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[Illustration: IN THE EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA.]
[Illustration: YOUNG AMERICANS
MODERN HISTORY OF HEROES]
LIFE AND MILITARY CAREER OF
MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN.
by
REV. P. C. HEADLEY,
Author of “Napoleon,” “Josephine,” “Women of the Bible,”
“Hero Boy,” etc., etc.
New York:
William H. Appleton, 92 & 94 Grand Street.
1865.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
Wm. H. Appleton,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
T O
H E N R Y S T A N L E Y A L L E N, E S Q.,
O F N E W Y O R K,
THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED,
W I T H S I N C E R E R E S P E C T A N D R E G A R D,
BY THE AUTHOR.
P R E F A C E.
ALTHOUGH General Sherman’s military career has only reached its most
interesting and brilliant period, grateful and admiring thousands will
welcome an authentic outline of his history to the present time. The
facts of his early life were obtained from those who knew him best.
To Colonel Bowman, an appreciative friend of General Sherman, whose
sketches of him in the _U. S. Service Magazine_ were graphic and
reliable, to the _Army and Navy Journal_ and able correspondents, we are
indebted for valuable material.
The pen-portrait of the great commander, by Mr. Alvord, which has never
before been published, will be read with special interest.
The volume is not offered to the public as a complete biography, with
all that might have been omitted carefully sifted from the essential
statements, but the annals of a remarkable man, with incidents connected
with his movements; affording the youth and all others, a general view
of the nation’s hero, from infancy to the unrivalled distinction he now
holds.
May the unpretending volume stimulate the youthful mind to virtuous and
noble deeds, while it contributes to the more complete and voluminous
memoirs which will be written in the peaceful future before us, for
whose blessings of a perpetuated Union and civil liberty we shall owe a
lasting debt of gratitude to General Sherman.
C O N T E N T S.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
The Boyhood of Heroes—The ancestry of William Tecumseh
Sherman—The death of his Father—Why the name of the Indian
Chief was given him—The Birth-place of William Tecumseh, 13
CHAPTER II.
The Eventful Call—“Cump” in the Sandbank—The Unexpected
Summons—He obeys—His new Home—School days—A Studious and
Reliable Boy—Is appointed Cadet—Leaves Home for West Point—His
Life in the Academy—Graduates and goes to Florida, 23
CHAPTER III.
The Lieutenant in the Florida War—Its Origin—The
“Exiles”—Seminole Indians—Osceola—His wife made prisoner—The
second Seminole War—Wild Cat’s Daughter—Peace—Lessons of the
events before and after, 28
CHAPTER IV.
Lieutenant Sherman in Fort Moultrie—The Fortress—The Mexican
War—He goes to California—His Service there—Appointed
Captain—His Marriage—Exciting Scenes in California—In the
Commissary Department—Resigns his Commission—Turns Banker, 39
CHAPTER V.
Takes charge of a Military Academy in Alexandria, Louisiana—He
sees the rising storm of Civil War—Resigns—A noble Letter—He
repairs to St Louis, and superintends a Street Railroad, 45
CHAPTER VI.
Sumter falls—Sherman repairs to Washington—His Interview with the
Secretary of War and the President—His Prophetic Insight of the
Threatening Times—The state of the Country—Rebel Expectations, 50
CHAPTER VII.
The Conflict Deepens—The Captain is made Colonel of the
Thirteenth New York Volunteers—The Battle of Bull Run—The
unterrified Commander of the Thirteenth and his Troops—The
Brave Stand, 54
CHAPTER VIII.
General Sherman goes to Kentucky—Muldraugh’s Hill—His army
weakened—General Buckner’s superior force—Succeeds General
Anderson—Writes General McClellan—Interview with Secretary
Cameron—Paducah, 60
CHAPTER IX.
Pittsburg Landing—The Surprise—The Battle—The Victory—Sherman’s
glorious part in the Struggle—The Testimony of Officers—His
Letter on the Contest, 67
CHAPTER X.
The Morning after the Battle—General Sherman’s column in
Motion—What it did—Corinth the next Goal—The Siege—The
Evacuation—General Sherman’s troops the first to enter the
Works—The Hero is made Major-General—Advance on Holly
Springs—Memphis—General Sherman’s successful Command in that
City—The Guerrillas, 82
CHAPTER XI.
General Sherman’s next Post—The Steele’s Bayou Expedition—A Trial
of Courage—The Leader’s Heroism, 89
CHAPTER XII.
The Position of the Western Forces—The Expedition against
Vicksburg under General Sherman—The Just and Stringent Orders
of the Chief—He shows the Speculators no Mercy—The Advance of
the Grand Army Checked—The Embarkation of Troops—The
Magnificent Pageant—The Progress and Arrival of the Fleet, 95
CHAPTER XIII.
The March—The City—Preparations for an Assault—The Attack—The
Abatis and Rifle-pits—The Charge upon the Hill—Sherman
succeeded by McClernand—General Sherman’s Farewell Order—Result
of the Expedition, 105
CHAPTER XIV.
The Plot—General Sherman’s Part—His Successful Feint at Haines’
Bluff—Joins the Main Army—The Advance toward Jackson, the State
Capital—The Victorious Entry of the City—On to Vicksburg
again—Assaults—Siege—Victory—General Sherman goes after “Joe”
Johnston, 118
CHAPTER XV.
General Sherman watching Joe Johnston—Foraging—An Attack—The
Enemy steals away in the Night—The Conquering Battalions have a
brief rest—Encampment on the Big Black River—Scenes
there—Reënforces General Rosecrans—Death of General Sherman’s
Son—Beautiful Letter—The Monument, 127
CHAPTER XVI.
The Grand Advance from Memphis—The Enemy prepare to Meet
it—General Sherman’s Genius equal to any Emergency—Rapid
Marches—The Foe driven from the Path—New Command—The Swollen
River—Into Chattanooga—The Tireless Chief and his Gallant
Troops push forward to Missionary Ridge, 136
CHAPTER XVII.
The Place of Battle—The Battle-ground—General Sherman’s Part in
the Struggle—Desperate Valor—Victory—Pursuit—No Rest—General
Burnside in Peril—General Sherman hastens to his Relief—The
Bridge breaks down—It is Rebuilt, and the Heroic Battalions
save Knoxville—General Sherman again at Chattanooga, 143
CHAPTER XVIII.
A New Expedition—Its Wise Design—Cause of its Failure in the Main
Purpose—The Hero of Vicksburg is created Lieutenant-General—The
New Order of Things—Two Grand Lines of March and of
Conquest—From Chattanooga to Kenesaw Mountain, 162
CHAPTER XIX.
The Battle of Kenesaw Mountain—On to Marietta—Across the
Chattahoochie—General Johnston succeeded by General
Hood—Marching and Fighting—Death of McPherson—Fight at
Jonesboro—The last struggle for Atlanta—Victory, 186
CHAPTER XX.
The Tidings of Victory at Washington—The President’s Messages to
the People and to the Army—General Sherman congratulates his
Battalions—The Rebel General is indignant—The Correspondence
between him and General Sherman—The authorities of Atlanta also
unreconciled to the new order of things—The noble Letters and
Conduct of the Conquerer, 217
CHAPTER XXI.
The Events which followed the Truce—General Hood’s Army in
Motion—Battle at Allatoona Pass—He is left to the care of the
gallant Thomas—The New and Magnificent Campaign of General
Sherman—The Field of his Operations—Burning of Rome—The
Advance—Atlanta partially Burned—The Rebel Fears and Hopes—The
March, 249
CHAPTER XXII.
