Monday, September 9, 2013

Major General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, August 3, 1865

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, August 3, 1865.

Cox’s letter on the subject of negro suffrage is a new bombshell in your camp. He has thought for himself, and come to a conclusion different from the new creed of the East, and will in my judgment be sat upon and badgered, but he is as near right as he can get. Negro equality will lead to endless strife, and to remove and separate the races will be a big job; so any way we approach the subject it is full of difficulty. But it is better to study the case and adapt measures to it, than to lay down the theory or force facts to meet it. . . .

I think I will make that trip,1 and that is all this year. I did think of coming to Detroit to see Ord, but am bothered by people in travelling so much that I prefer to be quiet till the people run after new gods. In a short time new issues will drop us out of memory.

Affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.
__________
1 To the West.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 252

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