Details
SHERMAN, WILLIAM TECUMSEH, Major General. Autograph letter signed ("W.T. Sherman") to Philemon Ewing ("Dear Phil"), "Head Qrs. 5 Divn. Army of the Tenn[essee] Camp before Corinth," 16 May 1862. Six full pages, 4to, comprising approximately 1200 words, minor spotting to two pages, last page slightly dust-soiled and rubbed at folds, but otherwise in very good condition.
SHERMAN, IN THE WAKE OF THE BATTLE OF SHILOH, REPORTS ON A NOTORIOUS CASE OF COWARDICE UNDER FIRE, AND ASSIALS THOSE WHO PREDICTED EASY VICTORY: "WE MUST HAVE A TERRIFIC BATTLE SOON"
An exceptionally important letter--probably one of Sherman's longest of war date--to Philemon Ewing (1820-1896), Sherman's "brother" since he had been left fatherless at age five and virtually adopted by the Ewing family (Sherman signs the letter: "As ever, your affectionate brother"). The letter gives a detailed account of one of the most famous controversies in Sherman's career, which erupted in the inquiry into the near-debacle of Shiloh concerning the poor performance of the 71st Ohio and a commander, Col. Rodney Mason. Because of the length of this letter (amounting to a short article) only portions may be quoted here; a full transcript is available upon request."
"You know my opinion of Newspapers and Reporters and that I scorn them from the bottom of my soul. Besides endeavoring to injure me in every way in their power they have attempted to raise the implication that I have purposely thrown discredit unnecessarily on the Ohio troops. A friend has shown me a letter from Colonel Rodney Mason of the 71st Ohio now at Clarksville, Tenn., published in a Cincinnati paper, in which he says I am surrounded by persons who sneer at the Ohio troops and favor the 55th Illinois at the expense of the Ohio Regimenst....The history of this matter is this. In February last many Regiments reported to me at Paducah [Illinois], and were sent forward to Genl. [John] Pope or [Ulysses S.] Grant according to my order from Genl. [Henry W.] Halleck. Nine Ohio Regiments arrived without arms. I made every possible effort & succeeded in procuring arms....The four (4) senior Colonels were entitled to the Command of these Brigades....All present were perfectly content with the arrangement....Rodney Mason did not pretend that his commission entitled him to a Brigade and expressed himself perfectly satisfied that I had placed his Regiment in Stuart's Brigade....My Brigades remained there up to the Battle of Shiloh. On Sunday the 6th April Stuart's Brigade was posted at the Ford of Lick Creek [at the left flank of the Union line]....The day before the Battle I rode with Colonel Stuart to examine his disposition of Guards & pickets, and...I clearly pointed out to him the strong & weak points of his position cautioning him as to his Right the interval between him & Prentiss....
"Colonel Mason did not say one word about his dissatisfaction at being placed under an Illinois Colonel, or suffering under the sneers of my staff....On Monday I ordered the Brigade up &....I deployed it forward on the Right of a Battery which I personally directed. I did not see Col. Mason at all. His Regiment was in Line very small in numbers but was in Line & Mason was not with it, and Major Sanger of my staff reports to me officially that when he was sent back by me on some duty, he found Col. M crouching behind a bank of earth [probably along the bank of the Tennessee], that he remonstrated with him when Colonel Mason got up, and instead of joining the fragment of his Regiment thus steadily advancing under fire, he made direct to the Steamboat Landing. I did not know this fact when I made up my Report, nor can I recall having said one word disrespectful of Col. Mason or of his Regiment then or since....
"I know his Regiment did not stand by their places as they should, and I could not praise them but I spared them censure...I will leave my Official Report stand as it is true. I may have omitted some details, or even failed to praise where it was due, but certainly I have withheld much censure which should have been bestowed....It was none of my business to report the conduct of others, but of my own, and I tried to do it truthfully in my Report; but read Buell's Report, Nelson's, every bodys, and all concur in the fact that the Landing was crowded wth fugitives of all Regiments & Corps, that the Road leading back was thronged by men who reported us all killed, used up, surprised, bayonetted, every thing horrible. I did not go back to the River to see for myself. I was ever with the pursuers & only saw with pain & concern that my Line was contracting in length & thining in depth, but so important were Lines & stubborn the resistance that I dealt with the present alone, and not with the absent.
