BOY3 UF^ o^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, COPYRIGHT .OFFICE. No registration of title of this book as a preliminary to copyright protec- tion has been found. (Date) Forwarded to Order Division (6, i, 1906—2,000.) ^^ ik)k_/r-^i^ GENERAL GRANT BOY'S LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT By THOMAS W. KNOX AUTHOR OF ''THE BOY TRA VELLERS^' « CAPTAIN JOHN CRANE, "A CLOSE SHA VE,^ ''THE TALKING HANDKERCHIEF,* ^DECISIVE BATTLES SINCE WATERLOO,^ ^THE LOST ARMY,'' ETC. 1Hltt0trate^ THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO. NEW YORK AKRON, OHIO CHICAGO FIBRARVr.tr,OIWG«^fSS I S£i^ 21 ♦908 |CLASS Ma Mo. _ Copt a. Copyright, 1895, BY THE MERRIAM COMPANY Copyright, 1899, BY THE WERNER COMPANY Boy'B Life of General Grant Received from Copyright OPflco. ?3 S '08 Made by Robert Smith' Printing Co., Lansing, Mich. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Ancestry. -Mathew Grant. -His voyage from England in the Mary and John. — Settlement at Mattapan near Boston. - Moves to Wind- sor, Conn. —Troublous times in the Colonies. — How people went to church. — Living in a blockhouse. —Noah Grant. - His son Noah Grant.- Jesse R.Grant, father of Ulysses. -Birth of our hero.- What he says of his parents CHAPTER II. Weight of the baby. - Giving him a name. —Hiram Ulysses Grant. - Boyhood of Ulysses. - His first smell of powder. - Fondness for horses. — His skill as a rider. — Hauling wood and carrying passengers.— Skating. — How his frozen feet were cured. — Hauling logs for the new jail. — What "Dave and Me" did. — Breaking a neighbor's window by accident CHAPTER III. The young horsebreaker. - Riding circus ponies. - Young Grant's famous horse-trade. — Selling a refractory horse. — Trips to Cincinnati. — Sent to West Point. — How the appointment came about. — Mistake in his name - Grant's sensitiveness on the subject. —Preparing for exami- nation. - His outfit. - Joiirney to West Point.- Canal, stage, railway, and steamboat. -West Point and its history. - Grant's proficiency. — Excels in horsemanship ^^"^^ CHAPTER IV. Grant thrashes an impertinent student. -A salutary lesson. - "Uncle Sam " — Popular with his fellows. — An arbiter of disputes. — First visit home. - A happy reunion. - Graduates from the Military Acad- emy.— His standing in his class.— Home again. — Appointed into the Fourth Infantry. —His first uniform. — Joins his regiment at St. 3 4 CONTENTS. Louis. — Meets his future wife. — Courtship under difficulties, — Troubles between Texas and Mexico. — Fourth Infantry ordered to the frontier 52-65 CHAPTER V. On to Texas. — General Taylor. — Desires of the Government. — State of affairs at that time. — Landing of the Fourth Infantry at Corpus Christi. — On the Nueces. — Grant's personal mishap. — Kinney, the mule-trader. — Smuggling as a profession. — Hunting near Corpus Christi. — Capturing wild horses. —Grant's horse transactions. — His promotion. — Brevet rank. — Marching to the Rio Grande. — Encoun- tering great herds of wild horses. — Sights on the plains . 66-78 CHAPTER VI. Arrival opposite Matamoras. — Fort Brown and Brownsville. — Attack by Mexicans. — Point Isabel. — Sending for provisions. — Fort Brown shelled. — Taylor's return from Point Isabel. — Attacked by the Mexican army. — Battle of Palo Alto. — An artillery duel. — Battle of Resaca de la Palma. — Victory for the Americans. — Grant's part in the battles. — Return to Fort Brown. — Occupation of Matamoras and Camargo. — Movement on Monterey 79-93 CHAPTER VII. The battle of Monterey. — Strength and organization of the army. — Defenses of the city. — Bishop's palace. — Black Fort. — Movements of "Worth's Division. — Capture of the Saltillo Road. — Advance into the city. — Grant goes for ammunition. — A perilous ride. — General Ampudia surrenders. — Hoffman's verses on " Monterey." — Men who became famous. — Characteristics of General Taylor. — His hatred of uniform. — An amusing incident. — An armistice. — Scott's plans for the war. — Grant goes to Vera Cruz. — Battle of Buena Vista, 94-106 CHAPTER VIII. March from Vera Cruz. — Meeting the enemy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — Scott's plan of battle. — "Always obey your superior officer." — Advance to, Perote and Puebla. — A long wait for reinforcements. — Advance into the valley of Mexico. — Battles of Contreras and Chur- ubusco. — Attack upon the city. — Grant's exploit at Molino del Rey. — In a church belfry with a howitzer. — Grant's memory. — Capture of the city. — Declaration of peace 107-118 CONTENTS. ^ CHAPTER IX. Promoted again. - Favorably mentioned in several reports. -General s'otts rattlesnake story. -Grant returns to the United States - Robbed on the way. -Marries Miss Dent. - On duty at Sacke ts Harbor and Detroit. -The first baby. -" The Cicotte mare. - Quarrel with Zachary Chandler. - Dog-fight on Grosse Isle^- A Son of Temperance and an Odd Fellow. - Second son born. - Mrs Grant returns to St. Louis CHAPTER X. Off for California. - On the Isthmus. - Difficulties and hardships of the iourney.- Failure of the contractor to keep his agreement. - Over- land in the mud. - How Grant acquitted himself. - Arrival at Panama - Embarking on the Golden Gate. - Outbreak of cholera. - Arrival at San Francisco. -Expense of living in California. - Grant m Ore- eon -His experience at farming. - Another promotion. - At Hum- boldt Bay. - Resigned and goes home. - Settles down to ^^^^^^S-- In the real-estate business. - Moves to Galena, 111. . . ^^^^^ CHAPTER XI. Galena and its history. - Lincoln's election. - Threatened t^o^^^^^ ^j^^ the South. - Excitement in North and South after Lincoln's election. _ The inauguration. - Conduct of Buchanan's administration. - Call for troops. - Response of Galena. - Speeches of E. B. ^ashburn^e and John A. Rawlins CHAPTER XII. Galena raises a company. - Grant drills and ^^^^^^^^Vl't'w^^hin.ton" sides at a meeting. -Writes to the adjutant-general at Washington, "toe to Springfield. -Enters the State service -Military adviser to the governor. - Colonel of Twenty-first Illinois Infantry. - Ordered to Nor?h Missouri. - Light marching order. - Guarding -Iway^and bridges CHAPTER XIII. Grant becomes a brigadier-general. -Ordered '^^^l^^'^^^^-J^^ command at Jefferson City. -State of ^«J!^%^h^ere^- The border States. - Grant goes to Cape Girardeau. - His staff-officers. - Pursu- ing Jeff Thompson. - Transferred to Cairo. - Captures Paducah^K> . -Battle of Belmont. -Driving the rebels and driven by them^-- Grant's narrow escape. - Intelligence of a^horse. - Losses at^^^e^ mout 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. Fremont superseded by Halleck. — Characteristics of the two men. — Fremont's march to the South-west. — His imaginary foe. — Retreat to Rolla. — Grant at Cairo. — His annoyances. — Fugitive slaves, and how they were dealt with. — Union sentiment in the border States. — Winter of 1861-62. — Buell at Bowling Green and Mill Springs. — Movements against Forts Henry and Donelson. — Capture of Fort Henry, and investment of Donelson. — A woman's tongue, and what came of it 201-217 CHAPTER XV. The Rebels make a sortie from Donelson. — Repulsed at a decisive mo- ment.^ — Grant's discovery. — Three days' rations in haversacks, m Grant's movements on the battlefield. — Terrible weather for cam- paigning. — John B. Floyd and his escape. — General Pillow.— Buckner's flag of truce and his proposal. — Grant's reply. — The surrender. — Excitement in the North, and gloom at the South.— Losses at Donelson 218-232 CHAPTER XVI. Movements after Donelson. — Evacuation of Columbus. —Capture of Clarksville and Nashville. — Up the Tennessee River. — Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh. — Great battle there. — First day's fighting. — Grant's army in peril. — Reinforced by Buell. — Fighting on the second day. — Rebels driven back. — Fugitives from the battlefield. — Grant injured by a fall. — Death of Albert Sidney Johnston.— Losses at Shiloh 233-248 CHAPTER XVII. Grant's narrow escape in the battle. — Confederate strength at Corinth. — General Halleck assumes command. — Siege of Corinth. — A slow approach. — Fifteen miles in six weeks. — Grant asks to be relieved. — His request denied. — Rebels evacuate Corinth. — Pope and Buell pursue them. — Grant in command of the department. — His escape from guerrillas. — Rebels attack Corinth .... 239-264 CHAPTER XVIII. Vain attempt against Vicksburg. — Grant's long line of communications. — Dickey's raid. — Rebels capture Holly Springs. — Colonel Bowers and the muster-roll. — Grant falls back. — INIovemeut from Memphis towards Vicksburg. — Canal-digging. — A misfortune. — Various ex- peditions. — Playing a joke on the Rebels. -Running the batteries. — Landing at Grand Gulf. — The first battle .... 265-280 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XIX. Intercepted dispatches. - The march continued. - Battle of Raymond — Capture of Jackson. -Destruction of rebel factories and store- houses. -General Joseph E. Johnston. - Pemberton comes out to meet Grant.- Battle of Champion Hills, and defeat of rebels. - Pem- berton retires to Vicksburg. - Investment of the place. — The siege — Exploding a mine. —Famine in Vicksburg . . . 281-296 CHAPTER XX. Result of the mine. - The Lord and Joe Johnston. -A flag of truce - Terms of surrender. - Vicksburg in Union hands. -Rudeness of Gen- eral Pemberton. -Grant's "Yankee trick. "- Surrender of Port Hudson. — Grant ordered to Cairo. — Commanding the grand military division of the Mississippi. - Grant at Chattanooga. -A state of siege. — Capture of Lookout Valley. - Charge of tlie mule brigade, 297-317 CHAPTER XXI. Bragg's mistake. -Grant meets a party of rebel soldiers. - Bragg's notice to noncombatants. -Attack upon Mission Ridge. - Capture of Lookout Mountain. -The Battle above the clouds. -Great battle of Chattanooga. - How the Ridge was taken . - Bragg's retreat. - Effect of the victory iu the North. - Grant named for the presidency. - His ambition. - - The sidewalk. " - Made a lieutenant-general. - Ordered to Washington 318-335 CHAPTER XXII. On duty at Washington. -His staff. - General plan of campaign. - State of affairs at the time.- Army of the Potomac. -Its condition and morals. -Lee's position.- Preparing for the offensive. - Begin- ning the movement. -Crossing the Rapidan. - Encountering Lee's army. -Hard fighting in The Wilderness. - Six days of battles. -A wily foe.- <' Shall fight it out on this line if it takes all sum- "^^^ - • • • 336-352 CHAPTER XXIII. End of The Wilderness battles. - A few days of rest. - Meade's congratu- latory order. - Hancock attacks, and is repulsed. - Another advance. -Sheridan's raid and its results. - Grant's army on the Paraunkey. -Attack on Petersburg. - Headquarters at City Point. -Reinforce- ments. - Grant and the negro sentinel. -Mr. Lincoln's experience - Sheridan again. - Battles in the Shenandoah Valley. - Grant's cool- ness at an explosion 353-369 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. Forming negro regiments. — Anger of the Confederates. — How they treated some negro soldiers. — General Butler's retaliation. — General Lee's letter and Grant's answer. — Hood's campaign and the result. — Grant visits New York. — Sheridan's raid. — Last movement on Rich- mond. — Battles of Dinwiddle, Five Forks, and Appomattox. — Evac- uation of Richmond. — Lee's army in a trap . . . 370-387 CHAPTER XXV. Lee's surrender. — How it was brought about, — Terms of the agreement. — Johnston's surrender. — President Lincoln's visit to Richmond. — Reception by the negroes. — How New York received the great news. — Lincoln's return to "Washington. — Grant's return. — Assassination of the President. — How Grant escaped. — The President's dream. — Anger of the North. — The French in Mexico. — How they were driven out 388-402 CHAPTER XXVI. Grant makes a tour through the Northern States. —Revisits Galena.— Citizens give him a house — The new sidewalk. — Goes to Missouri and Ohio. — Visits the South. — Secretary of War ad interim. — Im- peachment of Andrew Johnson. — Nominated for the presidency. — Elected. — His administration. — Re-elected. — Retirement. — Journey around the world. — In Cuba and Mexico. — Bankruptcy. — Writing his memoirs. — Disease. — Death 403-420 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. General Grant Frontispiece Lieutenant Grant riding for Ammuni- tion AT Monterey Facing Page 55 Battle of Buena Vista " " 97 - "Halt! Who comes There ? " " " 125*' Battle of Shiloh " *' 167 '^ Siege of Yicksburg " " 201 General Grant at His Headquarters . " " 249 Battle of Fredericksburg " " 287 Surrender of Lee " " 327 BOYS' LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. CHAPTER. I. Ancestry.— Matliew Grant. -His voyage from England in the Mary and John. — Settlement at Mattapan near Boston. - Moves to Wind- sor, Conn. —Troublous times hi the Colonies. — How people went to church. — Living in a blockhouse. — Noah Grant. - His son Noah Grant.- Jesse R.Grant, father of Ulysses. — Birth of our hero.