E 467 i .S54 U56 Copy 1 ^ IN CHICAGO. r ^A SOUVENIRS^ Being an Recount at the Prsssntatinn nf a Bust nf UBneral Bhevidan to the Union I/BtBran Club, of Chicago, at Central Music Hall, May 5, 1384. A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK, AND ADDRESSES MADE ON THAT OCCASION BY PR(JFESSt)R DAVID SWING, GENERAL JULIUS WHITE AND BISHOP SAMUEL FALLOWS. Presented, with the Compliments of the Veterans, to their Friends. ^^eK^DAN ;v;^^^ ^ IN CHICAGO. ^A SOUVENIR.^ EEing an Recount of the PrBSBntatian of a Bust of GsuBral Sheridan to the Union lletETan Club, of Chicago, at Central Music Hall, May 5, 1BB4, A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK, AND ADDRESSES MADE ON THAT OCCASION BY PROFESSOR DAVID SWING, GENERAL JULIUS WHITE AND BISHOP SAMUEL FALLOWS. Presented, with the Compliments of the Veterans, to their Friends. la Sk change ^^^^-^ Biblica] i^^ '^^e IS, 11(20 .^o'\US(^ ^^^HE succession of Lieutenant General Philip H. Sheridan to the com- mand of the Army of the United States, with Head-quarters at Wash- ington City D. C, deprived Chicago of one of her most honored and popular citizens. A residence of many years in Chicago, as Commander of tlie Military Division of the Missouri, had endeared him to her people, who keenly regret- ted his departure. Several of General Sheridan's friends desiring to compliment their most distinguished associate, suggested that the General's portrait bo secured as a souvenir of esteemed friendship; and all being members of the Union Veteran Ckib of Chicago, it was further suggested that the portrait be presented to that organization, many of whose members had followed the General in his brilliant campaigns. A committee was therefore constituted, consisting of the following named gentlemen: Comrade William H. Bolton, Chairman, Comrade John L. Manning, Secretary. Comrade James A. Sexton. Comrade Julius White. Martin Beem. " Jacob Gross. '• A. L. Chetlain. " James E. Stuart. W. S. Scribner. '• William P. Rend. Jacob S. CuRTiss. " George T. Burroughs. " Charles A. Dibble. ■• Samuel E. Gross. William H. Reed. " H. A. Burt. William E. Strong. '• John L. Thompson. Joseph Stockton. •• W. N. Alley. L. W. Perce. " Charles Catlin. Maurice J. McGrath. ■ Ed H. Castle. John L. Beveridge. •' Julius C. Wintermeyer. Canute R. Matson. • Calvin Durand. Seth F. Hanchett. • Bradford Hancock. Robert W. Smith. •• Spencer S. Kimbell. Joseph B. Leake. • William H. Harper. Hon. F. W. Palmer. " James Gleghorn. " C. B. Farwell. Hon. Noah E. Gary. After due consideration, the committee reported in favor of a heroic bust in Carrara marble, and Mr. Howard Kretschmar, tlie sculptor, was invited to execute the commission. Notwithstanding the many calls on the attention of General Sheridan, consequent on the transfer of Headquarters to Washington City, he grace- fully assented to the request of the committee to give sittings, and was soon most amiably interested in the progress of the work. Before the General's departure, the clay model was finished and viewed by his family and friends, wdio pronounced the work more tlian satisfactory. In March last, Mr. Kretsch- mar notified the committee that the work was completed, and the finished marble was duly inspected and accepted. The bust was unveiled and formally presented to the Veteran Club on the evening of May 5th, at Central Music Hall, in the presence of an immense audience of ladies and gentlemen. The parquette was occupied by the Vet- erans. The bust rested upon a handsome pedestal in the center of the platform, and over jt was di'aped an elegant silk flag. Two silk flags, one the Stars and Stripes, and the other a blue banner, both the property of the Veteran Club and inscribed with mottoes, hung at the side. A military band in brilliant scarlet uniforms, occupied the back part of the stage. When the "Assembly" — executed by two Veteran buglers, Messrs, Gould and Purinton — was sounded, the members of the presentation and re- ception committees, and the speakers entei-ed upon the rostrum, and took their seats. The band then played "America," after which Col. Wm. H. Bolton Chairman of the presentation committee, called the meeting to order and introduced as chairman of the meeting, Col. James A. Sexton, the President of the Veteran Club. The following, among other letters^ were then read by the secretary of the club, and received with great applause: LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERIDAN. Headquarters Army of the United States, Washington, April 28.