[Speech of General William T. Sherman at the eighty-first annual
dinner of the New England Society in the City of New York, December
22, 1886. Judge Horace Russell presided and introduced General
Sherman as a son of New England whom the Society delighted to
honor. The toast proposed was, "Health and Long Life to General
Sherman." The General was visibly affected by the enthusiastic
greeting he received when he rose to respond.]
MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY OF NEW
YORK:--Were I to do the proper thing, I would turn to my friend on
the left [T. DeWitt Talmage] and say, Amen; for he has drawn a glorious
picture of war in language stronger than even I or my friend, General
Schofield, could dare to use. But looking over the Society to-night--so
many young faces here, so many old and loved ones gone--I feel almost as
one of your Forefathers. [Laughter and applause.] Many and many a time
have I been welcomed among you. I came from a bloody Civil War to New
York twenty or twenty-one years ago, when a committee came to me in my
room and dragged me unwillingly before the then New England Society of
New York. They received me with such hearty applause and such kindly
greetings that my heart goes out to you now to-night as their
representatives. [Applause.] God knows I wish you, one and all, the
blessings of life and enjoyment of the good things you now possess, and
others yet in store for you.
I hope not to occupy more than a few minutes of your time, for last
night I celebrated the same event in Brooklyn, and at about two or three
o'clock this morning I saw this hall filled with lovely ladies waltzing
[laughter], and here again I am to-night. [Renewed laughter. A voice,
"You're a rounder, General."] But I shall ever, ever recur to the early
meetings of the New England Society, in which I shared, with a pride and
satisfaction which words will not express; and I hope the few I now say
will be received in the kindly spirit they are made in, be they what
they may, for the call upon me is sudden and somewhat unexpected.
I have no toast. I am a rover. [Laughter.] I can choose to say what I
may--not tied by any text or formula. I know when you look upon old
General Sherman, as you seem to call him [Oh, oh!]--pretty young yet, my
friends, not all the devil out of me yet, and I hope still to share with
you many a festive occasion--whenever you may assemble, wherever the
sons of New England may assemble, be it here under this Delmonico roof,
or in Brooklyn, or even in Boston, I will try to be there. [Applause.]
My friends, I have had many, many experiences, and it always seems to me
easier to recur to some of them when I am on my feet, for they come back
to me like the memory of a dream, pleasant to think of. And now,
to-night, I know the Civil War is uppermost in your minds, although I
would banish it as a thing of trade, something too common to my calling;
yet I know it pleases the audience to refer to little incidents here and
there of the great Civil War, in which I took a humble part. [Applause.]
I remember, one day away down in Georgia, somewhere between, I think,
Milledgeville and Millen, I was riding on a good horse and had some
friends along with me to keep good-fellowship. [Laughter.] A pretty
numerous party, all clever good fellows. [Renewed laughter.] Riding
along, I spied a plantation. I was thirsty, rode up to the gate and
dismounted. One of these men with sabres by their side, called
orderlies, stood by my horse. I walked up on the porch, where there was
an old gentleman, probably sixty years of age, white-haired and very
gentle in his manners--evidently a planter of the higher class. I asked
him if he would be kind enough to give me some water. He called a boy,
and soon he had a bucket of water with a dipper. I then asked for a
chair, and called one or two of my officers. Among them was, I think,
Dr. John Moore, who recently has been made Surgeon-General of the Army,
for which I am very glad--indebted to Mr. Cleveland. [Laughter and
applause.] We sat on the porch, and the old man held the bucket, and I
took a long drink of water, and maybe lighted a cigar [laughter], and it
is possible I may have had a little flask of whiskey along. [Renewed
laughter.]
At all events, I got into a conversation; and the troops drifted along,
passing down the roadway closely by fours, and every regiment had its
banner, regimental or national, sometimes furled and sometimes afloat.
The old gentleman says:--
"General, what troops are these passing now?"
As the color-bearer came by, I said: "Throw out your colors. That is the
39th Iowa."
"The 39th Iowa! 39th Iowa! Iowa! 39th! What do you mean by 39th?"
"Well," said I, "habitually, a regiment, when organized, amounts to
1,000 men."
"Do you pretend to say Iowa has sent 39,000 men into this cruel Civil
War?" [Laughter.]
"Why, my friend, I think that may be inferred."
"Well," says he, "where's Iowa?" [Laughter.]
"Iowa is a State bounded on the east by the Mississippi, on the south by
Missouri, on the west by unknown country, and on the north by the North
Pole."
"Well," says he, "39,000 men from Iowa! You must have a million men."