EARLY MILITARY DUTIES.
WINDING UP THE SEMINOLE WAR--COMEDY AND TRAGEDY IN THE FLORIDA
WILDERNESS--THE CAPTURE OF COACOOCHEE--SERVICE AT FORT
MOULTRIE--GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE SCENE OF HIS GREATEST
CAMPAIGN--SECESSION TALK--OUTBREAK OF THE MEXICAN WAR--REBUKED
FOR TOO MUCH ZEAL--THE LONG VOYAGE TO CALIFORNIA--ARRIVAL AT
MONTEREY.
Immediately after his graduation at West Point, in June, 1840, Sherman
received the usual leave of absence of three months. He hastened back
to Lancaster, eager to be with Miss Ewing again, and spent most of
the furlough there, visiting his relatives at Mansfield for a short
time. Presently he received an appointment and commission as Second
Lieutenant in the Third Artillery, and was ordered to report for duty
at Governor's Island, New York, at the end of September. On going
thither he was assigned by Major Justin Dimock, who commanded the
recruiting rendezvous, to take charge of a company of recruits about
to sail for Florida. Early in October this company, with three others,
sailed for Savannah under command of Captain and Brevet Major Penrose.
At Savannah they were transferred to a small steamer which took them by
the inland route to St. Augustine, Florida. General Worth arrived at
St. Augustine at the same time with the Eighth Infantry, and General
Zachary Taylor had then the chief command in Florida, with headquarters
at Tampa.
Sherman was now detached from the company of recruits, which belonged
to the Second Infantry, and sent to join his own regiment at Fort
Pierce, on the Indian River. He went thither by steamer and anchored
off the bar of Indian River. A whale boat came out and took him and
his baggage with the mails through the surf over the bar, and into the
mouth of Indian River Inlet. There he was transferred to a smaller
boat and pulled through a channel among the Mangrove Islands. It was
now night and thousands of pelicans and other birds were roused from
their roosts on the islands, while the water about them swarmed with
fish which could be seen in the phosphoric wake of the boat. The pilot
entertained Sherman with many stories of the Indian War, which was then
in progress, and of hunting and fishing in the Florida wilderness.
Thus they made their way up to Fort Pierce, which was situated on a
sand bluff. There were six or seven log houses thatched with palmetto
leaves, for the officers quarters, and large log barracks for the men.
Sherman was at once assigned to service with Company A, commanded by
Lieutenant Taylor.
No Indian fighting was at this time in progress, so Sherman spent a
part of his time hunting, and fishing with the pilot who brought him
up the river. Thus he learned the arts of shark spearing, trolling
for red fish, and taking sheep's head and mullet, which were found
there in great abundance. He also caught many green turtles in nets,
these animals being so common that the soldiers actually grew tired of
eating them and preferred salt beef. In November, however, operations
against the Indians began. This work consisted chiefly in capturing
scattered fragments of the Seminole tribe and sending them on to the
Indian Territory. The expeditions were mostly made in boats, and there
was seldom much fighting. One day, however, several Indian warriors
were killed. One of the soldiers, Sergeant Broderick, was so elated
at his skill in shooting an Indian, that on returning to the post he
got very drunk. While in this condition he became too attentive to the
wife of one of his comrades, and the injured husband, a half-witted
man, appealed to Lieutenant Taylor for protection. Taylor carelessly
replied: "Haven't you got a musket? Can't you defend your own family?"
An hour later the husband actually did shoot and kill Broderick. For
this he was arrested and sent to St. Augustine, Lieutenant Taylor and
the pilot, Ashlock, going along as witnesses.
About a month later, Ashlock re-appeared in his old boat with two
uncommonly pretty women, aged about fourteen and eighteen respectively.
They were sisters, and the elder was introduced as Mrs. Ashlock. The
pilot had met and married her during the progress of the murder trial
at St. Augustine. Soon after, Ashlock, leaving the ladies at the Fort,
started back with the whale boat across the bar. In crossing the bar
the boat was upset by the surf, and Ashlock and all his crew but one
man were drowned, Ashlock himself, strangely enough, being unable to
swim. The bereaved ladies were courteously cared for by the officers,
and presently returned to St. Augustine. Sherman afterward met these
ladies again at St. Augustine, and yet again he saw the younger one
many years later at Charleston, South Carolina. She was then happily
married to an army officer, who had a fad for inventing new guns, etc.,
upon which Sherman did not look with much favor; he was bothered with
too many would-be geniuses. And thus ended this romance of the Florida
wilderness.
One day in the summer of 1841 a number of Indians came to the post
accompanied by a negro named Joe, who spoke English. They said they
had been sent in by the famous Seminole Chief, Coacoochee, or Wild
Cat, and showed a passport signed by General Worth who had succeeded
General Taylor in supreme command at Tampa. They said that Coacoochee
himself was close by and would come to the post "if it was all right."
