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 The Contjueior ol Anued Secession, and the Hero of e^ery Battle in wftich he 
 engaged/ fVom Fort Donnelson to Richinond, 
 
 CONTAINING ALSO, A CORRECT GENEALOGY OF THE 
 
 GRANT FAMILY, 
 
 NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. * 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 Padrick & Co., 219 Main Street. 
 
 » OMPLETE AND UNABRir)t?tD, AND THE ONLY AUTHENTIC LIVES OF 
 .^ ■■' CiRANT AND COLFAX IN A CHEAP FORM. 
 
THE CONQUEROR OF ARMED SECESSION, AND THE HERO OF 
 
 EVERY BATTLE IN WHICH HE ENGAGED, FROM 
 
 FORT DONELSON TO RICHMOND! 
 
PEOPLE'S EDITION FOE THE CAMPAIGN, 
 
 L IVE S 
 
 It 
 
 OF 
 
 ULYSSES S. GKANT, 
 
 AND 
 
 SCHUYLER COLFAX, 
 
 Candidates of the National Republican Party for President 
 and Vice Presidejit of the United States. 
 
 Tllusti\ated with Poi\traits. 
 
 CONTAINING, ALSO, A CORRECT 
 
 GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE GRANT FAMILY, 
 
 NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 PADRICK & CO., 219 MAIN STREET. 
 
 1868. 
 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 
 
 PADIIICK & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
 
 Southern District of Ohio. 
 
 STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY, CINCINNATI, O. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Every epoch lias its heroes. G-reat emergencies 
 raise up men to meet the issues they create. All 
 obstacles to human advancement are removed with 
 ease and celerity when men are wise enough to 
 employ honest and efficient administrative ability in 
 the conduct of public aifairs ; and the history of all 
 such men is in attestation of the principle that a 
 pertinacious adhesion to truth and right will make 
 surer headway against all opposition than an army 
 with banners. 
 
 The National Republican Party was organized in 
 1856, on new issues, and its platform declared for 
 principles that were startling to the conservatives 
 of the old parties, but were cheerfully and heartily 
 welcomed by the new men who were then coming 
 forward upon the political stage to fashion and control 
 public opinion. It is to-day, in all the freshness and 
 vigor of its youth, not only the controlling power in 
 our great Republic, but a force that vibrates through 
 the world, in its tenders of freedom to the down- 
 trodden, and the hope of enfranchisement it raises 
 
 (xiii) 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the pained heart of every enthralled creature of 
 God. Its principles are immutable as the eternal 
 laws of right and justice, and there is no power on 
 earth to hinder their ultimate triumph. 
 
 Such a party must not only have representative 
 men for its candidates, but men whose lives have 
 exemplified its principles and breathed its faith. 
 This belief animated it in the selection of the la- 
 mented Lincoln for the highest office in the gift of a 
 free people ; and, taking heed of all past experience 
 and the emergencies of the present hour, the same 
 belief has guided and controlled the nomination of 
 U. S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax for President 
 and Vice-President of the United States. 
 
 The sketches of their lives, contained in the following 
 pages, although necessarily brief, will commend them, 
 it is hoped, to the cheerful su^^port of all honest men. 
 
 Note. — The early history of the Dorchester and Windsor 
 Colonies, and the Genealogy of the Grant Family, are compiled 
 from Savage's New England Genealogical Dictionary, Stiles' 
 History of Windsor, and other authentic sources. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 Ulysses Sidney Grant, candidate of the National Repub- 
 lican Party for the Presidency, was born at Point Pleasant, 
 Clermont County, Ohio, on the 27th of April, 1822, and is 
 now (June, 1868) in his forty-seventh year. He is descended 
 from the old Puritan stock of the Grants, who came from 
 Dorchester, England, as the following genealogical data, 
 the result of much research and investigation, will abun- 
 dantly attest ; and, although we are not of those who believe 
 that ancestors make the man, the fact of Grant's descent 
 from those hardy pioneers of civilization, who erected the 
 foundation of our free institutions in a howling wilderness, 
 will in some degree account for his remarkable pertinacity 
 of character, and the sterling integrity that equally distin- 
 guishes him in public and in private life. 
 
 Foremost among the colonies of 1630 who came to Massa- 
 chusetts Ba}^, both as regards the character of its members 
 and the date of its arrival, was the one which settled at Dor- 
 chester, and afterward removed to Windsor, Connecticut. It 
 had been formed mostly from the western counties of Eng- 
 land early in the spring of 1629, by the exertions of the 
 Rev. John Wliite, of Dorchester, whose zeal and labors fairly 
 entitle him to the appellation of the " great patron of New 
 England emigration." This " honorable companj-," says 
 Trumbull, was derived from the counties of Devonshire, Dor- 
 setshire, and Somersetshire. 
 
 (15) 
 
16 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 "Great pains were taken," says the historian of Dor- 
 chester, Massachusetts, " to construct this company of such 
 materials as should compose a well-ordered settlement, con- 
 taining all the elements of an independent community." In 
 January, 1630, a Congregational church was gathered at 
 Plymouth of persons who intended to migrate to America 
 for the purpose of enjoying those religious privileges, which 
 the measures of Archbishop Laud denied them at home. 
 Observing a day of fasting and prayer to seek divine assist- 
 ance, they selected two ministers, who, accepting the office 
 of spiritual guides, on the 20th of March, 1630, this company 
 of one hundred and forty persons, including the Rev. John 
 Maverick and Rev. John Warham, their ministers, embarked 
 at Plymouth in the Mary and John, a vessel of 400 tons bur- 
 den, commanded by Captain Squeb. " So we came," says Clapp, 
 "by the hand of God, through the deeps comfortably; having 
 preaching and expounding of the Word of God every day for 
 ten v/eeks together, by our ministers." On the Lord's day. 
 May 30, 1030, their good ship came to anchor on the New Eng- 
 land coast. They landed at Nantasket, now Hull. Here they 
 were in a forlorn wilderness, destitute of any habitation, and 
 most other necessaries of life. They soon, however, found 
 good pasture for their cattle at Mattapan, now known as Dor- 
 chester Neck, or South Boston. Their settlement was named 
 Dorchester, in honor of Rev. Mr. White, of Dorchester, Eng- 
 land, who had been of great service to them in organizing 
 their church, and which had also been the home of several of 
 their number. They were a godly and religious people, and 
 many of them persons of note and figure, being dignified 
 with the title of " Mr.," which few in those days wore. 
 
 After residing a few years in Dorchester the}- heard of an- 
 other " land of promise," represented to be far superior in 
 natural resources, and possessing many advantages over their 
 first location, for prosecuting their great enterprise. With 
 the same indomitable energy with which they severed the 
 ties of kindred and all the attachments to their native land, 
 and braved the dangers of the boisterous Atlantic, a major- 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 17 
 
 ity of tlie church which had beeu first organized at Plymouth, 
 Englaud, with the Rev. Jolin Warliam, their pastor, and the 
 deacons of the church, their wives and children, and all their 
 earthly goods and chattels, they traveled through an unex- 
 plored Avilderness, endured untold hardships, exposed to 
 danger and death from wild, ferocious beasts and savage 
 Indians, to Podunk, on the Connecticut Eiver, where they 
 commenced life anew in the wilderness. Their new settle- 
 ment they named Dorchester, but subsequently changed it to 
 Windsor. 
 
 Living without a government, the people of "Windsor, 
 Hartford, Wethcrsfield, and neighboring settlements, agreed 
 to adopt and be governed temporarily by the old Mosaic 
 Law of the Bible, so far as it was applicable to their condi- 
 tion. This continued but a few months. On the 26th of April, 
 1636, the magistrates of ISTewtown (now Hartford), Water- 
 town (now Wethersfield), and Dorchester (now "Windsor) met 
 and formed the General Court, which was three years before 
 a governor was chosen over the colony of Connecticut. But 
 neither the magistrates nor the General Court, nor an^^ sub- 
 sequent government, ever enacted the ridiculous Blue Laws 
 of Connecticut, as published in Peters' history of that State. 
 They were mostly pure fiction, based on very slight founda- 
 tion, and written by Rev. Samuel Peters, after he was expelled 
 from the State and country as a Torj-, during the War of Li- 
 dependence, to degrade and caricature his native State, while 
 enjoying the hospitality of the oppressors of his countrymen, 
 during his exile in England, in order to propitiate their 
 favor. 
 
 Two generations later, in 1695, another colony from the 
 original, church in Dorchester, Massachusetts, inspired with 
 a missionary spirit to propagate the faith and polity of their 
 fathers, was organized into a church and emigrated to South 
 Carolina; there they purchased land and formed a settlement, 
 which they named Dorchester. This location proving un- 
 healthy, they subsequently abandoned it, when a large tract 
 of land between the Ogeechee and Altamaha Rivers, in Geor- 
 
18 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 gia, came into market, which they purchased and soon occu- 
 pied. Their principal settlement they called Midway', and the 
 county they named Liberty. There they carried the institu- 
 tions of New England, the church and the preacher, the 
 schools and their teachers, and made their community an 
 oasis of refined civilization in that moral waste, which has 
 continued to the present day. Probably no county in all the 
 Southern States has furnished as many educated men, in- 
 cluding statesmen, judges, lawyers, professors of colleges, and 
 other professional teachers and ministers of the gospel, as the 
 county of Liberty, in Georgia. 
 
 Conspicuous among the first settlers of Dorchester and 
 "Windsor, occup^-ing a prominent position as a citizen, an 
 officer of the Government and of the Church, was the pro- 
 genitor of that branch of the Grant family, a part of whose 
 descendants will be found in the following Genealogical 
 Record : 
 
 (1) I. Mathew Grant, the first ancestor in America of 
 General Ulysses S. Grant, was born in England, Tues- 
 day, October 27, 1601. He was one of the original 
 company who came in the M-dvy and John with Mav- 
 erick and Warhani, to Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 
 1630. He was a man of mark in his day ; was ad- 
 mitted a freeman of Massachusetts, May 18, 1631 ; 
 removed to Windsor, Connecticut, with tlie first com- 
 pany who settled in that town; was second town-clerk 
 there; also, the first, and, for many years, the princi- 
 pal surveyor; was a prominent man in tlie church; 
 he was exceedingly conscientious and just in all his 
 transactions and duties; the records which he made, 
 with his notes and explanations, are highly appreciated 
 by investigators of the present day; he was the com- 
 piler of Old Church Records, now of great value, and 
 often quoted in the Historical Works of Connecticut, 
 and furnish many interesting facts, which can be fi)nnd 
 nowhere else, and their value can be hardly overes- 
 timated ; he was a pious, laborious, conscientious, 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 19 
 
 Christian man, and model town-clerk. He married, 
 
 first, in England, jSTovember 16, 1625, Priscilla ; 
 
 she died in April, 1644 ; second, married Susanna, 
 widow of William Rockwell, May 29, 1645 ; she died 
 November 14, 1666. lie died December 16, 1681, 
 aged 80. His children, all by his first wife, were: 
 
 1 1. Priscilla, born in England, September 14, 1626; 
 
 married Michael Humphrey. 
 
 2 2. Josiah, born in England. 
 
 3 3. Samuel, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, llTovem- 
 
 berl2, 1631. 
 
 4 4. Tahan, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, February 
 
 3, 1634. 
 6 5. John, born in Windsor, Connecticut, April 20, 1642. 
 
 SECOND GENERATION. 
 
 (2) II. Josiah 2—2 son of Mathew (1) I. and Priscilla 
 
 Grant, born in England and came with his father to 
 Dorchester, Massachusetts, and Windsor, Connec- 
 ticut. He had : 
 
 6 1. Josiah, born November 24, 1678. 
 
 (3) II. Samuel 3—3 son of Mathew (1) I. and Priscilla 
 
 Grant, married, May 27, 1658, Mary Porter, daughter 
 of John and Rose Porter, Avho came from England 
 and settled in Windsor, with several children, pre- 
 vious to 1637. He was admitted freeman of Con- 
 necticut, October 7, 1669, and resided in Windsor; 
 His children were: 
 
 7 1. Samuel, born April 20, 1659. 
 
 8 2. John, born April 24, 1664. 
 
 9 3. Mathew, born September 22, 1666. 
 
 10 4. Josiah, born Alay 9, 1668. 
 
 11 5. Nathaniel, born April 14, 1672. 
 
 12 6. Mary, born January 23, 1676. 
 
 13 7. Sarah, born January 19, 1679. 
 
20 LIFE OF GRANT, 
 
 (4) II. Tahan 4 — 4 sou of Mathew (1) I. and Priscilla 
 
 Grant, lived in Windsor, married January 22, 1663, 
 Hannah, daughter of Nicholas Palmer, an early set- 
 tler of Windsor, who came from England, and was 
 a freeman of Connecticut in 1669. She was baptized 
 in Windsor, October 11, 1640. He died November 
 14, 1680. His children were : 
 
 14 1. Mathew, born January 4, 1664. 
 
 15 2. Tahan, born September 27, 1665 ; married Hannah 
 
 Bissell, 1690. 
 
 16 3. Hannah, born January 8, 1668. 
 
 17 4. Thomas, born February 20, 1671. 
 
 18 5. Joseph, born May 14, 1673. 
 
 19 6. Sarah, born September 19, 1675. 
 
 20 7. Mary, born October 23, 1678. 
 
 21 8. Another child, born 1680. 
 
 (5) II. John 5—5 son of Mathew (1) I. and Priscilla Grant; 
 
 married Mary, daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth 
 Loomis Hull, son of George Hull, who came from 
 Eno-land with the first settlers in Dorchester and re- 
 moved to Windsor in 1637. He was an influential 
 citizen and held important offices in both towns. 
 John Grant died in Windsor, July 22, 1684; his wife 
 died January 2, 1719. Their children were : 
 
 22 1. John, born October 20, 1670 ; died soon. 
 
 23 2. John, born August 6, 1673 ; died May 17, 1687. 
 
 24 3. Mary, born Apdl 26, 1675. 
 
 25 4. Elizabeth, born July 10, 1677. 
 
 26 5. Abigail, born January 27, 1680. 
 
 27 6. Josiah born. 
 
 THIRD GENERATION. 
 
 ((>) in. Josiah 6 — 1 son of Josiah 2 — 2; married (1) Sarah, 
 daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia Vore Cook, who 
 died July 30, 1713. He married (2) Sarah Cook, 
 August 4, 1714. His children were : 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 21 
 
 28 1. Josiah, born January 22, 1710. 
 
 29 2. Sarah, born March 11, 1711. 
 
 30 3. Mary, born July 20, 1713. 
 
 31 4. John, born May 17, 1715. 
 
 32 5. Increase, born February 13, 1717. 
 
 33 6. Elijah, born June 22, 1719 ; died August 13, 1724. 
 
 34 7. Huldah, born May 25, 1721. 
 
 35 8. Ebenezer, born March 2, 1723. 
 
 36 9. Jerusha, born January 17, 1725. 
 
 (7) III. Samuel 7 — 1 son of Samuel 3 — 3 and Mary Porter 
 Grant, daughter of John Porter, a native of Eng- 
 land, and an early settler in Windsor ; married (1) 
 Hannah Filley, December 6, 1683 ; she died April 
 18, 1686, leaving a daughter ; he married (2) April 
 11, 1688, Grace, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
 Booth Minor, and daughter of Thomas and Grace 
 Palmer Minor, of Stouington, Connecticut, who 
 came from England, and first settled in Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts. He resided in East Windsor. His 
 children were : 
 
 37 1. Hannah, born September 2, 1684 ; died young. 
 
 38 2. Hannah. 
 
 39 3. Samuel. 
 
 40 4. Noah, born December 16, 1692. 
 
 41 5. Abigail. 
 
 42 6. Ephraim. 
 
 43 7. Grace. 
 
 44 8. David born ; died June 14, 1748. 
 
 45 9. Ebenezer. 
 
 (8) ni. John 8 — 2 son of Samuel 3 — 3 and Mary Porter 
 
 Grant ; married Elizabeth Skinner, June 5, 1690 ; 
 he died July, 1695. They had one son : 
 
 46 1. John. 
 
 (9) III. Mathew 9—3 son of Samuel 3—3 and Mary Porter 
 
 Grant; married Hannah, daughter of Edward and 
 
22 LIFE OF GRANT, 
 
 Elizabeth 'Fox-Ghapman,' October 29^ 1690 ; her pa- 
 rents were nlarried in England, and her father was 
 killed in the great Indian war at Fort Narraganset, 
 in the Swamp fight, 1675, Th^^^" children were': 
 
 47 1. Mathew, born October 22, 1691 ; died April 19, 
 
 1710. 
 
 48 2. Daniel, born February 2, 1693. 
 
 49 3. Hannah, born March 5, 1695. 
 
 50 4.' .William, born January 23, 1700 ; died May, 1701. 
 
 51 5. Mary, born April 17, 1702. 
 
 52 6. Rachel, born April 17, 1704. 
 
 53 7. William, born June 7, 1706. 
 
 54 8. Sarah, born July 17, 1710. 
 
 (10) III. Jbsiah 10 — 4 son of Samuel 3 — 3 and Mary Porter 
 
 Grant; removed to Stonington, 1695 or 1696, where 
 he married Rebecca, daughter of Ephraim and 
 Hannah Avery Minor, July 8, 1696. They were 
 admitted to the Stonington Church, 1699. He died 
 March 28, 1732. She died January 15, 1747, aged 
 75. Their children were : 
 
 55 1. Josiah. 
 
 56 2. John. 
 
 57 3. Oliver. 
 
 58 4. Noah. 
 
 59 5. Minor. 
 
 (11) III. Nathaniel 11—5 son of Samuei 3—3 and Mary 
 
 Porter Grant; married Bathia Warner, May 16, 
 1699. Their children were : 
 
 60 1. Bathia, born January 17, 1700. 
 
 61 2. Ruth, born February 19, 1702. 
 
 62 3. Nathaniel, born October 18, 1705. 
 
 63 4. Benjamin, born July 8, 1708. 
 
 64 5. Esther, born October 31, 1710. 
 
 65 6. Jonathan, born August 18, 1713; died September 10, 
 
 1713. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 23 
 
 FOURTH GFNERATION. 
 
 (12) lY. Noah 40—4 son of Samuel 7— Land 'Grace Minor 
 Grant ; married June 12, 1717, Martha, daughter of 
 John and Abigail Lathrop Huntington, of Norwich, 
 Connecticut, son of Christopher and Ruth Rockwell 
 Huntington, who was son of Simon and Maro-aret 
 Huntington, who died of the small-pox on his pas- 
 sage from England to Boston in 1632. Many of the 
 descendants of these ancestors have occupied emi- 
 nent positions in civil, ecclesiastical, and military 
 service, especially in the War of Independence. But 
 one of the most distinguished of these descendants 
 is General U. S. Grant, commander of the Union 
 Army in the Great Rebellion. The children of 
 JSToah and Grace Minor Grant were: 
 
 66 1. Noah, born July 12, 1718. 
 
 67 2. Adonison. 
 
 68 3; Solomon. 
 
 69 4. Marther.' 
 
 FIFTH GENERATION. 
 
 (13) V. Noah 66—1 son of Noah 40—4 and Marther Hun- 
 tington Grant; married, November 5, 1746, Susanna 
 Delano, probably a lineal descendant of Philip De- 
 lano, who was a member of the English Pilgrim 
 Church in Leyden, and arrived at Plymouth, Mas- 
 sachusetts, in 1621. He was a native of Windsor, 
 now Toland, Connecticut. He raised a company, of 
 which he was captain, in the French and Indian 
 war, and was killed in the battle at White Plains, 
 in 1756; his brother. Lieutenant Solomon Grant, 
 of his company, was killed in the same battle. 
 The children of Noah and Susanna Delano Grant 
 were : 
 
 70 1. Noah, born June 20, 1748. 
 
 71 2. Peter. 
 
24 LIFE OF GR4NT. 
 
 SIXTH GENERATION. 
 
 (14) VI. Isoah 70 — 1 son of Noah 6Q — 1 and Susanna De- 
 lano Grant, resided in Coventry, Connecticut. He 
 served in the Revolutionary War from beginning to 
 end. Married (1) Mrs. Anna Richardson, whose 
 maiden name was Buell, a relative of General Don 
 Carlos Buell, by whom he had two sons. He emi- 
 grated to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 
 about 1790, after the death of his first wife, where 
 he married (2) Rachel Kelley, March 4, 1792, an es- 
 timable lady, Avho proved an excellent wife. He 
 removed to Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1799 ; and 
 to Portage County, on the Western Reserve, in 1804. 
 He inherited considerable property, but died poor. 
 His children were: 
 
 72 1. Solomon, born in Coventry, Connecticut. 
 
 73 2. Peter, born in Coventry, Connecticut. 
 
 74 3. Susan. 
 
 75 4. Jesse Root, born January 23, 1794, in Westmoreland 
 
 County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 76 5. Margaret. 
 
 77 6. Noah. 
 
 78 7. John. 
 
 79 8. Roswell. 
 
 80 9. Rachel. 
 
 SEVENTH GENERATION. 
 
 (15) A^II. Jesse Root 75—4 son of Noah 70—1 and Rachel 
 Kelley Grant, was named for Hon. Jesse Root, a 
 patriot and officer of the American Revolution, 
 member of Congress and Chief Justice of Connecti- 
 cut. At sixteen years of age he was apprenticed to 
 bis half-brother, to learn the tanning business, at 
 Maysville, Kentucky. Soon after he became of age, 
 commenced business on his own account in Ravenna, 
 Ohio, and subsequently at Point Pleasant, on the 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 25 
 
 Ohio RiY^r, in'.Clerraont County, Ohio. He married 
 Miss Hannah Simpson, in June, 1820. She was the 
 second daugliter of Mr. John Simpson, of Mont- 
 gomery County, Pennsylvania, born and brought up 
 in that county, about twenty miles from Philadel- 
 phia. Her father moved to Clermont County, Avheu 
 she was eighteen years of age. He was an independ- 
 ent farmer, and the family were much respected. 
 Their children are : 
 
 81 1. Ulysses Sidney, born April 27, 1822. 
 
