Pittsburg County, Oklahoma - History: Hero of the March 
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	Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
	Mollie Stehno <shoop@tanet.net>
	January 31, 2002
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		Newspaper Clipping    

		HERO OF THE MARCH

August 22, 1895-The McAlester Capital-Bill Arp refuses to contribute 25 cents
to the General Sherman monument fund.  These are Billy's own words in answer 
to a letter of the "chain" system:

"I received your letter, asking for 25 cents to help build a monument 
to General Sherman, the hero of the 'march to the sea,' and wanting me to 
send three other names and warning me not to break the chain, etc. I will 
go as far as any other rebel, so called, to keep the peace and bury the past 
and be friendly, but you must excuse me. I have lived all my life in the path 
of that march to the sea, and for thirty years I have been straining my mind to 
see the heroism in it, and I can't do it.  It just shows how blind we poor 
mortals are.  All the heroism I see is the retreat of Joe Johnson, who with 
40,000 men, resisted that march of Sherman with three times that number and 
killed more, man for man, than he had soldiers.  There is where the heroism 
comes in. We will make a fair compromise with you. If you or your boys will 
contribute 25 cents each for a monument to Joe Johnson, the real hero of the 
march to the sea, we'll let you build one to Sherman and say nothing about it.  
We are very tired of all this gush about the Grand Army of the Republic, 
especially when you know, or ought to know, that you have on your pension 
rolls more men than we had all during the war. You can't knick the truth 
out with monuments."
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