"I have here indulged in talking against those who on Sunday had not the Courage to stand up before that storm of shot and ball, but I have indulged in expression and feeling against those who on Monday after reinforcements came and it was universally known that we were to advance still hung back, and did not lend us a hand. Among them I am pained to say was Rodney Mason and many far too many of the Ohio 71st Vols...No baser act ever occurred in History than this of trying to throw on Grant, or Prentiss and on me the blame of surprise. [It is] false in fact, and designed to injure us....Whenever any officer or soldier has shown a disposition to name himself to a new effort I have sustained him and encouraged him; but I will not permit Col. Mason of anybody...to accuse me of doing 'injustice to bodies of men, such as my Ohio Regiment'...
"I have said again & again to them that Sunday's attack on us was not a surprise, but a bold well designed & well executed attack of a brave & intelligent enemy. That to beat this enemy we must not only exercise all our bravery & physical strength & power, but also all the skill, strategy and combination known to the most skillful soldiers. I have ever been thought to exaggerate the strength, courage & determination of our enemies, and have taken excessive precautions. I did so at Shiloh. Knew the ground better than any many there, and availed myself of all the skill I possessed, and though anonymous scribblers may say what they please of me, Col. Mason must not shield himself at my expense....I hold the soldiers harmless, but I do blame those leaders whether of Military or Civil Life who have impressed the men with the belief that all they had to do was to come South and Seccesh would run. They now find themselves mistaken and are "tired of the war."...We must have a terrific battle soon & God knows I wish the Ohio troops may earn all the honors their friends at home expect of them. I will try to point out the way...."
Mason was later cashiered, with others of the 71st Ohio, after they surrendered an outpost at Clarksville in August 1862 (see Noah Andre Trudeau, "Fields Without Honor: Two Affairs in Tennessee," in Civil War Times Illustrated, July-August 1992, xxxii:3:42-49, 57).
SHERMAN, IN THE WAKE OF THE BATTLE OF SHILOH, REPORTS ON A NOTORIOUS CASE OF COWARDICE UNDER FIRE, AND ASSIALS THOSE WHO PREDICTED EASY VICTORY: "WE MUST HAVE A TERRIFIC BATTLE SOON"
An exceptionally important letter--probably one of Sherman's longest of war date--to Philemon Ewing (1820-1896), Sherman's "brother" since he had been left fatherless at age five and virtually adopted by the Ewing family (Sherman signs the letter: "As ever, your affectionate brother"). The letter gives a detailed account of one of the most famous controversies in Sherman's career, which erupted in the inquiry into the near-debacle of Shiloh concerning the poor performance of the 71st Ohio and a commander, Col. Rodney Mason. Because of the length of this letter (amounting to a short article) only portions may be quoted here; a full transcript is available upon request."
"You know my opinion of Newspapers and Reporters and that I scorn them from the bottom of my soul. Besides endeavoring to injure me in every way in their power they have attempted to raise the implication that I have purposely thrown discredit unnecessarily on the Ohio troops. A friend has shown me a letter from Colonel Rodney Mason of the 71st Ohio now at Clarksville, Tenn., published in a Cincinnati paper, in which he says I am surrounded by persons who sneer at the Ohio troops and favor the 55th Illinois at the expense of the Ohio Regimenst....The history of this matter is this. In February last many Regiments reported to me at Paducah [Illinois], and were sent forward to Genl. [John] Pope or [Ulysses S.] Grant according to my order from Genl. [Henry W.] Halleck. Nine Ohio Regiments arrived without arms. I made every possible effort & succeeded in procuring arms....The four (4) senior Colonels were entitled to the Command of these Brigades....All present were perfectly content with the arrangement....Rodney Mason did not pretend that his commission entitled him to a Brigade and expressed himself perfectly satisfied that I had placed his Regiment in Stuart's Brigade....My Brigades remained there up to the Battle of Shiloh. On Sunday the 6th April Stuart's Brigade was posted at the Ford of Lick Creek [at the left flank of the Union line]....The day before the Battle I rode with Colonel Stuart to examine his disposition of Guards & pickets, and...I clearly pointed out to him the strong & weak points of his position cautioning him as to his Right the interval between him & Prentiss....
