Sherman was, a reporter wrote, “the very picture of an old soldier in his slouch hat and great coat,” his orderlies “dash[ing] up to him on horseback from all directions.” Behind him marched twenty thousand militia, including thirteen companies of artillery, the red-lined capes of their coats carefully pinned over their shoulders and their bayonets glittering in the sun. Soon after, the first strains of music from the Marine Corps Band could be heard. The band, which had accompanied the inaugural procession since Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, was now led by the
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