Saturday, April 8, 2023

Lieutenant-General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, October 20, 1866

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI,
ST. LOUIS, Mo., Oct. 20, 1866.

Dear Brother: I got back all safe and well the day before yesterday, having met no trouble whatever, notwithstanding the many rumors of Indian troubles. These are all mysterious, and only accountable on the supposition that our people out West are resolved on trouble for the sake of the profit resulting from military occupation. I kept the same ambulances, and made the very route I had prescribed to myself by Garland, Lyon, etc., to Ellsworth, Riley, etc. The railroad is finished to Riley, so that I came all the way thence in cars.

I see rumors of my being called to Washington. Of this I know nothing, and if offered I shall decline. I must keep clear of politics in all its phases, for I must serve any administration that arises. I am not aware that I have ever on paper expressed any opinion of this seeming conflict between Congress and the President. I deplore it as much as you do, and still hope that some solution will be found. . .

Affectionately,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 277

No comments: