
people all flee before us. The task of feeding this vast
host is a more difficult one than to fight. . . ."
"In the Field, near Atlanta, Geo.,
"July 26, 1864.
"I got your long letter and one from Minnie last
night and telegraphed you in general terms that we
are all well. We have Atlanta close aboard, as the

302 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
sailors say, but it is a hard nut to handle. These fel
lows fight like Devils and Indians combined, and it
calls for all my cunning and strength. Instead of at
tacking the forts which are really unassailable I must
gradually destroy the roads which make Atlanta a
place worth having. This I have partially done, two
out of three are broken and we are now manceuvering
for the third.
"I lost my right bower in McPherson,1 but of course
it is expected, for with all the natural advantages of
bushes, cover of all kinds, we must all be killed. I
mean the general officers. McPherson was riding
within his lines behind his wing of the army, but the
enemy had got round the flank and crept up one of
those hollows with bushes that concealed them com
pletely. It has been thus all the way from Chattanooga,
and if Beauregard can induce Davis to adopt the Indian
policy of ambuscade which he urged two years ago, but
which Jeff thought rather derogatory to the high pre
tenses of his cause to courage and manliness, every
officer will be killed, for the whole country is a forest so
1 The death of General McPherson, July 22, was a grievous
personal and military loss to Sherman. Not long afterward he
wrote to Mrs. Sherman: "You have fallen into an error about
McPherson. He was not out of his place or exposing himself
more than I and every General does daily — he was to the rear of
his line, riding by a road he had passed twice that morning. The
thing was an accident that resulted from the blind character of
the country we are in. Dense woods fill all the ravines and
hollows, and what little cleared ground there is is on the ridge
levels, or the alluvion of creek bottoms. The hills are all chest
nut ridges with quartz and granite boulders and gravel. You
can't find an hundred acres of level, clear ground between here
and Chattanooga, and not [a day] passes but what every general
officer may be shot as McPherson was."

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 303
that an enemy can waylay every path and road, and
could not be found.
"Poor Mac, he was killed dead instantly. I think
I shall prefer Howard ¦ to succeed him. . . ."
"In the Field, near Atlanta,
" July 29, 1864.
"Since crossing Chattahoochee I have been too busy
to write. We have had three pretty hard battles. The
enemy attacked my centre as we were fairly across the
Peachtree Creek, and got badly beaten. Next as we
closed in on Atlanta he struck our extreme left and the
fighting was desperate. He drove back a part of the
left, but the men fought hard and when night closed
our losses amounted to 3,500 and we found nearly 3,000
dead rebels. Making the usual allowance the enemy
must have sustained a loss of 10,000. Yesterday I
shifted the Army of the Tennessee to my extreme right
and in getting into position it was again attacked and
repulsed the attack. The fight was mostly with the
15th Corps. Logan commanded it. McPherson's
death was a great loss to me. I depended much on him.
In casting about for a successor I proposed Howard
who is a man of mind and intellect. He is very honest,
sincere and moral even to piety, but brave, having lost
an arm already. But he was a junior Major General
to Hooker who took offense and has gone away. I
don't regret it; he is envious, imperious and braggart.
Self prevailed with him and knowing him intimately I
honestly preferred Howard. Yesterday's work justified
1 General O. O. Howard.

304 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
my choice, for Howard's disposition and manner elicited
the shouts of my old corps, and he at once stepped into
the shoes of McPherson and myself. I have now
Thomas, Schofield and Howard, all tried and approved
soldiers. We are gradually drawing our lines close up
to Atlanta, fortifying our front against the bold sallies,
and I now have all the cavalry out against the roads be
tween Atlanta and Macon. I am glad I beat Johnston,
for he had the most exalted reputation with our old
army as a strategist. Hood 1 is a new man and a fighter
and must be watched closer, as he is reckless of the lives
of his men. It is wonderful with what faith they adhere
to the belief that they whip us on all occasions though
we have them now almost penned up in Atlanta. If
no reinforcements come I think I will cut them off from
all communication with the rest of the confederacy. . . .
"Near Atlanta, Geo.,
"August 2, 1864.
"... I have for some days been occupying a good
house on the Buckhead Road, about four miles north
of Atlanta, but am going to move in the morning more
to the right to be nearer where I expect the next battle.
You have heard, doubtless, full accounts of the battles
of the 20th, 22nd, and 28th, in all which the enemy at
tacked a part of our lines in force, but was always re
pulsed with heavy loss. But I fear we have sustained
a reverse in some cavalry that I sent around by the rear
to break the Macon road. It was commanded by
1 On July 18 Sherman had learned that Hood had superseded
Johnston in command of the Confederate forces in Atlanta.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 305
McCook,1 a cousin of Dan's. They reached the rail
road and broke it; also burned a large number of the
baggage wagons belonging to the enemy, and were on
their way back when they were beset by heavy forces
of cavalry about Newnan and I fear are overpowered
and a great part killed or captured. Some 500 have got
in and give confused accounts, but time enough has
elapsed for the party to be back, and I hear nothing
further of them. Somehow or other we cannot get
cavalry. The enemy takes all the horses of the country,
and we have to buy and our people won't sell. Stone-
man is also out with a cavalry force attempting to reach
our prisoners confined at Andersonville, but since
McCook's misfortune I also have fears for his safety.
I am now moving so as to get possession of the railroad
out of Atlanta to the south — we already have possession
of those on the north and east — when it will be difficult
for Hood to maintain his army in Atlanta. This army
is much reduced in strength by deaths, sickness, and
expiration of service. It looks hard to see regiments
march away when their time is up. On the other side
they have everybody, old and young, and for indefinite
periods. I have to leave also along the railroad a large
force to guard the supplies; so that I doubt if our army
much exceeds that of Hood. No recruits are coming,
for the draft is not till September, and then I suppose it
will consist mostly of niggers and bought recruits that
must be kept well to the rear. I sometimes think our
people do not deserve to succeed in war; they are so
apathetic. 1 General E. M. McCook.

306 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"McPherson was shot dead. I had his body brought
up to me, and sent it back to the railroad. He was shot
high up in the breast with a bullet, and must have fallen
from his horse dead. Howard, who succeeds him, is
a fine gentleman and a good officer. ... I expect we
will have a hard fight for the railroad about the day
after to-morrow, and [it] must be more heavy on us as we
must attack. I am always glad when the enemy at
tacks, for the advantage then is with us. Now our line
is as strong as theirs, but being on the outer circle is
longer. I see that Grant has sprung his mines at
Petersburg, and hope he will succeed in taking that
town, as it will be a constant threat to Richmond, but
Richmond itself can only be taken by regular siege.
Atlanta is on high ground and the woods extend up to
the forts which look strong and encircle the whole town.
Most of the people are gone — it is now simply a big
fort. . . ." [TO THE HON. THOS. EWING]
"In the Field, near Atlanta, Georgia,
"August 11, 1864.
"I can well understand the keen feelings of appre
hension that agitate you, as you sit with mind intent
on the fate of a vast machine, like the one I am forced
to guide, whose life and success depend on the single
thread of rails that for near five hundred miles lies
within an hostile or semi-hostile country. I assure you
that to the extent of my ability, nothing has been left
undone that could be foreseen, and for one hundred

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 307
days not a man or horse has been without ample food,
or a musket or gun without adequate ammunition. I
esteem this a triumph greater than any success that has
attended me in battle or in strategy, but it has not been
the result of blind chance. At this moment I have
abundant supplies for twenty days, and I keep a con
struction party in Chattanooga that can in ten days
repair any break that can be made to my rear. I keep
a large depot of supplies at Chattanooga and Allatoona,
two mountain fastnesses which no cavalry force of the
enemy can reach, and in our wagons generally manage
to have from ten to twenty days' supplies.
"I could not have done this without forethought
beginning with the hour I reached Nashville. I found
thousands of citizens actually feeding on our stores on
the plea of starvation, and other citizens by paying
freights were allowed to carry goods, wares and mer
chandise, to all the towns from Nashville to Chatta
nooga; also crowds of idlers, sanitary agents, Christian
commissions, and all sorts of curiosity hunters loading
down our cars. It was the Gordian Knot and I cut it.
People may starve, and go without, but an army cannot
and do its work. A howl was raised, but the President
and Secretary of War backed me, and now all recog
nize the wisdom and humanity of the thing. Rosecrans
had his army starving at Chattanooga, and I have
brought an army double its size 138 miles further, and
all agree that they were never better fed, clothed and
supplied. I think you may rest easy on that score.
"My only apprehension arises from the fact that the
time of the three year men is expiring all the time, and

308 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
daily regiments are leaving for home, diminishing my
fighting force by its best material; and the draft has
been so long deferred, and the foolish law allowing
niggers and the refuse of the South to be bought up and
substituted on paper (for they never come to the front)
will delay my reinforcements until my army on the
offensive, so far from its base, will fall below my op
ponent's, who increases as I lose. I rather think to-day
Hood's army is larger than mine, and he is strongly
fortified. I have no faith in the people of the North.
They ever lose their interest when they should act — they
think by finding fault with an officer they clear their
skirts of their own sins of misfeasance. . . .
"The good news has just come that Farragut's fleet
is in Mobile Bay, and has captured the Rebel fleet
there; also that Fort Gaines which guards the west
entrance to the Bay has surrendered, and some prisoners
we took this morning say it was the talk in their camp
that the Yankees had the City of Mobile. So all is
coming round well, only we should not relax our ener
gies or be deluded by any false hope of a speedy end to
this war, which we did not begin, but which we must
fight to the end, be it when it may. . . ."
On the night of September 1, General Hood evacu
ated Atlanta, and it became immediately possible for
Sherman to make his laconic announcement to the
North: "Atlanta is ours and fairly won." The long
advance from Chattanooga, gallantly and skilfully ob
structed through nearly four months of fighting even
more violent and constant than these letters have sug-

>

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 309
gested, was at last accomplished. The astonishing
success of Sherman's army fixed the eyes of the country
more than ever upon its commander.
On September 17 he wrote to his wife:
" I have had some sharp correspondence with Hood '
about expelling the poor families of a brave people,
which correspondence in due time will become public,
and I take the ground that Atlanta is a conquered place
and I propose to use it purely for our own military pur
poses which are inconsistent with its habitation by the
families of a brave people. I am shipping them all, and
by next Wednesday the town will be a real military
town with no women boring me every order I give.
Hood no doubt thought he would make capital out of
the barbarity, etc., but I rather think he will change his
mind before he is done."
' In this correspondence, Sherman wrote: "You cannot qual
ify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you
cannot refine it." (Memoirs, II, 126.) Before Sherman's death
in 1891, the more familiar saying, "War is hell," began to be
ascribed to him. He could not recall having uttered it, and
caused a Bearch of newspapers and other reports to be made,
in vain. It may have been dropped in conversation, or in one
of his informal talks to military gatherings; this he did not
deny. Indeed, W. F. Hinman's Story of the Sherman Brigade
(1897) records (p. 333) his having spoken the words at a reunion
of his brother's Brigade at Caldwell, O. Inquiry at that place has
confirmed the report through the recollection of a veteran. Yet
on the completion of St. Gaudens's equestrian statue in New
York, Sherman's coining of the phrase was not thought to be so
clearly established as to permit the sculptor's use of the follow
ing admirable quatrain by Dr. Henry van Dyke:
"This is the soldier brave enough to tell
The glory-dazzled world that War is hell :
Lover of peace, he looks beyond the strife,
And rides through hell to save his country's life."
(Atlantic Monthly, July, 1904.)

310 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
For two months from the taking of Atlanta there was
enough and to spare of occupation for Sherman in re
organizing his army, directing the operations against
the forces of Hood still within fighting distance of At
lanta, and preparing for the next great move, the March
to the Sea. "I will then make the interior of Georgia
feel the weight of war." ' So he wrote on October 17
to General Schofield. This was no sudden expression
of a vengeful spirit, but merely the utterance of an old
belief that until the full weight of war should be felt,
the war would continue, and that true mercy lay in
hastening the end. From letters written during the
days of preparation for the most famous of Sherman's
marches the following passages are taken:
"Atlanta, October 11, 1864.
"We are all well. Forrest is threatening our road
in Tennessee but I think ample steps are in progress to
meet and defeat him. Should he temporarily destroy
our road we are well prepared with accumulated sup
plies here, and our repairing facilities are so distributed
that breaks can be speedily repaired. Should Hood's
main army attempt our rear I think we can make him
suffer. Georgia is now open to me and steps are being
perfected at other and distant points that will increase
the value of my position here.
"The telegraph brings me word that Grant is not
idle about Richmond. I know his perseverance and
have no apprehensions that in the end he will [not]
worry Lee out. Sheridan's success up the valley of
1 See Memoirs, II, 157.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 311
the Shenandoah will again threaten Lee's line of sup
ply which is by Gordonsville and Lynchburg, also that
same road is being attacked at a point further west
from another quarter. I am in advance of all the
other columns and therefore should not be in a hurry,
but if the enemy is restless I may go ahead. Our
men are now well classified, well rested and ready to
go wherever I lead.
"The people of the South have made a big howl at
my moving the families of Atlanta, but I would have
been a silly fool to take a town at such cost and left it in
the occupation of a helpless and hostile people. The
War Department has simply been silent, has not com
mitted itself one way or the other, so that the whole
measure rests on me, but I am used to such things.
Some of the correspondence between Hood and myself
has been published, and the whole has been sent to
Washington where at some day it will also be published
and I think Gen'l Hood will have no reason to glorify.
I have letters of thanks from the Mayor of Atlanta and
Col.  1 who was the Confederate officer appointed
to receive the families and transport them to the south.
Instead of robbing them, not an article was taken away,
not even the negro servants who were willing to go away.
And we even bought the provisions which I know to
have been Confederate stores distributed to the people
at the last moment and were really our captured
property." 1 Blank in MS. The Memoirs (II, 545) show this officer to
have been Col. Clare. His letter is there printed.

312 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"In the Field, Summerville, Geo., October 19, 1864.
"... Hood is afraid to fight me in open ground and
therefore he tries to break up the railroad which supplies
my Army. First Forrest got across the Tennessee, but
never reached the Chattanooga Road. Next, Hood with
three Corps, about 40,000 men, swung round by Dallas
and broke the road at Big Shanty to Kenesaw. He
stole a march on me of one day, and his men, disencum
bered of baggage, move faster than we can. I have
labored hard to cut down wagons, but spite of all I can
do officers surround me. All the campaign I slept with
out a tent, and yet doctors and teamsters and clerks and
staff officers on one pretext or another get tents and
baggage, and now we can hardly move. I'll stop this or
dispense with doctors, clerks and staff officers as 'use
less in war.' Hood got up as far as the Tunnel before
I could head him off, but at Resaca I broke through
the Gap and he at once commenced to move south, and
is now beyond my reach. He may now try to enter
Tennessee by way of Decatur. I shall make proper dis
positions and if seconded can keep him south, but I can
not get anybody to move as quickly as they should, save
some of my old favorites. Corse saved Allatoona, by
obeying promptly a message sent him by signals over the
head of Hood's army. Mower is also coming to me and
when I move south I shall have some smart columns. I
am not going to stand on the defensive and you will soon
hear of me on a bigger road than that to Meridian. Un
less things take a turn not anticipated, you will have to get
used to being without letters from me for some time, as it
will be impossible to keep up mails much further. ..."

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 313
" Gaylesville, Ala., October 21, 1864.
"... Since I have become famous for taking Atlanta
and writing independent letters I get the most wonderful
medley that you can conceive of from all parts of the
world. Some are amusing, but all breathe the utmost
respect and cannot be disregarded. Some I toss in
the camp fire, and some I answer, but usually in a very
hasty, imperfect manner; but it seems that my letters
now even are sought after like hot cakes.
"As long as I am not a candidate I hope none will be
published as samples of literary composition. You
can read my letters and guess at the meaning, but judg
ing from my copy clerks, some readers would make an
awful jumble of my letters, written usually in the small
hours of the night, by a single candle on a box. Actu
ally, one man wrote that it was seriously contemplated
even to put me up for President!
"That was cruel and unkind. You remember when
the solemn Committee waited on me at San Francisco
to tender the Regular Democratic nomination for
Treasurer my answer was that I was ineligible because
I had not graduated at the ' Penitentiary.' 1 If a
similar committee should be rash enough to venture
the other nomination I fear I should proceed to personal
violence, for I would receive a sentence to be hung and
damned with infinitely more composure than to be the
executive of this nation. I send you a few letters that
may interest you as samples. . . .
"This Army is now ready to march to Mobile,
Savannah or Charleston, and I am practising them iny
1 See p. 142.

J

314 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the art of foraging and they take to it like ducks to
water. They like pigs, sheep, chickens, calves and
sweet potatoes better than rations. We won't starve
in Georgia. Our mules are doing better on the corn
fields than on the bagged corn brought by the rail
road. . . ." [TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"In the Feeld, Gaylesville, Ala., October 26, 1864.
"... Sheridan, as you rightly say, the poor Irish boy
of Perry County, is also making his mark. I applied
once to Governor Dennison to make him a Colonel, and
he would not — but Sheridan is like Grant, a persevering
terrier dog and won't be shaken off. He too, is honest,
modest, plucky and smart enough. It is strange that
to Ohio sons, Grant, Sheridan and Sherman, the State
has given the cold shoulder, so that neither of them
claims it as their home, though the state of their
nativity. . . ." [TO MRS. SHERMAN]
- " Gaylesville, Ala., October 27, 1864.
"... I expect very soon now to attempt another
feat in which I think I shall succeed, but it is hazardous
and you will not hear from me for months. The War
Department will know my whereabouts, and the Rebels,
and you will be able to guess. . . .
"You ask my opinion of McClellan. I have been
much amused at similar inquiries of John and others in
answer to a news paragraph that I pledged ninety-nine

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 315
votes of the hundred to McClellan. Of course this is
the invention of some knave. I never said such thing.
I will vote for nobody, because I am not entitled to vote.
Of the two, with the inferences to be drawn at home
and abroad, I would prefer Lincoln, though I know that
McClellan, Vallandigham or even Jeff Davis if Presi
dent of the U. S. would prosecute the war, and no one
with more vigor than the latter. But at the time the
howl was raised against McClellan I knew it was in a
measure unjust, for he was charged with delinquencies
that the American people are chargeable for. Thus,
how unjust to blame me for any misfortune now when
all the authorities and people are conspiring to break
up the Army till the election is over. Our armies van
ish before our eyes and it is useless to complain because
the election is more important than the war. Our
armies are merely paper armies. I have 40,000 Cavalry
on paper but less than 5,000 in fact. A like measure
runs through the whole, and so it was with McClellan.
He had to fight partly with figures. Still I admit he
never manifested the simple courage and manliness of
Grant, and he had too much staff, too many toadies, and
looked too much to No. 1. When I was in Kentucky
he would not heed my counsels, and never wrote me
once, but since I have gained some notoriety at Atlanta
and the papers announced, as usually falsely, that I was
for him, he has written me twice and that has depreci
ated him more in my estimation than all else. He can
not be elected. Mr. Lincoln will be, but I hope it will
be done quick, that voters may come to their regiments
and not give the Rebels the advantage they know so well

316 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
to take. I believe McClellan to be an honest man as to
money, of good habits, descent, and of far more than
average intelligence, and therefore I never have joined
in the hue and cry against him. In revolutions men
fall and rise. Long before this war is over, much as you
hear me praised now, you may hear me cursed and in
sulted. Read history, read Coriolanus, and you will
see the true measure of popular applause. Grant,
Sheridan and I are now the popular favorites, but
neither of us will survive this war. Some other must
rise greater than either of us, and he has not yet mani
fested himself. ..."
The march from Atlanta to the sea began on Novem
ber 15. The anticipated period when letters could not
reach the North because Sherman left behind him no
means of communication lasted a full month. It was
characteristic of him, on reaching Savannah, to provide
his wife at once with this simple account of one of the
most memorable undertakings of the Civil War:
"Near Savannah, December 16, 1864.
"I have no doubt you have heard of my safe arrival
on the coast. . . . We came right along living on
turkeys, chickens, pigs, bringing along our wagons
loaded as we started with bread, etc. I suppose Jeff
Davis will now have to feed the people of Georgia in
stead of collecting provisions of them to feed his armies.
We have destroyed nearly two hundred miles of railroad
and are not yet done. As I approached Savannah I
found every river and outlet fortified. The Ogeechee