Major Childs said it was all right, and sent Sherman with eight or ten
mounted men to accompany Joe, and one Indian, to bring in the great
chief. Six or seven miles away they found Coacoochee, a handsome young
Indian of twenty-five years, and a dozen other warriors, and invited
them to go to the Fort. They had some little difficulty in persuading
them to do so, but finally Coacoochee dressed himself in all his finery
and went to the Fort. There he said he was tired of the war and wanted
to go with his people to the Indian Territory, but he wanted rations
for a month, which time it would take to get his people together for
the journey. This was agreed to and then the great chief got gloriously
drunk. A few days later he went away, but frequently sent back
messengers for more whiskey and provisions. At the end of the month he
was but little nearer ready to travel than before.
A council was accordingly called, at which Coacoochee became drunk
again. Then Sherman and some of his men put the whole party in irons,
and they were promptly shipped off to the Indian Territory. Among
Sherman's associates were Lieutenants Ransom, Ord, George H. Thomas,
Field, and Van Vliet, all of whom afterward attained distinction.
Writing from Fort Pierce in 1841, Sherman gave this sketch of his
existence there: "Books we have few, but it is no use--we cannot read
any but the lightest trash; and even the newspapers, which you would
suppose we would devour, require a greater effort of mind to reach
than we possess. We attribute it to the climate, and bring up these
lazy native Minorcans as examples, and are satisfied. Yet, of course,
we must do something, however little.... The Major and I have a parcel
of chickens in which we have, by competition, taken enough interest to
take up a few minutes of the day; besides I have a little fawn to play
with, and crows, a crane, etc., and if you were to enter my room you
would doubt whether it was the abode of man or beasts. In one corner is
a hen, setting; in another, some crows, roosted on bushes; the other is
a little bed of bushes for the little fawn; whilst in the fourth is my
bucket, washbasin, glass, etc. So you see it is three to one." Again:
"I have yet more pets than any bachelor in the country--innumerable
chickens, tame pigeons, white rabbits and a full-blooded Indian
pony--rather small matters for a man to deal with, you doubtless think,
but it is far better to spend time in trifles, such as these, than in
drinking or gambling."
Life in Florida did not lessen his fancy for the Western frontier.
"We hear that the new Secretary of War intends proposing to the next
Congress to raise two rifle regiments for the Western service. As you
are in Washington I presume you can learn whether it is so or not, for
I should like to go in such a regiment, if stationed in the Far West;
not that I am the least displeased with my present berth, but when the
regiment goes North, it will, in all likelihood, be stationed in the
vicinity of some city, from which, God spare me." Lieutenant Sherman
prided himself on his downright way of saying things, and in one of
his letters he wrote: "If you have any regard for my feelings, don't
say the word 'insinuation' again. You may abuse me as much as you
please; but I'd prefer, of the two, to be accused of telling a direct
falsehood than stating anything evasively or underhand; and if I have
ever been guilty of such a thing it was unintentionally."
On November 30th, 1841, Sherman was promoted to be First Lieutenant of
Company G, and was ordered on duty at St. Augustine, which place he
reached before Christmas. He had a pleasant time there, but in February
he was sent on to Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, Alabama. There he remained
until June, when he was ordered to Charleston, South Carolina. There he
remained at Fort Moultrie for nearly five years. His life there was one
of strict garrison duty, with plenty of leisure for hunting and social
entertainment. He formed many pleasant acquaintances in Charleston,
especially among wealthy families, who spent the Summer on Sullivan's
Island.
His duties and pleasures, did not, however, alienate him from the
sweetheart of his boyhood, for he kept up as frequent and interesting
a correspondence with Miss Ewing as he had done at West Point. In the
summer of 1863 he got a leave of absence for three months and spent
that time with her at Lancaster. In November of that year he set out
to return to Charleston by way of New Orleans. Part of the way he
travelled with Henry Stanbery, afterward Attorney General of the United
States. At Cincinnati he spent some time with his two brothers, who
were employed in the _Gazette_ printing office. He spent a week at
St. Louis, visiting the arsenal and Jefferson Barracks, and was much
impressed with the future possibilities of the city, which then had
only about 40,000 inhabitants.
So he returned to Charleston, and there he was a busy student,
concerning himself chiefly with observations of the country from a
professional point of view. Says Mr. Reid in his "Ohio in the War":
"Nothing could more strikingly exhibit the foundations of that
wonderful knowledge of the topography and resources of the South which
was afterwards to prove so valuable, than this scrap of a letter to
Philemon Ewing: 'Every day I feel more and more in need of an atlas,
such as your father has at home; and as the knowledge of geography, in
its minutest details, is essential to a true military education, the
idle time necessarily spent here might be properly devoted to it. I
wish, therefore you would procure for me the best geography and atlas
(not school) extant.'" Writing from Fort Moultrie he said: "Since my
return I have not been running about in the city or the island, as
heretofore, but have endeavored to interest myself in Blackstone. I
have read all four volumes, Starkie on 'Evidence,' and other books,
semi-legal and semi-historical, and would be obliged if you would give
me a list of such books as you were required to read, not including
your local or State law. I intend to read the second and third volumes
of 'Blackstone' again; also 'Kent's Commentaries,' which seem, as far
as I am capable of judging, to be the basis of the common law practice.
