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Sale 61
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Lot 476
Sherman, William Tecumseh (1820-1891) Union general; admired and hated for his military strategy, especially his "scorched earth" policy which deprived the enemy of resources. His Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea split the Confederacy in two and deprived it of supplies, hastening its demise.
Autograph Letter Signed "W.T. Sherman / Lt. Genl.," 4 pp, 8 x 5 in. Headquarters Military Division of the Missouri, Saint Louis, July 8, 1868. Light toning, else fine. To a friend he refers to as "Dear General," who is in Atlanta to help members of a church which was burned during Sherman's occupation of the city (Sept. 1-Nov. 12, 1864). Sherman disavows knowledge of the burning of the church and suggests that it could have been the work of "vagabond whites & negroes."
In part: "I have just got back from the wedding in Cleveland, Ohio of General Miles with my niece Mary Sherman…I am glad you have been so successful in the matter of the church…. I was in hopes to find on my return something from the Revd. Mr. Schuyler Pastor of the richest congregation of the Episcopalians in St. Louis….I will make it my business to see him & ascertain if he got copies of your circular mailed to him. Of course it must be as you say. A church was burned in Atlanta. but I cannot recall the building to my memory though I daily visited every part of the place during September. More than a month before the great fire that occurred the day & night before I left viz. Nov. 12. All through the South they charged to me and my army acts that were committed by vagabond whites & negroes. And it was of this that I wanted to inquire. I had heard that after we had gone from Atlanta hundreds of people flocked in and plundered and destroyed much we had left. Still as you say that makes no difference in the charity of the case. And I am glad you have succeeded in providing a proper place for the congregation….General Grant & family are now out on the farm of the Grave's, 11 miles in the country. The Genl will in a few days go up to Leavenworth and out on the Plains. I will go with him a part of his wandering way. Democratic nomination not yet announced though it will be made today or tomorrow. I truly hope your task in Georgia will soon be so far concluded that you may rejoin your family and regain your appropriate command. Yr friend, W.T. Sherman."
Two months earlier, in Chicago, General Ulysses S. Grant had been nominated unanimously as the Republican presidential candidate for 1868. As Sherman wrote this letter, the Democratic convention was going on in New York. After 22 ballots, the reluctant Horatio Seymour was nominated, but he didn't stand a chance against the war hero, Grant. On March 4, 1869, the day of Grant's inauguration, Sherman succeeded him as general-in-chief of the armies of the United States, a command he held until his retirement on Feb. 8, 1884.
Estimated Value $8,000 - 10,000.
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