 82 2. Simpson. 
 
 83 3. Clara. 
 
 84 4. Virginia. 
 
 85 5. Orvil L. 
 
 86 6. Mary Frances. 
 
 The facts of the foregoing record, which are now for the 
 first time made public, and are verified by history, family 
 records, and the testimony of his surviving relatives, ex- 
 plodes the idea advanced by Grant's most voluminous bi- 
 ographers, that his ancestors were Scotch — although, were 
 such the fact, it would be no more to his discredit than the 
 attested historical data of his pedigree. Now, however, he 
 occupies a position before the American people and the 
 world that invests every new discovery regarding his his- 
 tory, sentiments, and character with weighty interest; and 
 the people will estimate every such discovery at a value 
 corresponding with their love for the man, and their admi- 
 ration for his character as a citizen, an otiicer, and a gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 Grant's early youth was spent at his native place, and he 
 obtained the rudiments of a common English education near 
 Georgetown, in Brown County. Some writers take delight 
 in the theory that he was remarkably dull and obtuse in his 
 younger days, but there are several events of his early life 
 which give sufiicient evidence of his acuteness and of a native 
 talent that would do credit to maturer years. There is no 
 2 
 
26 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 truth in the stories of his youthful inaptness; and here we 
 are disposed to drop the discussion of his life that precedea 
 his entrance at West Point for the reason that, in a sketch of 
 this kind, the facts that relate to his public career are alone 
 important ; and we have only space wherein to treat them 
 briedy, without the least attention to minor points. 
 
 He was admitted to the Military Academy as a cadet in 
 the year 1839, he being then seventeen years of age. He 
 pursued his studies with indefatigable industry, and never 
 missed a lesson — although it is related of him that his suc- 
 cess was the result of only the severest mental discipline; 
 and that the knowledge he acquired was at the expense of 
 more labor than was devoted to intellectual tasks by any 
 other member of his class. But, if the process of learning 
 was difficult in his case, it resulted in the acquisition of 
 knowledge that he ever retained; for whatever he laid away 
 in the storehouse of his mind, was there reserved for use 
 whenever wanted, as he held on to it with the same firm- 
 ness that has distinguished every act of his life. His mem- 
 ory is wonderful ; and to that and a well-regulated mind, a 
 cool judgment, and a deliberative thoughtfulness, are attrib- 
 uted the surprising successes of his life. Immediately after 
 his entrance at West Point, his father wrote to inquire how 
 he passed the examination. His answer was very charac- 
 teristic : 
 
 "I passed examination on what I had learned by hard 
 study," he replied; "and let me tell you, father, I don't 
 think I shall ever forget it. I don't expect to make very 
 fast progress, but I shall try to hold on to what I get." 
 
 One incident of his cadet life, as illustrative of his dispo- 
 sition at this period of his career, will prove interesting to 
 the reader. It is extracted, substantially, from ''The Tan- 
 ner Boy," by Major Penniman : 
 
 His first position was that of a private in the battalion of 
 cadets. As a novitiate, he must pass the usual ordeals. One 
 da}-, when the company was enjoying a sham review, he was 
 continually harassed with practical jokes. Stepping quickly 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 27 
 
 in front of the parade, and tossing his cadet uniform to a 
 comrade, he cried out, in keen, piercing tones: 
 
 " No more of this, gentlemen ! " 
 
 " Why, wliat's the matter?" they exclaimed, taken by sur- 
 prise. / 
 
 "I say, no more of this ! Captain, if you don't know your 
 duty better than to violate good discipline in this manner, 
 lay aside your assumed position for a few minutes, and I will 
 teach you ! " 
 
 The captain dropped his rank, and, stepping up to Grant, 
 was soon laid sprawling and soundly punished on the parade 
 ground. 
 
 • "Now," said the young Buckeye, quietly turning to the 
 next in command, "as you have shared in this fun, lieuten- 
 ant, it is your duty to defend our captain." 
 
 The two were soon engaged, and the lieutenant shared the 
 fate of the commander. 
 
 Grant now squared himself before the front, and, glancing 
 his flashing eye along the line, raising his voice still higher, 
 he exclaimed, 
 
 " You now understand the matter, gentlemen. I am for 
 the protection of my rights; and I will protect them if I 
 have to grapple with every member of this company." 
 
 There was a shout along the whole line — 
 
 ''Bravo!" "Well done. Grant!" "Three cheers for Ohio 
 pluck!" rang out from scores of youthful voices. 
 
 "There, Grant; you've fairly won the day against all 
 odds," chimed in the captain, extending a fraternal hand. 
 
 "Yes, indeed, you have," added the lieutenant, following 
 suit. " We sha'n't poke fun at you any more ! " 
 
 " No, that we sha'n't," exclaimed others of his comrades, 
 now in the best of spirits. 
 
 Grant stooped down calmly, and put on his coat, as if noth- 
 ing unusual had happened; but he was never annoyed after that 
 with any of their cadet fun at his expense. He was ever aller 
 called, as a brevet to his proof of bravery, " Company Grant; " 
 and is thus known to this day by many in the army. 
 
28 LIFE OF grant; 
 
 He graduated on the SOtli of June, 1843, standing ^o. 21 
 in a class of thirty-nine merabers. Among his classmates 
 were the following officers, who distinguished themselves 
 more or less in the war of the liebellion : 
 
 Major-General William B. Franklin, of Pennsylvania, grad- 
 uated first. 
 
 Colonel "William P. Reynolds, of Ohio, graduated fifth. 
 
 Brigadier-General Isaac F. Quinby, of Kew Jersey, origin- 
 ator and first colonel of the Thirteenth New York two-years* 
 volunteers, graduated sixth. 
 
 Major-General John J. Peck, of New York, graduated 
 eighth. 
 
 Major-General Joseph Jones Reynolds, of Indiana, for a 
 long period during the late war chief of staff of Generals Rose- 
 crans and Thomas as commanders of the Army of the Cum- 
 terland, graduated tenth. 
 
 Colonel James A. Ilardie graduated eleventh. 
 
 Colonel Henry F. Clark graduated twelfth. 
 
 Samuel G. French, of Kew Jersey, a renegade, and for a 
 time a major-general in the rebel ranks, graduated four- 
 teenth. 
 
 Major-General Christopher Colon Augur, of New York,, 
 graduated sixteenth. 
 
 Franklin Gardner, of New York and Iowa, a renegade and 
 major-general of the rebel army, captured at Port Hudson, 
 graduated seventeenth. 
 
 Major-General Charles S. Hamilton, of New York, formerly 
 of the Army of the Potomac, and afterward of the Tennessee, 
 under General Grant, graduated twenty-sixth. 
 
 Major-General Frederick Steele, of New York, formerly of 
 the Army of the Tennessee, graduated thirtieth. 
 
 Brigadier-General Rufus Ingalls, of Maine, graduated thir- 
 ty-second. 
 
 Brigadier-General Henry M. Judah, of Maryland and New 
 York, graduated thirty-fifth ; and other officers connected 
 with the belligerent armies. 
 
 Although Grant ranked below ten of those above men- 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 29 
 
 tioned, in the graduating class, the use he has since made of 
 his natural tact and education has advanced him to a position 
 far beyond the hopes or ambition of any of them. 
 
 The limits of this sketch will hereafter allow only a brief 
 reference to prominent facts in the career of its hero, for they 
 are sufficiently abundant to form an ordinary volume of them- 
 selves. 
 
 On the first day of July, 1843, he entered the United States 
 regular army, as a brevet second lieutenant of infantry. He 
 became connected with the Fourth Regiment of regular in- 
 fantry, then stationed in Missouri and Missouri Territory, 
 Brevet Second Lieutenant Grant remained in this region until 
 ordered into Texas. He was at Corpus Christi at the time he 
 received his full commission as second lieutenant of the Sev- 
 enth Infantry, which bore date from September 30, 1845. He 
 joined the army of General Taylor, who had in 1845 been 
 appointed to the command of the troops in Texas, and par- 
 ticipated in the battles of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, and Resaca 
 de la Palma, May 9, 1846. He had, however, on the previous 
 November, rejoined his old regiment, the Fourth Infantr3\ 
 He also took part in the brilliant operations of General Tay- 
 lor aloug the Rio Grande, and in the battle of Monterey, 
 September 23, 1846, at which place the troops under General 
 Taylor defeated a superior force of Mexicans posted in strong 
 works of intrenchraent. 
 
 Previous to the surrender of Vera Cruz, March 29, 1847, 
 the Fourth Infantry was transferred to General Scott's com- 
 mand before that city, and Lieutenant Grant was transferred 
 with his regiment. He took part in the siege operations of 
 that place, and afterward advanced under the commanding 
 general to the Mexican capital. 
 
 During the month of April, 1847, Lieutenant Grant was 
 appointed regimental quartermaster. As such he participated 
 in the various contests until the United States army occupied 
 the city of Mexico. 
 
 But, although the staft' appointment held by Lieutenant 
 Grant at that time did not necessarily involve his entering 
 
30 LIFE OF grant; 
 
 into the actual strife, still his brave disposition prevented 
 him* from keeping out of it. At the battle of Moli.no del Rey, 
 September 8, 1847, he behaved with such distinguished gal- 
 lantry that he was awarded by Congress a brevet of first 
 lieutenant, to date from th& day of. that battle. Lieutenant 
 Grant, however, declined the honor of a brevet, and was, 
 therefore, promoted to the full rank of first lieutenant, to date 
 from September 16, 1847. He behaved with still more dis- 
 tinguished gallantry during the remainder of the-' operations 
 before the city of Mexico, but especially at the battle of Cha- 
 pultepec, September 13, 1847. The following extracts are 
 from the official reports to the War Department relative to 
 
 this battle. 
 
 . In the report of Captain Horace Brooks, Second Artillery, 
 of the battle of Chapultepec, he says : 
 
 I succeeded in reaching the fort with a few men. Here 
 Lieutenant U. S. Grant, and a few more men of the Fourth 
 Infantry, found me, and, by a joint movement, after an ob- 
 stinate resistance, a strong field-work was carried, and the 
 enemy's right was completely turned. 
 
 The report of Major Francis Lee, commanding the Fourth 
 Infantry at the battle of Chapultepec, says : 
 
 At the first barrier the enemy was in strong force, which 
 rendered it necessary to adVance with caution. This was done, 
 and when the head of the battalion was within short musket 
 range of the barrier. Lieutenant Grant, Fourth Infantry, and 
 Captain Brooks, Second Artillery, with a few men of their 
 respective regiments, by a handsome mov^ement to the left, 
 turned the right fiank of the enemy, and the barrier \yas car- 
 ried. . . . Second Lieutenant Graiit behaved with dis- 
 tinguished gallantry on the 13th and 14th. . . . 
 
 • The report of brevet Colonel John Garland, commanding 
 the first brigade at the battle of Chapultepec, says : 
 
 The rear of the enemy had made a stand behind a breast- 
 work from which they were driven by detachments of the 
 Second Artillery, under Captain Brooks, and the Fourth In- 
 fantry, under Lieutenant Grant, supported by other regi- 
 ments of the division, after a short but sharp conflict. . . 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 31 
 
 I recognized the command as it came up, mounted a howitzer 
 on the top of a convent, which, under the direction of Lieu-- 
 tenant Grant, Quartermaster of the Fourth Infantrj', and . 
 Lieutenant Ledrum, Third' Artillery, annoyed the enemy 
 considerably. ... I must not omit to call attention to 
 Lieutenant Grant, Fourth Infantry, who acquitted himself 
 most nobly upon several occasions under my own obser- 
 vation. 
 
 In this particular mention of officers for gallantry and good 
 conduct, besides the otiicers of his own staff, General Garland 
 names but one other officer besides Lieutenant Grant, out of 
 his whole brigade. 
 
 General .Worth's report, September 16, also speaks highly 
 of Lieutenant Grant. 
 
 For gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Cha-- 
 pultepec. Lieutenant Grant received a brevet of captain of the 
 regular army, to date from September 13, 1847. The brevet 
 was awarded by Congress during tlie session of 1849-50, and 
 was confirmed during Januar}', 1850. 
 
 After the war with Mexico* the Fourth Kegular Infantry 
 came to New York, and for some time Lieutenant Grant was 
 stationed in that State. The regiment was divided among 
 the various forts and defenses of the northern frontier and 
 in Michigan. 
 
 During the year 1852 the Fourth' Infantry was ordered to 
 the Department of the Pacific, and the battalion to which 
 Lieutenant Grant was attached had its head-quarters at Fort 
 Dallas, Oregon. While in this Territory Lieutenant Grant 
 received his promotion to a captaincy, with a commission 
 dating from August, 1853. 
 
 On the 31st of July, 1854, Captain Grant resigned his con- 
 nection with the United States Army. 
 
 After his resignation he made his residence in the city of 
 St. Louis. He was engaged in commercial pursuits in that • 
 place until the year 1859, when he removed to Galena, Illi- 
 nois, where he became connected in partnership with his 
 father in the leather trade. It was in reference to his con- 
 nection with this business that he made his noted reply to 
 
^2 
 
 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 the politicians, who visited him at Vicksburg for the sole 
 purpose of getting him into conversation about politics. 
 While one of them was in the midst of the most flowery 
 rhetoric, General Grant interrupted him with — 
 
 " There is no use of talking politics to me. I know noth- 
 ing about that subject, and, furthermore, I do n't know of 
 any person among my acquaintances Avho does. But," con- 
 tinued he, " there is one subject with which I am perfectly 
 acquainted; talk of that, and I am your man." 
 
 " What is that. General ? " asked the politicians, in surprise. 
 
 " Tanning leather," replied Grant. 
 
 Grant was engaged in the leather business at the time the 
 rebellion broke out in April, 1861, and when a call was made 
 by the President for troops, he ofi'ered his services to the 
 country, through the Governor of Illinois. Governor Yates, 
 being of the opinion that he could use the services of the 
 candidate to better advantage near his own person, appointed 
 him au aid on his staff and mustering-officer of Illinois volun- 
 teers. He retained this position until June 15, 1861, when he 
 was appointed Colonel of the Twenty -first Regiment of Illinois 
 Volunteers, organized at Mattoon on that day. 
 
 The regiment was for some time stationed at Caseyville, 
 and, as soon as ready for active service, was ordered into 
 Missouri. About the middle of July, 1861, it was stationed 
 along the Hannibal and Hudson Railroad, in the northern 
 part of that State, and formed part of General Hurlbut's 
 forces. It was afterward stationed in the neighborhood of 
 Mexico, Missouri, where it was incorporated with General 
 Pope's troops, and, during the early part of August, gar- 
 risoned Pilot Ivuob. During the next week it marched to 
 Ironton, Missouri, and shortly after garrisoned Marble Creek, 
 Missouri, These movements occupied most of the time un- 
 til August 23, 1861, when Colonel Grant was detached from 
 the command of his regiment and appointed a brigadier-gen- 
 eral of United States volunteers, with rank and commission 
 from May 17, 1861. 
 
 General Grant was, soon after his appointment, placed in 
 
LITE OF GRANT. 33 
 
 command of the post of Cairo, aud bis forces were afterward 
 increased by tbe addition of troops organized under General 
 McCleruand. Tbe post of Cairo inchided witbin its jurisdic- 
 tion tbe Missouri shore of tbe Mississippi River from Cape 
 Girardeau to New Madrid. At this time Kentucky was sup- 
 posed to be neutral; but tbe rebel troops were stationed so 
 close on its borders that they never hesitated to cross into that 
 State, if, by so manoeuvering, they could gain any advantage 
 over the Union troops. General Grant soon found this out, 
 and, being determined to be even with the rebels, occupied 
 Paducab, Kentucky, at the mouth of the Tennessee River, 
 on September 6, 1861. Nineteen days after, he took posses- 
 sion of Smithland, at the mouth of the Cumberland River, 
 and, by these movements, not only blockaded the rivers 
 against the running of supplies into the States in rebellion, 
 but also secured two fine bases of operation for future move- 
 ments. He garrisoned each of these posts with strong bodies 
 of troops, but still retained his head-quarters at Cairo. 
 
 Tbe personal appearance of General Grant at this time 
 was any thing but complimentary to the great man; and, 
 when compared with the bright buttons and glittering shoul- 
 der-straps of his first and second lieutenants, was very re- 
 markable. He would move about with his attire cast about 
 his person, as if thrown on and left to fall as it might please, 
 taking no care or trouble about bis appearance; and, in the 
 place of the usual military hat and gold cord, was an old, 
 battered "stovepipe" — one that his subordinates Avould per- 
 haps not pick up in the street. In his mouth he always 
 carried a black-looking cigar, and he seemed to be perpet- 
 ually smoking. 
 
 Some one speaking rather sarcastically about his stovepipe 
 hat and his passion for cigars, was taken up by one of Grant's 
 friends, who said that " such a stovepipe as Grant should be 
 allowed to smoke." 
 
 Under orders from the Commander of the West, to which 
 Cairo and its surroundings, now formed into a district, be- 
 lono:ed, General Grant made an onward movement or recon- 
 
84 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 llois^t^noc down the Mississippi River, toward the coast of 
 South-east Missouri. The ohject of the movement was to 
 destroy the rebel camp at Belmont, opposite Columbus, both 
 of which places had been taken possession of by the rebels, 
 and the latter fortified. On the 7th of Xoveraber, the forces 
 under General Grant, consisting of two brigades, landed, and 
 were met by the rebels, who were driven before them in dis- 
 order. But the rebel garrisons at Hickman and Columbus 
 soon crossed over the river to aid the defeated forces on the 
 Missouri shore. General Grant's troops now w^ere outnum- 
 bered, and lie had to fall back to the boats, and, by them, 
 to the posts of Cairo and on the Ohio River. 
 
 There was a great deal of talk about this affair of Bel- 
 mont, and it was officially investigated. The evidence in 
 relation to it, when stripped of all verbiage, established the 
 following facts : 
 
 I. That the movement upon the enemy was ordered by 
 General Fremont for a spjecitic purpose, its necessity being 
 by no means established. 
 
 II. That the commander at Cairo had no discretion in the 
 premises, except as to the time and manner of his attack, 
 
 III. That the attack was well planned, and brilliantly ex- 
 ecuted, our troops displaying a degree of bravery that enti- 
 tles them to the highest praise. 
 
 IV. That after the victory was achieved, the ardor of the 
 victors caused them to temporarily leave their ranks for the 
 purpose of destroying the enemy's camp. 
 
 V. That when thus in disorder they were assailed by the 
 enemy, then strongly rcenforced, but gallantly succeeded in 
 cutting their way through to their boats, bringing off their 
 trophies from the field, though reluctantly leaving many of 
 the wounded and dead. 
 
 VI. That the affair, of no consequence in its effects upon 
 the progress of the war, Avas a victory for our arms, and, as 
 such, must be recorded. 
 
 If tlic history of the war had no worse record against the 
 honor and bravery of our troops than that of the affair at 
 Belmont, we would have cause to rejoice. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 35 
 
 The removal of General Fremont from the comm'and» of 
 the Department of the West, and the appointment of Gen- 
 eral Halleck to that position, for some time delayed Gen- 
 eral Grant's operations; but on the 20th of December, 1861, 
 General Halleck, appreciating the military ability of General 
 Grant, extended his command, which made it then one of 
 the largest divisions in the country, and, by Special Orders 
 No. 78, of that date, gave him the superior charge of the 
 District of Cairo, which included all the southern part of 
 Illinois, that part of Kentucky west of the Cumberland River, 
 and the southern counties of Missouri south of Cape Girar- 
 deau, All the troops stationed along the banks of the Ohio 
 River, on both sides, east of Caledonia, and to the mouth of 
 the Cumberland, formed part of the District of Cairo, and 
 came under General Grant's command at this time. 
 
 As soon as he had gathered his troops together in the 
 shape and position he wanted them, he started on an expe- 
 dition which, although presenting no important results in 
 itself, formed the basis of one of the finest and most suc- 
 cessful of the early campaigns of the war. On Wednesday, 
 January 15, 1862, he, having divided his force into five col- 
 umns, started from diflerent points of the south shore of the 
 Ohio River into the interior of that part of the State of 
 Kentucky between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. 
 These five columns met at the proper time and place, at 
 the appointed rendezvous, near the rebel lines. Of the 
 united force, which consisted of nineteen regiments of in- 
 fantry, four regiments and two companies of cavalry, and 
 seven batteries of artillery. General Grant assumed the su- 
 perior command. 
 
 The division, larger than many of the modern corps, moved 
 in a triangular direction through that part of Kentucky in 
 the rear of Fort Henry and the defenses of Columbus, and 
 returned in safety to the base of operations along the Ohio 
 River. 
 
 On the 1st of February, 1862, he again divided his forces 
 into two divisions and four brigades. One brigade he sta- 
 
86 . ' LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 tionetl at Cairo, under the charge of General t^aine, who was 
 made commander of- that post and Mound City, Another bri- 
 gade, under Acting-General Morgan,' he stationed at Bird's 
 Point, and the other two brigades he formed into a division, 
 under General McClernaud. 
 
 Having thus secured his rear from surprise, he, with his 
 last force — the First Division of the District of Cairo — on 
 the 3d of February, started on his expedition against Fort 
 Henr3% on the Tennessee River, which defensive position he 
 occupied on February 6, without a fight. Having garrisoned 
 the place, he did not rest here, but immediately began mov- 
 ing his forces overland toward Fort Donelson, on the Cum- 
 berland River. The navy, which had attacked this fort, had 
 been repulsed, and it became necessary to reduce the place 
 by regular military operations. The military, which by this 
 time had been greatly reenforced, arrived; and was divided 
 into three divisions. 
 
