advised with me about them, and been more anxious for their success, seemingly, than I could be myself. In fact, his interest has made him a part of them. From the day I said adieu to army service up to the day I bid good-by to General Sherman in my office in New York two weeks before he died, he watched, advised, and, when necessary, commanded, to keep me in the line that he desired every one of the Army of the Tennessee to pursue through life.

In the few words permitted me to say, I cannot give an adequate idea of the import of his friendship to me. In later days he seemed to take more pride in his success in civil life and in the growth of this nation than in his great war victories; and I only wish while I occupy this position that I can fill it as he would. have me. I will only say that I will make my best effort, and leave the rest to you.

Captain Sexton:-General Dodge, I take great pleasure, as the acting president of the Society, in turning over the command to you. I have been invested with a little brief authority. I have done my best, and I am very thankful to the members of the Society for their sympathy and assistance. I am, perhaps, the youngest member of this Society, and it seems strange that I should have had command on two such momentous occasions as the burial of our old commander at St. Louis, and the unveiling of the statue of General Grant, our first commander. I thank you all.

Colonel Pierce:-I move that the vote of the Society be extended to Colonel Sexton for the admirable manner in which he has discharged the duties of acting president during the time he has occupied the chair.

The motion prevailed by a rising vote.

The President:-The next business before the Society, is the report of the special committee in relation to the death of our late commander.

The report is as follows:

Whereas, An all-wise and over-ruling Providence has by the hand of death taken from our midst our beloved comrade, our adored commander,-General William Tecumseh Sherman,-it is fitting that we, the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, put on record, in tribute to his memory, an expression:

I. Commemorating in fitting words the inestimable service rendered by him to his country in the capacity of commander, ranking second only to Grant, the peerless chieftain, with whose name his own will ever remain imperishably linked in history, and whose fame he will continue to share as he shared with him the unceasing cares and torturing responsibilities of the mightiest struggle for liberty and union known in the annals of time.

II. Recounting how we, the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, who saw him day by day, and felt the inspiring magnetism of his example from Corinth to Washington; who submitted to his command so willingly throughout the war and heard his command ever only to obey; and who, the war being over, felt the glow of that kindly heart, that generous soul, that genial companionship which bound us to him with ties far stronger than the firm steel-hooks of military duty, until, as we had first measured him as a commander of brigade, of division, of corps, of army, so we came at last to measure him as a social, genial, companionable comrade, president of our Society, keenly alive to the amenities of our gentler human nature.

III.

Recalling with delight the personal reminiscences in which he so freely indulged,-happy, original, historical; recalling his plain, outspoken honesty,-for it was characteristic of him to speak as he thought; recalling the hearty, responsive social spirit with which he ever welcomed us all as comrades, and as equals,— for he met our every wish and expression of good-will with a response which brought us so near to him that we felt as if we could not part.

IV. Honoring him for his true spirit of Americanism during and since the war,-a spirit which brought him ever nearer and nearer to the people in civic life, until they came to love the determined soldier for the charms of his personality,-so that the death of no other man then living could have left a deeper and wider void in the hearts of the American people; honoring him for the uncompromising adherence to the spirit of nationality, the

principle which inspired him to deeds of valor in war, and to urgent warnings to his countrymen when, in peace, it was sometimes thought possible that we might again have to "tighten our belts;" honoring him for having no doubts and expressing none as to what as soldiers we had fought for, accomplished, and demanded as the results of the war, an imperishable legacy to his countrymen, over and beyond that transmitted as a great soldier and commander; and lastly,

V. Declaring our heart-felt sorrow for his death, our entire and deep sympathy with his children in their touching and undying love and reverence for his name; declaring our profound appreciation of his matchless service to his country, and our boundless satisfaction in knowing that, while all of him that was mortal is dead to us, the disembodied essence of his life goes on and remains the heritage of the nation. To this end be it

Resolved, That this, our tribute to the memory of General William Tecumseh Sherman, some time commander of each of its separate units, and finally of the entire Army of the Tennessee, from Shiloh to the end of the war; an original member of this Society from its organization, and its president from the time of the death of General Rawlins to the date of his own, be suitably engrossed, spread upon the minutes of this meeting, and preserved with the records of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee.