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 317
River emptying into Ossabaw Sound was best adapted
to our use, but it was guarded by Fort McAllister which
has defied the Navy for two years. I ordered Howard
to carry it with one division. The detail fell on the 2nd
Division of the 15th Corps, and it was the handsomest
thing I have seen in this war. The division is the same
I commanded at Shiloh in which Buckland, Hildebrand,
Cockerill and others were, and Cockerill's Regiment
was about the first to reach the interior and is now its
garrison, but Cockerill is not in service now. As soon
as we got the fort I pulled down the bay and opened
communications. General Foster and Admiral Dahl-
gren received me, manned the yards and cheered, the
highest honor at sea. They had become really nervous
as to our safety, and were delighted at all I told them
of our easy success. I can now starve out Savannah
unless events call my army to Virginia. I would prefer
to march through Columbia and Raleigh, but the time
would be too long, and we may go by sea. I have letters
from Grant of the 3rd and 6th. I never saw a more
confident army. The soldiers think I know everything
and that they can do anything. The strength of
Savannah lies in its swamps which can only be crossed
by narrow causeways all of which are swept by heavy
artillery. I came near being hit the first day in ap
proaching too near to reconnoitre. A negro's head was
shot off close by me. The weather is and has been all
we could have asked. It is now warm and pleasant, and
the live-oaks are sublime; japonicas in blossom in the
open air and the orange is but slightly touched by the
frost. I expect rain soon and have heavy details at

/

318 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
work corduroying the roads in anticipation of such an
event. I have some heavy guns coming from Port
Royal, and as soon as they come I shall demand the
surrender of Savannah, but will not assault, as a few
days will starve out its garrison, about 15,000, and its
people 25,000. I do not apprehend any army to attempt
to relieve Savannah except Lee's, and if he gives up
Richmond it will be the best piece of strategy ever made,
to make him let go there. We have lived sumptuously
( — turkeys, chickens and sweet potatoes 1 all the way,
\but the poor women and children will starve. All I
could tell them was, if Jeff Davis expects to found an
lempire on the ruins of the South, he ought to afford to
, feed the people. . . .
"It was just 30 days from Atlanta till I was sitting
with the Admiral on a sea steamer at sea. Grant's
letter of the 3rd proposed to bring you down to see me,
but his of the 6th looked to my coming to James River.
Await events and trust to fortune. I will turn up where
and when you least expect me. . . ."
The remaining letters from Savannah reflect more
fully the satisfaction which Sherman, with all the world
singing his praises and his own heart telling him what
he had done, could not but feel in the outcome of his
great undertaking. "Like one who has walked a nar-
1 These words bear a curious testimony to the accuracy of a
stanza in one of the most familiar of war-songs:
" How the darkeys shouted when they heard the joyful sound!
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found!
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground
While we were marching through Georgia! "

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 319
row plank," he wrote before the end of the year, "I
look back and wonder if I really did it." The last of
the Savannah letters, January 15, was written two
weeks before Sherman set out on the northward march,
which in his own opinion put his powers to a severer
test than that which the March to the Sea had afforded.
"Savannah, December 25, 1864.
"This is Christmas Day and I hope truly and really
that you and the little ones may enjoy it, in the full
knowledge that I am all safe after our long March. I
am at this moment in an elegant chamber of the house
of a gentleman named Green. This house is elegant
and splendidly furnished with pictures and statuary.
My bed room has a bath and dressing room attached
which look out of proportion to my poor baggage. My
clothing is good yet and I can even afford a white shirt.
It would amuse you to see the negroes; they flock to
me, old and young, they pray and shout and mix up my
name with that of Moses, and Simon and other scrip
tural ones as well as 'Abram Linkom,' the Great Mes
siah of 'Dis Jubilee.'
"There are many fine families in this city, but when
I ask for old and familiar names, it marks the sad havoc
of war. The Goodwins, Teffts, Cuylers, Habershams,
Laws, etc., etc., all gone or in poverty, and yet the girls
remain, bright and haughty and proud as ever. There
seems no end but utter annihilation that will satisfy
their hate of the 'sneaking Yankee' and 'ruthless in
vader.' They no longer call my army, 'Cowardly
Yanks,' but have tried to arouse the sympathy of the

320 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
civilized world by stories of the cruel barbarities of my
army. The next step in the progress will be, 'for God's
sake spare us; we must surrender.' When that end is
reached we begin to see daylight, but although I have
come right through the heart of Georgia they talk as
defiantly as ever. I think Thomas' whipping at Nash
ville coupled with my March will take some conceit out
of them.
"I have no doubt you hear enough about 'Sherman'
and are sick of the name, and the interest the public
takes in my whereabouts leaves me no subject to write
about Charley l and Dayton 2 promise to write de
tails. All I can do is to make hasty scrawls assuring
you of my health and eternal affection."
fro the hon. thos. ewtng]
"Savannah, Geo., December 31, 1864.
"I have received yours of the 18th, and by Christmas
day you must have heard that my army had possession
of Savannah and all its Forts which have heretofore de
fied the Navy and the expeditions hitherto sent against it.
I ought to have caught its garrison but the swampy
ground prevented my reaching the Causeway on the
South Carolina shore, but if Hardee had given me two
more days I would have closed that also. As it was,
however, only his men escaped, and with Savannah I
got all the guns, stores and gun-boats which made it
formidable. Of course I feel a just pride in the satis-
1 Mrs. Sherman's brother, General Charles Ewing.
1 Colonel L. M. Dayton, aide-de-camp on Sherman's staff.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA \321 J
faction you express, and would rather please and gratify
you than all the world beside. I know full well that I
enjoy the unlimited confidence of the President and
Commander in Chief, and better still of my own army.
They will march to certain death if I order it, because
they know and feel that night and day I labor to the end
that not a life shall be lost in vain. I always ignore
secondary objects and strike at principals with a fore
knowledge that the former follow the latter, nor are my
combinations extra hazardous or bold. Every move
ment I have made in this war has been based on sound
military principle, and the result proves the assertion.
At Atlanta I was not to be decoyed from the fruits of
my summer's work, by Hood's chasseeing to the left,
but I sent my oldest lieutenant in whom I had confidence
(Thomas) to Tennessee, and give him a liberal part of
my veterans and all my recruits, which I knew would
enable him to cope with Hood defensively, as also hold
the vital parts of former conquests : there again has my
judgment been verified by events. Nor was I rash in
cutting loose from a base and relying on the country for
forage and provisions. I had wagons enough loaded
with essentials, and beef cattle enough to feed on for /
more than a month, and had the Census statistics show- 1/
ing the produce of every county through which I de
signed to pass. No military expedition was ever based
on sounder or surer data.
"Besides, my Army has by time and attention ac
quired too much personal experience and adhesion to
disintegrate by foraging or its incident disorganizing
tendency. I have just reviewed my four Corps and

322 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
challenge competition for soldierly bearing and be
havior. No city was ever occupied with less disorder
or more system than this of Savannah, and it is a sub
ject of universal comment that though an army of
60,000 men lay camped around it, women and children
of an hostile people walk its streets with as much
security as they do in Philadelphia. I attach much im
portance to these little matters, as it is all important our
armies should not be tainted by that spirit of anarchy
that threatened the stability of our government, but on
the contrary that when war does end we may safely
rest the fabric of government if necessary on the strong
and safe base of a well disciplined army of citizens. ..."
[TO MRS. SHERMAN]
"Savannah, Geo., January 2, 1865.
" . . .1 am now in a magnificent mansion living like a
gentleman, but soon will be off for South Carolina and
then look out for breakers. You may count on my
being here till the 15th. I have not yet had one word
from you since you knew of my having reached the
coast, and only know of the death of our little boy 1 by
the New York papers of December 22, but was in a
measure prepared for it by your letter received at King
ston. I suppose you feel his loss far more than I do
because I never saw him, but all the children seemed to
be so attached to him that you may be so grieved at his
death you cannot write to me. I know by the same
1 Writing from Kingston, Georgia, on June 12, 1864, Sherman
had acknowledged the news of the birth of this child.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 323
source that you are now at South Bend in Mr. Colfax' '
house. It must be very cold up there. It is really
cold here, though the sun shines warm and the trees
have green leaves. Of course no snow, but ice found
in the gutters and on the pond. General Barnard got
here last night from General Grant with dispatches,
which I have answered, and the clerks are copying my
letters and as soon as finished I will send a flat steamer
to Port Royal whence a sea steamer will go to City
Point and thence this letter will be sent you. . . .
"I see that the State of Ohio talks of making me a
present of a home, etc.2 For myself I would accept
nothing, but for you and the children I would be willing,
especially if such a present were accompanied as in
Farragut's place, with bonds enough to give interest to
pay taxes. My pay would not enable me to pay taxes
on property. I have received from high sources highest
praises and yesterday, New Year, was toasted, etc., with
allusions to Hannibal, Caesar, etc., etc., but in reply I
turned all into a good joke by saying that Hannibal and
Caesar were small potatoes as they had never read the
New York Herald, or had a photograph taken. But of
course, I feel a just pride in the confidence of my army,
and the singular friendship of General Grant, who is
almost childlike in his love for me. It does seem that
time has brought out all my old friends, Grant, Thomas,
Sheridan, etc. All sorts of people send me presents and
I hope they don't slight you or the girls. I want little
1 Schuyler Colfax, at this time Speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives, lived at South Bend, Ind.
* This present was never received.

324 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
in that way, but I think you can stand a good deal.
Thus far success has crowned my boldest conceptions
and I am going to try others quite as quixotic. It may
be that spite of my fears I may come out all right.
Love to all." "Savannah, January 5, 1865.
"I have written several times to you and to the chil
dren. Yesterday I got your letter of December 23,
and realize the despair and anguish through which you
have passed in the pain and sickness of the little baby
I never saw. All spoke of him as so bright and fair that
I had hoped he would be spared to us to fill the great
void in our hearts left by Willy, but it is otherwise
decreed and we must submit. I have seen death in
such quantity and in such forms that it no longer startles
me, but with you it is different, and 'tis well that like the
Spaniards you realize the fact that our little baby has
passed from the troubles of life to a better existence. I
sent Charley off a few days ago to carry to General
Grant and to Washington some important despatches,
but told him he must not go farther than Washington as
by the time he returns I will be off again on another raid.
It is pretty hard on me that I am compelled to make
these blows which are necessarily trying to me, but it
seems devolved on me and cannot be avoided. If the
honors proffered and tendered me from all quarters are
of any value they will accrue to you and the children.
John writes that I am in everybody's mouth and that
even he is known as my brother, and that all the Sher
mans are now feted as relatives of me. Surely you and

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 325
the children will not be overlooked by those who profess
to honor me. I do think that in the several grand
epochs of this war, my name will have a prominent part,
and not least among them will be the determination I
took at Atlanta to destroy that place, and march on this
city, whilst Thomas, my lieutenant, should dispose of
Hood. The idea, the execution and strategy are all
good, and will in time be understood. I don't know
that you comprehend the magnitude of the thing, but
you can see the importance attached to it in England
where the critics stand ready to turn against any Ameri
can general who makes a mistake or fails in its execution.
In my case they had time to commit themselves to the
conclusion that if I succeeded I would be a great gen
eral, but if I failed I would be set down a fool. My
success is already assured, so that I will be found to
sustain the title. I am told that were I to go north I
would be feted and petted, but as I have no intention
of going, you must sustain the honors of the family. I
know exactly what amount of merit attaches to my own
conduct, and what will survive the clamor of time.
The quiet preparation I made before the Atlanta Cam
paign, the rapid movement on Resaca, the crossing the
Chattahoochee without loss in the face of a skilful gen
eral with a good army, the movement on Jonesboro,
whereby Atlanta fell, and the resolution I made to
divide my army, with one part to take Savannah and the \ /
other to meet Hood in Tennessee, are all clearly mine;
and will survive us both in history. I don't know that
you can understand the merit of the latter, but it will ,
stamp me in years to come, and will be more appre- V

326 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
ciated in Europe than in America. I warrant your
father will find parallel in the history of the Greeks and
Persians, but none on our continent. For his sake I am
glad of the success that has attended me, and I know he
will feel more pride in my success than you or I do.
Oh that Willy were living! how his eyes would brighten
and his bosom swell with honest pride if he could hear
and understand these things. . . .
"You will doubtless read all the details of our march
and stay in Savannah in the papers, whose spies infest
our camps, spite of all I can do, but I could tell you
thousands of little incidents which would more interest
you. The women here are, as at Memphis, disposed to
usurp my time more from curiosity than business.
They had been told of my burning and killing until
they expected the veriest monster, but their eyes were
opened when Hardee, G. W. Smith and McLaws, the
three chief officers of the Rebel army, fled across the
Savannah river consigning their families to my special
care. There are some very elegant people here, whom
I knew in better days and who do not seem ashamed to
call on the 'vandal chief.' They regard us just as the
Romans did the Goths and the parallel is not unjust.
Many of my stalwart men with red beards and huge
frames look like giants, and it is wonderful how smoothly
all things move, for they all seem to feel implicit faith in
me not because I am strong or bold, but because they
think I know everything. It seems impossible for us
to go anywhere without being where I have been before.
My former life from 1840 to 1846 seems providential
and every bit of knowledge then acquired is returned,

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 327
tenfold. Should it so happen that I should approach
Charleston on that very ground where I used to hunt
with Jim Poyas, and Mr. Quash, and ride by moonlight
to save daytime, it would be even more strange than here
where I was only a visitor. Col. Kilburn arrived here
from Louisville yesterday, and begged me to remember
him to you. I continue to receive letters, most flattering,
from all my old friends and enclose you two, one from
General Hitchcock and one from Professor Mahan.
Such men do not flatter and are judges of what they
write. . . ." "Savannah, Geo., January 15, 1865.
" . . .It may be some days yet before I dive again be
neath the surface to turn up again in some mysterious
place. I have a clear perception of the move, but take it
for granted that Lee will not let me walk over the track
without making me sustain some loss. Of course my
course will be north. I will feign on Augusta and
Charleston, avoid both and make for Columbia, Fay-
etteville and Newbern, N. C. Don't breathe, for the
walls have ears, and foreknowledge published by some
mischievous fool might cost many lives. We have lived
long enough for men to thank me for keeping my own
counsels, and keeping away from armies those pests of
newspaper men. If I have attained any fame it is pure
and unalloyed by the taint of parasitic flattery and the
result is to you and the children more agreeable, for it
will go to your and their benefit more than all the surface
flattery of all the newspaper men of the country. Mr.-
Stanton has been here and is cured of that Negro non-

328 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
sense which arises, not from a love of the Negro but a
desire to dodge service. Mr. Chase and others have
written to me to modify my opinions, but you know I
cannot, for if I attempt the part of a hypocrite it would
break out at each sentence. I want soldiers made of
the best bone and muscle in the land, and won't attempt
military feats with doubtful materials. I have said that
slavery is dead and the Negro free, and want him treated
as free, and not hunted and badgered to make a sol
dier of, when his family is left back on the plantations.
I am right and won't change.1 The papers of the 11th
are just in and I see Butler is out. That is another of
the incubi of the army. We want and must have pro
fessional soldiers, young and vigorous. Mr. Stanton
was delighted at my men and the tone which pervades
the army. He enjoyed a good story, which is true,
told by one of my old 15th corps men. After we
reached the coast we were out of bread, and it took some
days for us to get boats up. A foraging party was out
and got a boat and pulled down the Ogeechee to Ossa-
baw and met a steamer coming up. They hailed her
and got answer that it was the Nemeha, and had Major
General Foster on board; the soldiers answered 'Oh
H — 1, we've got twenty-seven Major-Generals up at
1 Sherman's unwillingness to weaken his army by increasing it
with any but the most effective fighting men was frequently con
strued as an evidence of hostility to the negro. His true feeling
on this subject is shown especially in the account of Stanton's
visit to Savannah in the Memoirs (Vol. II, chap. xxii). The
clear remembrance of those who knew him best warrants the
belief that his knowledge of the South gave him a sympathetic
understanding of the moral effect of employing negro troops,
which increased his reluctance to include them in his army.

MISSISSIPPI AND GEORGIA 329
camp. What we want is hard tack.' The soldiers
manifest to me the most thorough affection, and a won
derful confidence. They haven't found out yet where
I have not been. Every place we go, they hear I lived
there once, and the usual exclamation is, The 'Old
Man' must be 'omnipresent' as well as 'omnipotent'
I was telling some officers the other day if events
should carry us to Charleston I would have advantage
because I know the ground, etc., etc. They laughed
heartily at my innocence, for they knew I had been
everywhere. But really my long sojourn in this
quarter of the world from 1840 to 1846 was and is
providential to me.
"I have read most of the current discourses about me,
those you sent inclusive; but take more interest in the
London Spectator, the same that reviewed my Knoxville
Campaign. He is surely a critic, for he catches the real
points well. The Times utterly overstates the cases
and the Dublin papers are too fulsome. Our American
papers are shallow. They don't look below the surface.
I receive letters from all the great men, so full of real
respect that I cannot disregard them, yet I dread the
elevation to which they have got me. A single mistake
or accident, my pile, though well founded, would
tumble; but I base my hopes of fair fame on the opinion
of my own army, and my associates. . . .
"I will surely be off in the course of this week, and
you will hear of me only through Richmond for two
months. You have got used to it now and will not be
concerned though I think the chances of getting killed
on this trip about even. If South Carolina lets me pass

330 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
across without desperate fighting, her fame is gone
forever. . . .
"I would not be surprised if I would involve our
government with England. I have taken all the cotton
as prize of war, thirty thousand bales, equal to thirteen
millions of dollars, much of which is claimed by English
merchants. I disregard their consular certificates on
the ground that this cotton has been notoriously em
ployed to buy cartridges and arms and piratical ships,
and was collected here for that very purpose. Our
own merchants are equally culpable. They buy cotton
in advance and take the chances of capture, and then
claim. . . ."

X
THE WAR ENDED
1865
A vivid element of the picturesque, all that con
tributes to song and story, has given to Sherman's
march across Georgia a distinction somewhat out of
proportion with the fame of his other campaigns. The
Campaign of the Carolinas, which immediately followed
the March to the Sea, holds a far less conspicuous place
in popular knowledge and esteem. Yet the latest
testimony of General Sherman's son confirms much
that has been printed before: "My father always rated
this campaign as his greatest military achievement, and
believed that it settled the fate of the Confederacy." '
"The March to the Sea," says Mr. James Ford Rhodes,
"was a frolic, that northward a constant wrestling with
the elements." 2 Leaving Savannah with sixty thou
sand men on February 1, 1865, Sherman reached Golds-
boro, North Carolina, on March 23, having marched, in
the face of a resourceful enemy, four hundred and
twenty-five miles, across swamps, rivers, and mountains,
and having done the Confederacy incalculable harm in
1 See "General Sherman in the Last Year of the Civil War."
An address delivered at the Thirty-eighth Reunion of the Society
of the Army of the Tennessee at St. Louis, Mo. By P. Tecumseh
Sherman. Nov. 11, 1908.
a See Rhodes's History of The United States, Vol. V, p. 85.
331

332 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
the destruction of property and lines of transportation.
From the last important stopping-place before reaching
Goldsboro, he wrote to Mrs. Sherman as follows:
"In the Field, Fayetteville, N. C, Sunday,
"March 12, 1865.
"We reached this place yesterday in good health and
condition. We have had bad roads and weather but
made good progress, and have achieved all I aimed to
accomplish. Our main columns came through Co
lumbia and Cheraw, South Carolina. We have had no
general battle, and only skirmishes on the skirts of the
army. The enemy gave ground when I moved in
force. The importance of this march exceeds that
from Atlanta to Savannah. South Carolina has had
a visit from the West that will cure her of her pride and
boasting. I sent couriers to Wilmington and a tug
boat got up this morning, and I will start her back at
6 p. M. with despatches to Grant, the Secretary of War,
and all my subordinate commanders. I do not intend
to go to the sea shore, but will move on. I have no
doubt you have all been uneasy on our account, but bar
ring bad weather and mud we have had no trouble. . . .
"The same brags and boasts are kept up, but when
I reach the path where the lion crouched I find him
slinking away. My army is in the same condition as
before, and seems to possess abiding confidence in its
officers. It would amuse you to hear their comments
on me as I ride along the ranks, but I hope you will hear
the jokes and fun of war at a fitter time for amusement.
Now it is too serious. I think we are bringing matters

THE WAR ENDED 333
to an issue. Johnston is restored to the supreme com
mand and will unite the forces hitherto scattered and
fight me about Raleigh or Goldsboro. Lee may rein
force him from Richmond, but if he attempts that
Grant will pitch in. I can whip Joe Johnston unless
his men fight better than they have since I left Savannah.
"As I rode into Columbia crowds gathered round me,
composed of refugees and many officers who had
escaped their prison guards and hid themselves. One
of them handed me the enclosed • which is so hand
somely got up that I deem it worthy of preservation.
I want Lizzie to keep it. The versification is good, and
I am told the music to which the prisoners set and sung
it is equally so. I have never heard it sung, as the officers
who composed the Glee Club in their prison at Co
lumbia were not of the number who did escape. The
author did escape and he is the one I have appointed
to carry my despatches down to Wilmington tonight.
"I expect to stay here a few days in hopes to receive
some bread and shoes from Wilmington. The river is
now high and easily navigated, and had I time I should
have no trouble in getting supplies up, but time is so
important that I must 'Forward.' . . .
"It is now 2 p. m. and I have written ten letters of
four pages each, orders and instructions to my com
manders on the seaboard. . . ."
On March 15 the great army moved on, toward
Goldsboro, where the next letter was written.
1 A copy of "Sherman's March to the Sea," by Major S. H. M.
Byers, later U. S. Consul-General to Italy and Switzerland.

