THREE AMERICAN GENERALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1866, 26 August 1887, Page 31

THREE AMERICAN GENERALS.

Sherman,, Sheridan, and Rosecrans as They Appeared at the Cumberland Reunion. The noted generals of the Federal Army are fast passing away, and we will soon have no more such reunions as that of the Army of the Cumberland, which took place here last week. There is scarcely a noted general now living whose hair is not' gray. Logan, Hancock, M'Clellan' and Grant have- died within two years,' and the wrinkles are fast i creeping around the eyes of General Sherman. Sherman's i hair is still brown, however, though his high forehead is fading off into baldness, and his ' short red beard is as white as snow. I* watched him closely as he spoke to the soldiers, and he is the same blunt, talented Tecumseh that he was in the early sixties. He stood upon the "platform part of the time, with one hand in his pocket, and, awkwardly as he gestured, he seemed perfectly at home. He is nearly as tall as his brother John, who sat behind him, and he is, like all his tribe, a good speechmaker. Slender, plainly dressed, with a high Henry Clay collar, and a, plain face showing out above it, h.is blue eyes sparkled with' good feeling as he talked, and he looked, as he is, in full sympathy with

the world. No man in the United States enjoyes life better than William Tecumseh Sherman. -There is no age in his feelings, and he .is as warm hearted and impulsive now as a boy. He likes to kiss a pretty girl as well as when he was courting the daughter of Tom jEwing, then Secretary of the Interior under President Taylor. He would not have the Presidency if it were offered him, and he has characterised White House life as worse than the darkest pictures of Dante's "Inferno."

aeneral Rosecrans, though older than Sherman, is also young in appearance. His face shines with good humour and he looks like a fat, stumpy, grey-headed boy as he moves about Washington dressed in the most common of business clothes, and paying no regard to personal appearance. There is no snobbishness about Rosecrans, and he is hail fellow well met with everyone. He is 68 years old, and is a much younger-looking man |than Senator Edmunds, who is a full 10 years younger. Rosecrans is, however, a queer combination. He was a brave officer, and he made a good reputation in Congress, but he has never gotten over his removal from the command of the Army of the Cumberland, and one of the most pathetic sights of the reunion was his explanation to his old troops as to how his removal took place. He told the boys how Thomas had not, as was stated by a late book published on the subject, thought himself superior to Rosecrans, and how General Garfield had told him at the request of Thomas that he (Thomas) would not serve in the Army of the Cumberland under any other commander than him, and that he was perfectly satisfied to have him as his chief. Rosecrans described the scene in the tent at Chattanooga when he received his 'despatch relieving him of his command and when he announced the fact to Thomas. His story has not been published in the newspapers, but it was to my mind the most interesting part of the meeting " It was at night," said he, " that I received the order, and 1 sent for General Thomas. He came alone to the tent, and took his seat. I handed him the letter. He read it, and as he did so his breast began to swell and he turned pale. He did not want to accept the command, but we agreed, upon consideration, that he must do so, and I told him that I could not bear to meet mv troops afterwards. « I want to leave,' said I, 'before the announcement is made, and I will start in the early morning.' I packed up that night, and the next morning about 7 o'clock I rode away through the fog which then hung over the camp. The best of relations prevailed between General Thomas and myself, and as. to the statement that he considered himself my superior, and obeyed orders only from a sense of duty, I assure you it was not so."

As Rosecrans bowed to the audience and stepped back from the platform, 'there was not a man present who did not feel sorry for him, and he was so much.affectedhimself that his voice trembled as he uttered his closing words. He talked in a low tone and his accents' were almost pleading. General Sheridan vraa a prominent figure throughout the reunion. He has grown much fatter since he rode that dashing ride to Winchester, and his hair, which was black then, is now a frosted silver. Bheridan has a big head,, a big body, and short legs. He, looks larger sitting down than when standing, and when he has a statue it will undoubtedly be placed upon horseback. He looks now like a well-to-do French count who has a goodly estate and whose cellars are full of rare old Burgundy. He might have stepped out of one of Eubens' pictures his complexion is so florid, his eyes so blue' and his hair so white. He has the form of the great Napoleon, though his abdomen is not so large as Napoleon's was during his; latter days. General Sheridan is not over 5ft 1 sin high, and his shoulders are very broad and very full. His chest is well thrown out, and his large, round head is fastened to the trunk by a very short, fat florid neck. A line drawn from the tip- of his nose through to the back of his head would measure full 12in, and his forehead wrinkles like a seer-sucker when he becomes annoyed, as he was somewhat during' his presiding .over the reunion. Sheridan was hardly at home when speaking. His trade is war, not oratory, and during this meeting he forgot the benediction and made several other little mistakes, which weiegraci ously pardoned by the audience. He is, however, very popular in Washington, and make's a good head for the army. He 1 is democratic in his ways, but lives in the fashionable parr, of the city.— Washington Letter in Montgomery Advertiser. *