| Show AT gravelotte GRA gis opinion the fighting tits of american na european soldiers the death of gen sheridan and the ano that lie bad pre pared an article on the battle of gravelotte Gra reminded me of a letter of his to gen grant in which he discussed tile franco german war I 1 was in england at tile time and had been requested by mr brouce to furnish a paper on that war for fragers frazers Fra ma y izi aa I 1 w to t e to gen grant then president pik in him if be could b I 1 t e replied as follows 1 I am in receipt of your letter in chith you speak of tile article you pro so writing for the brelih press 70 eiting sott thing fo m sheridan to aid you in prepa tring it I 1 haye received but one if t ter from sheridan since he has b een with the Pru ians it is probably too late for that letter to be of any bervice to you but I 1 se end it it NANCE I appt 13 1870 mv DEAR rile captoria cap turia of 1 I n and army at on the at 44 september abna thrown france into it caws biell evell the all ties toa a though prusia had buo t it uch whit to negotiate viall who to liol I fit ilie alual are becoming grave quentious qu etious aud one callwitz see hat ill be tile I 1 was present at ahe battles of grave lotte and sadan and have had illy clipped in these batles of many of the errors it had run in conceptions of what wight be t I 1 of europe I 1 hera was about tle same per of sneaks or runaways run awayA and the goneril of tile battles were about the bilane 83 or own ono thin was specially noticeably notice ablo thes battered eatter ed condition of th e men in got ag anti inti battle and th e I 1 r scattered condition while engaged at gravelotte Gra bea u mont and sedan the men engaged on both sides ere so scattered that it looked wl iko thousands of men engaged in a desidlr skirmish without any regard to lines or formation thue battles were of this style c 0 to alen cirg at long ange and might be called progressive fighting night ur e french always giving up t 0 i tion or being driven from it in ethl way by the Pur asians the latter had their own alra up to the moselle and I 1 t was and successful after that gir was reached the french made the strategy for the jaris abid it w as more successful than their own the prussian soldiers are very good brave fellows all young scarcely a man over 27 in th e first levies they havo gone into each battle with the determination to win it is specially noticeable also that the prussians have attacked the french wherever they have found them let the number be great or small ancl so far as I 1 bare been able to see though the grand tactics of engagements have been good yet the battles have been won by the good sluane fight ing of the men and junior officers it is true the prussians have been two to one except W one oft lie battles before metz thit of the of august still the french baye hadtke ad of every strong po ditl i 11 n 11 1 a ily speaking the french soldiers h 1 it may be because the poor fellows have been discouraged by the trap into which their comma rider bad led them but I 1 must coti feas to having seen some of the tallest at sedan I 1 have to the left of the french coition poi tion all attempts to male the well aland seem to be unavailing sa was this that it baui at tle firsich cavalry to wake three or four gallant but foolish harges as if it ere to show ehst there was at least ome iome i manh od left in a mounted sold er I 1 am disgusted all wy 4 tadd ib the of t ireat napolean tn have been dissipated or else the little cur have lost Meir clart in the pampered parade soldiers mol diers of the alan of destiny 11 the Pure will settle I 1 giblak by making the le the german line taking in metz and strasburg and the expenses of the war I 1 have been most kindly receive ed by the king and court bismarck and all the officers at the head quarters of the arm seen mah of great luter vir and especially have been able to observe the difference difre rence between E u battles and those of our own CA unity r have not found the didrence veay great but that difference is to the of our own country there Is nothing to be learned here professionally nod it is a satisfaction to learn that such however which europeans could learn from us the use of rifle tits tha ilse of cavalry which they do not ufa well instance there is a line of comfor muni cation from here to germany ex ed to the whole of the south of with scarcely a soldier on the whole line and it has never been touched there are a hundred things in which they are behead ul the staff departments are poorly organized the de apartment pArt ment very wretched ae 0 very respectfully your obeale of ser yent P 11 lieutenant anant general P S we go tomorrow with the headquarters of the king to a point about twenty miles from paris P if S it is needless to call attention to the keen militar criticisms i of so to his patriotic delight fit the equality of the soldier with the picka troops of europe his