rian Consul here, said to me the other day that he was confident
that Maximilian would not go to Mexico. He is a sensible and well
informed man, and I have confidence in his opinion. I shall send you
by Satds mail _three_ despatches from Europe of recent date.

Very truly yours,
N. P. BANKS.
M. G. C.
HON. GEO. S. BOUTWELL.

As the conclusion of my remarks upon General Banks, I refer to my final
and unexaggerated estimate of General Banks as given in the chapter on
the Legislature of 1849 (Chapter XIV).

GENERAL SHERMAN, GENERAL SHERIDAN AND GENERAL GRANT.

The death of General Sherman removed the last member of the triumvirate
of soldiers who achieved the highest distinction in the Civil War. In
the Senate one speaker gave him the highest place, but on the contrary
I cannot rank him above either Grant or Sheridan. When we consider the
vastness of the command with which Grant was entrusted through a period
of more than a year, the magnitude and success of his operations, and
the tenacity with which he prosecuted all his varied undertakings, it
must appear that neither Sherman nor Sheridan was entitled to the
position of a rival. As to Sherman, I can say from a long and intimate
acquaintance with him, and under circumstances when his real feeling
would have been disclosed, that he never assumed an equality with Grant.

As between Sherman and Sheridan it is not easy to settle the question
of pre-eminence. For myself the test would be this: Assume that Grant
had disappeared during the Battle of the Wilderness, would the fortunes
of the country have been best promoted, probably, by the appointment of
Sherman or Sheridan? I cannot now say what my opinion would have been
in 1864, but I should now have pronounced for Sheridan. He was more
cool and careful in regard to the plan of operations and equally bold
and vigorous in execution. General Grant expressed the opinion to me
in conversation that Sheridan was the best officer in the army. He
spoke of his care and coolness in the preparation of his plans and his
celerity in execution. Of "the younger set of officers" he placed Ames
(Adelbert) as the most promising.

In one of my last conversations with Sheridan he expressed the opinion
that the improvement in the material of war was so great that nations
could not make war, such would be the destruction of human life.

Upon his return from Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, he
spoke very dis