— What he says of his parents. Ulysses S. Grant was an American of the eighth generation from Mathew Grant and his wife, Pris- cilla, who came from Dorchester, England, in May, 1630, and settled in Massachusetts. Nearly all of the one hundred and forty passengers on the ship Mary and John, which brought Mathew Grant to America, were from Devon, Somerset, and Dorchester; and they came with the intention of remaining per- manently in America. The Mary and John had a rough voyage of ten weeks across the Atlantic. The captain had agreed to land the passengers at Boston ; but instead of that he landed them nine miles from that city. They brought suit, and recovered damages for the violation of his agreement. Then they crossed the bay in 9 10 boys' life of general grant. little boats, reached Boston, and thence went to a place that the Indians called Mattapan, four miles from Boston, which they named Dorchester in honor of the English town whence they came. Five years after his arrival in the New World, Mathew Grant moved with his family to Windsor, Conn., and remained there until the time of his death. He was surveyor for the Windsor colony for more that forty years, and was also for many years the town clerk of Windsor. His eldest son, Samuel, settled on lands on the east bank of the Connecticut River, opposite Windsor; and his descendants are still to be found there. The founder of the Grant family in America suf- fered many hardships. The first meal of the Dor- chester settlers was of fish without any bread, and they had many a similar meal afterwards. Roger Clap, the historian of the settlement, says : " The place was a wilderness. Fish was a good help to me and to others. Bread was so scarce that I thought the very crusts from my father's table would have been sweet; and when I could have meal and salt and water boiled together, I asked, ' Who would ask for better?'" The reasons for the movement to Connecticut are not clearly known ; but certain it is that about half the Dorchester settlers joined in it. One old writer HARDSHIPS OF COLONIAL LIFE. 11 says it was caused by " a hankering after new lands " which were fertile and grassy, while the region around Dorchester was rocky and heavily wooded; besides, there would he better opportunities for trading in furs with the Indians. The journey was one of great hard- ship, and so was life in the new settlement. So troublesome were the Indians, that the settlers built a stockade of trunks of trees set upright in the ground and close together, and all went there at night for safety. For many years they were in con- stant danger from the Indians whether at home, at church, in the fields, or wherever else they went. The Indians always came without warning; and their work was quick and murderous. In those troubled times, throughout all the New England colonies, the men carried their guns to church with them as a matter of caution ; and they took seats at the doors of the pews so as to be ready to rush out in case of an Indian alarm. To this day, in the New England States, though guns are no lon- ger carried to the house of divine worship, the seat- ing follows the custom of old Colonial times, — women and children at the head or inner end of the pew, and men at the door. No doubt Mathew Grant had his share of Indian fighting, and bore his part bravely. Since his time the Grant family has been a warlike, one as we learn 12 from its history. General Grant's great grandfather, Noah Grant, and his brother Solomon, of the fifth generation from Mathew Grant, held commissions in the English army in 1756 in the old French and Indian War. They went in an expedition to Canada, and both were killed in that j^ear. Nineteen years later, General Grant's grandfather, Noah Grant, went with a Connecticut company to join the Continental army in Massachusetts at the outbreak of the Revo- lution, and fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He served through the whole of the Revolutionary War; but was on furlough a part of the time, as he was married in Connecticut during the war, and was a widower with two children at its close. After the war was ended, and the independence of the United States acknowledged. Captain Noah Grant moved to Pennsylvania, and afterwards to Liverpool, Ohio, the second move being made in 1799. Before leaving Pennsylvania he married a second time ; and his eldest son by his second marriage was Jesse R. Grant, the father of the hero of our story. Comparatively little is known of the ancestors of General Grant down to the beginning of the present century. But certain it is that none of them were " cradled in luxury," and there can be little doubt that the firmness of will and indomitable perseverance for which General Grant was noted were an inheri- PITTSBURG IN 1799 13 tance derived from the environments of all the fam- ily, from Mathew to Jesse. We have learned some- thing about the hardships through which Mathew Grant undoubtedly passed, and the conditions of life remained very much the same for a century or more after the arrival of the Mary and John. About the time of the Revolution, the Connecticut Valley became prosperous ; but prosperity could only be gained through industry which, though general, was by no means universal. There was a disposition among the people to emigrate to the West; and, as already stated, the grandfather of General Grant joined in the migration. Compare for a moment the condition of things at that time and at the present. Pittsburg was a frontier post of five hundred in- habitants, who lived in log houses, and were pro- tected by Fort Pitt, which stood at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, where they form the Ohio. There were settlements at several points throughout Ohio, but none of great conse- quence ; and practically the whole region was a wilder- ness. There was a rough road over the mountains from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, but no turnpike ; and the majority of travelers who could afford any kind of conveyance went on horseback, the journey occupy- ing eight or ten days. At present, one can make it 14 BOYS* LIFE OF GENEKAL GRANT. in as many hours in a Pullman car, the triumph of luxurious locomotion on wheels. Down the Ohio River, one may now travel by a swift steamboat, or he may skirt its banks by the swifter railway. In 1799 Noah Grant loaded his wife and five children into a flat-boat, along with a horse, two cows, cooking, table, and farming utensils, and all the rest of their worldly goods. One end of the boat was roofed over; and under this rough shelter, day and night, the boat floated with the current, Noah and his wife each taking turns at watching while the other slept. ^ Jesse R. Grant, the father of the general, was five years old at the time of this voyage. All through his life he remembered it perfectly, and used to tell how vast the river appeared to his young eyes which had never gazed on a stream of the size of the Ohio. The boat landed at what is known as Liverpool, Ohio, but was then a settlement of half a dozen log cabins at the edge of a dense forest. Here the family remained a short time, and then moved to Deerfield, where, in 1805, Mrs. Grant died, and the family was broken up. Noah Grant, with the two younger children, went to live with his eldest son, while the others (there were five children alto- gether) found homes in the neighborhood of Deer- field. Jesse was taken into the family of Judge JESSE K. GRANT. 15 Tod, whose son was afterwards the renowned war governor of Ohio. Jesse also lived for a short time in the family of Mr. Brown, the father of John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame, " Whose soul goes marching on." As soon as he was old enough to learn a trade, Jesse Grant left Deerfield and went to Maysville, Ky., where he became apprenticed to a tanner. When he had learned his trade and was ready for business, he set up a tannery at Ravenna, Ohio, and a few years later moved to Pleasant Point, where he went into the same occupation. It was at Point Pleas- ant, Clermont County, Ohio, that the man, destined to conquer the greatest rebellion that the world ever saw, was born on the 27th of April, 1822. His mother was Hannah, daughter of John Simpson, whom Jesse Grant had married in June, 1821. Concerning his parents. General Grant wrote as follows in his " Memoirs : " — ^' During the minority of my father, the West afforded but poor facilities for the most opulent of the youth to acquire an education ; and the majority were dependent, almost exclusively, upon their own exertions for what- ever learning they obtained. I have often heard him say that his time at school was limited to six months, when he was very young, too young, indeed, to learn much, or to appreciate the advantages of an education ; and to a ' quarter's schooling ' afterwards, probably while 16 living with Judge Tod. But his thirst for education was intense. He learned rapidly, and was a constant reader up to the day of his death — in his eightieth 3-ear. Books were scarce in the Western Eeserve dur- ing his youth, but he read every book he could bor- row in the neighborhood where he lived. This scarcity gave him the early habit of studying everything he read, so that when he got through with a book, he knew everything in it. Even after reading the daily papers — which he never neglected — he could give all the im- portant information they contained. He made himself an excellent English scholar; and before he was twenty years of age he was a constant contributor to Western newspapers, and was also, from that time until he was fifty years old, an able debater in the societies for this purpose, which were common in the West at that time. He always took an active part in politics, but was never a candidate for office, except, I believe, that he was the first mayor of Georgetown. He supported Jackson for the presidency ; but he was a Whig, a great admirer of Henry Clay, and never voted for any other Democrat for high office after Jackson. ^•My mother's family lived in Montgomery County, Pa., for several generations. I have little information about her ancestors. Her family took no interest in genealogy, so that m}^ grandfather, who died when I was sixteen years old, knew only back to his grandfather. ''My mother's father, John Simpson, moved from Montgomery County, Pa., to Clermont County, Ohio, about the year 1819, taking with him his four chil- dren, — three daughters and one son. My mother, Hannah Simpson, was the third of these children, and was then over twenty years of age. Her eldest sister BIRTH OF OUR HERO. IT was at that time married, and had several children. She still lives in Clermont County at this writing, October 5th, 1884, and is over ninety years of age. Her brother, next of age, and now past eighty-eight, • is also living in Clermont County, within a few miles of the old homestead, and is as active in mind as ever. He was a supporter of the Government during the war, and remains a firm believer that national success by the Democratic party means irretrievable ruin.-" At the time of General Grant's birth there was a stream of emigration from the East to Ohio and other Western States. It came principally from New England, New York, and Pensylvania, there being vary few people from Virginia and the other South- ern States who settled north of the Ohio River. Steamboating in the valley of the Mississippi was then in its infancy, the first steamboat there hav- ing been launched at Pittsburg in 1811. Naviga- tion was principally by flatboats and keelboats, and a great force of men was required for handling them. The boatmen of that time were marked charac- ters in their way. They were a powerful, hardy race, unerring shots with the rifle, and fond of fighting and "• rough frolics " on shore. If two or more crews happened to meet in a town where they had landed for the night, there was pretty sure to be a fist fight, and perhaps two or three of them, be- 18 boys' life of general grant. fore bedtime. After a fight, the combatants shook hands, and no animosity remained. Wounds and bruises were regarded as of little consequence ; and the boatmen used to boast that they had " mighty healing flesh." It was an imperative rule of the boatmen that they would do no work on shore, their only place of industry being on the water. Their principal land amusement was shooting at a mark, and play- ing rough practical jokes on each other. With the rifle-ball they would knock a pipe from a fellow- boatman's hat-band, or spill the contents of a tin cup as it was being raised to the holder's lips. They would cut off the head of a wild turkey in flight, and snuff a candle at fifty paces without putting out the light. Their most favorite amusement was "driving the nail." This consisted in sinking a nail into a tree two-thirds of its length, and then, at fifty paces, driving it home with a rifle-ball. When two of them quarreled and made up their differences, it was not unusual for them to shoot small objects from each other's heads as a mark of friendship. A famous boatman, Mike Fink, the best shot on the river, lost his life in one of these af- fairs. He was to shoot an apple from the head of a man with whom he had quarreled and made up. When he fired, the man fell to the ground, where- KEEL-BOATMEN ON WESTERN RIVERS. 19 upon his brother shot Fink through the heart. In a few moments the supposed dead man rose to his feet; and it was found that Fink's bullet had passed between the man's head and the apple, making only a slight scalp wound. Occasionally the boatmen had desperate fights with river pirates who infested certain portions of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In these encounters there was generally bloodshed and loss of life, especially when the pirates were victorious. 20 boys' life of general grant. CHAPTER II. Weight of the baby. — Giving him a name. — Hiram Ulysses Grant. — Boyhood of Ulysses. — His first smell of powder. — Fondness for horses. — His skill as a rider. — Hauling wood and carrying passengers. — Skating. — How his frozen feet were cured. — Hauling logs for the new jail.