 On the 12th of February, only six days after the fall of 
 Fort Henry, General Grant began investing the rebel posi- 
 tion at Fort Donelson, which was fifteen miles distant from 
 the captured fort- on the Tennessee. This rebel work was 
 far more extensive than the one taken on the 6th, and was 
 garrisoned by about twenty thousand men, under Generals 
 Pillow, Floyd, and Buckner. 
 
 The attack commenced on the morning of the 13th of 
 February, and was continued with great vigor on the 14th 
 and 15th. 
 
 During these four days and nights the troops — then cer- 
 tainly green in the hardships of campaigning — were exposed 
 to all the inclemencies of the worst kind of weather known 
 in that latitude, and, having to march light, were not pro- 
 vided with shelter. 
 
 On the night of the 15th, General Grant, by dint of hard 
 fighting and good manosuvers, managed to secure all the 
 commanding positions around the rehel works. This fact 
 was discovered by the rebels, and a brigade commanded by 
 General Floyd, that had been stationed in the most ad van- 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. * 37 
 
 tageous posi-tion in the,rear of the rebel works, at once took 
 advantage of their locality and beat a retreat, leaving their 
 companions within the works to do whatever they felt in- 
 clined to — either run, -fight, or surrender. General Pillow 
 also deserted the post. General Buckner, the only command- 
 ing officer remaining, seeing that resistance would be worse 
 than useless, opened a correspondence with General Grant, 
 under a flag of truce.' The following is a copy of the doc- 
 uments ; and Grant's reply plainly sets forth the man : 
 
 Head-qtjartees, Fokt'Donelson, Feb. 16, 1862. 
 
 To Brigadier-General Grant, commanding United States forces near Fort Don- 
 elson : 
 
 Sir — In consideration of all the circumstances governing 
 the present situation of affairs at this station, I propose to 
 the commanding officer of the Federal forces the appoint- 
 ment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation 
 of the forces and fort under my command, and in that view 
 suggest an armistice until twelve o'clock to-day. I am, sir, 
 very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 S. B. BUCKI^ER, 
 
 Brigadier-General, C. S. A. 
 
 General Grant replied as follows : 
 
 Head-quarters, Army in the Field, ) 
 Camp near Donelson, February 16, 1862. j 
 
 To Generals. B. Buckner, Confederate Aririy : 
 
 Yours of this date, proposing "an armistice and appoint- 
 ment of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation, is just 
 received. No terms other than an unconditional and immediate 
 surrender can he accepted. I propose to 7nove imm.ediately upon 
 your works. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 U. S. GRANT, 
 
 Brigadier-General, U. S. A., Commanding. 
 
 This reply was very distasteful to the aristocratic Buckner; 
 but, knowing that he could not make any vigorous opposition 
 to another assault, he was compelled to submit, which he did 
 very ungraciously, in the following reply : 
 
4 * 
 
 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 Head-quarters, Dover, Tennessee, February 16, 1862. 
 
 To Brigadier- General U. S. Grant, U. S. A. : 
 
 Sir — The distribution of the forces under mj command, 
 incident to an unexpected change of commanders, and the 
 overwhehning force under your command, compels me, not- 
 Avithstandiug the brilliant success of the Confederate arms 
 yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms 
 which you propose. I am, sir, your very obedient servant, 
 
 S. B. BUCKNEH, 
 
 Brigadier-General^ C. S. A. 
 
 At Fort Henry, the Rebel General Tilghman, staff and 
 sixty men were taken prisoners, the rest having moved to 
 support the garrison at Fort Donelson. At Fort Donelson 
 the results were still more glorious. Besides the fort itself, 
 which was valuable in our hands in preventing blockade 
 runners passing up the Cumberland into the rebel territory, 
 the Union forces took General Buckner, nearly 14,000 pris- 
 oners, 3,000 horses, 48 field-pieces, 17 heavy guns, 20,000 
 stand of arras, and a large quantity of commissary stores. 
 The ofiicial reports state the rebel losses to have been 231 
 killed, 1,007 wounded, and 13,829 prisoners. Total 15,067. 
 The Union loss was 446 killed, 1,735 wounded, and 150 pris- 
 oners. Total, 2331. Grant's forces having to fight in the 
 open field against the rebels in iiitrenchments accounts for 
 his much heavier loss in killed and wounded. 
 
 These victories were most important in their results, as 
 they opened up both the Tennessee and Cumberland Bivers 
 to our war vessels, which were to cooperate with our armies 
 moving along their banks. 
 
 . But this was not all. A body of rebels, about a thousand 
 strong, that had been sent to help the garrison defending 
 Fort Donelson, was very nicel}^ deco^-ed into the Union lines 
 on Februarj' 20, and of course became prisoners. On the 
 same day Clarksville fell into the hands of the Unionists, 
 and three days after Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, was 
 occupied by Union troops, from whom it was never afterward 
 wrested. 
 
LIFE" OF GllANT. 39 
 
 As the lines of the Cumberland and- Tennessee Rivers, 
 which formed the center of the rebel position in that vicinity, 
 were thus broken up, the wings at Columbus and Bowling 
 Green naturally fell through of their own weight. Thus 
 Kentucky was redeemed from rebel military rule, and the 
 United States flag waved over the State of Tennessee, from 
 which, as prophesied in the official reports of the aihiir, it 
 was never again removed. 
 
 As a reward for his skill and pertinacity during this cam- 
 paign, Brigadier-General Grant was promoted to the rank of 
 ?kIajor-General of volunteers, to date from the surrender of 
 Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862. 
 
 ■ A very curious anecdote is told of General Halleck, in con- 
 nection with General Grant, at this particular period. Gen- 
 eral Grant's troops were composed in the main part of Illi- 
 nois and Indiana men. The reports of General Grant's 
 fondness for wdiisky had been very freely circulated by those 
 who were jealous of his rising fame, and a deputation of the 
 Illinoisians paid a visit to General Ilalleck at his head-quar- 
 ters ill St. Louis. 
 
 "You see. General," said the spokesman, "we have a num- 
 ber of Illinois volunteers under Grant, and it is not safe that 
 their lives should be intrusted to the care of a man who so 
 constantly indulges in whisky. Who knows what blunder 
 he may commit?" 
 
 " Well, gentlemen," said the commander of the depart- 
 ment, "I am satis^fied with General Grant, and I have no 
 doubt you will soon be." 
 
 While the deputation was staying at the hotel, the news 
 arrived of the capture of Fort Donelson and thirteen thou- 
 sand prisoners. General Halleck posted the intelligence him- 
 self on the hotel news-bulletin, and as he did so he remarked: 
 
 "If General Grant is such a drunkard, and can win such 
 victories as these, I think it is my duty to issue an order that 
 any perbon found sober in St. Louis to-night shall be pun- 
 ished With fine and imprisonment." 
 
 The people of St. Louis took the hint, and got " pretty 
 
40 LIFE OF GRANT-. 
 
 / jolly," and among the most "happ^^" of the crowd was the 
 V temperance delegation from Illinois, 
 
 All the reports of General Grant's inehrietj have heen suc- 
 cessfully refuted, but we can not forbear, in this connection, 
 making the following quotation from the letter of an oificer, 
 who has long served on Grant's staff. He says: 
 
 I have seen him in every phase of his military life, and 
 I can assert that the accusation of his being a drunkard is 
 false. I have been in the same tent with him at all hours 
 of the day and night, and I never knew him to be under the 
 influence of liquor, or any thing even approaching it. I do 
 not know what his former life may have been, buti do know 
 that now he is a temperate man. 
 
 Soon after the battle of Donelson, a new district, called the 
 District of West Tennessee, was created, and Grant assigned 
 to the command of it, Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman suc- 
 ceeding him in the command of the Cairo District. 
 
 Grant at once occupied Clarksville, fifty miles above Don- 
 elson and sent Smith to take possession of Nashville. Gen- 
 eral JTelson, of Buell's army, had alreadj' taken the city, and 
 Grant immediately repaired there in person. The enemy 
 was now at Chattanooga, and Grant began fitting out expe- 
 ditions against him. 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1862, Ilalleck telegraphed to Mc- 
 Clellan : 
 
 Grant left his command without my authority, and went 
 to Nashville. His army seems to be as much demoralized by 
 the victory of Fort Donelson as was that of the Potomac by 
 the defeat of Bull Run. It is hard to censure a successful 
 General immediately after a victory, but I think he richly 
 deserves it. I can get no returns, no reports, no information 
 from him. Satisfied with his. victory, he sits down and en- 
 joys it, without any regard for the future. 
 
 Grant had been hard at work, preparing to move against 
 the enemy, and the next day (March 4th) was surprised to 
 receive from Ilalleck the following dispatch: "You will place 
 Major-General C. F. Smith in command of expedition, and 
 remain yourself at Fort Henry." 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 41 
 
 Grant was now a disgraced man, but bore his misfortunes 
 as quietly as he had his victories. 
 
 On the 13th of March Grant was relieved from his disgrace, 
 and at once moved his head-quarters to Savanna, and began 
 concentrating his troops for the great battle of Shiloh. 
 
 The rebels, having information of the intended movement, 
 concentrated the whole of their forces upon that portion of 
 the advancing army that was rendezvousing at Pittsburg 
 Landing, with the double object of preventing the junction 
 of the two armies and with the hope of defeating each in 
 detail. If Grant could be beaten before Buell arrived, the 
 rebels were sure to be able to overmatch the forces of the 
 latter; and if he could only be forced back, the way was 
 open to recover the whole of the lost ground in Kentucky 
 and Tennessee. Having very heavy forces, a steady plan and 
 determined will, Johnston felt quite sure of his victory. 
 
 Grant at the same time was only waiting for Buell to ar- 
 rive, to make the attack upon the rebels. On April 4 and 5, 
 skirmishing took place along the whole line, and on the lat- 
 ter day the pickets were driven in. Grant sent out a force 
 on the first day and repulsed the rebels, driving them five 
 miles. On Saturday, the 5th, the rebels made a bolder push 
 upon the lines, but were handsomely repulsed. At an early 
 hour on Sunday, April 6, the Union pickets were again driven 
 in, and the rebel sharp-shooters began picking off the officers. 
 At about eight o'clock in the morning heavy masses of rebel 
 infantry were to be seen advancing on the front, and the 
 Union troops were ready to receive them. There was no 
 surprise in the matter. The rebels advanced with tremen- 
 dous force and overwhelming numbers, attacking Grant's 
 army with great desperation. Steadilj^, foot by foot, the 
 Unionists fell back to the river, closely followed by the reb- 
 els. When General Grant and his staft*, who had been reck- 
 lessly riding along the lines during the entire day, amid tlie 
 unceasing storm of bullets, grape, and shell, saw that his 
 men were likely to fall into disorder, he rode from right to 
 left, waving his hat and sword over his head, inciting the 
 3 
 
42 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 men to stand firm for their honor and for their very lives, 
 until reenforcements could cross the river. The reports of 
 the hattle thus speak of the conduct of the commanding 
 officer : 
 
 There has never been a parallel to the gallantry and bear- 
 ing of our officers, from the commanding general to the low- 
 est otiicer. General Grant and stati" were in the field, riding 
 along the lines in the thickest of the enemy's fire, during the 
 entire two days of the battle, and all slept on the ground on 
 Sunday night during a heavy rain. On several occasions 
 General Grant got within range of the enemy's guns, and 
 was discovered and fired upon. 
 
 This was the first day's battle, and to the rebels it appeared 
 to be a complete victory. So General Beauregard announced 
 it to the head-quarters at Richmond. But during the after- 
 noon, Buell's reenforcements arrived, with that general at 
 their head, and part were thrown over before the first day's 
 struggle was ended. During the night the whole force was 
 thrown across the river, and General Grant soon reorganized 
 the disordered army with the fresh troops. The next day 
 the fight became general, and at the head of the united forces 
 he led them on to victory. By four o'clock the rebels were 
 in full retreat at all points, though not in serious disorder. 
 They retreated toward Corinth, and it was deemed unwise, 
 after two days of such serious struggles, for the Union troops 
 to pursue them. 
 
 That the rebels were seriously crippled there can be but 
 little doubt, as on April 8, the day after the second battle, 
 •General Beauregard sent a communication to General Grant, 
 in which he stated he had "withdrawn" from the field in 
 •consequence of the reenforcement of the Union army, and 
 requested permission to bury the rebel dead. General Grant 
 replied that he had already buried the dead, and declined to 
 accept or receive the flag of truce. 
 
 During this struggle the rebels lost in killed about four 
 thousand men, among whom was one of their finest generals, 
 Albert Sidney Johnston. 
 
 After the rebels had retreated to Corinth, all the country 
 
LIFE OV GRANT. 43 
 
 west of a line drawn through Knoxville to the Rocky Mount- 
 ains was made into the Department of the Mississippi, un- 
 der command of General Ilalleck, who had to take the tield 
 in person. His forces at the beginning of May consisted of 
 three armies, viz.: the Army of the Ohio, four divisions on 
 the left, under General Buell, commander; the Army of the 
 Mississippi, four divisions on the right, General Pope, com- 
 mander; and the Army of the Tennessee, eight divisions in 
 the center, General Grant, commander. It will thus be seen 
 that, notwithstanding the first day's struggle at Shiloh, Gen- 
 eral Halleck still had so good an opinion of General Grant 
 that he gave him twice the force he had awarded to either 
 General Pope or General BuelL 
 
 During the whole of the operations of the siege of Cor- 
 inth, General Grant ranked second in command to General 
 Halleck, and would have held that position on the field had 
 a battle taken place. 
 
 On the 29th of May, 1862, Corinth was evacuated, and on 
 the 11th of the following June, Gen,eral Halleck w^as called 
 to Washington. This call necessitated a remodeling of the 
 whole of the departments of the West. 
 
 A new department was made to include Cairo, Fort 
 Henry, Fort Donelson, Northern Mississippi, Kentucky and 
 Tennessee, west of the Tennessee River. This was denom- 
 inated the Department of the Tennessee, and was placed un- 
 der the charge of Major-General Grant. All the troops 
 within it were included in the Thirteenth Army Corps of the 
 United States forces. 
 
 The remainder of the summer was not remarkable for any 
 very important movement in General Grant's department 
 until September 19, 1862, when a portion of his corps, under 
 General Roseerans, attacked the rebels, under General Price, 
 south of luka. The contest lasted until next day, the 
 rebels retreating in the end. On October 3, the position at 
 Corinth was attacked by the rebels, under General Van 
 Dorn, and, after three days' fighting in and around the place, 
 resulted in the defeat of the rebels and their final retreat. 
 
44 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 Ill the meantime General Grant was engaged in his plans 
 for the redemption of Northern Mississippi from rebel rule. 
 On the 30th of October. 1862, the rebels began concentrat- 
 ing their forces at Ripley, Mississippi, with the intention of 
 attacking General Grant's positions in that vicinity ; but 
 Grant, by his dispositions, completely outgeneraled them. On 
 the 9th of November, 1862, a portion of his army occupied 
 La Grange, a station west of Grand Junction, for the purpose 
 of holding all the lines leading south from Tennessee. 
 
 To prevent any force from New Orleans cooperating by the 
 Mississippi River with General Grant in the reduction of 
 Vicksburg, the rebels, on November 25, 1862, began fortify- 
 ing Port Hudson. On the 2d of December, a portion of Gen- 
 eral Grant's forces, however, under General Hovey, pushed 
 down to Grenada, Mississippi, and occupied it, the rebels 
 retreating with great loss of rolling-stock. The next day 
 the rebels at Abbeville, Mississippi, abandoned their fortifi- 
 cations and retreated before the advance of General Grant. 
 
 Several river expeditions were sent out about this time by 
 the Mississippi River fleet, which was cooperating with Gen- 
 eral Grant's military movements, and several cavalry col- 
 lisions occurred along the outposts of the department. 
 
 Durins: all these movements General Grant's forces were 
 being gradually increased, until, on the 22d of December, it 
 became necessary to organize them into four army corps, un- 
 der the designations of the Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, 
 and Seventeenth Army Corps. Each of these corps was 
 placed under an efficient commander, and they were to ope- 
 rate, for a time, independent of each other, but under the di- 
 rect command of General Grant. 
 
 He now began operating along the railroad, for the pur- 
 pose of driving the enemy into the interior and cutting the 
 railroad communication with Vicksburg, in which expedition 
 he succeeded admirably. The right wing of his army was, 
 however, not so successful, as General Sherman, who com- 
 manded it, found the defenses of Vicksburg much stronger 
 than he anticipated. During the first part of the struggle the 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 45 
 
 rebels were driven from their exterior lines of defense ; but 
 on the 29th of December, being considerably reenforced from 
 Grenada and other posts, they attacked the Unionists with 
 their whole strength, and the expedition had to be aban- 
 doned. 
 
 General Grant now assumed the immediate command of 
 the Army of the Mississippi, which was largely reenforced. 
 ■ Being satisfied by the result of General Sherman's operations 
 that the north line of the enemy's works was too strong to 
 be carried without a very heavy loss, he directed his atten- 
 tion to opening the canal which had been commenced the 
 year before by General Williams across the peninsula on the 
 west bank of the river. While working parties under Cap- 
 tain Prince, chief engineer of that army, were diligently em- 
 ployed upon this canal. General Grant directed his attention 
 to several other projects for turning the enemy's position. 
 The canal proving impracticable, and his other plans being 
 unsuccessful, except as feints to draw off troops from Vicks- 
 burg, he determined to move his army by land down the 
 west bank of the Mississippi Iliver, some seventy miles, 
 while transports for crossing should run past the enemy's 
 batteries at Vicksburg. 
 
 The danger of running the batteries being very great, and 
 the roads on the west side in horrible condition, this was a 
 difficult and hazardous expedient, but it seemed to be the 
 only possible solution of the problem. The execution of the 
 plan, however, was greatly facilitated by Admiral Farragut, 
 who had run two of his vessels past the enemy's batteries at 
 Port Hudson and Grand Gulf, and cleared the river of the 
 enemy's boats below Vicksburg ; and finally, through the in- 
 domitable energy of the commanding general and the ad- 
 mirable dispositions of Admiral Porter for running the en- 
 emy's batteries, the operation was completely successful. 
 
 General Grant, having by feints so mauoeuvered about the 
 vicinity of Vicksburg as to deceive the rebels relative to 
 the actual place he intended to strike, at last sent Colonel 
 (afterward General) Grierson, the commander of the First 
 
46 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 Cavalry Brigade, attached to the Seventeenth Army Corps, 
 on an expedition southward from La Grange, through the 
 whole State of Mississippi, to Baton Rouge, in Louisiana. 
 The object of this expedition was to cut all the communica- 
 tions of the rebels with the stronghold at Vicksburg. It 
 was successfully conducted. It started from La Grange on 
 April 17, ]863, and reached Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 
 2, thus traveling a distance of about eight hundred miles in 
 fifteen days. It destroyed many of the enemy's railroad 
 bridges, depots, tanneries, stores, and much rolling-stock, and 
 demonstrated the fact that the interior of the State was en- 
 tirely undefended. 
 
 As soon as General Grant discovered from deserters that 
 Colonel Grierson's expedition had traveled far enough for his 
 purpose, be began moving his forces across the river by the 
 aid of the vessels that had run past the batteries at Vicks- 
 burg and Port Hudson. The army crossed the river at Bru- 
 insburg, April 30, turned Grand Gulf, and engaged, the en- 
 emy near Port Gibson on May 1, and at Fourteen Mile 
 Creek on the 3d of May. The enemy was defeated in both 
 engagements, with heavy loss. General Grant now moved 
 his forces by rapid marches to the north, in order to sep- 
 arate the garrison of Vicksburg from the covering army of 
 Johnston. This movement was followed by the battles of 
 Raymond, May 12 ; of Jackson, May 14 ; of Champion's 
 Hill, May 16, and of Big Black River Bridge, May 17, in all 
 of which our troops were victorious. General Grant now 
 proceeded to invest Vicksburg. 
 
 On reaching the rear of the rebel city of Vicksburg, Gen- 
 eral Grant found his forces to be insufficient to entirely in- 
 vest the rebel works. He had driven the forces of General 
 Pemberton into the defenses; but there w^as still danger that 
 the forces under Joe Johnston, in Grant's rear, might eftect 
 a junction with those in his front, as it was known that 
 Johnston was gathering together all the troops he could 
 muster into the service. Under the circumstances, General 
 Grant thought it best to attempt to carry the works by storm. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 47 
 
 In this he found he was not strong enough, and after two un- 
 successful attacks, on May 19 and 22, he, on being reenforced 
 by the ITinth Army Corps and General Heron's forces from 
 North-western Arkansas, determined to invest the place and 
 reduce it by the gradual operations of a siege. His army 
 completely cut off all communication by land, as did the 
 Union fleet on the water. 
 
 He then steadily approached the rebel works by means of 
 saps and mines, until, after blowing up one or two of their 
 defenses, he had a}:iproached so near to the city that on the 
 first assault the place must have succumbed. Such was the 
 position of affairs on July 3, when General Pemberton pro- 
 posed an armistice and a capitulation, which was finally ac- 
 cepted ; and on Independence Day of 1863, General Grant, at 
 the head of his forces of occupation, took possession of the 
 city of Vicksburg. 
 
 We quote the following from General Grant's official re- 
 port as the result of the campaign : 
 
 The defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of Vicks- 
 burg, the occupation of Jackson, the capital of the State of 
 Mississippi, and the capture of Vicksburg and its garrison 
 and munitions of war, a loss to the enemy of thirty-seven 
 thousand prisoners, among whom were fifteen general of- 
 ficers, at least ten thousand killed and wounded ; and among 
 the killed Generals Tracy, Tilgliman, and Green, and hun- 
 dreds and perhaps thousands of stragglers, who can never be 
 collected and organized. Arms and munitions of war for an 
 army of sixty thousand have fallen into our hands, besides a 
 large amount of other public property, consisting of rail- 
 roads, locomotives, cars, steamboats, cotton, etc., and much 
 was destroyed to prevent our capturing it. 
 
