In October 1903, before the first slab of marble was placed at the Lincoln Memorial and before the 46th star was sewn on the American flag, a 50-foot-high monument to commemorate the life of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman was unveiled on 15th Street, a block from the White House.
Efforts to erect the monument to the man who “made Georgia howl” had begun within months of Sherman’s death on Feb. 14, 1891, at age 71. By an act of Congress, 12,000 copies of “Sherman, A Memorial in Art, Oratory, and Literature” were printed and bound in 1904, providing a full report of the ceremony. The final product, consisting of 410 wonderfully detailed pages, reported on the solemnity of the occasion with photographs and text.
Originally announced on March 22, 1895, an open competition promised $90,000 to the winning sculptor. Twenty-three designs were submitted from sculptors based in Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Washington and Paris.
The winner was Carl Rohl-Smith, a 50-year-old who had moved from his native Denmark to Chicago in the early 1880s. Before he could finish the project, however, the Dane’s luck ran out during a trip to his home country for rest and relaxation. Rohl-Smith fell victim to an illness and died. Nevertheless, the project had progressed so well that his wife’s request to complete it was granted.
On Oct. 15, William Tecumseh Sherman Thorndike, the young grandson of the famed general, performed the honors by pulling the unveiling cord. That was followed immediately by the firing of 17 guns, “trumpets sounding three flourishes, drums beating three ruffles, and the assemblage cheering vociferously.”
The assemblage included President Theodore Roosevelt and approximately 1,100 other dignitaries and guests invited by the Sherman Statue Commission. The statue, depicting Sherman riding his horse, was impressive indeed. The bas-reliefs on each of the monument’s four sides illustrated episodes in the general’s life: the march through Georgia, Sherman at the campfire, Missionary Ridge, and, facing southward, the Battle of Atlanta.
Roosevelt spoke boldly of the greatness of Sherman as well as “the men who did the mighty deeds,” the heroism of all soldiers.
“We need their ruggedness of body, their keen and vigorous minds, and above all their dominant quality of forceful character,” Roosevelt said. “Their lives teach us in our own lives to strive after not the thing which is merely pleasant, but the thing which it is our duty to do. The life of duty, not the life of mere ease or mere pleasure, that is the kind of life which makes the great man as it makes the great nation.”
Another speaker, Gen. Charles Grosvenor of Ohio, perhaps frustrated that he couldn’t think of something original to say, lamented that there was nothing good to say about Sherman that had not already been said.
“When Death, the great destroyer, swept him off the stage of action, he became the subject of almost universal eulogy. … Turn as you will, study as you may, think as you can and the world would pronounce you a genius if you, by any result of study or accident of the hour, said something new of Sherman,” Grosvenor said. “There was no phase of his character, striking or commonplace, lovable or unbeloved, great or small … that has not been discussed elaborately and minutely.”
The impressively bound volume listed the day’s events, including the parade, the seating assignments for dignitaries and a biography of Sherman’s life.
When Sherman was 9 years old, long before he gave Savannah, Ga., to President Lincoln as a Christmas present, the future hero’s father died, and he was sent to live with Sen. Thomas Ewing of Ohio.
In 1840, he graduated sixth out of 43 in his West Point class, having missed the more prestigious fourth spot because of numerous demerits. His legendary military career culminated in the position of commander of the Army from March 1869 until November 1883.
If Sherman had had any interest, he probably would have been elected president of the United States. Numerous party leaders pushed him to accept the 1884 Republican presidential nomination, but he adamantly declined: “I will not in any event entertain or accept a nomination as the candidate for president by the Chicago Republican convention nor any other convention.”
The commemoration book artistically noted some reasons Sherman was so admired: “His brusqueness of manner and bluntness of speech were an incongruous manifestation of a heart as tender as a woman’s. The very twinkle of that keen eye put the stamp of gentleness itself upon his words. His wholesome humor again belied the bluntness of the soldier.”
Simply put, he understood how to command soldiers and how to win at war. Americans — at least Northerners — loved Sherman, and as for his troops, no one loved “Uncle Billy” more.
Even opposing officers loved him. Gen. Joe Johnston, who surrendered the last Confederate army to Sherman two weeks after Appomattox, attended Sherman’s funeral and, despite the inclement weather, refused, as a sign of respect, to wear a hat. The 84-year-old Johnston almost immediately came down with a cold and died the following month.
There’s no way to know, but one easily could imagine Johnston refusing to wear his hat that day even if he knew what the future held for him.
Paul N. Herbert writes occasionally for the Washington Times.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.