— "What "Dave and Me" did. — Breaking a neighbor's window by accident. " How much did the baby weigh ? " one of our young readers asks. It weighed ten and three-quarter pounds, so the tradition is in the family ; and it was pronounced a strong and healthy infant. Its name was a matter of great consequence, that could only be decided at a family council; and this was not held until the child was six weeks old. On the day appointed for the meeting, Mr. and Mrs. Grant entered the family wagon and drove to the house of the Simp- sons, the parents of Mrs. Grant, ten miles away. Of course the baby accompanied them; and this was probably his first journey away from home, and his first opportunity to see the world. He did not keep a memorandum of what he saw on or by the way; and history does not tell us of his comments con- cerning the ride, or how he " liked the country." NAMING THE BABY. 21 It is possible that he remarked on returning home that he didn't know the world was so large. The council consisted of the boy's parents, his grandparents on the mother's side, and two maternal aunts; and there was a long discussion of the sub- ject before them, which became heated towards the end. Finally it was determined to vote by ballot; and thereupon each one wrote on a slip of paper the name which he or she preferred. The slips were then dropped into a hat, and one of the aunts was delegated to draw from the hat a single slip and read forth the name thereon inscribed. The scrap of paper bore the name of " Ulysses ; " and when all the slips were examined it was found that the vote stood as follows : — Ulysses 2 Albert 2 Theodore 1 Hiram 1 Hiram was voted by John Simpson, the father of Mrs. Grant, and out of deference to him it was subsequently prefixed to Ulysses; so that the boy was baptized Hiram Ulysses Grant. Albert was in honor of Albert Gallatin, who was then minister for the United States at Paris, and was highly popular for his many public services, which covered alto- gether a period of fully fifty years. 22 boys' life of general grakt. Theodore was voted by one of the maiden aunts who thought it a pretty name ; and Ulysses was the choice of the boy's father and grandmother. The reader may wonder how such a classic name should have found its way into Ohio at that time, when schools, even of the common sort, were rare, and colleges practically unknown in that region. Well, here is the story that they tell about it : — A copy of Fenelon's " Telemachus " had been brought into the settlement, and Jesse Grant borrowed and read the book shortly after his marriage. Then he sought and obtained permission to lend it to his mother-in-law, and she had just completed its perusal at the time of the family council. Both of them had been forcibly impressed with the character of Ulysses, the father of the hero of the story, who is depicted as "gentle of speech, beneficent of mind," "the most patient of men," "equally unmoved against danger and reproach," and " the wise Ulysses." One apostrophe to Telemachus is as follows : — '•Your father Ulysses is the wisest of mankind; his mind is an unfathomable depth ; his secret lies beyond the line of subtlety and fraud ; he is the friend of truth ; he says nothing that is false, but when it is necessary he conceals what is true ; his wisdom is, as it were, a seal upon his hps, which is never broken but for an important purpose.'^ grant's babyhood. 23 The selection of this name would seem to have been prophetic in view of the history of the man who bore it ! How marked was the resemblance between the characters of the Ulysses of ancient times and of him of the nineteenth century! Each possessed in- domitable bravery, wisdom, and reticence; each passed through many perils ; and each was noted for persis- tence in overcoming obstacles which stood in his way. Jesse Grant moved to Georgetown, in Brown County, when his first-born son w^as about two months old. Georgetown is about sixty miles above Cincinnati, and stands ten miles back from the Ohio River. The region around it is well adapted to the culture of the grape ; and Brown County is one of the best wine-producing counties of Ohio. The county is strongly Democratic; and the tradition is that some of its inhabitants vote for Andrew Jackson at every presidential election, unmindful of the fact that the hero of New Orleans has been dead for half a century. Jesse Grant carried to Georgetown a capital of eleven hundred dollars, which he had made and saved in less than two years. He started a tannery in his new place of residence, and was so successful with it that he built a small house of brick, and supported his family without touching his savings at all. In addition to his tannery he had a farm which 24 boys' life of general grant. lie tilled, and about fifty acres of forest that supplied the family with wood. Part of the time was devoted to the tannery, and part to farming. Jesse was pros- perous as prosperity was measured in that time and place ; and it was all the result of steady industry. The man was a hard worker; and when his son was old enough to- be useful he had his share of work to do. Ulysses Grant passed his life in Georgetown until he went, at the age of seventeen, to the Military Academy at West Point on the Hudson. There was nothing very eventful in his boyhood, although there are several occurrences worth noting in view of what happened later on. Before he was two years old, a 3^oung man, living in the neighborhood, wished to see what the boy would do at the report of a pistol close to him ; he had already been tried with one a little distance away, and was not at all alarmed at the noise. On this occasion the pistol was loaded and cocked, and then, while his father was holding him in his arms, the boy's finger was pressed against the trigger by his young friend until the weapon was discharged with a loud report. " He did not even dodge or wink," said his father ; ''but reached out for the pistol and asked for it to be loaded again." GRANT IN HIS BOYHOOD. 25 A year or two later, when he was quite ill, the family doctor was called in to consider his case. He pronounced the child in a state of fever, and pre- scribed some powders; whereupon the little fellow began to cry, and said between the sobs: "Don't give me any powders ; they will blow me up ! " The matter was explained to him; and on being assured that he was in no danger of an internal explosion, he consented to take the medicine the doctor prescribed. His father says that one of the earliest character- istics he displayed was a fondness for horses. A circus visited Georgetown about the time Ulysses was twenty months old, and he was taken to see it. He enjoyed the performance very much, and laughed heartily at the feats of the riders and the tricks of the clown. Towards the end of the show, a trick pony was brought in, and the ring-master asked for somebody to ride it. Ulysses begged to be permitted to do so ; and when his father tried to dissuade him, the tears stood in the boy's eyes, and he continued his pleadings. So he was placed on the pony's back, while the animal was led slowly around the ring, to the great delight of his rider, and the admiration of the spectators who applauded loudly. When he was five years old he could handle the reins very well, and was often sent with the horse 26 boys' life of general grant. and wagon for short drives. When Ulysses was seven and a half years old his father was away from home one day ; when he came home at night he found a large pile of brushwood in the yard in front of the house. His first question was as to who brought it there. "I did it, father," said the boy. "I harnessed up Jack, and put him in the sled; and I've been hauling brush from the lot all day." The wood-lot from which the young teamster had brought the brush was about a mile from the village ; and he loaded and unloaded the sled without as- sistance. When he was eight years old, the boy took care of a pair of horses and hauled wood every day, though he could not put on the collars and bridles of the animals without standing on a box or inverted tub so that he could reach their heads. His father says that Ulysses was always very kind to the horses, and that they reciprocated his kindness as horses are wont to do. " He could do anything with them he wanted to," said Mr. Grant ; '' and they appeared to be as fond of him as he was of them." He hauled wood not only for his father, but for the neighbors, and earned some money by so doing. He could not handle the heavy sticks to load or unload the wagon or sled ; this work was done by some one grant's fondness for horses. 27 else at either end of the line, while the labor of Ulysses was confined to driving. He also earned money by driving to their homes people who came to Georgetown by stage. By the time he was nine years old he had saved seventeen dollars, with which he bought a colt; and from that time he was never without a horse that was his own property. He traded horses quite often, and generally, though not always, to advantage. He displayed considerable business ability in his transactions, though he never went as far as the typical operator in equine flesh who *' would cheat his father in a horse-trade." Ulysses had a brother named Simpson, three years younger than himself ; and the two boys were brought up together. They went to school whenever there was any school in the town, which was not the case at all times. There were no free schools in that part of Ohio at the time of which we write. Every school was supported by subscription, and the teachers were often only a little less ignorant than their pupils. Reading and writing, together with arithmetic as far as the '-rule of three," were the principal branches taught, with sometimes grammar and geography. A school contained from twenty to forty or fifty scholars. The pupils varied in age from two years to twenty, and occasionally there was some that exceeded the latter figure. Books and birch twigs, with rulers 28 boys' life of general grant. for the older pupils, shared the honors as aids to learning, their relative uses varying with the tempera- ments of the teachers and the docility or reverse of it of those who came to be taught. It was the custom of the time to use the rod freely. If the sparing of it spoiled the child, as Solomon asserts, there were few ruined children in Ohio in the first half of the nineteenth century. General Grant says in his memoirs that his school- master in Georgetown always had a long switch in his hand; and it was not the same one either, as fre- quently a whole bunch of switches were used in one day. At home Ulysses was never subjected to punish- ment I but at school he obtained his full share, perhaps because he was not of a studious habit. He went to school in Georgetown from the time he was five years old until he went to West Point, with the ex- ception of two winters which he spent in Ripley, Ohio, and Maysville, Ky., attending private schools. Jesse Grant was well aware of his own deficiencies of education, and was anxious to give his boys as much schooling as he possibly could. But his attendance at school did not exempt young Ulysses from labor. Before and after school hours there was usually something for him to do about the house or farm or in the tannery. The latter work he detested; but he was always willing to go into WINTER AMUSEMENTS. 29 the fields, and especially so if the employment there had any connection with horses. When he was eleven years old he was able to hold a plow ; and from that time on until he went to West Point he did pretty nearly all the farm-work in which horses were en- gaged. He plowed the land, furrowed the growing potatoes and corn, hauled the wood and the gathered crops, cared for the horses and cows, and did other things, which were, as auctioneers say in their ad- vertisements, '' too numerous to mention." Amusements were not abundant. There were fish- ing and hunting to be enjoyed occasionally, as the country was sparsely settled ; but game animals were chiefly limited to squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, and similar " small deer." And as for the fish, they were not of a kind and size to develop the habit of false- hood which afflicts so many fishermen in Eastern waters. In winter the boys of Georgetown visited each other's houses in the evening, playing morris, checkers, fox and geese, and other games, eating hick- ory nuts; telling stories, and repeating riddles, till nine o'clock came, and it was time for the visitors to go home. In summer the boys went frequently to swim in the creek which ran near the village; and they used to have lots of fun in a place similar to that which James Whitcomb Riley, sweetest of Western poets, has immortalized as "The Ole Swim- min' Hole." 30 boys' life of general grant. Skating was an amusement of the Georgetown boys ; and it is related that on one occasion Ulysses had his feet frozen in consequence of having his straps too tight. His mother, who is said to have had a remedy for every ill that juvenile flesh is heir to, smoked the boy's feet over burning hay, and then poul- ticed them with bacon cut into thin slices. Whether the remedy belongs to the regular medical [)ractice or not, we cannot say ; but the frozen feet were cured. Occasionally when snow was on the ground, and of the right consistency, the boys used to get up snow-balling ma'tclies. They would designate two leaders, and then '' choose sides," the numbers being equally divided, or very nearly so. It is related that whenever Ulysses w\as one of the leaders, iiis side generally won the match, owing to the skill witli w^hich he handled his followers. He took advantage of weak points in his adversary's line, and in various ways gave promise of the superior ability as a tacti- tiau tliat he afterwards displayed. The parents and neighbors of Ulysses say that one of his boyhood characteristics was truthfulness. He