"Colonel Mason did not say one word about his dissatisfaction at being placed under an Illinois Colonel, or suffering under the sneers of my staff....On Monday I ordered the Brigade up &....I deployed it forward on the Right of a Battery which I personally directed. I did not see Col. Mason at all. His Regiment was in Line very small in numbers but was in Line & Mason was not with it, and Major Sanger of my staff reports to me officially that when he was sent back by me on some duty, he found Col. M crouching behind a bank of earth [probably along the bank of the Tennessee], that he remonstrated with him when Colonel Mason got up, and instead of joining the fragment of his Regiment thus steadily advancing under fire, he made direct to the Steamboat Landing. I did not know this fact when I made up my Report, nor can I recall having said one word disrespectful of Col. Mason or of his Regiment then or since....
"I know his Regiment did not stand by their places as they should, and I could not praise them but I spared them censure...I will leave my Official Report stand as it is true. I may have omitted some details, or even failed to praise where it was due, but certainly I have withheld much censure which should have been bestowed....It was none of my business to report the conduct of others, but of my own, and I tried to do it truthfully in my Report; but read Buell's Report, Nelson's, every bodys, and all concur in the fact that the Landing was crowded wth fugitives of all Regiments & Corps, that the Road leading back was thronged by men who reported us all killed, used up, surprised, bayonetted, every thing horrible. I did not go back to the River to see for myself. I was ever with the pursuers & only saw with pain & concern that my Line was contracting in length & thining in depth, but so important were Lines & stubborn the resistance that I dealt with the present alone, and not with the absent.
"I have here indulged in talking against those who on Sunday had not the Courage to stand up before that storm of shot and ball, but I have indulged in expression and feeling against those who on Monday after reinforcements came and it was universally known that we were to advance still hung back, and did not lend us a hand. Among them I am pained to say was Rodney Mason and many far too many of the Ohio 71st Vols...No baser act ever occurred in History than this of trying to throw on Grant, or Prentiss and on me the blame of surprise. [It is] false in fact, and designed to injure us....Whenever any officer or soldier has shown a disposition to name himself to a new effort I have sustained him and encouraged him; but I will not permit Col. Mason of anybody...to accuse me of doing 'injustice to bodies of men, such as my Ohio Regiment'...
"I have said again & again to them that Sunday's attack on us was not a surprise, but a bold well designed & well executed attack of a brave & intelligent enemy. That to beat this enemy we must not only exercise all our bravery & physical strength & power, but also all the skill, strategy and combination known to the most skillful soldiers. I have ever been thought to exaggerate the strength, courage & determination of our enemies, and have taken excessive precautions. I did so at Shiloh. Knew the ground better than any many there, and availed myself of all the skill I possessed, and though anonymous scribblers may say what they please of me, Col. Mason must not shield himself at my expense....I hold the soldiers harmless, but I do blame those leaders whether of Military or Civil Life who have impressed the men with the belief that all they had to do was to come South and Seccesh would run. They now find themselves mistaken and are "tired of the war."...We must have a terrific battle soon & God knows I wish the Ohio troops may earn all the honors their friends at home expect of them. I will try to point out the way...."
Mason was later cashiered, with others of the 71st Ohio, after they surrendered an outpost at Clarksville in August 1862 (see Noah Andre Trudeau, "Fields Without Honor: Two Affairs in Tennessee," in Civil War Times Illustrated, July-August 1992, xxxii:3:42-49, 57).