[General Sherman, in a recent conversation with the
editor of this collection, declared that it was this poem
with its phrase, “march to the sea,” that threw a glamour
of romance over the campaign which it celebrates. Said
General Sherman: “The thing was nothing more or less
than a change of base, an operation perfectly familiar
to every military man, but a poet got hold of it, gave
it the captivating label, ‘The March to the Sea,’ and
the unmilitary public made a romance out of it.” It may
be remarked that the General’s modesty overlooks the
important fact that the romance lay really in his own deed
of derring-do; the poet merely recorded it, or at most
interpreted it to the popular intelligence. The glory of
the great campaign was Sherman’s and his army’s; the joy of
celebrating it was the poet’s; the admiring memory of it is
the people’s.--EDITOR.]
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