Sherman writes of celebrating Independence Day during his first stay in California. At that time the country was rapidly expanding and yet it hadn’t even reached its centennial. He along with other military personnel stationed in Monterey were en route to the American River to inspect and report on the recent findings of gold which had already radically changed the flow of history in ways that merit attention in some future musings. Here I just focus on Sherman’s journey, from Monterey by sailing vessel, dugouts, horseback and foot (which will also warrant a separate entry) to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range some 200 miles north east. Along the way they stopped at Sutter’s Fort built by Swiss John Augustus Sutter a self proclaimed ruler who had established a plantation/colony of sorts under nefarious conditions and circumstances. Sherman makes no mention of this. Instead he writes only of the visit en route towards the goldfields along the riverbeds.
Sherman writes:
The fort itself was one of adobe-walls, about twenty feed high, rectangular in form with two-story block-houses at diagonal corners the entrance was bay a large gate, open by day and closed at night, with two iron ship’s guns near at hand. Inside there was a large house with a good shingle-roof, used as a storehouse, and all around the walls were ranged rooms, the fort-wall being the outer wall of the house. The inner wall was of adobe. These rooms were used by Captain Sutter himself and by his people. He had a blacksmith’s shop, carpenter’s shop, etc., and other rooms where the women made blankets.
We found preparations in progress for celebrating the Fourth of July, then close at hand and we agreed to remain over to assist on the occasion; of course, being the high officials, we were the honored guests. People came from a great distance to attend this celebration of the Fourth of July and the tables were laid in the large room inside the storehouse of the fort. A man of some note, named Sinclair, presided, and after a substantial mean and a reasonable supply of aguardiente we began the toasts. All that I remember is that Folsom and I spoke for our party; others, Captain Sutter included, made speeches, and before the celebration was over Sutter was very “tight,” and many others showed the effects of the aguardiente.
The next day (namely July 5, 1848) we resumed our journey toward the mines, and, in twenty-five miles of as hot and dusty a ride as possible we reached Mormon Island”
W.T. Sherman Memoirs Vol I
(L)US Flag 1851 (California’s entry into the Union),(R) California State Flag
Sherman’s eye witness account of the discovery of gold in California and its rapid chaotic transformation offers perspectives that deserve more attention. Perhaps though the July 4th at Sutter’s Fort was one of the first commemoration of a still very newly formed democratic republic committed –however inconsistently and imperfectly– to the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“I want peace and believe it can only be achieved through union.”
W.T. Sherman
This conviction permeated Sherman’s thought during and after the Civil War. It also influenced his thinking and tasks as U.S. Army Lieutenant General in the years that followed. Peace is a fragile reality when it exists at all and often comes at the cost of war. As the westward expansion exploded Sherman had to grapple with responsibility of protecting both the settlers moving westward and the people who were being forcibly moved off of their ancestral homelands to accommodate this expansion. It was anything but peaceful.
Officials in Washington hoped for a peaceful transition, even if was just little more than wishful thinking. Opinions varied to what degree they thought it possible. Nevertheless a “Peace Commission” was formed in 1867 comprised of military personal and civilians who had some knowledge of or sympathies with the Native Americans of the great plains. Ironically Sherman was made the head. The Commission’s task was to negotiate with peoples inhabiting the land between the states whose culture and histories were as different as the languages they spoke and the territories they claimed. Land mass west of the Mississippi through the Rockies was equal or greater than all existing states combined.
How did Sherman accept this new assignment? Perhaps he considered it little more than his job, one that enabled him to feed his family. Or perhaps as in the years of the Civil War, he thought it was his duty to do his best in securing peace for the diversity of peoples in the U.S. and its claimed territories. In either case the Peace Commission’s preliminary meetings and final treaties were layered with complexities. Further, there has never been any agreement on whether or not they even succeeded. Meetings involved several peoples inhabiting vastly disputed territories. This combined with inadequate resources, poor communication and bureaucratic corruption in Washington DC were just some of the obstacles that continuously worked against making any negotiations relevant or binding. Sherman foresaw these difficulties even before beginning his assignment. His skepticism was well grounded. Nevertheless he accepted the challenge, hoping for the best. In less than three years after the close of the Civil War he gladly left Washington and relocated his family to St. Louis. Soon afterwards he met with the Commission and began their travels west of the Missouri.
I hope to God you will not ask me to go to any other country except my own.
Barboncito, Navajo Chief, 1868
After meeting with leaders of several tribes in the northern plains, Sherman and Samuel F. Tappan set out towards the end of May traveling to Fort Sumner to meet with the Navajo interned at Bosque Redondo. They had been held for close to four years as prisoners by the U.S. government in lands that were desolate and close to uninhabitable. Several bands totaling by some counts 9,000 persons had been forcibly removed from their homelands and marched 300 miles to the east. Known as the Long Walk hundreds died along the way or soon afterwards. The relocation was a financial disaster and was costing the U.S. government thousands of dollars a day. It was a national embarrassment and disgrace.
What Sherman saw when he arrived at the end of May 1868 must have shocked him and angered him. Hundreds of families lived in squalid conditions, ordered by his government to ranch and farm in an area that was suitable for neither. Many were starving. Some claim that Sherman was indifferent or even antithetical to peaceful resolutions of conflict and negotiations. However, a close read of the preliminary proceedings and negotiations as in those with the Navajo indicate otherwise.
Meetings began with Navajo leaders began on May 28th. Sherman asked them to select their representatives and a spokesperson. Three days of talks followed. He listened through two translators to Barboncito, Manuelito and others. Sherman sought to resolve not only the main concern-where they wished to relocate but also additional grievances, which included the fact that Mexican and American settlers throughout the South West and Mexico held hundreds of Navajo women and children in bondage. Sherman just fought and won a war to secure the freedom of enslaved people. Thus it was his sincere belief that the US government would indeed prosecute and punish anyone holding anyone in bondage. And he promised this to the Navajo. As a man who tried to keep true to his word. Sherman experienced repeated disappointments when his own government could not or would not follow through on what were necessary conditions of justice and peace.
When the Navajos were first created four mountains and four rivers were pointed out to us inside of which we should, live, that was to be our country and was given to us by [God]
Probably in his impatience to resolve a complicated matter or more aptly put, a government induced disaster, Sherman proposed that the Navajos move to designated ‘Indian Country’ that is, the territories south of the Arkansas River. These lands were then being used to relocate several tribes resisting assimilation. He supposed it would be a favorable option because land was suitable for farming and ranching. It was also off limits to white settlers. But the Navajos rejected that proposition and their will prevailed. Sherman soon agreed that it was to their advantage and the US government’s best interest that the Navajo return to their ancestral homelands and for the reasons that the Navajos themselves had determined.
The talks and negotiations concluded with the signing of the treaty, early in the morning of June 1, 1868. I was ratified by Congress on July 25th and signed by President Andrew Johnson on August 12th. Shortly afterwards approximately 8,000 Navajo men, women, elders and children gathered their horses, mules, sheep and goats and together began their long walk home to their four sacred mountains. In his formal greeting to Sherman when he arrived to Fort Sumner, Barboncito declared he had made three pairs of moccasins for the occasion. He had already worn two for the meetings. The third pair he undoubtedly was saving for the journey home with a dream and destiny for the people:
After we get back to our country, it will brighten up again and the Navajos will be as happy as the land, black clouds will rise and there will be plenty of rain. Corn will grow in abundance and everything will look happy.
A few weeks ago, after a few days in Carmel I made my return trip by way of Highway One from Salinas to Half Moon Bay a drive of 100 miles and much of that on the proverbial ‘ribbon of highway’ with open fields on the east and the Pacific on the west. It was a beautiful spring day and some fields were speckled with California poppies now in bloom. In less than two hours even despite the traffic congestion in Santa Cruz I arrived to my destination. Having read Sherman’s memories of his days in Monterey, it was easy for me to imagine what it was like for him to travel along the coast in a small sailing vessel to San Francisco or Bolinas or by horseback on the inland route across Salinas valley to get to the neighboring mission towns of San Juan Bautista and further north San Jose and Santa Clara. While driving the coastal route past Año Nuevo and Pigeon Point, I eventually arrived to Half Moon Bay, a small farming, fishing and tourist town. In Sherman’s time the area, was known as Rancho San Benito and it was little more than a collection of farms and ranches on or near the former settlement sites of the Ohlone. The afternoon commute, enabled me to imagine the youthful enthusiasm of Sherman as he first landed on the western coast of the northern continent.
While still en-voyage to his destination, Sherman was delighted with his one-week stay in Rio de Janeiro as the ship Lexington collected supplies and new cargo to begin the last stretch of their voyage to Monterey, California. He enjoyed the cuisine, the topography and learning how water was delivered to the city from the surrounding majestic mountains:
Rio de Janeiro early 19c
“Mr. Wise enlarged on the fact that Rio was supplied from the “dews of heaven,” for in the dry season the water comes from the mists and fogs which hand around the Corcovado, drips from the leaves of the trees, and is conducted to the Madre fountain by miles of tile gutters.”