 The General-in-Chief, in his annual report, when alluding 
 to the Vicksburg campaign, thus speaks of General Grant : 
 
 When we consider the character of the country in which 
 this army operated, the formidable obstacles to be overcome, 
 the number of forces and the strength of the enemy's works, 
 we can not fail to admire the courage and endurance of the 
 troops, and the skill and daring of their commander. No more 
 
48 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 brilliant exploit can he found in military history 
 
 It is hardly necessary to remark that General Grant never 
 disobeyed an order or instruction, but always carried out, to 
 the best of his ability, every wish or suggestion made to him 
 by the Government. 
 
 For his brilliant operations before Vicksburg General 
 Grant was appointed a major-general of the regular army 
 of the United States, in the place of General Wool, retired. 
 
 When the news of this glorious victory reached President 
 Lincoln in an official form, he wrote an autograph letter to 
 General Grant, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1863. 
 To Major-General Grant:, 
 
 My Dear General — I do not remember that you and I 
 ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowl- 
 edgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the 
 country. I wish to say a word further. When you first 
 reached the vicinity of Yicksburg, I thought you should do 
 what you finally did — march the troops across the neck, run 
 the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I 
 never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew 
 better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like 
 could succeed. When you got below, and took Port Gibson, 
 Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go dowu the 
 river, and join General Banks; and when you turned north- 
 ward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I 
 now wish to make a personal acknowledgment that you ivere 
 right and I was wrong. 
 
 Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 A gentleman who participated in the Yicksburg campaign 
 of General Grant, up to the time the enemy crossed the Big- 
 Black in the retreat toward Yicksburg, states that " in start- 
 ing on the movement, the General disencumbered him?elf of 
 every thing, setting au example to his officers and men. lie 
 took neither a horse nor a servant, overcoat nor blanket, nor 
 tent nor camp-chest, nor even a clean shirt. His only baggage 
 consisted of a tooth-brush. He always showed his teeth to the 
 rebels. He shared all the hardships of the private soldier, 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 49 
 
 sleeping in the front and in the open air, and eating liard- 
 tack and salt pork. He wore no sword, had on a low-crowned 
 citizen's hat, and the only thing about him to mark him as a 
 military man was his two stars on his undress military coat. 
 On the battle-field he was omnipresent, riding every-where, 
 generally alone, into the very thickest of the fight, inspiring 
 the troops by his imperturbable coolness and bravery." 
 
 It is stated that General Grant entered Vicksburg on July 
 4, 1863, with a cigar in his mouth. In alluding to this fact, 
 a newspaper of strong copperhead proclivities remarked as 
 follows : 
 
 We pardon General Grant's smoking a cigar as he entered 
 the smoldering ruins of the town of Vicksburg. A little 
 stage efi:ect is admissible in great captains, considering that 
 Napoleon at Milan wore the little cocked hat and sword of 
 Marengo, and that snuff was the inevitable concomitant of 
 victory in the great Frederick. General Grant is a noble 
 fellow, and by the terms of capitulation he accorded to the 
 heroic garrison showed himself as generous as Napoleon was 
 to Wurmsur at the surrender of Mantua. Ilis deed will read 
 well in history, and he has secured to himself a name which 
 posterity will pronounce with veneration and gratitude. 
 There is no general in this country or in Europe that has 
 done harder work than General Grant, and none that has 
 better graced his victories by the exercise of humanity and 
 virtue. What we learn of the terms of capitulation is suf- 
 ficient to prove General Grant to be a generous soldier and a 
 man. A truly brave man respects bravery in others, and 
 when the sword is sheathed considers himself free to follow 
 the dictates of humanity. General Grant is not a general 
 that marks his progress by proclamations to frighten un- 
 armed men, women, and children; he fulminates no arbitrary 
 edicts against the press; he does not make war on newspa- 
 pers and their correspondents; he flatters no one to get him- 
 self pufied; but he is terrible in arms and magnanimous after 
 the battle. Go on, brave General Grant; pursue the course 
 you have marked out for yourself, and Clio, the pensive muse, 
 as she records your deeds, will rejoice at her manly theme. 
 
 As soon as matters began to settle down into quietude. 
 General Logan, now commander of the Fifteenth Army 
 Corps, but who had then been placed in command of the 
 
50 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 post at VicksLurg-, was allowed a furlough to visit Illinois. 
 Some of General Grant's Chicago friends, who were on a visit 
 to him at Vicksburg, remarked that they thought General 
 Logan's farlough had been extended too long. General 
 Grant replied that he "extended General Logan's furlough, 
 because while he was in Illinois fighting copperheads, he still 
 wa3 in the field doing duty." The hero of the Mississippi 
 believes in sustaining the Government against traitors at 
 home and in the field, and knows no better way of accom- 
 plishing that end than by a vigorous prosecution of the war. 
 
 An anecdote is told of General Grant relative to his refusal 
 to engage in, or authorize any of the movements for the re- 
 opening of the trade with the captured cities of the South. 
 After the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, he was pressed 
 by the agents of the Treasury Department to authorize some 
 system of trade. For some time he refused, but at last he 
 conceded that a certain amount of commerce in the recap- 
 tured districts of the South would be safe, proper, and even 
 highly useful to the Union — provided only it was conducted 
 through honest, unimpeachable Union hands. He was asked 
 to name the persons whom he would be willing to trust. 
 
 "I will do no such a thing," was his reply; "for if I did, 
 it would appear in less than a week that I was a partner of 
 every one of the persons trading under my authority." 
 
 The campaign of the Army of the Tennessee having ended, 
 General Grant paid a visit to the various districts of his de- 
 partment. The Chamber of Commerce of the city of Mem- 
 phis, during his visit to that post, presented him with a series 
 of resolutions ofiering him the hospitality of the city, and prof- 
 fering him a complimentary dinner. The following reply, 
 which is a model of modesty, simplicity, and noble sentiment, 
 is worthy of a place in this sketch : 
 
 Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 26, 1863. 
 Gentlemen — I have received a copy of resolutions passed 
 by the "loyal citizens of Memphis, at a meeting held at the 
 rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, August 25, 1863," ten- 
 dering me a public reception. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 51 
 
 In accepting this testimonial, which I do at a great sacri- 
 fice of my personal feelings, I simply desire to pay a tribute 
 to the first public exhibition in Memphis of loyalty to the 
 Goverimient which I represent in the Department of the Ten- 
 nessee. I should dislike to refuse, for considerations of per- 
 sonal convenience, to acknowledge, anywhere or in any 
 form, the existence of sentiments which I liave so long and 
 so ardently desired to see manifested in this Department. 
 The stability of this Government and the unity of this nation 
 depend solely on the cordial support and the earnest loyalty 
 of the people. While, therefore, I thank you sincerely for 
 the kind expressions you have used toward myself, I am pro- 
 foundly gratified at this public recognition, in the city of 
 Memphis, of the power and authority of the Government of 
 the United States. 
 
 I thank you, too, in the name of the noble army which I 
 have the honor to command. It is composed of men whose 
 loyalty is proved by their deeds of heroism and their willing 
 sacrifices of life and healtii. They will rejoice with me that 
 the miserable adherents of the rebellion, whom their bayo- 
 nets have driven from this fair land, are being replaced by 
 men who acknowledge human liberty as the only true foun- 
 dation of human government. May your eftbrts to restore 
 your city to the cause of the Union be as successful as have 
 been theirs to reclaim it from the despotic rule of the leaders 
 of the rebellion. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, your 
 very obedient servant, 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Major-General. 
 
 The dinner came oft' at the Wortham House, and was at- 
 tended by Adjutant-General Thomas, the Mayor and corpor- 
 ation of the city, and a large number of civil and military 
 guests. After dinner came the speeches, toasts, and re- 
 sponses. The following toast was given : 
 
 " General Grant — the guest of the city." 
 
 This was the signal for the wildest applause, and it was 
 some minutes ere order could be restored. It was expected 
 that General Grant would be brought to his feet by this; but 
 the company were disappointed upon perceiving that instead 
 his place was taken by his statt" surgeon, Dr. Hewitt, who said : 
 
 "I am instructed by General Grant to say that, as he has 
 never been given to public speaking, you will have to excuse 
 
52 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 him ou this occasion; and, as- 1 am the oulj' member of his 
 staff present, I, therefar^, feel it-my duty to thank you for 
 this manifestation of your good will, i^s also the numerous 
 other kindnesses of which he has been the recipient ever since 
 his arrival among you. General Grant believes that in all 
 he has done he has no more than accomplished a duty, and 
 one, too, for which no particular honor is due. But the 
 world, as you do, will accord otherwise." 
 
 At a later hour in the evening. General Grant, in reply to 
 a request to that effect, appeared upon the balcony, and, in a 
 brief speech, thanked those present for the honor tendered 
 him. 
 
 General Grant visited several other of his districts, and 
 was everywhere cordially received. He also paid a visit to 
 New Orleans, where he was requested to take part in a re- 
 view of the troops. On this occasion he was suddenly thrown 
 from his horse, and received some serious injuries, which for 
 a time incapacitated him from active duties. 
 
 As three separate armies — those of the Ohio, Cumberland, 
 and Tennessee — were now to operate in the same field, it 
 seemed necessary to have a single commander, in order to 
 secure a more perfect cooperation than had been obtained 
 with the separate commands of Buniside and Rosecraus. 
 General Grant, by his distinguished services and superior rank 
 to all the other generals in the West, seemed entitled to this 
 general command. But, unfortunately, he was at this time- 
 in New Orleans, unable to take the field. Moreover, there 
 was no telegraphic communication with him, and the dis- 
 patches of September 13, directed to him and General Sher- 
 man, did not reach them until some days after their dates, 
 thus delaying the movement of General Grant's forces from 
 Vicksburg. General Hurlbut, however, had moved the troops 
 of his own corps, then in West Tennessee, with commend- 
 able promptness. These were to be replaced by reenforce- 
 ments from Steele's corps in Arkansas, which also formed 
 part of General Grant's army. Hearing nothing from Gene- 
 ral Grant or General Sherman's corps at Vicksburg, it was 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 53 
 
 determined on the 23d to detach the Eleventli and Twelfth 
 Corps from the Army of the'Potom.acj.and send them by rail, 
 under the command of Gfeneral Hooker, to protect General 
 Rosecrans' line of communication from Bridgeport to Nash- 
 ville. It was known that these troops could not go imme- 
 diately to the front. To send more men to Chattanooga, 
 when those already there could not be fully supplied, would 
 only increase the embarrassment, and probably cause the 
 evacuation of that place. In other words. Hooker's com- 
 mand was temporarily performing the duties previously as- 
 signed to the reenforcements ordered from Grant's army. 
 
 As soon as General Grant was able to move, he began his 
 voyage up the Mississippi River, agreeable to the orders from 
 Washington, and telegraphed to head-quarters of his arrival 
 at the various posts along the route. The Secretary of War 
 started to meet him on the route, and when General Grant 
 arrived at Indianapolis, he found that a telegram was there 
 awaiting him at the depot, requesting him to delay his fur- 
 ther journey until the arrival of that official. It was not 
 long before they met, and together they proceeded to Louis- 
 ville. On their arrival in that city, they found a wondering 
 crowd gathered in the hall of the Gait House, to catch a 
 glimpse of the hero of Vicksburg. Numerous were the ex- 
 clamations of wonder as General Grant made his appearance. 
 There appeared to have been an impression that the Gen- 
 eral was a man of colossal proportions. 
 
 "I thought he was a large man," said a native. "He 
 would be considered a small chance of a fighter if he lived 
 in Kentucky." 
 
 The short frame of the General was in strange contrast to 
 the huge figures of the Kentuckians who swarmed to behold 
 him. In the afternoon General Grant indulged in a ride on 
 horseback around the town. He was still unable to walk 
 without his cane and crutch, but managed to ride quite well. 
 Even then, in his feeble condition, it would require a strong 
 effort on the part of a horse to unseat him. His reputation 
 as a rider is second to that of no officer in the. army. 
 
54 LIFE OP GRANT. 
 
 On October 16, 1863, a general order was issued from 
 "Washington for him to take command of tlie new military 
 division. The following is his assumption order: 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS— No. I. 
 
 Head-quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, ] 
 Louisville, Ky., Oct. 18, 1863. j 
 
 In compliance with General Orders No. 337, of date Wash- 
 ington, D. C, October 16, 1863, the undersigned hereby as- 
 sumes command of the "Military Division ot'the Mississippi, 
 embracing the departments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, 
 and of the Tennessee." 
 
 _ The head-quarters of the Military Division of the Missis- 
 si})pi will be in the field, where all reports and returns re- 
 quired by the army regulations and existing orders will be 
 made. 
 
 IJ. S. GRANT, Major-General. 
 
 The new command embraced within its limits the States 
 of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
 Mississippi, Northern Alabama, and North-western Georgia. 
 The following corps were also embraced in the command: 
 
 The Fourth Army Corps — General Granger. 
 
 The Ninth Army Corps — General Potter. 
 
 The Eleventh Army Corps — General Howard. 
 
 The Twelfth Army Corps — General Slocum. 
 
 The Fourteenth Army Corps — General Palmer. 
 
 The Fifteenth Army Corps — General J. A. Logan. 
 
 The Sixteenth Army Corps — General Ilurlbut. 
 
 The Seventeenth Army Corps — General McPherson. 
 
 The Twenty-third Army Corps — General Manson. 
 
 These different corps were divided into various armies, 
 under General Thomas, W. T. Sherman, and Burnside, with 
 numerous districts and posts in addition, under important 
 commanders. Without doubt no modern general ever had 
 the command of so great an army in so large a territory as 
 that now embraced in the Military Division of the Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
 When the rebels heard of the change in the command of 
 the armies at Chattanooga, one of their journalists remarked 
 
aif 
 
 LIFE OF GRANT. 55 
 
 that they had removed a hero (Rosecrans) and pkiced two 
 fools (Grant and Thomas) in command. The President is 
 reported to have said that "if one fool like Grant can do as 
 much work and win as profitahle victories as he, lie has no 
 objection to two of them, as they would surely wipe out the 
 rebellion." 
 
 General Grant was determined he would have no enemies 
 around him to report his movements to the rebels or to in- 
 terfere witli his plans; so, previous to his advance upon the 
 rebel positions, he issued the following orders: 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS— No. I. 
 
 Head-quarters Division" of the Mississippi, in thk Field, ) 
 Chattanooga, Tenn., November 5, 1863. J 
 
 The habit of tradino; parties of rebel cavalry visiting towns, 
 villages, and farms where there are no federal forces, and pil- 
 laging Union families, iiaving become prevalent, department 
 commanders will take immediate steps to abate the evil, or 
 make the loss by such raids fall upon secessionists and seces- 
 sion sympathizers in the neighborhood where such acts are 
 committed. For every act of violence to the person of an 
 unarmed Union citizen a secessionist will be arrested and 
 held as hostage for the delivery of the offender. For every 
 dollar's worth of property taken from such citizens, or de- 
 stroyed by raiders, an assessment will be made upon seces- 
 sionists of the neighborhood, and collected by the nearest 
 military forces, under the supervision of the commander 
 thereof, and the amount thus collected paid over to the suf- 
 ferers. When such assessments can not be collected in 
 money, property useful to the Government may be taken at 
 a fair valuation, and the amount paid in money by a dis- 
 bursing officer of the Government, who will take such prop- 
 erty upon his returns. Wealthy secession citizens will be 
 assessed in money and provisions for the support of Union 
 refugees who have been and may be driven from their homes 
 and into our lines by the acts of those with whom such seces- 
 sion citizens are in sympathy. All collections and payments 
 under this order will be through disbursing officers of the 
 Government, whose accounts must show all money and prop- 
 erty received under it, and how disposed of. By order of 
 
 Major-General U. S. Grant. 
 
 T. S. Bowers, Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
56 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 This order caused a flutter among the rebel drj'-bones. 
 They could discover no half-way temporizing about it, but 
 they did see that it meant a straightforward, just, and un- 
 mistakable system of reprisal for their persecutions and rob- 
 beries; and it accomplished more good in the restraint of 
 guerrilla practices than all the orders and proclamations 
 issued during the war. 
 
 The Army of the Cumberland, after the battle of Chicka- 
 mauga, was cut off from its communications, and General 
 Hooker's troops were sent to open this line. On the 27th, 
 28th, and 29th of October, this force, under directions from 
 General Grant, succeeded in re-opening the communication 
 on the south side of the Tennessee River, from Chattanooga 
 to Bridgeport, inflicting on the enemy an estimated loss of 
 over fifteen hundred men. The Union loss was but four 
 hundred and thirty- seven. 
 
 This movement secured the valley at the base of Lookout 
 Mountain, which elevation was still, however, held by the 
 rebels. As soon as General Grant could get up his supplies 
 he prepared to advance upon the enemy, who had become 
 w^eakened by the detachment of Longstreet's command 
 against Knoxville. General Sherman's army moved up the 
 north side of the Tennessee River, and during the nights of 
 the 23d and 24th of November established pontoon bridges 
 and crossed to the south side, between Citio Creek and the 
 Chickamauga. On the afternoon of the 23d General Thomas' 
 forces attacked the enemy's rifle-pits between Chattanooga 
 and Citio Creek. The battle was renewed on the 24th along 
 the whole line. Sherman carried the eastern end of Mission- 
 ary Ridge, up to the tunnel, and Thomas repelled every at- 
 tempt of the enemy to regain the position which he had lost 
 at the center, while Hooker's force, in Lookout Valley, crossed 
 the mountain and drove the enemy from its northern slope. 
 On the 25th the w^iole of Missionary Ridge, from Rossville 
 to the Chickamauga, was, after a desperate struggle, most 
 gallantly carried by our troops, and the enemy was com- 
 pletely routed. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 57 
 
 We must now again refer to the annual report of the Gen- 
 eral-in-Chief, in which, alluding to the campaign in the Chat- 
 tanooga mountains, he says : 
 
 Considering the strength of the rebel position and the diffi- 
 culty of storming his intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga 
 must he considered the most remarkable in history. JSTot only did 
 the officers and men exhibit great skill and daring in their 
 operations on the field, but the highest praise is due to the com- 
 manding general for his admirable dispositions for dislodging the 
 enemy from a j^osition apparently impregnable. Moreover, by 
 turning his right flank and throwing him back upon Rino-- 
 gold and Dalton, Sherman's forces were interposed between 
 Bragg and Longstreet, so as to prevent any possibility of 
 their forming a junction. 
 
 Jeff. Davis, in his message, also spoke of the impregna- 
 bility of the position before Chattanooga, and his surprise at 
 its abandonment by the rebel troops. 
 
 General Grant, by taking possession of and breaking up 
 the rebel railroad triangle, the corners of which rested on 
 Dalton, Cleveland, and Chattanooga, compressed the aorta 
 of the heart of the rebel confederacy, and almost choked the 
 life out of it then. 
 
 But did Grant, when he had secured this grand victory, sit 
 down quietly to contemplate what he had done? ISo. Burn- 
 side's forces were in danger. Therefore, while Generals 
 Thomas and Hooker were pushing Bragg's army back into 
 Georgia, General Sherman, with his own and General Gran- 
 ger's forces, was sent into East Tennessee to prevent the re- 
 turn of Longstreet and to relieve General Burnside, who was 
 then besieged in Knoxville. We know the result of the 
 movement. The siege of Knoxville was raised, and the rebels 
 had to retreat toward Viro^inia. 
 
 It may, at first, appear strange, that with the force Burn- 
 side had in hand, he could not prevent Longstreet from ad- 
 vancing upon his position at Knoxville. Our advices, how- 
 ever, show that his retreat was a part of the plan of the 
 grand campaign of General Grant. By allowing Longstreet 
 4 
 
58 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 to advance with the hope of capturing Knoxville, and de- 
 ■stro3Mng Bnrnside's army, tlie rebel General was drawn far 
 away from supporting distance of Bragg, so that when 
 Thomas, Sherman, and Hooker made the grand attacks, on 
 Koveniber 23d to 27th, 1863, Longstreet was incapable of ren- 
 dering any assistance. Bragg defeated. Grant at once turned 
 round and relieved Knoxville, following up that movement 
 by a combined pursuit of Longstreet's forces. 
 
 General Grant captured, from the commencement of the 
 war to the end of the Chatianooga campaign, no less than 
 four hundred and seventj'-two cannon and ninety thousand 
 prisoners — trulj' a noble record. 
 
 Speaking of Grant's intention at this time, the Richmond 
 Whig used the following language : 
 
 Grant's goal is Atlanta. He will be there before Christ- 
 mas, and half the cotton remaining in the Confederacy will 
 be in his hands, or destroyed, unless a truly great general 
 and a great army are placed athwart his path from within 
 three weeks from this day. 
 
 The rebel journals were not backward in their apprecia- 
 tion of his generalship after the battle of Chattanooga. 
 
 One of General Grant's colonels nearly got himself into a 
 difficulty in consequence of General Grant personally super- 
 intending the movements of the troops on the field. On this 
 occasion the general thought the regiment might be more ad- 
 vantageously posted, and told tlie colonel so; but as General 
 Grant was without the trapj^ings suitable to his rank, and had 
 never been known to that ollicer, the latter felt very much in- 
 clined to dispute his authority. But there was something in 
 the manner and tone of the commander as he gave the order 
 that seemed to demand obedience, and on second thought the 
 colonel I'olhnved out the command. lie soon after learned it 
 was General Grant who had directed his movements. 
 
