I referred to General Grant and his recent death, and then to
General Sherman as follows:
"There is another of those commanders, who is here before you to- day. What is he? He is now a retired army officer. When the war was over he became the General in Chief of the army, served until the time fixed by the law for his retirement, and now he is a private citizen, as plain and simple in his bearing and manners as any other of the citizens who now surround him. These are the kind of heroes a republic makes, and these are the kind of heroes we worship as one free man may worship another."
General Sherman was then introduced to the vast audience, and said:
"Comrades and Friends:—A few days ago I was up on the banks of Lake Minnetonka, and was summoned here to northern Ohio to participate in a family reunion. I knew my brother's house in Mansfield was large and commodious, sufficient to receive the survivors of the first generation of the family, but I also knew that if he brought in the second and third generations he would have to pitch a camp somewhere, and I find he has chosen this at Odell's Lake. So, for the time being, my friends, you must pass as part of the Sherman family, not as 'the Sherman Brigade,' and you must represent the second and third generations of a very numerous family.
"Of course, it is not my trade or vocation to make orations or speeches. I see before me many faces that look to me as though they were once soldiers, and to them I feel competent to speak; to the others I may not be so fortunate.
"But, very old comrades of the war, you who claim to be in 'Sherman's Brigade' or in any other brigade, who took a part in the glorious Civil War, the fruits of which we are now enjoying, I hail and thank you for the privilege of being with you this beautiful day in this lovely forest and by the banks of yonder lake, not that I can say anything that will please you or profit you, but there is a great pleasure in breathing the same air, in thinking the same thoughts, in feeling the same inspirations for the future, which every member of the 'Sherman Brigade' and the children who have succeeded them must, in contemplating the condition of our country at this very moment of time. Peace universal, not only at home but abroad, and America standing high up in the niche of nations, envied of all mankind and envied because we possess all the powers of a great nation vindicated by a war of your own making and your own termination. Yes, my fellow-soldiers, you have a right to sit beneath your own vine and fig tree and be glad, for you can be afraid of no man. You have overcome all enemies, save death, which we must all meet as our comrades who have gone before us have done, and submit. But as long as we live let us come together whenever we can, and if we can bring back the memories of those glorious days it will do us good, and, still more, good to the children who will look up to us as examples."
He continued to speak for fifteen minutes or more, and closed with these words:
"My friends, of course I am an old man now, passing off the stage of life. I realize that, and I assure you that I now think more of the days of the Mexican War, the old California days, and of the early days of the Civil War, than I do of what occurred last week, and I assure you that, let it come when it may, I would be glad to welcome the old 'Sherman Brigade' to my home and my fireside, let it be either in St. Louis or on the banks of the Columbia River in Oregon. May God smile upon you, and give you his choicest blessings. You live in a land of plenty. I do not advise you to emigrate, but I assure you, wherever you go, you will find comrades and soldiers to take you by the hand and be glad to aid you as comrades."
The gathering was a thoroughly enjoyable one, and was often recalled by those present.
During the summer of 1885 there was much languor apparent in the Republican party. President Cleveland was pursuing a conservative policy, removals from office were made slowly, and incumbents were allowed to serve out their time. Foraker and Hoadley were again nominated in Ohio for governor by their respective parties, and the contest between them was to be repeated.