After the terrible first day of the Battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman sought out his commander in chief, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. It was past midnight, a torrential, ceaseless rain was falling, and Grant was standing under a tree, a cigar in his mouth. Sherman had approached Grant with the idea of counseling retreat -- "putting the river between ourselves and the enemy." But the sight of Grant, Sherman wrote in his "Memoirs," awakened "some wise and sudden instinct not to mention retreat." One of the most notable conversations of the American Civil War emerged:
"Well, Grant," Sherman said , "we've had the devil's own day of it, haven't we?" "Yes," came the reply. "But lick 'em tomorrow, though."
And they did, driving the Confederate troops off the field the next day.......so never give up.
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