334 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"In the Field, Goldsboro, N. C,
"March 23, 1865.
" I wrote you from Fayetteville. On our way thence
the enemy struck our left flank and I turned on him
and after three days manceuvering and fighting defeated
him and drove him off towards Raleigh. The fight
was near Bentonsville, 20 miles from here on the south
side of the Neuse in the direction of Smithfield. I got
here to-day and all the army will be in by to-morrow.
Thus have I brought the army from Savannah in good
order, beaten the enemy wherever he attempted to
oppose our progress, and made junction with Schofield
and Terry from Newbern and Wilmington on the 21st,
one day later than I had appointed before leaving
Savannah. It is far more difficult and important than
the Savannah march. Besides the immediate results
we have forced the Rebels to abandon the whole sea
coast. "I almost fear the consequences of the reputation
this will give me among military men. I have received
one letter from you and one from Minnie, also a vast
package from everybody. I now have a staff officer,
Maj. Hitchcock,1 to answer them. I only have time
to make general orders, and to write special letters. I
must be more careful, as I find silly people to claim my
acquaintance publish my letters or extracts. You know
how hurriedly I always write and that I might be falsely
placed by such things. I will be here some weeks. I
should see Grant before assuming the offensive and I
think he will come down. I could have time to run to
1 Major Henry Hitchcock, judge-advocate on Sherman's Btaff.

THE WAR ENDED 335
Washington, but prefer to stay with my troops. It
gives me great power with them to share the days and
nights. I always encamp and am now in a shaky fly,
open, with houses all round occupied by Rebels or
staff officers. Soldiers have a wonderful idea of my
knowledge and attach much of our continued success
to it. And I really do think they would miss me, if I
were to go away even for a week. I notice that you
propose to take part in a Sanitary Fair at Chicago. I
don't much approve of ladies selling things at a table.
So far as superintending the management of such
things, I don't object, but it merely looks unbecoming
for a lady to stand behind a table to sell things. Still
do as you please. I have nothing that would engross
the profits — my saddlebags, a few old traps, etc. I
could collect plenty of trophies but have always re
frained and think it best I should. Others do collect
trophies and send home, but I prefer not to do it.
"I have no doubt that you will be sufficiently grati
fied to know that I have eminently succeeded in this
last venture, and will trust to luck that in the next still
more hazardous I will be again favored. I don't believe
anything has tended more to break the pride of the
South than my steady persistent progress. My army
is dirty, ragged and saucy. I have promised them rest,
clothing and food, but the railroads have not been com
pleted as I expected and I fear we may be troubled
thereby. I am just informed that the telegraph line is
finished from the sea to this place, so our lines of com
munication will be shortened. Strange to say we are
all in fine health and condition, only a little blackened

336 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
by the pine smoke of our camp fires. I would like to
march this army through New York just as it appears
today, with its wagons, pack mules, cattle, niggers and
bummers, and I think they would make a more attrac
tive show than your fair. . . ."
Two days after writing this letter, Sherman set out
for a meeting with Grant at City Point. Lincoln was
also there, and from their joint discussion Sherman car
ried away the impression of the government's plans
which led him a few weeks later to make the terms with
Johnston which plunged him temporarily into a sea of
troubles. On the way to the conference he wrote as
follows to Mrs. Sherman: "On Board Steamer Russia
"At Sea, Sunday, March 26, 1865.
"The railroad was finished yesterday into Goldsboro
and I came down to Newbern and Morehead City and
am now in a fleet blockade runner on my way to meet
General Grant at City Point to confer on some points,
when I shall forthwith go back to Goldsboro and get
ready for another campaign. There is no doubt we
have got the Rebels in a tight place and must not let
them have time to make new plans. They abandoned
all their cities to get men enough to whip me but did not
succeed. They may unite Johnston and Lee, when if
they make the further mistake of holding on to Rich
mond, I can easily take Raleigh and the Roanoke,
when Richmond will be of little use to them. If Lee
lets go of Richmond the people of Virginia will give up.

THE WAR ENDED 337
I regard my two moves from Atlanta to Savannah and
Savannah to Goldsboro as great blows as if we had
fought a dozen successful battles. At Bentonsville,
Johnston attempted to prevent my making a junction
with Schofield, but he failed and I drove him off the
field with my own army without the help of a man
from Schofield, also got all my armies at Goldsboro the
21st of March, only one day from the time appointed.
I will now conduct with great care another move. I
have all the army I want and can take an hundred
thousand if I want them. . . . The ship is pitching a
good deal, we are just off Hatteras, and I cannot write
more. . . ."
A full description of the interview at City Point may
be found in the Memoirs. Immediately upon return
ing from it, Sherman wrote thus to his father-in-law:
[TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"In the Field, Goldsboro, N. C,
"March 31, 1865.
"... I have already been to see General Grant and
am back before the enemy or newspaper spies revealed it.
I have a clear view of another step in the game, and
think I am on the right road. It does seem to me that
one or two more such chasms in our enemy's ranks and
resources will leave him gasping and begging for quarter.
It is perfectly impossible for me in case of failure to
divest myself of responsibility as all from the President,
Secretary of War, General Grant, etc., seem to vie with
each other in contributing to my success.

338 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"You need not fear my committing a political mis
take, for I am fully conscious of the fact that I would
imperil all by any concessions in that direction. I have
and shall continue to repel all advances made me of
such a kind.
"I would like to see my family occasionally, but it
seems impossible. It is manifest I am in the rapids
and must go on till the cataract is passed and the boat
in smooth water."
In the next letter to Mrs. Sherman the reader will
find for himself an interesting allusion to the value
which Sherman himself placed upon these informal
letters as historical records.
"In the Field, Goldsboro, N. C,
"April 5, 1865.
"I have now finished my Report and answered all
letters that called for my personal action. These are
being copied and sent by a courier to-morrow and then
'What next' as old Lincoln says.1 That next is also
thought over and it again takes me into danger and
trouble, but you must now be so used to it that you can
hardly care. I have no late letters from you, none
since you went to Chicago, but you too are becoming a
public character and the busy newspapers follow you.
I see that the public authorities and citizens of Chicago
paid you a public visit with speeches and music and
1 When Sherman took Savannah, Lincoln wrote to him, Dec.
26, 1864: " It brings those who sat in darkness to see a great
light. But what next? I suppose it would be safer if I leave
Gen. Grant and yourself to decide."

THE WAR ENDED 339
that Bishop Duggan responded for you. If these give
you pleasure I am glad of it for I would rather that you
and the children should be benefitted by any fame I
may achieve than that it should ensue to me personally.
Of course as a General my case will be scrutinized very
closely by men abroad as well as here, and my reputa
tion will rather depend on their judgment than on any
mere temporary applause. I have been trying to get
some pay to send you, for I suppose you are 'short,'
but the paymasters cannot catch up, and in a few days
I will be off again. I have pay due since January 1,
and yet was unable the other day to buy a pair of shoes
which I need. I have those big boots you sent me from
Cincinnati, but the weather is getting warm and they
are too close and heavy. They stood me a good turn
however on the last march when for weeks we were up
to our eyes in mud and water. When we got here the
army was ragged and hard up, but already our new
clothing is issued, and I will challenge the world to ex
hibit a finer looking set of men, brawny, strong, swarthy,
a contrast to the weak and sickly fellows that came to
me in Kentucky three years ago. It is a general truth
that men exposed to the elements don't 'catch cold,'
and I have not heard a man cough or sneeze for three
months, but were these same men to go into houses in
a month the doctor would have half of them. Now the
doctors have no employment. I myself am very well,
though in a house for the time being, and too have the
convenience of a table and chair to write, also to prevent
the flaring of the candle which makes writing in a tent
almost impossible. I write as usual very fast and can

340 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
keep half a dozen clerks busy in copying. Hitchcock,
nephew of the General, writes private letters not needing
my personal attention, such as autographs and locks of
hair; Dayton the military orders, but I must of course
keep up correspondence with War Department, Gen
eral Grant, my army commanders, governors of states,
etc., and you should be satisfied even if my letters are
hasty and ill digested. You can almost trace my prog
ress through the world by the newspapers. . . .
"I got a long letter from Bowman ¦ last night. He
is resolved to write up my campaigns, and is anxious
for the most authentic records. These are contained
in my Letter and Order Books. You have some up to
the time of my leaving Atlanta. Webster has those
from Atlanta to Savannah, and I have here the balance.
I would much prefer he would wait the end of the war,
but he wants to make money out of the job, and I do
not object, for he says that others less capable will do
the thing, and make a botch of it. He can get access
to my official Reports at Washington as also those of my
subordinate Reports, but the letters I daily write give
the gradual unfolding of plans and events better than
Reports made with more formality after the events are
past. The last March from Savannah to Goldsboro, with
its legitimate fruits, the capture of Charleston, George
town and Wilmington, is by far the most important in
conception and execution of any act of my life. . . .
"I continue to receive the highest compliments from
all quarters, and have been singularly fortunate in
1 S. M. Bowman, with R. B. Irwin, published in 1865 his
volume, Sherman and His Campaigns.

THE WAR ENDED 341
escaping the envy and jealousy of rivals. Indeed
officers from every quarter want to join my 'Great
Army.' Grant is the same enthusiastic friend. Mr.
Lincoln at City Point was lavish in his good wishes,
and since Mr. Stanton visited me at Savannah he too
has become the warmest possible friend. Of course I
could not venture north, and it accords both with my
pleasure and interest to keep close with my army proper.
Officers and soldiers have in my foresight and knowl
edge a childlike confidence that is really most agreeable.
Whilst wading through mud and water, and heaving at
mired wagons the soldiers did not indulge a single
growl, but always said and felt that the Old Man would
bring them out all right; and no sooner had we reached
the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville than a little squeak
ing tug came puffing up the river with news, and we
had hardly spread out in the camps about Goldsboro
than the locomotive and train came thundering along
from the sea ninety-six miles distant, loaded with shoes
and pants and clothing, as well as food. So remarkable
and happy a coincidence, which of course I had ar
ranged from Savannah, made the woods resound with a
yell that must have reached Raleigh. Some of our
officers who escaped from the enemy say that these two
coincidences made the Rebel officers swear that I was
the Devil himself, a compliment that you can appreciate.
But enough of this vanity, save and except always when
it redounds to your advantage and pleasure. My wants
are few and easily gained, but if this fame which fills
the world contributes to your happiness and pleasure,
enjoy it as much as possible. Oh, that Willy could hear

342 SLIERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
and see! His proud heart would swell to overflowing,
and it may be that 'tis better he should not be agitated
with such thoughts. . . .
"The army is now well clad and fed. Our wagons
are loading and on the 10th I will haul out towards
Raleigh. I need not tell you my plans, but they are
good, and I do not see but the next move and one more
will determine the fate of this war, not conclude it,
but assure the fact that the United States has not ceased
to be a nation. If we can force Lee to let go Richmond,
and can whip him in open fight, I think I can come
home and rest and leave others to follow up the frag
ments. . . ."
"In the Field, Goldsboro, N. C,
"April 9, 1865.
"... To-morrow we move straight against Joe
Johnston wherever he may be. Grant's magnificent
victories about Petersburg, and his rapid pursuit of
Lee's army, makes it unnecessary for me to move
further north, and I expect my course will be to Raleigh
and Greensboro. I will fix up the railroad to Raleigh,
but then shall cast off as my custom has been and de
pend on the contents of our wagons and on the resources
of the country. Poor North Carolina will have a hard
time, for we sweep the country like a swarm of locusts.
Thousands of people may perish, but they now realise
that war means something else than vain glory and
boasting. If Peace ever falls to their lot they will never
again invite War. But there is a class of young men
who will never live at peace. Long after Lee's and

THE WAR ENDED 343
Johnston's armies are beaten and scattered they will
band together as highwaymen and keep the country in a
fever, begetting a Guerilla War. It may be that the
Government may give us who have now been working
four years a rest and let younger men follow up the
sequel. I feel confident we can whip Joe Johnston
quick if he stops, but he may travel back towards
Georgia, and I don't want to follow him again over that
long road. I wish Grant had been a few days later or
I a few days sooner, but on the whole our campaigns
have been good. The weather now seems settled, and
if I have good roads think I can travel pretty fast. The
sun is warm, the leaves are all coming out, and flowers
are in bloom, about as you will have it a month hence.
The entire army has new clothing, and with soap and
water have made a wonderful change in our appearance.
The fellows who passed in review before me with smoke-
black faces, dirty and ragged, many with feet bare or
wrapped in cloth, now strut about as proud as young
chicken cocks, with their clean faces and bright blue
clothes. All are ready to plunge again into the labor
and toil and uncertainty of war. You doubtless have
heard all you can stand of these matters. My health is
good. ... I send to Tommy today a hundred dollars,
and now enclose you $200, which is all I can raise and I
got it of the quarter-master. I think, however, you
will not suffer, but as a rule don't borrow. 'Tis more
honest to steal."
Between the writing of this letter (April 9) and of the
next (April 18) the events of which Sherman was so

344 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
great a part moved rapidly to important culminations.
On the 11th he received from Grant the news of Lee's
surrender two days before. On the 14th, the day of
Lincoln's assassination, came a letter from Johnston
proposing steps toward "the needful arrangements to
terminate the existing war." Early in the morning of
the 17th, as Sherman was starting to meet Johnston for
a discussion of the terms of surrender, a telegraph
operator at Raleigh handed him a cipher message an
nouncing the President's death. He did not make its
contents known even to the officers who accompanied
him on the railroad journey of twenty-six miles to Dur
ham's Station, near which the meeting with Johnston
was to take place, but showed it first of all to Johnston
himself, and on the 18th, in the light of his own under
standing of Lincoln's attitude toward the South, made
provisional terms for surrender. In the second of the
two following letters to Mrs. Sherman, it will be seen
that he was by no means unprepared to have his
arrangements overruled at Washington.
"In the Field, Raleigh, N. C.
"April 18, 1865.
"I have just got back from a long interview with
General Johnston and Breckenridge, Secretary of War
to the Confederacy, in which we arranged terms for the
disbandment of all the Confederate armies from this to
the Rio Grande, the submission to the national authority,
etc., which I send at once to Washington for ratification,
when this cruel war will be over. I can hardly realize
it, but I can see no slip. The terms are all on our side.

THE WAR ENDED 345
If approved I can soon complete the details, leave Scho
field here and march my army for the Potomac, there to
be mustered out and paid. If I accomplish this I
surely think I will be entitled to a month's leave to
come and see you. The assassination of Mr. Lincoln
is most unfortunate, but we ride a whirlwind and must
take events as they arise. I have notice that I was em
braced in the programme, but the fellow who was to
do the job did not appear, and if he is not in a hurry
he will be too late. I don't fear an assassin, though
I would prefer, for the name of the thing, to get my
quietus in a more honest way, in open manly fight. . . ."
"Raleigh, N. C, April 22, 1865.
" I wrote you a hasty letter by Major Hitchcock and
promised to write more at length as soon as matters
settled away somewhat. I am now living in the Palace 1
and the Army lies around about the city on beautiful
rolling hills of clear ground with plenty of water, and a
budding spring. We await a reply from Washington
which finishes all the war by one process or forces us to
push the fragments of the Confederate Army to the wall.
" Hitchcock should be back the day after to-morrow
and then I will know. I can start in pursuit of John
ston — who is about Greensboro, on short notice; but
I would prefer not to follow him back to Georgia. A
pursuing army cannot travel as fast as a fleeing one in
its own country. Your letters have come to me in
driblets and mine will miss you, as all from Goldsboro
were directed to South Bend.
1 Sherman occupied the Governor's mansion at Raleigh.

346 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
" I also sent you then the Columbia flag and a Revolu
tionary seal for your fair. I have the circulars and
have sent them out to parties to collect trophies for you,
but it is embarrasing for me to engage in the business,
as trophies of all kinds belong to Government, and I
ought not to be privy to their conversion. Others do it,
I know, but it shows the rapid decline in honesty of our
people. Pillow, in the Mexican War, tried to send
home as trophies a brass gun and other things such as
swords and lances, and it was paraded all over the land
as evidence of his dishonesty. . . .
"The present armies should all be mustered out and
the Regular Army increased to 100,000 men and these
would suffice to maintain and enforce order at the
South. There is great danger of the Confederate
armies breaking up into guerillas, and that is what I
most fear. Such men as Wade Hampton, Forrest,
Wirt Adams, etc., never will work and nothing is left
for them but death or highway robbery. They will not
work and their negroes are all gone, their plantations
destroyed, etc. I will be glad if I can open a way for
them abroad. Davis, Breckenridge, etc., will go abroad
or get killed in pursuit. My terms do not embrace
them but apply solely to the Confederate armies. All
not in regular muster rolls will be outlaws. The people
of Raleigh are quiet and submissive enough, and also
the North Carolinians are subjugated, but the young
men, after they get over the effects of recent disasters
and wake up to the realization that nothing is left them
but to work, will be sure to stir up trouble, but I hope
we can soon fix them off. Raleigh is a very old city

THE WAR ENDED 347
with a large stone Capitol and governor's mansion
called the Palace, now occupied by me and staff. They
are distant about half a mile apart with a street con
necting, somewhat in the nature of Washington. This
street is the business street and some very handsome
houses and gardens make up the town. It is full of fine
people who were secesh but now are willing to encourage
the visits of handsome young men. I find here the
family of Mr. Badger who was with your father in
Taylor's Cabinet.1 He is paralyzed so as to be hardly
able to walk and sits all day. He has his mind and is
glad to have visitors. I have called twice. Though a
moderate man he voted to go out and actually drafted
one of the resolutions of Secession. His wife must be
much younger than he and is a lively, interesting lady,
chuck full of Washington. She was dying for some
news, and Harper's Magazine. I could tell you much
that might interest you, but will now merely say that if
Mr. Johnson will ratify the terms I will leave Schofield
here to complete the business, will start five corps for
the Potomac, to march, and in person will go to Charles
ton and Savannah to give some necessary orders, and
then go to the Potomac to receive the troops as they
arrive. I may bring you and the children there to see
the last final Grand Review of my Army before dis
banding it. That is the dream and is possible. It
will take all May to march and June to muster out and
pay so that the 4th of July may witness a perfect peace.
1 Thomas Ewing was a member both of Harrison's and of
Taylor's Cabinet. It was in Harrison's Cabinet that George E.
Badger was at the same time Secretary of the Navy.

348 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
My new sphere will I suppose be down the Mississippi.
How would Memphis suit you as a home ? The Missis
sippi valley is my hobby, and if I remain in the Army
there is the place Grant will put me; Memphis or
Nashville. But I am counting the chickens before they
are hatched and must wait to see this thing out. When
the war ends our labors begin, for we must organize the
permanent army for the future. . . ."
Sherman's mingling of civil with military provisions
in his terms with Johnston might at any time have
brought about their rejection at Washington. Perhaps
the season of terror and confusion following Lincoln's
death may be blamed in part for the lack of considera
tion for Sherman's intentions and services which marked
the methods of rejection. The temporary effect which
his course produced in the North belongs to the com
monest knowledge of this critical period.1 The recip
rocal effect upon Sherman himself, angry and hurt by
the suspicions of his very loyalty, is clearly recorded in
the Memoirs. It was not surprising that Sherman's
resentment against Stanton and Halleck flamed forth
in the following letters as it did in the public expres
sions of Sherman's feeling toward them. Nor was it
1 Mrs. Sherman writing to him on April 26, reporting the gen
eral disapproval of his course, and confessing her own lack of
sympathy with his leniency toward Johnston's army, added:
" But my opinion of you is unaltered, and, my heart not having
been set on the popular favor, I care nothing for the clamor they
have raised. I know your motive was pure. I know you would
not allow your army to be in the slightest degree imperilled by
this armistice, and, however much I differ from you, I honor
and respect you for the heart that could prompt such terms. "

THE WAR ENDED 349
out of keeping with Johnston's largeness of view that
when the first terms of capitulation were thrown over
he stood ready to surrender on the same terms as those
of Lee at Appomattox. The surrender was made on
April 26. The following letters to Mrs. Sherman are
among the last that Sherman wrote surrounded by his
faithful soldiers: "In the Field, Raleigh, April 28, 1865.
" The capitulation of Johnston's army at Greensboro
completes my Campaign. I leave Schofield to do the
work, and have ordered the 15th and 17th, 14th and
20th corps to march to Richmond. I will go to-night
to Wilmington and Charleston and Savannah to make
some orders and instructions, when I will go by sea
to Richmond to meet my Army. Thence it will march
to Alexandria (and Washington) where I will move my
headquarters to, in anticipation of mustering out the
Army. It may be that while the Army is on the march
from Richmond to Alexandria I can run out to Lan
caster to see you all. This will be about the 15th and
20th of May, and if I could take all the family to
Alexandria to witness the final scenes attending Sher
man's Army it would be a price [?] in the memory to
our children that would somewhat compensate for the
expense and loss of time. I may be a little ahead, but
think that the present volunteer army must be mustered
out and a new regular army made, and the quicker the
better before new complications arise.
"The mass of the people south will never trouble us
again. They have suffered terrifically, and I now feel

350 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
disposed to befriend them — of course not the leaders and
lawyers, but the armies who have fought and mani
fested their sincerity though misled by risking their
persons. But the rascals who by falsehood and mis
representation kept up the war, they are infamous. It
will be difficult for anyone to tread a straight path amid
these new complications, but I will do my best.
"I perceive the politicians are determined to drive
the confederates into guerilla bands, a thing more to be
feared than open organized war. They may fight it
out. I won't. We could settle the war in three weeks
by giving shape to the present disordered elements, but
they may play out their game."
"At Sea, Steamer Russia,
"Monday, May 8, 1865.
"We are now approaching Cape Henry and by nine
o'clock to-night will be at Old Point, where I expect to
stop an hour or so to communicate with Grant and then
go on up to City Point and Petersburg to meet my
Army. I have been to Savannah, Charleston, and
Wilmington on business connected with past affairs,
and now I am free to join my army proper. I have seen
the New York papers of April 24 and 28, but don't
mind them much, for it is manifest that some deviltry
is on foot. The telegram of Halleck endorsed by
Stanton is the worst,1 but its falsity and baseness puts
them at my mercy, and in a few days look out for break-
1 This telegram, sent out at the height of the dissatisfaction
with the terms between Sherman and Johnston, directed gen
erals, subordinate to Sherman, to disregard his orders.

