"By his death the nation has lost a true and loyal son, one of the most honored and beloved citizens. The members of this Exchange desire to testify to the sorrow which they, in common with their fellow-countrymen, feel at the loss which the nation has sustained by this bereavement, and to add their tribute to his memory.
"They tender to the family their most heartfelt and sincere sympathy in the grievous affliction which they have been called upon to bear."
A special memorial meeting of the Union League Club was held, at which the following resolutions, read by Mr. Joseph H. Choate, were adopted:
"The members of the Union League Club, of which General Sherman has been an honorary member for more than a quarter of a century, desire to put on record an expression of their heartfelt sorrow for his death, of their tender sympathy for his bereaved children, and of their profound appreciation of his matchless services to his country. A great soldier whose brilliant and uniform triumphs in the field attested his military genius, second only to that of his mighty chief to whom his life to his last hour was a continual homage, he shared with Grant and Sheridan the highest honors and the most terrible responsibilities of the great struggle for liberty and union. Having by their swords made these inseparable forever, their names will go down to the most distant posterity as identified with the flag which they saved and glorified.
"No test can measure the frightful strain which came upon those who bore for us the chief burden of the war which involved the existence of the Nation itself; but to-day the fresh graves of Sherman and Porter, the last survivors of that glorious group, reveal its fatal force and result.
"Besides being a historic soldier and an ideal hero, it was General Sherman's happy fortune in the twenty-five years that have elapsed since the close of the war in which he bore so distinguished a part, to come very near to the people of the land and to become every year dearer and dearer to them by the merits and charms of his personal character, so that it may truly be said that the death of no man in America to-day could have left a void in the people's heart so deep and wide as his has done.
"Retaining to the last that rugged health and buoyant temperament with which nature had blessed him, he retained also a keen and ever-living interest in the affairs of the country which he had been so potent to save. And believing that he and all that he was or had been or could be belonged to the people, he moved freely among them and displayed a never-failing sympathy in all that affected their fortunes and welfare. He was everywhere known and recognized, not merely as the embodiment of victory, but also as the exponent of that unconditional loyalty to country which he taught and lived wherever he went.
"This fierce and uncompromising spirit of nationality was the most striking feature of his character. It was this that bound him to the Nation's service. It was this that carried him from victory to victory. It is this that he has left as an imperishable legacy to his loving countrymen.
"In every thought and feeling General Sherman was intensely American. He believed in the abiding greatness and glory of his country, in the form of government under which we live and in the capacity of the people to maintain and preserve it, and he had no sympathy with or toleration for those who affect to discover in every misadventure in politics or blunder of government a symptom of National decline. In every sense of the word he was a noble citizen and a splendid example for all men to follow and imitate in his public spirit, his reverence for law, his lofty standard of civic duty and his zeal for the honor and good name of his country.
"We cannot part with him without expressing our gratitude for his genial companionship which we were for so many years permitted to enjoy within these walls, where was his frequent and favorite resort. We recall with delight the personal reminiscences in which he here so freely indulged, historical always because they were his own, his blunt and outspoken honesty which always induced him to speak as he thought, and at the same time that hearty social spirit in which he welcomed us all as friends and responded to every expression of good-will.