TRAITS AND INCIDENTS.
HIS POSITIVE REFUSAL TO BE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE--REMEMBERING
A CALIFORNIA DRUMMER--DEALING WITH A NEWSPAPER AT MEMPHIS--
SUPPRESSING PRAISE OF HIMSELF AT SAVANNAH--CONFISCATING
MEDICINE--THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION--HIS LOVE OF MUSIC--EXCUSES
FOR SWEARING--A TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER--AN INCIDENT AT YALE--
EXPRESSIONS OF KIND FEELING TOWARD THE SOUTH AND TOWARD HIS FOES.
The lives of few men have contained more picturesque incidents than did
Sherman's. His nervous, impulsive nature and frank, open manner made
him the hero of many episodes which are the delight of story-tellers.
His conversation, also, bristled with epigrammatic sayings well worth
repeating and preserving. His death called forth a perfect flood of
reminiscences. Every one who had ever known him had something to relate
regarding him; some humorous or dramatic incident, some kind deed, some
quaint or wise remark. Many of these are doubtless apocryphal; and of
those that are true even the compass of a biography will give space for
but few. But no biography of Sherman would be complete without some of
them, in which the nature of the man so clearly stands revealed.
Reference has already been made to Sherman's dislike of politics. He
was often spoken of as a candidate for the Presidency, but never with
his own approval or consent. As early as February, 1876, he wrote to a
friend as follows:
"I never have been, and am not now, and never shall be, a candidate
for the high office of President before any convention of the people.
I shall always prefer to see that office filled by one of the millions
who in the Civil War stood by the Union firm and unequivocally; and of
these I notice many names willing and capable. Prominent among them is
that of General Hayes, now Governor of Ohio, whom we know as a fine
officer and a gentleman in every sense. I do not, however, wish to be
understood as presuming to advise anybody in the choice of the man. My
wife and family are strong Catholics, but I am not; that, however, is
nobody's business. I believe in the common schools, and don't stop over
the little matters which seem to be exaggerated by the press. In some
quarters, however, these schools are extravagant and indulge in costly
buildings and expensive teachers, so as to be too heavy a burden to the
taxpayers. This tendency ought to be checked, which may easily be done
without making it a political question. Self-interest will regulate
this and make them free schools to all and capable of imparting the
rudiments of a good English education."
Being asked, after the publication of this letter,--which by the way,
he did not expect,--whether he really meant it, he said he did.
"Suppose you were nominated?"
"I would decline."
"Suppose the nomination were unanimous and enthusiastic?"
"I would decline anyway. I cannot think of any circumstances that
would induce me to accept the nomination. There are so many men in
the country better fitted for the place than I am. I have no civil
experience, as every President should have. The country wants a change
in this respect. Military men know no way of settling troubles
except to fight, and our country is now so peaceful that a different
policy is needed. We want a civic President, and not a military one."
[Illustration: THE RIDERLESS WAR-HORSE]
And years after that he again declared that he was not a candidate for
the Presidency; that if nominated he would decline, and if elected he
would refuse to serve.
An incident which occurred in Philadelphia some three years before his
death illustrates Sherman's remarkable powers of memory.
He was visiting his daughter, and while sitting at the open window
smoking one midsummer night he saw the policeman pass, and as the
patrolman halted a moment the General was noticed to give him a keen
glance and utter an exclamation. The next evening he told some one to
say to the policeman on the beat, when he passed, that the General
wanted to speak to him. When the officer entered he straightened up and
gave General Sherman the regular military salute.
"Ah, ha," said the General. "I thought so. Now, where was it I saw you
before? Do you know me?"
"Oh, yes," said the bearded patrolman. "I knew you when you were a
lieutenant. I was your drummer in California."
"Ha, ha, I thought so; and wait a bit. So you were that little drummer
boy, and your name--your name's Hutchinson."