THE WAR ENDED 351
ers. This cause may delay me east a few days and I
will likely accompany my Army up to Washington. At
all events from this time forth I can hear from you and
write to you. My latest letter is April 11, received at
Raleigh. I want you to go right along, attend the
Fair, and I will join you wherever you may be as soon
as I can leave. We will probably all spend the summer
together at Lancaster. At Savannah, Charleston, Wil
mington, and Morehead City, officers, soldiers, sailors,
and citizens paid me every sort of honor and respect,
especially my old soldiers, more especially when they
heard they were down on me at Washington. Now that
the war is over, how brave and fierce have become the
men that thousand-dollar bounties, patriotism, the ap
peal of generals and others would not bring out! How
terribly energetic all at once Halleck became, to break
my truce, cut off 'Johnston's Retreat' when he knew
Johnston was halted anxious to surrender and was only
making excuses to keep his own men from scattering, a
thing I did not want, and a reason I reported to Halleck
and Stanton before my 'Memorandum' went to Wash
ington. Worst of all, his advice that my subordinates,
Thomas, Wilson, and Stoneman, should not obey my
orders. Under my orders, those Generals have done
all they ever did in their lives, and it sounds funny to
us to have Halleck better my plans and orders. But of
all this hereafter. Go along as comfortably as you can.
I am not dead yet, by a long sight, and those matters
give me new life, for I see the cause. A breach must be
made between Grant and Sherman, or certain cliques
in Washington, who have a nice thing, are gone up. I

352 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
am glad Grant came to Raleigh, for he saw at a glance
the whole thing and went away more than satisfied.
But heaven and earth will be moved to kill us. . . .
Washington is as corrupt as Hell, made so by the loose
ness and extravagance of war. I will avoid it as a pest
house. . . .
"The Gates of the Press can't prevail with my old
army against me, and in them I put my faith."
"In the Field,
" Camp opposite Richmond, May 10, 1865.
"I wrote you on arrival from Savannah at Old Point.
I got here yesterday and found my Army all in.
Have seen Charley,1 who is very well. We march to
morrow for Alexandria, whither I have sent my office
papers. We will march slowly and leisurely and should
reach Alexandria in ten or twelve days. I may have
chance to write you meantime. I want you to go and
attend your Fair, and say little of me, save that I regard
my presence with my Army so important that I will not
leave it till it is discharged or sent on new duties. I
shall surely spend the summer with you, preferably at
Lancaster, but will come to Chicago or wherever you
may be when I can leave with propriety. This Army
has stood by me in public and private dangers, and I
must maintain my hold on it till it ceases to exist. All
the officers and men have been to see me in camp
to-day and they received with shouts my public denial
of a review for Halleck.2 He had ordered Slocum's
1 General Charles Ewing.
2 See Memoirs, II, 374. Sherman's refusal to accept Halleck's
hospitality in Richmond is recorded on the same page.

THE WAR ENDED 353
wing to pass him in review to-day. I forbade it. To
morrow I march through Richmond with colors flying
and drums beating as a matter of right and not by Hal-
leck's favor, and no notice will be taken of him per
sonally or officially. I dare him to oppose my march.
He will think twice before he again undertakes to stand
between me and my subordinates. Unless Grant in
terposes from his yielding and good nature I shall get
some equally good opportunity to insult Stanton. . . .
"Stanton wants to kill me because I do not favor the
scheme of declaring the negroes of the South, now free,
to be loyal voters, whereby politicians may manufacture
just so much more pliable electioneering material. The
Negroes don't want to vote. They want to work and
enjoy property, and they are no friends of the Negro
who seek to complicate him with new prejudices. As
to the people of the South they are subjugated, but of
course do not love us any more than the Irish or Scotch
love the English, but that is no reason why we should
assume all the expenses of their state governments.
Our power is now so firmly established that we need not
fear again their internal disturbances. I have papers
and statistics which I will show your father in time. I
showed some to Charley to-day and he perfectly agreed
with me; so do all my officers. . . .
"We cannot kill disarmed men. All this clamor
after Jeff Davis, Thompson and others is all bosh. Any
young man with a musket is now a more dangerous
object than Jeff Davis. He is old, infirm, a fugitive
hunted by his own people, and none so poor as do him
reverence. It will be well in June before I can expect

354 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
to leave my army. Don't attempt to come to Alex
andria for I will be in a common tent, and overwhelmed
with papers and business. Ord, Merritt, Crook, and
all the big men of Halleck's army have been to see me,
and share with me the disgust occasioned by their base
betrayal of my confidence. . . ."
On May 24 Sherman's army, sixty-five thousand
strong, took part in the Grand Review at Washington.
On May 30 he issued his general orders taking leave
of his troops, and with the final words of these orders,
the present record of Sherman's part in the Civil War
may well be concluded: "Your general now bids you
farewell, with the full belief that, as in war you have
been good soldiers, so in peace you will make good
citizens; and if, unfortunately, new war should arise
in our country, 'Sherman's Army' will be the first to
buckle on its old armor, and come forth to defend and
maintain the Government of our inheritance." x
1 Memoirs, II, 380.

XI
YEARS OF PEACE
1866-1891
Immediately upon the close of the war Sherman
was placed in command of the Military Division of the
Mississippi (afterward Missouri) and, happy in his
ability to escape from Washington, established his
headquarters at St. Louis. In this post, subsequently
in that of General of the Army, and still later in the
eight remaining years of retirement from government
service, his public and private engagements required
many absences from home — whether this was St. Louis,
Washington, or New York. There was important work
to be done at remote points in connection with the
Indian Peace Commission; there were many military
gatherings to attend, for Sherman's position, personal
ity, and prestige brought him unceasingly into demand;
there were journeys for pleasure, relaxation, and private
business. But the absences were less .frequent and
continuous than before; the letters, from the very ex
pectation of early return, were often mere notes; and,
from the very causes for the brief separations from his
family, generally dealt with matters of less enduring
importance than the letters already drawn upon. It
is necessary, therefore, to present only a few detached
355

356 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
groups and fragments from the correspondence of his
later years.
Sherman's detestation of politics and politicians has
shown itself clearly in his war-time letters. When the
war was done it became inevitable for the national
leaders to give themselves to political matters. Sher
man, for all his resistance, could not wholly escape.
One of the episodes in which he figured, mainly through
his desire to act the part of a friend toward General
Grant, took him in 1866 on a futile mission to Mexico,
which but for him Grant would have been forced to
undertake.1 There were amusing letters home about
it, chiefly from Havana, where the ship bearing Sher
man and his companions stopped for a week on its way
to Vera Cruz. Two passages from one of these letters
will suffice.
"Harbor of Havana,
"November 19, 1866.
". . . It is funny to see these people. They are as
familiar with our country as we are ourselves, and talk
as flippantly of 'El Grande Marcha' as our knowing
ones, and I don't know but I am a direct descendant
of Caesar, Hannibal and Co., first cousin to the Magnific
Colon (Columbus) and very like Espartero, O'Donnell
and other modern Spanish heroes, of whom probably
you have never heard and certainly do not care. Last
night my Spanish came into play, and the minister
extraordinary, etc.2 stood no chance with a general.
1 See Memoirs, II, 414-420.
2 Lewis D. Campbell of Ohio, whom Sherman was accompany
ing to Mexico.

YEARS OF PEACE 357
Today we must, however, cross swords with the officials
and if I get through, as I doubt not, I propose to make
a little turn into the interior to see some of the coffee
and sugar estates. It looks funny to see in the midst of
these old houses, narrow streets and people of other
habits and ways, the regular Yankee omnibus, the street
car, and the locomotive. Already railroads are finished,
in operation, by which in two days I can travel 300
miles in the interior, a task that could not have been
accomplished ten years ago in a month. No doubt
Mr. Seward will one day ask me, how the opera in
Havana and the sugar and coffee estates of the remote
interior are connected with the mission to Mexico. I
regard our mission as accomplished when we got out of
Washington; get away, was all they wanted and now
we are away with a splendid ship at my service I don't
intend to neglect the opportunity. I have always
wanted to get a good look at this island, which occupies
so important a site on the map, as connected with our
own country, that sooner than we expect it may be
drawn into our complications. I don't want to acquire
any more territory or any more of the mongrel breed
that Spain has left in America, but Cuba should not be
allowed to fall under French or English control. Dur
ing our war Cuba was the resort of the blockade runners,
and such piratical ships as the Florida and Shenandoah.
Then the old Spaniards seemed to lean against us to
favor the idea of a division of our country. Confederates
were received here with favor and kindness.
"Now the whole case is changed. Our flag is the
proudest here and we of the North, ' Federates ' as we

358 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
are styled, have the finest boxes at the theatres, are
invited out and feted while the poor Confederates are
hid away, and none to notice them. . . .
"These things in foreign countries are much more
noticed than at home, and really our own people resi
dent abroad have experienced more pride and joy at
our success than we at home. Several ladies told me
yesterday, almost with tears, that when I was marching
from Atlanta to Savannah that they could not sleep,
that they actually prayed, but when they heard I was in
Savannah, and afterwards when the hated Charleston
fell, that they could not restrain their feelings and actu
ally kissed my picture. Of course being good looking
I did not withhold the original! Breakfast is called,
eight bells, and I must prepare for this day's con
test. . . ."
Of greater moment is a considerable group of letters
dealing with the difficulties in which Grant, Johnson,
and Stanton became involved in 1867 and 1868. The
divergence between the reconstruction policies of the
President and of Congress grew steadily broader as the
year 1867 advanced. In August Johnson endeavored
to thrust Stanton out of the War Secretaryship, which
he, feeling that only through him could the purposes of
the Republican majority in Congress be carried out, in
sisted upon retaining. A week later Johnson appointed
Grant Secretary ad interim. After Stanton's reinstate
ment by the Senate and Grant's retirement, in January,
1868, Sherman himself was earnestly but vainly solicited
by the President to accept an appointment ad interim.

YEARS OF PEACE 359
It was Johnson's next attempt to supersede Stanton by
the appointment of General Lorenzo Thomas in
February of 1868 that led immediately to the President's
impeachment. As a friend of Grant, and after him the
foremost figure in the army, Sherman made every effort
throughout the controversy to smooth the rough places
and promote the public good. The spectacles he beheld
at Washington through all these stormy days must have
gone far to confirm his aversion from political life.
The following passages are chosen primarily for their
illustration of these scenes and for what they contribute
to the inner history of the time. It was a time in which
Sherman was frequently called West on army or Indian
business and to Washington — for the purposes set
forth in these letters to Mrs. Sherman and her father.
"Omaha, September 13, 1867.
"... Tell your father that I have purposely kept
out of present complications. No doubt the same thing
was intended last year when I was sent for, but I man
aged to get off by going to Mexico instead of Grant. I
am determined not to be drawn into politics let what
may follow, and to avoid such a result I would even
resign and try something else again.
" Congress treated the President rudely and unfairly,
and now he seems disposed to resent it, even at the risk
of further strife. I don't see what the effect of the pro
posed impeachment of the President is to be, but the
politicians of the Butler stripe will probably try it, and
to suspend the President from his office pending the
impeachment.

360 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"This will be a difficult and dangerous move, but
those who don't fight are always the first to provoke a
quarrel. . . .
" I think if Grant can avoid the nomination he will,
and that will leave us in St. Louis a long time if not
for life, and I doubt if we could be better placed than
we are now. I think we can arrange a pact with
the Indians, but there will be more or less trouble with
them as long as white men are white and Indians
Indians. . . ." "Washington, October 7, 1867.
" I reached the City at 6 A. m. yesterday, Sunday, and
went to Willard's where I got a couple of hours' sleep,
a good breakfast and then went to Grant's before he
was downstairs for breakfast. This, however, he soon
despatched and we walked to his office, the day being
remarkably bright and cool. Of course we talked over
all matters of common interest and about 11 a. m. I
went to the President and found him with the Secretary
of the Treasury, McCulloch. They seemed much
pleased to see me, and our conversation turned naturally
to the Pacific Railroad, and the Indians. Soon McCul
loch left us together, and I then apologised to the
President for disturbing him of a Sunday, supposing
that he needed at least one day of the week for rest. He
inquired after you and children but not a word of the
sudden calling of me away from the West further than
he thought it was good for me to come occasionally to
Washington. I soon withdrew promising to call to-day,
Monday, about 12. I then went to Grant's to dinner.

YEARS OF PEACE 361
After which I walked up to Tom Ewing's and found the
house closed, then down to the Metropolitan Hotel,
where I found Mr. Stanbery.1 With him I had a very
full conversation in which I explained my earnest desire
to escape all complications of politics, that it would do
me or the country no good, but on the contrary would
be an infinite source of trouble to me personally and
would impair my military usefulness. He explained to
me what I already knew, that the President is peculiarly
sensitive to the abuse that pours in on him from all
quarters, and that a word of kindness touches him in the
tenderest spot. He told me that a letter I wrote him
last year of general expression of good will was ever
uppermost in his mind, and he told me the letter you
wrote from New York was given to him, Stanbery, for
delivery, that he took it to him, and the President fail
ing his spectacles asked him, Stanbery, to read it,
which he did and both were strongly impressed by it.
The truth is our press universally is now so harsh and
fault-finding that all people, especially the parasites
here who look to the press now as the power in the land,
are afraid to be even personally kind or respectful to the
President, that the simplest expression of that kind
comes as a drop of water to the thirsty soul. The Presi
dent don't comprehend Grant, and tho' there is no
breach it is manifest there is not a cordial understanding.
The President claiming to be the constitutional Com
mander in Chief has recently in very small matters used
his power, by which he vindicates no principle, yet
alienates his subordinates as in the case of this order to
1 Attorney-General in Johnson's Cabinet.

362 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
me. I doubt if he has any clearly defined wish for me,
yet he telegraphed to me direct, when by all military
usage, and by an express law, he should have ordered
me through Grant, for the most excellent reason that
every commander must know where his officers are and
what they are about.
"To-day I shall see Mr. Johnson again, and if he
pushes me, I will suggest that if he needs a War Minister
in his Cabinet I will venture to name one or two very
moderate Republicans who served all the war, and if he
is not willing I am out, for that is all any one can expect
of me. . . ." [TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"St. Louis, Mo., October 18, 1867.
"... Grant is playing the very part you assign him.
He does not want to be President, told me that fifty
millions of dollars would not compensate him therefor,
but that events might force him spite of inclination —
just such events as would ' compel him to throw himself
into a breach.' If the Republicans can find a good
nominee he will be content. He is not an extremist at
all, but his many good officers at the South force him
to the conclusion that there is necessary there some
strong power to protect the negroes and union men
against legal oppression, or the acts of badly disposed
ex-rebels. He is frank and friendly to all well dis
posed men South. He is very reticent, wisely so to
strangers, but open and frank with me and others he
knows well. The President was mistrustful of him as

YEARS OF PEACE 363
to Stanton and as to one or two points on which Grant
would have satisfied him by a word, but the President
did not afford him the chance.
"In my interview with the President of Thursday, he
agreed to ask Grant a specific question at the Cabinet
meeting of Friday, and Grant was prepared to give him
an answer that would have relieved him at once, but the
President did not do so. I called as soon as the Cabinet
adjourned and was very sorry to learn that the Presi
dent had not done as he promised. I left that day, but
I see by the papers that he called in person on Saturday,
and I hope he and Grant had a better understanding.
"Grant prefers no change till Congress meets, as he
fills both offices l with less labor to himself than a
civilian would experience in either. He has business
habits and a positive answer in every case. He wants
this interval to frame some laws or regulations that
will so clearly define the duties of Secretary of War
and Commander in Chief that in the future we will
not have that intermeddling that has been so mis
chievous. If a successor is to be appointed he would
prefer me. . . .
" On my way out I stopped to see John Sherman who
confirms what you say, that if the President lets things
remain as now, or does nothing looking to violence,
there will be no impeachment or other violence toward
him, both sides manceuvering on the next election.
"I think all sides will try to have Grant as a candi
date without pledge or party, to give them another four
years in which to wire-work for ultimate political power.
1 General-in-Chief of the Army and Secretary of War ad interim.

364 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Grant would simply allow the laws to take their course
and would only use force or the Army when violence
were attempted. I tried to explain to the President
that he should throw on Congress the responsibility of
failure, if their plan fails from inherent causes. He
can't get along without a Congress to appropriate
money and do a thousand other things that an Executive
cannot, and when it has a two-third vote he should be
quiet. Opposition or resistance only aggravates the
matter. ..." [TO MRS. SHERMAN]
"Washington, January 13, 1868.
"... This morning I had an interview with the
President and pointed out to him a mode practicable
and easy to get rid of Stanton forever, but there must be
something behind the scenes, for he gave me no en
couragement. Well, I have done my duty, and if
Stanton is white-washed and thrust back in the office
it is not my business. I want to befriend Mr. Johnson,
but I cannot give my consent or assistance to bring in
the Cabinet a man who may decide that the War was
wrong or unnecessary. Without the possibility of good,
this new phase of the case may produce conflict and
confusion. Stanton ought not to be in Mr. Johnson's
cabinet, yet by a vote to-day he is bound to be sustained
simply because the Republicans vote to sustain their
own law, and for the first time the President is
justified in having a kitchen or back door cabinet
instead of one that is responsible. If Stanton, after

YEARS OF PEACE 365
being sustained, will resign it will accomplish good,
but he and the President both are strong, stubborn,
wilful men, that would embroil the world, rather than
yield their point. . . .
"The fact is this matter will damage all politicians,
it is a double edged sword that cuts both ways. . . ."
"Washington, January 15, 1868.
"... This morning I met Grant here at his head
quarters by appointment, and we went together to see
the President. The papers announce that the President
expected Grant to hold on till forced to give up by a
decree of the Supreme Court, but the law of Congress
made Grant's appointment as Secretary of War ad
interim cease, on the passage of the resolution by the
Senate, and had he held on, he would have been liable
to a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for five years.
To be sure, the President contends that the law is un
constitutional and void. Still, Grant by resistance
would have had to run the risk. To-day the mutual
explanations are full and partially satisfactory. I was
only a listener. After I got to the War Department
Stanton sent for me, and told me how much he re
spected me and admired me, etc., etc., all very loving,
and I told him simply that I should not recall the past,
but wanted the Army to be kept out of politics, etc., etc.
I thought he would ask my opinion of his present status,
but he did not. I should have advised him to resign.
I deem it wrong to hold a cabinet office, when he knows
the President don't want him, and the President will
not give any orders to the army through him. But as

366 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
Secretary of War, he has by law power to sign all war
rants on the Treasury, to make contracts for supplies,
etc., etc., and may embarrass the service. I have done
my best to cut the Gordian knot but have failed and
shall do no more. The whole matter is resolved into
a war between parties and neither cares or seems to
care a damn for the service or the country. Instead
of damaging each other, they will shake faith in our
whole fabric of government. Congress is now engaged
in fabricating a bill to legislate Hancock out of service
because his general course in New Orleans don't suit
the extremes.
"I do not hesitate to say such conduct is not legisla
tive, not the business of the law making power, but
pure vindictiveness that will react on the party, and
when their time comes their friends will also be legis
lated out. Grant entertains the same views as I do on
this point, and I have heard him strongly denounce it,
for the reason that Congress has forced on the Army
duties not pertaining to their profession, and now seeks
to punish them by disbandment and dismissal, because
their views of party matters do not please them. ... I
want to get out of this political maelstrom. Having no
aspirations myself, I am made the depository of the
secrets and plans of all, and unless I get away I may
be embroiled between the factions. . . ."
"Washington, January 18, 1868.
"... The President again sent for me to-day and I
do not see why he and Grant both count on me some
how to cut the present Gordian knot.

