EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 6, 1888_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
It becomes my painful duty to announce to the Congress and to the people
of the United States the death of Philip H. Sheridan, General of the
Army, which occurred at a late hour last night at his summer home in the
State of Massachusetts.
The death of this valiant soldier and patriotic son of the Republic,
though his long illness has been regarded with anxiety, has nevertheless
shocked the country and caused universal grief.
He had established for himself a stronghold in the hearts of his
fellow-countrymen, who soon caught the true meaning and purpose of his
soldierly devotion and heroic temper.
His intrepid courage, his steadfast patriotism, and the generosity of
his nature inspired with peculiar warmth the admiration of all the
people.
Above his grave affection for the man and pride in his achievements will
struggle for mastery, and too much honor can not be accorded to one who
was so richly endowed with all the qualities which make his death a
national loss.