CHAPTER XVI.

IN TIME OF PEACE.

It is unnecessary to mention here the long line of surrenders of Confederate forces which followed the surrender of Lee to Grant and of Johnston to Sherman, and ushered in the reign of peace. The aggregate of prisoners surrendered under the capitulation of Johnston embraces his army of 36,817 men, at Greensboro, N. C., and 52,453 scattered in Georgia and Florida-total, 89,270. On April 29th, Sherman started on his Savannah trip, and saw to the preparations for the arrival of Wilson's troopers. On May 2d, he began his return journey, and arrived at Fortress Monroe on May 8th, where he telegraphed to Grant for orders. His army had arrived at Manchester, on its northward march, and when orders came, they were to the effect that the march should be continued to Alexandria, Va. By May 20th, all of Sherman's army was in camp about Alexandria. On the next day he visited Washington and accepted an invitation to witness the grand and final review of the Army of the Potomac which had been appointed for May 23, 1865. The review of his own army was appointed for the next day, May 24th. It was a magnificent day, and punctually at 9 A. M., Sherman and his staff rode down Pennsylvania Avenue, followed by Logan at the head of the Fifteenth corps. When the grand reviewing stand was reached Sherman took his position by the side of the President, and witnessed the passage of his veterans for six hours and a half. His four corps, Fifteenth, Seven

teenth, Twentieth and Fourteenth, sixty-five thousand strong, moved with the regularity of clock-work during all these hours, and concluded their two-thousand miles' march in the capital and amid the plaudits of the nation. Sherman was justly proud of the appearance of his men, and pronounced his army the best in existence.

After this fitting conclusion to his many and long campaigns, Sherman issued the following eloquent and characteristic order of dismissal to his troops, supplementing it with a tabular statement of their marches :

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSIS

SIPPI, IN THE FIELD, WASHINGTON, D. C., May
30, 1865.

The general commanding announces to the Armies of the Tennessee and Georgia that the time has come for us to part. Our work is done, and armed enemies no longer defy us. Some of you will go to your homes, and others will be retained in military service till further orders.

And now that we are all about to separate, to mingle with the civil world, it becomes a pleasing duty to recall to mind the situation of national affairs when, but little more than a year ago, we were gathered about the cliffs of Lookout Mountain, and all the future was wrapped in doubt and uncertainty.

Three armies had come together from distant fields, with separate history, yet bound by one common cause-the union of our country, and the perpetuation of the Government of our inheritance. There is no need to recall to your memories Tunnel Hill, with Rocky-Face Mountain and Buzzard-Roost Gap, and the ugly forts of Dalton behind.

We were in earnest, and paused not for danger and difficulty, but dashed through Snake-Creek Gap and fell on Resaca; then on to the Etowah, to Dallas, Kenesaw ; and the

heats of summer found us on the banks of the Chattahoochee, far from home, and dependent on a single road for supplies. Again we were not to be held back by any obstacle, and crossed over and fought four hard battles for the possession of the citadel of Atlanta. That was the crisis of our history. A doubt still clouded our future, but we solved the problem, destroyed Atlanta, struck boldly across the State of Georgia, severed all the main arteries of life to our enemy, and Christmas found us at Savannah.

Waiting there only long enough to fill our wagons, we again began a march which, for peril, labor and results, will compare with any ever made by an organized army. The floods of the Savannah, the swamps of the Combahee and Edisto, the "high hills" and rocks of the Santee, the flat quagmires of the Pedee and Cape Fear Rivers, were all passed in midwinter, with its floods and rains, in the face of an accumulating enemy; and, after the battles of Averysboro' and Bentonville, we once more came out of the wilderness, to meet our friends at Goldsboro. Even then we paused only long enough to get new clothing, to reload our wagons, again pushed on to Raleigh and beyond, until we met our enemy suing for peace, instead of war, and offering to submit to the injured laws of his and our country. As long as that enemy was defiant, nor mountains, nor rivers, nor swamps, nor hunger, nor cold, had checked us; but when he, who had fought us hard and persistently, offered submission, your general thought it wrong to pursue him farther, and negotiations followed, which resulted, as you all know, in his surrender.

How far the operations of this army contributed to the final overthrow of the Confederacy and the peace which now dawns upon us, must be judged by others, not by us; but that you have done all that men could do has been admitted by those

in authority, and we have a right to join in the universla joy that fills our land because the war is over, and our government stands vindicated before the world by the joint action of the volunteer armies and navy of the United States.

To such as remain in the service, your general need only remind you that success in the past was due to hard work and discipline, and that the same work and discipline are equally important in the future. To such as go home, he will only say that our favored country is so grand, so extensive, so diversified in clima'e, soil and productions, that every man may find a home and occupation suited to his taste; none should yield to the natural impatience sure to result from our past life of excitement and adventure. You will be invited to seek new adventures abroad; do not yield to the temptation, for it will lead only to death and disappointment.

Your general now bids you farewell, with the full belief that, as in war you have been good soldiers, so in peace you will make good citizens; and if, unfortunately, new war should arise in our country, "Sherman's army" will be the first to buckle on its old armor, and come forth to defend and maintain the government of our inheritance.

By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman,

L. M. DAYTON, Assistant Adjutant-General. General Sherman continued in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi for nearly a year after the close of the war with head-quarters at St. Louis. His duties were, of course, not arduous, yet they were at times, manifold and tantalizing, owing to the confusion of political and military matters.

On July 25th 1866 Lieutenant-General Grant was promoted to the grade of General of the Army, and Major-General Sherman was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General, the place made vacant by Grant's promotion. He still con

tinued to reside in St. Louis, in enjoyment of his honors, and amid a life of comparative freedom from harassing details of office.

In 1869, when Grant was elected President, the specially created rank of General was conferred on Sherman, who now moved his head-quarters to Washington, where he added the highest social distinction to his military fame, and developed to the fullest those traits which may be said to have rounded out and rendered unique his life in time of peace. The intellectual advantage that he had over his associates was in his readiness of expression. He was an easy and elegant writer upon almost any topic of the day. He was also a ready speaker. He had a directness of style and a blunt eloquence which always captivated an audience. He was so direct and so honest as to produce with the simplest phrases the profoundest impression. He was one of the most upright He was patriotic to the verge of passion. No one who has been in the public life in this country was ever more devoted to its highest and best interests. Upon this subject he was always eloquent. His character was noted for its strong quality of common sense. At the height of his popularity as a General of the Army he was never tempted for a moment by any of the flattering offers of the politicians to permit his great name to be used in politics. He would often say :

men.

"I am a soldier out and out. For that I am trained, and for that career I am fitted. I have to-day arrived at the climax of my ambition. I am General of the Army, and at its head. I desire nothing more. I do not propose to risk my name and fame in the field of partisan politics. I want to leave my reputation free from tarnish to my children."

From this resolution General Sherman never swerved. He was never more sorely tempted than during the period of the Chicago Convention which nominated Mr. Blaine. The politicians then came to him and said: