CHAPTER XXVIII. SHERIDAN'S HOME AND FAMILY LIFE. -- THE GENERAL'S WASHINGTON RESIDENCE-MRS. SHERIDAN AND THE CHILDren - DOMESTIC CHARACTER OF HUSBAND AND FATHER -HOME INTERIORS PARLOR AND LIBRARY-THE GENERAL's ofFICE IN THE WAR DEPARTMENTHIS STAFF OFFICERS INCIDENTS AND ASSOCIATIONS HIS HEALTH-THE FATAL SICKNESS- NONQUIT - LIFE CLOSES AMID NATURE'S BEAUTY. THE quiet, loving domesticity of General Sheridan's home and inner life since his marriage at Chicago in 1874, has been a beautiful and striking contrast with the Titanic activity of that outer and active life upon which rests his world-wide fame. It is not for any stranger to seek to withdraw the veil of seclusion that fitly enshrouds every one's private and personal existence; especially so while grief sits in majestic sorrow at the portals. But it will not be intrusive to draw together and present as a complete whole the facts known of men. A striking proof of the wholesome domesticity of the general's character is to be seen in the fact that it has required the affectionate interest everywhere aroused by the saddening incidents of his last sickness and lingering death, to draw out the charming pictures of home life which are now associated with the Sheridan family. Living as the general and Mrs. Sheridan have done, for the last five years of his life, in a city and community where privacy for the public man is almost unknown, it is certainly a tribute to the habits and wishes of General Sheridan that the charming interiors of his Washington residence have not heretofore been made the subject of published gossip and illustration. General Sheridan was a lover of his home, a devoted husband, and a most affectionate father. He never delighted in "functions" like our other genial and lovable old warrior, General Sherman, but preferred retirement, the ease of home, the loving care of his wife, the prattle of his little ones, the quiet of his library, and the silent companionship of his books. The Washington house, costing about forty-four thousand dollars, was purchased for Sheridan by his Chicago admirers and friends. It is a fine residence, even in a city notable for such dwellings. The Sheridan home is a roomy, picturesque, double house, on the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and Seventeenth Street. It is directly opposite Representative Perry Belmont's residence, to which it presents an agreeable contrast. Mr. Belmont's dwelling is large and splendid, but it looks neglected. The turf is not well kept, while across the way the Sheridan terrace is clipped and watered until it looks like green velvet. The quick-growing ivy that covers nearly one side of the building is as well kept as the grass. The entrance opens into a wide, roomy hall, running the whole depth of the house, from which a broad, easy staircase leads to the upper floor. The hall floor has been devoted to the family and recep tion rooms, the library and the dining-room. The usual sitting-room is a high-ceilinged, deep saloon, furnished in rich but quiet taste. The great bay window, deep, comfortable, and looking out on both avenue and street, was the favorite resort of Mrs. Sheridan and of all visitors to this delightful mansion. One feature of this room was a pretty little mahogany table, covered with a large cloth wrought with Indian bead work. It was sacred to the lares and penates of the household, being covered with exquisite miniature portraits of Mrs. Sheridan and their four children. The room behind the family saloon, and separated from it only by a heavy portiere, was used as the general's library. An attractive room it was, with a distinct individuality, telling of its famous occupant. The old red silk papered walls were well covered with portraits-paintings or photographs of army friends. Sketches of many historic events, and many striking mementoes were found here. Half-way up the high walls, rows of handsome bookshelves held an excellently selected general library, in which, however, works of reference and standard military authorities predominated. Many maps hung upon a convenient stand, and a large globe showed the world's face to the occupant's eye. The large, broad window at the rear had before it the general's desk—a flat, rather small, mahogany library table, with drawers on one side. There was a big crystal inkstand upon it. A heavy blotting pad, and usually, too, a thick tablet of heavy unruled white paper waited the convenience of the soldier owner. He used steel pens, and they always could be found in abundance in front of the inkstand. As a rule, at the right-hand corner of the desk could be seen a small collection of books, kept handy for such reference as the thoughtful, well-weighted man of affairs who used to sit there, might at any moment require. Sheridan's library was crowded with curios. The mantel over the deep, open fire-place, always blazing in winter with pine logs, was filled with them. The little meerschaum smoked brown by the cadet, was preserved by the general. His collection of swords is notable and historic. The one prized most highly by its owner went through all the campaigns. It is a short-service weapon, of which scabbard, blade, and hilt alike bear the marks of severe usage and narrow escapes from bullets whose dents are still seen. His spurs, and a little silver canteen, pot-bellied, and of the size of a small tumbler, given him by an old army friend, occupied a prominent place. General