Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1879 — Gen. Sherman and the South. [ARTICLE]

Gen. Sherman and the South.

A dispatch from Salisbury, N. C., says: A grand reunion of the survivors of the Confederate and Federal armies has been arranged to take place here on the 3d of October. Invitations wero sent to both armies. Lieut. Gen. Sheridan politely ref used on account of pressing business engagements. He expressed his hope of the success of the movement. Gen. W. T. Sherman wrote a letter which has created no little excitement. The letter is as follows: The timo is too remote for me to make a promise, hut 1 assure you that it would be most agreeable to me personally and socially to meet you on any suitable occasion—there is no use in my minciug terms—whenever and wherever the honest men of North Carolina seek to allay sectional and party animosities, and to cultivate feelings of fraternal respect for their fellowcitizens of tho United States. It will he to me most tempting to come to Salisbury. I would far prefer to come alone than, as before, wtih a vast army, leaving desolation behind, but I must not be construed as assenting to the proposition that the Confederates and Union men were alike worthy of celebration for the terrible history of 1861-65. I would much prefer to come on some civic occasion, when all are absolutely equalall alike interested in the present and future glory of our common country. There were le w Union soldiers from North Carolina during the war, though we believe the people generally were opposed to secession, ana I will say that your meeting, if confined to the surviving sol diers of North Carolina, will be, in fact, a Confederate reunion, where I would certainly be out of place. All soldiers, in their social reunions, glorify their dee is of heroism, and this reunion will hardly be an exception, and it would be a strange sight for Gen. Sherman to cheer the victories of his enemies and respond to the claim that, becauso the soldiers of North OaroliA were brave and true to their State and section, their cause was as sacred as ours, which finally triumphed and made our Union more glorious and more resplendent than before. Were I present, and you should suppress this natural feeling, I would feel myself an intruder, marring the natural happiness of the festive occasion. I know that the soldier element was the first to lay aside the angry partisan feelings of the war, and are now leaders in the new epoch which is soon to add wealth and prosperity to our whole country; and when some.occasion arises when we may all meet on common ground m North Carolina to celebrate some Revolutionary event, or to encourage some modem enterprise, it will give me great pleasure to come to Salisbury, to Raleigh, to Guilford Court House, or to any other place in the old North State.

W. T. SHERMAN.