Sherman Sherman the Kisser

[John Hartwell]

San Francisco Bulletin, Feb. 7, 1885​

The famous opera singer Mme. Patti, however, was not impressed. In a March 15, 1884, interview with a reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on the subject of "Kissing," she recounted her experience with the "impudent" general:

She expressed her general opinion on the subject:

 

[John Hartwell]

Kissing the girls, in fact, seems to have been Cump's favorite non-military pastime. And, he also enjoyed teasing some less accomplished, or, perhaps more prudish associates:

[Augusta Chronicle, June 24, 1888]​

 

[diane]

That's hilarious about Sheridan! He has quite a reputation out here during the Oregon Indian wars - he wasn't red-faced about kissing his Indian girlfriends. In fact, some time after the CW and he was very famous, he invited his favorite to come visit him in Washington. No word on what Mrs Sheridan had to say about that!

 

[John Hartwell]

Well, be it said that Sherman's kissing, as often described, was quite innocent (though enjoyable) cheek-kissing. Ladies, young and old alike, lining up to be kissed by political or military celebrities seems to have been something of a regular custom in the 19th century. Attached below is an account of the practice (at which Henry Clay seems to have been most diligent, though Andy Jackson assigned the task to his Cabinet).

As to Sheridan, it must be said that in 1874, at an event in Toledo, Ohio, attended by President Grant and generals Sherman, Sheridan, and Custer, a local reporter claimed to have kept count of their relative "kissing scores." Little Phil did pretty well for himself:

Sherman was clearly not on his game on that occasion. But there are literally thousands of reports of Sherman's osculatory inclinations. Most of them are good-natured, tongue-in-cheek (sometimes clearly exaggerated), but a few sour-faced puritans complain that there's altogether too much kissin' going on, like this August 1887 letter to the New York Star, that concludes:

​

 

[diane]

That's some puckerin' up right there!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Ah. So politicians kissing babies was a left over from this custom? Wonder when it changed?

Love the opera singer although you'd have wished she'd have stepped on his foot kinda hard.

 

[John Hartwell]

Ah. So politicians kissing babies was a left over from this custom? Wonder when it changed?

Love the opera singer although you'd have wished she'd have stepped on his foot kinda hard.

As I read Mme Patti's interview, I 'hear' Eva Gabor's voice.

 

[DRW]

yep, charming Victorian times when rich, white girls got respectable kisses from esteemed gentlemen and the poor girls (of all backgrounds) received them and their diseases in the brothels.

 

[dlavin]

Uncle Billy did like the ladies. I remember listening to his biography by James Lee McDonough and hearing this. Though it may have had a different meaning in the mid 1800s than it does today.

 

[Mrs. V]

All I can say is that I have never met an Elder who could buss a cheek without leaving quite the wet mark. Ick! And yeah, I got kissed alot by aged relatives as a child. Evidently I used to be "cute"..

 

[pelham]

that is too funny.

 

[diane]

I kind of get a kick out of Robert E Lee's 'kissing'. He could smile and the ladies all lined up, giggling and blushing, all ages....and then he'd just tip his hat as he passed! The fine art of the tease, male-style...

 

[David Moore]

Mildred Hazen, wife of the General Hazen, wrote the following about Sherman's kissing proclivities.
''Sherman was most interesting as a house companion but presumed terribly upon his rank with army people. A mixture of brusquerie and cunning, he always made believe he was absent-minded. And if a woman was young he made a habit of kissing her in an off-hand way every time he met her. I stood it when he arrived pretty fairly though reluctantly. But when the next morning he prepared to go through the same performance, I pulled back.
I've posted more on her impression of Sherman on another thread.

 

[DRW]

Mildred Hazen, wife of the General Hazen, wrote the following about Sherman's kissing proclivities.
''Sherman was most interesting as a house companion but presumed terribly upon his rank with army people. A mixture of brusquerie and cunning, he always made believe he was absent-minded. And if a woman was young he made a habit of kissing her in an off-hand way every time he met her. I stood it when he arrived pretty fairly though reluctantly. But when the next morning he prepared to go through the same performance, I pulled back.
I've posted more on her impression of Sherman on another thread.

so a couple of these accounts, veiled through the tact of the era, certainly insinuate that Sherman was not some eccentric old chamer, but a pathological sexual harasser of young women in little position to rebuff him.

 

[Ainatari]

That's hilarious about Sheridan! He has quite a reputation out here during the Oregon Indian wars - he wasn't red-faced about kissing his Indian girlfriends. In fact, some time after the CW and he was very famous, he invited his favorite to come visit him in Washington. No word on what Mrs Sheridan had to say about that!

Oh dear...

 

[Patrick H]

Well some of this stuff strikes me as downright funny. Whether his behavior should have been better, I really can't say. I am not inclined to make too much of it. The way some of those people wrote about his behavior is hilarious to me.