Another authentic story reveals the kindly humor of the man, even
amid the stern scenes of war. It is told by Mr. H. L. Priddy, who,
with a Mr. Brower, conducted _The Argus_ newspaper at Memphis when
Sherman was commander there. "_The Argus_" says Mr. Priddy, "was the
only paper published at Memphis then. Brower and I had to simulate a
degree of loyalty, but whenever we got a chance we cheered the Stars
and Bars. General Sherman gave us considerable latitude, but finally we
went too far, and he called us down. He did it in a gentlemanly way,
however, that didn't wound our feelings. He galloped up to the office
one day about noon, threw the bridle rein of his big black stallion
to an orderly and strode into the editorial room. A crowd of citizens
gathered on the other side of the street mourned for the fate of the
newspaper and the editors. I think they had an idea that Sherman was
going to amputate our heads and 'pi' all the forms. But he didn't. He
sat down and rested his feet on the table and said:
"'Boys' (we were both youngsters), "I have been ordered to suppress
your paper, but I don't like to do that, and I just dropped in to warn
you not to be so free with your pencils. If you don't ease up you will
get into trouble."
"We promised to reform, and as the General seemed so pleasant and
friendly, I asked him if he couldn't do something to increase the
circulation of currency. There was no small change, and we had to use
the soda water checks of a confectioner named Lane. We dropped soda
water checks in the contribution box at the church, paid for straight
whiskey with them and received them for money. If Lane had closed his
shop the checks would have been worthless.
"General Sherman comprehended the situation, and quick as a flash said:
'You need a medium of exchange that has an intrinsic value. Cotton is
king here. Make cotton your currency. It is worth $1 a pound. Make
packages containing eight ounces represent 50 cents, four ounces 25
cents, and so on. Cotton is the wealth of the South right now. Turn it
to money.'
"'But the money drawers wouldn't hold such bulky currency,' said I.
"'Make 'em larger,' said the General, and with that he strode off.
"As he mounted his horse and galloped away he shook his whip at Brower
and me and shouted: 'You boys had better be careful what you write, or
I'll be down on you.'"
At Savannah, just after he had captured it, Sherman had another
controversy with a newspaper man, one "Tom" Miles, from Boston. The
latter, on getting into Savannah with the army, went prospecting
round the city, and presently, according to the teller of the story,
in _The Boston Post_, found himself in a vacated printing office. It
presented a golden opportunity. There were types and presses and all
the paraphernalia essential to business, with a form on the press,
which the printer had left in his flight, and Miles, taking out the
editorial and other offensive matter, filled its columns with healthy
Union sentiment, with the aid of one or two of the craft whom he had
discovered in the army. His leader was a rich specimen of crowing over
the victory, in which he extolled General Sherman as the greatest hero
since Alexander, and his army the finest and best disciplined that the
world ever saw. With this grand flourish of trumpets the first number
was issued, and Miles lay back in his editorial chair, contemplating
his work with the belief that he had achieved the next triumph to
Sherman's, and wondered what the conqueror would say when he saw the
praises he had heaped upon him. The next morning as the General and his
staff were about taking breakfast, a paper was handed to him, and he
commenced to read the leader which was so lavish in his praise.
"Look here!" said he, red and furious. "What the d----l does this
mean? Who knows anything about this paper?"
His orderly, who had known something about its preparation, explained
to him that it was the work of the literary gentleman who had followed
the expedition.
"Well," said the General, "go down to the office and tell him to
discontinue his paper or I'll put him under guard. I won't have such
cursed stuff printed about me when I can prevent it. Abuse is bad
enough, but this is a deuced sight worse."
Down went the orderly, and the confusion of poor Miles was overwhelming
when he got the squelcher from the General commanding.
"Why, it was all praise," said he.
"No matter for that. If it had been the other way it would have been
treated just the same."
So Miles moved a compromise--we hardly know what--and urged the
official to express his regrets and beg the removal of the injunction,
which was promised. The appeal was successful, and soon the officer
came back to inform him that permission was granted him to run his
paper, on condition that he should never mention the General's name
again. This was agreed to, and the paper appeared. After a day or two
an aide came down one morning with an order from General Sherman, for
publication. Miles glanced it over and handed it back.
"It can't go in, sir," he said.
"Why not?" asked the astonished messenger, who was a stranger.
"Because it has Sherman's name to it," was the reply.