W. T. Sherman Memoirs-Volume I
He arrived in Monterey the end of January after close to five months at sea. The last stretch of the voyage which resumed after a brief stay in Brazil and later Chile included passing through the waters of Cape Horn and then northward in the Pacific waters.
Rio de Janeiro early 19c
Cape Horn
Chile
Valparaiso, 1830
Rounding the Horn
The ship resumed its voyage around Cape Horn an island, which according to Sherman resembled an oven hence its name in Spanish Ornos/oven. “Rounding the Horn” was the expression to describe the difficult and often perilous task of navigating the ever swelling seas and converging currents of the Atlantic and the Pacific. It took them another sixty days to navigate the waters and make way for Valparaiso, a coastal town of Chile. While the name denotes “Valley of Paradise”, Sherman thought it unimpressive, “nothing more –he writes– than a few tiled cottages along a beach”. Located south of the equator, the season of spring was just beginning and while Sherman didn’t consider the landscape to be anything worth noting, he enjoyed the pleasant climate and the fresh strawberries then in season.
“All the necessary supplies being renewed in Valparaiso, the voyage was resumed. For nearly forty days we had uninterrupted favorable winds being in the “trades” and having settled down to sailor habits, time passed without notice. ”
W.T. Sherman Memoirs – Volume I
Along the way they encountered other ships and learned of news of their destination of California. Mexico recently ceded their territories and the U.S. navy had already taken possession of the ports. John C. Fremont and his exploration party were scouting the area and General Kearney was en route by overland. The news coupled by avid reading of books stoking everyone’s imagination of what they would find in this new land, made Sherman and his colleagues ever more eager to press on to their military or peace keeping assignments (they didn’t know which) in Monterey.
Sherman reports that they arrived to the coast of California by the end of January. But while both the Spanish and English maps concurred on the currents alongside the coast they did not agree on the longitude. This coupled with a fierce storm, typical in January caused them to overshoot the Monterey port and they weren’t able to make a correction southward for several days. Once the storm subsided Sherman writes;
“Slowly the land came out of the water, the high mountains about Santa Cruz, the low beach of the Salinas, and the strongly-marked ridge terminating in the sea in a point of dark pine trees, marking out the Monterey Bay.”
Continuation of W.T. Sherman’s voyage to California in 1846 based on his letters home.
USS Lexington
This day is usually among sailors a species of April Fools Day when all sorts of practical jokes are enacted upon the persons of those who have never crossed the line….
Letter dated “At Sea” August 28 1846
Writes Sherman as the USS Lexington crossed the equator heading southward to Rio de Janeiro. He continues his description of the rite of initiation or hazing depending on your perspective or experience of the practices on board sailing vessels traversing the equator–the imaginary line dividing the northern and southern hemispheres of planet earth.
19th century etching of “crossing the line” initiation aboard the Medusse (public domain)
Old Neptune usually mounts the bow of the ship, dripping with his brine and accompanied by his beautiful wife. They then proceed to initiate the novices. Our ship is a war vessel and such irregularities are not permitted and it was forbidden to our men for the simple reason that those that have been south of the equator bear too small a proportion to the fresh men that Old Neptune’s decrees might not be enforced by his accepted children. The ship was pronounced on the equator at eight this forenoon…. I was summoned to the Captain’s cabin where a holy stone; [in reality] a piece of hard stone used for cleaning decks–was presented for me to rest my hand for an oath…”
At Sea, August 28, 1846
The solemn moment included a list of prohibitions unless of course one preferred them. The pledge ended with:
so help you salt water–a dash of which was sprinkled on my face and I was then duly initiated.
At Sea, August 28, 1846
In turn, Sherman ‘baptized’ his fellow officers, with salt water as he administered the oath. My guess is Sherman added this last detail to amuse or annoy the more pious readers of his letters, his future wife included.
This is the only ceremony which distinguishes this day from any other, and now as we consult the charts and maps there appears a dark magic line separating us from our friends and homes. This must again be crossed after weeks of sailing around Cape Horn
At Sea, August 28, 1846
He sent his letter with a small French sailing vessel calculating that his sister would receive it by mid September about the time he would arrive to the colorful tropical city of Rio de Janeiro a welcome reprieve from the monotony of water travel of the first several weeks.
“Forty-six days have now passed since our departure and looking back upon them nothing is seen that will leave an impression save the monotonous flight of time.”
