CHAPTER XXXIV.

HOMEWARD.

THE historian who shall hereafter chronicle, in full, the events of the civil war in America, and sketch the men who therein figured most prominently, will find the path by which General Sherman ascended as straight as it was difficult of ascent. His patriotism was not of that doubtful character which seeks reward through the forms of Government contracts. He was born with the instincts of a soldier, was educated for a soldier, and was ambitious to do the work of a soldier. He loved the Union, and ever set himself against the dangerous heresy that would admit of its peaceful dissolution. A resident of the South before the war, as soon as he divined the purposes of the secessionists, he broke away and arranged himself with the friends of the Union. While Mr. Stanton was yet a member of Mr. Buchanan's cabinet, and while such men as Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, and Jacob Thompson were yet in office under the Government of the United States, and all-powerful in their influence over President Buchanan, Sherman had already determined to resign an honorable position in the State of Louisiana and offer his services to sustain the cause of the Union. On the 18th of January, 1861, as we have already seen, he wrote to Governor Moore: "If Louisiana withdraws from the Federal Union, I prefer to maintain my allegiance to the old constitution as long as a fragment of it remains, and my longer stay here would be wrong in every sense of the word." He saw the war coming, and gave the alarm, whilst others cried, "Peace! be still!"

As soon as Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, he visited him, and warned him that the South was organizing a formidable rebellion, that the Southern people were united and in earnest, and that they would take us all unprepared. He declared to his countrymen they were sleeping on a volcano, all unconscious of the danger. He scouted the idea of putting down the rebellion with three months' militia. The disastrous result of the battle of Bull Run confirmed him in his views of the utter inutility of the temporary expedients of the Government, and he so declared. Sent to the West, he called for an army of two hundred thousand men, to operate from Kentucky as a base, and reclaim the navigation of the Mississippi River. As early as 1862, he declared cotton prize of war, long in advance of the Government; and in 1863 he established trade regulations for Memphis and other places within his department; and finally, after aiding in that series of brilliant military operations which opened the Father of Waters "to go unvexed to the sea," he assisted Lieutenant-General Grant in planning the two conclusive campaigns of the war-the one towards Richmond, and the other towards Atlanta-so eventful of result; and in executing his part of the programme, fought Joe Johnston one hundred and twenty-five days successively, and at length captured Atlanta, at a moment when our natural resources were well-nigh exhausted, and the national heart sick with long watching and waiting for success. Striking out boldly from Atlanta to the sea, guided solely by his own judgment, against the advice of General Halleck, and with the approbation of General Grant alone, he cut loose from his base, descended into Georgia, struck terror into the heart of the rebellion, captured Savannah, and planted our victorious standards on the shore of the Atlantic. Striking out again, he captured Pocotaligo and Columbia, compelled the evacuation of Charleston, laid waste the State of South Carolina, again met and whipped Joe Johnston, and after marching and fighting for twelve months, without rest, he halted his victorious army at the capital of North Carolina, in time to witness the funeral ceremonies of the Confederacy

and the complete triumph of our cause. And for what?-to be the subject of such utterly unfounded suspicions, as to be by some even suspected for a traitor! History furnishes no example of such cruel ingratitude and injustice.

Immediately on the conclusion of the definitive cartel of surrender, General Sherman issued the following orders, for the future movement of his army. Its work was done, and nothing remained for the greater portion of it, not required to garrison the conquered territory, but to return home and disband.

"HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, "In the Field, Raleigh, N. C., April 27, 1865.

"SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 66."

"Hostilities having ceased, the following changes and dispositions of the troops in the field will be made with as little delay as practicable:

“I. The Tenth and Twenty-third corps will remain in the Department of North Carolina, and Major-General J. M. Schofield will transfer back to Major-General Gillmore, commanding Department of the South, the two brigades formerly belonging to the division of brevet Major-General Grover, at Savannah. The Third division, cavalry corps, brevet MajorGeneral J. Kilpatrick commanding, is hereby transferred to the Department of North Carolina, and General Kilpatrick will report in person to Major-General Schofield for orders.

"II. The cavalry command of Major-General George Stoneman will return to East Tennessee, and that of brevet MajorGeneral J. H. Wilson will be conducted back to the Tennessee River, in the neighborhood of Decatur, Alabama.

"III. Major-General Howard will conduct the Army of the Tennessee to Richmond, Virginia, following roads substantially by Lewisburg, Warrenton, Lawrenceville, and Petersburg, or to the right of that line. Major-General Slocum will conduct the Army of Georgia to Richmond by roads to the left of the one indicated for General Howard, viz., by Oxford, Boydton, and Nottoway Courthouse. These armies will turn

in at this point the contents of their ordnance trains, and use the wagons for extra forage and provisions. These columns will be conducted slowly and in the best of order, and aim to be at Richmond, ready to resume the march, by the middle of May.

“IV. The chief-quartermaster and commissary of the military division, Generals Easton and Beckwith, after making proper dispositions of their departments here, will proceed to Richmond and make suitable preparations to receive those columns, and to provide them for the further journey."

On the 10th of March, Sherman himself set out for Alexandria, Virginia, whither he arrived on the 19th. During those nine days of dreary march along the war-paths and across the battle-fields of the Army of the Potomac, he had ample opportunity for reflection on the vanity of all human glory. He thought much and anxiously upon his own peculiar situation, reviewed carefully all his former relations with Mr. Stanton, to discover, if possible, what motive he had for turning upon him; and looked into the newspapers hoping to find some disavowal or note of explanation, on the part of Mr. Stanton, that would disabuse the public mind of the false impressions he had himself created; but all in vain. The public mind had settled down into the opinion that General Sherman was not quite as bad as had been supposed; but still there was something, it was believed, in regard to his case, very inexplicable. Under such circumstances it was some relief to his sense of injury, to write and forward to a personal friend the following letter, dated at Camp Alexandria,-the first word to the public from him in regard to the matter:—

"I am just arrived. All my army will be in to-day. I have been lost to the world in the woods for some time, yet, on arriving at the 'settlements,' find I have made quite a stir among the people at home, and that the most sinister motives have been ascribed to me. I have been too long fighting with real rebels with muskets in their hands to be scared by mere

non-combatants, no matter how high their civil rank or station. It is amusing to observe how brave and firm some men become when all danger is past. I have noticed on field of battle brave men never insult the captured or mutilate the dead; but cowards and laggards always do. I cannot now recall the act, but Shakspeare records how poor Falstaff, the prince of cowards and wits, rising from a feigned death, stabbed again the dead Percy, and carried his carcass aloft in triumph to prove his valor.

"Now that the rebellion in our land is dead, how many Falstaffs appear to brandish the evidence of their valor, and seek to appropriate honors and the public applause for deeds that never were done!

"As to myself, I ask no reward, no popularity; but I submit to the candid judgment of the world, after all the facts shall be known and understood.

"I do want peace and security, and the return to law and justice from Maine to the Rio Grande; and if it does not exist now, substantially, it is for State reasons beyond my comprehension. It may be counted strange that one who has no fame but as a soldier should have been so careful to try and restore the civil power of the Government, and the peaceful jurisdictions of the federal courts; but it is difficult to discover in that fact any just cause of offence to a free and enlightened people. But when men choose to slander and injure, they can easily invent the necessary facts for the purpose when the proposed victim is far away engaged in public service of their own bidding. But there is consolation in knowing that though truth lies in the bottom of a well, the Yankees have perseverance enough to get to that bottom."

General Sherman now determined not to visit Washington, but to remain in camp with his army until he should receive further orders from General Grant. Afterwards, on being invited by General Grant, he visited him at his headquarters in Washington; and, on being informed by him that the President had expressed a desire to see him, he called immediately on