never told a deliberate lie or even a " white " one, though lie Avas by no means a goody-goody boy such as we read of in story-books. If he heard or knew of pranks on the part of his schoolmates or playfellows, ]i8 didn't run at once to inform upon them ; but when THE BROKEN WINDOW-PANE. 31 called up and required to tell the truth, he did it, even though it might bear upon himself. One day while he and some other boys were play- ing ball, Ulysses knocked the ball through a pane of glass in a house near by. He immediately dropped his bat and went straight into the house, where he said, — "Mrs. Bailey, I've just broken your window, and am very sorry. I'll go right down to the store and buy a pane of glass, and come straight back and put it in." " Oh, never mind the window," was the reply ; "you've paid for it already by coming so promptly to tell about it." "But I do mind," said the boy; and off he went to the store to get the glass, which he soon had in the place where it belonged. Ulysses was not quarrelsome like many boys, but when he was drawn into a physical discussion he showed that he was no coward. A schoolmate says he once saw Ulysses in a fight with another boy named Mount, who was larger and stronger than our hero. Mount was getting the better of liis ad- versary, when the latter suddenly gave him a tre- mendous kick in the thigh. Thereupon Mount gave a loud yell and started for liis house, which was close by, while Ulysses hurried to his own home, 32 boys' life of general grant. fearful of a '' whaling" at the hands of Mount's father. Mention has been made of the dislike of Ulysses for the ^York of the tanner}-. Tlie bark for tanning purposes comes to the mill in strips, three or four feet long, and of varying width. It is dry and brittle when ready to be ground. The bark-mill resembles a cider-mill in general appearance. It has an up^ right hopper, and the grinding apparatus is moved by a horse walking around in a circle and propelling a pole. The boy who tends the mill stands by the side of the hopper, and with a hammer breaks the bark into pieces four or five inches square, and drops them inside. Every time the pole comes around he must "duck" his head to prevent it from being hit. Grinding bark was the employment which Ulysses disliked more than any other, with the exception of "beaming" hides. When any grinding was to be done, he used to hire another boy to take his place, paying him twenty-five cents for his day's work. Then he would go away and earn a dollar, and perhaps more, with his horses, carrying passengers to their homes, or hauling loads tliat needed to be moved. In this way he not only secured relief from disagreeable work, but made money out of the transaction. Jesse Grant took the contract for building a jail at Georgetown; and this necessitated a great deal of WHAT "DAVE AND ME" DID. 33 hauling of materials, chiefly of logs which were ob- tained in Mr. Grant's wood-lot. He owned one large horse which just matched one belonging to a neighbor. While the question of collecting material for the jail was under discussion, Ulysses, then twelve years of age, said, — "Father, if you'll buy Paul Devore's horse so as to work with ours, I'll undertake to haul the logs for you." Mr. Grant bought the horse as the boy suggested. Ulysses named his new animal ''Dave," and found him quite willing and docile. He was very proud of his pair of black steeds, and with them he did all the hauling required for the work. The logs were fourteen feet long and twelve inches square. They were cut and hewed in the forest; and when Ulysses went there with his team, the men helped him to load, while those at the jail helped in the unloading. The logs were large and heavy, as the reader will understand from their dimensions, and required sev- eral men to handle them. One morning rain was threatening; and when Ulysses came from the forest with his first load he remarked to his father that it was hardly worth while to go again that day as none of the hewers or choppers were there, and there was only one load left, and if that were taken away, there would be nothing for the next morning. o-i boys' life of general grant. " Were none of the men there ? " ''No, not one." '• Who loaded these logs ? " " Dave and me did it, father." " Why, that's impossible," said i\Ir. Grant. " Not a bit, father. Dave and me did it without anybody's help." " How in the world did you manage to get the log's on the axles ? " '' There's a maple-tree there that's fallen part way over, with its top lodged against another tree. I liitched Dave to the logs one by one, and dragged them up to this tree ; and then I backed up the wagon, and snaked 'em ahead on the axles. Dave seemed to know just what I wanted, and we didn't have a bit of trouble." The performance became known in the neighbor- hood, and made Ulysses quite famous. When Gen- eral Grant received the surrender of Vicksburg, one of his boyhood acquaintances said, — "That's the chap that loaded a wagon with heavy logs when he was twelve years old. I reckon he sat down and planned how to take Vicksburg just as he planned how he and Dave were going to make up that load without any help." Evidently the jail which Jesse Grant constructed was not like the one in another Western town where Dave's intelligence. 35 a prisoner who was confined there wrote to the sher- iff that he wouldn't stay any longer unless they repaired the jail sufficiently to keep the cows from straying in there and disturbing him. Young Grant said that Dave could do almost any- thing but talk, and he was sure that the animal understood what was said in his presence. One day when Ulysses was engaged in hauling logs from "the upper lot " as it was called, Jesse Grant said to UUysses, — ' ''Go to the south lot this time for your load." "All right, father," was the reply. When the team reached the road to the south lot, Dave turned into it without any direction from his driver's voice or reins. 36 CHAPTER III. The young horsebreaker. — Riding circus ponies. — Young Grant's famous horse-trade. — Selling a refractory horse. — Trips to Cincinnati. — Sent to West Point. — How the appointment came about. — Mistake in his name. — Grant's sensitiveness on the subject. — Preparing for exami- nation. — His outfit. — Journey to West Point. — Canal, stage, railway, and steamboat. — West Point and its history. — Grant's proficiency. — Excels in horsemanship. Very early in life young Grant became famous as the best horseman in all the country, which was no small repute in a region where nearly every man was familiar with the saddle and its uses. Before he was ten years old, owners of horses afflicted with a distemper that was cured only b}^ vigorous exercise used to bring their animals to Ulysses to get him to ride them *'into a lathering sweat." He was also in demand for breaking colts ; and it was no uncom- mon sight to see the tanner's boy on a pitching, rear- ing, bucking beast, tearing around the square or along the streets that led into the country. Usually lie went out at a furious pace, but returned at a walk. Strange as it may seem at first, while he was ready and Avilling to earn money by teaming or driving passengers, he disliked to do so by breaking colts or vicious horses. The profession of a horse-jockev was TRAINING A COLT. 37 not in good repute there, and he had no desire to be known as a trainer. He declined to take money for breaking colts for the neighbors, and refused to handle those that were brought to him from a distance. Once a neighbor came with a colt, and offered Ulysses two dollars to ride the animal and carry a letter to a town thirteen miles away. Just as Ulysses mounted the steed, the man said, as if the thought had just struck him, — "I wish you'd see if that colt can pace." When Ulysses returned from his twenty-six mile ride, the colt was a good pacer. Afterwards the boy was very angry when he found that the carrying of the letter was what in these days would be called a "fake," the real object being to have the colt trained to pace. Whenever a show came along with a trick pony which w^as difficult to ride, Lyss, as he was usually called, was always ready to try to ride him. Gener- ally he succeeded, but sometimes the pony's tum- bling and rolling on the ground were too much for him. When he was twelve years old, he rode a pony quite around the ring, but was more than a quarter of an hour in doing so. The pony jumped, bucked, reared, lay down, and rolled over, but all to no pur- pose. The boy clang to him with the persistence of a bulldog, and clearly earned the five dollars which 38 boys' life of general grant. the ring-master had promised but managed to evade pa\' ing by a frivolous excuse. He used to ride standing on the saddle, or more frequently on a sheepskin strapped on the horse's back to keep the rider's bare feet from slipping. Thus equipped, Ulysses would go at full gallop along the road, standing on one foot, as he had seen riders at the circus, and holding the bridle in his left hand and a switch in his right. Generally the horses seemed to enter into the spirit of the sport, and needed little if an}^ urging. One day before Ulysses was ten years old, his father sent him to buy a horse belonging to a farmer wlio lived several miles away. " Offer him thirty dollars for the horse," said Mr. Grant; "but if he won't take it, you can offer thirty-five ; and rather than come away without the animal, offer him forty. If he won't take that, you may leave the horse, as that's all he's worth." Impressed with the importance of the trust reposed in him, the boy started on his mission. When he reached the house, and said that he wanted to buy the horse Mr. Grant had been looking at, the farmer suddenly aisked, — " How much did your father say you might pay for the horse ? " Thrown off his guard by the abruptness of the inquiry, the boy answered, — grant's horse-trade. 39 '' Father ssaid I might pay forty dollars rather than not get him, but was to begin by offering thirty ; and if you refused it, I was to offer thirty-five." Of course the farmer was ready to declare, and did so, that he couldn't take less than forty dollars, and the bargain was concluded at that figure. The story got out, and caused Ulysses a good deal of annoyance as long as he remained in Georgetown; and not only tlien, as it followed him to AVest Point, and after- wards into the army. Mr. Grant had so much confidence in Ulysses that after the latter was thirteen or fourteen years old, lie allowed him to trade horses pretty much as he pleased. When the jail which has been mentioned was completed, Jesse sold his wagon to a farmer who lived twenty miles away. Ulysses was sent to de- liver the wagon ; and for this purpose he took a horse that his purchaser had left, and one of his own that he had recently purchased and had never been harnessed, though he had been used under the saddle. For about ten miles Ulysses got along very well. Then the new horse became frightened at something, and kicked out of the traces; and very soon he had freed himself from the harness, all but the bridle which held him to the other horse. Ulysses jumped off the wagon and seized the frightened animal, hold- ing him till he was quiet; then he replaced the har- 40 boys' ltfk of general grakt. ness and tried to go on, but the beast began to kick again and behave as badly as ever before. " He will never do to go in harness," said the boy, "and I guess I'll sell him as soon as I can. He's a good saddler, and I won't be long in finding a market.*' He was close to a town at the time ; and so he saddled the horse and galloped away, leaving the quiet beast tied to a tree at the roadside. When he reached the town, he inquired for a horse-dealer ; and having found one, he speedily sold the horse for sixty-five dollars. The dealer hesitated about mak- ing a purchase of so young a boy, whereupon Ulysses brought forward a gentleman whom he knew to as- sure the dealer that a bargain with the boy was the same as one with his father. After completing his horse-trade, Ulysses borrowed a quiet steed with which he returned to where he had left his wagon and the other horse. Then he finished his journey ; and on the return trip restored the borrowed animal to its owner, and made the rest of the journey in the stage-coach. Ulysses made frequent trips to Cincinnati and other places by reason of engagements for hauling loads for merchants and others; and he kept a sharp watch for jobs by which he might earn money by the use of his horses. By the time he was sixteen SENT TO WEST POINT. 41 years of age, he had traversed most of the country within fifty miles of Georgetown so often that he was pretty familiar with it; and once he went on a journey to Louisville, which was a great undertak- ing at that time for a boy of his age. He longed to see more of the world, and was planning to earn and save money enough to enable him to do so. The opportunity came in an unexpected manner, and at a time when he was not thinking of it. He was attending school at Ripley, ten miles from Georgetown, during the winter of 1838-1839. Dur- ing Christmas holidays the school was closed, and young Grant followed the example of the other pupils and went home. One day his father received a letter; and on reading it, he remarked, — " Ulysses, I think you are going to receive the ap- pointment." "What appointment?" the boy asked. "The appointment to West Point," the father an- swered. " I have applied for it." Ulysses declared that he didn't want it, and wouldn't go ; but his father cut the matter short by saying, "You'll go, I think, if I want you to." The boy concluded, so he has said since then, that he thought so, too, if his father did. The reason he did not want to go was that he feared he would fail in the preliminary examination ; and he would rather 42 boys' life of general grant. stay at home all his life than do that. He had no real objection to going, but was fearful of the ordeal. The way the appointraent came about was this : — A boy had been appointed from Georgetown, but had failed in the examination. He resigned, and went to a private school for a year, when he was appointed, and failed again. A vacancy in that dis- trict was thus created, but the fact was not gener- ally known. The boy's mother was intimately acquainted with Mrs. Grant, and told the circum- stance to her. She mentioned it to her husband, and hinted that there was an opening for Ulysses. Jesse Grant caught at the hint, and immediately wrote to the Honorable Thomas L. Hamer, tlie member of Congress who had the right of nomination, request- ing the appointment of his son. There was no other applicant for the place, and so Ulysses received the nomination. Mr. Hamer made a mistake in the name of the appointee. Instead of Hiram Ulysses, he wrote it Uh^sses Simpson, under the impression that the boy's middle name was the maiden name of his mother, or perhaps confounding his name with that of Jesse's next son, Simpson. At all events the appointment came for Ulysses Simpson Grant, and no effort on the part of the individuals concerned could ever chano-e it. When he found that the mistake could not be rec BLUNDER IN GRANT'S NAME. 43 tified, the youth accepted the situation, and entered West Point as Ulysses Simpson Grant. The blun- der of Mr. Hamer was an annoyance to General Grant throughout his whole life. While he was a student he was ridiculed frequently by his compan- ions for being somebody else than himself, or for having entered the academy under another's name because he couldn't get in on his own. Other jokes of the same sort were frequent; but thougli they were made in a friendly spirit, they could hardly be other- wise than annoying. The same and other jokes fol- lowed him after his graduation and his admission to the army, and he was rarely out of their echo. During the Civil War the story of his change of name was told again and again in the newspapers, and the same was the case while he occupied tlie presidential chair. For years a prominent newspaper that was hostile to the president and his policy in- variably spoke of him as Hiram U. Grant, and its example was occasionally followed by others. When- ever an opposition editor wished to be excessively funny, he revived this hoary joke, and wrought him- self into a fit of uncontrollable laughter over it. Naturally the appointment of the tanner's son to a cadetship at West Point caused a great deal of comment in Georgetown. Ulysses had not been re- garded as a bright boy, excepting, of course, by his 44 boys' life of general guant. parents ; and grave doubts were expressed of the possibility of converting such an uncouth hid as he was into a polished soldier. A lawyer of George- to.wn, Avho was not over friendly with the boy, said to Jesse Grant that he wondered Congressman Hamer hadn't given the aj^pointment to some one who \^'Ould do credit to the district. This remark was not calculated to fall pleasantly on Jesse's ears, and foT a long time he felt very sore about it. But years afterwards when his son had l)ecome the most famous general in the Civil War, and Avas voted into the presidental chair, the old gentleman took great pleasure in repeating it. Until the time that Ulysses departed for his new station in life the appointment was the chief topic of conversation in the village, and a great source of comfort and pride to the parents of the boy. But there was a practical side to the matter which could not be overlooked, and that was the prepara- tion for the examination, and the raising of the money needed for the cadet. Ulysses put himself into the hands of a profes- sional teacher named Baldwin Summers, who had an excellent reputation, especially for mathematics and penmanship. He studied hard for five months or so, and gave up his association with horses and other quadrupeds. At the time of his departui-e, in May, JOUKNEY TO WEST POINT. 45 1839, he had advanced considerably in book knowl- edge ; and his teacher said he was sure to pass the examination, provided he did not lose his presence of mind when he came before the examining board. Meantime the youth's mother had prepared his outfit of shirts, socks, and underwear generally, and he had spent twenty-five dollars for a suit of clothes. He had saved about one hundred dollars; and by selling a young horse for which he had no further use, he raised sixty more. The rules of the Mili- tary Academy required every cadet to deposit sixty dollars to pay his expenses home in case he failed to pass examination, or should so conduct himself as to be expelled. The sale of the horse supplied the deposit money, and left seventy-five dollars for tlie boy's traveling expenses to West Point. He went up the Ohio by steamboat to Pittsburg, which was reached in three days, and thence went by canal to Harrisburg. The stage would have been more expeditious than the canal-boat, but it was more expensive ; and, further- more, the water-route gave a better view of the scenery of Western Pennsylvania than the land one. The canal-route was not altogether a water-way, as the boats crossed the mountains by rail, being hauled up an inclined plane on one side and lowered down a plane on the other. The first railway with 46 boys' ltfe of general grant. cars and locomotives to greet the eyes of our hero was between Harrisburg and Philadelj^hia ; and they made, he thought, an average speed of twelve miles an hour. At full speed the train went at the enor- mous rate of eighteen miles an hour, and seemed to be annihilating time and space. Ulysses took his journey leisurely, stopping sev- eral days in Philadelphia to visit his mother's rel- atives and see the city, which was a great curiosity to him. He was so long in the Quaker City that he had less time and money for New York ; and when he reached West Point on the 30th or 31st of May, his traveling purse was nearly empty. He was considerably surprised at the ease with which he passed the trials of examination, and at once wrote home to tell his parents that it wasn't such a diffi- cult thing after all to get into West Point. West Point is about fifty miles from New York City and on the west bank of the Hudson. It is partly an elevated plain, and partly mountainous land ; and the idea of establishing a military academy there was suggested, so history says, by Colonel Pickering, quartermaster-general of the army, shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. West Point played an important part in the Revolution. It was fortified quite early in the war, was held alternately by the British and the Continentals, and HOW APPOINTMENTS ARE MADE. 47 was the scene of Benedict Arnold's treason and flight. The authorized number of cadets at the Military Academy is lixed by the law which allows each con- gressional district, each Territory, and the District of Columbia, to have one cadet at the Academy; and there are also ten cadets appointed yearly by the Presi- dent. Those from the districts and Territories are appointed by the Secretary of War on recommenda- tion of membei-s from the districts or the Territorial delegates. When there are several applicants for a single ap- pointment, the place generally goes by favor of the member of Congress having the nomination. Some- times, in order to avoid tlie hatred of the disappointed ones and their friends, the Congressman opens the appointment to competition among the pupils in the schools, and publicly announces the fact in his dis- trict. This plan has proved an excellent one, and will probably increase in popularity as the years go on. To be admitted to the Academy, an applicant must be from seventeen to twenty years of age, without disease or deformity, and must pass an examination in reading, writing, including spelling, grammar, arith- metic and geography, particularly of his own country, and must have a good knowledge of the history of the United States. The course of instruction occupies 48 boys' life of general grant. four years, and the cadet receives an allowance of five hundred dollars a year to pay for his board, cloth- ing, books, stationery, and other items of expense ; and he also receives the allowance of one army ration. There is a large staff of teachers and professors at West Point, most of them being officers who have graduated from the Academy. The course of study includes mathematics, history, geography, geology, chemistry, mineralogy, French, drawing, engineering, and military science in general. The examinations are rigid and thoroughly impartial ; and the cadet who fails to make a certain average at these examinations is dismissed. There is a daily record of the recitations of each student, and at the end of the week this record is posted up. The cadet's position in his class is determined by this record. Cadet Grant's record was never a high one. He was never at the head of his class, and sometimes got disagreeably near the foot. He admits that he was not a close student, and spent a considerable part of his time in reading books that had no bearing upon education. The military life had no charm for him; and he had no intention of remaining in the army after graduation, in case he had the good fortune to graduate. His idea was that he would obtain a posi- tion as teacher either at West Point or elsewhere, and thus turn his education to advantage. " HAZING " AT WEST POINT. 49 The barbarous practice of " hazing " was then in force, and Cadet Grant had his share of it. While he was a "plebe," or first year student, several of the juniors, the class next above him, came to his room one night to smoke him out. They helped themselves to his tobacco which lay in a box on the table, and after filling their pipes began to smoke very vigor- ously. Pretty soon one of them felt unwell, then another, and then another. In less than half an hour all had retired, and young Grant remained master of the field. The vanquished smokers accused him of " doctoring " his tobacco in anticipation of their visit, but to this charge he always replied that the proof to that effect had not been presented. The students go into camp during part of the sum- mer, and the life of the camp gives an opportunity for the juniors to play jokes upon the plebes. During Grant's second year a plebe asked him on the first morning after going into camp, where he should go to get his shoes blacked. " Over at that tent," said Grant, pointing to the tent of the colonel who commanded the camp. " There's a man there who has charge of the whole business, and he'll tell you where to go." The plebe went as directed, but soon found his mis- take. The colonel answered him very gruffly, and then asked who sent him there. 50 boys' life of general grant. " One of the men in the junior class," was the reply ; ''but I -don't know his name/' " Go back and tell him I want to see him," said the colonel. The plebe delivered the message; but Cadet Grant did not see fit to complj- witli the colonel's invitation, and there the matter ended. Hazing is practically abolished at the present time at West Point and in most of the colleges. In the old days at West Point it frequently happened that stu- dents were severely injured and their health was im- paired. On one occasion, wliile a plebe was on sentry duty, a junior endeavored to '• have some fun " with him, and received a bayonet thrust in his thigh. For some time his life was in danger, but he ultimately recovered; though he was permanently disabled, and obliged to give up his studies at the Academy. But if Grant's standing was low in scholarship, it was offset to some extent by his horsemanship. The training of the cadets in that branch is severe as it is in everything else. They are put through a course of hard riding, and a goodly proportion of it is done without saddles. On bare-backed horses they must jump hurdles and bars and perform various evolu- tions, and the officers stand by to see that there is no shirking. The tanner's son won the admiration of everybody by his ability to stick on a bare-backed horse through grant's hoksemanship. 51 all the exercises, including leaps of five feet and more. He was by all odds the best rider of his class, and one of the very best riders ever seen at West Point. His early fondness for horses and acquaintance with them stood him in good stead. At that time there was in the stable at West Point a huge, long-legged, sorrel horse called "York." He was a hard beast to handle ; and only two members of the class. Grant and Coutts, could ride him at all. Coutts frankly acknowledged that Grant was a far better rider than himself ; and as for the others, they were quite out of the question. York was a splendid jumper, and it was Grant's de- light to "put him through his paces." When the five-foot bar was put in place, and Grant was mounted on his back, York would approach the bar at a gallop, crouch low like a cat about to pounce on a mouse, and then go over the bar with a sudden spring. His fore-feet were thrown high in the air, his hind-feet gathered beneath him, and he came down to the ground with wonderful lightness. One day — it was at the final examination before the board of visitors — York, with Grant on his back, made a jump of six feet and three inches. It was the best leap ever made at West Point, and is marked there yet as '' Grant's upon York." 62 boys' life of general gkant. CHAPTER IV. Grant thrashes an impertinent student. — A salutary lesson. — " Uncle Sam." — Popular with his fellows. — An arbiter of disputes. — First visit home. — A happy reunion. — Graduates from the Military Acad- emy. — His standing in his class. — Home again. — Appointed into the Fourth Infantry. — His first uniform. — Joins his regiment at St. Louis. — Meets his future wife. — Courtship under difficulties. — Troubles between Texas and Mexico. — Fourth Infantry ordered to the frontier Coming as they do from all parts of the country, and from all social ranks, the students are a mixed lot when they enter the Academy at West Point. No distinctions are made between them by their instructors ; the son of a millionaire or of an army officer is treated exactly like the son of a tanner or a carpenter, and must perform his duties in the same way. When the students form in squads to go to roll- call, they take their places in the order in which tliey reported for duty at the beginning of the term. Next to Grant and below him was a youth whom we will call Robinson, who was the son of an army officer, and the pet of his parents and all the officers at the post where his father was stationed. He was a tall, handsome fellow, and looked sneeringiy upon his neighbor, the tanner's boy from the back- THRASHING A FELLOW-STUDENT. 53 woods of Ohio, a short, chubby youth, with manners somewhat uncouth, though never rude. One day Robinson crowded Grant out of his place when they assembled at roll-call. Grant, thinking it might have been an accident, said nothing at the time ; but after the class was dismissed, he told Robinson not to crowd him out again. The very next roll-call, Robinson, with a wink at some of his comrades, repeated the offense. Grant instantly knocked him down, jumped on him, and in less time than it takes to tell the story, gave him a sound thrashing. The surprise of Robinson was about equal to tlie delight of the rest of the class, as the haughty fellow was not at all popular. He took the lesson to heart, as many a boy has taken similar treatment, as he never afterwards tried to crowd Grant out of his place or otherwise offend him. Those who did not know young Grant at all well considered him cold and distant; and one of his fellow-students afterwards said of him " He would drip icicles in a Turkish bath." This is the equiva- lent of a remark concerning a certain prominent man of the present day, that he would be good to put around butter in summer-time. Two lines in Shakespeare's play, King Henry VIII., are not an inapt description of Grant's character: — " Lofty and sour to them that loved him not ; But to those men that sought him sweet as summer." 54 boys' life of general grant. Partly from the seriousness of his manner, and partly because of his initials, Grant was nicknamed *' Uncle Sam" by his classmates; and the name 'ad- hered to him all through his services in the regular army. As in nearly all schools and colleges, the students were nicknamed either by the alteration or abbreviation of their own names, or on account of some personal attributes. Thus there were among Grant's classmates Steele, who was called "Doctor" because he had studied medicine ; and Reynolds, called "Dad" on account of his premature gray hair. Ham- ilton was " Ham," Franklin, " Frank," and Deshon, " Dragon." "Uncle Sam" grew in popularity as time went on, owing chiefly to his amiability and quietness of man- ner. He was not noted for brilliancy; in fact, he had a reputation for indolence which he said was justly deserved. He did not have a large circle of acquaintances ; but he had several close friends, and most of them remained so during his and their lives. Among those who knew him he was greatly admired for the clearness and fairness of his judgment; and whenever a dispute arose among them, and no agree- ment seemed likely to be reached, it was generally decided to leave it to "Uncle Sam." The cadets have a furlough of sixty days for visiting their friends at the end of the second year; VISITING HOME. 55 and this is the only one allowed during their entire term except in the case of serious illness. Grant improved his furlough by going home as quickly as possible. He found relatives and friends very glad to see him, and all complimented him on his im- proved appearance. He was somewhat round-shouldered when he left Georgetown; but he now carried him- self with dignity, liolding his head well erect. His mother exclaimed after her first welcome was over, — " Why, how straight you have grown ! " *'Yes," was the reply; "they taught me that the very first thing." He found a horse and saddle waiting for him, his thoughtful father having provided them for the boy's use during his furlough. The time passed very quickly, much more so than at the Academy, where Grant said a week was as long as ten Ohio weeks. He visited his old schoolmaster and friends, and all his relatives that were within reach; and when the end of his furlough came he was at his old quarters in West Point. The remainder of his term passed somewhat more rapidly than did the first half of it, or, rather, it dragged less slowly. At the final examination and graduation, June 30, 1843, Grant stood twenty-first on a list of thirtv-nine. These were all that were 56 boys' life of general gkant. left out of a hundred or more tliat entered the Acad- emy with him. The rest had been weeded out in one way or another; a few by illness, but the great majority by incompetence, idleness, or bad conduct. At that time the army of the United States con- tained fewer than ten thousand men ; and the Acad- emy at West Point graduated officers faster than there was need for them. It was the practice to commission the graduates as brevet second lieuten- ants, and give them choice of appointments into in- fantry, cavalry, or artillery whenever vacancies oc- curred. Grant put down as his first choice the cavalry, or dragoons as they were then called, and for second choice the Fourth Infantry. There was only one regiment of dragoons at that time, and it had its complement of officers and also four brevet second lieutenants. The Fourth Infantry was not so well provided with officers ; and, furthermore, there were other infantry regiments in case the fourth was unat- tainable. After graduation Grant received leave of absence for ninety days. He waited somewhat impatiently for his assignment to duty, as he could not order his uniform until he knew whether he was to be in the dragoons or the infantry, the uniforms of the two arms of the service differing greatly. At last the APPOINTED TO THE FOURTH INFANTRY. 57 decision for his assignment was made ; and he received orders to report for duty with the Fourth Infantry, then stationed at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. Then he hurried up the making of his uniform suit, in which he was anxious to appear as soon as pos- sible. When his new garments came home, he donned them at once and went out for a horseback ride. Some of the small girls and boys jeered him, and so did a few of the loafers and idlers who congregated about the public square. Grant was sensitive ; and tliese experiences gave him a distaste for uniforms and military trappings in general, from which he never entirely recovered. Lieutenant Grant, as we must now call him for a while, reported for duty on the 30th of September, 1843, and began his first practical experience of army life. There is not much to do around a military post in time of peace. An officer must attend every drill and roll-call, and go through a certain amount of rou- tine; but beyond that, his time is his own, and he can do pretty much as he pleases. Of course a great deal depends on the commandant of the post, whose power is practically autocratic. Lieutenant Grant was introduced into the society of St. Louis, and found it very agreeable. Four or five miles west of the city was the home of one of 68 boys' life of general grant. his classmates, F. T. Dent, the son of Colonel Fred- erick Dent who had settled there when a young man, in the year 1815. He bought some twelve hundred acres of land, and named the place Whitehaven in lionor of his old home in Maryland. There was noth- ing more natural than for Grant to visit his old class- mate, and he went to Whitehaven within a day or two after his arrival at Jefferson Barracks. He had brousfht from Ohio his horse and saddle, and was therefore equipped for excursions into the country. It soon became noticeable that Lieutenant Grant went very often to Whitehaven, oftener, perhaps, than was to be expected in visiting a classmate. The fact was, young Dent had some sisters ; and the eldest of them was Miss Julia Dent, a bright, comely girl of seventeen, or four years the junior of the young army officer. The two were congenial to each other, and took walks and rides together, and made calls upon the neighbors in company of one of the 3"0ung woman's brothers or sisters. In May, 1844, Lieutenant Grant received permis- sion to visit his friends in Ohio on a furlough of twenty days. A few hours after he started, an ordesr came from headquarters at Washington for the Fourth Infantry to go to Louisiana, but the lieutenant was quite ignorant of the movement. He had been at home two days when he received a letter from a SWIMMING A RIVER. 59 comrade telling what had happened, so that he was not at all surprised on returning to St. Louis to find his regiment gone. On his arrival at Jefferson Barracks, he reported to Lieutenant Ewell (afterwards major-general in the Confederate army), and at the same time handed him his leave of absence. He obtained a few days' additional leave before going to join his command, and immediately went to Whitehaven to see his old classmate. Shakespeare says, in " A Midsummer-Night's Dream," that the course of true love never did run smooth. On his way to Whitehaven, the young officer was obliged to cross the Gravois, a creek that ordina- rily has about enough water in it to allow a child of two years to wade across in safety. This time it was swollen by recent rains into a torrent through which Grant was obliged to swim his hoi-se or give up liis visit. Under the circumstances, and knowing some- thing of the character of the man, we can i-eadily surmise what he did. He swam over, or ratlier he sat on his saddle while the animal did the swimming, and was wet through and through before reaching the other side. In this plight he went to Whitehaven, where he borrowed some dry clothes of liis classmate, and thus made himself presentable to Miss Dent who was very 60 boys' life of general grant. glad to see him. Before their tete-d-tete was over, he made a declaration of his sentiments, and she re- ciprocated. Thus began their engagement, which was not brought to an end by a wedding until four years later. Lieutenant Grant and Miss Dent corresponded fre- quently during their four years of waiting. They saw each other but once in that time, wdien he vis- ited St. Louis on a short leave of absence. The parents reluctantly consented to the marriage, as they did not think that a young subaltern, with nothing but a subaltern's pay and with slight prospects of advancement, was a suitable husband for their daugh- ter. Besides, she would be separated from him for long periods ; and altogether the life of an officer's wife was one of hardship. No cause was assigned for the removal of the Fourth Infantry from St. Louis to Louisiana; it was ordered to go, and that was all there was about the matter. The real reason of the move was the unsettled feel- ing then prevailing between the United States and Mexico concerning Texas. Texas had belonged to Mexico down to 1836, when it rebelled, and gained its independence. For thirty years and more before the Revolution, it had been the resort of Americans of all sorts and conditions. and generally of a very bad sort and condition. Rene- TEXAS IN THE '' FORTIES." 61 gades of all kinds sought the shelter of that region, where they could be beyond the reach of Ameri- can laws ; and the country was said to have derived its name from the last words of a couplet which ran thus : — "When every other land rejects us, This is the land that freely takes us," When a defaulter absconded leaving his creditors in the lurch, and the sheriff was unable to find him, it was customary for the officer to indorse on the warrant of arrest the letters " G. T. T.," meaning thereby, " Gone to Texas. " In Texas in those days, when men became ac- quainted, it was not the custom to inquire each other's names, but to wait until they were volunteered. When an acquaintance had ripened into brotherly in- timacy and an oath of eternal friendship, then, and not till then, could one of the fraternal pair ask : — " Would you mind tellin' me what your name was afore you left the States ? " Some interesting stories are told of the way in which the Texans gained their independence. Gen- eral Sam Houston, a native of Tennessee, was com- mander-in-chief of the army, and afterwards first president of the republic. At the battle of San Ja- cinto, which made Texas independent of Mexico, Houston had two small cannon which were carried 62 boys' life of gekeral grant. on mules. But the animals with the carriages for the cannon had not come up ; so he ordered the guns to be loaded, and then had the mules backed around till they and the guns were aimed at the Mexicans. Then the cannon were discharged, and committed much havoc among the enemy. The recoil threw the mules to their knees with sufficient force to keep them there till the guns were reloaded. As the animals staggered to their feet, another discharge threw them forward again, with the same result as before. Two or three times the mules turned around on rising to their feet, and thus caused consternation among the Texans ; but fortunately the guns were not discharged. The story goes that these cannon decided the result of the battle. Very soon after Texas obtained her independence, and was recognized by the United States and several countries of the Old World, a movement was made for her annexation to the United States. The measure was favored by the slave party and its allies, as it was clearly understood that her annexation would in- crease the slaveholding territory of the countr}^ An- nexation was accomplished in 1845, and Texas became" one of the sisterhood of States. Troops were concentrated on the frontier of Texas ; and this was the reason why the Fourth Infantry was sent to the neighborhood of Fort Jessop, Louisiana, ON THE MEXICAN FRONTIER. 