— My Dear Colonel; I have the honor to acknowledge tlie receipt of your invita- tion to attend the ceremonies at Central Music Hall, Chicago, on May 5, next, upon the occasion of the unveiling of the bust executed by Mr. Howard Kretschmar, the sculptor. I assure you it would give me great jileasure if I could be present, but I regret to say I find my engagements are sucli that I cannot be with you on the evening named. Please convey to the Committee of the Union Veteran Club my thanks for their kind remembrance of me and believe me always sincerely yours, P. H. Sheridan, Lieutenant General. Colonel John L. Manning, Secretary. Cetter from secretary lin(:;oln. War Department, Washington, April 2G, 1884. —Dear Sir: Please accept my thanks for the invitation of the Union Veteran Clnh to be present at the unveiling ceremonies of the bust of General Sheridan, to take i)lace at Chica- go on the evening of May 5. It is not possible for me to be present; but if I could be at home on that day, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to show by my presence the regard and admiration in which I hold the gal- lant soldier who by the lapse of years has become the senior of all veterans remaining in active service. I am, very truly yours, Robert T. Lincoln. Colonel John L. Manning, Secretary Union Veteran Club. THE marble. At this point Colonel Sexton withdrew the flag from the marble bust upon which a strong calcium light was thrown. The audience burst into ap- plause, and the veterans led in three ringing cheers. The band played ' 'Hail to the Chief." The bust is cut from a remarkably fine piece of the purest Carrara mar- ble. It is of heroic size. The head is turned to the left, the chin proudly elevated. The expression conveyed is keen and aggressive. The poise of the head and general characteristics represent the ideal warrior. The drapery shows the General's uniform. One shoulder-strap is covered by the broad sash, which is also utilized to array into harmonious groups what would other- wise be a monotonous arrangement of the buttons. Of all General Sheridan's numerous decorations and badges, his own badge has been selected to serve as a corrective of what would otherwise, on the Atlantic expanse of the General's chest, be a parallelism of shadows and etfects. The treatment in modeling has been in keeping with the subject. While no detail of form is neglected, there is a breadth and simplicity in keeping with the heroic character of the work. The aim of Mr. Kretschmar has been to produce an ideal warrior, not simply the features of General Sheridan. But with this high aim permeating his work, then we have not only Sheridan's features in perfection, but shining through and surrounding the block of pure white marble the sculptor's ideal — his inspiration. Prof. Swing's Presentation Address. Immediately following the music, the chairman introduced Professor David Swing, who said : The Committee of Arrangements asked me to make what is called the ''presentation speech," on this happy occasion — happy, because our city j)ossesses such a body of noblemen as the Union Veteran Club; happy, because we have such a sculptor as the author of this work; happy, because we have had a General so worthy of this marble, and of this public unveiling. The artist himself should have assumed this presentation task, but the Veteran Club estimated so highly this image of their beloved General, that they desired the re- marks to be made by some one who could speak some words regarding Howard Kretschmar, the sculptor, as well as regarding the image he has so faithfully produced. A sculptor journeying toward Chicago must feel much like old Abraham felt out in the wilderness; going he knows not whither exactly, but hoping for a city that might, at least, be willing to have some divine foundation, but with hopes greatly clouded, and walking chiefly by longings of soul. So far as sight was concerned, there were ships, roads, warerooms, shops and much people, but when the thoughts turned toward the products of the chisel or the brush, the eyesight was of little value, and our young and gifted artist must have approached our metropolis, led, like the old saint, by faith only. But the same spirit of longing and ambition led this artist, when young, to a greater city than our Chicago — even to glorious old Eome. Having studied for a short time in Paris, he entered the Koyal Art Academy in Munich, and for about one year he studied carefully the anatomy of man, and drew and carved and modeled from the antique and from life. After studying models and master-pieces in Austria and in Italy at large, he went to Rome to settle down regularly at the great work of mastering a noble, fine art. Here he remained three years. In that old home of the beauti- fill, Mr. Kretschmar produced liis first ideal work of life-size in marble. It was entitled "Painting tlie Lily." It was purcliased by a gentleman now living in San Francisco; but so excellent was the idea and so attractive the execution, that a copy was secured by the Pennsylvania Art Academy in Philadelphia.