"If I owned Texas and Hell..." (1866)
Bapopik at AOL.COM
Bapopik at AOL.COM
Fri Nov 17 21:30:02 UTC 2006
I just received that magnificent book, THE YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS.
...
However, it's kind of skimpy on Texas quotations. On page 707, a July 1891
newspaper account is cited on Philip Henry Sheridan's famous Texas phrase,
attributed to "1868."
...
--Barry Popik
(Still renting in Texas because he can't sell his NYC apartment; BTW,
NewspaperAchive is still not working for me to check this)
...
...
...
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_i_owned_texas_and_hell_i_w
ould_rent_texas_and_live_in_hell_philip_sherid/_
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_i_owned_texas_and_hell_i_would_rent_texas_and_live_in_h
ell_philip_sherid/)
...
“If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell” (Philip
Sheridan)
"If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell” is a famous
statement of U.S. General Philip Henry Sheridan in 1866. A later account
(1883, below) tries to temper the impact of Sheridan’s words.
The statement is sometimes cited as “If I owned hell and Texas.”
_Wikipedia_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Sheridan)
Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career U.S.
Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted
for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant, who transferred Sheridan from command of an infantry
division in the Western Theater to lead the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the
Potomac in the East. In 1864, he defeated Confederate forces in the Shenandoah
Valley and his destruction of the economic infrastructure of the Valley, called “
The Burning” by residents, was one of the first uses of scorched earth
tactics in the war. In 1865, his cavalry pursued Gen. Robert E. Lee and was
instrumental in forcing his surrender at Appomattox.
19 April 1866, The Independent, pg. 4:
But these states are not yet reduced to civil behavior. As an illustration,
Gen. Sheridan sends word up from New Orleans, saying, “If I owned Texas and
Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell.” This is the opinion of a department
commander.
15 September 1876, Chicago Daily Tribune, pg. 4:
It is related of GEN. SHERIDAN that when once asked to give his opinion of
Texas, he replied that, if he were obliged to make a choice between hell and
Texas, he would prefer hell.
19 December 1883, Washington Post, pg. 2:
General Sheridan as a Story Teller.
“I saw an item in THE POST, several days ago,” said an Army officer
yesterday, “concerning Gen. Sheridan’s desire to avoid notoriety, and also that
only a few anecdotes could be related of his public life. The story was correct
but not complete. The General frequently relates a story himself which I
consider the most amusing concerning his military career. He told it the other
evening at a private social gathering, about as follows: “In all my life,
gentlemen, I will never forget my first visit to the State of Texas. I had been
bumped over its sterile plains for a week in an ambulance. I was tired, dusty
and worn out. When I reached my destination I found some people there who
wanted me to talk and be received and all that sort of thing, before I had a
chance to get the sand out of my eyes and ears. One fellow was persistent. He
asked me with pure American curiosity what I though of Texas. In a moment of
worry and annoyance I said if I owned hell and Texas, I would live in the former
and rent out the latter. The fellow who asked me the question proved to be a
reporter. The next day, what I had said was in print and I never could stop
it.’ You may naturally believe,” added the officer to THE POST, “that the
General’s story created considerable amusement. The General is a remarkably
fine story teller.”
19 December 1884, Chicago Daily Tribune, pg. 9:
As Gen. Phil Sheridan said: “If I owned Hell and Texas I’d rent Texas and
live in Hell.”
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