The March beyond the River—The Exciting Discovery by the
Enemy—General Sherman’s Strategy—On to Savannah—The
Rebel—Surprise—The Army approach the City—A bold Movement—The
Scouts—The Signals—Fort McAllister stormed—Savannah invested, 287
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Surrender of the City demanded—The Refusal—Preparation to
Attack—The Enemy Flee—The Entrance of the Union Army—Scenes
that followed—General Sherman and the Negroes, 304
CHAPTER XXIV.
Major-General Sherman appreciated at Home—A Conflagration—A New
and Bolder Campaign—General Sherman begins his March—Perils and
Progress—Branchville and Columbia—Charleston, 330
CHAPTER XXV.
Wilmington—Peace Commissioners—General Sherman’s
Statesmanship—His Characteristics—Interesting Recollections of
General Sherman—His Pure Character, 357
CHAPTER I.
The Boyhood of Heroes—The ancestry of William Teeumseh Sherman—
The death of his Father—Why the name of the Indian Chief was
given him—The Birth-place of William Tecumseh.
MY youthful reader, you have heard the adage, “the boy is father of
the man;” which means clearly, that the principles and habits of early
years form the character and destiny of after life. And you will find in
the history of nearly all great and good men, in this country certainly,
that they began, in humble circumstances, their career. Not that poverty
is necessary to success, but the struggle to carve one’s own way in the
world, the almost unaided effort to secure an education for a profession
or business, develops and strengthens character.
Another thing is true of deservedly eminent men; they were obedient and
dutiful while under the parental roof. A selfish, rebellious boy, never
made an honored member of society and of the State. You will find
illustrations of these truths in the lives of Washington, Adams,
Lincoln, Grant, Mitchel, Sherman, and many others, whose fame is lasting
as our institutions.
In the year 1634 the Hon. Samuel Sherman, his brother, Rev. John
Sherman, and their cousin, Captain John Sherman, who were residents of
Dedham, England, came to this country. This was only thirteen years
after the _May Flower_, with its pilgrim company, rocked in
Massachusetts Bay. There were no ocean steamers then proudly ploughing
the broad Atlantic. In a ship like the plain bark which bore the first
colony, whose free principles, civil and religious, lie at the
foundation of this Republic, they embarked for the wilderness of the New
World.
You can see, in imagination, the white-winged vessel glide from its
haven into the “wide, wide sea,” and float like a speck over the waste
of waters. The winds blow, the crested billows toss the _Shermans_, with
the rest of the ship’s company, about for weeks; they little dreaming of
quite a different storm, in which a descendant would figure so
conspicuously, just two hundred and thirty years later. At length the
ship reached Boston harbor.
The Rev. John Sherman; a graduate of Immanuel College, “and a Puritan,”
went at once to his work. The Sabbath dawned, and under an ancient tree
in the present town of Watertown, three miles from Boston, you might
have seen a quiet and attentive congregation listening to his first
sermon in America. Here he settled, after receiving a call to Milford,
Conn. Some of his descendants were excellent and popular divines. The
captain also settled there; and from his branch of the family came Roger
Sherman, the signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The Hon. Samuel Sherman pushed on to Wethersfield, Conn. Soon after he
removed to Stamford, and finally settled down in Stratford. The “coat of
arms,” that is to say, the family escutcheon or badge, bears a lion
rampant, and a sea lion on the crest. The motto is: “Conquer death by
virtue.” From him descended the “hero of our story,” whose grandfather,
Taylor Sherman, for many years judge, died May 4th, 1815, in the
ripeness of his manhood, at the age of fifty-eight.
The widow, like the families of Generals Grant and Mitchel, and of our
most worthy President, turned her face toward the far West; for it was
then a long and weary way to the rich valleys of the Mississippi and its
tributaries. The beautiful State of Ohio—the empire State of the
western world—became her home. The prospects, for her sons especially,
on the cheap, rich soil, and in the rising towns of that vast and new
territory, were much better than in New England.
The pleasant settlement of Lancaster was their first residence.