predications odthe terms which were exacted by lite vic bors months afterwards or the clear terse bariga age in which he portrays for bid former chief the 0 I 1 the rival arcales ar rales T he familiar style into which be lapass here and t here is itself a charm and makes one sure that tile letter was written with no idea that it would ever be come historical yet whit could be more historical than the comments of one of the greatest of american commanders to another on the events of Gra and metz and I 1 have seen scores of the letters to grant and he wrote not a few to me on points connected with his own military history they often short and at times almost ru ged but to the fil F I 1 and so felicious in expression like his ringing des archea from the valley we sen 9 them whirl I 1 aled Wi 1 I it best to make a delay of a day to bottle this now cavalry general they were followed by our mett on tile twentysix twenty six miles he had a rr 9 at share alf that power of expression which wen of great ex ability ofton possess when they approach in which they are interested ever the grant and t dur tug the period is P I 1 shed it will brov 0 all I 1 bay but was secret araut s jetters were not copied in the ordinary books they were been by the clerks a ad by few of be i at the quarters 4 the arm y I 1 retained of them time bud w h tu grant beut deut I 1 these into it book which fur some reason was not turid over to the war but ahe first or rough copies he gave to me rod told we tb ey serve as material fur a poll meguir all that were of importance I 1 have already so used bu Sheri dans replies have not yet been given to the world they nill the ultimate char actor of the relations of grant and sheridan the coni barru ony in their feeling and the accord in their on a subject which they had never dis cussed in spoken in washington and the other in new orleans before the louisiana difficulty arose find they did not meet after this until sheridan had been relieve I 1 consulted sheridan frequently in the course of my historical labors and be gave me all the assistance I 1 ask but desired me not to name bim as an authority in political mat t era ile did not wish to be involved in political elp while be was serving der a democratic administration but he promised to furnish me all the facts iii his possession and he kept his word after the appearance of grant in peace he wanted me that he would never contradict or give cause to bontia diet any statement that it contained when he saw the picture I 1 tried to make of himself for my military history be objected to my saying that be swore and I 1 struck out the statement but he allowed me to describe him as rising in his stir and swinging his bat in the famous ride from winchester he was loth however to go down to history asamore murat and na aurally so for than a cavalry lead r all the and magnetism that are so ible with troops I 1 have often been told on the great ride his face was fairly black with the raap of the battle and he cried out again I 1 nd again well fickera lic kera out their boots bayal boyal well lick em out of their bookal lie was all the a general because be shared and inspired the feeling of his soldiers I 1 shall never forget how be look ed on the day of th e surrender of lee ilia troops had outmatched out marched the great southern leader and fairly surrounded him at last I 1 but this was discovered lee sent word that he was negotiating with Graut for asur and asked for a su pension of hostilities sheri dau had heard nothing odthe tiati ous arid feared the report might be a rose of lee at t his coment I 1 happe ried to ride up and sheridah Sheri dau I 1 had come from grant aked eagerly if the story was true ile was pacing up ind down in a piece of farmyard that lo 10 0 ked like a pig I 1 and I 1 could not b ut his how R ike k his action was ofa wild beast in a his face flamed and he clinched his fiat as he said to toe ive ear d in em live got that his nails were doubled into his palm in march 1885 when grant was known to be near his aridi was at his house and sheridan wrote toe the following letter enel g a ro ter of a burial at the mine this I 1 was to resent to the family when tt 9 mome at came THE UNITED STATES i D C april 11 1885 my dean BADEAU I 1 ara re quested by the commissioners of the Sol dierso home to forward to you the accompanying letter to be delivered We livered in the death of gen grant from his illness and request you to fill in the proper date we will select the and commanding site on the grounds of the home it is unnecessary for me to use words to express my attachment to ge grant and his family I 1 have not gone to see him as I 1 could only bring additional distress the I 1 went to remember him as I 1 knew him while in good health with kind regards you rs truly P H SHERIDAN but the tomb of the chief is at riverside and it is sherida who lies at the capital where he prope ed to bury grant ADAM BADEA 17 |
