As soon as real war begins, new men, heretofore unheard of, will emerge from obscurity, equal to any occasion.

—William Tecumseh Sherman, six weeks before Bull Run

 

 

 

I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come if alive.

—Sherman to Grant, March 10, 1864, summing up their successful Western campaigns

 

 

 

But what next? I suppose it will be safe if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide.

—Abraham Lincoln to Sherman, after congratulating him on his capture of Savannah, Christmas 1864

 

 

 

He stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now, sir, we stand by each other always.

—Sherman, speaking of Grant

 

 

 

I know him well as one of the greatest purest and best of men. He is poor and always will be, but he is great and magnanimous.

—Grant, praising Sherman in a letter to Jesse Grant, his father

 

 

 

We were as brothers, I the older man in years, he the higher in rank.

—Sherman, summing up their friendship