細節
SHERMAN, William T. Autograph letter signed ("W. T. Sherman"), to Thomas DeWitt Talmadge, Army Building, New York, 25 April 1888. 3 pages, 4to. Fine.
"THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES GAVE MORE THAN THE RICH STAY-AT-HOMES WHO GAVE CHECKS BY THE TENS & HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS"
A spirited letter showing Sherman's still fiery passions about the Civil War. He confesses that he "groaned" when he first received the invitation "to the Services held at the [Brooklyn] Tabernacle in memory of our Soldier Dead." But he has had a partial change of heart: "I will come," but "please excuse me the dinner as the two events combined are too much for a single occasion. No necessity to send for me, as I can get a carriage to take me over and back." He makes clear that he will not be giving a grand oration and does not want inflated expectations to precede him onto the stage. He "never prepares," he says, "but trusts to the inspiration of the moment...Five minutes are the most I should occupy. Others should do the heavy work..." But there is another, more important reason to keep it brief: Sherman's lingering bitterness towards the copper-heads and the rear echelon patriots. "Those who gave their lives gave more than the rich stay-at-homes who gave checks by the tens & hundreds of thousands," he says. To the dead, "all honor." But to "those who were lukewarm, grumbling, finding fault with their Generals & soldiers, if not actively indifferent as to the result, I fear even at this late day to trust my tongue or pen in public." He will do no more than speak "the few words of thanks for the manifest partiality of your Brooklyn audience." Sherman was among the last survivors of the great Union generals. Grant was dead, as were Meade, Burnside, Hooker, and even McClellan. Phil Sheridan would die in August of 1888.
"THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES GAVE MORE THAN THE RICH STAY-AT-HOMES WHO GAVE CHECKS BY THE TENS & HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS"
A spirited letter showing Sherman's still fiery passions about the Civil War. He confesses that he "groaned" when he first received the invitation "to the Services held at the [Brooklyn] Tabernacle in memory of our Soldier Dead." But he has had a partial change of heart: "I will come," but "please excuse me the dinner as the two events combined are too much for a single occasion. No necessity to send for me, as I can get a carriage to take me over and back." He makes clear that he will not be giving a grand oration and does not want inflated expectations to precede him onto the stage. He "never prepares," he says, "but trusts to the inspiration of the moment...Five minutes are the most I should occupy. Others should do the heavy work..." But there is another, more important reason to keep it brief: Sherman's lingering bitterness towards the copper-heads and the rear echelon patriots. "Those who gave their lives gave more than the rich stay-at-homes who gave checks by the tens & hundreds of thousands," he says. To the dead, "all honor." But to "those who were lukewarm, grumbling, finding fault with their Generals & soldiers, if not actively indifferent as to the result, I fear even at this late day to trust my tongue or pen in public." He will do no more than speak "the few words of thanks for the manifest partiality of your Brooklyn audience." Sherman was among the last survivors of the great Union generals. Grant was dead, as were Meade, Burnside, Hooker, and even McClellan. Phil Sheridan would die in August of 1888.