At Sea, August 28, 1846
The ship’s deck Edourd Manet (c. 1860)
The observant Sherman took note of his explorations of the cultural and natural beauty in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso while their ship restocked en-route to California. But by mid November the endless days and nights at sea and under its mercy and vengeance as the case may be exasperated him. His frank reassessment of the voyage reveals his overall impression of sea travel. As the ship was about to head due north through the Pacific Sherman hints at his budding dream which would become his life long passion; safe and efficient transportation across the continent of the northern hemisphere.
If you hear of a subscription opening to dig a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, you may put me down any amount for really I do not fancy a voyage of twenty-four thousand miles to accomplish a distance of less than two thousand.”
Ordered to California by Sea round Cape Horn! Is not this enough to rouse the most placid?
June 30th 1846 Letter
Wrote a young Sherman who was summoned as an army officer to travel to California recently claimed by the United Sates following their war with Mexico. Even before the discovery of gold the value of the land and its strategic location on the Pacific was appreciated if not coveted. John Fremont and other 19th century fortune seekers had written copiously about its bounty. Sherman was assigned to assist in a ‘peaceful possession’ of of Monterey through the Sierras. In one of his first letters he instructs his sister:
You have Fremont’s map on the parlor table. Look at the map and you will see Monterey and San Francisco with the back country. It is in that region I believe we will be for some time…
Letter to Elizabeth Sherman, 1846
At that time there were two ways to cross the landmass we now call the United States. One could travel overland by foot or beast which beyond the Mississippi was fraught with dangers, mainly from Indians protecting their homelands. Or by sea, which took much longer since it was necessary to travel around the tip of South America and present day Chile. The voyage included crossing the equator line twice, a stay in the ports of Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso and tumultuous passage around the tip of Cape Horn, where waters of the Atlantic and Pacific furiously intermingled. What Sherman understates succinctly almost laconically in his Memoirs, most likely an editor’s call, he humorously expounds in great detail in letters to his family.
New York Seaport late 19th century Print by George Schelgal, (Library of Congress)
USS Lexington, 1827
The seas of water known as oceans are the “high road that leads from Africa and Asia to the United States” wrote Sherman. On July 17 he along with close to 100 crew, army personnel and some passengers sailed from the port of New York on the USS Lexington, a sloop of war, converted into a cargo ship, which still carried six guns for defense on the spar/or upper deck. Sherman writes that it was well stocked with food, ammunition and other supplies that would be needed on their arrival to California. He appreciated that logistics for the voyage were well planned; “by foresight, the greatest of evils may be avoided”. But he also surmises that
“the certainty of the vast journey bids me be prepared”.
Letter 1846
Copious and amusing descriptions of the ship and voyage abound: The upper deck included a strong floor and was surrounded by bulwarks ‘about breast high’. “Our cargo is very heavy as we carry out so may guns for California service, and the magazine of the ship could not contain half our powder which amounts to about eight hundred barrels”. A coop full of chickens and a few dozen pigs were also in transport perhaps some to be used for upcoming meals. The berth/lower deck included the sleeping quarters. He concludes: “We have many books of all kinds but our voyage will be so long that we will be forced to read even the tables in Bowditch”, a 19th century handbook of navigation by Nathanial Bowditch.
Indeed the first part of the voyage seems like a cruise on a luxury liner. Soldiers and officers including young Sherman bound for California watched while sailors nimbly coiled ropes and rigged sails. Sherman notes however, that all of the men, himself included were assigned tasks and were required to assist in the event of storms. There were four women, wives of the officers and finally two children: “ to whom the sailors are fast teaching them all the oaths in their calendars”. I take that to mean expanding their vocabulary in ways that their mothers blushed, lamented and reprimanded. Or all three. After 57 mostly pleasant sunny days days, USS Lexington crossed the line (the equator) and made port at Rio de Janeiro for close to two weeks giving Sherman and his companions time to explore the colonial city and its surrounding mountainsides.
Rio de Janeiro in the 19th Century Capricio Views- Mutual Art https://www.mutualart.com/
The city of Savannah was an old place, and usually accounted a handsome one. W.T.S. Memoirs Vol II
“I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty five thousand bales of cotton. “
Letter to President Lincoln December 22, 1864
Sherman wrote to President Lincoln shortly after bringing the Georgia campaign to a close by establishing the Union army following the city’s peaceful surrender. An acquaintance “suggested that I might [send] a welcome Christmas gift to the President, Mr. Lincoln, who peculiarly enjoyed such pleasantry. I accordingly sat down and wrote on a slip of paper, to be left at the telegraph-office for transmission.– He continues; his message actually reached him on Christmas-eve and was extensively published in the newspapers and made many a household unusually happy on that festive day; and it was the answer to this dispatch that Mr. Lincoln wrote me the letter of December 28th, beginning with the words “many, many thanks.”
