I went over to Washington and met many friends—­among them General Grant and President Johnson.  The latter occupied rooms in the house on the corner of Fifteenth and H Streets, belonging to Mr. Hooper.  He was extremely cordial to me, and knowing that I was chafing under the censures of the War Department, especially of the two war bulletins of Mr. Stanton, he volunteered to say that he knew of neither of them till seen in the newspapers, and that Mr. Stanton had shown neither to him nor to any of his associates in the cabinet till they were published.  Nearly all the members of the cabinet made similar assurances to me afterward, and, as Mr. Stanton made no friendly advances, and offered no word of explanation or apology, I declined General Grant’s friendly offices for a reconciliation, but, on the contrary, resolved to resent what I considered an insult, as publicly as it was made.  My brother, Senator Sherman, who was Mr. Stanton’s neighbor, always insisted that Mr. Stanton had been frightened by the intended assassination of himself, and had become embittered thereby.  At all events, I found strong military guards around his house, as well as all the houses occupied by the cabinet and by the principal officers of Government; and a sense of insecurity pervaded Washington, for which no reason existed.

On the 19th I received a copy of War Department Special Order No. 239, Adjutant-General’s office, of May 18th, ordering a grand review, by the President and cabinet, of all the armies then near Washington; General Meade’s to occur on Tuesday, May 23d, mine on Wednesday, the 24th; and on the 20th I made the necessary orders for my part.  Meantime I had also arranged (with General Grant’s approval) to remove after the review, my armies from the south side of the Potomac to the north; both for convenience and because our men had found that the grounds assigned them had been used so long for camps that they were foul and unfit.

By invitation I was on the reviewing-stand, and witnessed the review of the Army of the Potomac (on the 23d), commanded by General Meade in person.  The day was beautiful, and the pageant was superb.  Washington was full of strangers, who filled the streets in holiday-dress, and every house was decorated with flags.  The army marched by divisions in close column around the Capitol, down Pennsylvania Avenue, past the President and cabinet, who occupied a large stand prepared for the occasion, directly in front of the White House.

I had telegraphed to Lancaster for Mrs. Sherman, who arrived that day, accompanied by her father, the Hon. Thomas Ewing, and my son Tom, then eight years old.