 Again President Lincoln personally acknowledged his ap- 
 preciation of General Grant's skill by sending him the follow 
 ing telegram : 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 59 
 
 Washington, Dec. 8, 1863. 
 Major- General Grant: 
 
 Undetvstanding that your lodgment at Chattanooga and 
 Knoxville is now secure, I wish to tender you, and "all un- 
 der your command, my more than thanks — my profouudest 
 gratitude — for the skill, courage, and perseverance with 
 which you and they, over so great ditficulties, have eftected 
 that important object. God bless you all. 
 
 A. LINCOLK 
 
 General Grant's brilliant operations seemed to call for 
 something more than the rank of a major-gei>eral of the 
 regular army, the highest command in the service. It was 
 therefore proposed to revive the grade of lieutenant-general, 
 so as to give General Grant the honor of a higher position 
 in the ai-my as a reward for his services. 
 
 Both Houses of Congress having agreed to the Report of 
 the Committee of Conference on the bill reviving the grade 
 of lieutenant-general, the amended bill received the signa- 
 tures of the presiding officers of both Houses. The bill 
 passed provides that the grade of lieutenant-general be and 
 the same is hereby revived in the army of the United Sti iS, 
 and the President is hereby authorized, whenever he shall 
 deem it expedient, to appoint, by and with the consent of 
 the Senate, a lieutenant-general, to be selected from among 
 those officers in the military service not below the grade 
 of major-general, most distinguished for courage, skill, and 
 ability, who, being commissioned as lieutenant-general, shall 
 be authorized, under the direction and during the pleasure 
 of tlie President of the United States, to command the ar- 
 mies of the United States. That the lieutenant-general ap- 
 pointed, as hereinbefore provided, shall be entitled to the 
 pay, allowance, and staff specified in the fifth section of the 
 act approved May 28, 1798, and also the allowance described 
 in the sixth section of the act approved August 23, 1842, 
 granting additional rations to certain officers: Provided, Tliat 
 nothing in this bill contained shall be construed to afiect the 
 rank, pay, or allowance of Winfield Scott, lieutenant-general 
 by brevet, and now on the retired list of the army. 
 
60 LIFE OF GRANT* 
 
 The President of the United States, after the passage of 
 the bill by both Houses of Congress, nominated General 
 Grant for the position of lieutenant-general, which was 
 unanimously confirmed by the Senate on the 2d of March, 
 1864. 
 
 A resolution in honor of General Grant was offered in the 
 House of Representatives, on the second day of the session 
 (December, 1863), and passed unanimously without debate. 
 It also immediately passed the Senate, was approved by the 
 President, ^nd became a law. The following is the resolu- 
 tion and statute in full : 
 
 OFFICIAL 
 
 LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES — PASSED AT THE FIRST SESSION OF 
 THE THIRTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS. 
 
 [public RESOLUTION, NO. 1.] 
 
 Joint resolution of thanks to Major-General Ulysses S. 
 Grant and the officers and soldiers who have fought under 
 his command during this rebellion, and providing that the 
 President of the United States shall cause a medal to be 
 struck, to be presented to Major- General Grant in the name 
 of the people of the United States of America. 
 
 Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 
 of the United States of America, in Congress assembled. That 
 the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to 
 Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the offi- 
 cers and soldiers who have fought under his command during 
 this rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct in the bat- 
 tles in which they have been engaged; and that the President 
 of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be 
 struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
 presented to Major-General Grant. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further resolved. That, when the said medal 
 shall have been struck, the President shall cause a copy of this 
 joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall trans- 
 mit the same, together with the said medal, to Major-General 
 Grant, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further resolved. That a sufficient sum of 
 money to carry this resolution into effect is hereby appropri- 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 61 
 
 ated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- 
 priated, 
 
 SCHUYLER COLFAX, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 H. HAMLIN, 
 
 Vice-President of the United States, ayid President of the Senate. 
 
 Approved December 17, 1863. 
 
 ABRAHAM LmCOLK 
 
 Lieutenant-General Grant, accompanied by his sou, and 
 General Rawlins and Colonel Comstock, of his staff", arrived 
 at Washington on the evening of March 8, 1864, and at once 
 proceeded to AVillard's Hotel, and wrote on the register the 
 following : " U. S. Grant and sou, John Rawlins, Colonel 
 Comstock, Nashville, Tenu." He proceeded to his room, 
 threw off" his overcoat, and passed down to the dining-room, 
 accompanied by his boy, a hid of about twelve years of age. 
 He had not been seated but a few mhiutes when he was dis- 
 covered by the Hon. J. K. Morehead, of Pittsburg, who sat 
 at the next table, recognized him, and, rising, announced in 
 a loud voice that, " We have among us the hero of Vicks- 
 burg." Some one proposed three cheers, and all rose to 
 their feet and made the dining-room fairly ring with loud 
 cheer after cheer, and for several minutes the enthusiasm 
 knew no bounds — General Grant quietly bowing to his ri^ht 
 and left, and military officers and civilians crowding around 
 him, anxious to take by the hand the Western hero. When 
 he could get an opportunity, he finished his dinner, and on 
 leaving the room, the crowd that filled the lobby cheered as 
 he emerged and passed to his room. He took a carriage and 
 drove to General Halleck's about 8 P. M. 
 
 About a quarter to ten o'clock, Lieutenant-General Grant, 
 accompanied by several military friends, visited the White 
 House, the President at the time holding his public recep- 
 tion. He came in unannounced, and was evidently embar- 
 rassed. The President, being made aware of his presence, 
 
62 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 approached and shook him by the hand, being the first time 
 tliey ever met. The meeting was mutual!}- cordial. The Sec- 
 retary^ of State accompanied the General to the East Boom, 
 and, on entering it, the entire crowded assembly gave him 
 repeated cheers, and there was a general rush to shake him 
 by the hand. No reception could have been more cordial. 
 The Secretary of War was sent for, and, with other prom- 
 inent officials, soon after reached the White House. 
 
 General Grant was the grand feature at the reception 
 at the Executive Mansion. He was literally lifted up for 
 awhile, and in obedience to a demand and to a necessity, so 
 great was the desire to have a fair look at him, he was 
 obliged to mount a sofa, under the auspices of Secretary 
 Seward, who preceded him to that elevation. There has 
 never been such a coat-tearing, button-bursting jam in the 
 White House as this soldier occasioned. The cheering and 
 waving of handkerchiefs was tremendous. Afterward, with 
 the Secretary of State upon one side and the Secretary of 
 War on the other, he received the congratulations of the 
 multitude. Nothing of the kind was ever before witnessed 
 at the White House. After shaking hands with every body, 
 a la President, General Grant escorted Mrs. Lincoln around 
 the East Room and retired. 
 
 The modesty of the hero of twenty-seven battles was the 
 subject of general comment. 
 
 In the City Councils resolutions were unanimously passed 
 tenderino; to General Grant a cordial welcome and the hos- 
 pitalities and freedom of the city. These resolutions were 
 suitably engraved and presented to the General by a com- 
 mittee composed of the mayor and two members of each 
 branch of the councils. 
 
 On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 9th, 1864, the Pres- 
 ident of the United States formally presented to Major-Gen- 
 eral Grant his commission as Lieutenant-General. The cer- 
 emony took place in the Cabinet Chamber, in the presence of 
 the entire Cabinet, General Halleck, Representative Lovejoy, 
 General Rawlins, and Colonel Comstock, of General Grant's 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 68 
 
 staff, the son of General Grant, and Mr. Nicolay, Private Sec- 
 retary of the President. 
 
 General Grant having entered the room, the President 
 rose, and addressed him thus : 
 
 General Grant, by the nation's appreciation of what you 
 have done, and its reliance on you for what remains to do in 
 the existing great struggle, you are now presented with this 
 commission, constituting you Lieutenant-General in the Army 
 of the United States. ^Vith this high honor devolves upon 
 you also a corresponding resiionsibiiity. As the country herein 
 trusts you, so, under Gud, it will sustain you. I scarcely need 
 to add, that with what I here speak for the nation, goes my 
 own hearty personal concurrence. 
 
 To which Lieutenant-General Grant replied as follows: 
 
 Mr. President, I accept this commission with gratitude for 
 the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies 
 that have fought on so many fields for our common country, 
 it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expect- 
 ations. I feel the full weight of the responsibiUties now de- 
 volving on me, and I know that if they are met it will be due 
 to those armies, and above all, to the favor of that Providence 
 which leads both nations and men. 
 
 The President then introduced the General to all the mem- 
 bers of the Cabinet, after which the company was seated, and 
 about half an hour was spent in }>leasant social conversation. 
 
 Grant was the hero of Washington now, as he had been of 
 every battle in which he had engaged since entering the serv- 
 ice. He was feted^ toasted, thanked, and serenaded to sur- 
 feit; but this did not suit his taste. His country needed him 
 in the field, and he felt that he owed all his service there. He 
 appeared to feel, at this time, as though he had been raised 
 up of Heaven to aid in putting down the wicked rebellion 
 against the most liberal government on earth; and, there- 
 fore, that every energy should be devoted to the faithful 
 discharge of the solemn responsibilities his office devolved 
 upon him. One incident, to show the state of his mind at 
 this time, we may be pardoned for quoting from Major Peu- 
 nimau's "Tanner Boy": 
 
64 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 "0, General Grant!" exclaimed the spokes-woman of a 
 bevy of fair ladies, who clustered around him at Washing- 
 ton, "we hear there is going to be a ball in connection with 
 the grand review of the Army of the Potomac." 
 
 "Indeed!" he quietly replied, "I had not heard of it." 
 
 " Well, it is all lixed. General. We ladies always have the 
 management of these things after reviews." 
 
 "Is it possible?" 
 
 " You do n't know, General, what a delightful time we had 
 at the last ball in the army." 
 
 "1^0, I don't, indeed," he replied, with a grim smile. 
 
 " 0, such beautiful officers ! and such glorious dancing ! 
 and such delicious music! and such a luxurious supper! Do, 
 General, let us have another ball, ivon't you?" 
 
 "Ladies!" said the General, pausing in his hurried walk 
 up and down the room, and looking at them with a grave 
 and fixed attention ; " this thing must be stopped. I am not 
 a cynic, and enjoy rational pleasures as well as any one else; 
 but I would ask you, in all candor and gentleness, if this is 
 a time for music, and dancing, and feasting among officers in 
 the army? Is our country in a condition to call for such 
 things at present? Do army balls inspire our troops with 
 courage in the field? Do they soothe our sick and wounded 
 in the hospitals ? If another such ball is attempted in the 
 Army of the Potomac, at such a time as tliis, I shall put a 
 stop to it by a special order!" 
 
 To the credit of these ladies, let it be here recorded that 
 the}^ instantly saw the propriety of the General's position, 
 and pressed such applications no more. 
 
 The confidence of the people in General Grant caused his 
 promotion to the command of the armies of the United States 
 to be greeted by cordial expressions of satisfaction on the 
 part of the loyal masses every-where, and the feeling of gloom 
 that had begun to pervade the public mind, on account of 
 the inefficiency of some officers whose positions were be- 
 yond their abilities for performance, was effectually dispelled. 
 The note of busy preparation was sounded at Washington, 
 and the War Department was brought promptly into active 
 duty. A council of war was held, and all the military talent 
 at the command of the government was summoned to its 
 deliberations. In this council, General Grant made the bold 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 65 
 
 announcement that Richmond must be taken, and that, with 
 the cooperation of the government and the army, he would 
 take it. He declared that the taking of the rebel capital 
 would at once defeat the rebellion, and that we must fight 
 out the balance of the war on that line. Soldiers, statesmen, 
 and people were at once struck with the wisdom of this plan, 
 and thej united upon it with a purpose so determined that no 
 doubt existed of its ultimate and judicious accomplishment. 
 And it was the feeling of trust in their military leader, and 
 their unbounded confidence in all his movements, combina- 
 tions, and designs that enabled him finally to accomplish a 
 victory over the entire force of secession, and plant the flag 
 of the Union upon its stronghold. 
 
 On the 10th of March, 1864, he issued his orders to bring 
 forward at once the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps from Chat- 
 tanooga, and the Sixteenth and Seventeeth Corps from the 
 Mississippi River, to Virginia. His own head-quarters were 
 immediately established in the field, and he issued his orders 
 with promptness and efliciency to every part of his widely- 
 scattered command. His mind was at New Orleans, Chat- 
 tanooga, Vicksburg, Knoxville, Xashville, Mobile, Savan- 
 nah, and Charleston, as active as among the forces under 
 his more immediate supervision. His combinations were 
 made with all the precision of movements on a chess-board, 
 and with far more certainty of their ultimate accomplish- 
 ment of his purpose. 
 
 Grant had been in immediate command of the Army of 
 the Potomac but a few days before a great change was ob- 
 servable in its discipline. His orders were strict, and executed 
 with rigid severity, and his officers and men were not long 
 iu discovering some advantages of military discipline they 
 had not previously comprehended. The whole country was 
 conscious of the change for the better, and appreciated it 
 with a degree of satisfaction little short of that with which it 
 greeted the result of the siege of Vicksburg. 
 
 The discipline that he prescribed for his troops was the 
 same as that to which he subjected himself. He proved to 
 
66 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 his men that he considered himself only a man with them, 
 that he was willing to share their privations, and they not 
 only loved him all the more tenderly, but resolved in their 
 hearts to fight under him all the more bravely. 
 
 Those who remember the great peril of the Republic in 
 the spring of 1864 will recur to it as the most solemn and 
 eventful crisis in the history of the rebellion. The fate of a 
 great nation, whose career up to this date had been marked 
 by the most distinguished success, and whose previous his- 
 tory upon the page of the world was emblazoned by a halo 
 of glorious deeds, hung trembling in the scale. The respon- 
 sibility of success or failure was placed upon General Grant, 
 and he accepted it. '"If he were doomed to failure, fearful 
 disasters must follow that no tongue or pen could portray. 
 If he were granted success b}^ benignant Heaven, the bless- 
 ings of millions would descend upon his head, and he would 
 be hailed by the side of Washington, as the second savior of 
 his country." 
 
 Grant directed his attention to one great object, the taking 
 of Richmond, and the whole strength of his immense armies 
 was brought to bear upon its accomplishment. General 
 Meade, at the head of the Army of the Potomac, was ordered 
 to move on the enemy at Richmond by crossing the Rubicon 
 at the Rapidan River. General Butler received his orders to 
 march up the Virginia peninsula, also toward the rebel capi- 
 tal. General Sherman was instructed to push down from 
 the heights of old Chattanooga to the rebel posts in Georgia. 
 General Sigel, with a reserve of thirty-one thousand men, 
 was to occupy the valley of the Shenandoah. It was a grand 
 movement to the front, and foreshadowed a combination that 
 was destined to crush out the life of secession. Its system- 
 atic detail and magnificent proportions struck dismay to the 
 hearts of the rebel leaders, and they became despondent in 
 proportion to the degree of confidence renewed at the North. 
 
 It was designed that all the Union armies throughout the 
 country should make a combined movement, assuming the 
 offensive, about the fi.rst of May, and this design was success- 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 67 
 
 fully carried into effect. The movement of troops was gene- 
 ral, both east and west, and they closed in upon the rebel 
 territory with the same determination that animated their 
 great leader, to wit : to recover it to the Federal Government. 
 
 The record of the life of General Grant from the date of 
 the battle of the Wilderness, commencing May 5, 1864, to 
 the surrender of Richmond on the 3d of April, 1865, is the 
 history of our nation during that period, and, through the 
 intense interest excited by its great events, it is so familiar 
 to intelligent readers, that it is only necessary to make a brief 
 recapitulation of its principal incidents to preserve the con- 
 nection of the narrative. 
 
 The rebels fought desperately in the battle of the Wilder- 
 ness, and General Lee employed all his strategy to outgene- 
 ral our great captain, but he was compelled to retire on the 
 third day of the contest, with severe loss; and our own loss 
 was also fearful. Lee retired to take a more advantageous 
 position-, and Grant divined his object with that strange pre- 
 science which seemed to endow him with a faculty above 
 those enjoyed by ordinary mortals. He ordered a rapid ad- 
 vance, and our army hurried forward to Spottsylvania Court 
 House. The rebels were here in great force, and strongly 
 intrenched. Fighting commenced on the 8th of May, the 
 National troops rushed forward upon the enemy with all the 
 impetuosity of dauntless bravery, and the fight at once be- 
 came general in all directions. The slaughter was terrible. 
 Men fell, not by tw^os, or threes, or dozens, but bj' scores and 
 hundreds, till the very earth seemed to sicken with the hor- 
 rible surfeit of blood. Such was the nature of this great 
 battle during the first two days, and the history of the third 
 day is still more replete with fearful details. General Grant 
 had given orders for the decisive attack upon the enemy to 
 be made at precisely five o'clock in the morning. As the 
 hour drew near, the anxiety and excitement were intense. 
 The enemy was discovered in force upon the right flank, and 
 immediate preparations to meet his onslaught, which was 
 designed as a surprise, became necessary, which delayed the 
 
68 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 preconcerted attack. General Grant was wide awake to the 
 condition of atfairs, and equal to the emergency, and the 
 enemy was met and held in check. The hour for the gene- 
 ral assault was then fixed for half-past six o'clock, and the 
 columns of the great army rapidly gathered together for the 
 coming arbitrament. At the precise time a discharge burst 
 at the same instant from the months of twelve signal guns, 
 and the whole mass was immediately in motion. Cheer after 
 cheer burst from the Union ranks as they swept resistlessly 
 onward, driving the enemy into their intrenchments, and 
 even following them there, cutting them down or taking 
 them prisoners in their own rifle-pits. Both armies fought 
 with terrible desperation through the entire day, and the 
 Union loss was estimated at not less than ten thousand ; the 
 rebel loss was quite as severe. It was at this time that Grant 
 sent to Major-Geueral Dix his celebrated dispatch, in the fol- 
 lowing words : 
 
 We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. 
 The result to this time is much in our favor. Our losses 
 have been heavy, as well as those of the enemy. I think the 
 loss of the enemy must be greater. We have taken over live 
 thousand prisoners in battle, while he has taken from us few 
 except stragglers. I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes 
 all summer. 
 
 The battle continued through eight days, with scarcely any 
 intermission, and resulted in driving the enemy from his in- 
 trenchments with great loss. General Grant was on the field 
 during the whole time, and personally superintended many 
 of the assaults of our troops. 
 
 This commencement of the campaign filled the land with 
 mourning over its terrible record of slaughter, but it made 
 the people only the more determined to push forward to an 
 ultimate triumph. Reenforcements were prompt!}' forwarded 
 at the call of the brave leader, and the eneiny was vigorously 
 pursued. 
 
 Battles and skirmishes were of daily occurrence as our 
 army advanced, it being of vital impoi-tauce to the enemy 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 69 
 
 to interrupt our approach to the rebel capital ; and they dis- 
 played great ingenuity and the most unquestionable bravery 
 in their warfare; but such an army as ours, with such a 
 leader, must ever prove invincible. On the 24th of May, 
 such had been the rapidity of Grant's movements, the whole 
 army crossed the North Anna ; and on the 29th it crossed the 
 Pamunkey, its base being "White House. There was some 
 fighting on the 30th and 31st, but the serious engagement 
 at this time was the battle of Coal Harbor, fought on the 1st 
 and 3d of June. It was a bloody field, the Union loss number- 
 ing not less than 7,500, without gaining commensurate ad- 
 vantage; and General Grant resolved upon his memorable 
 change of base across the Chickahominy. 
 
 By this manoeuver, which was effected on the 12th of June, 
 his army was augmented by a junction with General Butler's, 
 and by alliance with the United States naval forces on the 
 James River. He possessed himself, moreover, of a healthier 
 tract of country in which to operate, and also narrowed the 
 scene of his operations. His dispositions for other and co- 
 operative campaigns had been wisely made, so that now he 
 had nothino: to fear from rebel invasion of the Is^ortb. Lee's 
 attention must be concentrated on Petersburg and Pich- 
 mond, and it was evident that he had made a strategic move- 
 ment of almost unexampled brilliancy and advantage. 
 
 From this time onward, the Union arms, directed by one 
 master mind, were every- where victorious. Sherman, in his 
 great march to tlie sea, split the Confederacy in halves, and 
 Grant disposed his forces about the rebel capital in a man- 
 ner that indicated the speedy reduction of that stronghold. 
 The siege of Petersburg and liichmond was the great event 
 of the war in more respects than one. During its continu- 
 ance, a call was made by the President of the United States 
 for 500,000 additional troops. The call was under date of 
 18th July. A draft was subsequently ordered. Later in the 
 summer General Grant wrote the following letter, which is 
 a concise summing up of the situation at that time, and is 
 peculiarly interesting at this moment as showing his estimate 
 
70 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 of some political ideas that were gaining ground slowly at 
 the IS'orth, at about the date under which he wrote : 
 
 Head-quarters Armies of the United States, ) 
 City Point, Va., August 16, 1864. | 
 
 To Hon. E. B. Washburne: 
 
 Dear Sir — I state to all citizens who visit me, that all we 
 want now to insure an early restoration of the Union, is a 
 determined unity of sentiment North. The rebels have now 
 in their ranks their last man. The little boys and old men 
 are guarding prisoners, guarding railroad bridges, and form- 
 ing a good part of their garrisons for intrenched positions. 
 A man lost by them can not be replaced. They have robbed 
 the cradle and the grave equally to get their present force. 
 Besides what they lose in frequent skirmishes and battles, 
 the}' are now losing from desertions, and other causes, at least 
 one regiment per day. 
 
 With this drain upon them the end is not far distant, if we 
 will only be true to ourselves. Their only hope now is in a 
 divided North. This might give them reenforcements from 
 Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, while it would 
 weaken us. With the draft quickly enforced, the enemy 
 would become despondent, and would make but little resist- 
 ance. I have no doubt but the enemy are exceedingly anx- 
 ious to hold out until after the Presidential election. They 
 have many hopes from its effects. 
 