YEARS OF PEACE 367
"I believe Stanton ought to quit, but it is dangerous
for the President to begin any fray. I thought by his
disregarding my advice on Sunday he had a plan of
action of his own, but from his conversation of to-day
I find he has none but wants me to do it for him. I will
think over it and let him know on Monday. . . ."
"Washington, January 23, 1868.
"... Stanton is still in office and makes no sign of
retiring. He makes no orders to the Army and there
fore cannot test his power. Sooner or later this will
cause and bring about a direct collision, and Congress
stands ready and willing to impeach if Mr. Johnson does
any positive act of breach of law. I feel for Mr. John
son, but must say for his experience he has made some
fatal mistakes. He should have taken care to have in
his interest at least the half of one branch of Congress.
"With a two-thirds majority in each they have a
power under the constitution. Besides Congress has
all the power over the money, and can stop supplies,
and thus control the Army, Navy and every branch of
service. There is no escape for this dilemma except
by a new election, and who is to be next President is as
much of a mystery here as elsewhere. I know General
Grant opposes the supplemental Reconstruction Bill,
which vests him with all power, as also the proposed
bills for crippling the Supreme Court and legislating
Hancock out. Now if these be party measures, it is
clear that he can't be a party candidate, and my convic
tion is that he can only be a candidate, if at all, un
biased and unpledged to any party. . . ."

368 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
[TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"Washington, January 25, 1868.
"... The President constantly sends for me, and
asks opinions and assistance. I have shown him great
personal respect, and think all of us in service should
respect the office. But further than that I don't want
to be involved in political combinations. Yesterday he
suggested and offered to remove Stanton and appoint
me ad interim under some law, for six months.
" 1st I don't want the place.
"2d It is not to my interest to replace Stanton.
"3rd The office of Secretary of War is an 'office'
under the law and Constitution, and a vacancy in the
term of the Senate cannot be created by removal, un
less at same time it be filled by and with advice of the
Senate. "4th To remove Stanton by force, or a show of
force, would be the very thing the enemies of the Presi
dent want.
"5th Now Stanton can give no order to the Army,
and therefore can do no mischief. He does and can
only do such things as draw warrants on the Treasury
under existing appropriations.
"6th If the President wants to make an issue to go
to the Supreme Court, why not let the Secretary of the
Treasury refuse one of his warrants and deny that
Stanton is Secretary of War, or that his restoration is
made by the Tenure of Civil Office Bill ?
"I know the President respects your opinion, and if
you will address me a note on the above points — 'con-

YEARS OF PEACE 369
fidential' — as to him, I will use it with him to escape
this dilemma.
"Other points may occur to you more forcible than
those stated. I did give the President the opportunity
to avoid this trouble, but he declined my advice and
therefore I should be exempt. . . ."
[TO MRS. SHERMAN]
"Washington, January 28, 1868.
"... With you I sympathize with the President so
far as Congress seems to attack his office, but Mr. John
son is not a man of ability or good administration. He
deals in generalities, but when he comes to apply prin
ciples to fact he is lost. On Friday he offered to ap
point me Secretary of War and to remove Stanton. I
doubted his power to do so, which he argued, but I asked
time to see your father. On Sunday I saw your father
and got him to write me a letter, which yesterday I sub
mitted to the President with one of mine, which ends
this matter. . . ." "Washington, January 30, 1868.
"... The President yesterday again wanted me to
take the office of Secretary of War, but in a letter to-day
I have declined pretty firmly. I have always mani
fested for him and his office the greatest respect, but he
cannot vacate Stanton's office without personal violence
and that would not do.
"Stanton's mere sitting in his office don't make him
a cabinet officer, but he can do certain parts of the office

370 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
without the President's consent. I, however, rest my
declination on the ground that I do not want to live in
Washington. It is full of spies and slanderers who
stop at nothing to make game, and I should regret even
Grant's elevation as that might force me to this posi
tion. Grant tells me that he will avoid the nomination
if he can, but it is doubtful if Chase can get the votes,
and Grant don't want to see Pendleton come in because
he was an open enemy of the war, which we must main
tain was right. If Morton had health he would do, but
he is paralyzed so as not to stand. Morgan of New
York is a good man, but not a candidate. All sorts of
names are bandied about, but Grant's seems to be the
favorite. . . ."
[TO THE HON. THOMAS EWING]
"Saint Louis, February 13, 1868.
". . .It surely is anomalous that so soon after a
great war, our people should slide back into the habits
and forms of parties managed by a comparatively small
set of men, organized into caucuses of doubtful virtue.
But so it is and our people seem to prefer to be governed
by and through- their instrumentality rather than trust
to men whose sincerity at least has passed the ordeal
of battle. All I hope for is that in my day, we will not
be adjudged to have been Rebels.
"I got out of Washington just in time to escape that
outburst and angry controversy 1 between the President
1 Over their opposite views about Grant's obligation to con
tinue in the office of Secretary of War ad interim.

YEARS OF PEACE 371
and General Grant. I tried my best to make the breach
unnecessary, and would have succeeded, had it not been
for the mischievous agents of the New York papers who
got possession of the notes of the Cabinet meeting, and
who made the most of them, by wide spread publication
and rubbing in of the most galling parts. As usual the
correspondence will damage both parties to it, whilst the
friends of each interpret the whole according to their
preconceived opinions and party bias. I am out of it
and shall keep out — and if, after my earnest expressed
wish, the President should persevere in his purpose of
drawing me in, not for my good, but for my injury, I
will so interpret his action. But I hope he has dropped
the subject and will leave me here, where I properly
belong, and where I can do service to the Army and the
country. There are already at Washington too many
for use. ..." [to the same]
"Saint Louis, Mo., February 14, 1868.
"After I thought the danger which I have dreaded
so long had passed, it has come upon me like an ava
lanche. The telegraph announces that the President
has sent my name to the Senate as Brevet-General,
and ordered a new military division of the Atlantic,
with headquarters at Washington, and me to command.
Now it is notorious this is a device to have me there.
I don't think the President means it in unkindness to
me, but no one with shut eyes can fail to see the inevitable
consequence. There are no military duties for me

372 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
there. There is no room for so many captains, and the
inevitable result is collision of authority, quarrelling
and conflict.
"Mr; Stanton is evidently resolved to stay in his
office. General Grant, too, has extraordinary powers,
which he will not moderate or surrender. The Presi
dent is constitutional Commander in Chief, with a
brief period of power left to him, and a Congress that
deals with him as a common enemy. What good can
I do in such an imbroglio? Moderation is lost — con
ciliation out of question, and a conflict would arouse
new passions, create new parties, and would end no one
can say where. I wrote the President a letter on the
27th of January, enclosing yours, which I thought would
satisfy him. But as he renewed the subject verbally
I wrote him one much more emphatic on the 31st, and
now again another, all alleging in the strongest language
consistent with a due respect for his high office, my
utter abhorrence of being drawn into complications
that were not of my making, and which it were ungen
erous to drop me into. So impressed was I of the danger
to me that just before leaving Washington I wrote a note
to Mr. Stanbery asking him to use his personal influence
with the President to spare me this result.
"Grant and I were bound by such ties during the
war — he acted so fairly and generously by me on all
occasions, when the Republicans would gladly have
consigned me to infamy, and if we continue as now, are
so likely to rise or fall together, that I would be mean
indeed to allow myself to be used against him in the
few short months remaining to President Johnson. I

YEARS OF PEACE 373
have befriended the latter when I could, and have ad
vised him when, had he heeded it, he would have avoided
much of the trouble that now afflicts us all, and he in
fers, I suppose, that because I gave him full credit for
his first efforts to reconstruct the South, on principles
nearer right than have since been attempted, that I will
go with him to the death, but I am not bound to do it.
He never heeds any advice. He attempts to govern
after he has lost the means to govern. He is like a
General fighting without an army — he is like Lear
roaring at the wild storm, bareheaded and helpless.
And now he wants me to go with him into the wilder
ness. I do want peace, and do say if all hands would
stop talking, and writing, and let the sun shine, and the
rains fall for two or three years, we would be nearer
reconstruction than we are likely to be with the three
and four hundred statesmen trying to legislate amid the
prejudices begotten for four centuries. I would be
willing to take the Government on a contract for twenty
years at half present cost, but I am not willing to be a
mere attachment to a government that can have no pos
sible use for me, save and except the small influence I
might if untrammelled exercise over some of my old
army followers. What heed does Congress give to
past acquired name ? They sweep them away as cob
web if across their path. ... If Grant do become
President then I am willing to attempt to succeed him
as Commander in Chief — but if he remain as now,
which he gives me an official right to infer, then I am
rightfully out here, where I have a military command,
and where I feel of some use. A mere residence any-

374 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
where stript of one's self-respect is a hell, which I will
avoid if possible. . . .
"As the order is issued I have asked the President
to modify it in part, viz. to let me select my own head
quarters within the limits of the command. This is
an ordinary courtesy, but would defeat his plans, still
easier of execution than a square back down. In that
case I would go to New York myself and leave the
family just where they are, till in May, Grant will be
compelled to accept or decline the nomination."
[to the same]
"Saint Louis, Mo., February 22, 1868.
"The telegraph works so fast that events keep ahead
of our letters. Yours of the 18th is received, but since
then the whole state of facts has changed, and I must say
that I am glad I am out.1 Whether I ought or ought
not to have gone to Washington, it is certain that I
never declined to obey the President, or questioned his
authority, or treated him or his office with anything but
the utmost respect. If he did not know his purpose of
brevetting me, and placing me in Washington in open
public rivalry with General Grant, was obnoxious to me,
it was because he was so intent on his own view of things
that he was oblivious to that of others.
"As to Stanton, Grant and all others mixed up in the
imbroglio, I am neither champion or defendant. I
1 On February 19 Johnson had acceded to Sherman's vigorous
objection to promotion, and had continued him in his command
of the Military Division of the Missouri, with headquarters at
St. Louis.

YEARS OF PEACE 375
know of my own knowledge that General Grant did
strive all he could to avoid that unpleasant controversy
with the President which he knew full well would be
damaging both to him and the President. He was
goaded on by the strictures of the newspapers, and the
constant receipt of letters asking him if it was possible
he had purposely betrayed the President. I would
rather remain Lieutenant-General and live west of the
Mississippi, than to be General or President and live
in Washington. We cannot account for tastes, but
such is mine. The duties of no officer is clearly defined
by law, and it is impossible to get a legal opinion of the
Attorney General, or any other law officer until after
the fact, and until the newspapers enact the judgment.
This ought not to be, but is.
"The officer, General Lorenzo Thomas, whom the
President has chosen to test the law, is not over well
qualified. At the beginning of the war he came near
being arrested because of his leaning to Slavery. . . .
Later he turned so 'Black' that he revealed a conversa
tion with me had in Louisville by Secretary Cameron,
under the express injunction of secrecy, and still later
he came down to Vicksburg and in an address to my
own troops he spoke of his power from President Lin
coln to remove any officer who did not cooperate with
him in raising negro troops, a threat which everybody
who heard him interpreted as directed against me. I
don't care at all, but I cannot form an alliance with such
men as against my old comrades in arms. . . .
" I do respect the President and the law, as much as
is possible, and rather than stand in the way of its just

376 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
execution will do anything else in my power: but volun
tarily I don't choose to place myself where the law
officers of the Government will not advise, or where the
President is powerless to protect. I think the issue will
satisfy you I am right. . . ."
[TO MRS. SHERMAN]
"Santa Fe, N. M., June 7, 1868.
"Sunday.
"... I do not know yet if Grant's nomination and
acceptance will make any changes in our arrangements
for the summer, — think not. Unless he wants me
otherwise I will stay west till he is not only elected, but
actually vacates, and even then some slip may occur in
promotion. My succession is not a matter of course,
as the politicians consider me an impracticable and
dangerous man. I don't think there can be any doubt
of Grant's election, for no candidate thus far named
can beat him. Dix is the best, but he is too old. Chase
and Hancock have too many old charges to carry, and
Pendleton was an out-and-out copperhead, and surely
we of the War could not rest easy with him as a Presi
dent. My own opinion is that, considering the state of
the country, Grant will make the best President we can
get. What we want in national politics is quiet, har
mony and stability, and these are more likely with
Grant than any politician I know of. . . .
"The moment a person is established in Washington
friends begin to cool off and fall away, slander is let
loose and is paraded in capital letters, and underhand
meanness is set to work to effect change. I saw these

YEARS OF PEACE 377
influences at work in Macomb's time, General Scott's
and General Grant's. We may suppose this will not
be the case in future, but it will always be as long as
human nature remains as now. You have realized
some of the annoyances even in Saint Louis, but when
you come to have the newspaper publishing every time
you go to church, every slander that may be started,
every neglect to entertain to suit the demand of an ex
acting public, you will regret the day you ever got to
Washington. I know the place may be pleasant enough
to persons in a private station, but when the people,
collectively and singly, consider every public officer
their servant and menial there can be no privacy, no
satisfaction. "Yet this station may be forced on us, and we may
have to endure it, because we have no choice, but I know
we are far better off as we are now, than we can be at
Washington. . . ." "St. Louis, Mo., July 11, 1868.
"... I was out last evening to Grant's farm where
they are comfortably settled for the summer, almost as
plainly as before the War. He has a horse and borrowed
buggy, a pair of mules and ambulance borrowed of the
quarter-master, and I have loaned Buck, the horse I
bought for Minnie, which he likes very much.
"Next Wednesday he and I will go to Leavenworth
and out on the road as far as Fort Wallace and back,
be absent from here about ten days. . . .
"In Washington it is all talk, talk, and do nothing.
The Republican Congress has shown little talent in

378 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
governing, but it would be dangerous to commit the
Government to Seymour and Blair. Blair is reckless,
especially in money matters, and Seymour was a pure
copperhead during the war. Still I will do or say
nothing in public. . . .
"I believe Grant will be elected in November, and
that I will be called to Washington to command the
Army in that month or before Congress meets, viz.
after he makes his annual report. But he would not
resign his commission till the 4th of March, when if
the office of General be not abrogated I would be pro
moted and confirmed. But I will not be surprised if
the office be abrogated so that his vacancy may not be
filled, and that my rank would be as now. . . ."
To the uncertainties expressed in this last para
graph, time soon brought its answers, and Sherman in
his Memoirs recorded them: "On the 4th of March
General Grant was duly inaugurated President of the
United States, and I was nominated and confirmed as
General of the Army." It was primarily an army of
peace which he was to command — the peace which he
had fought so hard to bring to his country. The civil
peace was not so quickly gained as the military. Now
that all the errors of the Reconstruction Period have
taken their place in history, it is comparatively easy to
point out the things which should have been done dif
ferently, or not at all. But from all the opinions de
livered at the time it would be hard to choose a wiser
sentence than one which the careful reader of this chapter
will have noted for himself. The surgeon who has

YEARS OF PEACE 379
done his work without flinching stands aside when it is
done, and yields to the healing power of nature its
ancient way. The soldier is the surgeon of national
ills, and the thought to which Sherman gave expression
in these words is the thought of a surgeon whose intre
pidity is followed by a no less needful moderation. "I
do want peace," he said, "and do say if all hands would
stop talking, and writing, and let the sun shine, and the
rains fall for two or three years, we would be nearer
reconstruction than we are likely to be with the three
or four hundred statesmen trying to legislate amid the
prejudices begotten for four centuries." The Sherman
of peace deserves to be as clearly remembered as the
Sherman of war.
From March of 1869 until November of 1883 Sherman
remained General of the Army. Through this period
and after it the home letters, for the reasons pointed out
at the beginning of this chapter, grew more and more
like those of the head of any family separated only by
the normal exigencies of travel. It is not needed, there
fore, to make any further explanation of devoting the
remaining pages of this book to a few scattered passages
presenting Sherman's impressions of events and places
related to his public and private life.
The largest single group of letters in these years is
made up of those which he wrote during a trip to Europe
in 1871 and 1872. The picture post-card had not then
arisen to absolve the traveller from all obligations of
describing what he saw, and the letters abound in
descriptions of scenes which the growth of foreign travel
— and the cards themselves — have rendered thrice

380 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
familiar. From these excellent letters, describing also
the persons and places which few travellers could have
seen to such advantage as Sherman at the height of his
world-wide fame, it is necessary to draw only a handful
of brief passages. The letter from which the first is
taken was addressed to his daughter Minnie; the other
letters were to Mrs. Sherman: "Naples, February 22, 1872.
"... Your mother will recall Jenny Lind, who
sang at St. Louis when you were a baby. She was then
quite young, fair and good-looking. When at Florence
we were invited to a party at Madame Goldschmidt's,
who is the self-same Jenny Lind, and she sang for us
whilst her husband played the accompaniment. Of
course I wanted to see Jenny Lind again, and went.
She sang for us some Italian airs, and ' Auld Allan Grey'
— a Scotch song, and I really felt sorry to see the change
time had wrought in her appearance and voice. As
we were leaving the house, she followed me out and said,
taking me most affectionately by both hands, 'Dear
General, I want you to tell your countrymen how much
I love them and love America. I assure you that all
the money I made in America is safely invested in
Sweden in schools and in works of charity.' I explained
to her that it would be some months before I would
reach America, but when I did go there I would surely
repeat what she had said. She repeated the same
remark more than once, I suppose to counteract a
story that her husband Goldschmidt had wasted her
fortune in extravagance and gambling. . . ."

YEARS OF PEACE 381
"Vienna, June 13, 1872.
"... I feel for General Grant in his sad position.
When he entered his present office I believe he intended
what he said — to administer his office according to his
own best judgment — but he soon found that he reckoned
without his host, that Congress and individual senators
controlled all the details of government and that if he
did not concede to senators and representatives, the
appointing power, they would Johnsonize him. In
trying to compromise this difficulty, he has more and
more departed from his true course and now a few de
signing senators and members surround him and he
cannot see beyond them. In other words, — as is the
case here and in nearly all governments wielding power,
influence and money, — a crowd of flatterers surround
him and he cannot know the whole truth. Yet thus
influenced he is better than Greeley who has no stability
at all, no experience in government, who would listen
to all sorts of theories and expedients, and be, in my
judgment, the worst President any country ever had.
"The political elements of our country are fast be
coming so complex, that a day seems not far distant
when we can elect no President at all, or a mere stick
or stone. I will none of it and prefer the ills we have
rather than those that threaten us. Warner and Turner
write to me they are going for Greeley, but I cannot
understand why, for let Grant be what he may, Greeley
surely is — or under like influences will be — worse.
With Greeley as President, both army and navy would
be abolished, and we would have to begin anew, for
Greeley believes in the peaceful reign of editors and

382 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
preachers that would have the whole world ablaze in
five years. . . ."
In another letter he wrote of Grant and Greeley:
"He [Grant] has his full share of troubles, as all the
world now knows and sees, and it would be ungenerous
and ungracious for me to add even a feather's weight to
his load. Whether he would be as forbearing to me or
anybody else is not the question. I would prefer his
reelection, because I believe Greeley would do as much
if not more mischief to us, the military, for whom he has
no sympathy but a positive dislike. Whilst we were
fighting he actually thought we were mere tools in the
hands of the editors and that we did well or ill accord
ing as we followed his many-sided advice. But let who
be elected, my duty is plain and simple. The President
elect must be supported and defended by the Army
and Navy, utterly regardless of persons."
In writing from Paris, July 24, 1872, to Mrs. Sherman
about the possibility of her visiting Europe, he said:
"The people of Switzerland are a good, kind, virtuous
people — cleanly and industrious. The Germans are
headstrong and most positive, but I doubt if you could
stand them in the aggregate. The French make them
selves most acceptable by politeness and by affecting
virtues they do not possess. Their servants are the '
best behaved and trained in the world, and all parts of
the social machine move along without noise or friction;
but with night, like moths, come out the women and
men, on love and mischief intent, so that Paris is one
great carousal. I do not see how American ladies can

YEARS OF PEACE 383
walk the boulevards; indeed I believe they do not, but
in riding they see all the affronting of women and men.
These, however, are parted off by the police carefully,
so that certain gardens and theatres are known to be
for the one class and the others for the rest. I am cer
tain, the conveniences, comforts of living, the ease and
luxuriance of every day life, has sapped the physical
strength of the French people and this is the cause of the
recent defeat by the Germans.
"Their moral sense has also been shaken, and, though
they talk of the day of revenge, one is more disposed to
laugh than to tremble. I do not think you would like
France, though the comforts and ease of living, the
polite submission of the servants, male and female, the
skill of the cooks, etc., would soon banish the moral and
religious scruple — for in this respect, the French adhere
to their forms of religion long after the substance has
vanished." Eight days before, he had written, also from Paris, his
own brief appraisal of the value of his experience abroad :
"The greatest advantage I expect from my tour of
Europe will be that in after years I can understand cur
rent events, and also comprehend perfectly what I read
of the past history."
In September of 1872 Sherman returned to America,
and henceforth the letters are concerned wholly with
native topics. "Washington, May 13, 1876.
"... You need never fear that I will ever be in
fested with the poison of Presidential aspiration, on the

384 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
contrary, the place has no temptations but quite the
contrary. Let Blaine,1 Bristow, and Conkling, trained
in that school of scandal and abuse, have the Dffice if
they want it, each in turn. . . ."
"Washington, D. C, June 2, 1876.
"... Blaine is terribly bothered, and the newspaper
will be full of it. The testimony of yesterday may seri
ously affect his chances for the Cincinnati nomination.
I called to see him last night. He was out, but Mrs.
Blaine and Miss Dodge were there, and told me that
Blaine had gone to consult some friends as to what he
should do with that bundle of letters he had obtained
from Mulligan. That you may better understand the
case, Fisher of Boston was partner of a firm of which
Mrs. Blaine's brother was one, and Mulligan was first
a porter and bureau clerk. As such, he got many private
letters written to Fisher. . . . Blaine finding that Mul
ligan was disposed to use these private letters to his
damage, got possession of them, nominally to look them
over, and then would not return them, claiming that
they belonged to him or Fisher, and that Mulligan had
no right to them. Mrs. Blaine says they contain only
matters of a private nature but such as Blaine does not
wish to be bandied about in the newspapers. Last
night our newspapers were full of it, and doubtless
this morning the same has been heralded all over the
country, especially by papers that want to damage
Blaine. Those who want to be President have a hard
time. ..."
1 Blaine and Mrs. Sherman were cousins.