^ From Eome, the place for study, our artist came back to America, as the place to apply his skill. Why should not this mighty country be not only the shop of the merchant and the trader, but also the shop and studio of the sculptor? Here are mind, soul, heart, ediica- tion and wealth! AVhy cannot such a new world accept and cherish a fine art, or all the fine arts? The fact that the United States looks over the sea for works of art, is partly the result of the fact that our gifted sons going thither to study, have remained there. They were the first ones to say "America does not appreciate beauty." But the real truth is the artists were the first ones to catch this foreign fever. Had Powers and Story and their gifted companions returned to their native cities, the- might have prevented our eyes from looking over the sea. But we cannot much blame the artists who were afraid to risk the support of a new world — they would indeed have transformed our people into lovers of art, but the early toilers would have died in poverty in the first years of this new education; yet those martyrs would have made our cities rival those of Europe in this form of intellectual pursuit and hajipi- ness, and now European eyes would have been looking westward to see what marbles or canvasses were rising up in greatness in the American Hemisphere. G-reece, jealous of her great sons, used to forbid them to go abroad. Athens must not go out to find the world; the world must come to Athens. Our old Congress would have helped the people much ]iad it sent many gifted singers, painters and sculptors abroad to study and then compelled them to return in five years and ply their art in their native land; but our government is one of permission only, not of compulsion. Howard Kretschmar made as brilliant an entrance into his artist life as was made by Powers, or Story, or Ives or Meade. The temptations to remain in the old world were great; but in the meanwhile our country has passed up out of infancy, and Mr. Kretschmar comes back, not simply to this continent, but to the central city of the land, where the piles of lumber and wheat, and the droves of stock and the masts of ships are supposed to hide forever any blocks of marble, however finely chiselled, and pictures, however skillfully jiainted. In other cities of the nation he has cut in marble the forms of many public men, and to-night, we sec him here in oar city, in his youth and talent, as proud of his Sheridan in marble as the nation is proud of its Sheridan in the flesh. Sculpture is a limited, but a great art. It resembles music m its inability to deal in low ideas. The painter and the poet can portray common passions, but music and sculpture spiritualize. They deal m noble generalities. So refined and spiritual is sculpture, that it does not appeal to so large a number of mortals as can listen to a song or a poem; but to the hearts of those who can contemplate virtues, it speaks with a language full of eloquence. It is a transfiguration, always, rather than a perfect picture. It does not deal in flesh tints, not in the black or blue eye, or in the auburn or raven hair, but, passing by these accidents, it catches the colorless features of the soul, and gives us alj that is eternal in the nature of man. Sculpture is no more a rival of painting than of architecture or music. It is a distinct art. The painter attempts to make a fac simile of his subject, while sculpture is more like an oration or a poem — an effort to gather up the mental and spiritual attributes of an Apollo, or a Venus, or a Moses, or a Minerva. It deals in one color, white or black or brown, because tints or colors would ruin its spirit. A statue painted to life would be outside of the art, because sculpture loves the qualities that suffer no change. It is that high study of mind and spirit to which vestments, fabrics, silks, satins and purple robes are as mere dust; and therefore, for the most part, all drapery falls away and the divine form stands forth in natiu-al symmetry. But of late generations, this art has risen more and more toward the glory of the head and face, as though thought and emotion were the divine qualities of the ideals, both upon Mount Olympus and in the homes of mortals. No art demands of its devotees so much imagination and so much appreciation of refined excellence. The snow-white outline