 They hope a counter-revolution ; they hope for the elec- 
 tion of the peace candidate. In fact, like Micawber, they 
 hope for something to "turn up." Our peace friends, if 
 they expect peace from separation, are much mistaken. It 
 would be but the beginning of war, with thousands of North- 
 ern men joining the South because of our disgrace in allow- 
 ing a separation. To have " peace on any terms,'' the South 
 would demand the restoration of their slaves already fieed; 
 they would demand indemnity for losses sustained, and they 
 would demand a treaty which would make the North slave- 
 hunters for the South. They would demand pay for, or res- 
 toration of every slave escaping to the North. 
 
 Yours, truly, U. S. GRANT. 
 
 The great Union victory achieved by the forces under 
 General Grant, at the battle of Five Forks, on the 1st and 
 2d of April, 1865, decided the fate of the cities of Richmond 
 and Petersburg, and knocked the life out of armed secession. 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 71 
 
 Both places were immediately evacuated by the rebels, and 
 were entered and occupied by the national forces on the 3d 
 of April. The great responsibility that General Grant had 
 so trustfully and solemnly assumed one year before, was 
 nobly discharged, and the old flag waved over the last forti- 
 fication the rebels had any hope of defending. Immense 
 excitement and rejoicing were occasioned throughout the 
 North by the dispatches which announced this news to the 
 country, and the name of the great leader, whose fertile 
 brain had planned and executed the total overthrow of the 
 nation's foes, was on every tongue. The newsjiapers were 
 filled with accounts of the great victory, and glorification of 
 General Grant; and, on every hand, salutes and bonfires, and 
 all manner of demonstrations of gladness, announced the 
 conviction of the people that the civil war was substantially 
 ended. All the cities of the Xorth were gayly decked with 
 the glorious banner of the Re[»ublic, and with portraits of 
 the great captain of its victorious legions. All was enthu- 
 siasm and gratitude. 
 
 The following documents were issued from the "War Oflice 
 at Washiuo^ton : 
 
 "O* 
 
 War Department, ) 
 
 •I 
 
 Washington, D. C, April 9—9.30 P. M, 
 Lieutenant- General Grant: 
 
 Thanks be to Almighty God for the great victory with 
 which he has this day crowned you and the gallant armies 
 under your command. 
 
 Tlie thanks of this department, and of the Government, 
 and of the people of the United States — their reverence and 
 honor have been deserved — will be rendered to you and the 
 brave and gallant oflicers and soldiers of your army for all 
 time. 
 
 EDWIN M. STANTON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 War Department, ^ 
 
 Washington, D. C, April 9— 10 T. M. / 
 
 Ordered, That a salute of two hundred guns be fired at the 
 head-quarters of every army and department, and at every 
 
72 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 post and arsenal in the United States, and at the Military 
 Academy at West Point, on the day of the receipt of this 
 order, in commemoration of the snrrender of General E,. E. 
 Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, to Lientenant-Geu- 
 eral Grant and the army under his command ; report of the 
 receipt and execution of this order to be made to the Adju- 
 tant-General, Washington. 
 
 EDWIN M. STANTON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 As a fair sample of the newspaper articles, at the time of 
 which we write, and as an honest reflection of popular opin- 
 ion, we append the following from the New York World, (a 
 Democratic sheet), under date of April 11, 1865 : 
 
 General Grant's history should teach us to discriminate 
 better than we Americans are apt to do between glitter and 
 solid worth. Our proneness to run after demagogues and 
 spouters may find a wholesome corrective in the study of 
 such a character as his. The qualities by which great things 
 are accomplished, are here seen to have no necessary connec- 
 tion with show}' and superficial accomplishments. When the 
 mass of men look upon such a character, they may learn a 
 truer respect for themselves and each other; they are taught 
 by it that high qualities and great abilities are consistent 
 with the simplicity of taste, contempt for parade, and plain- 
 ness of manners with which direct and earnest men have a 
 strong natural sympathy'. Ulysses Grant, the tanner, Ulys- 
 ses Grant the unsuccessful applicant for the post of city sur- 
 veyor of St. Louis, Ulysses Grant, the driver into that city 
 of his two-horse team with a load of wood to sell, had within 
 him every manly quality which will cause the name of Lieu- 
 tenant-General Grant to live forever in history. His career 
 is a lesson in practical democracy. It is a quiet satire on the 
 dandyism, the puppyism, and the shallow aifectation of our 
 fashionable exquisites as well as upon the swagger of our 
 plausible, glib-tongued demagogues. Not by any means that 
 great qualities are inconsistent with cultivated manners and 
 a fluent elocution, but that such superficial, accomplishments 
 are no measure of worth or ability. 
 
 General Grant's last brilliant campaign sets the final seal 
 upon his reputation. It stamps him as the superior of his able 
 antagonist, as well as all the commanders who have served with 
 or under him iu the great campaigns of the last year. It is 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 73 
 
 not necessary to sacrifice any part of their well-earned repu- 
 tations to his. Sherman and Sheridan deserve all that has 
 ever been said in their praise ; but there has never been a 
 time, since Grant was made Lieutenant-General, when any 
 body but Sherman, on our side, could have been classed with 
 him. Since Sherman's bold march through Georgia, and his 
 capture of Savannah and Charleston, there have been many 
 who, in their strong admiration of his great achievements, 
 are inclined to rank him as the greater General of the two. 
 That judgment, we take it, is now reversed by the court of 
 iinal appeal ; not by dwarling the reputation of Sherman, 
 which sutlers no just abatement, but by the expansion into 
 grander proportions of that of Grant. 
 
 Grant stands preeminent among all the Generals who have 
 led our armies into the late war, in that he has exhibited the 
 utmost strength of will of which the highest type of man- 
 hood is capable. The defenses of Vicksburg and the de- 
 fenses of liichmond were both deemed impregnable, and 
 were defended with a proportionable confidence and obsti- 
 nacy ; but they both yielded, at last, to Grant's matchless per- 
 sistence and unequaled strategy. And in both cases, he not 
 only took the long-contested positions, but compelled the 
 surrender of the whole force defending them. Nothing could 
 be more clean and complete, even in imagination, than Gen- 
 eral Grant's masterly execution. He did not merely in each 
 case, acquire a position which was the key of a wide theater 
 of operations ; he did not merely beat or disable the opposing 
 force; he left no fragment of it in existence, except as pris- 
 oners of war subject to his disposal. 
 
 If any body is so obtuse or so wrong-headed as to see noth- 
 ing great in General Grant beyond his marvelous tenacity of 
 will, let that doubter explain, if he can, how it has happened 
 that, since Grant rose to high command, this quality has al- 
 ways been exerted, in conspicuous energy, precisely at the 
 point on which every thing in his whole sphere of operations 
 hinged. There has been no display of great qualities on 
 small occasions; no expenditure of herculean effort to accom- 
 plish objects not of the first magnitude. It is only a very 
 clear-siglited and a very comprehensive mind that could al- 
 ways thus have laid the whole emphasis of an indomitable 
 soul so precisely on the emphatic place. How, if he be not 
 a General of the first order of intellect, as well as of the most 
 heroic determination, does it happen that in assigning great 
 and brilliant parts to his subordinate commanders, he has 
 5 
 
.74 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 never, when results of his strategy were fully unfolded, ap- 
 peared in the picture except as the central figure ? How- 
 ever it may seem during the progress' of one of his great 
 combined campaigns, it ahva^'S turns out at last, when it 
 reaches that completeness and finish in which he contrives 
 to have his campaigns end, that we see him standing in the 
 foreground, and that the grouping is always such that the 
 glory of the other Generals, instead of eclipsing his own, 
 gives it additional luster. It is this sureness of judgment 
 which sees precisely where lies the turning point; which sees 
 precisely what are the objects that justify the utmost stretch 
 of persistence ; it is this ability to take in the whole field of 
 view in just ^perspective and due subordination of parts, that 
 is the mark of a superior mind. General Grant has taken 
 out of the hands of all critics the question whether it be- 
 longs to him. He has won his greatest triumph over the 
 most skillful and accomplished General on the other side; 
 over a General who foiled him long enough to prove his 
 great mastery of the art of war; and the completeness of 
 whose defeat is a testiinony to Grant's genius such as a vic- 
 tory over any other General of the Confederacy, or even an 
 earlier victory over Lee himself, could not have given. Ap- 
 ply to General Grant what test you will; measure him by the 
 magnitude of the obstacles he has surmounted, by the value 
 of the positions he has gained, by the fame of the antagonist 
 over whom he has triumphed, by the achievements of his 
 most illustrious co-workers, by the sureness with which he 
 directs his indomitable energy to the vital point which is the 
 key of a vast field of operations, or by that supreme test of 
 consummate ability, the absolute completeness of his results, 
 and he vindicates his claim to stand next after I^Tapoleon and 
 Wellington, among the great soldiers of this century, if not 
 on a level with the latter. 
 
 ISTothing has occurred since the publication of this article 
 to render its views of General Grant less true than they were 
 when written with the purpose of doing him simple justice, 
 without regard to political bias; but, on the contrary, he has 
 proved that in the administration of the civil aftairs of a 
 peace establishment, he possesses those rare endowments of 
 practical statesmanship which qualify him for all the respon- 
 sibilities of the executive head of the Government in any 
 emergency. The impression is wide-spread and general 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 75 
 
 among the American people that in his hands their interests 
 and the honor and prosperity of the country will be safe, and 
 thus will their votes in his behalf most abundantly testify. 
 
 A'much greater space should be given to the narrative of 
 the subject of this sketch than we are able to accord in a vol- 
 ume of this size, but we are compelled to close it here with 
 a few anecdotes and incidents illustrative of his every-day 
 life and character, that can not fail to prove of interest. 
 
 When riding to the front, preparing for a speedy battle, he 
 met, one day, an officer who had been his fellow-cadet at 
 West Point. Grant was on horseback, unattended except by 
 his faithful orderly, patiently pursuing his careful inspections 
 of his position through a heavy storm of rain. The officer 
 was riding in a handsome four-wheeled covered carriage, ou 
 easy elliptic springs, and softly-cushioned seats, with an ele- 
 gant stud of horses, and a guard of out-riders. The meeting 
 under such circumstances was a mutual surprise. 
 
 The recognitions and salutes passed, the General, with that 
 quiet humor which at times crops out in his character, po- 
 litely asked : 
 
 " May I have the pleasure of your company, sir ? " 
 
 The officer was clad in his best on this occasion. His uni- 
 form was perfect in its fit. His straps were of the broadest 
 and most elegant pattern. His plumes were of the largest 
 and glossiest. His gloves were as clean as it is possible to 
 make yellow buckskin. His patent-leather army boots were 
 unsoiled by a single drop of rain or mud. 
 
 " Certainly, General," he replied, with great blandness and 
 cordiality ; "I will turn about and drive along with you. Or, 
 will 3'ou not get in with me, General ? " 
 
 " No, I 'm obliged to you," replied Grant ; " I am in great 
 haste to get to the front, and have not a moment to lose. 
 Besides, I wish to speak with you in private. Do me the 
 favor to walk along this way." 
 
 The officer left his comfortable seat (for now there was no 
 other course for him), plunged out in the mud and rain, and 
 trudged on by the side of the General, he all the while ask- 
 
76 
 
 LIFE OF GRANT. 
 
 ing him important questions respecting his department, till 
 he was wet to the skin. 
 
 As he turned to go back to his showy vehicle, the General 
 quietly reminded him of the influence of his example on the 
 troops, and politely intimated that there would be no more 
 field-carriages supplied to officers from that day. 
 
 On another occasion the General had entered the train for 
 one of his posts of duty, and quietly taken a seat with his 
 staff, all bound to the place nearest the field. A sentry had 
 been stationed at the door near where the General sat for 
 the purpose of keeping him from interruption. A soldier of 
 the line, not knowing he was inside, stepped forward on the 
 platform, had half-opened the door of the car, and was about 
 entering. As he stood there, the knob of the door in his 
 hand, the quick word and musket of the sentinel interposed: 
 
 " Halt ! you can't go in there ! " 
 
 " Why not ? " he respectfully asked. 
 
 "General Grant is inside." 
 
 The soldier paused and was about retiring, when a quick 
 voice from within said : 
 
 "Come in, soldier. General Grant occupies only one 
 seat." 
 
 The soldier looked a moment in surprise at the speaker, 
 when, becoming re-assured by the glance that answered his' 
 he politely entered and took the proffered seat beside the 
 Lieutenant-General, who soon engaged him in familiar con- 
 versation. 
 
 How many of the great little men that the war raised from 
 obscurity for a short time would have associated with a pri- 
 vate soldier under such circumstances ? 
 
 When first spoken to, in 1864, concerning the mention of 
 his name for the Presidency, he replied, "Let us first settle 
 the war, and it will be time enough then to talk upon that 
 subject. On another occasion, when rallied about tlie per- 
 sistent use of his name for the Presidency by the New York 
 Herald, he said : " I aspire to only one political office. When 
 this war is over, I mean to run for mayor of Galena (his place 
 
LIFE OF GRANT. 77 
 
 of residence). If elected, I intend to have the sidewalk fixed 
 up between my house and the depot." 
 
 The IS'ew York Herald, of May 23, prints this paragraph, 
 in the course of a lengthy article, referring to the candidates 
 nominated at Chicago : 
 
 The news of their nomination will strengthen the confi- 
 dence of the friends in " the great Itepublic " over all the 
 world — on the Thames, the Seine, the Khine, the Neva, and 
 the Danube, and from the mighty Amazon, rolling its flood 
 of waters down the equatorial line, to the imperial Yang-tse- 
 Kiang of China, "the son of the sea." Nor will that honest 
 faith in American securities at Frankfort-on-the-Main be 
 weakened with the prospect of the transfer from and after 
 the 4th of March, 1869, of the reins of our government to 
 Grant and Colfax. 
 
 If Ulysses S. Grant lives till the 4th of March, 1869, he 
 will on that day take his seat as President of the United 
 States, and it should be the prayer of every patriot that he 
 may be spared to us for yet many years. 
 
SCHUYLER COLFAX. 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 Schuyler Colfax was born in the city of New York, 
 March 23, 1823, and is, therefore, General Grant's junior bj' 
 little more than one year. He is descended from a highly 
 respectable ancestry*, several of whom were noted for their 
 rare intellectual gifts, but the circumstances of his own fam- 
 ily, during his youth, debarred him from the enjoyment of 
 more than an ordinary common-school education. This, how- 
 ever, laid the foundation for a judicious sj'stem of self-instruc- 
 tion, which, when pursued in the proper spirit, can not fail 
 to fit the student for the practical duties of life in a higher 
 degree and to a better purpose than any college course, and 
 especially so in those cases where he is aware that all his suc- 
 cess in life must be dependent on his own exertions. 
 
 It is rare that the early days of childhood give au}^ certain 
 promise of the future man, and this fact is proven in the 
 history of nearly every eminent man the world has yet pro- 
 duced ; but it seems they did so in the case of young Colfax. 
 He became famous among his companions for a bold spirit 
 and adventurous undertakings from which boys of his age 
 usually shrink. Though naturally weak in constitution, and 
 subject to frequent attacks of illness, which made his tempx^r 
 somewhat irritable at times, he nevertheless possessed the 
 best disposition and feelings, and was noted for his kindness 
 and generosity to his youthful friends. 
 
 He was noted, even when quite young, for his high sense 
 
 (79) 
 
80 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 of conscientiousness, and alwaj-s shrank from every thing- 
 like meanness or deception. He invariably told the truth, 
 regardless of consequences, and one instance is related in 
 which the consequences were quite disastrous to him. 
 
 He one day engaged in a game of ball, with other boys, in 
 a street of New York, and, by a miscalculation, sent the ball 
 crashing through the window of a gentleman's house. It 
 was the parlor window, the glass was French plate, and the 
 vases and other bijouterie in the room were more or less dam- 
 aged. 
 
 The gentleman rushed out, and seizing the first boy he 
 could lay his hands upon, commenced beating him unmer- 
 cifully. Young Colfax promptly ran up to him and ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 "He is not to blame, sir; it was I that hit the ball when 
 it broke your window ; but I did not intend to send it in 
 that direction. Please, sir, don't whip him for my fault." 
 
 This was straightforward and manly ; but the gentleman 
 was of a penurious disposition, and estimated dollars and 
 cents far above youthful integrity; he therefore pounced 
 upon the honest little fellow and almost beat the life out of 
 him ; nor did he desist vintil some gentlemen who were pass- 
 ing interfered, and, having learned the circumstances, threat- 
 ened to prosecute the assailant for his brutal treatment of 
 the boy. He was carried home to his mother more dead 
 than alive, and confined to his bed during several weeks, as 
 a reminder, according to his own expression to an intimate 
 friend, that "virtue is not always its own reward in this 
 world." 
 
 He was also remarkable, from early childhood, for his self- 
 control, and he cultivated this disposition with great assi- 
 duity. It is related of him that on occasions when he was 
 surprised into irritability, and when lie exhibited anger to- 
 ward any of his companions, he would afterward prescribe 
 for himself severe punishments, or undergo a rigorous pen- 
 ance, in order to prepare himself for resistance to any tempt- 
 ation that might ofier for a repetition of the offense. 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. gX 
 
 The writer of tins narrative has iu his possession many in- 
 teresting reminiscences of Schuyler Colfax's youth, that 
 shadow forth, with unusual distinctness, the man of correct 
 principle, and of that old-fashioned, sterling integrity whence 
 proceed the most lovable traits of the human character ; but 
 the record of his maturer years is more interesting for our 
 present purpose, and to that we are now disposed to turn our 
 attention. 
 
 He removed to South Bend, Indiana, in 1836, and shortly 
 thereafter, through some exhibition of literary ability that 
 attracted the attention of prominent men in the town, was 
 installed as associate editor of the South Bend newspaper. 
 He had never learned the trade of a printer, as one of his 
 biographers states, but the sheet upon which he was engaged, 
 being very small when he first became associated with°it%e 
 conceived the idea of devoting a portion of his time to type- 
 setting, and he acquired sufficient knowledge of that branch 
 of the trade to place his own articles in type direct from the 
 brain, without the trouble of reducing them to manuscript. 
 He continued this pi-actice for several years, and probably 
 during the entire period of his direct connection with the 
 paper. 
 
 In 1844, he became editor and publisher of the South Bend 
 Register, and under his exclusive management it soon grew 
 to be one of the influential papers of the State. Its politics 
 were intensely Whig, of the simon-pure Henry Clay school, 
 and they were advocated with a degree of intelligence and 
 convincing argument that were very gratifying to the party 
 leaders, and productive of a large increase in the Whig 
 strength of St. Joseph County. 
 
 ^ In 1848, he was a delegate to the Whig National Conven- 
 tion, and was chosen Secretary of that body. In 1850, he was 
 a member of the Indiana Constitutional Convention, and 
 in 1852 again Secretary of the Whig National Convention. 
 He was elected to the Thirty-fourth Congress, and has repre- 
 sented his district in the House since that time, having been 
 repeatedly reelected by large majorities. He was elected 
 
82 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 Speaker of the Thirty-eighth Congress, aud reelected to pre- 
 side over the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth. He was urged, but 
 declined to accept a seat in the Senate, preferring the pre- 
 siding chair in the House. His first great speech in Con- 
 gress, that attracted the marked attention of the people, was 
 delivered June 21, 1856, on " The Laws of Kansas," and it 
 was considered a remarkable effort. Thousands upon thou- 
 sands of copies were printed and distributed during the Pres- 
 idential campaign of 1856, by the Republican Association at 
 Washington City, and it was doubtless read by half a million 
 of people, and by many thousands who date the commence- 
 ment of a Avholesome change in their political convictions 
 from the perusal of its logical arguments. It closes with the 
 following paragraph, which will sufficiently indicate its style 
 and the principles it advocates; but, to be fully ai)}ireciated, 
 it should be read entire by every voter in the land: 
 
 As I look, sir, to the smiling valleys and fertile plains of 
 Kansas, and witness there the sorrowful scenes of civil war, 
 in which, when forbearance at last ceased to be a virtue, the 
 Free State men of the Territory felt it necessary, deserted as 
 they were by their Government, to defend their lives, their 
 families, their propert}', and their liearthstones, the language 
 of one of the noblest statesmen of the age, uttered six years 
 ago at the other end of this Capitol, rises before my mind. 
 I allude to the great statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay. 
 And while the party which, when he lived, lit the torch of 
 slander at every avenue of his private life, and libeled him 
 before the American peo[ile by every epithet that renders 
 man infamous, as a gambler, debauchee, traitor, and enemy 
 of his country, are now engaged in shedding fictitious tears 
 over his grave, and appealing to his old supporters to aid by 
 their votes in shielding them from the indignation of an up- 
 risen people, I ask them to read this language of his, which 
 comes to us as from his tomb to-day. With the change of 
 but a single geographical w^ord in the place of "Mexico," 
 how^ pro[theLically does it apply to the very scenes and issues 
 of this year! And who can doubt with wdiat party he would 
 stand in the coming campaign, if he was restored to us from 
 the damps of the grave, when they read the following, which 
 fell from his lips in 1850, and with which, thanking the 
 House for its attention, I conclude my remarks. 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 83 
 
 "But if, unhappily, we should he involved in war, in civil 
 war, hetween the two parts of this Confederacy, in which the 
 effort upon the one side should be to restrain the introduction 
 of slavery into the new Territories, and upon th.e other side to 
 force its introduction there, what a spectacle shoukl we pre- 
 sent to the astonishment of mankind, in an effort, not to 
 propao^ate rights, but — I must sa}' it, though I trust it will 
 be understood to be said with no design to excite feeling — a 
 war to propagate wrongs in the Territories thus acquired 
 from Mexico! It wouki be a war in which we should have 
 no sympathies, no good wishes — in which all mankind would 
 he against us; for, from the commencement of the Revolution 
 down to the present time, we have constantly reproached our 
 British ancestors for the introduction of slavery into this 
 country." 
 
