Life of Wm. Tecumseh Sherman. / Late Retired General. U. S. A.

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

The Memorial Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic, in New York City, added this tribute:—

"Resolved, That the Memorial Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic of the city of New York, sharing the grief of the American people at the National bereavement, offers its sympathy to the children of General William T. Sherman, and trusts that they may find consolation for the loss of their illustrious father in the thought that the world is better for his having lived in it. His fame has filled the earth, his achievements having placed him in the front of strategists, and his services in the war for the Union were second only to those of the matchless Grant. His name was a tower of strength to our cause in the supreme crisis of our Nation's life. His soldiers trusted him, loved him, and cheerfully followed him. He was above the temptations of money, or the seductions of political ambition. He was kindly in his manners, cordial, open and generous. A commander in the field he was in peace a comrade. He was a type of the true American; undazzled by the glitter of aristocracy, and proud of the undecorated honor of American citizenship. He was a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic, often the welcome guest of the posts of this city, and he carried into his daily life the principles of our order—fraternity, charity and loyalty. Though he filled the full measure of man's span of earthly existence, his life was more full of honors than of years. His death was happy in this, that he passed away with his eye not dimmed, nor his natural force abated, and that he left no duty undone. His fame is safe with posterity. His memory is precious to us who knew him and were known to him. When the last sad offices have been performed he will not disappear from our thoughts, but dwell in them cherished in recollections of his relations, at once paternal and fraternal, with the Grand Army of the Republic of this city."

THE CATAFALQUE PASSING FIFTY-SEVENTH STREET AND BROADWAY, NEW YORK CITY.

And in a General Order the Commander of the Grand Army, Department of New York, General Floyd Clarkson, addressed his comrades thus:—

"The Commander of the Department has the sad duty to announce to the comrades of this Department that on Saturday, the 14th inst., at 1.50 P.M., the best beloved and noblest, grandest comrade of the Order, General William T. Sherman, heard, while in his home in this city, surrounded by his children, kindred and friends, the trumpet call 'Lights out,' and passed hence to the fruitions and glories of the encampment across the river.

"It is not necessary to recount his services and achievements. They are closely interwoven with the history of our land for the past fifty years; and as that is recited the name of our illustrious comrade constantly appears as one of the most active workers in that marvellous narrative; but it was in the great convulsions that were upon our nation in the years '61 to '65 that the magnificent abilities and worth of him whom we this day deplore shone out in their tenderness and brilliancy.

"He is the last of the great triumvirate who marshalled the forces of the Nation, and so directed that mighty power that before 'Old Glory' treason, beaten and disheartened, yielded the contest and accepted for all time the fact as established that this was and is a Nation 'of the people, by the people and for the people.'

"As a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic, no one emphasized more than he did 'that the distinctions of rank necessary for active service were here laid aside,' and no one more heartily grasped the hand and welcomed to his presence and heart the man who carried the musket, or swung the sabre, or pulled the lanyard, or manned the yards, than did our well-beloved comrade, William T. Sherman; and no one could accept more pleasantly and with deeper satisfaction the welling-up of the long-cherished heart affection of the Boys in Blue."

The memorial meeting of the New York Chamber of Commerce was one of the largest ever held by that distinguished body. Resolutions expressing sorrow at the General's death were presented by J. Edward Simmons. They were as follows: