"Death has at last conquered the hero of so many campaigns; our cities and towns and villages are decked with flags at half-mast; the muffled drum and the funereal boom of cannon will resound over the land as his dead body passes to the final resting place, and the American people stand mournfully gazing into the void left by the sudden disappearance of the last of the greatest men brought forth by our war of regeneration—and this last also finally become, save Abraham Lincoln alone, the most widely beloved.
"He is gone; but as we of the present generation remember it, history will tell all coming centuries the romantic story of the great 'March to the Sea'—how, in the dark days of 1864, Sherman, having worked his bloody way to Atlanta, then cast off all his lines of supply and communication, and, like a bold diver into the dark unknown, seemed to vanish, with all his hosts, from the eyes of the world, until his triumphant reappearance on the shores of the ocean proclaimed to the anxiously expecting millions, that now the final victory was no longer doubtful, and that the Republic would surely be saved.
"Nor will history fail to record that this great General was, as a victorious soldier, a model of republican citizenship. When he had done his illustrious deeds he rose step by step to the highest rank in the army, and then, grown old, he retired. The Republic made provision for him in modest republican style. He was satisfied. He asked for no higher reward. Although the splendor of his achievements and the personal affection for him which every one of his soldiers carried home, made him the most popular American of his day, and although the most glittering prizes were not seldom held up before his eyes, he remained untroubled by ulterior ambition. No thought that the Republic owed him more ever darkened his mind. No man could have spoken to him of the 'ingratitude of Republics' without meeting from him a stern rebuke. And so, content with the consciousness of a great duty nobly done, he was happy in the love of his fellow-citizens.
"Indeed, he may truly be said to have been in his old age, not only the most beloved, but the happiest of Americans. Many years he lived in the midst of posterity. His task was finished, and this he wisely understood. His deeds had been passed upon by the judgment of history, and irrevocably registered among the glories of his country and his age. His generous heart envied no one, and wished every one well; and ill will had long ceased to pursue him. Beyond cavil his fame was secure, and he enjoyed it as that which he had honestly earned, with a genuine and ever fresh delight, openly avowed by the charming frankness of his nature.
"He dearly loved to be esteemed and cherished by his fellow-men, and what he valued most, his waning years brought him in ever-increasing abundance. Thus he was in truth a most happy man, and his days went down like an evening sun in a cloudless Autumn sky. And when now the American people, with that tenderness of affection which they have long borne him, lay him in his grave, the happy ending of his great life may, in their hearts, soothe the pang of bereavement they feel at the loss of the old hero who was so dear to them, and of whom they were and always will be so proud. His memory will ever be bright to us all, his truest monument will be the greatness of this Republic he served so well, and his fame will never cease to be prized by a grateful country as one of its most precious possessions."
General Horace Porter also seconded the resolutions. He paid a warm tribute to General Sherman's memory, and continued: "By no act of ours can we expect to add one laurel to his brow. The Nation raised him to the highest rank in the army, universities vied with one another in conferring upon him degrees. We can only come together to express our esteem for the soldier, our respect for the man. There was something characteristic of the soldier born within him. In war he was bold in conception, fixed in purpose, untiring in action. He knew that great danger makes brave hearts most resolute. He enjoyed a personal reputation free from stain. It is no wonder that the world has placed him in the ranks of its great captains.
"There is one characteristic which I am sure all have noticed. He never failed at all times and in all circumstances to breathe the loftiest patriotism. And now the flag he has so often upheld has dropped to half-mast, the booming of his guns has given way to the tolling of cathedral bells. He has left behind him the glory of a good name, the inheritance of a great example."
The memorial resolutions of the Ohio Society, of New York, were as follows:
"The Ohio Society of New York recognizes in the death of General Sherman not only a public calamity, which, in common with the people of this great country, we deplore, but a personal loss, which no words can express and no sentiment measure.
"Not only was he our ideal soldier and citizen, but a complete representative Ohioan.