SMKK.MAN. WILLIAM TK< IM^KII. 





USUal mcanin<r. Nclliill-.' I'll! till- lotfic lit' . 



touches their undemanding; but, of lut<-, this him 



worked Wonderful change. 



./. Tlir unaller farmers, mechanics, merchanta, 



ami laborer-.. This class will probably number tlm* 

 quarters of tin' whole; ha\c. in laet, IK. rral In 

 in the establishment of a Southern t 'oiifcdcracy , atnl 

 have been led or driven into war mi the t'al.-i- theory 



that they Wereto lie benefited somehow thcykllcW 



not how. They arc essentially tire.l of the war, und 

 would slink hack home if they could. Thcjte are 

 the real ti-rs stiit of the South, and are hardly worthy 

 a thought ; for they swerve to and fro iiccordini,' to 

 e\i -nts which they do nut comprehend or attempt to 

 sha(H'. When the time for reconstruction comci* they 

 will want the old political .system of caucuses, legis- 

 latures, etc.. to amuse them and make them l>clic\ e 

 they arc real .->\ -n -'urns ; but ill all thingH they will 

 follow blindly the lead of the planters. 



Third. The 1'nion men of the South. I mustcon- 

 t'. I have little respect for thisclass. They allowed 

 a clamorous *ct of demagogues to muzzle and drive 

 them as a pack of curs. Afruid of shadows, they ub- 

 mit tamely to squads of dragoons, und permit them, 

 without a murmur to burn their cotton, Lake their 

 horses, corn, and everything; an<l when we reach 

 them, tliey are full of complaints if our men take a few 

 tcncc rails for tire, or corn to feed our horses. They 

 give us no assistance or information, and arc loudest 

 in their complaints at the smallest excesses of our 

 soldiers. Their sons, horses, arms, and everything 

 useful, are in the army against us, and they stay at 

 home, claiming all the exemptions of peaceful citi- 

 zens. 1 account them as nothing in this great game 

 of war. 



Fourth. The young bloods of the South. Sons of 

 planters, lawyers about towns, good billiard play- 

 ers, and sportsmen, men who never did work and 

 never will. War suits them, and the rascals are 

 brave, fine riders, bold to rashness, and danger- 

 ous subjects in every sense. '-T ne y earc n t * BOU 

 for niggers, land, or anvthing. They hate Yan- 

 kees per*?, and don't bother their brains about the 

 j >ast. present, or future. As long as they have good 

 horaoB, plenty of fora-re, and an open country, they 

 are happy. 1'liis is a larger class tiian most men sup- 

 pose, and they are the most dangerous set of men 

 that this war has turned loose upon the world. They 

 are splendid riders, first-rate shots, and utterly reek- 

 Stewart, John Morgan, Forrest, and Jackson, 

 are the types and leaders of this class. These men 

 must all be killed or employed by us before we can 

 hope for peace. They have no property or future, 

 and therefore can not be influenced by anything ex- 

 cept personal considerations. 



The people of all this region arc represented in the 

 Army of V irir'mia. at < 'harlcston. Mobile, and Chatta- 

 nooga. They have sons and relations in each of the 

 rebel armies', and naturally are interested in their 

 fate. Though we hold military possession of the key- 

 points of their country, still they contend, and nat- 

 urally, that should I.ee succeed in Virginia, or Bragg 

 at Chattanooga, a change will occur here also. We 

 can not for this reason attempt to reconstruct parts of 

 the South as we conquer it, till all idea of the estab- 

 lishment of a Southern Confederacy is abandoned. 



It seems to me, in contemplating the history of the 

 past two years, that all the people of our country, 

 north, South. Kast, and West, have been under-roinir 

 a salutary jKilitical schooling, learninir lessons which 



llliirht have been ac-niilvd fr->lil the experience of 



other people; but we had all become so wise in our 

 own conceit that we would only learn by actual ex- 

 perience of our own. 



Another great and important natural truth is still 

 in contest, and can only be solved by war. Numeri- 

 cal majorities by vote' have been our irrcut arbiter. 

 Heretofore all men have cheerfully submitted to it in 

 questions left open, but numerical majorities are not 

 le-ccssarily physical majorities. The South, though 

 numerically Inferior, contend they can whip the 



Northern *II|M riorily of numbers, and thn f..rr l, 

 natural INW they contend ihut tin \ ur- i. 



