"Peace to his ashes! Honor to his memory! In the day of her peril, if any such day shall ever again come to her, may his country find another like him, to defend, redeem and exalt her!
"Resolved, That a copy of this minute be sent to the family of General Sherman, and that a committee be appointed to represent this club at his funeral."
General Horace Porter seconded the resolutions in an eloquent and touching speech. He said:
"Mr. Chairman: I am very glad to lift my voice in favor of these resolutions in honor of the memory of the illustrious dead, the last of our prominent military chieftains. Nearly every great war has given birth to but one great general. No other country but our own has produced three such eminent commanders as Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. The second in years was called from us first; the next followed next; while the senior in age has been spared to us until the last. The badges of mourning which were laid aside after the last sad funeral rites of his illustrious predecessors are again brought forth to serve as emblems of our sorrow in our recent loss, and the Nation again finds herself standing within the shadow of a profound grief.
"While General Sherman was a man of great versatility of talent, and had filled many important positions in the various walks of life, his great reputation will always be founded upon his merits as a soldier. With him the chief characteristics of a soldier seemed inborn. There was something in his very look, in the gait with which he moved, that of themselves revealed him as a typical soldier. As we looked upon his well-knit brow, his deep, penetrating, restless hazel eye, his aquiline nose, we could see easily that there was something in these outward appearances that betokened a great man. In war he was prompt in decision and unshrinking under the great responsibilities. Prompt in action, firm in purpose and untiring in effort, he had an intrinsic knowledge of topography, and there was found in his person much of the patience of a Fabius, with the restlessness of a Hotspur. He excited confidence in his troops, which made them follow him to victory with all the dash of Cæsar's Tenth Legion. The students of military history at home and abroad have studied his campaigns as their models and placed his works on a level with the grandest works of the masters of military science.
"The first time I met Sherman was when, as a staff officer, I conveyed to him from Grant a message. As soon as he had read Grant's letter and I heard what he had to say, I was lost in amazement at the grasp and the comprehensiveness of that great mind. He gave me a letter to take back to Grant, of which this was a part: 'I admire your tact, perseverance and courage more than ever. I think if you can whip Lee and I can march to Atlanta, old Uncle Abe will give us both twenty days' leave of absence to go home and see the young folks.'
"General Sherman to-morrow will begin his last march on earth, this time homeward from the sea."
General Charles H. T. Collis, followed in a brief speech, in which he recalled many interesting reminiscences, touching the life of the dead soldier, and pictured him, as was the custom of General Sherman at all meetings of the club, coming in modestly while the president would invariably beckon him to a seat on the platform.
Chauncey M. Depew then said:
"I had the pleasure and honor of being present at each of those famous birthday dinners that General Sherman gave at his house. Every one of them was an historic event and the guests historic personalities, outside of Mr. Choate and myself, who were always the only civilian guests.