we have few, but it is no use, you cannot read any but the lightest trash; and even the newspapers, which you would suppose we would devour, require a greater effort of mind to search than we possess. We attribute it to the climate, and bring up these native lazy Minorcans as examples, and are satisfied. Yet, of course, we must do something, however little. Well, in this, each pursues his own fancy. The major and I have a parcel of chickens, in which we have, by competition, taken enough interest to take up a few minutes of the day; besides, I have a little fawn to play with, and crows, a crane, &c.; and if you were to enter my room you would hesitate whether it was the abode of man or beasts. In one corner is a hen, sitting; in another, some crows, roosted on bushes; the other is a little bed of bushes for the little fawn; whilst in the fourth is my bucket, wash-basin, glass, &c. So you see it is three to one.'

In a subsequent letter he touches the same vein :

"I've got more pets now than any bachelor in the country -innumerable chickens, tame pigeons, white rabbits, and a full-blood Indian pony-rather small matters for a man to deal with, you doubtless think, but it is far better to spend time in trifles such as these than drinking or gambling."

His desire for the freedom of frontier life is thus again shown:

"We hear that the new Secretary of War intends proposing to the next Congress to raise two rifle regiments for the Western service. As you are at Washington, I presume you can learn whether it is so or not, for I should like to go in such a regiment, if stationed in the far West; not that I am the least displeased with my present berth, but when the regiment goes North, it will, in all likelihood, be stationed in the vicinity of some city, from which God spare me.'

His indignation at any thing not perfectly straightforward, shows itself in an energetic remonstrance to a friend :

:

"If you have any regard for my feelings, don't say the word 'insinuation' again. You may abuse me as much as you please, but I'd prefer, of the two, to be accused of telling a

direct falsehood than stating any thing evasively or underhand; and if I have ever been guilty of such a thing, it was unintentionally."

In March, 1842, his company was removed to Fort Morgan, situated on Mobile Point, at the entrance of the Bay of Mobile, and twenty miles from the city. Here Lieutenant Sherman remained, performing garrison service, varied, in the intervals of duty, by fishing, boating, and occasional, though not frequent, visits to the city, until the following June, when the station of the company was again changed to Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, Charleston Harbor. Moultrieville, on Sullivan's Island, quite near the fort, was, at that time, a place of fashionable resort during the summer season for the wealthy families of Charleston and South Carolina generally, many of whom had temporary residences there, to which they removed on the approach of hot weather, to escape from the malarious influences of the city and lower country, and enjoy the cool breezes and the sea-bathing. Officers of the army were at that time sought after, and hospitably entertained by nearly all of the better classes of society in the South, and Lieutenant Sherman was thus, upon his arrival at Fort Moultrie, ushered into a life entirely new to him. During the summer he made many agreeable and some valuable acquaintances, which were cemented and extended during the following winter, when he, in common with the other officers, was almost overwhelmed with invitations to accept the hospitalities of the citizens of Charleston, to whom they had been attentive at the fort.

Hunting was always a favorite amusement with him, and while stationed at Fort Moultrie, he enjoyed frequent opportunities of indulging this taste. Thus, with boating and drum-fishing, were passed his leisure hours during the first year of his stay. In the fall of 1843, he availed himself of a four-months' leave of absence to visit his home at Lancaster, and while there became engaged to Miss Ellen Ewing, the accomplished daughter of his guardian, and the friend and companion of his school-days. At the expira

tion of his leave, in December, 1843, he rejoined his post, making an interesting detour down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, and thence by way of Mobile and Savannah. During the months of February, March, and April, 1844, he was associated with Colonel Sylvester Churchill, on a board of three officers, appointed by the War Department, to investigate a large number of claims for horses lost by the Georgia and Alabama militia, in the Florida war in 1837 and 1838. Most of these claims were supposed by the Government to be fraudulent, and the members of the board were required to hear and patiently sift the evidence on the spot, and afterwards report the facts and their opinions to the War Department. During the course of the investigation the board was in session at Marietta, Georgia, at Bellefonte, Alabama, and at several other places in the central and northern sections of those States. Their report gave great satisfaction to the Department, and was considered by it as the means of saving vast sums of money to the treasury, while, at the same time, awarding justice to all concerned.

