Gen. William T. Sherman Civil War sword and books will go up for auction

At first, it was the rare binding that caught the eye of Danielle Linn, a senior book specialist with Fleischer’s Auctions.

At first, it was the rare binding that caught the eye of Danielle Linn, a senior book specialist with Fleischer’s Auctions. While cataloging items once owned by the Union Army General, William Tecumseh Sherman, she came across a copy of a memoir written by Ulysses S. Grant. The book had been made with rare “tree calf” binding – leather chemically treated to create the likeness of a tree on the cover. Linn set it aside, but later picked it up to check the publication date. The specialist opened the back cover accidentally, she said, and that’s where she found Sherman’s handwriting. Not only was it a first edition of the 1885 memoir, it was full of Sherman’s personal notes and recollections. The Civil War general, who would go down in history for his “March to the Sea,” became close friends with the future President Grant during the war, writing, “From the day I reported to him from Paducah till his death our relations were as brothers rather than as commander and commanded.” The historical find is significant because it contains Sherman’s annotations, including a recollection of his first meeting with President Abraham Lincoln, in a book that’s considered one of the finest memoirs by a president or general. Born in Lancaster, Ohio, Sherman played a key role in the Civil War. His “hard war” military strategy for the Union included the destruction of infrastructure and some personal property through the South in his famous march.