This course of study I have adopted from feeling the want of it in the
duties to which I was lately assigned.... I have no idea of making the
law a profession; but as an officer of the army, it is my duty and
interest to be prepared for any situation that fortune or luck may
offer. It is for this alone that I prepare and not for professional
practice."
Soon after getting back to Charleston he was assigned to duty in the
upper part of Georgia and Alabama, and on this errand he travelled
over the region in which, many years later, he conducted one of his
greatest campaigns. Thus he acquired knowledge which was afterward of
incalculable value to him and to the National Government.
In the winter of 1844-45, he was on a deer hunting expedition on
the Carolina coast, and got his right arm thrown out of joint by an
accident. Being thus disabled he got a leave of absence and went North,
going as usual to the centre of attraction at Lancaster. In March he
returned to Fort Moultrie, just at the time when Congress provided for
the annexation of Texas and war with Mexico was expected. He remained
at Fort Moultrie, however, for some time longer. Charleston was then a
proud, aristocratic city, and considered itself a most important place
in the Union. There was already much talk about the right of secession
and there were often angry controversies over the subject, even at the
officers' own mess-tables. But Sherman at this time had no idea that
such talk would ever go further than it had already gone in 1832-33,
when "Nullification" was so promptly stamped out by President Jackson
and General Scott.
In the spring of 1846 Sherman was at Fort Moultrie, under the command
of Captain, afterward General, Robert Anderson. Among other officers
there at the time were Henry B. Judd, George B. Ayres, William Gates,
Martin Burke, E. D. Keyes, T. W. Sherman, H. B. Field and Joseph
Stewart. George H. Thomas and John F. Reynolds had already gone on to
join General Taylor's army in Texas. In April, Sherman was sent to
Governor's Island, New York, and thence to the recruiting station at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soon after this he received authority to open
a recruiting station at Zanesville, Ohio, to his great delight, for
Lancaster and Miss Ewing were only thirty-six miles away.
When news arrived of the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma
he became much excited at the prospect of actual war and hurried back
to Pittsburgh. There he found a letter from his friend Ord, then at
Baltimore, saying that his company had just received orders to go to
California and urging him to go also. Sherman at once wrote to the
Adjutant-General, at Washington, D. C., applying for active service.
Then, in his impatience and without authority, he left a corporal in
charge of his office and hastened to Cincinnati. There he reported to
Colonel Fanning, a veteran officer, and asked to be sent on to the
front. But Fanning, instead of appreciating the young soldier's zeal,
gave him a hearty scoring for leaving his post without orders, and told
him to get back to Pittsburgh as quickly as he could. Sherman obeyed,
but of course stopped off at Lancaster on the way. He arrived at
Pittsburgh late in June and found there awaiting him an order relieving
him from the recruiting service and assigning him to Company F, then
under orders for California. He made up his accounts, turned over the
balance of cash to the physician, and in a few hours was on his way to
New York where his company was already aboard ship and ready to sail
for California by the way of Cape Horn.
Sherman and his fellow officers went aboard on July 14th, 1846, and set
off on their long voyage. The "Lexington" was an old ship, formerly a
sloop of war but now a store ship. Sherman and Ord roomed together.
On the voyage they drilled the men as thoroughly as possible. They
amused themselves with various games, but no gambling was allowed.
On "crossing the line" a few of the greenhorns were put through the
usual ceremonies, but the officers were exempted. In sixty days they
reached Rio Janeiro, where they had a jolly time for a week. Sherman's
companion in his rambles about town was Lieutenant, afterward General
Halleck. They saw the Emperor and his family. Their first supper in the
city was a sumptuous meal and the bill footed up to 26,000 reis. This
sum staggered them, until they found out that it meant only about $16.
From Rio they proceeded to Cape Horn, which they rounded in very rough
weather, and in sixty days reached Valparaiso, where they remained ten
days. About the middle of January they neared the California coast,
which they had to approach cautiously because no trustworthy charts
were then in existence. They made their landing at Monterey, and there
learned that the Californians had broken out into an insurrection,
that the fleet under Commodore Stockton was down the coast near San
Diego, that General Kearney had been defeated in battle, and that the
whole country was in a pretty bad plight. Accordingly they got their
weapons into shape for immediate use and expected to begin fighting the
moment they set foot on the shore. It was January 26th, 1847, when they
dropped anchor in the bay of Monterey, after a voyage of one hundred
and ninety-eight days from New York.