 The open, good-natured countenance of Schuyler Colfax 
 has become familiar to large audiences throughout the coun- 
 tr}', who have listened to his addresses upon political topics; 
 upon the life and character of the lamented Lincoln, by whom 
 be was warmly loved; upon his tour across the continent to 
 the Pacific; and upon subjects connected with the work of 
 the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. 
 
 He is a model presiding officer, and decides all questions 
 that arise between members of the House with strict impar- 
 tiality, totally unbiased by politics. He is unexceptionably 
 pure in his personal and moral habits, has a broad, out- 
 spoken, catholic sympathy with every good work of reform, 
 whether political,- moral, intellectual, or religious, and has the 
 warm and enthusiastic confidence of Christians and temper- 
 ance reformers throughout the land. He attends the Rc' 
 formed Dutch Church, and it is believed that he is a member 
 of its communion. He is a thorough teetotaler, and a foe to 
 tobacco in every form, so we may anticipate that he and Gen- 
 eral Grant will be at issue on the question of smoking, and 
 that the result will be "a draw," beyond a doubt. 
 
 He is a statesman and an orator, and is thought to be the 
 best representative we have in America of that paradoxical 
 individual, an honest politician. The Cincinnati Coimncrciul 
 
84 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 " dished him up on the run," the day succeeding his nomina- 
 tion at Chicago, in the following " lick-and-go " style : 
 
 Colfax is a radical, hut not a very fierce one. He has been 
 perpendicular in his principles, but it is his disposition to 
 reach radical ends through processes rather pacific and mild 
 than violent and inflammator}' . He is entitled to the distinc- 
 tion of being the first member of Congress who directly and 
 publicly antagonized the famous "policy" of President John- 
 son. This he did in a serenade speech, in Washington, just 
 before the opening of the Thirty-ninth Congress. 
 
 It is more to the point to declare that he is a radical, but 
 not erratic — an original Republican, whose connection with 
 the party has been so long and intimate that his zeal is tem- 
 pered with judgment, and his knowledge of its leaders forces 
 him to the belief that there may be demagogues professing 
 the purest principles and most exalted motives to encompass 
 ends that are utterly unworthy. He has learned to advocate 
 no policy which the average sense of intelligent men can not 
 be made to assent to without intricate argument, although he 
 id capable of the closest mathematical reasoning and the most 
 convincing logic. He knows, however, that the popular be- 
 lief is founded on the most self-evident propositions, and that 
 they are no less worthy of the popular faith because of their 
 plainness. 
 
 He is a representative of the freshest principles and most 
 original ideas of New America, and the embodiment of that 
 generous heart and elevated soul that makes the land of the 
 West the freest, noblest, and happiest under the sun. Were 
 it possible for a man to have a heart larger than his entire 
 corporeal existence, Schuyler Colfax would be more tban all 
 heart. He is the personation of kindness. Political oppo- 
 nents, as well as his political friends, like him immoderately. 
 Ho never had an enemy. The breath of slander has never 
 found utterance against him, and there has certainly never 
 been an occasion for its attacks. 
 
 His manners are not quite as familiar as those of the 
 lamented Lincoln, but nearly so. They are gentle, natural, 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 86 
 
 graceful, with a bird-like or business-like quickness of thought 
 and motion. But they are very far from the high and mighty 
 st^'le of Sumner, or the judicial coldness of Fessenden, Sher- 
 man, and Trumbull. Though manly, they are genial and 
 fascinating, and are unquestionably prompted by a sincere 
 desire to impart pleasure. 
 
 The style in which he was proposed in the Chicago Con- 
 vention as a candidate for the Vice-Presidential nomination 
 speaks volumes in his favor : 
 
 Mr. Lane, of Indiana — I am instructed by the delegates of 
 Indiana to present that tried and true patriot, Schuyler Col- 
 fax. [Prolonged cheers.] The whole of his life, in private 
 and in public, his distinguished service, his long identification 
 with congressional matters, all render unnecessary that I 
 should go into any lengthened eulogy. He is near to our 
 homes and our hearts. We know him ; we love him. The 
 people are united for him, and speak but one voice. There 
 are no dissensions; there are no wounds to heal. He is the 
 choice of the people, and, although his residence is in Indiana, 
 his fame, thank God, belongs to the whole continent. [Pro- 
 longed applause.] 
 
 Mr. Paeker, of New Jersey, seconded Colfax as the candi- 
 date and representative of the young men, loved by them for 
 his characteristics of heart and mind. 
 
 Mr. M'Clure, of Michigan — I rise in behalf of the electors 
 and delegates of the Republican party of Michigan to support 
 the nomination of Schuyler Colfax. [Cheers.] At the State 
 Convention, where the Ilepublican party was very fully repre- 
 sented, when the name of Schuyler Colfax was proposed for 
 Vice-President we witnessed some such a scene as has been 
 witnessed here to-day when Ulysses S. Grant was declared 
 unanimously the choice of this convention for President. In 
 Michigan we have watched the course of Schuyler Colfax, 
 who lives just upon our borders, and we believe there that 
 no other name can be proposed to the people for this high 
 office that will excite so great enthusiasm in Michigan. We 
 know that there the name of Schuyler Colfax is powerful. 
 [Cheers, and great applause.] While we pledge our most 
 hearty support to any nominee of this convention, we feel 
 that, with Grant and Colfax, we can promise that Michigan 
 will roll up 30,000 majority. [Applause.] We esteem him 
 as true to principles as the needle to the pole. We trust him. 
 
86 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 "We love liim as the people all love the name of the man that 
 comes close to the hearts of the peo[)le, 
 
 Mr. Brown — Coming, as I do, from Pennsylvania, who has 
 to present a very popular and estimable gentleman for the 
 office of Vice-President through a majority of her delegation, 
 and coming, also, as I do, from the county of Alleghany, 
 which, in part, I represent — a county which gave 10,000 
 majority for Abraham Lincoln, and will give 10,000 again, 
 in my estimation, for Schuyler Colfax [great applause] — I 
 desire, gentlemen of the convention, to be distinctly under- 
 stood that I speak for myself, not for the delegation, or any 
 part of the delegation. 
 
 [A voice, interposing — "That's so; he is instructed to go 
 for Curtin."] 
 
 Mr. Brown resumed — I came from a county which gives 
 the largest Republican majority of the State [applause], which 
 gives more Republican majority than all the rest of the State 
 put together [applause], and I believe that Schuyler Colfax is 
 the choice of Alleghany County. I speak for myself, and I 
 will vote for him first, last, and all the time. [Applause.] 
 
 He will be elected to the high office for which he is the 
 inost popular nominee that could be presented to the suttVages 
 of the people, and he will never betray the great trust reposed 
 in him. God bless and preserve Grant and Colfax! 
 
 The Republicans of Washington City gave General Grant 
 and Speaker Colfax a serenade on the evening of May 22, 
 and thus opened the campaign of 1868. Three thousand per- 
 sons were out, among them many ladies, and the atfair passed 
 off in the most delightful manner. The crowd assembled at 
 the Baltimore depot, and from that point, led by two bands, 
 proceeded to the residence of General Grant, where about 
 one thousand individuals were already gathered. The Gen- 
 eral in response to calls appeared in the door of his house, 
 surrounded by a large number of his friends, among whom 
 were several members of Congress. The introduction to the 
 serenade was made by Governor Boutwell, who briefly and 
 eloquently alluded to the General's military career, and his 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 87 
 
 high qualities of wisdom and patriotism; told him he would 
 have to meet in the coming contest the same classes, with 
 some honorable exceptions, that opposed him during the war 
 for the Union ; and congratulated the country on having 
 chosen a leader of such high character and sound judgment. 
 
 The General was evidently much embarrassed when it 
 came to his turn to speak, but the words he delivered were 
 apt and characteristic; and when he modestly closed with 
 the remark, that his action in the past must be his guarantee 
 for the future, there were hearty and unanimous cheers of 
 " That's right!" with much shouting, clapping of hands, and 
 expressions of confidence and good feeling. The doors of 
 the Greneral's parlors were then thrown open, and every body 
 went in to paj^ personal respects to the next President and 
 his wife. 
 
 From General Grant's, the serenading party went to the 
 residence of Speaker Colfax, a mile or more away, and that 
 gentleman, in response to the cry of "three cheers for Schuy- 
 ler Colfax, our next Vice-President," appeared, and was in- 
 troduced to the gathering by Congressman Pike, of Maine, 
 in a few happily chosen words. The response was of about 
 five minutes' length, and is characterized as one of the finest 
 speeches ever made in Washington, on such an occasion. 
 The crowd applauded him loudly at many points, and every 
 body seemed much impressed with his feelings and earnest- 
 ness. 
 
 Here, as at General Grant's, the doors were thrown open, 
 and men and women passed in and shook hands with Mr. 
 Colfax. The proceedings of the evening closed at 11 o'clock, 
 every thing having been carried through with heartiness and 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 The following is from the report of the associated press: 
 
 General Grant said : " Gentlemen, being entirely unaccus- 
 tomed to public speaking, and without the desire to cultivate 
 that power [laughter], it is impossible for me to find appro- 
 priate language to thank you for this demonstration. All 
 that I can say is this, that to whatever position I may be 
 
8^8 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 called by your will, I shall endeavor to discharge its duties 
 with fidelity and honesty of purpose. 
 
 Of my rectitude in the performance of public duties, you 
 will have to judge for yourselves by my record before you." 
 
 SPEECH OF Mil. COLFAX. 
 
 My friends, I thank you with all the emotions of a grate- 
 ful heart, for this iiatteriug manifestation of your confidence. 
 I congratulate you on the auspicious opening of the eventful 
 campaign on which we are entering. In the Chicago Con- 
 vention, representing the entire continental area of the Re- 
 public, every State, every Territory, every district, and every 
 delegate, from ocean to ocean, declared that their first and only 
 choice for President, was Ulysses S. Grant. [Great applause.] 
 Brave, and yet unassuming; reticent, and yet when neces- 
 sary, firm as the eternal hills [applause]; with every thought, 
 and hope, and aspiration for his country; wnth modesty 
 only equaled by his merits, it is not extravagant for me to 
 say that he is to-day the man of all men in the land, "first 
 in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his country- 
 men.'' [Great applause.] His name is the very synonym of 
 victory, and he will lead the Union hosts to victory at the 
 polls, as he led the Union armies to triumph in the field. 
 But greater even than the conqueror of Vicksburg and the 
 destroyer of the rebellion is the glorious inspiration of our 
 noble principles, animated by the sublime truths of the Dec- 
 laration of Independence. Our banner bears an inscription 
 more magnetic than the names of its standard bearers, which 
 the whole world can see as it floats to the breeze: "Liberty 
 and loyalty, justice and public safety." Defying all preju- 
 dices, we arc for uplifting the lowly and protecting the op- 
 pressed. [Applause.] History records to the immortal honor 
 of our organization that it saved the nation and emancipated 
 a race. We struck the fetters from the limbs of the slave, 
 and lifted millions into the sunlight of liberty. We placed 
 the emancipated slave on his feet as a man, and put into his 
 right hand the ballot to protect his manhood and his rights. 
 We staked our political existence on the reconstruction of 
 the revolted States; on the sure and eternal corner-stone of 
 loyalty, and we shall triumph. I know there is no holiday 
 contest before us, but with energy and zeal, with principles 
 that humanity will approve, and that I believe God will bless, 
 we shall go through the contest conquering and to conquer, 
 and on the 4th of March next, the people's champion will be 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 89 
 
 borne by the people's votes to 3'onder White House, that, I 
 regret to say, is now dishonored by its nnworth}' occupant. 
 Then witli peace and conlidenee wo may expect our beloved 
 country to enter upon a career of prosperity which shall 
 eclipse the most brilliant annals of her past. I bid you God 
 speed in this work, and, now good-night." 
 
 Applause followed the conclusion of Mr. Colfax's speech, 
 and the baud played an appropriate air. Many persons in 
 the crowd entered the dwelling and extended their congrat- 
 ulations. 
 
 The Union League Club, of Now York City, ratified the 
 nominations of Grant and Colfax, at a spirited meeting on 
 Friday evening. May 22. John Jay presided. In his speech, 
 after eulogizing the ticket in general terms, he said : 
 
 Both are perfectly at home in this Club. Colfax, when he 
 visited us at the old club-house in 1867, made an eloquent 
 speech in which he referred, as you ma}" remember, to a re- 
 cent remark of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 when he exclaimed, " This is a country of classes, and must 
 remain so;" and Colfax said, "If I may be pardoned for re- 
 plying, I would say this is a nation of freemen, and must 
 remain so." This, in brief, is the point involved in this Pres- 
 idential contest. The contest will necessarily be severe. As 
 much as Grant is honored by his loyal countrymen, as much 
 as he is honored by his brave enemies — who found him a 
 magnanimous and generous foe, so much is he inevitably 
 hated by the faction who declared the war "a failure," and 
 will never forgive him for crushing the rebellion and saving 
 the Republic. When last we met to respond to a Presi- 
 dential nomination, our voice was necessarily for war and the 
 national integrit}'. Now, thank God! it is for peace and the 
 national harmony. Mr. Colfax will presently order in the 
 House the roll-call of Representatives from the States; and 
 when we place him in the Chair of the Senate, it will be to 
 order the roll-call of the whole. We may adopt, then, the 
 touching words of Lincoln which Colfax repeated to us at his 
 last visit: "With malice toward none, with charity toward 
 all, but with firmness for the right, as God gives us to see the 
 right;" and in this spirit let us enter into the canvass fur 
 Grant and Colfax. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Choate read the following resolutions, which 
 were adopted unanimously: 
 6 
 
90 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 Besolvcd, That we warmly approve of the nominations made 
 by the Repuhlican Convention, at Cliicas^o, of General Ulysses 
 S. Grant, for President, and Hon. Schuyler Colfax, for Vice- 
 President of the United States — one the soldier who con- 
 ducted our armies to victory in a great struggle for the life 
 of the nation, entitling him to the highest revrard which the 
 American people can bestow, and both statesmen who in 
 peace can be relied upon to conduct our civil affairs with in- 
 tegrity, justice, wisdom, and magnanimity. 
 
 Resolved, That we give our hearty concurrence and support 
 to the statement of principles put forth by the late Conven- 
 tion as the platform of the Republican party, and will exert 
 ourselves by all honorable means to carry them into success- 
 ful operation; to complete the wise, uniform, and consistent 
 scheme of reconstruction already so happily inaugurated; to 
 guarantee equal sutFrage to all loyal men where disloyalty has 
 heretofore prevailed; to maintain the national credit and to 
 save it from every open or insidious attempt at repudiation; 
 to equalize and reduce taxation, to infuse a new economy 
 into the administration of affairs, and root out the foul cor- 
 ruption that now pollutes so many branches of the service; 
 to transmit to future ages that verdict of condemnation which 
 the voice of his country pronounces upon the treachery of 
 Andrew Johnson; to protect our naturalized fellow -citizens 
 from the grasp of every foreign despot; to provide for the 
 widows and orphans of our dead heroes, to encourage emi- 
 gration, and to extend our sympathies to all oppressed na- 
 tionalities, and in all our measures to observe a just magna- 
 nimity to the returning loyalty of our brethren at the South. 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the party every-where are due 
 to the members of the Convention for the manly, wise, and 
 patriotic manner in which they have discharged the duties 
 intrusted to them. 
 
 Mr. Choate supported the resolutions in a few remarks, 
 and was followed by Messrs. G. W. Blunt and John C. Ham- 
 ilton. Horace Greeley then arose and said: 
 
 Two or three things had especially' struck him with regard 
 to the Chicago Convention which had not been adverted to. 
 First, the Convention itself was the greatest fact before them. 
 There, pvery State and Territory, otd and new, always loyal 
 and lately rebellious, was fully represented. Men talk of re- 
 construction that was yet to be ; here was a pledge that the 
 Xlnion is restored. [Great applause.] There had "been much 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 01 
 
 saifl in old times about the natural conflict between the IS'orth 
 and the South. In the contest before us the only rivalry 
 M'ouid be as to which should o-jve the largest vote for Grant 
 and Colfax. [Apphiuse.] Soutli Carolina, a State on the 
 same side with which he had not yet had the honor of vot- 
 ing, [hiughter,] woukl give one of the largest majorities for 
 the Republican nominees. Reconstruction was not going to 
 be a slow process. At least three fourths of the States lately 
 in rebellion would be represented in the Electoral College, 
 and cast their votes for Grant and Colfax. The pledge that 
 the national Unancial obligations should be honestly met, and 
 that other provisions in the platform which showed so much 
 magnanimity in calling back late rebels, and declared that 
 they should have suffrage in proportion to their loyalty, were 
 also noteworth}'. He wanted the Southern States in the 
 Union speedily. He wanted Virginia and Massachusetts to 
 vote s'de by side for Grant, and show the world tliat there 
 was no natural repugnance between the North and the 
 South. Mr. Greeley concluded by urging all Republicans to 
 be at the polls all day on election day, to examine the regis- 
 try and exclude fraudulent voters, and said that if this was 
 done New York would be carried as well as the other States. 
 [Proh)nged applause.] 
 
 Colonel Le Grand B. Cannon offered a resolution, which 
 was adopted, directing that a white banner, inscribed " Grant 
 and Colfax," be unfurled from the flag-staff of the Club- 
 house. 
 
 A. T. Stewart was loudly called for. He came forward 
 and said he was too ill to speak. He should not have come 
 out on this occasion, but could not resist his desire to exi>ress 
 his joy at the nomination of Grant. All success to the party 
 that nominated him. He had no doubt tluit Grant and Col- 
 fax would be elected. [Prolonged applause.] 
 
 Jjieuienant-Governor Stewart L. Woodford was loudly 
 called for, and rising was warmly received. He said the 
 Chicago Convention had given them two elements of suc- 
 cess — good men and a good platforui. They had honest true 
 men, and an honest platform that no man could dodge; and 
 when victory came it would mean something. [Applause.] 
 He hoped the time would come when men would not be 
 afraid to say what they honestly believed, and when he would 
 be considered the best man, black or white, who did the best. 
 [Cheers.] Governor Woodf)rd gave some personal rcmi- 
 uiscences of the war bearing upon this point. He expressed 
 
92 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 the hope that no mawkish sentiment would place Southern 
 rebels before Southern loyalists, and concluded amid long- 
 continued applause. 
 
 The meeting then adjourned. 
 
 Enthusiastic ratification meetings have been held in all the 
 large cities and towns of the United States, and it is a sub- 
 ject of general remark that a political campaign never 
 opened under happier auspices, nor with a more promising 
 out-look for triumphant results. As indicative of its hopes, 
 trusts, and the solemnly-patriotic spirit that animated it, the 
 following extract from the speech of Hon. Samuel Shella- 
 barger, at Springfield, Ohio, May 25, 1868, is in point: 
 
 You remember this day four years ago, one mighty column 
 of your army was pushing a baffled but struggling rebellion 
 along the line upon which Sherman marched from Atlanta to 
 the sea, another column was going from the Wilderness to the 
 the heart of the rebellion, where its great and wicked life 
 last lingered, and where, under the sword of Grant it went 
 out at Appomattox. What a strange contrast, I say, is pre- 
 sented. Then, how dark it was indeed ! True, it was not so 
 dark as it was said to be by the Chicago Democratic Conven- 
 tion, when they declared that the war was a failure and must 
 be abandoned. Still, it was dark, dark, dark, indeed ; because 
 the mighty power of a mighty ISTorthern party was thrown 
 then into the scales ef the rebellion when the scale seemed 
 almost equally poising between the triumph of the republic 
 and its ruin. That was a dark night, was it not? But now, 
 how luminous the great republic of America, redeemed not 
 only from the menaced destruction of this gigantic rebellion, 
 but redeemed by that power which made the'stars that shine 
 down upon us to-night — for under God we have what we 
 have — from an infinitely more terrible and blighting curse 
 than the rebellion itself — redeemed all over from the curse of 
 slavery! I allude to this contrast for the purpose, ere I part 
 with you to-night, of asking every young man to go home, and 
 when he thanks God that he has a country, that he has liberty, 
 that he has laws, that he has a vine and fig-tree, where he may 
 sit, and where none may make afraid, to ask his conscience, 
 under God, who has saved the republic— was it the party 
 that said that the war for the Union must be abandoned, in 
 1864, or was it another party? And then answer another 
 question : With which of these parties will you ally yourself 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 93 
 
 and with which w^ill you act in the future ? In what I have 
 hinted at to-night, fellow-citizens, there is enough of argu- 
 ment for me, and I trust there will be enough for my chil- 
 dren, from generation to generation, for so help me God — 
 before whose judgment-seat we each may stand ere long — 
 80 help me God, I would as soon have myself or my children 
 branded with the infamy of Iscariot or Cain as to be allied 
 with those who have struggled to put out in America liberty's 
 great and universal light. But now the lights are brighter 
 than ever. The war for liberty was not a failure, because the 
 Union-loving people of America stood to the right when it 
 was dark, and they will not desert it now when it is so light. 
 Go home and work — as 3"ou in Clarke County, I have reason 
 to testify, know how to work — for a platform which is out- 
 spoken, frank, and, above all, just. Work for principles that 
 have saved your republic once, and will preserve it in all 
 coming time, because they are the immutable principles of 
 truth and right. Work, I say, for these principles; and, in 
 making them succeed, you will have secured the election of 
 two men second in purity of character, second in the illus- 
 triousness of virtuous deeds, to no other two men w^ho now 
 breathe God's pure air, not only upon this continent, but in 
 our world. 
 
 One of the resolutions adopted at the meeting that was 
 addressed as above, is as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of all true men, who love this 
 Government, and who desire puritj' and uprightness in its 
 administration, and the securing of justice and equal rights 
 to all men living under it, to join with us in the support of 
 Grant and Colfax, and in maintaining the principles of na- 
 tional honor and good faith, equality before the law to all 
 men, protection to American citizens abroad, and an economi- 
 cal and correct administration of the Government. 
 
