And State Papers 489 



AT THE UNVEILING OF THE SHERMAN 



STATUE, WASHINGTON, D. C, 



OCTOBER 15, 1903 



General Dodge, Veterans of the Four Great Armies, 



and you, my Fellow-Citizens: 



To-day we meet together to do honor to the 

 memory of one of the great men whom, in the 

 hour of her agony, our Nation brought forth for 

 her preservation. The Civil War was not only in 

 the importance of the issues at stake and of the out- 

 come the greatest of modern times, but it was also, 

 taking into account its duration, the severity of the 

 fighting, and the size of the armies engaged, the 

 greatest since the close of the Napoleonic struggles. 

 Among the generals who rose to high position as 

 leaders of the various armies in the field are many 

 who will be remembered in our history as long as 

 this history itself is remembered. Sheridan, the in- 

 carnation of fiery energy and prowess; Thomas, 

 farsighted, cool-headed, whose steadfast courage 

 burned ever highest in the supreme moment of the 

 crisis; McClellan, with his extraordinary gift for 

 organization; Meade, victor. in one of the decisive 

 battles of all time; Hancock, type of the true fight- 

 ing man among the regulars; Logan, type of the 

 true fighting man among the volunteers the names 

 of these and of many others will endure so long as 

 our people hold sacred the memory of the fight for 

 union and for liberty. High among these chiefs 

 rise the figures of Grant and of Grant's great lieu- 