YEARS OF PEACE 385
"Washington, D. C, June 12, 1876.
"I staid at my room yesterday to prepare something
for the graduating class 1 on Wednesday, and about
noon Bacon 2 came and told me that Blaine had fallen
in the street with apoplexy, paralysis, and all kinds of
complications, and was supposed to be dying. I sent
him up to Mrs. Blaine with a message of sympathy and
offer of services. He returned and repeated that Blaine
was insensible, etc. I hurried up and found him on a
bed in his front parlor, with all the windows and doors
open, Mrs. Blaine and the family and doctors about his
bed, and he lay on his back, with eyes fixed on the ceil
ing, absolutely insensible, occasionally taking a long
breath and a sort of moan. To all appearances he was
a dying man. I felt his pulse and hands. The pulse
was good and his hands and feet warm, and by morning
his limbs. It was manifest there was no paralysis.
From the first I felt confident it was a sort of swoon,
occasioned by carrying too much brain pressure, with
the heat of day superadded. I staid a couple of hours,
and called again at 4 p. m. and 8 P. M. He had turned
on his side and breathed easier and Mrs. Blaine thought
he had recognized her and tried to speak. I have again
been there at 9 A. M. and find him still in a stupor,
though he moves about naturally on his bed, and all
fears of apoplexy and paralysis are gone. Walker
Blaine was summoned from Yale College, is now here,
and my opinion is that Blaine is seriously shocked, that
the excitement of this caucus is too much for him, and
1 At West Point.
8 One of Sherman's aides.

386 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
this may defeat his nomination, though it will cause
much sympathy. I must go to West Point tomorrow,
but will meantime call at Mrs. Blaine's, offering to
assist, and offering the services of my staff, but the
trouble is too many people crowd the house. If any
unfavorable symptoms occur I will telegraph in the
morning. . . ."
"Washington, D. C, November 2, 1876.
"... There is no use concealing the fact that the
country is not free from danger. Should Tilden be
elected the Southern politicians, who are strong pas
sionate men, will demand a full share of the honors
and emoluments of government, and may lord it over
us who were their enemies. The passions and sorrows
of war are not healed enough for us to bear too much.
I hope Hayes will be elected, for it will give more time
for a change that may be inevitable. The Republicans
have made mistakes but have not sanctioned crime.
Next week will settle the question and I am anxious to
have it over. . . ."
"Washington, D. C, November 12, 1877.
"... They are resolved to cut down the Army, so as
afterward to increase it by new regiments commanded
by the Southern officers who deserted in 1861. In the
debates they insult us to our teeth. Saturday they
voted that the Army should be reduced to 20,000 men,
and that more than \ of these should be posted on the
Texas frontier, thereby taking command of the Army
and utterly ignoring the claims of the great Northwest

YEARS OF PEACE 387
for protection against the savage and brave Sioux.
Also they cut down the pay of my staff to that of their
lineal rank, viz., Audenried, Tourtelotte and Bacon —
from colonels to captains. The bill was aimed at Fred
Grant, but they had not the courage to say so in so
many words. The debates of 1860 were not as mean
and vindictive as those of 1877. Last week Congress
took open ground that the Army must not be used to
suppress labor riots. You had better overhaul all the
muskets and pistols in the attic, for a time will soon
come when every householder must defend with fire-arms
his own castle. This may seem absurd, but to such
an ending are we drifting. Also the country will soon
conclude that Congress is a nuisance to be sup
pressed. . . ." "Washington, D. C, August 1, 1878.
"... As to politics I have been and prefer to be as
careful as possible. Politics of party are one thing,
politics affronting the existence of the government is
another. On the first branch no Army officer should
form or express an opinion, for he is sworn to support
and maintain the lawful authorities. But when factions
threaten the life of a President, as in Lincoln's case in
1861, and as Donn Piatt threatened Hayes en route to
the Capitol, everybody, including military officers,
should speak out. Recently also in the South and in
Missouri it is proclaimed to be true Democracy to
justify the Rebel cause, and to ridicule and denounce
the Union cause and those who fought for the govern
ment in 1865. I have heard men on the floor of Con-

388 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
gress boast of having fought against the Government,
and intimate they would do so again. That is not
politics but treason. I want you to read carefully the
enclosed letter of Mr. Broadhead of St. Louis. He
makes the case clear and distinct. Generals Cockrell
and Vest are the Democratic candidates because they
were Rebels and fought as such for true Democracy,
whereas their opponents of the same party, Henderson
and Gentry, are opposed because they were Union men,
and served as such in the 'Home Guard.'
"Broadhead has since the Civil War been a Demo
crat, but even he cannot stand this. I do fear that un
less the Union men of the North are careful, the Southern
Democracy will govern the party, consequently the
country, consequently Jeff Davis and his men become
the patriots, whilst Mr. Lincoln and those of us who
fought will be regarded and treated as traitors. This is
no chimera, but is a struggle now in progress, and may
lead to further strife and blood. . . ."
"Washington, D. C, January 11, 1879.
"... There is a bill in Congress for further reduction
of Army officers, but [it] leaves the enlisted men at
25,000. . . . Sheridan is ten years my junior in years,
and I have had supreme command ten years, and it is
but fair he should have his chance. He don't ask it or
want it, but there is such a principle as 'turn about fair
play.' Now if this bill passes (which I hardly expect,
though it is better than the one sure to come next year)
I can retire with 60 p. c. of pay proper. . . .
"After every war — of the Revolution, 1812 and

YEARS OF PEACE 389
Mexico, the Army underwent the same process of
'Reduction.' "Instead of cutting off the leg, once for good, Con
gress cut off the foot, then the knee, and finally at the
hip joint. We are undergoing the same process now.
The People who were so grateful in 1865 for military
service now begrudge us every cent of pay and every
ounce of bread we eat. Therefore, instead of waiting
to be kicked out for age and infirmity, I think it the
part of wisdom to get out gracefully with an allowance
amounting to a generous pension.
"The Army Bill may not pass, but if it does I know
that it will be wise to step out instead of being kicked
out, as must occur in a very few years, as Harmar was,
as St. Clair was, and as Scott was. Whoever expects
gratitude of a Republic is simply a fool, and whatever
I may be, I don't want to be adjudged that. This is
my reason." "Washington, D. C, June 24, 1880.
"... We have just heard of the nomination of
General Hancock, and the probabilities are that English
of Indiana will be candidate for Vice-President. This
is a strong ticket, the strongest the Democrats could
possibly make, because it will divide the soldier vote,
and will strip the Democrats of the fear lest the South
should regain control of the country. With Hancock as
President there is no danger of any rebellion, so I am
well content with both nominations and can take it easy
—like the fight between the bear and the husband; the
wife was perfectly indifferent which should whip. . . ."

390 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"Boston, Saturday, September 10, 1881.
"... This coming winter is likely to be critical by
reason of Garfield's condition. If unable by reason of the
debility of his wound, new questions must arise, which
can only be settled practically. It is the nature of
government like of individuals to be tested by every
manner of infirmity. If there is a weak place it will be
tested by facts, and not by argument. The Constitution
does not say who is to declare the fact of 'inability.'
If the Vice President is to declare when the President
is disabled, and when he is to assume office, we have
the lion and unicorn fighting for the crown, and as Gar
field and Arthur represent two different factions of the
same party, and as Congress is wonderfully situated,
Democrats and Republicans equal in the Senate, there
is room for a very pretty dispute, if not conflict. If
Garfield can keep his brain power all right, we will
pass the complication all right, and if he dies the suc
cession will be regular and peaceful; but if Arthur
pushed from behind should assume to decide the ques
tion that Garfield is disabled, and that it is for him to
say that he, Arthur, must assume the office of Presi
dent, we may have a pretty fight. I believe Garfield
will be well enough to indicate his general purposes, and
that the Cabinet will remain as now till Congress meets,
to enact a law, which they have a right to do, so that this
defect of the Constitution will be passed in safety. . . ."
"Washington, D. C, September 19, 1881.
"... I now feel that it will be mercy for the Presi
dent to die. He has suffered enough, has borne it

YEARS OF PEACE 391
manfully, and is entitled to rest. I fear somewhat the
political complications, for Mr. Arthur belongs to a
faction of the Republican Party that must be more or
less governed by men of strong wills, prejudices and
passions. ..." "Santa Fe, New Mexico,
"Sunday, September 16, 1883.
"... My official career is now nearly ended, and you
need not fear that I will be tempted by flattery, or a false
sense of duty to embark in political life. The whole
Western world recognizes the truth that since the close
of the Civil War I have so used my power and office as
to encourage the growth and development of the great
West, giving me a hold on their respect and affections
worth more than gold. I have been travelling, in three
months, in beautiful cars abundantly provided with every
comfort, over an extent of more than ten thousand miles
of country, every mile of which is free from the dan
ger of the savage and is being occupied by industrious
families. Of course the Army has not done this, but the
Army has gone ahead and prepared the way, and year by
year I have followed up with words of encouragement.
Every day I am reminded of little things done, or words
spoken which have borne fruit. I honestly believe in
this way I have done more good for our country and for
the human race than I did in the Civil War. I do be
lieve in a fair contest I could beat John Sherman or
Blaine at their own game, but I repeat I shall not allow
vanity or argument to sever me from the course laid
down to spend our remaining days at St. Louis. . . .

392 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
" Were I to choose I would prefer a tent on the banks
of Cceur d' Alene than the White House. . . ."
"St. Louis, Mo.,
"November 22, 1884.
"... The Republican Party gave the negroes full
citizenship and vote, increasing the electoral vote from
three-fifths to five-fifths on the theory that negroes would
all be Republicans, but they simply increased the South
ern vote, and afterwards by Reconstruction created a
Solid South which with the disaffection of a few states
surrendered the political power to the former enemy.
With Mr. Lincoln disappeared the wisdom and shrewd
ness of the Republicans, since which time they have
quarreled among themselves. ..."
"New York, December 27, 1884.
"... General Grant says my visits to him have
done him more good than all the doctors. Mrs. Grant
had got quite uneasy because Grant settles down into a
silent moody state looking the picture of woe, but he
warms up when I or any of his old comrades come to
him. I am just from him now. He is doing what he
should have done in 1868-9 — compiling his Memoirs,
and has made good progress; says they will be ready
for the publisher by May of 1885. His financial con
dition is simply horrid. . . . He is counting largely on
the value of his Memoirs but like most of us will dis
cover that the publishers take 90 per cent. I would not
exchange places with him for a million of dollars. Of
course he and the family take comfort in the fact that

YEARS OF PEACE 393
Ward is a villain and Fish a rascal — but they were full
partners and each is liable for the debts and obligations
of all or either. . . ."
"New York, July 27 [1885]— Monday.
"... Fred Grant told me that in his later days his
father was more and more recognizant of the truth
that I had been his most loyal friend throughout his
military career, that his Memoirs now in the hands of
his publishers will have evidence to that effect, and
therein he distinctly gives me entire credit for the
conception and execution of the March to the Sea
— and that more important campaign through the
Carolinas. Fred knows there were men near Presi
dent Grant intriguing to break the entente cordiale be
tween us — that for a time they succeeded, but the
more Grant came to understand the case he was con
vinced that I had been not only truthful but most
jealous of his fame.
"Already there are whispers of doubt as to the wisdom
of the choice of location for the grave and monument,
but they have gone too far now to recede. I will attend
the private funeral at Mt. McGregor near Saratoga,
Tuesday, August 4, and the public funeral here August
8, by which time I will have seen all or nearly all my
personal friends. . . .
"The Century and North American Review are
persecuting me with telegrams, and personal messages
to write something sensational about Grant, but I
will not. . . ."

394 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
"5th Avenue Hotel,
" New York, June 5, 1887.
"... Blaine is also here, and was at breakfast at
our table. . . .
" Blaine says he is much better, but he looks pale and
soft, and I am sure from personal observation that he
will experience large benefit by residing some months
in Scotland. He told me he had accepted the Carnegie
invitation which was sent him through me, was most
generous and hearty, of unlimited hospitality as long
as he pleased. Blaine described Carnegie's castle as
not far from Edinburgh, north of the Frith of Forth, a
most picturesque and salubrious place. . . .
"[I] got to my room at John Sherman's house [in
Washington] about 5 p. m. and found several notes, one
from Mrs. Endicott saying the President, Mrs. Cleve
land, Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop of Boston and many
others were to dine with them at 7:30 that evening,
begging me to come. I answered by letter saying I
had a couple of family visits to make, but if she would
reserve a seat for me I would drop in and share the
shank of the dinner. I did so, and joined in about
nine. My seat was on the left of Mr. Endicott, Mrs.
Cleveland on his right, Winthrop next her. The
President was at the other end, so the conversation at
our end was between Mr. Winthrop, Mrs. Cleveland
and myself. My left was, I think, the wife of the new
Secretary of the Treasury, Fairchild. Anyhow we
made things lively. In due time the dinner was over,
the ladies went to the parlor, and the gentlemen up
stairs to a smoking room. This included the President,

YEARS OF PEACE 395
Winthrop and most of the gentlemen. About eleven,
the President went down to the parlor and the rest soon
followed. Soon after Mrs. Cleveland made the move
to leave. I went to say good-night. She was very
handsome and gracious, said pointedly that I surely
would not leave Washington without calling on her.
Of course not, her wish was a 'command' to me. I
inquired when ; why not to-morrow ? To-morrow be it
then — at what hour? Between 12 and 1; all right, I
will be at the White House. Of course I was punctual,
and so was she. I was ushered into the Blue Parlor
to which she came dressed simply, and she is really a
fine sample of a well-bred young, beautiful, woman.
The picture of Mrs. Hayes hung* on the wall and she
naturally inquired about her, and I am sure Mrs.
Hayes would not find fault with my description of her,
and of her sojourn in the White House. Others came in
review, among them Betty Bliss, Mrs. Grant and all
whom I had known. I then probably said to her what
Mr. Bancroft had told me an hour before, that no
bachelor president had ever been reelected, and if her
husband was to have a second term it would be to the
fact that he had such a wife. There was not the least
particle of affectation in her manner or conversation;
no posing, no seeming vanity, surely no false pride of
official position. I must have been there a full hour,
and took my leave. That was my only visit to the
White House on that visit. . . .
"I dislike as much as any man living the seeming
drift of public events, the Republicans quarreling over
petty things, and the Democrats quietly and silently

396 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
combining the Solid South with the old copperheads
of the North, by which they have regained the control
of the national government. Although Cleveland did
not help us in the Civil War, he has thus far not per
sonally manifested any disposition to disturb the re
sults of the War. He has admitted into the executive
branch of the government, especially of the diplomatic
service, too large a share of open Rebels, so that foreign
governments may well infer that in the Civil War the
South was right, and only was overcome by brute force
and numbers. To-day not a single Union man, Re
publican or Democratic, represents the United States
abroad. . . .
"I see the papers are abusing John Sherman for
calling attention to this phase of the after war results.
He is right, and it is an insult to us who fought the war
that our enemies whom we defeated in arms now
dominate us in peace, but somehow the right will pre
vail and I am willing to wait.
"Ours is a government of majorities. Majorities
never fight, therefore in peace the non-combatant ele
ment of a Republic must govern. . . ."
"New York, July 7, 1887.
"... There is no doubt that you must like Mollie
Stark be a widow as I must start for my camp on the
Coeur d' Alene. You may laugh at it as an idle fancy,
but no wounded buffalo could have been more fiercely
assailed by the coyotes of the plains, the hyenas of
Africa, than I am by kind, uncompromising friends
(nominally).

YEARS OF PEACE 397
"'Noblesse oblige'— I had to go to the unveiling of
Garfield's statue in Washington, — I had to go to West
Point because from the Secretary of War to the lowest
bombardier they demanded my presence because I was
retired and had nothing else to do; then the same de
mand from New Haven for a soldiers' monument for
the state of my ancestry, and which had done more in
the Revolutionary War and in the Civil War than any
other 'per capita' — then to the Morristown wedding;
again to Saratoga for the Army of the Potomac, each
a new set of flies [ ?], and last this Burnside monument.
"There is and can be but a limit to human endurance.
This last actually made me sick. The celebration was
Monday July 4. There was no Sunday boat, and I
rode up Saturday night alone, having by letter engaged
a room at the Narragansett Hotel, but the inevitable
'Committee' was on my track and met me on arrival —
escorted me to the Narragansett Hotel, where a magnifi
cent suite of apartments was placed at my disposal.
After a short nap I sought for Launt Thompson who
was the artist of the Burnside monument, and we agreed
to take a light carriage and reconnoitre the suburbs of
Providence. One of the committee had his eye on me
and asked if I had no objection to his going along. I
said there was a spare seat with the driver. We started
for the suburbs, visited several places of note, including
the graves of Burnside and Anthony, when the carriage
struck off at a tangent, and by sunset I found myself
in a magnificent dwelling with many swell people, who
were soon joined by others till it amounted to a party
including governors, notables and fashionables. We

398 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
were seated on a beautiful balcony. On rising from
a low rocking chair I felt a mist across my eyes — a sense
of lassitude, never before, and held to a post. In a few
minutes I begged the privilege of walking on the grass,
and gradually recovered. But to me it was a new
sensation, and I begged to be allowed for the privilege
to return to my hotel and get a little rest before the
severe ordeal of the next day — but no, the ladies had a
lunch of which we must partake. This we did and
then our carriage whose horses had been unharnessed
was allowed to take us back some six miles to the hotel.
" Never since the ascent of Vesuvius and subsequent
dining with the Grand Duchess Olga at Naples have I
felt such a lassitude. The next day, July 4, was simply
additional. All Rhode Island was there, we were con
veyed to carriages at 9.30 A. M. I was accompanied by
the principal of the committee, in an open barouche
with four grey horses. The procession was four miles
long and as usual made the circuit of the city — in a
broiling sun, where I was compelled to sit, often with
bare head, till 4J p. m. receiving the shouts and plaudits
of the multitude — winding up on a platform before
which was the veiled statue of Burnside, which was
duly unveiled, saluted, and orated. That over I sup
posed I was free to go to see Ellie 1 at Conanicut, — but
no, a 'lunch' — my special horror. I was in the hands
of the ' Committee,' went, but escaped as early as pos
sible, reached my hotel, packed my bag, and took a
boat for Conanicut — thirty miles down the Bay (Narra
gansett). ..."
1 Sherman's daughter, Mrs. Thackara.