Subsequently she removed to Mansfield, in the same State, where she died
in 1848. Her children were Charles Robert, who was born September 26th,
1788, Daniel and Betsey. Charles married Mary Hoyt, May 8th, 1810, and
settled in Lancaster. His profession was law, in which he excelled
particularly as an advocate; he was very eloquent and successful in
pleading the cause of his clients before the judge and jury.
In the year 1823 he was elected judge of the Superior Court of Ohio. He
continued in this high position till June 20th, 1829. Could you have
stood in the court room on that early summer day, you would have seen
the fine intelligent face of the judge suddenly grow pale, followed by
an expression of suffering. The eyes of the “gentlemen of the bar,” and
of citizens present, are turned with anxious interest toward him. Soon
after, he is compelled to leave the bench and remove to his private
apartment, where he rapidly sinks into the embrace of death. His disease
was supposed to be that fatal scourge of eastern lands and our own—the
cholera. Probably my young reader was not born when it spread terror
through nearly all the cities of our Union. In 1840 his remains were
removed to Lancaster, Ohio. Should you become a western lawyer, you may
have occasion to consult his decisions, contained in the first three
volumes of the Ohio Reports.
This gifted, highly educated and popular judge left a widow with eleven
children. She was a devoted wife and mother, and a communicant in the
Presbyterian Church. Charles T., the eldest, is now a successful lawyer
in Washington, D. C.; the next in order was Mary Elizabeth; the third,
James; the fourth, Amelia; the fifth, Julia; and the sixth, William
Tecumseh, our hero. After him were L. Parker, John, the able and loyal
senator from Ohio, who was born May 10th, 1823; and after him were Susan
D. Hoyt and Frances B.
William Tecumseh was born February 8th, 1820. It was quite difficult to
decide upon a name for the boy. “What shall we call him?” was the topic
of much domestic chat. Two or three favorite names were suggested and
discussed, but still the child was nameless.
One day the father, who had seen the Indian chieftain Tecumseh, and
admired that really great man, came in and said, “I have the name of a
better man than either we have mentioned.” The eye and ear of those
around the cradle were turned to know whom he could be. The bright boy
only seemed to have no interest in the matter. “_Tecumseh_, we will name
him,” was the almost startling announcement. It was softened down to the
tone of civilized life by the addition of William. The further reason
for the selection of a warrior’s name who fought for the English, I will
tell you, as I did the story of “Ulysses S. Grant,” now his
lieutenant-general, in the language of another who wrote me on the
subject: “Tecumseh, the celebrated chief and warrior of the Shawanoese
tribe, who was killed at the battle of the Thames, October 5th, 1813,
was for a long time kept in rather fond remembrance in this immediate
vicinity, by those who were engaged in that conflict, of whom Captain
Sanderson is still a resident here; because they knew that several times
he prevented the shedding of innocent blood. This fact, with the desire
of Mr. Sherman to have one son educated for military life, led him to
choose Tecumseh for the boy, he being born not long after the death of
that chieftain.”
Tecumthé, or as it is written Tecumseh, a Shawanoese Indian, was born in
Piqua, since called West Boston, on Mad River, in Clarke County, Ohio.
Tecumseh’s grandmother was the daughter of a Southern English colonial
governor, who fancied the handsome young Creek, and married him. Their
only son took for his wife a Shawanese woman, who gave birth to Tecumseh
while on a journey from the southern to the western hunting grounds. A
few years later three more sons were born at the same time, one of whom,
Tenskwautawaw, became the famous prophet who was the artful and
unprincipled instrument of his brother, Tecumseh, in his great lifework,
which was to arouse and unite the western tribes in the last determined
effort to drive and keep their white neighbors from the valley of the
Mississippi. While a boy, his splendid genius gave him the leadership
among his playmates, and he “was in the habit of arranging them in
parties for the purpose of fighting sham battles.”