 There are few people in the United States, whether con- 
 nected with the National Republican Party or not, that do 
 not prefer the election of Grant and Colfax to the offices for 
 which they are nominated, to that of any other men that can 
 be brought forward for the same positions ; and only those 
 who are completely dominated by party influence, or hope 
 for the local offices that are pieced out to party drudges, will 
 oppose them. This fact is verified by the strange unanimity 
 
^ 
 
 94 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 with which THE PEOPLE have everj-where responfled to 
 their noniiiuitioi), and there is little risk in the prediction 
 that they will be elected by a majority never before received 
 by Presidential candidates. 
 
 The committee appointed by the Chicago Convention to 
 notity Grant and Colfax of their nomination, performed that 
 duty at Washington City, on the evening of May 29, 1868, 
 at the residence of General Grant. There were about lifty 
 persons present, beside the committee, and the affair passed 
 ofl' in the pleasantest manner possible. The Speaker was 
 accompanied by his mother and sister. The General's wife 
 was attended by her two sisters. The committee came in 
 about a quarter past eight, and the two nominees then took 
 position at the head of the parlor. 
 
 General Hawley, President of the late Convention, was 
 spokesman for the delegates, who stood in a semicircle in 
 front of the nominees. 
 
 The address of General Hawley was most felicitous in its 
 choice of phrases, and the company responded to it with 
 hearty applause. It was noticeable that he treated impeach- 
 ment as a dead issue, saying nothing about that resolution in 
 the platform. 
 
 General Grant replied very briefly, saying that he would, 
 in a few days, deliver to the committee a formal letter of 
 acceptance. 
 
 There was a genuine burst of enthusiasm upon his remark- 
 ing, "You may be sure, gentlemen, that I shall have no policy 
 of my own to enforce against the will of the people;" and the 
 crowd at once caught it up as one of the apt and happy 
 phrases for the coming campaign. The gravity and thought- 
 fulness of the General as he spoke the words, was something 
 fine to see. 
 
 The response of Speaker Colfax, in accepting the nomina- 
 tion for the Vice-Presidency, was in his best style of speech, 
 and produced a most favorable impression on all present. 
 
 The formal ceremony being over, the members of the 
 committee were severally presented to the nominees, who 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 95 
 
 shook hands with each. General Logan gave the introduc- 
 tions. 
 
 After the presentation was concluded, the company par- 
 took of a handsome collation in the General's dining-room, 
 and then retired. 
 
 The following extracts embrace the full reports of the 
 Associated Press, and the speeches on this interesting oc- 
 casion : 
 
 Washington, May 29th. 
 
 The committee of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Convention 
 called on General Grant this afternoon, and formerly pre- 
 sented him with a copy of the platform of principles of 
 their Convention. 
 
 After a lively hand-shaking, Colonel Alleman, of Pennsyl- 
 vania, delivered a few complimentary remarks. 
 
 General Grant spoke, in reply, as follows: 
 
 SPEECH OF GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Soldiers and Sailors Conveyition : 
 
 I will say, while it was never a desire of mine to be a can- 
 didate for political office, it affi:»rds me great gratification to 
 feel that I have the support of those wdio were with me in 
 the war. If I did not feel I had the conlidence of those, I 
 would feel less desirous of accepting the position. The ac- 
 ceptance of the office is not a matter of choice, but of duty. 
 Hoping, having accepted the nomination, I will receive your 
 aid tilt next November, I must thank you, gentlemen, for 
 the honor you have conferred upon me. 
 
 The affair took place in the presence of the Convention 
 committee, with whom were General Gregg, Generals Raw- 
 lins, Bodeau, Porter, Comstock, Dent, and Babcock, and 
 Colonels Parker, Webster, and Lee, of the General's staff. 
 
 After a few moments' conversation. General Grant ex- 
 tended a cordial invitation to the committee to be present at 
 his residence this evening, on occasion of the formal pre- 
 sentation of the nomination of the National Republican 
 Convention. 
 
 The committee then left the General's head-quarters for 
 the Capitol, to offer their congratulations to Speaker Colfax. 
 
96 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 RECEPTION BY SPEAKER COLFAX. 
 
 At 2 o'clock the committee were received by Mr. Colfax, 
 in the Speaker's room of tlie Capitol, and after greeting the 
 committee with his customary cordiality, and listening to 
 a few remarks by Colonel AUemau, Mr. Colfax responded 
 briefly : 
 
 SPEECH BY MR. COLFAX. 
 
 He alluded, in striking terms, to the perils by land and 
 sea which were endured by the soldiers and sailors of the 
 Union in defense of the Constitution and flag of their coun- 
 tr}'. Great as were the obligations of the nation to those at 
 home who stood by the government in its hour of trial, greater 
 still was the debt of gratitude it owed to those who, leaving 
 home and all, at the risk of life and limb, to save the Repub- 
 lic from destruction — going forth from every portion of the 
 Republic, some in the freshness of life's June, and some in 
 the ripe maturity of life's October. The land. South and 
 North, is tilled with the graves of the nation's patriot sons. 
 Their memory will ever be inscribed in all patriotic hearts 
 as long as time shall last or the Republic endure. Thanking 
 the committee who represented the survivors of the heroic 
 defenders of the Union for this expression of their esteem 
 and regard, he closed with the assurance that, if the ballot- 
 box should ratify the nominations at Chicago, his fidelity to 
 principle and devotion to the Union would show that their 
 confidence had not been misplaced. 
 
 A copy of the platform of |)rinciples was presented to the 
 Speaker. The committee, alter a few moments, retired, and 
 the Speaker returned to his duties in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives. 
 
 INTERVIEW OF THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION COMMITTEE. 
 
 The committee appointed by the National Union Repub- 
 lican Convention, under instructions from that bod}' to 
 present to General Grant and Schuyler CoUax a record 
 of their proceedings, and to inform them of their nomina- 
 tions, performed the duty this evening, between 8 and 9 
 o'clock. 
 
 THE COMPANY AT GENERAL GRANT's. 
 
 At the residence of General Grant about two hundred 
 persons were present, including delegates to the convention, 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 97 
 
 several members of Congress, General Grant's staff, and the 
 la.iies of the families of^General Grant and Speaker Colfax. 
 These two gentlemen stood side by side, and the spectators 
 formed in a semicircle in front of them, thns affordins: a full 
 view of the proceedings. General Ilawley, President*of the 
 Convention, delivered the following address: 
 
 ADDRESS OF GENERAL HATTLEY. 
 
 Gentlemen — The IS'ational Union Republican party, as- 
 sembled in National Convention on the 20th of this month, 
 appointed us, the officers of the Convention, to wait upon you. 
 In obedience to its instructions, we give you a copy of the 
 record of its proceedings. You will perceive that it was ffov- 
 erned by the most patriotic motives. Harmonious, enthusi- 
 astic, and determined, we mean, in your own words, "to save 
 in peace what we won in war." We mean to make it a sol- 
 emn, practical reality in the United States that all men are 
 created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalien- 
 able rights, among which are life, libert}-, and the pursuit of 
 happiness. We intend that tliere shall never be cause or op- 
 portunity for a civil war in this nation, originated either by 
 those who would enslave their fellow-men, or those who must 
 fight to regain their freedom. We believe there can be no 
 permanent peace save in justice and equal rights — the equal- 
 ity of all men before the law. We hope to "see our Govern- 
 ment reaching to the remotest corner and to the humblest 
 person, securing to him, by impartial and irresistilde power, 
 liis personal safety, the right to the avails of his hibor, and 
 the right and the opportunity for physical, mental, and moral 
 advancement. The best guarantee for the continuance of such 
 u government is to give to all classes impartially a share in 
 its management. We hear much of forgiveness and frater- 
 nity. We do most earnestly desire a speedy return of the 
 policy and measures of peaceful time. Xone long more for 
 a fully restored Union than those who sustained their Gov- 
 ernment during the late dreadful war, but the dead men have 
 left a trust in our hands. We long for peace and good-will, 
 but we have no friends who oppress their fellow-men. We 
 do not idly and hopelessly ask for indemnity for tiie past. 
 We do ask for security for the future. You will see that the 
 Convention believes that integrity, simplicity, and economy 
 in governmental affairs are the duties of good citizens and 
 honorable men. It makes the strict fulfillment of National 
 obligations a point of honor never to be waived. While the 
 
98 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 civilized world recognizes a full and final payment as the 
 only payment, the Union Republican party will never consent 
 to tender any other. The equal rights of adopted citizens 
 sire clearly asserted, and all people who love our Government 
 are hos[)itably invited to come and enjoy its benetits. and 
 contribute to its strength. The Convention spoke in noth- 
 ing more warmly than in proffering a hearty welcome to all 
 those who, lately in arms against the United States, are now 
 frankly and honestly cooiierating in restoring peace and estab- 
 lishing a truly free Government. During the last three years 
 countless indications of the people's choice for the next Pres- 
 ident have been converging upon yourself. Having made its 
 statement of principles and purposes, the Convention delib- 
 erately and formally, State by State, Territory by Territory, 
 recorded the will of its constituents, and unanimously nom- 
 inated you for President of the United States, following the 
 work by tumultuous and long-continued manifestations of joy, 
 pride, and contidence. We know you will be faithful to the 
 Constitution and the laws, and to the sympathies and princi- 
 ples that you are called to represent. We know that you 
 will not seek to enforce ni)on the unwilling representatives 
 of the people any policy of 3-()ur o\\'n devising, for you have 
 said that "The will of the people is the law of the land." 
 The records of this war, and of your subsequent iidelity, 
 afibrd the evidence that the nation can safely and wisely 
 place you in the chair of Washington and Lincoln. In be- 
 half of the Convention, we tender you its nomination for 
 President, and solicit its acceptance. We can give you no 
 higher proof of our gratitude for your past, or our contidence 
 in your future. We propose to elect you. 
 
 After the applause with which the above speech was re- 
 ceived had ceased, General Grant replied as follows: 
 
 GENERAL GEANT's ACCEPTANCE. 
 Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the National Union Convention: 
 
 I will endeavor, in a very short time, to write you, accept- 
 ing the trust 3'ou have conferred upon me. [Applause.] 
 Expressing my gratitude for the confidence you have placed 
 in me, I w-ill now say but little orally, and that is to thank 
 you for the unanimity with wdiich you have selected me as 
 a candidate for the Presidential office. I can say, in addi- 
 tion, tliat I looked on during the proceedings at Chicago 
 with a great deal of interest, and am gratified with the bar- 
 
/ LIFE OF COLFAX. 99 
 
 mony and the unity which seemed to have governed the de- 
 liberations of the Convention. If chosen to fill the high 
 oflfice for which you have selected me, I will give to its 
 duties the same energ}^ the same spirit, and the same will 
 that I have given to the performance of all the duties which 
 have devolved on me heretofore. Whether I shall be able to 
 perform these duties to your entire satisfaction, time will de- 
 termine. You have truly said, in the course of your address, 
 that I shall have no policy of my owu to interpose against 
 the will of the people. 
 
 As the General concluded his speech there was long-con- 
 tinued applause. 
 
 ADDRESS TO SPEAKER COLFAX. 
 
 Greneral Ilawley then addressed Speaker Colfax, saying: 
 You have heard our declaration of principles at Chicago, 
 and, therefore, I need not repeat them. You are aware that 
 numerous candidates for the Vice-Presidency were presented. 
 They were all loved and respected, and your selection was 
 brought about by the good-will and friendship entertained 
 for yourself. You are known to ttie American people by 
 fourteen years of public service. We know you came from 
 the people, and, without false pretense, you are faithful to 
 principle. The Convention tenders you the nomination for 
 Vice-President, and asks your acceptance. [Applause.] 
 
 REPLY OF SPEAKER COLFAX. 
 
 To this Mr. Colfax replied: 
 
 Mr. President Hawley and Gentlemen: 
 
 History has already proclaimed that the victories of the 
 party you represent during the recent war always give in- 
 creased hope and confidence to the nation, while its reverses 
 and defeats ever increased the national peril. It is no light 
 tribute, therefore, to the millions of Republicans in the forty- 
 two States and Territories represented in the Chicago Con- 
 vention that our organization has been so inseparably inter- 
 woven with the best interests of the Republic that the 
 triumphs and reverses of the one have been the triumphs 
 and reverses of the other. Since the General of our armies, 
 with his heroic followers, crushed the rebellion, tlie carrying 
 out of its policy that loyalty should govern what loyalty 
 preserved has been worthy of its honored record in the war. 
 Cordially agreeing with the platform adopted by its Xatioual 
 
100 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 Convention, and the resolutions thereto attached, I accept 
 the nomination with which I have been honored, and will 
 hereal'tor communicate that acceptance to you in the more 
 formal manner that usage requires. 
 
 There were long and continued demonstrations of applause. 
 The gentlemen present generally advanced and shook Gen- 
 eral Grant and Speaker Colfax by the hand, and congratu- 
 lated them on the choice of the Convention. The party then 
 withdrew to an adjoining room, where a collation hatl been 
 provided. 
 
 The Republicans held a Grant and Colfax ratification 
 meeting to-night. 
 
 PLATFORM 
 
 Of the National Convention of Union Soldiers and Bail- 
 ors, AVHICH WAS HELD AT CHICAGO, MaY 19, 1868. 
 
 General Logan, chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, 
 reported as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors are as steadfast now 
 as ever to the Union and flag fullj^ recognizing the claims of 
 General Ulysses S. Grant to the confidence of the American 
 people, and believing that its victories under his guidance in 
 war will be illustrated by him in peace, by such measures as 
 shall secure the fruits of our exertions and the restoration of 
 the Union upon a loyal basis. We declare it as our delib- 
 erate conviction that he is the choice of the soldiers and 
 sailors of the Union for the office of President of the United 
 States. 
 
 Resolved, That in the maintenance of those principles which 
 underlie our Government, and for which we fought during a 
 four-years' war, we pledge our earnest and active support to 
 the Republican party, as the only political organization, which, 
 in our judgment, is true to the principles of loyalty, liberty, 
 and equality before the law. 
 
 Resolved, That, speaking for ourselves and the soldiers and 
 sailors who imperiled their lives to preserve the Union, we 
 believe that the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, by the 
 House of Representatives, for high crimes and misdemeanors 
 in offi-ce, and his trial before the United States Senate, have 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 101 
 
 presented unmistakable proofs of bis guilt, and that, what- 
 ever may be the judgment of the tribunal before which he 
 is arraigned, the verdict of guilty has been rendered by the 
 people, and we regard any Senator, who has voted for his 
 acquittal, as falling short of the proper discharge of his duty 
 Id this hour of the nation's trial, and as unworthy of the con- 
 fidence of a brave and loyal people. 
 
 Resolved, That the soldiers and sailors recognize no differ- 
 ence between the native and adopted citizens, and they de- 
 mand that the Government protect naturalized citizens abroad 
 as well as those of native birth. 
 
 On motion of W, S. Andrews, of New York, it was — 
 
 Besolved, That we, the soldiers of the Republic, extend to 
 the loyal men of the South our sympathy and the promise of 
 our support in the struggles yet in store for them under the 
 present Administration, before they can enjoy the liberties of 
 American citizens without the fear of persecution and assas- 
 sination ; and that, if necessary, we stand ready to aid them 
 with our strength, in the future as we have in the past. 
 
 PLATFORM OF THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 Hon. Richard W. Thompson, of Indiana, Chairman of the 
 Committee on Resolutions, reported as follows : 
 
 The National Republican party of the United States, as- 
 sembled in National Convention, in the city of Chicago, on 
 the 20th day of May, 1868, make the following declaration 
 of principles : 
 
 1st. We congratulate the country on the assured success 
 of the reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the 
 adoption, in a majority of the States lately in rebellion, of 
 constitutions securing equal civil and political rights to all, 
 and regard it as the duty of the Government to sustain those 
 institutions, and to prevent the people of such States from 
 being remitted to a state of anarchy. 
 
 2d. The guarantee by Congress, of equal suffrage to all 
 loyal men in the South, was demanded by every considera- 
 tion of public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be 
 maintained, while the question of suffrage in all the loyal 
 States properly belongs to the people of those States. 
 
102 LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 3(1. "We denounce all forms of repudiation as a national 
 crime, and the national honor requires the payment of the 
 public indebtedness, in the utmost good faith, to all creditors, 
 at home and abroad, not only according to the letter, but the 
 spirit of the laws under which it was contracted. 
 
 4th. It is due to the labor of tlie luition that taxation should 
 be equalized and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will 
 permit. 
 
 5th. The national debt, contracted as it has been, for 'the 
 preservation of the Union for all time to come, should be ex- 
 tended over a fair period for redemption, and it is the duty 
 of Congress to reduce the rate of interest thereon whenever 
 it can honestly be done. 
 
 6th. That the best policy to diminish our burden of debt is 
 to so improve our credit that capitalists will seek to loan us 
 money at lower rates of interest than we now pay, and must 
 continue to pay so long as repudiation, partial or total, open 
 or covert, is threatened or suspected. 
 
 7th, The Government of the United States should be ad- 
 ministered with the strictest economy, and the corruptions 
 which have been so shamefully nursed and fostered by An- 
 drew Johnson, call loudly for radical reform. 
 
 8th. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death 
 of Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession of Andrew 
 Johnson to the Presidency, who has acted treacherously to 
 the people who elected him and the cause he was pledged to 
 support; has usurped high legislative and judicial functions; 
 has refused to execute the laws; has used his high <^tiice to 
 induce other otiicers to ignore and violate the laws; has em- 
 ployed his executive powers to render insecure the property, 
 peace, liberty, and life of the citizen; has abused the pardon- 
 ing power; has denounced the National Legislature as un- 
 constitutional; has persistently and corruptly resisted, by 
 every measure in his power, every proper attempt at the re- 
 construction of the States lately in rebellion ; has perverted 
 the public patronage into an engine of wholesale corrui)tion, 
 and has been justly impeached tor high crimes and misde- 
 meanors, and jiroperly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote 
 of thirty-five Senators. 
 
 9th. Tlie doctrine of Great Britain and other European 
 powers, that because a man is once a subject, he is always so, 
 must be resisted at every hazard by the United States as a 
 relic of the feudal time not authorized by the law of nations, 
 and at war with our national honor and independence. Nat- 
 
LIFE OF COLFAX. 103 
 
 uralized citizens are entitled to be protected in all their 
 rights of citizenship, as though they were natural horn, and 
 no citizen of the United States, natural or naturalized, must 
 be liable to arrest and imprisonment by any foreign power, 
 for acts done, or words spoken, in this country; and if so ar- 
 rested and imprisoned, it is the duty of the Government to 
 interfere in his behalf. 
 
 10th. Of al! who were faithful in the trials of the late war, 
 there were none entitled to more especial honor than the 
 brave soldiers and seamen, who endured the hardships of the 
 campaign and cruise, and imperiled their lives in the service 
 of the countr}'. The bounties and pensions provided by law, 
 for these brave defenders of the nation, are obligations never 
 to be forgotten. The widows and orplians of the gallant 
 dead are the wards of the people, a sacred legacy bequeathed 
 to the nation's protecting care. 
 
 11th. Foreign emigration, which in the past has added so 
 much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase 
 of power of this nation, the asylum of the oppressed of all 
 nations, should be fostered and encoliraged by a liberal and 
 just policy. ' ; 
 
 12th. This Convention declares its sympathy with all the 
 oppressed people which are struggling for their rights. 
 
 Resolved, That we highly commend the spirit of magnan- 
 imity and forgiveness with which the men who have served 
 the rebellion, but now frankly and honestly cooperate with us 
 in restoi'ing the peace of the country, and the reconstructing 
 of the Southern State governments upon the basis of impar- 
 tial justice and equal rights, be received back into the com- 
 munion of the loyal peoi)le; and we favor the removal of the 
 disqualitications and restriction imposed upon the late rebels 
 in the same measure as the spirit of disloyalty will direct, and 
 as may be consistent with the safety of the loyal people. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize the great principles laid down 
 in the immortal Declaration of Independence, as the true 
 foundation of democratic government, and we hail with glad- 
 ness every effort toward making these principles a living 
 reality on every inch of American soil. , 
 
104 • LIFE OF COLFAX. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT'S OFFICIAL REPLY TO THE CHICAGO 
 CONVENTION C03IMITTEE. 
 
 The following is General Grant's reply to the nomination 
 of the Chicago Convention : 
 
 Washington, D. C, May 29, 1868. 
 To General Joseph R. Hawley^ 
 
 President of the National Union Repubiicayi Convention: 
 
 In formally accepting the nomination of the I^ational Union 
 Eepnblican Convention, of the 21st of May, inst., it seems 
 proper that some statement of my views, beyond the mere ac- 
 ceptance of the nomination, should be expressed. The pro- 
 ceedings of the Convention were marked with wisdom, mod- 
 eration, and patriotism, and I believe express the feelings of 
 the great mass of those who sustained the country through 
 its trials. I indorse their resolutions. If elected to the office 
 / of the Presidency of the United States, it will be my endeavor 
 / to administer all the laws in good faith, with economy, and 
 / with the view of giving peace, quiet, and protection every- 
 l where. In times like the present it is impossible, or, at least, 
 eminently improper to lay down a policy to be adhered to, 
 right or wrong, through an administration of four years. 
 New political issues, not foreseen, are constantly arising; the 
 views of the public on old ones are constantly clianging, and 
 a puf'elj' administrative oihcer shoukl always be left free to 
 execute the will of the people. I have always respected that 
 will, and always shall. Peace and universal prosperity (its 
 sequence), with economy of administration, will lighten the 
 burden of taxation, while it constantly reduces the national 
 debt. Let ns have peace. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 U. S. GRAI^T. 
 
X 
 
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