of a form is given and the beholder must fill up the drama of life. The cold lips must be clothed with language, the hand must be full of friend- 9 ship, the heavy bosom must heave with breath, the form must be endowed with a soul. In the great European galleries, the multitude hasten through the rooms sacred to statuary to reach those of the painter, because in the art full of colors, the imagination has a lighter task to 2)crform. The jn'oblem is solved for each visitor. Each noble iiiece of statuary stands waiting for the mental life and the creative power of each passer-by. Only the most awakened and cul- tured will pause and hear the marble lips pour forth language. It required the enthusiastic soul of Pygmalion to turn the, ivory statue into a living form, of which fable, perhaps, the moral is that statuary will express all its meaning only to those who can give to its vague charms a certain devotion. But without possessing the power of Pygmalion, the American mind can rise to the height of sculpture at easily as to the height of Beethoven's music. Sculpture is more spiritual in America than it was in Greece, but in all periods it has been the art that has garnered up in marble or brass, ivory or even m gold, the beautiful of deity, of woman, of man. That it might deal in the permanent, it has made its subject sit or stand in peace. If Hercules is the theme, he is not busy at his twelve labors, but he is in all his powers ready, if need be, for twelve more tremendous tasks. If the Apollo is the subject, he is taken away from his battle with Python, and is pictured in that power which has mastered a monster and which stands ready for new combats, when the age may call for illustrious service. But all this turmoil must by back of the artist or far before him. Winkelmann says of the Apollo of the Vatican: "'A perennial springtime, like that which reigns in the happy fields of Elysium, clothes with lovable youth the beautiful body. In order to feel the merit of this master-piece, we must be penetrated with intellectual beauty, and become, if possible, the creatures of a celestial spirit which circulates like a rich vapor in all parts of the admirable figure. Disdain is ujion his lips; indignation indeed ascends to his eyebrows, but an unchangeable serenity is upon his forehead, and his eye is full of sweetness, as though the Muses were caressing him." Thus, also, the Moses of Angelo is divested of all liis troubles with Aaron and the complaining multitude, and sit- ting as though upon a throne, he looks as though his forehead was full of l^ws for nations, and his soul full of the Jehovah of his race. 10 Thus sculpture is the glory of man, not gathered up iu a poem, nor a biography, nor in a history, but m a single piece of marble. It is not a photograph of a friend or mortal, but a true dream of one when the dreamer is himself in an exalted state. In the vision of ^neas, the absent Crousa came back to him a little larger than life: " Visa mihi ante oculos et not a viajo?' imago.''' Thus is this art a certain, delicate analysis of persons — a study of all those qualities which compose that strangest of earth called character. In this marble before us this evening, the battle field is far away, the weariness and anxiety of the heart while cannons are roaring and while the nation is in jieril are excluded, and we are in the presence of a half heroic form which can easily recall a great task and inspire for a great future. The intellectual power, the symmetry of forces, the decision of the will, the tenderness of the sentiments, are all here and are made by this stone imperishable. Of the virtues of this hero a true soldier will now speak. In the name of Howard Kretschmar, the sculptor, I deliver to the Union Veteran Club this marble image of a man loved by the whole nation, General Sheridan. The Acceptance. The speech accepting the bust for the Club was made by General Julius White, who said: Mr. Kretschmar, on behalf of the committee of gentlemen upon whose commission you have executed this bust of General Sheridan, and of the Union Veteran Club, who are to receive it, it is my pleasant duty to express the gratitude they feel toward you, for this faithful representation of one whom we all admire and respect — for this admirable work of art, which it is not flattery to say is from the hand of a master. And here let me convey to you and to the audience, the opinion of the work which General Sheridan himself entertains. 