No doubt a gift of a city is preposterous even outrageous. But for Sherman it was Savannah and not Atlanta that marked a change in tides in the war of secession. The confiscation of Confederates’ ammunition and cotton–ironically being sold to northern merchants to pay for their war against the Union– meant that he had effectively cut off their supplies and financial resources. More important by seizing the rebels’ stronghold deep in their own territory Grant’s army could focus on battling the dwindling but fiercely resolved armies of Lee. The end of the long, bloody war was in sight.
Sherman’s recollections of these days are not without understated hubris. They’re also peppered with ironic humor underscoring his relief and profound gratitude that the campaign was over and on his view, with minimal loss of life as he was able to avoid major battles by outmaneuvering his opponents.
The rebel army wasn’t Sherman’s biggest enemy and hence targets of his wrath. He was annoyed and angered by disinformation and ‘fake news’ of the press. Northern newspapers continued to accuse him of insanity and southern newspapers claimed his army was pillaging their land and livestock with no regard for life. He undoubtedly felt the sweetness of revenge when the northern papers had to admit in print that his strategies worked by informing the public of his ‘gift’ to the President. He placed strict rules on southern newspapers forbidding them to publish what he considered harmed the Union.
“No more than two newspapers will be published in Savannah; their editors and proprietors will be held to the strictest accountability, and will be punished severely in person and property, for any libelous publication, mischievous matter, premature news, exaggerated statements, or any comments whatever upon the actions of the constituted authorities; they will be held accountable for such articles even though copied from other papers. “
Special Field Order No. 143. No. 4
An advocate of freedom of press as we know it today, Sherman was not. He was amused that Confederate generals were requesting special care for their families and properties even while they were waging war against him.
“Before I had reached Savannah and during our stay there the rebel officers and newspapers represented the conduct of the men of our army as simply infamous; that we respected neither age nor sex; that we burned everything we came across …and perpetrated all manner of outrages on the inhabitants. Therefore it struck me as strange Generals Hardee and Smith should commit their families to our custody and even bespeak our personal care and attention.”
Sherman Memoirs II
The Entrance Hall in 1864, when it was being used as General Sherman’s Headquarters. A sketch by William Waud in 1864.
Sherman remained in Savannah through mid January. Perhaps he wished to stay longer if not for its beauty but also as a respite from military drudgery. But he was ordered to move his army closer to Grant’s so they could close in on the remaining rebel armies led by Lee and Johnson. Before departing Sherman invited all die hard Confederates and dissenters to leave the city providing safe passage to rejoin their friends and families in Charleston and Augusta. By his count two hundred people left the city ‘to join the fortunes of their husbands and fathers’. He reestablished the authority of the mayor and city council to managed city’s affairs for the general interests of the people. He reports that: “The great bulk of the inhabitants chose to remain in Savannah, generally behaved with propriety, and good social relations at once arose between them and the army”. Churches reopened for worship. Stores and markets also “reopened, and provisions …were established, so that each family, regardless of race, color or opinion, could procure all the necessaries of life—if they had money.” For those who didn’t which were many, he made arrangement for food and other supplies to be acquired for “gratuitous distribution, which relieved the most pressing wants until the revival of trade and business enabled the people to provide for themselves.”
Amidst the demands of reestablishing public order for a besieged city of 20,000 and making preparations for the next segment of the campaign which he considered as more dangerous, Sherman found time to write a long letter to his wife and children. Most likely the second half of his salutation is what gave them their most profound joy:
“This is Christmas Day and I hope truly and really that you and the little ones may enjoy it, in the full knowledge that I am all safe after our long March.” December 25, 1865
Sherman gratefully addressed his friends as they gathered to celebrate his 70th birthday. Perhaps feeling a need to give words of wisdom to a younger audience, he offered advice gleaned from his own life’s experience: “I know that like all others you wish to make the world as good as yourselves… . But the first way to reform the community is to reform yourselves. But you have to take the world as it is”.
Realism and optimism. We need both. The first to keep us grounded, the second to reach for dreams. Realism presents conditions and circumstances around us and optimism inspires us to energetically respond to opportunities and challenges we encounter. Healing and hope. We long for both. Several months of a pandemic and a contentious election campaign have left us tired; realizing we need to come together but wondering how we’ll do so.
It’s not always easy but it’s attainable. It comes about when we consider how hope brings possibilities into clear focus and healing restores vision and strength to pursue the difficult good which in this case is to unite so as to confront the challenge of our communities, country and world together. Gratitude may not be the only way for hope and healing to come about, it quickens the process. Giving thanks for what we have and even what we lack is an antidote to bitterness in all its toxic effects.