Resolved, further, That the Secretary of this Society be, and is hereby, instructed to transmit a duly authenticated copy of this preamble and resolution to the surviving members of the family of General Sherman.

General Chetlain:-I move the adoption of the report of the committee by a rising vote.

General Bane:-Mr. President, it does seem to me that an occasion like this should be well cherished in our hearts, and that we should not only for our own benefit, but for our children and our children's children, record our feelings upon such an occasion. As

Hamlet said to his mother about the dead king, and I thought of it last night when General Hickenlooper made his address upon General Sherman: "Few such men has the world given humanity." The Society of the Army of the Tennessee has a treasure in the memory of such a man and of the man that preceded him, that no other societies in the wide world have ever had. Look upon

this picture, said Hamlet. What a grace is seated upon his brow, and always was. Hyperion curls and the very front of Jove himself, with the eye of Mars to threaten and command. Look at him on Kenesaw, signaling to that young son of thunder, Corse. Read the grand reply of that wonderful little warrior, "I am short a cheek bone and an ear, but we can whip all hell yet." A combination and a form indeed was Sherman where the very God Almighty seemed to set his mark to give the world assurance of a man. Comrades, Sherman, taken for all in all, we shall not soon look upon his like again.

General Willard Warner:-Before this vote is taken I wish to say that as a friend and follower of General Sherman, and as one who counted on him as a friend for many years, I would not do justice to the feelings of my own heart if I allowed this occasion to pass without a word. Not that I can say anything that will add to your knowledge and admiration of General Sherman, but that I may express my own feelings of devotion, regard and love. Like our worthy President, General Dodge, I may say that General Sherman followed me in my humble capacity in civil life, with the interest of a father, always watching and enquiring, coming to visit me to see how I was doing, and taking all the interest and pride that a father could take in a son. I built a blast furnace and a little town in Alabama, in 1873. Three miles below me some of our Southern brethren were building a furnace, and called it "Stonewall," after Stonewall Jackson. I said to them, "I will take the other side of that question, and call our furnace and town Tecumseh," and I did so. I went there in March, 1873, and on the 4th day of July following I unfurled the United States flag. Like my friend, General Bane, I had one bottle of champagne that a friend had left me, and I broke that bottle and treated some Union friends who were there. It is rather significant that "Stonewall" has broken three or four companies, but like the General, the flag of "Tecumseh" has never gone down.

General Sherman was the most thoroughly honest man I have

ever known.

It has been my good fortune to know many of our public men in civil and military life during the last forty years. Thirty-one years ago in this city, with my friend General Barnum and others, I helped to nominate Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States. Since then I have known many of our great men, but I have never known a man who was so thoroughly and entirely honest, in the highest and best sense of the word, in every thought, action, emotion, and in every impulse as General Sherman. There was no guile in the man. You heard last night of his life in Louisiana, and of his anticipation of a great war. I remember that he told me that the night he left Louisiana, he talked until about two o'clock in the morning with General Bragg, afterwards so prominent, and he came back with the conviction that we were upon the eve of a great war. He impressed that upon his brother John, and perhaps upon his brother, our friend Hoyt Sherman, who is here. John Sherman took him to President Lincoln. President Lincoln heard him, and either from motives of policy, or possibly a mistaken view, perhaps with a wise forecast, he seemed to treat the matter lightly. General Sherman came out of the White House with his brother John, and after the door was closed behind them, and in view of the seeming carelessness of the President of the great crisis that to his mind was so clear, he said in his impetuous and fierce way, "John, you are sleeping on a volcano, and are all going to hell together. I am going back to my street railroad in St. Louis."

I was with General Sherman on Kenesaw mountain when he signaled to Altoona fourteen miles away. We saw the smoke of French's guns; we could see a puff here, and a puff there and a puff yonder, indicating the position of every battery and every gun. General Sherman had a signal officer with him. He wanted to find out whether Corse was there. He had wired Corse, who was at Rome, to take his division and go to Altoona as quickly as possible. He got no answer, for Hood had cut the wires. He told the signal officer to inquire of Altoona if Corse was there. The air was a little misty and the officer could not read the signals. He read some of them, and said, "General, I have lost some of the signals. I can't make out anything, but here is what I have," and he had the letters as I remember, C. S. E. H. E. Sherman looked a moment and said, "I understand that, Corse is here, all right." He then said to me, 66 Warner, go