63 about twenty-five miles east of the boundary of Texas. Thither went Lieutenant Grant to join his regiment, after his declaration of love and his acceptance by the lady of his admiration. It was hoped that the trouble between tlie United States and Mexico Avould cease with the annexation of Texas, but such was not the case. Our govern- ment resembled the real estate-owner who said tliat he always wanted the land which joined his ; and as fast as he obtained possession of a neighboring farm he proceeded to get hold of the one next it. The Nueces River was the western boundary of Texas, and even the Texan revolutionists had never claimed to own beyond it. But when after the an- nexation the United States sent an " Army of Ob- servation " under General Taylor into Texas, our claims were pushed forward to the Rio Grande, about one hundred miles beyond the Nueces. We had no honest claim whatever to the strip of land between the two rivers, but we wanted it, and took it. Our action was about as honorable as that of the armed bandit who robs a lone traveler on the road, or a midnight prowler who appropriates the fowls in a farmer's henhouse. Since the time of which we write Texas has greatly increased in population and wealth. Immense herds of cattle roam over its prairies ; and it produces cotton, 64 boys' life of general grant. corn, and other staples in great quantit}'. There is a stringent hiw in Texas against the sale of intox- icants, and another against the carrying of concealed weapons; and altogether the community is an orderly one. In the cattle industry any animals over a year old that are found without a brand are called "• Mav- ericks," and the name is said to have originated as follows : — In the early days of the cattle industry, one Colonel Maverick took possession of an island in one of the rivers, and placed some cattle upon it so that he could know where to find them when he wanted them. He paid little attention to his property. The cattle increased and multiplied, and began to stray from the island, so that other cattle owners fre- quently found unbranded animals from Maverick's herd among their own stock. One day a party of them reported to the colonel that two thousand bulls belonging to him were in their lierds, and he conld have them by picking them out. " For Heaven's sake, boys," said he, " go in and help yourselves ! " From that time on an unbranded yearling has been called a Maverick, and is appropriated by the finder. Strangers in Texas are made the victims of vari- ous practical jokes, and among them is tliat of quail- bagging. A party of six or eight go out to catcli QUAIL-BAGGING. 65 quails at niglit, by driving them into large sacks that are distended at tlie mouth by means of hoops. The bags are set up with candles above them to attract the birds. Two of the party, novices, are left to watch the bags, while the others disperse '' to drive in the quail.'' Instead of driving quail they go home, leaving the two unfortunates to continue on the watch as long as they choose to stay. QQ boys' life of general grant. CHAPTER V. On to Texas. — General Taylor. — Desires of the Government. — State of affairs at tliat time. — Landing of the Fourth Infantry at Corpus Christi. — On the Nueces. — Grant's personal mishap. — Kinney, the mule-trader. — Smuggling as a profession. — Hunting nenr Corpus Christi. — Capturing wild horses. — Grant's horse transactioiis. — His promotion. — Brevet rank. —Marching to the Rio Grande. — Encoun- tering great herds of wild horses. — Sights on the plains. The Fourth Infantry, with portions of other regi-. ments, remained in camp at the spot whither it went from St. Louis, and after the annexation it was moved into Texas. It first went to New Orleans, where it remained for a time, and then embarked on sail- ing-ships for Corpus Christi, near the mouth of the Nueces. Horses, mules, camp equipage, personal bag- gage, ammunition, and other things were put on board with considerable difficulty, and the work con- sumed several days. General Zachar}^ Taylor, who commanded the Army of Observation, was ordered to take possession of the disputed territory. The Mexicans had announced that they would resist any advance beyond the Nueces ; they had never acknowledged the independence of Texas, and declared that in any event the new State could claim nothing beyond that river. GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 67 General Taylor was a man of strong personality. He was fond of agriculture, and during his whole military career he owned a farm, and spent upon it all the time he could spare from his duties. Through- out his whole life he drank only water as a bev- erage ; and he used to say that he had never known an officer or soldier, or any one else connected with the army, who got into disgrace and was cashiered or discharged, who could not trace his trouble, either directl}^ or indirectly, to the use of ardent spirits. Soon after his return from Mexico he dined with a gentleman who insisted that the general should taste some of his wine, w^hich he considered among the best in the world. General Taylor tasted of the wine, and immediately followed it with a glass of water, Avliich he drained to the last drop. As soon as he could speak, he said, " I was never much of a judge of wine, anyway." After the capture of Matamoras, the first steamer that arrived from New Orleans brought a consider- able quantity of fine brandy and wines as presents to General Taylor from several gentlemen of that city. The general ordered the entire lot to be taken to the hospitals for the use of the sick, reserving nothino- for himself. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, in her " Travels in America," describes her visit to Genei-al Taylor 68 boys' life of general grant. at the White House while he was president. He talked with her in a very animated way, advising her not to leave America without seeing the Mis- sissippi River, and traveling on it from St. Louis to New Orleans. He spoke kindly of England; and referring to steam navigation between the two coun- tries, he said, — " The voyage will be made shorter and shorter : and I expect England and America will soon be alongside of each other, ma'am." The sailing-vessels that carried the troops from New Orleans were a long time in assembling at Cor- pus Christi. General Taylor did not consider it pru- dent to begin landing until the best part of the army had arrived, and so the beginning of the landing was delayed. The bay at the mouth of the Nueces is shallow; and the landing was made by means of boats, small and large, and two or three small steam- boats which had been brought along for landing purposes. Lieutenant Grant was actively employed in the landing preparations, and had some rough experiences. In transferring stores, men, horses, and baggage, from the ships to the boats, the loads were lowered down by means of pulleys. When the water was smooth, which was not very often, there was no great difficulty in the operation ; but when the " land swell '* A SLIGHT MISHAP, 69 was on, a considerable amount of care was requisite. The loads were lowered to a point a little higher than the deck of the boat. Then the swell was watched until the ship and boat were both together in the trough of the sea, when the signal was given, and as quickly as possible the load was drawn over the boat and lowered rapidly to its deck. Lieutenant Grant went ashore with some of the earliest of the landing party. After he had been there a few days, he had occasion to go back to the ship, which he easily did by one of the returning boats. When the object of his visit was accomplished, and he was to go ashore again, he thought he knew enough about the working of the pulley to lower himself without any help. So he mounted a railing, seized the pulley-rope between the upper pulley and the lower one, put his feet on the hook, and swung himself away. Instantly his feet rose in the air with great rapidity, and his head went down at the same rate of speed ; he lost his hold, and made a plunge of twenty-five feet into the water, going down head foremost in the manner of a diver. He thought he touched bottom, but wasn't quite certain. When he rose to the surface once more he looked around with a good deal of astonishment, but did not lose his presence of mind. He was a very good swimmer, and easily sustained himself until 70 boys' life of general grant. a ro})e was lowered to liim, and he was lifted to the deck of the ship without having suffered any injury whatever, other than being wet through to the skin. When it was found that he had escaped unhurt, nobody sympathized with him in the least, but every one thought it was a capital joke. Grant did not see the joke at that time as plainly as did the others ; and it was not till his clothing was fully dry that he could see the humorous side of the per- formance. At that time Corpus Christi consisted of a cluster of perhaps twenty small houses, and the inhabitants of the place were principally engaged in smuggling. An American named Kinney was the leading man of the place, and the rest of the population were mostly subordinate to him. Kinney brought goods from the United States by means of sailing-craft from New Orleans. When they were landed, he made them up into packages of one hundred pounds for convenience in carrying, and two of these packages made a load for a mule. They w^ere fastened to- gether with ropes, and slung across the backs of these sturdy animals. There w^ere no wagon-roads in that part of the country, at least none that were prac- ticable for business purposes ; and consequently every- thing that had to be transported was carried on the backs of mules. A FRONTIER SMUGGLER. 71 Kinney was occasionally visited by Mexican sol- diers, who wanted to break up his business ; and he was also visited at irregular intervals by the Co- manche Indians, who wished to steal his goods. He bought off the soldiers with silver and gold coin, and fought off the Indians with a stock of rifles and other weapons which he kept constantly at hand and ready for use. There has alwa3'S been a great deal of smuggling into Mexico from tlie north, as it is prac- ticably impossible for the Mexicans to maintain an efficient guard along their extended frontier. Kinney was at first inclined to look very coldly upon the new arrivals ; but on finding that General Taylor respected private property, and paid for every- thing he wanted, he became friendly, and furnished the American commander with a good deal of infor- mation concerning the country around them and its resources. There was not a single house or settlement of any kind between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. The roads across the country were mere trails. Much of the region was a sandy desert; and there were occa- sional stretches of forest and chaparral, or thickets of brush and tall reeds. It was impossible to pene- trate far into the chapparral without cutting one's way with a hatchet; and the density of tlie vegetable growth made .the place a splendid one for an am- 72 boys' life of general grant. bush. The country abounded in game, and the officers spent a good deal of their leisure time in hunting. One day while Lieutenant Grant and a friend were out on a hunt they suddenly came upon a party of Comanches. The Indians were not more than half a mile away when tlie officers discovered them, and then followed a wild ride in the direction of Corpus Christi. At first the Indians gained on the officers, and it looked very much as though the latter would lose their scalps; but after a time the tables w^ere turned, and the Comanches fell behind. They did not abandon the chase until Corpus Christi and the camp were within less than a mile, and they knew that farther pursuit was useless. The Mexicans used to hunt deer with a stalking- horse; that is, they had the dry skin of the head, neck, and about half of the body of the horse. This they pushed along before them, while they themselves, armed with their rifles, crawled on the ground, occa- sionally stopping as if to feed, until they got within shooting distance of the game. There were great numbers of horses on the plains around Corpus '" Christi and away to the north. Horses were cheap in this locality, as the Mexicans could catch them without much difficulty wlienever they wanted any. One day General Taylor called together all the ^Mexicans and other idlers around HUNTING WILD HORSES. 