Every day’s a good day to give thanks. But this month we have two holidays especially set aside; Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day.
“Toward the close of the war, I have often heard the soldiers complain that the ‘stay-at-home’ men got better pay, bounties and food, than they who were exposed to the dangers and vicissitudes of the battles and marches at the front. The feeling of the solder should be that in every event, the sympathy and preference of his government is for him who fights.”
Memoirs of W. T. Sherman, Vol II
Sherman (front center) and veterans, Chicago 1884, Library of Congress
Sherman’s connection with his comrade in arms and his concern for them afterwards is legendary. During war he fought, ate and camped with them. “Officers should never seek for houses but share the condition of their men.” he instructs. Later he worked to establish pensions and methods of care. After his retirement he welcomed veterans who came to his door seeking help.
Women and men of the armed forces protect our country and freedom. “Home of the free because of the brave” should never escape our memory. In what ways are we showing gratitude not only on the one day set aside to honor veterans but every day? How are veterans being cared for in our families and communities? The elderly, sick and wounded in veterans’ facilities across our country keenly feel this time of social isolation. What can we do to shorten the time or distance for those who are separated from friends and family or more tragically entirely forgotten by them? In what ways are we grateful for the thousands of our military members deployed throughout the world?
Thanksgiving Day has its own winding history in our country. Significant in its establishment is that Lincoln had hoped that a day set aside for giving thanks to the Creator for all good gifts would also bring about the unity of a bitterly divided country in the midst of a civil war. Division still remains a threat. Looking beyond differences and being grateful together won’t resolve all problems but it will help us find solutions more swiftly. Attention and appreciation inspires generosity.
The president elect chose hope and healing as a theme to end the recent campaign and embark on a new chapter for America. He referenced a well-known hymn based on psalm 91. Here I recall a verse of another hymn; –which struck me years ago as a young chorister singing in a performance of Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas Cantata Op42:
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head
God Moves in A Mysterious Way, A. Cowper 1773, Melody London New
So, sure there are things in this world that need to change. Some dreams though are within reach when, as Sherman says we gratefully take the world as it is and inspired by hope we make it better by reforming ourselves and doing what we can to bring about even a greater good together.
CZU LIghtning Complex Fire August 19, 2020 By Inklein – https://commons.wikimedia.org
On the next day we crossed over the Santa Cruz Mountains from which we had sublime views of the scenery, first looking east toward the lower Bay of San Francisco, with the bright plains of Santa Clara and San Jose and then to the west upon the ocean, the town of Monterey being visible sixty miles off
Memoirs of W.T. Sherman
Sherman wrote in the late spring or early summer 1848 of his rides on mounted horseback from Monterey to San Jose and San Francisco.
The Santa Cruz mountains form part of the Pacific Coast Ranges along the ridge south of San Francisco and north of Monterey CA. To avoid summer beach traffic when I’m returning from the coast side I’ve taken the back roads through the mountains. The roads snake through a dense magical redwood forest. At times coastal fog obscure where the road borders a significant vertical drop. The vista of the plains Sherman speaks of is at the ridge’s crest. Except now the vast horizon of fruited plains is replaced by the suburban sprawl of Silicon Valley. These mountains are the site of the CZU Lightning Complex Fires that erupted in Northern California early in the morning August 16, 2020 after an extraordinary storm. Four weeks later the CZU fires have been declared fully contained but not before destroying more than 300,00 mostly wooded acres. Big Basin Redwoods, California’s oldest state park (established in 1902) lost its historic headquarters and lodge. It’s yet to be confirmed to what extent old growth redwoods affected by the fires will remain intact. On the other hand, Skyline ridge to the north remains unscathed as well as heavily populated communities of the valleys below. Until recently many of the state’s national forest parks including Yosemite and Sequoia National Forest were closed due to lingering smoke and unhealthy air quality. Still the world’s largest giant sequoia, the General Sherman Tree, stands tall—for now.
General Sherman Tree, Sequoia National Forest, CA USA
Seasonal wildfires are a regular pattern of summer and fall in California. With over 7,000 wildfires consuming more than 3 million acres, the fires of 2020 break all previous records. More than 19,000 firefighters are deployed in areas throughout California. Words can’t express our gratitude for heroic efforts of first responders in saving lives, homes and containing further spread of destruction.