11 GEX. SIIERIDAX S LETTER. Headquarters Army of the United States, Washington D. C, April 10, 1884. My dear General: Your letter of April 13th. and photographs of the marble bust of myself executed by the sculptor, Mr. Howard Kretschmar, have been received. Having seen the clay model, and having heard from friends, who have seen the finished marble, nothing but praise of Mr. Kretschmar's success in this piece of statuary, I accept with pleasure these photographs, as evidence of that gentleman's high ability and skill, and beg that you will convey to him my appreciation of what all assure me is an excellent likeness. Very truly yours, P. H. Sheridan, Lieut. General. To Gen. Julius White, Chicago, HI. Some of the most celebrated worKs m sculpture, universally admired for their exquisite delineation of the perfect human form, are wholly exempt from criticism in other respects, as they represent physical power or beauty only, not individuality or character. Others, which are intended to denote passion, dignity or intellec- tual power, are modeled upon conventional or classic forms — notably the Greek or Roman — and are wholly ideal, representing no individu- ality except as they may be said to indicate the form and general features of a race. But in this work the artist has not been permitted to ignore either the real or ideal. It has been required of him to produce a correct likeness of a living man — of one who is known to many thousands — whose features, whether in repose or illuminated by the genial glow of his good nature, constitute a familiar object. More than this, far beyond and above the mere portraiture of the physique, it has been required of him to delineate the mental charac- teristics which have so greatly distinguished his subject, and which are familiar to all the world; to produce the typical man of war — the perfect ideal soldier; for the Navarre, the Marshal Ney, the Murat of history, or the most accomplished knight of romance ever dr awn by the masterly hand of the ''Wizard of the North," could not more worthily sit for this distinction than our Sheridan, who, as a field marshal, is the peer of any soldier, of any age or of any country. That Mr. Kretschmar has produced a work answering such severe requirements, is amply attested in the hitherto unmatched, if not «iatchless, bust of General Sheridan now in our presence, which may safely challenge ths closest scrutiny of his most intimate friend — presenting, as it does, not only the physical, but the intellectual man as far and as fully as it seems possible to express mental organism in sculpture. Impulsive, aggressive and swift to act, General Sheridan is, oiever- theless, considerate, and as a subordinate always recognizes obedience to orders as the paramount duty of a soldier. In the absence of orders, or when entrusted with discretion in modifying or wholly discarding them, he is bold, daring and self-reliant, but never reckless. An educated tactician^ he seems not to depend largely upon pre- scribed formations or evolutions of troops on the battle field, but rather uj)on rapidity of movement, suddenness and momentum of attack, and making the most of victory when achieved. The formula by which he seems to be governed is his own, and, condensed, is substantially "whip the enemy and capture his force, his camp and artillery." Making war in earnest, he is never vindictive or cruel, never transgresses the laws of Avar or humanity, and never destroys life or property unnecessarily. A disciplinarian, he is no martinet. He is more than a discijalin- arian — he is an inspiration to his men as well as an instructor. He was the first to appreciate and properly utilize the splendid material of which American cavalry is composed. He trained and infused with his own spirit the brilliant school comprising Custer and Merritt and Wilson and Averill and Forsyth and a host of others, who no longer serving as mere scouts and skirmishers, were wont to come crashing down upon the enemy's flanks, participating as fully and as efficiently as any other arm of the service, in the most hotly contested battles. Crowning and dignifying his other admirable qualities, is the unselfish devoted patriotism by which he is ever actuated. When, where and to whom has he ever intimated that liis services, brilliant as they have been, deserved promotion? When did he ever complain because of assignment to difficult or hazardous duty? When has he ever failed to perform his whole duty because of a real or imaginary wrong to himself or to a brother officer, however dear to him that officer might be? Phillip H. Sheridan never had a friend, 13 ill or out of the army, wlio Avas dearer to liim than his country. Thai immacuhite marble, emblem of purity as it is, is not purer in its com- position than the self-abnegating, patriotic devotion