Showing posts with label William T. Sherman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William T. Sherman. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Diary of Malvina S. Waring, February 15, 1865

(Waiting at the depot). Going as usual to the department this morning, I found orders had been issued for our immediate removal to Richmond. Barely had I time to run home, dash a few more articles into my trunk, say good-bye, and join the others here. We girls are all together—Elise, Ernestine, Sadie, Bet, and myself. We have been seated in the train for hours and hours. Oh! this long waiting; it is weary work! A reign of terror prevails in the city, and the scene about me will ever live in memory. Government employees are hastening to and fro, military stores are being packed, troops in motion, aids-de-camp flying hither and thither, and anxious fugitives crowding about the train, begging for transportation. All kinds of rumors are afloat, every newcomer bringing a new version. The latest is that Hardee has refused to evacuate Charleston, and will not combine forces with Hampton in order to save the capital. I am strangely laden; I feel weighted down. Six gold watches are secreted about my person, and more miscellaneous articles of jewelry than would fill a small jewelry shop—pins, rings, bracelets, etc. One of my trunks is packed with valuables and another with provisions. Shelling has begun from the Lexington heights, and under such conditions this waiting at the depot has a degree of nervousness mixed with impatience. We catch, now and again, peculiar whizzing sounds—shells, they say. Sherman has come; he is knocking at the gate. Oh, God! turn him back! Fight on our side, and turn Sherman back!

Charlotte, N. C.—We stopped in Winnsboro awhile, but at last came on here. That was a sad, sad parting! Shall I ever look into their dear faces again—my father and mother, and poor little Johnnie, wrested by the exigencies of war from his mother's knee? People who have never been through a war don't know anything about war. May I never pass through another. Why will men fight? Especially brothers? Why cannot they adjust their differences and redress their wrongs without the shedding of woman's tears and the spilling of each other's blood?

But I dare not write, nor even think much on this strain. My old friend J. B. L. is along. He is very kind. Think of his lifting our heavy trunks into the baggage car with his own hands! Otherwise they would be sitting on the railroad platform in Columbia yet. Say what you please, it is, after all, the men whom we women have to depend on in this world. J. B. L's. friend, whom he asked permission to present to us, is a graduate of the Medical College of New York, a young Hippocrates of profoundly scientific attainments. Nor is that all—he is possessed of all that ease of manner and well-bred poise for which the F. F. V.'s are noted.

SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 275-6

Saturday, March 2, 2024

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, May 25, 1875

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,
ST. LOUIS, MO., May 25, 1875.

Dear Brother: . . . No matter how unwise were my conditions with Johnston they were secret, and his [Stanton's] divulgence was a betrayal of me; and Stanton knew it. At all events, he himself made so much clamor that history is not perfect unless the matter be wholly explained, and I think I have done it fairly.1

 . . . I believe, had I submitted to Stanton's and Halleck's insults of 1865, I should have been swept aside like any other piece of war rubbish at the reorganization of the army. . . .

Yours affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.
_______________

1 See Sherman’s Memoirs.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 345

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, November 17, 1875

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,
ST. LOUIS, Mo., Nov. 17, 1875.

Dear Brother: . . . Belknap has acted badly by me ever since he reached Washington. . .

General Grant promised me often to arrange and divide our functions, but he never did, but left the Secretary to do all those things of which he himself, as General, had complained to Stanton. I don't think I ever used the expression often imputed to me of saying that the Secretary of War is only a clerk to the President. It is the opinion of many lawyers that the Secretary of War himself has no right to issue a military order to officers and soldiers that his office is civil etc., etc. The President is constitutional commander-in-chief, and when the Secretary issues his order he ought to recite the fact; whereas orders are issued by the Adjutant-General by order of the Secretary of War. This is done daily, and I cannot command unless orders come through me, which they do not, but go straight to the party concerned. This is the real question at issue between us. Congress ought to clearly define the relation between the Secretary of War and a General of the army. It is not the case now, but the Secretary of War exercises all the functions of the Commander-General under a decision of the Attorney-General. . . .

Yours, etc.,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 346

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, December 29, 1875

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,
ST. LOUIS, Mo., Dec. 29, 1875.