Climate change contributes to the intensity and perhaps frequency of wildfires. But there are other factors to consider. Large land mass of forests, shrubs and grasslands all could benefit from managed burns to reduce the undergrowth of tinder fueling rapid spreads of fire and in some cases destruction and loss of life. Indigenous peoples of California practiced intentional fire burns to protect forests and grasslands. It’s generally agreed that controlled burns are effective in reducing brush and undergrowth which when coupled with hot dry wind cause erratic wild fires. Why managed fires are not implemented more often could be linked to logistical and political complications. Creating a strategy that satisfies all constituents as well as allocating the funds necessary to better manage forests seems like a utopian dream amidst the larger crisis wreaked by COVID-19. Yet maybe these two ongoing events shouldn’t be view as entirely isolated. Both crises require intelligent, innovative and persistent attention.
Sherman who was acutely interested in terrain and topography used his knowledge to shape logistical solutions applied to allocation of resources and movement of supplies. He had little tolerance if any for lack of due diligence or ineptitude due to government irresponsibility and political infighting. I’d like to think that for the most part various government agencies work together to spend our tax dollars judiciously to develop solutions for the common good. Often it proves to be otherwise.
W. T. Sherman, G. P. E. Healey, 1866
We can wait and even pray for rain, which hopefully will come by the end of October. We should continue to expect accountability and transparency on management of lands both public and privately held. The U.S. Department of the Interior/Bureau of Land Management restrictions provides accessible information concerning policies. Similarly Cal Fire https://www.fire.ca.gov posts daily updates.Would it be too much to hope for equitable, efficient and strategic collaboration between federal, and state government and stakeholders of privately owned lands to work together to implement solutions for at risk lands?
In either case now would be California’s opportunity to implement and improve strategies for wildfire management. Local, state and federal government partnering with urban, neighborhood and rural communities, businesses and other stakeholders need to work together. For over seven decades Smokey the Bear has reminded us that care will prevent 9 out of 10 wildfires. Extreme weather patterns and climate changes still lie beyond our understanding and control. But the future of California’s forests, coast, desert and grasslands is entirely weighted and measured by care of each and everyone of us who is blessed to call this beautiful land our home.
And now that, in these notes, I have fairly reached the period of the civil war, which ravaged our country from 1861-1865—an event involving a conflict of passion, of prejudice and of arms, that has developed results which, for better or for worse, have left their mark on the world’s history—I feel that I tread on delicate ground.
Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman Volume I
So, Sherman begins his accounts of the war and military campaigns for which he is remembered; honored or damned depending on one’s point of view. Clearly it constituted a lifetime achievement since he dedicates more than half of his entire memoir to the war years. Or perhaps the was an editor’s call.
Sherman continues; “it is not his intent—he claims to write a history of the war, but rather group some of [his personal] reflections about historic persons and events of the day.”
In March of 1861 he bid farewell to the Louisiana Military Academy where he was happily setting up operations of the new school educating the elite of the south. Secession was in motion and after declining to serve under the Confederacy, he resigned from his post. Sherman was aware that military conflict was rapidly approaching. He traveled to Washington where his brother an Ohio senator, introduced him to President Lincoln.
Sherman was not impressed with his first meeting with Lincoln. For when he shared his concern that northern states seemed oblivious to the fact the south was preparing for war the president replied “Oh well—I guess we’ll manage to keep house”. Sherman angrily told his brother John “You [politicians] got things in a hell of a fix, and you may get them out as best you can.” He thought that the “country was sleeping on a volcano”. He left Washington DC and moved his growing family to St. Louis where he had found a new job to support them.
But by the beginning of April war talk and preparations were escalating and Missouri was an epicenter of mounting violence; the sleeping volcanic activity Sherman feared. He commiserated with a colleague “deploring the sad conditions of our country, and the seeming drift toward dissolution and anarchy”. Then there was the bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 12-14 that signaled the start of the war.
Memoirs of Gen. W.T. Sherman Vol. I Louisiana, Missouri, Bull Run
In rereading Sherman’s recollections I find it interesting that he was reluctant to accept two seemingly high positions in the US War Department. He claims he turned them down because he already made the decision to take care of his family with his new job in St. Louis. But it may also be the case that he was not going to take on a contract position for three months which is what most politicians in Washington thought would be the duration of the war. He knew it would be longer because he was well aware of the resolve of the Confederacy. After more civil unrest and violence broke in St. Louis, where Sherman and his young son were caught in a mob stampede amidst gunfire he quickly changed his mind and accepted an appointment as a colonel of the Thirteenth Regular Infantry. By mid May Sherman was returning to Washington to report for duty.