to duty which has governed his military life, from the day of his commission as a second Lieutenant, down to that day when a grateful people saw him assume his place at the head of the army — an illustrious successor to illustrious predecessors. The history of his country, which Sheridan has illustrated by his long, unbroken series of victories in the cause of liberty and union, will depict and transmit to posterity the salient features in his char- acter as an officer, which have been very briefly and imperfectly alluded to here, while this admirable work, wrought by your hands, Mr. Kretschmar, so long as it remains unharmed by the hand of time or disaster, supplementing and illuminating history, will ever present to the beholder a truthful impression of the model soldier that he is — the incarnation of lofty patriotism, daring valor and resistless energy. So long as the work remains, so long may your name remain, as it deserves, associated with that of your illustrious subject, as is that of Gilbert Stuart with the name of Washington. In formally accepting this valued work as we now do, I again express our profound gratitude, with the earnest wish and confident hope that the love you bear for your noble profession, and the genius it has awakened, may be appreciated at their worth, and secure to you that eminence among the renowned in the realm of Art, to which we believe you are justly entitled. At the conclusion of General White's address, Mr. Kretschmar, the artiu, was called for, and, spoke as follows : Ladies and Gentlemen: You will pardon me, doubtless, if I plead some embarrassment at this call to address you. Especially after what has been said, so more than kindly said, by our friends Professor Swing and General White. Men of my profession express themselves by work rather than in words. It is proper, however, that I should at least endeavor to ex- press to you my profound appreciation of this compliment. And I speak, I am sure, not for myself alone, but for all sculptors, all painters and all lovers of art, when acknowledging in your graceful tribute of i-espect for Genera) Sheri- dan, the honor done also to art work. It is an evidence, one of many evi- dences around us, that the men who have builded this magnificent city, intend / 14 that it shall l^e not only great, but beautiful; the splendid home of strong men and loA-ely women. Mr. Kretschmar retired amid great applause. The band played "Tenting To-night," and " St. Bernard's Echo," was given on the bugles. ' Bishop Fallows' Oration. Bishop Fallows was then introduced and said: It has been said "there is nothing mankind so severely revenge as their own inflated imagination. If they have set a man too high, they never forgive him for their own injustice. The Athenians ostra- cised their citizens because their own folly had made them too popu- lar, and they dreaded the effects of their previous admiration." The American people are not given to an excess of admiration of any- thing or anybody. A phrenological examination of the national cra- nium shows a great depression where the bump of reverence ought to be, therefore nobody is in much danger of being sent into exile because his good qualities have been extravagantly set forth. We meet to-night not to unduly exalt, but to give this simple meed of praise to a man whose very name thrills not only the soldiers who served under him, but the whole nation, whose honor he so gloriously maintained. In praising him, wo are really praising the brave armies he commanded, and the great American people who put those armies under his leadership. And those armies and that people deserve the most glowing tribute that language can convey, or memorial express. The name and fame of the distinguished soldier, whose excel- lent bust in marble has been unveiled before us to-night, will be for- ever connected with the establishment and develoj>ment of the new American nation, which has risen before th3 astonished gaze of the world. I say a new nation, for a new spirit of American nationality has been developed by our stupendous civil conflict. Heterogeneous peoples have been welded into one homogeneous whole. That mighty struggle is an answer to a thousand questions of doubt as to the future stability and integrity of the Eepublic. 15 It is an acknowledged fact that one of the most important sources of national sympathy and unity is that of historical reminiscences, ' 'preserved by traditions, or monuments, or historic records." An English poet declares it to be enough to satisfy the ambition of a com- mon man, "that he is a countryman of Wolfe and speaks the language of Chatham." Full as the bra