Sheridan had a decided taste for numismatics, and owned quite a collection of old coins, of which he knew the history. There were his medals also, a notable collection. His commissions hung — each representing a victory—all framed on the crowded walls. There were also busts and portraits of Grant, Sherman, Custer, and others. The most striking piece of sculpture ever made relating to General Sheridan is a statuette which represents him making that famous ride from Winchester. It is not more than a foot and a half high, but its every atom is full of life and action. General Sheridan gave it the place of honor on his parlor table. It represents him on his horse, hat in hand, as he waves it furiously above his head, while the horse gallops onward. This superb piece of plastic skill is the work of a young New York sculptor, Mr. Kelley, who is also one of the Harper's staff of artists. Mr. Kelley modeled the bas releivos also of the Centennial Monmouth battle-field monument, now at Monmouth, New Jersey. The Winchester statuette is simply a piece of exquisite work. Sheridan's account of the famous horse he rode is interesting. The general said of "Rienzi," or " Winchester," as he was named after Buchanan Read immortalized him, that "I got the horse when it was about three years old. It was a full-blooded Black Hawk, sixteen and one-half hands high, and I kept him for seventeen years. He was twenty years old when he died, in 1878, and I think the primary cause of his death was rheumatism and neuralgia. I took him with me to New Orleans, and lent him to one of my staff officers. He brought him in one day, covered with foam, and I had a green stable boy, who turned the hose on him. I took good care of him, however, until he died. He was a remarkable horse, very fine looking, and a very quick walker. He was a present to me from Colonel Campbell, of the Second Michigan Cavalry. I rode him in the Mississippi campaign and then carried him to Kentucky. I rode him in the Kentucky and Tennessee campaigns, and when I was transferred to the Army of the Potomac I rode him in all the campaigns when I was in command of the cavalry. I rode him on that ride from Winchester to Cedar Creek, and he carried me through in a hurry. It was not twenty miles, however, but sixteen, and my own horse galloped nearly all the way. He was, I think, in about eighty-five battles, and he was hit three times. I remember at the battle of Chickamauga, that a shot passed under him and between his legs. He straddled himself and would not move, and I had to get off and get another horse." General Sheridan was always very fond of animals, and this home of his contained many finely mounted specimens. A gorgeous wild turkey, from Sheridan's roost in Arizona, looked down from one of the walls of the dining-room, and the antlers of a gigantic elk ornamented the entrance hall. Upon the walls of the hall there was a tiger rug, almost as large as a bed quilt. It hung flat against the paper with its head downward, and is so mounted that it looks as though it might spring upon an advancing visitor. Beneath it was a magnificent Mexican saddle, which General Sheridan said took one man two years to make, and at the left of this stood a grandfather's clock, which out of an old Dutch face ticked a solemn welcome to every incomer. Like Generals Logan and Grant, Sheridan delighted in collecting old arms. Among his collection are a number of costly pistols, many of which have histories, and some of which were presented to him by his soldier friends. ters. The office occupied by General Sheridan in the massive pile of which the War Department occupies the eastern side of its great parallelogram, looks out on the east grounds of the White House and Pennsylvania Avenue, takes in the gray granite pillars and walls of the Treasury building, and gives a glimpse above them all of the Capitol's white and gleaming dome. It is the northeast corner room on the second floor of that great pile. Sheridan was found nearly every day in the year at his desk in the room set apart for use as army headquarThe general's desk stood obliquely across the outermost corner, in such a position that as he sat behind it the light fell upon his back and upon the faces of all visitors to the room. Two large cases are filled with curious pottery, Indian blankets, bows and arrows, headgear, clubs and other articles collected in the Indian country before and since the War of the Rebellion. They stand at opposite sides of the apartment. Upon the walls are portraits of Generals Jackson, Worth, Zachary Taylor, Logan, Blair, Meade, and McPherson, and several spirited illustrations of Western hunting scenes. One picture repre sents a herd of buffalo. It was General Sheridan's favorite habit to show this picture to childish visitors, and to delight them with a hunting story. He was a hard-working man, and always acted promptly and methodically on all business before him. If any men know another with whom they are most intimately associated, it should be the members of a military staff, especially under the exigencies of vigorous campaigning. Of the three great soldiers of the Union Army, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, we know that the military families of the first and last were drawn to their chiefs, not by admiration and respect alone, but by a love and regard which could only be inspired by the fine as well as strong characteristics of the chiefs |