Dear Brother: . . . As to the army, I agree that it is entirely too costly. Twenty-five thousand soldiers with a due proportion of officers ought to be maintained at less than present estimates, which I see are stated at forty and also at fifty-five millions. This must embrace appropriations for forts, harbors, etc., whose disbursements fall under the engineer and other bureaus of the War Department. The heaviest cost to the army is in these expensive bureaus of which we have ten, all of which have a head in Washington and run, as it were, a separate machine. I have no hesitation in saying that if the Secretary of War has the lawful power to command the army through the Adjutant-General, then my office is a sinecure and should be abolished. Instead of being useful, it is simply ornamental and an obstacle to unity of command and harmony of action. No two men can fulfil the same office; and the law should clearly define the functions of each, or mine should be abolished. . .

Yours affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 346-7

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, February 1, 1876

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,
St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 1, 1876.

Dear Brother: . . . Your letter endorsing Hayes is first-rate, and meets general approval. I agree with you that no one should be the President unless he was with us heart and soul in the Civil War; and Hayes fills the bill perfectly.

I should be delighted to have him nominated and elected.

The Democrats, in turning between the Democrats of the North and South, will probably commit a mistake that will reunite the Republicans.

I see the "Herald," in an elaborate and good article on saving money in the War Department estimates, criticizes the sending of officers abroad at public expense, instancing my case. Not one cent of my expenses was paid by the Government. I availed myself of the frigate Wabash to reach Gibraltar, whither she was bound in her course to the Mediterranean. I paid my mess-bill, which amounted to $130 (more than the price of passage over in a Cunarder).

If you happen to see one of those ------ reporters, you could say as much. I will not, because on searching they will find that not a cent was paid for my expenses abroad.

Yours affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 347-8

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, March 10, 1876

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,
ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 10, 1876.

Dear Brother: I have purposely refrained from writing to you my opinions and feelings on the terrible fate that so suddenly has befallen General Belknap, because I want to say truthfully that I have never asked you to advocate my cause or to be compromised by my mistakes. I am proud of your position in the Senate, and would not have you to risk it by even the faintest partiality to your brother. But people will ask you what was the real reason why I left Washington; did I have knowledge of frauds and peculations? and was I not bound to reveal them? You may answer positively that I had no knowledge except what Congress and the President had. It was not my office to probe after vague rumors and whispers that had no official basis. The President and Belknap both gradually withdrew from me all the powers which Grant had exercised in the same office, and Congress capped the climax by repealing that law which required all orders to the army to go through the General, and the only other one, a joint resolution that empowered the General to appoint "traders."

The consequence was that orders to individuals of the army went over my head to them, and reports went back without coming through me, as required in every military service on earth. . . .

I have now from Moulton two letters, and from Dayton one. In all which is stated that the new Secretary, Judge Taft, has spoken kindly of me, and expressed a desire to meet me in Washington. I will not go to Washington unless ordered, and it would be an outrage if Congress, under a temporary excitement, should compel my removal back. I came out at my own expense, and never charged a cent for transportation, which I could have done. I can better command the army from here than from there. The causes that made a Belknap remain and will remain. . . .

If you see Judge Taft, say to him that my opinion is that I can fulfil any general policy he may prescribe, and enforce any orders he may give better from St. Louis than Washington.

Affectionately, etc.,
W. T. SHERMAN.

There are two ways to govern the army, its generals, and the other through the staff. If orders and instructions are made to individuals composing the army direct by the Adjutant-General, and not through the commanding General, the latter is not only useless but an incumbrance, and had better be away. But if Secretary Taft is willing to trust me to execute and carry into effect his orders and instructions, all he has to do is to order, and he will find me ready.

Affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 348-9

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: January 23, 1865

Foggy, and raining. F. P. Blair is here again. If enemies are permitted to exist in the political edifice, there is danger of a crash. This weather, bad news, etc. etc. predispose both the people and the army for peace—while the papers are filled with accounts of the leniency of Sherman at Savannah, and his forbearance to interfere with the slaves. The enemy cannot take care of the negroes—and to feed them in idleness would produce a famine North and South. Emancipation now is physically impossible. Where is the surplus food to come from to feed 4,000,000 idle non-producers?

It is said by the press that Mr. Seddon resigned because the Virginia Congressmen expressed in some way a want of confidence in the cabinet. But Mr. Hunter was in the Secretary's office early this morning, and may prevail on him to withdraw his resignation again, or to hold on until all is accomplished.

Gen. Breckinridge, it is said, requires the removal of Northrop, before his acceptance. Gen. Bragg is also named.

Congress, in creating the office of a commander-in-chief, also aimed a blow at Bragg's staff; and this may decide the President to appoint him Secretary of War.

A long letter came to-day from Governor Brown, dated Macon, Ga., Jan. 6th, 1865, in reply to a long one from the Secretary of War, filled with criminations and recriminations, and a flat refusal to yield the old men and boys in State service, in obedience to the call of the "usurping" and "despotic" demand of the Confederate States Executive. Georgia trembles, and may topple over any day!

Mr. Blair's return has excited many vague hopes-among the rest, even of recognition by the United States Government! Yet many, very many croakers, weary of the war, would acquiesce in reconstruction, if they might save their property. Vain hopes.

It is rumored that a commissioner (a Louisianian) sailed to-day for England, to make overtures to that government.

The government has ordered the military authorities at Augusta, Ga. (Jan. 21), to remove or burn all the cotton in that town if it is likely to be occupied by the enemy.

Senator Hunter sends a letter to Mr. Seddon which he has just received from Randolph Dickinson, Camp 57th Virginia, stating that it is needful to inaugurate negotiations for the best possible terms without delay, as the army, demoralized and crumbling, cannot be relied upon to do more fighting, etc. Mr. Hunter indorses:

"My dear sir, will you read the inclosed? I fear there is too much truth in it. Can't the troops be paid?

"Yours most truly, R. M. T. HUNTER." 

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2p. 395-6

Monday, February 26, 2024

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: January 31, 1865

Bright and frosty.

The "peace commissioners" remained Sunday night at Petersburg, and proceeded on their way yesterday morning. As they passed our lines, our troops cheered them very heartily, and when they reached the enemy's lines, they were cheered more vociferously than ever. Is not this an evidence of a mutual desire for peace?

Yesterday, Mr. De Jarnette, of Virginia, introduced in Congress a resolution intimating a disposition on the part of our government to unite with the United States in vindication of the "Monroe doctrine," i.e. expulsion of monarchies established on this continent by European powers. This aims at France, and to aid our commissioners in their endeavors to divert the blows of the United States from us to France. The resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

If there be complication with France, the United States may accept our overtures of alliance, and our people and government will acquiesce, but it would soon grow an unpopular treaty. At this moment we are hard pressed, pushed to the wall, and prepared to catch at anything affording relief. We pant for a "breathing spell." Sherman is advancing, but the conquest of territory and liberation of slaves, while they injure us, only embarrass the enemy, and add to their burdens. Now is the time for the United States to avert another year of slaughter and expense.

Mr. Foote has been denouncing Mr. Secretary Seddon for selling his wheat at $40 per bushel.

It is rumored that a column of the enemy's cavalry is on a raid somewhere, I suppose sent out from Grant's army. This does not look like peace and independence. An extract from the New York Tribune states that peace must come soon, because it has reliable information of the exhaustion of our resources. This means that we must submit unconditionally, which may be a fatal mistake.

The raiders are said to be on the Brooke Turnpike and Westhaven Road, northeast of the city, and menacing us in a weak place. Perhaps they are from the Valley. The militia regiments are ordered out, and the locals will follow of course, as when Dahlgren came.

Hon. Mr. Haynes of the Senate gives information of a raid organizing in East Tennessee on Salisbury, N. C., to liberate the prisoners, cut the Piedmont Road, etc.

Half-past two P. M. Nothing definite of the reported raid near the city. False, perhaps.

No papers from the President to-day; he is disabled again by neuralgia, in his hand, they say.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2p. 404-5

Diary of Sergeant Daniel L. Ambrose: October 3 – November 10, 1864

From October 3d to November 10th Sherman's army was continually marching, manoeuvering and skirmishing. The battle of Allatoona had been fought, the pass had been defended, the mad men who rushed up those rugged hills had been hurled back, the army of Georgia and Tennessee had been saved by the handful of men who stood there facing the grim monster as man never before had stood, and November 11th we find the armies commanded by General Sherman in the vicinity of Rome and Kingston. Hood was far to the northward. Sherman says: "He may push on his conquests; I will leave Thomas to confront him. I will enter the heart of the Confederacy. I will visit the South with war's stern realities."

Orderlies and aids are dashing hither and thither. The order has been given. Hark! We hear the drum and the bugle, as if to say "Up boys and be ready, for Sherman is going to make a great stride in the South-land." The Seventh is now ready, shod and equipped, and in the evening, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hector Perrin, we move from Rome about six miles and go into camp.

Rome is now burning, and to-night innocence, beautiful innocence is crying, all because its brothers rebelled; because they leaped from liberty's lap and struck the flag and swore this Union to divide, and her name and her glories to blacken.

SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 273-4

Diary of Sergeant Daniel L. Ambrose: November 13, 1864

This evening finds us at the base of Kenesaw. We are reminded that this name has gone to history, associated with deeds of valor; where Logan's battle flag flapped against the sky. The heavens are all aglow to-night; to the southward red columns of smoke are curling upward. Signal lights are twinkling upon Kenesaw. Evidently Sherman is conversing with Howard and Slocum, his right and left bowers.

SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 275

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Daniel L. Ambrose: November 16, 1864

This morning the army moves upon four different roads. The Seventeenth and Fifteenth A. C., comprising the right wing, commanded by Major General Howard, the Twentieth and Fourteenth A. C. the left wing, commanded by Major General Slocum. All eyes are now turned towards General Sherman, as he sits upon his restless war steed, directing the perilous movements of a mighty army, which if successful, will add a new chapter to the arts of war. Will he succeed? Will he plant his banner upon the ocean strand? His countenance seems to say “I will, if these seventy thousand warriors keep thundering at my heels." To-night we camp upon the banks of Cotton River.

SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 278

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Diary of Malvina S. Waring, February 6, 1865

Columbia, S. C.—This wild talk about the Federal Army and what it's going to do is all nonsense. Coming here! Sherman! Why not say he's going to Paramaribo? One is about as likely as the other, notwithstanding that papa shakes his head so solemnly over it, and mamma looks so grave. He is always shaking his head over something, it seems to me, and she forever looking grave. I do hope I shall be able to get around being old, somehow. Old people's weather is all bad weather; their horoscope all background; their expectation all disappointment; their probabilities all failures. No doubt I am foolish—mamma says I am—but there's a certain satisfaction in being young and foolish rather than old and wise.

SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 272

Diary of Malvina S. Waring, Friday, February 10, 1865

This being German day, I went as usual for my lesson. If I must say it, the old Frau's dressing is all top-dressing, and her conversation never more than a mild diversion. Its absorbing theme today was the same as with every one else—Sherman's movements; is he coming here? And what will he do when he does? These are the little questions which embody the vague forebodings, the monstrous prophecies that fill the air. I marvel at the ease with which some people lose their heads. You would think Sherman was a three-tailed bashaw, to hear some of them talk.

SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 273

Diary of Malvina S. Waring, February 11, 1865

The dawning of a doubt is a troublesome thing, for if a doubt does not out and out destroy faith, it assuredly chastens it to an uncomfortable degree. Is he coming, that terrible Sherman, with all his legions? Well, and if he does, Beauregard is coming too, and Hampton and Butler are already here, so where's the sense of getting worried? I shall continue to possess my soul in peace.

SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 273

Diary of Malvina S. Waring, Monday, February 13, 1865

We were greatly startled yesterday by the firing of cannon in the upper part of the city. It proved to be a call for Colonel Thomas' Regiment of Reserves. I am sorry the weather is so cold. Our ill-clothed, ill-fed troops must suffer acutely in such bitter weather. Today I accompanied my mother to the Wayside Hospital, carrying some jelly and wafers for the sick. One of the inmates, a convalescent soldier, played with much taste and skill on the banjo. Came home to find my father much excited about me, having heard Mayor Goodwyn say that he has no hope at all of holding the city. And my father does not consider the track of a great army the safest place for young women; hence he wants me to leave; go; get out of the way! But where? Where shall I fly from Sherman's army?

SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 274

Diary of Malvina S. Waring, Tuesday, February 14, 1865

Such a day! It was like "a winnowing of chaos." Very little work was done at the Treasury Department in the midst of such excitement and confusion. We are to remove at once to Richmond, and I am told Colonel Joseph Daniel Pope, Mr. Jamison, and many of the employees of the printing establishment, have already departed. I do not know if this be true; I hear too many contradictory reports for all of them to be true. One thing, however, appears to be quite true—Sherman is coming! And I never believed it before. This afternoon, we could distinctly hear firing in the distance, and at this writing (8.30 p. m.) we can see the sky arched with fire in the direction of the Saluda factory. Must I go with the department to Richmond? In such case, my parents will be entirely alone, Johnny having gone, also, to the front. Does this not clearly show the dire extremity to which we are reduced, when boys of sixteen shoulder the musket? There are other reasons why I should like to remain here to receive Sherman: it is high time I was having some experiences out of the ordinary, and if anything remarkable is going to happen, I want to know something about it; it might be worth relating to my grandchildren! Anyhow, it is frightfully monotonous, just because you are a woman, to be always tucked away in the safe places. I want to stay. I want to have a taste of danger. Midnight.—But I am overruled; I must go. My father says so; my mother says so. Everything is in readiness—my trunks packed, my traveling clothes laid out upon the chair, and now I must try to catch a little sleep. And then on the morrow—what? What will be the next stroke upon the Labensuhr? God only knows.

SOURCE: South Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate Girl's Diary,” p. 274-5

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, July 16, 1872

PARIS, FRANCE, July 16, 1872.

Dear Brother: . . . Of course I have watched the progress of political events as they appear from this standpoint, and feel amazed to see the turn things have taken. Grant, who never was a Republican, is your candidate; and Greeley, who never was a Democrat but quite the reverse, is the Democratic candidate. I infer that Grant will be re-elected, though several shrewd judges insist that Greeley will be our next President. . . . There are a great many Americans located here in business or prolonged stay, that constitute a society in themselves. They try to monopolize my spare time, yet I have managed to see M. Thiers, and the officers of Versailles, having dined with the President, and I am this moment back from a tour of the southern line of forts, Valérien, D'Issy, Vanves, and Montrouge, guided by a staff-officer especially appointed; and I have appointed another day of next week to complete the circuit. En route to Paris I saw Strasbourg, Wissembourg, Saarbruck, Metz, and Sedan, so that I shall be able to understand the angry controversies that are sure to arise in the progress of the trials that I see it is resolved to put Bazaine and others through. . . Choosing between the two candidates on national grounds, I surely prefer Grant; as to platforms and parties, of course I regard these as mere traps to catch flies, but with General Grant as President, there will likely be more stability and quietude, which the country needs. . . .

Truly yours,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 337-8

Senator John Sherman to General William T. Sherman, August 4, 1872

MANSFIELD, OHIO, Aug. 4, 1872.

Dear Brother: . . . Just now all interest is centred upon the Presidential election. As you say, the Republicans are running a Democrat, and the Democrats a Republican. And there is not an essential difference in the platform of principle. The chief interest I feel in the canvass is the preservation of the Republican party, which I think essential to secure the fair enforcement of the results of the war. General Grant has so managed matters as to gain the very bitter and active hostility of many of the leading Republicans, and the personal indifference of most of the residue. He will, however, be fairly supported by the great mass of the Republicans, and I still hope and believe will be elected. The defections among Republicans will be made up by Democrats, who will not vote for Greeley.

The whole canvass is so extraordinary, that no result can be anticipated. You will notice that Sumner, Thurman, Banks, and others are for Greeley, who is probably the most unfit man for President, except Train, that has ever been mentioned. I intend to support Grant fairly and fully, as best for the country and Republican party.

Affectionately yours,
JOHN SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 338-9

Senator John Sherman to General William T. Sherman, October 10, 1872

MANSFIELD, OHIO, Oct. 10, 1872.

Dear Brother: Your letter came in my absence. The election is over,1 and clearly indicates the re-election of Grant. I do not see any occasion of a further contest, but I presume it will be continued until November. . . .

Affectionately yours,
JOHN SHERMAN.
_______________

1 Referring to the October State elections, which, by going strongly Republican, presaged a Republican victory in November.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 339

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, August 28, 1874

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,        
WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 28, 1874.

Dear Brother: . . . Don't ever give any person the least encouragement to think I can be used for political ends. I have seen it poison so many otherwise good characters, that I am really more obstinate than ever. I think Grant will be made miserable to the end of his life by his eight years' experience. Let those who are trained to it keep the office, and keep the Army and Navy as free from politics as possible, for emergencies that may arise at any time.

Think of the reputations wrecked in politics since 1865.

Yours affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.

[A few days later he continued:]

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

No matter what the temptation, I will never allow my name to be used by any party; but I don't think it would be prudent to allow the old Democrats to get possession of the Government; and hope the Republicans will choose some new man, as like Mr. Lincoln as you can find. Or else let us unite on Blaine, or even Washburne. . . .

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 340