CONCLUSION

On September 29, 1895, came the hour when I had done, however
imperfectly, all the duty my country required of me, and I was
placed on the retired list of the army. Having been, at appropriate
periods in my official career, by the unsolicited action of my
official superiors, justly and generously rewarded for all my public
services, and having been at the head of the army several years,
near the close of the period fixed by law for active military
service I was made the grateful recipient of the highest honor
which the government of my country can confer upon a soldier,
namely, that of appointment to a higher grade under a special act
of Congress. My public life was, in the main, a stormy one, as
this volume has, perhaps too fully, shown. Many times I felt keenly
the injustice of those who did not appreciate the sincerity of my
purpose to do, to the best of my ability, what the government
desired of me, with little or no regard for my own personal opinions
or ambitions. But I can now concede to nearly all those who so
bitterly opposed me the same patriotic motives which I know inspired
my own conduct; and I would be unworthy of my birthright as an
American citizen if I did not feel grateful to my countrymen and
to our government for all the kindness they have shown me.

THE END.

INDEX [omitted]

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