YEARS OF PEACE 399
"New York, August 8, 1887.
"... I am willing to settle down, but that is im
possible, with 4,000 Grand Army posts inviting me here
there and everywhere, at the rate of twenty a week.
There is no escape for this but removal to the Rocky
Mountains. New York is second best, and I will risk
it another year, but if I find it impossible to risk these
calls, the force of which you or no one can comprehend,
I will seek retirement in the Rocky Mountains. John
Sherman says he could not stand this strain for three
months — yet he is willing to venture to be President,
which would kill any man of sensibility in a year. I
have done my best, and must take the chances."
"New York, December 15, 1887.
"... Rachel 1 has just gone to lunch, having waited
some time for Governor Alger of Detroit who is here as
a delegate to some sort of a Republican convention sit
ting at Chickering Hall, to arrange the preliminaries of
the next presidential election. I have been approached
by several to know if in any contingency my name could
be used, but my answer has been, No!
"I think Blaine could be elected — John Sherman
might be, on his record as a financier, because economic
questions will be the burden of the canvass. I believe at
the final nominating convention that Blaine and Sher
man (John) will be so nearly balanced, that the 'dark
horse,' Allison, Hawley, or Harrison, will be the nominee
of the Republicans, Cleveland beyond doubt the Demo
cratic, and the latter will win. It will take fifty years
1 Sherman's youngest daughter.

400 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
for this country to fill up with natives and imported
foreigners, by which time you and I will care little for
the result. . . .
"I have had a fair share of risks, and old Time can
not deprive us of our past sixty years — though he may
summon us any hour. We should be together for
better or worse, and I know of no better place now,
than the Fifth Avenue Hotel. . . ."
"5th Ave. Hotel,
"New York, June 24, 1888.
"... The Chicago Convention is a muddle not
creditable to the party. Notwithstanding Blaine's dis
claimers his friends seem resolved to test his strength.
I suppose at some time he must have written to some
one of them as he did to me, that a man had no more
right to decline a nomination ' than I had to disobey a
military order.' In the correspondence which I retain,
I admitted his argument as to party men, not as to
myself who owed no party allegiance. Blaine is now in
Edinburgh, and I doubt not messages are now passing
under the ocean which will be revealed to-morrow at
Chicago. Unless John Sherman, Harrison, Gresham,
Alger and Allison can agree to-day on some one of
themselves, there may be to-morrow a union formed for
Blaine which he may not be able to resist. In any
event the dissensions among the Republicans which
should have been healed before the Convention will re
sult in Cleveland's reelection. This is the way it looks
to me. . . ."

YEARS OF PEACE 401
On September 16, 1888, a little more than two months
before Mrs. Sherman's death,1 he wrote to her, apropos
of a military ceremonial which he could not attend: "I
have written them that I cannot go, that I am at the end
of my rope; will attend my own funeral, but must be
excused from others."
On February 14, 1891, Sherman himself died in
New York. On the 19th the whole body of citizens
paid him a rare tribute of affection and reverence as
the great funeral procession, civil and military, wound
through the streets. From New York his body was
borne to St. Louis, where it found the resting-place he
had craved beside the graves of his wife, of the child he
had never seen, and of the son, Willy, whose death in
the wartime had turned so much of the light of his own
life into darkness.
It was indeed a life of contrasts, of dark shadows
and the glories of noonday, of apparent failure and
triumphant success. It cannot be expected that the
letters in the foregoing pages will bring to those already
familiar with Sherman and his characteristics a new
conception of the man, for his nature had no secrets
which time has waited to reveal. But for those who
knew him and for those who knew him not, these un
studied letters, the current, faithful transcripts of the
thoughts in his mind, should either refresh or make for
the first time the impression of an extraordinary per
sonality — fearless in thought and deed, unflinching of
insight into himself and others, at once impulsive and
far-seeing, relentless in the execution of great purposes,
1 November 28, 1888.

402 SHERMAN'S HOME LETTERS
yet tender and considerate in every personal relation.
It was the good fortune both of Sherman and of his
country that the turn of circumstance came not too
late for the full exercise of these qualities of greatness
both in the soldier and in the man.

INDEX

Acwoeth, Ga., 294.
Adams, Wirt, 346.
Adams & Co., failure of, 146.
Alexandria, La., 164, 165, 169, 170,
176, 180, 181, 183, 186, 189, 190,
195.
Alger, Russell A., 399, 400.
Allison, William B., 399, 400.
Anderson, Gen. Robert, 30, 187,
188, 190, 191, 195, 215, 216, 217,
218, 219.
Anderson, Mrs. William, 30.
Andersonville, Ga., 305.
Anglo-Saxon, U. S. transport, 253.
Anthony, Henry B., 397.
Arkansas Post, capture of, 236,
237, 270.
Arthur, Chester A., President of
U. S., 390, 391.
Aspinwall, Wm. H., 139, 140.
Atlanta, Ga., 241 ; campaign
against, 288, 289, 291, 293, 299,
300, 301, 303, 304, 305, 306; oc
cupied by Sherman, 308, 309,
311; 321, 325, 332, 340.
Atlantic, U. S. S., 280.
Aubrey, F. X., 125.
Audenried, Col. J. C, 387.
Augusta, Ga., 327.

Bacon, Col. John M., 387.
Badger, George E., 347.
Barnard, Gen. John G., 323.
Barrow (La. cadet), 221.
Bagley, Lieut., 208.
Bailey, Rear-Adm. Theodorus, 42.
Bancroft, George, 395.
Banks, Sen. N. P., 212, 238; at
Port Hudson, 264, 271; on the
Red River, 285, 286; failure of,
at Red River, 289 n., 291; 294.
Baton Rouge, La., 163, 186, 192,
193, 194, 281.
Bear Flag Republic, 101,

Beauregard, Gen. Peter G. T., 195,
200, 203, 209, 210, 211, 212, 215.
221, 226, 302.
Bell, John, 180.
Benton, Thomas H., 107, 122.
Bentonsville, Battle of, 334, 337.
Biddle, Com. James, 74, 98, 101.
Black Hawk, U. S. S., 259.
Blaine, James G., 384, 385, 391,
394, 399, 400.
Blaine, Mrs. James G., 384, 385,
386.
Blair, Francis P., 197, 258, 259,
378.
Bliss, Col. W. W. S., 131.
Bliss, Mrs. W. W. S. (Betty Tay
lor), 395.
Bond, William Key, 12.
Bota Fogo Bay, 55.
Bowie, Dr., 260.
Bowman, Mrs., 140.
Bowman, S. M., author of Sherman
and His Campaigns, 340.
Boyce, Judge Henry, 165.
Boyd, D. F., 285.
Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 168, 195,
221, 226, 232, 262, 264, 274.
Breckenridge, Gen. John O, 180,
221, 344, 346.
Bristow, Benjamin H., 384.
Broadhead, Mr., 388.
Brown, John, 57 n., 162, 163.
Buchanan, James, President of
the U. S., 131, 178, 187.
Buekland. Col. R. P., 317.
Buell, Gen. Don C, 212, 221, 222.
Buena Vista, Mexico, Battle of,
102 n.
Bull, Mr. & Mrs., 22.
Bull Run, Battle of, 199, 201, 203-
210, 214.
Burnside, Gen. Ambrose E., 218,
278, 397, 398.
Burton, Theodore E., Life of John
Sherman, quoted, 172 n.

403

404

INDEX

Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., 200,
328. 359.
Byers, Maj. S. H. M., 333 n.
Calhoun, John C„ 7.
California, Sherman ordered to, 34;
43; proclaimed a republic, 83;
military situation in, 86-88, 97,
100; Sherman's opinion of, 105,
106, 108, 114; Sherman returns
to, 133; panic in, 146, 148;
Sherman again in, 152.
California, steamship, 117.
Cameron, Simon, Sec. of War, 375.
Campbell, Lewis D., 356 n.
Canby, Gen. E. R. S., 291.
Cape Frio, 48.
Cape Horn, passage of, in the
Lexington, 63-67, 71.
Carnegie, Andrew, 394.
Carson, Kit, 111.
Cascarones, 110.
Casey, James, 145.
Cass, Gen. Lewis, 187.
Central America, wreck of the, 150,
151.
Centreville, Va., Federal Army at,
201, 204, 205; retreat to, after
Bull Run, 208, 209.
Century Magazine, 145, 393.
Cerro Gordo, Mexico, Battle of, 107.
Champion Hill, Battle of, 262, 270.
Chancellor, U. S. S., 235.
Charleston, social life of, 32; mili
tary events at, 188, 190; 313, 327,
329, 340, 347.
Chase, Salmon P., Sec. of the
Treasury, 258, 328, 370, 376.
Chattahoochee River, 291, 292,
293, 294, 300; Sherman crosses
the, 301, 303, 325.
ChattanooRa, Battle of, 276; Sher
man at, 277, 288; 289, 290, 298,
302 n„ 307, 308.
Cheeseman, U. S. transport, 253.
Chrraw, S. C, 332.
Chicago, reception to Mrs. Sher
man at, 338.
Chickamauga, Bra^ defeats Rose
crans at, 274.
Churchill, Gen., 237.
Cincinnati, O., 231, 232.
City Point, Va., Sherman, Lin
coln, and Grant meet at, 336, 337,
341.
Clare, Col. W., 311.
Clark, John B., 172 n.

Clay, Henry, 27, 192.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 143 n.
Cleveland, Grover, President of
U. S„ 394, 395, 396, 399, 400.
Cleveland, Mrs. Grover, 394, 395.
Coacoochee, Seminole chief, 17.
Cockerill, Col. Joseph R., 317.
Cockrell, Francis M., 388.
Colfax, Schuyler, 323.
Collingwood, H. M. S., 73.
Columbia, S. C, 317, 327; Sherman
occupies, 332, 333.
Columbia, U. S. frigate, 49, 53, 57.
Columbus, U. S. S., 74, 98, 106.
Congress, struggle of, with Pres.
Johnson, 358-375; debates in, on
Army Reduction bills, 386, 387,
388, 389.
Congress, U. S. frigate, 98.
Conkling, Roscoe, 384.
Conscript Law of 1863, 243.
Cooke, Capt. Philip St. G., 97.
Corcovado, The, 54, 57, 59, 60.
Corinth, Miss., Sherman at, 219,
226-229; 248.
Corse, Gen. John M., 312.
Corwin, Thomas, U. S. Sen., 81.
Crook, Gen. George, 354.
Cuba, Sherman on annexation of,
129, 131, 357.
Cyane, U. S. S., 88, 98.
Dahlgren, Adm. John A., 317.
Dale, U. S. sloop-of-war, 84, 86,
87.
Dalton, Ga., 289, 290, 296.
Dana, Charles A., 256.
Davis, Jefferson, President South
ern Confederacy, 213, 214, 242,
269, 302, 315, 316, 318, 346, 353,
388.
Dayton, Col. L. M., 320, 340.
De Kalb, U. S. S., 257.
Democracy, Sherman's views on,
189, 199, 209, 211, 212.
Dennison, Win., Gov. of Ohio, 314.
Dix, Gen. John A., 376.
Dodge, Abigail (Gail Hamilton),
382.
Douglas, Stephen A., 180.
Duggan, Bishop James, 339.
Duncan, Dr., 113.
Duncan, William, 139.
Emancipation, Sherman's views
on, 178, 197, 229, 328, 353.
Emma, steamboat, 157,

INDEX

405

Empire City, U. S. transport, 253.
Endicott, William C, 394.
England, prospects of war with, in
1839, 6; in 1844, 26; in 1856,
142, 143; sympathy of, with the
South, 198, 199, 330.
English, William H., 389.
Erie, U. S. storeship, 98.
Eurydice, H. M. S., 28.
Ewing, Abba, 8, 10.
Ewing, Gen. Charles, 8, 16, 252,
261, 320, 324, 352.
Ewing, Ellen Boyle. See Sherman,
Mrs. W. T.
Ewing, Gen. Hugh Boyle, 4, 24,
153, 261.
Ewing, Philemon, 8, 15, 34, 36, 71,
116, 117, 287.
Ewing, Theresa, 8, 223.
Ewing, Hon. Thomas, 1, 15, 24,
120, 134, 142, 145, 153, 157, 225,
306, 320, 337, 362. 368, 370, 374.
Ewing, Gen. Thomas, Jr., 4, 153,
157, 162, 197, 198, 203, 361.

Fairchild, Mrs. Charles S., 394.
Farragut, Adm. David G., 308,
323.
Fashion, steamship, 130.
Fayetteville, N. C, 327, 332, 334.
Fellows, Mrs., 165.
Fish, James D., 393.
Fiaher, Warren, 384.
Fitch,  , 283.
Florida, Confederate privateer, 357.
Forest Queen, U. S. transport, 235,
250.
Forrest, Gen. N. B., 297, 310, 312,
346.
Fort Cobras, Brazil, 61.
Fort Corcoran, 199, 203, 204, 213,
217.
Fort Dallas, 17.
Fort Gaines, Farragut takes, 308.
Fort Gratiot, 11.
Fort Leavenworth, Sherman visits,
122, 123; 157.
Fort McAllister, stormed, 317.
Fort Moultrie, Sherman stationed
at, 23, 33; 187, 188.
Fort Pierce, Sherman's life at, 13-
16.
Fort Riley, 153, 155.
Fort Sumter, 30 n., 190.
Fort Villegagnon, Brazil, 61.
Foster, Gen. J. G., 317, 328.

Fremont, Gen. John C, 43, 85, 96;
questions Gen. Kearny's author
ity, 100, 101; 111, 122.
Fry, Gen. James B., 132.

Garesche, Major J. P., 212.
Garfield, James A., President of
V. S., 390, 391, 397.
Garrard, Gen. Kenner, 301.
Gaylesville, Ala., 313, 314.
Gentry, William, 388.
Giddings, Joshua, 163.
Gillespie, Eliza, 231.
Gloria, suburb of Rio Janeiro, 58.
Gold, discovery of, in California,
117, 119; at Pike's Peak, 153,
157.
Golden Age, wreck of, 138, 139.
Goldsboro, N. C, 332, 333, 334,
336, 337, 340, 342, 345.
Goldschmidt, Mme. (Jenny Lind)
380.
Gomez, Dolores, 90.
Gomez, Panchita, 91.
Gonzalez, Senor, 90.
Gordon, Mr., 123.
Graham, Gen. G. Mason, 164, 165,
166, 168, 169, 170, 172, 176, 192.
Grand Gulf, Miss., Grant's move on
Vicksburg by way of, 247, 250;
Sherman's distrust of the move
ment on, 251; 253, 256, 257, 258,
259, 260, 273.
Grant, Gen. Frederick D., 387, 393.
Grant, Gen. Ulysses S., at Shiloh,
221, 224, 225; Sherman's opin
ion of, 227, 228; in Vicksburg
campaign, 235. 238, 244, 246, 247.
248, 252, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261,
263, 264, 265, 269, 270, 271, 272
277; in command of armies west
of the Alleghanies, 278, 279; ap
preciation of Sherman, 284 ; 285
made Lleut.-Gen., 286, 287; 291
296, 297, 299, 300, 306, 310, 314
315, 316, 317, 323, 324, 332, 334
conference of, with Sherman at
City Point, 336, 337; 340, 341
his victories around Petersburg,
342; 343; receives Lee's surren
der, 344; 348, 351, 352, 353,358
Sec. of War, ad interim, 359, 360,
361; mentioned for Presidency
362; 363, 364. 365, 366, 367, 370
372. 373, 374, 375; nominated
376; 377; elected President, 378;

406

INDEX

unfortunate experiences in of
fice, 381, 382; death of, 392, 393.
Grant, U. S., Personal Memoirs of,
quoted, 273 n.; 392, 393.
Grant, Mrs. U. S., 395.
Greeley, Horace, 381, 382.
Gresham, Walter Q., 400.
Grenada, Miss., 238, 248, 252, 256,
273.
Hagqerty, Lt.-Col., 207.
Haines's Bluff, assault of, 238, 247,
257, 258, 260, 265, 270.
Halleck, Gen. Henry W., 59, 60,
222, 225, 256, 272, 287, 348;
Sherman's quarrel with, 350,
351, 352, 353; 354.
Hampton, Wade, 346.
Hancock, Gen. Winfield S., 366,
367, 376, 389.
Hardee, Gen. William J., 320, 326.
Hardie, Gen. James A., 122.
Harmar, Gen. Josiah, 389.
Harper's Magazine, 347.
Harrison, Benjamin, President of
the U. S., 399, 400.
Harrison, William H., President of
the U. S., 347 n.
Hasklns, Maj. Joseph A., 186.
Havana, Sherman visits, 356.
Hawley, Gen. Joseph H., 399.
Hayes, Rutherford B., President
U. S., 386, 387.
Hayes, Mrs. Rutherford B., 395.
Hebert,  , 168.
Heintzelman, Gen. Samuel P., 205.
Helper, Hinton R., 167, 171, 172.
Henderson, John B., 388.
Herndon, Capt., commander of the
Central America, 150.
Hildebrand, Col., 317.
Hitchcock, Dr., 137.
Hitchcock, Gen. E. A., 327.
Hitchcock, Major Henry, 334, 340,
345.
Hoadley, Maj., C. S. A., 249.
Holliday, Thomas D., 221.
Hood, Gen. John B., in command
of Confederate forces at Atlanta,
804, 305; evacuates Atlanta, 308;
correspondence of Sherman with,
309; 311; avoids a battle, 312;
defeated by Thomas at Nashville,
321; 325.
Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 250, 254, 271,
293; Sherman's opinion of, 303.
Horizon, U. H. transport, 253.

Howard, Gen. Oliver O., 303, 304,
306, 317.
Hoyt, Charles, 108.
Hunter, Gen. David, 199, 206, 208,
207, 212.
Hurlbut, Gen. Stephen A., 281,
282.
Impending Crisis of the South,
The, 167 n., 172 n.
Independence, Mo., Sherman visits,
122-125, 126.
Independence, V. S. frigate, 74, 84,
98.
Indian Peace Commission, Sherman
serves on, 355.
Indianola, U. S. S., 241, 242.
Irvin, William, 4, 11.
Irving, Washington, 68.
Irwin, R. B., 340 n.
Jackson, Gen. Andrew, 131, 132.
Jackson, Miss., 261, 262, 267, 269,
270.
Jimeno, Dona Augustias, 116, 118.
John Sherman Brigade, 222, 309 n.
Johnson, Andrew, President of the
U. S., 217, 347; quarrel of, with
Congress, 358-375; offers Secre
taryship of War to Sherman,
369; 371,372; Sherman's opin
ion of, 373, 375.
Johnson, Col., 244.
Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., 209, 221;
in Vicksburg campaign, 261, 262,
264, 267, 268, 269, 270; 285; in
Atlanta campaign, 288, 290, 292,
293, 294, 296, 297, 299, 300, 301;
superseded by Hood, 304 n.; re
stored to command, 333; 336;
defeated at Bentonsville, 337;
342,343; surrenders to Sherman,
344; 348 n., 349, 351.
Juliet, U. S. gunboat, 280.
Kansas, Sherman's opinion of,
156, 158.
Kearny, Gen. Stephen W., 86, 87,
88, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102.
122.
Keeler, Mary, 22.
Kenesaw Mountain, 297, 312.
Kennett, L. A/., steamboat, 162,
163.
Keyes, Gen. Erasmus D„ 205.
Kilburn, Capt. C. L., 167, 327.