Mihmii. ThU iwu. i- tin .. iily real one, *iul 



judgment nil eliu- nhollld IM- .: 

 ah decide it, und it IK the oil. 



ua as a people to decide. Can * whip t) Hotilh t 

 It .-an. our numerical majority luv l.th th rmtunil 

 and eontitutioiml ritfht to gnvi-m tin-in. It 

 not whip them, they contend for the natural right t. 



select their own jfo\ eminent, and the V luive the ITfl* 



in. nt. ( ur arniie* intuit prevail over their*; our ) 

 marshal-, and court* intlut |--in-truii into th< 

 innermost rccesjw* of their land. In tore we have the 

 natural right to demand their MI bun 



1 would banish all minor iim -lion*. n-M-rt the brood 

 dot-trim- that as a rmti.n the Initrd XuU-n hu the 

 ri>;ht. and also the physical power, to i- n trute to 

 every part of our iiationul domain, and that we win 

 doit that we will do it in our un linn- und in our 

 own way; that it makes no dirt'crenc. whether it beone 

 year, or two, or ten. or twenty ; that e will remove 

 and destroy every obstacle, it need U-. take I-MTV life, 

 every acre of land, every particle of projuTty, every- 

 thing' that to us seems projK-r; that we will not era* 

 till tlic end is attained ; that all who do not uid mi an- 

 enemies, and that we will not account to them for our 

 :i.-ts. Ifthe people of the South o|.]K*e, they do BO at 

 their peril; und if they stand by, mere lookers-on in 

 this domestic t raged v, they have no right to unii.u 

 liitv, protection, or sliare in the tinal results. 



The issues an- made, and all discussion is out of 



{lace and ridiculous. The section of thirty-j'oundcr 

 'arrott ri ties -now drilling before my tent i amort- 

 convincing argument than the largest Democmtu- 

 meeting the State of New York can |><>*sibly u. 

 at Albany ; and a simple order of the \\ ar Depart- 

 ment to draft enough n:en to till our skeleton rt-jfi- 

 iiu nts would be more convincing as t<> our nationul 

 jieriH-tuity than an humble pardon to ,letf. Davis and 

 all his misled host 



I therefore hope the Government of the United 

 States will continue, as heretofore, to collect in well- 

 organized armies the physical strength of the nation : 

 applying it, as heretofore, in assertiiu; the national 

 authority ; and in persevering, without relaxation, ti- 

 the end.' This, whether near or far off, M not for u> 

 to suv; but, fortunately, we have no choice. We 

 must succee.1 tin oth f choice is left us except deg- 

 radation. The South must be ruled hy u*, or che 

 will rule us. We must conquer them, or oureelvee be 

 conquered. 



President Lincoln read this letter can-fully, 

 mill asked permission to have it published. Inn 

 Sherman declined, and it did ii"t i>i><-ur in print 

 fill ten years after the war. 



After tin- Mississippi had I ecu cleared hy the 

 capture of Yii-ksluiig and Pi>rt Hudson, the 

 nriny was kept in comparative idleness fur soim 

 months. Sherman's corps WHS MKMnped on tin- 

 wi'stern Imnk of the Big Hlack river. After the 

 hattlo of Chickamaupi in September, whu-h 

 drove h'osiH-nitis's army luick to Chattai 

 Sherman w.-is ..nlen-d to move eastward along 

 flic Memphis and Chnrlfsi.ui Kailnmd. repairing 

 it us he went. On Oct. It! (Jen. (Jrant w 

 dered to assume coininand of the dcixtrttn- 

 the Ohio, tl.e Cumberland, and the Tennessee, to 

 relieve (Jen. Kosecraiis at Chattanooga, and t 

 make siu-h changes in the sulx.rdinatf command-. 

 -.-try. (J-n. Sherman was made 

 eommaml<T of the i)<-jmrtment and Army of the 

 Tennessee. 



On the "2H\\ Sherman received onlors 

 (Jrant to siis|-nd work on the railroad and c 

 the i-oiintry with his n rmy as soon as pos- 

 Bridgeport, bekra 'hat tanoogH, which place I 

 reached, by rapid marching, in the middle 



