OFFICE ST. LOUIS R.R. Co.,
ST. LOUIS, May 23,
1861.
. . . I am satisfied with Mr. Lincoln's policy, but I do not
like that of the Blairs. I know Frank Blair openly declares war on slavery. I
see him daily, and yesterday had a long talk with him. I say the time is not
yet come to destroy slavery, but it may be to circumscribe it. We have not in
America the number of inhabitants to replace the slaves, nor have we the
national wealth to transport them to other lands. The constitution has given
the owners certain rights which I should be loath to disturb. I declined the
chief clerkship because I did not want it. You know enough of the social status
of a Washington office-holder to appreciate my feelings when I say that I would
infinitely prefer to live in St. Louis. I have seen enough of war not to be
caught by its first glittering bait, and when I engage in this it must be with
a full consciousness of its real character. I did approve of the
President’s call, and only said it should have been three hundred thousand
instead of seventy-five. The result confirms my opinion. I did approve of
Lyon's attack,1 and said it was inevitable; only I thought the
marshal should have demanded the arms which reached the camp unlawfully through
the custom house. The firing on the citizens, I know, was in consequence of the
nervousness of the new militia, was wrong, but just what every prudent person
expected. I have always thought that if it could be avoided, Missouri should be
held with as little feeling as possible, because of necessity her people must
retain the rights of franchise and property. Wherever I see that persons
miscalculate the state of feeling I endeavor to correct it, because a fatal
mistake in war is to underrate the strength, feeling and resources of an enemy.
. . .
__________
1 Sherman's observations on this episode of the
early days of the war in Missouri are fully recorded in the Memoirs, I,
200-202.
SOURCE: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman,
p. 197-8