By Kurz & Allison – Library of Congress, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org
Sherman gives his eyewitness account and participation in the Battle of Bull Run/Manassas again, depending on one’s perspective–which happened July 21, 1861. He sums up the weeks before of training young eager recruits. They were far from ready physically and mentally for war. The Confederates weren’t either but they were better organized, more in number and by July 4th were already outside of in Manassas just outside of Washington. His summary of the battle—”one of the best planned and worse fought”.
Our men had been told so often at home that all they do to do was to make a bold appearance, and the rebels would run; and nearly all of us for the first time then heard the sound of cannon and muskets in anger, and saw the bloody scenes common to all battles, with which were soon to be familiar. We had good organization, good men but no cohesion, no real discipline, no respect for authority, no real knowledge of war.
Sherman doesn’t admit defeat. It’s now generally agreed that it was victory for the south. In either case, it was a sad and shameful day. It was also a public spectacle; people came from nearby areas, bringing children and picnics to watch the event as if it was a parade. Within moments they were shocked and traumatized with chaos, terror and the stench of death. Both armies were in disarray, and suffered casualties. After Bull Run, Sherman was assigned to training new regiments. He continues:
I organized a system of drills, embracing the evolutions of the line, all of which was new to me, and I had learned the tactics from the book; but I was convinced that we had a long hard war before us, and made up my mind to begin at the very beginning to prepare for it.
Conflict of passion, prejudice and of even of arms is still true today. Added to that is the continued pandemic. The Battle of Bull Run/Manassas confirmed that the conflict would not end anytime soon. It would be years. Efforts to find a vaccine for Covid-19 look promising but are still months away from testing. In the meantime we each have to struggle with mitigating risks while working together to save lives and an economy that make social stability possible. Added to those battles and one which concern each and everyone of us, is the ongoing struggle for justice and liberty for all. And in case we tire of these battles or worse are tempted to be complacent and ignore them we have our ‘marching orders’ from John Lewis, the civil rights leader and congressmen who desired his dying thoughts be shared on the day of his funeral:
Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
But these comparisons are idle. I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through union and war,
By Thure de Thulstrup Seige of Atlanta – Thttps://commons.wikimedia.org
Sherman wrote in September 1864, as he laid siege of Atlanta in the attempts to end the war of secession; otherwise known as the American Civil War.
Who would have surmised that in the weeks following the day dedicated to honoring fallen soldiers with wreaths placed at monuments, the country would be swept with a wave of their destruction? It’s painful as it is necessary. Painful because a monument is a way of honoring good deeds of leaders and the memory of dearly beloved relatives and friends. Necessary because for others rocks shaped into monuments can be the terrible reminder of atrocities suffered by beloved relatives and friends.
As the Union army captured Atlanta Sherman sent a letter to its civic leaders recommending they evacuate their citizens. He intended to destroy its infrastructure in the effort to end the long and bloody war. The line of logic concludes: “war is war and you cannot refine it”. The city was destroyed but its inhabitants spared.
Left: Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and his staff in the trenches outside of Atlanta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_campaign Right:https://commons. Right ShermanAtlanta.wikimedia
The American Civil War threatened the collapse of a young nation. Of greater interest today is that it ended slavery or at least delegitimized it. In the effort to reunite the nation monuments were made in many towns and cities across the country. It was as a way of grieving for lost sons, fathers and brothers –casualties that exceeded more than all other US wars combined. Building monuments became as it were a path towards reconciliation and forgiveness.
Recent events remind us we still have a long way to go by way of reconciliation and healing. Honest conversations about monuments are important. Discussions are futile if not supported by real change eradicating economic and social disparity due to systemic racism. Underlining both these questions is a deeper one: to what extent and in what ways do we as a people wish to preserve what we know as the United Sates of America?
I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to securepeace.
Sherman continued in his letter to the citizens of Atlanta. He tried to show through deeds his desire to works towards peace and unity. Do I know how to do that? Am I willing to make sacrifices to do so?
Mathew Brady (1823–1896) – The Photography Book, Phaidon Press, London 1997
Sherman was convinced : “You cannot have peace and a division of our country. If the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop.” Creating a more perfect union by way of thoughtful engagement, compromise and consensus is not easy. But it’s necessary if we wish to continue to strengthen unity through diversity under the longest enduring constitution the world has known. Yes, our country is imperfect. Yes, it’s easier to destroy than to create, demolish than to build, tear than to mend and kill than to heal. But what would be left to bind us a country?
Achieving the more perfect union the framers of the constitution, our forefathers and mothers envisioned compels me like Sherman to want to work towards building, creating, mending and healing. A commitment to liberty and justice for all is a war of a different sort that provides conditions for peace to endure. That’s a war of independence worth fighting.
