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Feb. 8, 1820 - Feb. 14, 1891 |
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| Maj-Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman |
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GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN AND THE PRESS |
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General W[illiam] T. Sherman has addressed the following card to the editor of the Memphis Bulletin.
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| CAMP BEFORE VICKSBURGH, FEB. 6,1863. | |||
| MARCH 1 | |||
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SIR: Whilst intensely interested and engaged in obeying the laws of our Government and the constituted authorities, far to my rear in the North, for whose cause I thought I was fIghting, I find myself universally denounced as the inveterate enemy of the Press. You published your paper under my rule in Memphis for several months, and know the simple order I prescribed. There were no anonymous publications; anything worth printing was with the real name of the author. No publication of the movements of troops, arrivals and disposition of regiments, or anything the knowledge of which would enable the enemy to guess at our purpose. No comments upon the motives and conduct of officers calculated to encourage jealousies and discord among the people or our troops. These are about all the restrictions I ever placed on the Press. You also know that while I suffered the efforts of the enemy to learn our plans and intentions, I was minutely informed of all the enemy did or could do. You have heard me again and again say it publicly that all men must forego their private opinions and personal wishes and obey the law; not because the law was of their liking or disliking, but because it was the law, which all good citizens and soldiers must obey, to secure unity of action. Without such implicit obedience, there could be no Government. Now, what is the law of the land? See act of Congress, approved April 10, 1806 .... People at a great distance, in their quiet homes, cannot measure the difficulties here, and cannot judge of acts and events so remote. I can well afford to wait and see others do better. No amount of detraction or defamation will change what I conceive to be the only hope of restoring our proud nation to its proper station among the nations of the earth, viz.: a cheerful, willing and intelligent submission to the laws of our country and the constituted authorities of the Government. |
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| W.T. SHERMAN, MAJ.-GENERAL. | |||
| Note: General William Tecumseh Sherman hated journahsts as much as he hated rebels particularly after reporters claimed he had suffered a nervous breakdown early in the war. Sherman at one time banned the press entirely from his army. | |||
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My Source: Book: The New York Times Complete Civil War 1861 - 1864 |