When about fifteen years old, he was so shocked at the scene then common
among the Indians—burning prisoners at the stake—that he determined to
give his voice against the horrid custom. The young reformer first
displayed his commanding eloquence in his bold condemnation of the
practice, which through his powerful influence gradually disappeared. He
advocated total abstinence from ardent spirits, the principal source of
savage degradation and destruction, and urged his people to drop all
superfluous ornaments, and abstain from the use of articles sold by the
traders. Like his illustrious namesake, our hero, he was mighty in
speech as well as in the battle-field. I will give in illustration a
brief address made August 12th, 1810, to Governor Harrison, whom he met
in council at Vincennes, on the Wabash River. The fine words and grand
views of the warrior, will make you think of our own Tecumseh marching
over the very country from which the ancestors of the Shawanoese came:
“I have made myself what I am; and I would that I could make the red
people as great as the conceptions of my mind, when I think of the Great
Spirit that rules over all. I would not then come to Governor Harrison
to ask him to tear the treaty; but I would say to him, Brother, you have
liberty to return to your own country. Once there was no white man in
all this country; then it belonged to red men, children of the same
parents, placed on it by the Great Spirit to keep it, to travel over it,
to eat its fruits, and fill it with the same race—once a happy race,
but now made miserable by the white people, who are never contented, but
always encroaching. They have driven us from the great salt water,
forced us over the mountains, and would shortly push us into the lakes;
but we are determined to go no further. The only way to stop this evil
is for all the red men to unite in claiming a common and equal right in
the land, as it was at first and should be now—for it never was
divided, and belongs to all. No tribe has a right to sell, even to each
other, much less to strangers, who demand all, and will take no less.
The white people have no right to take the land from the Indians, who
had it first—it is theirs. They may sell, but all must join. Any sale
not made by all is not good. The late sale is bad; it was made by a part
only. Part do not know how to sell. It requires all to make a bargain
for all.”
This upright, humane, and unequalled warrior, after struggling in vain
to save his declining race, fell gloriously during the last war with
England, in the battle of the Thames, not many miles from Detroit, on
the Canada side.
His American namesake, by a singular course of providential events, as
you know and will read in the record of his life more fully, became the
greatest military commander of the age, in the very region from which,
with his people, he emigrated to the West.
I will now take you to the place of William Tecumseh’s birth. Lancaster
is in Fairfield County, Ohio, on the Hockhocking River, twenty-eight
miles east of Columbus, the capital of the State. The valley is very
beautiful. It was the home of the Wyandots less than a century ago, and
was called Tarh or Crowtown, from the name of the principal chief. His
wigwam was on the bank-border of a prairie, near a clear and living
spring, from whose gushing waters he slaked his thirst for many years.
In 1800 a Mr. Fane laid out Lancaster on Mount Pleasant, called by the
Indians, who at that time still lingered there, “Standing-Stone,”
because the summit was formed of masses of sandstone. It was a place of
popular resort on account of the extensive and magnificent views of the
surrounding country. Duke Saxe Weimar, who travelled in this country
about forty years since, carved his name on its rock.
For several years after Lancaster was settled, the people had a curious
regulation, of which I must tell you, and something like which would not
be a bad arrangement at the present day. Stumps of the forest trees so
lately there, were scattered along the streets; and when a man was
caught intoxicated, the penalty was, the _removal of a stump_. The
drunkards and the stumps both were thinned out; for whenever a citizen
went staggering among the remnants of the primeval woods, he was watched
till sober enough to go to work, then set to digging at the roots.
Tipplers were careful to walk abroad in straight lines; and if one
failed to keep within the limits of _temperate_ drinking, he must take
good exercise at the stump, which was both a public exposure and a
blessing to the village.
Lancaster is now a handsome city, full of western activity, and keeping
step to the music—
“Westward the star of empire takes its way.”
Such was and is the birthplace of William Tecumseh Sherman.
[Illustration: WILLIAM TECUMSEH IN THE SAND BANK.]