"Mrs. Z——," he said, "has fallen into a common error in saying it was useless to complain of a whole regiment to Brigadier-General Smith or Major-General Sherman. We naturally demanded more specific complaint against incendiary acts than a mere vague suspicion that the —— did all iniquitous things, when twenty other regiments were camped round about Memphis, six thousand vagabonds and refugees hanging about, and the city itself infested by gangs of thieves and incendiaries, turned loose upon the world, and sheltered in their deeds of darkness by charging them upon soldiers. Neither General Morgan L. Smith or myself ever failed to notice a specific complaint against any soldier of our command, if accompanied by reasonable proofs; but we did, and rightfully too, resent a mere general charge that every fire originating from careless chimneys, careless arrangement of stove-pipes, and the designing acts of wicked incendiaries, should without even an attempt at proof, be charged to the ——. That regiment is one of the bravest and best disciplined in our service, and being composed mostly of young and energetic men from the city of ——, is somewhat famous for its acts of fun, frolic, mischief, and even crime, with a perfect skill in evading detection and pursuit. They are lawless and violent, and, like all other volunteer soldiers, have for years been taught that the people, the masses, the majority, are 'king,' and can do no wrong. They are no worse than other volunteers, all of whom come to us filled with the popular idea that they must enact war, that they must clean out the Secesh, must waste and not protect their property, must burn, waste and destroy. Just such people as Mrs. Z. have taught this creed, sung this song, and urged on our men to these disgraceful acts; and it is such as Morgan L. Smith and W. T. Sherman who have been combating this foul doctrine. During my administration of affairs in Memphis I know it was raised from a condition of death, gloom, and darkness, to one of life and comparative prosperity. Its streets, stores, hotels, and dwellings, were sad and deserted as I entered it, and when I left it, life and business prevailed, and over fourteen hundred enrolled Union men paraded its streets, boldly and openly carrying the banners of our country. No citizen, Union or Secesh, will deny that I acted lawfully, firmly and fairly, and that substantial justice prevailed, with even balance. I do feel their testimony better than the hearsay of any would-be notoriety."
Sherman did not approve of wanton destruction of the enemy's property, although he was ruthless enough when the exigencies of war required it. He wrote thus to General Steele:
"I most heartily approve your purpose to return to families their carriages, buggies, and farming tools, wherewith to make a crop. War at best is barbarism, but to involve all—children, women, old and helpless—is more than can be justified. Our men will become absolutely lawless unless this can be checked. The destruction of corn or forage and provisions in the enemy's country is a well-established law of war, and is as justifiable as the destruction of private cotton by the Southern Confederacy. Jeff. Davis, no doubt, agrees that they have a right to destroy their people's cotton, but the guerrillas do not stop to inquire whose cotton they burn; and I know, as you know, the Confederate Government claim the war-right to burn all cotton, whether belonging to their adherents or to Union men. We surely have a similar right as to corn, cotton, fodder, etc., used to sustain armies and war. Still, I always feel that the stores necessary for a family should be spared, and I think it injures our men to allow them to plunder indiscriminately the inhabitants of the country."
An incident at Vicksburg, which has been immortalized in verse by Whittier, formed the topic of one of Sherman's official dispatches to Secretary Stanton, as follows:
"I take the liberty of asking, through you, that something be done for a young lad named Orion P. Howe, of Waukegan, Illinois, who belongs to the Fifty-fifth Illinois, but is at present at his home wounded. I think he is too young for West Point, but would be the very thing for a midshipman. When the assault at Vicksburg was at its height, on the 19th of May, and I was on foot near the road which formed the line of attack, this young lad came up to me wounded and bleeding, with a good healthy boy's cry: 'General Sherman, send some cartridges to Colonel Walmbourg, the men are all out.' 'What is the matter with my boy?' 'They shot me in the leg, but I can go to the hospital; send the cartridges right away.' Even where we stood, the shot fell thick, and I told him to go to the rear at once, I would attend to the cartridges, and off he limped. Just before he disappeared over the hill, he turned, and called, as loud as he could, 'Calibre 54.'
"I have not seen the boy since, and his Colonel, Walmbourg, on inquiry, gives me his address as above, and says he is a bright, intelligent boy, with a fine preliminary education.
"What arrested my attention then, was—and what renews my memory of the fact now, is—that one so young, carrying a musket-ball wound through his leg, should have found his way to me on that fatal spot, and delivered his message, not forgetting the very important part, even, of the calibre of the musket, which you know is an unusual one.
"I'll warrant that the boy has in him the elements of a man, and I commend him to the Government as one worthy the fostering care of some one of its national institutions."