"That's the reason why it _must_ go in," urged the aide.
"And that's the reason why it _shan't_. He stopped my paper for
praising him, and I promised him that his name should never appear in
my columns again, and hang me if it shall."
Miles stood resolute, and the officer returned for orders, expecting
the ordering out of a file of men and an arrest, but was astonished to
see the General burst into the heartiest laugh and hear him confess
that the printer had the best of it. The messenger was sent back with a
conciliatory note, and there was no more trouble.
Sherman himself once related an interesting story about a prominent
citizen of Savannah who came to his headquarters after he had captured
that city. The gentleman was in great trepidation and informed the
General that he had some valuable pictures in his house. The General
said they were entirely safe. He said he also had a collection
of family plate of great intrinsic value, and, on account of its
associations, very precious to him and his family. The General told him
he would put a guard about his house if necessary. Then, in a burst
of frank confidence, produced by this generous response to his fears,
he revealed to General Sherman that he had buried in his back yard a
large quantity of priceless Madeira, of the oldest and rarest vintages,
and estimated to be worth over $40,000 before the war. The General
responded at once: "That is medicine, and confiscated to the hospital."
What the hospital did not need he distributed among the troops.
General Sherman was fully informed of the movements of Jefferson Davis,
and in a position to put his hand upon and arrest him at almost any
time after Davis left Richmond. He consulted Mr. Lincoln as to what
he would better do, saying to the President that he did not know but
what he, the President, would be relieved by not having the President
of the Southern Confederacy on his hands, and asking for instructions.
President Lincoln's instructions were given in this form: "Sherman,
many years ago, up in Illinois, I knew a temperance lecturer who had
been an habitual drunkard. He met, on an anniversary occasion, a number
of his old boon companions. They were urging him to celebrate it with
them in the usual way, and he finally said: 'Boys, I must stick to my
principles; but if you could get some whiskey into my water unbeknownst
to me I might join you!'"
The General after that made no effort to capture Jefferson Davis, and
regretted that he did not reach the schooner in which he was intending
an escape to Cuba.
Abram S. Hewitt, in addressing the Chamber of Commerce, New York, told
of an experience of his with General Sherman, then in command of the
army, at the time of the Electoral Commission's existence. There was a
good deal of apprehension lest Congress might break up without settling
the contest for the Presidency. "If Congress failed to do its duty,
what will you do under the circumstances?" Mr. Hewitt asked the General.
"I have sworn to obey the Constitution of the United States," was the
answer, "and I will do my duty. The term of President Grant expires
at noon on March 4. The people of the United States have elected a
President and competent authority will decide who is elected."
"But if Senate and House fail to agree?"
"Then, if I must, I shall obey the man selected by the Senate."
"That reply," said Mr. Hewitt. "I felt meant much for the peace of
the country, although the General's choice was not my own. To him we
owe not only much for the termination of the civil war, but for the
preservation of peace."
On one occasion, when visiting his sister, Mrs. Ewing, Gen. Sherman
met four or five Presbyterian clergymen, and his patience was rather
severely tried by their religious discussions, and what seemed to him
their intolerant and one-sided views. One of them challenged him to
offer any excuse for swearing, meeting him with the clinching statement
that there could be no redemption for blasphemers.
"Were you," inquired the young soldier, "ever at sea in a heavy gale,
with spars creaking and sails flapping, and the crew cowardly and
incompetent?"
"No."
"Did you ever," he continued gravely, "try to drive a five-team ox-cart
across the prairie?"
"No."
"Then," said Capt. Sherman, "you know nothing of temptations to
blasphemy--you know nothing about extenuating circumstances for
blasphemers--you are not competent to judge!"
Gen. Sherman was proud of tracing his powers of endurance to his
mother, to whom he also frequently ascribed the heritage of other
soldierly characteristics.
"She married very young," said the General--"her husband, who was
not very much older, being a lawyer with hope and ambition for his
patrimony and all the world before him where to choose. He chose Ohio,
leaving his young wife in Jersey City while he made a home for her in
what was then a far country.
"Soon as he had made a home for her she went to him. She rode on
horseback, with her young baby in her arms, from Jersey City to Ohio,
the journey occupying twenty-three days! What would a New York bride
say to such a journey as that? I'm afraid she'd want to wait until her
husband had made money enough to have a railroad built for her."
Israel Smith, of New Bedford, was Band-master of the Massachusetts 33d
Regiment on the march from Atlanta to Savannah. In speaking of General
Sherman Mr. Smith said: "He was very fond of music, and the 33d gave
many a concert at his headquarters. One time when the regiment had gone
into camp, General Sherman sent word to me to come to his headquarters
and play for him. I sent word back that my men were mostly sick, not
enough being left to give a decent concert. Whereupon Sherman sends
back word. 'Bring over your band and play soft music to soothe my
nerves.'" When the Army was drawn up around Savannah, the first concert
in two weeks was given. When Smith was about to go away Sherman called
him and said: "I want you to have your band in readiness to play next
Thursday, in the square in Savannah." Early on Thursday morning Mr.
Smith received his orders to march to the square, and there, while the
city was being evacuated, he played the National airs.
Sherman went to Yale College in 1876, to see his son graduated. He
was made the guest of honor of the occasion, given a seat next to
President Noah Porter at all the exercises, and the degree of LL.D. was
conferred on him. The displays of academic eloquence were long. During
the orations Sherman slipped out of the chapel, and his absence was not
noticed for some time. When it was noticed a deputation of the faculty
rushed off to discover the whereabouts of their distinguished guest.
Their quest was of short duration. On a bench in front of the chapel
General Sherman was seated, puffing his cigar and engaged in animated
conversation with an old negro who had just been discharged from the
workhouse and who was smoking one of the General's havanas. He felt the
need of a smoke, saw no reason why he should not take a cigar without
disturbing any one, and had fallen into conversation with the only
other occupant of the park bench. It afterward was made evident that
General Sherman in his short conversation had learned more about the
manner in which the New Haven workhouse was conducted than any member
of the Yale faculty knew.
Sherman's interest in the Pacific Railroad was referred to by General
Wager Swayne, who said:--
"As long ago as 1849 General Sherman wrote a letter to his
brother, John Sherman, which the latter published in _The National
Intelligencer_, advocating the construction of a railroad across the
continent, and he was an untiring friend of the road from that time
until its completion, in the summer of 1869.
"He told me that if at the time of writing that letter to his brother
John he could have secured the immediate construction of a railroad
across the continent by signing a contract to lay down his own life, he
should have done it, he thought.
"In his "Memoirs" he gives an account of carrying from Sonoma, Cal.,
to Sacramento, to the commanding officer of the United States forces
there, an order to make a survey of the Feather River, so as to
ascertain the feasibility of constructing a railroad through the valley
of that stream. That was the first survey ever made with a view to the
construction of a transcontinental road, and while the General does not
say so in his "Memoirs," I have from his own lips that the impulse and
the conception were his own, and he procured the signature to the order
of the commanding general by personal solicitation.
"When, at the close of the war, General Granville M. Dodge was called
from the Army, being then still in service, to take charge of the
construction of the Union Pacific road, General Sherman not only
gave him leave cordially, but he also spontaneously promised him all
possible assistance, and General Dodge has testified, in an elaborate
paper, that he does not see how he could have built the road except
with the countenance and support which he received from General
Sherman, as the Indians were then a power on the plains.
"In the summer of 1869, twenty years after his first letter on the
subject, General Sherman stood in the War Department, and heard the
strokes from an electric bell, which announced the successive blows of
the hammer on the last spike in the construction of the road, and he
told me that in view of his long interest in the enterprise, he felt,
as he himself put it, as if the Lord might come for him then."