INDEX

407

King, James, 145.
Kingston, Ga., 291, 322 n,
Lancaster, Ohio, 1, 11, 15, 121,
137, 147, 155, 162, 194, 211, 218,
274, 275 n., 349, 351, 352.
Larangeiras, Brazil, Valley of, 60.
Lauderdale, Fla., 16.
Leavenworth, Kansas, 135, 153,
154, 158, 162 n., 220 n.
Lee, Gen. Robert E., 250, 294, 297,
310, 311, 318, 333, 336, 342, 344,
349.
Levant, U. S. sloop-of-war, 71.
Lexington, U. S. S., Sherman sails
for California on, 36; voyage of
described, 37-82; Cape Horn
rounded by, 63-66; arrives at
Monterey, 84; 92 n., 94, 95, 98,
102.
Lincoln, Abraham, President of
the U. S., 180, 181, 182, 190, 191,
197, 203, 217, 225, 231, 235 n.,
237, 238, 242, 246, 255, 256, 272,
276, 307, 315, 319, 337, 338 n.,
341, 344, 345, 348, 375, 387, 388,
392.
Lincoln, Willie, son of the Presi
dent, 276.
Lind, Jenny (Mme. Goldschmidt),
380.
Loeser, Lt. Lucien, 81, 94.
Logan, Gen. John A., 303.
Loo-Choo, ship, 98.
Los Angeles (Puebla de), 86, 97,
100, 102, 111.
Louisiana, secession of, 182, 185,
186, 193.
Louisiana Military Academy, Sher
man becomes superintendent of,
161; his conduct of, 173-179; he
resigns his post at, 187.
Lucas, James H., 144, 150.
Lucas, James H. & Co., 151.
Lucas, Simonds, 138.
Lucas, Turner & Co., Sherman
becomes manager for, 133 ; 138 n.,
147, 148; suspends business, 151.
Lynch, Rev. Fr., 32.
Lyon, Gen. Nathaniel, 197.
McArthur, Gen. John, 224.
McClellan, Gen. George B., 198;
in command at Washington,
200; 211; caution of, 212, 214,
215, 216; 218; army of, disabled
by absentees, 232; high profes

sional reputation of, 249, 250;
Sherman's opinion of, 314, 315,
316.
McClernand, Gen. John A., 224,
228; in Vicksburg campaign,
235, 236, 237, 238, 242, 250, 254,
256, 257, 261, 269; Sherman's
opinion of, 272.
McCook, Gen. Alexander McD.,
219.
McCook, Gen. E. M., 305.
McCoy, Capt. J. C, 220.
McCulloch, Hugh, Sec. of Treas
ury, 360.
McDowell, Gen. Irvin, 199, 202,
207, 209, 233.
McFeely,  , 283.
McLaws, Gen. Lafayette, 326.
Macomb, Gen. Alexander, 377.
McPherson, Gen. James B., 254,
261, 271, 282, 284, 289, 290, 292,
293, 296; death of, 302, 303, 306.
Mahan, Prof. Asa, 327.
"March to the Sea," 312, 316-318,
331, 333 n.
Marcy, William L., Sec. of War,
100.
Marietta, Ga., 297, 298, 299.
Mason, Gen. Richard B., 97, 101,
112, 118, 119, 122, 166 n.
Maynard, Horace, 217.
Mazatlan, Mexico, 112, 113.
Meiggs, Henry, 146.
Memoirs of W. T. Sherman, referred
to, 1, 17 n., 23, 36, 83, 116 n.,
120, 122 n„ 126 n., 138 n., 145,
146 n., 150 n., 153 n., 179 n., 187,
194, 195 n., 197 n., 219, 228 n.,
235 n., 259 n., 274, 280 n., 288,
292 n., 309 n., 311 n., 328 n., 337,
348, 352 n., 354 n., 356 n., 378.
Memphis, Tenn., 229, 231, 246,
247, 274, 277, 278, 279, 280 n.,
281, 284, 297, 326, 348.
Meridian Campaign, The, 280, 282-
284, 312.
Merritt, Gen. Wesley, 354.
Mexican War, 26, 28-29, 31, 33, 83,
102, 105, 107, 109, 112, 116.
Milliken's Bend, Miss., 235, 236,
242, 259.
Minor, Lt. Charles, 81.
Mobile, Sherman stationed at, 19-
23; 282, 283, 285, 294, 297, 308,
313.
Moderator, U. S. transport, 253.
Mohawk, U. S. S., 257.

408

INDEX

Monday's Ferry of the Kaw, 126,
127.
Monterey, Cal., 43, 72, 74, 81, 82,
83, 85, 87, 88, 89, 95, 99, 102,
103, 107, 108, 110, 111, 116, 117,
119.
Montez, Lola, 136.
Moore, Thomas O., Gov. of Louisi
ana, 165, 183, 184, 185, 186, 191,
192, 193, 194, 195.
Morgan, Edwin D., 370.
Morgan, Gen. John, 297.
Morton, Oliver P., 370.
Mower, Gen. J. A., 312.
Mulligan Letters, The, 384.
Mun, Mr., 29.
Myers, Mrs., 150.
Naples, 380.
Nashville, Tenn., Grant at, 279;
Sherman at, 288, 307; Thomas
wins battle of, 320.
Necro troops, Sherman's opinion
of, 252, 328 n.
Nelson, Gen. William, 219.
Nemaha, S. S.. 328.
Newbern, N. C, 327, 336.
New Orleans, 112, 121, 129, 130,
131, 132, 133, 137, 167, 172, 183,
187, 190, 191, 192, 194, 238, 294,
366.
Newspapers, Sherman's opinion of,
227, 228, 231, 238, 240, 241,
246, 295, 361.
New York, 35, 67, 147, 149, 150,
152, 183, 192, 241, 394, 396, 398,
401.
Norris, Mr., 106, 108.
North American Review, 393.
Ohio Life and Trust Co., failure
of, 147, 149.
Olga, Grand Duchess, 398.
Omaha, Neb., 359.
Ord, Gen. Edward O. C, 37, 39,
81, 92, 104, 269, 354.
Ord, Dr. James L., 92 n.
Page and Bacon, 138, 146, 152.
Pakenham, Gen., 132.
Palo Alto, Mexico, Battle of, 34.
Panama Canal, Sherman on, 36.
Parades y Arreliaga, Mariano, Pres
ident of Mexico, 31.
Parke, Gen. J. G., 269.
Patterson, Gen. Robert, 200, 209.
Paulding, James K., 22.

Peachtree Creek, Battle of, 303.
Pendleton, George H, 370, 376.
Petersburg, Va., 306, 342.
Piatt, Donn, 387.
Picolata, Fla., 16.
Pierce, Franklin, President of the
U. S., 129, 131, 178.
Pike's Peak, 153, 157.
Pillow, Gen. Gideon J., 346.
Pittsburg, Pa., Sherman stationed
at, 34; 198.
Pitzman, Lt., 244, 265, 266.
Polk, James K., President of the
D. S., 27 n„ 100, 107.
Polk, Gen. Leonidas, 285.
Pope, Gen. John, 233.
Porter, Adm. David D., 235, 244,
256, 257, 285.
Port Gibson, Miss., 270.
Port Hudson, La., 252, 256, 264,
272.
Port Royal, S. C, 318, 323.
Portsmouth, U. S. S„ 98.
Preble, U. S. S., 98.
Prentiss, Gen. B. M., 224.
Presidency, Sherman's unwilling
ness to accept the, 375, 383, 391,
400.
Price, Col. Stirling, 97.
Prime, Capt. Frederick E., 238,
256.
Providence, R. I., 397.
Queen of the West, U. S. ram,
241, 242.
Quicaron Island, 140.
Raleigh, N. C, 334, 336, 342, 344,
345, 346, 349, 352.
Rasa Island, Brazil, 49.
Red River Expedition, 285, 286,
289.
Resaca, Ga., 290, 292, 293, 296,
325.
Resaca de la Palma, Mexico, Bat
tle of, 34.
Rhodes, James Ford, History of
the V. S., quoted, 331.
Richmond, Va., 240, 300, 306, 310,
318, 329, 336, 349, 352 n., 353.
Ricketts, Gen. James B., 164.
Ricketts's Battery, 208.
Rio Janeiro, 35, 43, 48-63, 79.
Roelofson, Mr., 176.
Roler, Dr., 277.
Rosecrans, Gen. Wm. S., 212, 254,
271, 272, 274, 278, 279, 307.

INDEX

409

Russell, Mrs., 121.
Russia, S. S., 336, 350.

Baint Augustine, Fla., Sherman
at, 16, 17, 18.
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, 389.
St. Gaudens, Augustus, 309 n.
Saint Louis, Mo., 120, 121, 123,
126, 128, 133, 142, 151, 152, 154,
155, 196, 197, 198, 241, 355, 360,
362, 370, 377, 380, 391, 401.
San Diego, Cal., 85, 86, 97, 98.
Saltillo, Mexico, Battle of, 96, 102.
San Christovao, Brazil, palace of,
56, 58.
San Francisco, 37, 44, 72, 87, 88.
98, 99, 100, 106, 107, 117, 118;
Sherman in business at, 133-147,
152.
San Juan Beautista, Convent of,
104.
Santa Barbara, Cal., 97.
Santa F<5, N. M., 86, 97, 100, 101,
111, 125, 376, 391.
Santo Bento, Convent of, Rio
Janeiro, 52.
Saratoga, U. S. S., 71.
Savannah, Ga., 313, 316-320, 322,
324, 326, 327, 332, 334, 340, 347,
351, 352.
Savannah, U. S. S., 87, 88, 98.
Schenk, Gen. Robert O, 205.
Schofield, Gen. John M., 285, 289,
293, 301, 304, 310, 334, 337, 345,
347, 349.
Schouler, James, History of U. S.
quoted, 7 n.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 107, 112, 119,
129, 191, 217, 377, 389.
Scribner's Magazine, 220 n.
Sea Gull, U. S. S., 65.
Seaman, ship, 72, 73.
Secession, progress of, in the South,
168, 175, 180, 182, 183, 184, 186,
188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194;
Sherman's views on, 168, 170,
179, 181-183, 185-186, 188, 189.
Seminole Indians, 14.
Seward, William H., Sec. of State,
203, 357.
Seymour, Adm. Sir George, 73, 77.
Seymour, Horatio, Gov. of New
York, 378.
Seymour, Gen. Truman, 286.
Shenandoah, Confederate privateer,
357.

Sheridan, Gen. Philip H, 310, 314,
316, 388.
Sherman, Charles Taylor (Sher
man's brother), 128.
Sherman, Elizabeth (Sherman's
sister), 36.
Sherman, Elizabeth (Sherman's
daughter), 141.
Sherman, Ellie (Mrs. Thackara,
Sherman's daughter), 398.
Sherman, Hon. John, 1, 162 n.,
167, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173,
176, 203, 222, 280 n., 314, 324,
363, 391, 394, 399, 400; his bri
gade, 222, 309 n.
Sherman, Mrs. Mary Hoyt (Sher
man's mother), 73, 128.
Sherman, Minnie (Mrs. Fitch,
Sherman's daughter), 141, 276,
301, 334, 380.
Sherman, P. Tecumseh (Sherman's
son), 331.
Sherman, Rachel (Mrs. Thorn-
dike, Sherman's daughter), 399.
Sherman, Susan (Sherman's sis
ter), 25.
Sherman, Thomas E. (Sherman's
son), 201, 225, 343.
Sherman, William Tecumseh, his
early life in Senator Ewing's
family, 1 ; a cadet at West Point,
3; describes his life there, 5-12;
graduates, 12; stationed in East
Florida, 13; at Picolata, 16;
Mobile, 19; Fort Moultrie, 23;
and Pittsburg, 34; religious
opinions of, 20; his love of paint
ing, 24; determines not to resign
his commission, 24; reads Black-
stone, 25; views on the Mexican
War, 26, 28-29; on the election
of 1844, 27; ordered to California,
34; sails in the store-ship, Lex
ington, 36 ; describes the passage
to Rio Janeiro, 36-48; and the
crossing of the Equator, 45
his visit to Rio Janeiro, 49-62
and the Botanical Gardens, 55
describes the rounding of Cape
Horn, 63-66; his visit to Val
paraiso, 72-76; and the races
there, 77; observations on the
city, 78-80; reaches Monterey,
83; describes the town, 85-86;
and the military situation, 86-
88; attends a "representation"
of the Fall of Man, 90; captures

410

INDEX

a deserter, 94 ; views on the out
look in California, 95-99; and
Frfimont, 100, 101; hunts griz
zly bear, 102; visits Convent
of San Juan Beautista, 104;
unfavorable impressions of Cali
fornia, 105, 106, 108, 114; and
of Com. Stockton, 105, 106, 108;
disappointment at seeing no
fighting, 109, 116; on the dis
covery of gold, 117; goes to San
Francisco, 117; sails for New
York, 119; marries Miss Ewing,
120; promoted to captaincy in
Commissary Department, 120;
stationed at St. Louis, 121; and
New Orleans, 121; visit to Fort
Leavenworth, 122; and Inde
pendence, Mo., 122; entertained
by Indians, 126; views on the
election of 1852, 129; and the
annexation of Cuba, 129, 131;
visits the battlefield of New
Orleans, 131; resigns his com
mission, engages in business in
San Francisco, 133; with ill suc
cess, 133; describes San Fran
cisco in 1853, 135-137; declines
nomination for City Treasurer,
142; discusses possible war with
England, 142-143; returns to
New York, 147; his employers
fail, 152; practises law n Leav
enworth, 153; discouraging views
of Kansas, 156, 158; and of his
own future. 159; appointed
principal Louisiana Military
Academy, 161 ; views of the polit
ical situation, 163-173;opens the
Academy, 173; his methods of
discipline, 174, 175; considers a
business offer from England,
176 n,, 177; views on slavery,
178-179; and secession, 181-183,
185, 188; resigns his position,
187; condemns the course of
Buchanan's administration, 187-
191; president of a St. Louis
street railway, 196; appointed
Colonel of the 13th U. S. In
fantry, 196; declines Chief
Clerkship, War Dept., 196; in
command of a brigade, 199 ; ob
servations on the prospects of
the war, 200; describes the bat
tle of Bull Run, 203-209; and
the lack of discipline in the army,

209,211; commissioned a Briga
dier-General, 212, 217; diffi
culties of his position, 214; as
signed to service in Kentucky,
216; unfortunate experiences
there, 219; at the Battle of Shi
loh, 220-225; wounded, 220;
commissioned Major -General,
226; his opinion of Grant, 227,
228; and of the conduct of the
war, 229-233; stationed at Mem
phis, 229, 230; at the siege of
Vicksburg, 234; and the capture
of Arkansas Post, 237; his un
complimentary views on the
press, 238, 240, 241, 246; his
comments on the strategy of the
siege, 247-255; commands a
feint on Haines's Bluff, 257-260;
in the assaults on Vicksburg,
261-269; comments on the fall
of Vicksburg, 269-273; grief at
his son's death, 275-277, 280;
loyalty to Grant, 278; plans the
Meridian Campaign, 280; tendered
a banquet at Memphis, 280;
clears Mississippi of the enemy,
284; commands military division
of the Mississippi, 288; plans the
Atlanta Campaign, 288; at Re
saca and Da ton, 290, 292, 293;
strategy of his campaign, 294,
296, 298; describes devastation
wrought by his army, 298, 301;
defeats Johnston in three battles,
303; occupies Atlanta, 308; re
moves the women and children,
309, 311; his responsibility for
the phrase " War is Hell," 309 n. ;
plans his March to the Sea, 312;
opinion of McClellan, 315, 316;
reaches Savannah, 316; his
situation there, 318-320; suc
cess of his campaigns, 321 ; death
of his infant son, 322, 324; his
rising reputation, 324, 325, 327;
on the employment of negro
troops, 328; inaugurates the
Carolina Campaign, 331; reaches
Columbia, 332; defeats Johnston,
334; reaches Goldsboro, 334; in
conference with Grant, 336, 337;
moves on Raleigh, 342; receives
Johnston's surrender, 344; terms
rejected at Washington, 348;
anger at Stanton and Halleck, 348,
350, 352; subordinates ordered

INDEX

411

not to obey him, 351; refuses a
review of his army before Hal
leck, 352; in the Grand Review at
Washington, 354; in command
at St. Louis, 355; goes on a mis
sion to Mexico, 356; share in the
Johnston-Stanton imbroglio,
358, 360; interviews with John
son, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368;
views of the situation, 368; de
clines the Secretaryship of War,
369; appointed brevet-General,
371; against his wishes, 372;
opinion of Johnson, 373; ap
pointment withdrawn, 374 n.;
made General of the Army, 378;
his trip abroad, 379-383; com
ments on politics, 384-388;
and on the reduction of the
Army, 386-389 ; refuses to enter
politics, 391; on the death of
Grant, 392, 393; retires, 397;
social engagements of his last
years, 397-399; views on the
campaign of 1888, 399, 400;
death, 401; funeral, 401; char
acter, 401, 402.
Sherman, William T., Jr. (Sher
man's son), 140, 201, 223, 225;
death of, 274-277; 326, 341,
401.
Sherman, Mrs. W. T., 1, 3, 10 n.,
25, 36, 84, 120, 121, 134, 138,
147, 157n., 162, 179, 187, 198, 219,
274, 302n., 336, 338; letter from,
quoted, 348 n.;359, 380, 384 n.,
400.
Sherman Letters, The, 1, 2, 36, 167 n.,
280 n.
Shiloh, Battle of, 219-225, 228,
232.
Shubrlck, Rear Adm. William B.,
88,96,98, 101, 112, 113.
Silver Wave, U. S. transport, 250.
Slavery, Sherman's views on, 168,
169. 178, 197, 229.
Slidell, John, minister to Mexico,
31.
Sloat, Com. John D., 72, 73, 83.
Slocum, Gen. Henry W., 352.
Smith, Gen. A. J., 285, 297.
Smith, Francis W., 169.
Smith, Gen. Giles, 254.
Smith, Gen. G. W., 326.
Smith, Gen. Morgan L., 235, 266.
Smith, Gen. Persifor F., 118, 131,
249, 250.

Smith, Dr. S. A., 171. 175. 186,
188, 189, 193, 194.
Smith, Gen. T. Kilby, 242, 254.
Smith, Gen. Wm. Sooy, 285.
Sonora, steamship, 137.
Spectator, London, 329.
Stanbery, Henry, Attorney-Gen.,
361, 372.
Stanton, Edwin M., Sec. of War,
232, 278, 307, 327, 328, 332, 337,
344, 348, 350, 351, 353, 358, 359,
364, 365, 367, 368, 369, 372, 374.
Star of the West, S. S., 191.
Staten Land, 64.
Steele, Gen. Frederick, 236, 259.
Stevens, John L., ship, 138, 139.
Stevens, Mrs., 140.
Stevenson, Col. John D., 88, 97, 98,
101, 102.
Stockton, Com. Robert F., 72, 73,
85, 96, 100, 105. 106, 108.
Stone, Gen. Charles Pomeroy, 145,
285.
Stoneman, Gen. George, 351.
Sumner, Gen. Edwin V., 156, 157.
Susan Drew, ship, 99.
Sweeney, Gen. T. W., 293.
Tatlor, Capt. J. T., 220 n.
Taylor, Major, 283.
Taylor, Gen. Richard, 195.
Taylor, Gen. Zachary, Mexican
campaign of, 96, 107, 111, 112,
president of the U. S., 120, 131 n,
347 n.
Tennessee, Army of the, Sherman
In command of, 279; in the
Atlanta campaign, 303.
Terry, Gen. A. H., 334.
Third U. S. Artillery. Sherman
commissioned in, 13; at the
battle of Saltillo, 102 n.; 120.
Thomas, Gen. George H., 218, 219,
285; commands Sherman's cen
tre, 289, 293, 304; defeats Hood
at Nashville, 320; 321. 323, 325.
351.
Thomas, Gen. Lorenzo, 252, 256,
359, 375.
Thompson, Jacob, 353.
Thompson, Launt, 397.
Tierra del Fuego, 65.
Tigress, U. S. transport, 253.
Tilden, Samuel J., 386.
Times, London, 329.
Tompkins, Capt. Christopher Q.,
81.

412

INDEX

Tourtelotte. Col. J. E., 387.
Travis, I. D., History of Clayton-
Bulwer Treaty, 143 n.
Trent affair, 79.
Tumlin, Col. Lewis, 292.
Turner, Major, 142, 144, 188, 194,
381.
Tuttle, Gen. J. M., 259.
Twiggs, Gen. David E., 130.
Tyler, John, President of the U. S.,
15.
Tyler, Gen. Robert O., 201, 202,
204, 206.
Vallandigham, Clement L., 315.
Valparaiso, 35, 60, 63, 67, 70, 71;
Sherman's description of, 72-76;
horse-races at, 77; native cos
tumes observed at, 78, 79; evil
resorts of, 80.
Van Dyke, Henry, 309 n.
Van Vliet, Major Stewart, 153.
Vera Cruz, Mexico, 29, 107, 356.
Vest, George G., 388.
Vicksburg, Miss. , siege of, 234, 235,
239-268; sufferings in, 267;
fall of, 269; 270, 273, 282.
Vigilantes, California, 144.
Virginia Military Institute, 161.
Wade, Benjamin F., 278.
Wallace, Gen. Lew, 228.
Walnut Hills, Miss., 261, 262, 263,
266.

" War is hell," 309 n.
Ward, Ferdinand, 393.
Warren, U. S. sloop-of-war, 98.
Washington, Capt. Edward C, 261.
Washington, D. C, 12; Sherman
on duty at, 198, 199; 204; peril
of, 210, 211, 212; 217, 243
emissaries from, at Vicksburg.
256; Grant summoned to, 287
324, 344, 345, 347, 348, 349, 351
Grand Review at, 354; 355, 357
Sherman summoned to, 360
364, 365, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371,
372, 374, 375; Sherman's dislike
of, 376, 377; his headquarters as
General at, 378; 384, 385, 386,
387, 388, 389, 397.
Watkins, Com., 139, 140.
Watts, Major, C. S. A., 246, 249.
Webster, Daniel, 7 n.
West Point, U. S. Military Acad
emy, Sherman's life at, 1, 3-12,
385 n., 397.
Wheeler, Gen. Joseph, 279.
Wickliffe, Gov. Robert O, 173, 175.
Wilkes, Lt. Charles, U. S. N., 65, 79.
Wilmington, N. C, 332, 340.
Wilson, Gen. James H., 351.
Winthrop, R. C, 394, 395.
Wise, Elgee, 186.
Wise, Henry A., 57, 59, 60.
Women, bitter feeling of Southern
268.
Worth, Gen. William J., 19.

18 '«S

YALE UNIVERSITY

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