All this time the young officer was not unmindful of the necessity of professional study and improvement. He took care to inform himself of the topographical features of the country in which he was stationed or through which he travelled, as well as in regard to the occupations, character, social organization, and sentiments of the inhabitants. The value of geography he specially appreciated. He wrote to his friend, Philemon Ewing:

"Every day I feel more and more in need of an atlas, such as your father has at home; and as the knowledge of geography, in its minutest details, is essential to a true military education, the idle time necessarily spent here might be properly devoted to it. I wish, therefore, you would procure for me the best geography and atlas (not school) extant."

After the adjournment of the Board, he began to turn his attention to such legal studies as might prove useful to him in his profession. Thus he writes, under date of June 12, 1844, from Fort Moultrie :

"Since my return, I have not been running about in the city or the island, as heretofore, but have endeavored to interest myself in Blackstone, which, with the assistance of Bouvier's Dictionary, I find no difficulty in understanding. I have read all four volumes, Starkie on Evidence, and other books, semi-legal and semi-historical, and would be obliged to you if you would give me a list of such books as you were required to read, not including your local or State law. I intend to read the second and third volumes of Blackstone again, also Kent's Commentaries, which seem, as far as I am capable of judging, to be the basis of the common-law practice. This course of study I have adopted, from feeling the want of it in the duties to which I was lately assigned."

And again, on the 20th of October :

"I have no idea of making the law a profession, by no means; but, as an officer of the army, it is my duty and interest to be prepared for any situation that fortune or luck may offer. It is for this alone that I prepare, and not for professional practice."

Early in 1845, he again paid a brief visit to his home in Ohio, to recover from the effects of illness. After his return to the South, he was, for a short time, stationed on detached service at the arsenal at Augusta, Georgia; and, on another occasion, was detailed as a member of a general court-martial sitting at Wilmington, North Carolina, where he had the pleasure of meeting once more with his old comrades of Company A, Third Artillery.

On the breaking out of the Mexican war, Lieutenant Sherman was assigned to duty as recruiting officer at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He remained there, however, but little more than a month, when his repeated applications for active service were met by an order from the War Department, transferring him to Company F, of his regiment, then about to sail for California, to meet Colonel Kearny's expedition across the plains. The first intimation he received of this change was conveyed by a letter, which reached him on the 28th of June, 1846, from his friend, Lieutenant E. O. C. Ord, who was

attached to his new company. On the 29th of June he received the official orders, and on the following day, without seeking to visit his home and friends, pausing only to make a few hasty arrangements with regard to his private affairs, he set out for New York. The company sailed from New York about the middle of July, in the ship Lexington, and after a voyage marked by no special incidents, touching at Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso, landed at San Francisco. Contrary to the anticipations of active service entertained at the 'outset, the career of the company in California, far away from the theatre of war, proved uneventful. During his service there, Lieutenant Sherman was detailed as acting assistant adjutantgeneral of the forces in the Tenth Military Department, under the command of Brigadier-General Stephen W. Kearny, afterwards under that of Colonel Richard B. Mason, First Dragoons; and in this capacity attracted the notice of his brother officers by the efficiency, clearness, and administrative ability he showed in the discharge of the responsible duties confided to him. In 1850 he returned to the Atlantic States, and on the 1st of May, in the same year, was married to Miss Ellen Ewing, at the residence, in Washington City, of her father, then Secretary of the Interior under President Taylor. In the following September he received what was, in those days; considered one of the highest prizes the military profession had in store for the subaltern, being appointed a commissary of subsistence with the rank of captain. He was immediately. assigned to duty, as such, upon the staff of the commanding officer of the military department of the West, and stationed at St. Louis. In March of the following year he received from the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a commission as captain, by brevet, to date from May 30, 1848, "for meritorious services in California during the war in Mexico."

On the 6th of September, 1853, Captain Sherman resigned his commission in the army, and like many of his companions at that time, sought for such advancement in civil life as the army seemed little likely to afford. He was offered and