General Cyrus Bussey, assistant Secretary of the Interior, was an old
comrade and close friend of Sherman, and he said of him:
"I first met General Sherman at Benton Barracks, Mo., in November,
1861. I had reported there with a full regiment of cavalry. General
Sherman had just assumed command, after having been relieved in
Kentucky under a cloud, being charged with insanity. I spent many
evenings with the General at his headquarters, and received from him
many valuable lessons which greatly aided me as an officer of the Army
during all my subsequent services. During the siege of Vicksburg I
was chief of cavalry, and served immediately under General Sherman's
command. I saw much of him during the siege, and led the advance of
his army in the campaign to Jackson, against Joe Johnston's army,
immediately after the fall of Vicksburg. After the enemy was routed and
driven out of the country my command occupied the rear, and General
Sherman accompanied me both on the advance and on the return to our
camps in the rear of Vicksburg. So I had an excellent opportunity of
becoming intimately acquainted with him, and there I formed a great
admiration for him as a man and a general.
"One circumstance I wish to mention. While waiting at Jackson after
the retreat of Johnston, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
Mississippi tendered to General Sherman and his staff a banquet, at
which General Frank P. Blair proposed a toast to General Grant. General
Sherman rose and said: 'I want to respond to that toast. I see that
many newspapers of the country have credited me with originating the
plan adopted by General Grant for the capture of Vicksburg. I want
to say that I am not entitled to this credit. General Grant alone
originated that plan and carried it to successful completion without
the co-operation of any of his subordinate officers, and in the face of
my protest as well as that of many of the officers.'"
The question of the burning of Atlanta was often raised in the years
after the war, and to the end of his life Sherman was denounced by
many Southerners for what they were pleased to term his inhumanity and
malice. In the spring of 1880, Captain Burke, commander of the "Gate
City Guard," at Atlanta, wrote to him, calling his attention to a
proposed memorial hall in that city, and Sherman made this reply:
"_My Dear Sir._--Your letter of March 6 with inclosure, is received,
and I assure you of my interest in the subject matter and willingness
to contribute to the execution of your plan to erect in the city of
Atlanta a memorial hall to commemorate the revival of sectional unity
and sentiment--but were I to do so for the reasons set forth in the
inclosed circular, I would be construed as indorsing the expressions
which are erroneous, viz: 'During the late unfortunate war the city
of Atlanta was destroyed by the forces of General Sherman,' and 'a
wilderness of blackened walls recorded the fratricidal strife that
deluged our country in misfortune,'
"Atlanta was not destroyed by the army of the United States commanded
by General Sherman. No private dwelling was destroyed by the United
States army, but some were by that commanded by General Hood along his
line of defense. The Court House still stands; all the buildings on
that side of the railroad and all those along Peachtree street, the
best street in the city, still remain. Nothing was destroyed by my
orders but the depots, workshops, foundries, etc., close by the depots,
and two blocks of mercantile stores also close to the depot took fire
from the burning storehouse or foundry, and our troops were prevented
from checking the spread of the fire by reason of concealed shells
loaded and exploding in that old building. The railroad car and machine
shops on the edge of the town toward Decatur street, were burned before
we entered Atlanta, by General Hood's orders."
To the Hon. Henry W. Grady, a few days later, Sherman said personally:
"The city of Atlanta was never burned as a city. I notice that the
headquarters I occupied, all the houses about it, and the headquarters
of the other officers were all standing when I revisited the place a
year or two since. The residence streets were not burned at all."
"It was your intention, then, to burn only the heart of the city?"
"My intention was clearly expressed in a written order to General Poe.
It was simply to burn the buildings in which public stores had been
placed or would likely be placed. This included only four buildings,
as I recollect: not over five or six. One of these was a warehouse
above the depot, in which or under which were a number of shells. From
this building a block of business houses took fire and the destruction
went beyond the limits intended. The old Trout House was burned by some
of the men, who had some reason for burning it. I ordered the round
house burned. I wanted to destroy the railroad so that it could not be
used. I then wanted to destroy the public buildings, so that Atlanta
could not be used as a depot of supplies. I ordered, as I say, four or
five houses set on fire, but as far as burning the city in the sense
of wanton destruction, I never thought of such a thing. I shirked no
responsibility that war imposed, but I never went beyond my duty."
His kindly feeling toward the city and people with whom he once dealt
so sternly was well shown in a letter which he wrote in 1879 to Captain
E. P. Howell, of the _Atlanta Constitution_.
"My opportunities for studying the physical features of Georgia," he
said, "have been large. In 1843-4 I went from Augusta to Marietta
in a stage (when Atlanta had no existence); thence to Bellefonte,
Alabama, on horseback, returning afterwards, all the way on horseback,
to Augusta by a different road; again, in 1864, I conducted, as
all the world knows, a vast army from Chattanooga to Atlanta and
Savannah, and just now have passed over the same district in railway
cars. Considering the history of this period of time (35 years), the
development of the country has been great, but not comparable with
California, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Kansas, in all which States I have had
similar chances for observation. The reason why Georgia has not kept
pace with the States I have named is beyond question that emigration
would not go where slavery existed. Now that this cause is removed
there is no longer any reason why Georgia, especially the northern
part, should not rapidly regain her prominence among the great States
of our Union. I know that no section is more favored in climate,
health, soil, minerals, water, and everything which man needs for his
material wants, and to contribute to his physical and intellectual
development. Your railroads now finished give your people cheap
supplies, and the means of sending in every section their surplus
products of the soil or of manufactures. You have immense beds of iron
and coal, besides inexhaustible quantities of timber, oak, hickory,
beech, poplar, pine, etc., so necessary in modern factories, and which
are becoming scarce in other sections of our busy country.
"I have crossed this continent many times, by almost every possible
route, and I feel certain that at this time no single region holds
out as strong inducements for industrious emigrants as that from
Lynchburg, Virginia, to Huntsville, Alabama, right and left, embracing
the mountain ranges and intervening valleys, especially East Tennessee,
North Georgia and Alabama. I hope I will not give offence in saying
that the present population has not done full justice to this naturally
beautiful and most favored region of our country, and that two or three
millions of people could be diverted from the great West to this region
with profit and advantage to all concerned. This whole region, though
called 'southern,' is in fact 'northern'--viz.: it is a wheat-growing
country; has a climate in no sense tropical or southern, but was
designed by nature for small farms and not for large plantations. In
the region I have named North Georgia forms a most important part, and
your city, Atlanta, is its natural centre or capital. It is admirably
situated, a thousand feet above the sea, healthy, with abundance of
the purest water and with granite, limestone, sandstone and clay
convenient to build a second London. In 1864 my army, composed of near
a hundred thousand men, all accustomed to a northern climate, were
grouped about Atlanta from June to November without tents, and were as
vigorous, healthy and strong as though they were in Ohio or New York.
Indeed, the whole country from the Tennessee to the Ocmulgee is famous
for health, pure water, abundant timber and with a large proportion of
good soil, especially in the valleys, and all you need is more people
of the right sort.
"I am satisfied, from my recent visit, that Northern professional men,
manufacturers, mechanics and farmers may come to Atlanta, Rome and
Chattanooga with a certainty of fair dealing and fair encouragement.
Though I was personally regarded the bete-noir of the late war in
your region, the author of all your woes, yet I admit that I have
just passed over the very ground desolated by the Civil War, and have
received everywhere nothing but kind and courteous treatment from
the highest to the lowest, and I heard of no violence to others for
opinions' sake. Some Union men spoke to me of social ostracism, but
I saw nothing of it, and even if it do exist it must disappear with
the present generation. Our whole framework of government and history
is founded on the personal and political equality of citizens, and
philosophy teaches that social distinctions can only rest on personal
merit and corresponding intelligence, and if any part of a community
clings to distinctions founded on past conditions, it will grow less
and less with time and finally disappear. Any attempt to build up an
aristocracy or a privileged class at the South, on the fact that their
fathers or grandfathers once owned slaves, will result in a ridiculous
failure and subject the authors to the laughter of mankind. I refer to
this subject incidentally because others have argued the case with me,
but whether attempted elsewhere in the South, I am certain it will not
be attempted in Georgia.
"Therefore, I shall believe and maintain that north Georgia is now in
a condition to invite emigration from the Northern States of our Union
and from Europe, and all parties concerned should advertise widely
the great inducements your region holds out to the industrious and
frugal of all lands; agents should be appointed in New York to advise,
and others at Knoxville, Chattanooga, Rome, Atlanta, etc., to receive
emigrants and to point out to them on arrival where cheap lands may
be had with reasonable credit, where companies may open coal and iron
mines, where mills may be erected to grind wheat and corn, spin cotton,
and to manufacture the thousand and one things you now buy from abroad;
and more especially to make known that you are prepared to welcome and
patronize men who will settle in your region and form a part of your
community.
"Your growth and development since the war have been good, very
good--better than I was prepared to see; but compare it with San
Francisco, Denver, Portland, Oregon, Leavenworth, Chicago, St. Louis,
or hundreds of places I could mention, less favored in climate and
location than Atlanta. These cities have been notoriously open to the
whole world, and all men felt perfectly at liberty to go there with
their families, with their acquired wealth and with their personal
energy. You must guarantee the same, not superficially or selfishly,
but with that sincerity and frankness which carries conviction.
[Illustration: GEN. LEW. WALLACE.]
"Personally, I would not like to check the flow of emigration westward,
because of the vast natural importance of that region, but I do
believe that every patriot should do what he can to benefit every part
of our whole country, and I am sure that good will result from turning
a part of this great tide of human life and energy southward along
the valleys of the Allegheny Mountains, especially of East Tennessee,
northern Georgia and Alabama, and if I can aid you in this good work I
assure you that I will do so with infinite pleasure.
"Excuse me if I ask you as an editor to let up somewhat on the favorite
hobby of 'carpet-baggers.' I know that you personally apply the term
only to political adventurers, but others, your readers, construe it
otherwise. I have resided in San Francisco, Leavenworth and St. Louis,
and of the men who have built up these great cities, I assert that not
one in fifty was a native of the place. All, or substantially all,
were 'carpet-baggers,' _i.e._, emigrants from all parts of the world,
many of them from the South. Our Supreme Court, Congress and our most
prominent and intellectual men, now hail from localities of their own
adoption, not of their birth. Let the emigrant to Georgia feel and
realize that his business and social position result from his own
industry, his merits and his virtues, and not from the accidental place
of his birth, and soon the great advantages of climate, soil, minerals,
timber, etc., etc., will fill up your country and make Atlanta one of
the most prosperous, beautiful and attractive cities, not alone of the
South, but of the whole continent, an end which I desire quite as much
as you do."
In the Spring of 1876 he talked at some length with a newspaper writer,
about the South and the leaders of the late rebellion, and for the
latter he expressed only esteem and friendship. "About two weeks ago,"
he said, "I received a letter from a mutual friend in New York, asking
if I would recommend General Braxton Bragg for appointment in the
Khedive's army. I promptly replied that it would afford me pleasure to
promote the interests of Bragg in that direction. I feel very kindly
to all the Southern Generals. In fact, I think people everywhere
throughout the North and West cherish no bad feeling. Jeff Davis is the
only exception made. I do not know why it is that the Northern people
hate him so, but they do, and will never get over their feeling in
that respect. Davis did no worse than anybody else, but I suppose the
people are bound to have somebody to hate. For instance, the Southern
people hate General Butler about as bad or worse than the Northerners
hate Davis. I suppose the two sections, while determined to cultivate
friendly feelings among the people at large, require something on which
to expend the hate that will unavoidably show itself at intervals. So
far as the Northern and Southern people are concerned, they are rapidly
assimilating, and in a few years they will be one people in fact as
well as in name. Put the Southern and Northern soldiers together and
you have the strongest element, in a military sense, that could be
gotten together for any national purpose. As fighters, they would be
invincible. The Southerners are impetuous and will fight quicker and
fiercer, but they give out sooner; the Northerners are slower, but they
stay longer; they have more endurance, and fight steadier and more
stubbornly. In fighting qualities, the South represents France, and the
North England. Put the two together and the devil couldn't whip them."
"General, why don't you recommend Jeff Davis for an appointment in
Egypt?"
"Oh, I wouldn't do that; anybody but Jeff; I would not indorse Jeff."
"Perhaps it would be a public benefaction to do so?"
"Well, I never viewed it in that light. On second thought, I would
gladly indorse Jeff, if he would leave the country."