73 the camp, and said he would give a fair price for fifty wild horses. Hardly had the words passed his lips before sev- eral Mexicans sprang on their steeds and started for the herds of wild horses thirty or forty miles away. They built a corral, or yard, with a fence about ten feet high, and with a funnel-shaped entrance extend- ing out on the plain for a mile or more. Then they surrounded a herd and drove it in, selected fifty of the best of the animals, turned the others loose, and hastened back to camp with their prizes. The captives were turned over to General Taylor; and the Mexicans thought they were well paid on receiving five dollars apiece for the animals. In a short time two-thirds of them had been broken to harness, and the rest were sold to the officers at prices varying from five to twenty dollars. Lieutenant Grant bought three of the captured horses, and came near having his neck broken while training them. He had them well broken to the saddle just before the army moved, but lost them all by an unfortunate accident. A colored boy, who looked after the tent, did the cooking for Grant and another officer, and attended to their horses, was one day riding one of Grant's horses to water and leading the other two. The led horses pulled him from the back of the one he was riding, and then 74 boys' life of general grant. all three ran away. Some one mentioned the mat- ter to Captain Bliss, General Taylor's adjutant-gen- eral; and the latter remarked, "Yes, I heard Grant lost five or six dollars' worth of horses the other day." Grant afterwards said that the remark was a slander, as the horses cost nearly twenty dollars instead of six. He never saw or heard of them afterwards. The officers and soldiers in General Taylor's army had a good deal of fun with occasionally a broken limb in subduing the horees which were caught as described. When the animals were fully subdued, pony races became fashionable, and there was a great deal of fast riding up and down the beach. Nearly every race was accompanied by tumbles; and on some occasions fully one-half the riders were on the ground before the contest ended. By degrees the horses were sobered down, and became fair riding- beasts. They were well-formed and powerful crea- tures, closely resembling the Norman horse, and with lieavy tails and manes. They were much better for practical use than the horses brought fiom the States, as the northern horse required to be fed, partly, at least, on grain, while the captured horse had never seen a particle of grain in his life, and thrived well on grass alone. Gradually General Taylor's army got in readiness AT CORPUS CHRISTI. 75 for active work. It was an army of about three thousand men in all ; but it was of excellent material, and thoroughly drilled and disciplined. In the begin- ning it was composed entirely of regular troops ; but later on it was largely augmented by several volun- teer regiments. The position at Corpus Christi was not disturbed at all by the Mexicans. It was known that they were in camp on the banks of the Rio Grande, and had been ordered not to cross the coun- try to the Nueces and provoke a conflict. The policy of the Government was to so arrange matters as to have the Mexicans bring on hostili- ties; but finding that the Mexicans would not come to the Nueces, it was necessary to go to the Rio Grande and meet them. While the army was in camp at Corpus Christi, Lieutenant Grant was promoted from the rank of brevet second lieutenant to a full second lieutenancy. Perhaps some of our readers may require an expla- nation of the term '' brevet." It is an honorary appel- lation; and when conferred on an officer, promotes him to receive the full pay of the rank to whicli he is brevetted when he performs the duty thereof. Tiius a colonel promoted for meritorious service of some kind receives a commission as brevet brigadier- general. He is not a full brigadier-general and en- titled to the entire pay thereof, but he still remains 76 boys' life of general grant. a colonel. There is this difference however: when- ever he is assigned to the command of a brigade, he is entitled to the full pay of a brigadier-general, which would not be the case had he not received the brevet rank. In his promotion, Lieutenant Grant was appointed into the Seventh Infantry; but he had become so at- tached to the Fourth, that he asked and obtained permission to remain in it. The regiment at that time was commanded by Colonel Whistler, who liad been in the service for forty years ; in fact, he was the oldest officer in term of service, except General Scott. Orders came from Washington for the advance of the army towards the Rio Grande. The advance be- gan on the 8th of March, 1846, and was led by the Four til Infantry, the regiment in which Lieutenant Grant was serving. There was no enemy in the way, the scouts having just reported that the Mexicans were holding close to the bank of the Rio Grande, and giving no indication of any intent to move out and meet the Americans. The camp was completely broken up; and the pro- cession of soldiers, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and the long line of baggage wagons with their snow-wliite covers, made a picturesque sight. At the start, the men marched as if uu parade ; but before MARCH TO THE RIO GRANDE. 77 the first mile was ended, the order was given ''Arms at will ! " and the soldiers were permitted to travel as they pleased, except that they were forbidden to straggle by the roadside or wander away from their commands. The march across the country from the Nueces to the Rio Grande consumed fourteen days. General Taylor had given strict orders that there should be no plundering of any kind; but for the greater part of the way it made little difference what the orders were, as there wasn't anything to be taken, and no- body to be plundered. As before stated, the country was quite unsettled, while its sole inhabitants were deer, wild horses and other animals, and birds that had never seen a hunter. When the army neared the eastern bank of the Rio Grande, they came upon gardens and fields and houses, and then the regulations of the commanding general came into force. Nothing was taken with- out being paid for; and the inhabitants, who were very much afraid at first, were soon convinced that the dreaded Americans were not as black as they had been painted. One day during the march, the greater part of the herd of horses from which their captured animals were taken was seen in the front of the column. The army Avent into camp early that afternoon, and 78 boys' life of general grant. some of the officers rode out to examine the herd. They found the animals very numerous ; and Lieu- tenant Grant, who was of the party, said that he did not believe the herd could be pastured in the State of Rhode Island or Delaware, without eating up all the grass in one day and moving to another State on the next to avoid starvation. Such were the herds of wild horses in Texas fifty years ago ; and quite as large, too, were the herds of buffalo tliat roamed the prairies of the West in the first half of this century. These great herds of horses and buffalo have totally disappeared, and only a few scattered hundreds of these animals remain in a wild state. Such is the destruction that accompanies civilization. General Taylor reached the Rio Grande at Point Isabel, where he established a depot of supplies ; and then marched about thirty miles up the river, till he reached a point opposite Matamoras. IN SIGHT OF MATAMOUAS. 79 CHAPTER VI. Arrival opposite Matamoras. — Fort Brown and Brownsville. — Attack by Mexicans. — Point Isabel. —Sending for provisions. — Fort Brown shelled. — Taylor's return from Point Isabel. — Attacked by the Mexican army. — Battle of Palo Alto. — An artillery duel. — Battle of Resaca de la Palma. — Victory for the Americans. —Grant's part in the battles. — Return to Fort Brown. — Occupation of Matamoras and Camargo. — Movement on Monterey. Mexican flags were flying in great numbers over the flat-topped houses of Matamoras, and considerable crowds of people were on the roofs of tlie dwellings watching the new arrivals on the opposite bank. The river at tliis point is about four hundred feet across, and if the Mexicans had desired to do so they could have disturbed the strangers very nuich by in- fantiy and artilleiy fire. Mexican soldiers were nu- merous in the streets of Matamoras, and just below the city there was a military camp of considerable extent. The indications were that the Mexicans out- numbered the Americans two to one, but not a hostile shot was fired on either side. The day the army arrived, some children were pad- dling about the river in a boat and came over to the American shoi'e. The soldiers treated them kindly, and played with them, the little ones showing no 80 boys' life of general grant. fear of the strange men among whom they had fallen. Suddenly agonizing shrieks were heard from the op- posite shore, supposed to come from the mothers of the young estrays. The children were at once bundled into the boat and sent home, where they greatly aston- ished their parents by their return safe and unharmed. A few days after the arrival of General Taylor opposite Matamoras, a scouting-party of cavalry under command of Captain Thornton was attacked by the Mexicans several miles from Fort Brown, a fortification which General Taylor had thrown up. Captain Thorn- ton was killed with several of his men, and the rest were captured. This was exactly what our govern- ment desired. A condition of war existed, and Mexico had fired the first shot! When the news reached Washington, and was made public, there was great excitement in the National Capital. There were no telegraphs in those days ex- cept a line between New York and Washington, the telegraph not being fairly established in America until two or three years later. The country became wild over the intelligence, and the war spirit was rampant. President Polk issued an extraordinary proclamation, stating that a condition of war existed, the Mexicans having shed the blood of our soldiers on our own soil. Congress authorized the raising of fifty thousand volunteers to carry the war into Mexico, and punish MEXICANS BOMBARD FORT BROWN. 81 that country for her insults and outrages. , Volunteer regiments were formed with great rapidity, and sent to re-enforce the army in the field. Meantime, the provisions which General Taylor brought with him from Corpus Christi had run short, and it was necessary to renew them. For this pur- pose General Taylor sent his wagon-train to Point Isabel, with nearly his whole army as an escort. He left Fort Brown in the possession of two companies of the Tenth Infantry, commanded by the major after whom the fortification was named. Immediately on the departure of the American army, the Mexicans began shelling Fort Brown, and continued to bombard it for six or eight days. The garrison fought vigor- ously, and held the fort ; though it is proper to say that the Mexicans made no attempt to carry it by storm. Only tw^o of the garrison were killed (one of them being the commandant, Major Brown^, and some ten or twelve wounded. General Taylor and the force accompanying him reached Point Isabel without molestation. The wagons were loaded, and on the 7th of May the army left Point Isabel on its return to Matamoras. About noon on the 8th of May, while the men were halted about three miles from Palo Alto, they became aware of the presence of the enemy. Palo Alto means " tall tim- ber," and the name was given to the place on account of the high trees in its vicinity. 82 boys" life of general grant. When the army got in motion again, it was attacked by the Mexicans with artillery and cavalry. Grant's regiment sustained a heavy fire, both at the opening of the engagement and later on. The Mexicans were under cover of the timber, and thus had an advantage over the Americans who were marching across the treeless prairie. The grass on the prairie was tall, so that only the heads of the men were visible as they marched alonor. Before the Americans cam': within range of the Mexicans' guns, Taylor formed his army into line of battle ; and when everything was ready the line was ordered to advance. As soon as the Americans got within range of the enemy's guns, the Mexicans opened fire. The can- non-balls passed through the American ranks, but did not at first injure anybody, as they struck the ground before reaching the Americans, and then ricochetted, or rebounded, through the tall grass so slowly that the Americans could see them coming, and open the ranks to allow them to go harmlessly by- During the battle a soldier on the right of the line got beyond two Mexican soldiers, and was con- siderably alarmed when he found where he was. But he determined to put on a bold front, and actu- ally succeeded in driving his two enemies within our lines, although both of them were armed. When BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 83 he came with his prisoners before his colonel, the latter asked in astonishment, — '' How did you manage to capture these two Mex- icans at once ? " "I just surrounded 'em and fetched 'em in," was the reply. The battle of Palo Alto lasted four or five hours, and was principally an artillery duel, the Mexicans firing nothing bi^ solid shot, while we fired both shot and shell. General Taylor had several twelve- pound howitzers throAving shell, and also three eigh- tp.en-pounders. The latter were drawn by oxen, and therefore moved slowly ; but they had a long range, and did excellent work. The Mexicans were in much larger numbers than the Americans. In consequence of the superiority of the American guns, it is prob- uble that the Mexican loss was much greater than that of the Americans, the latter being nine killed and forty-seven wounded. The Mexicans fell back two or three times during the battle ; and at the *^lose of the day the Americans occupied the ground which was held by the Mexicans when the fight began. On the morning of the ninth, an examination of the ground in front of the Americans showed that the enemy had retired during the night. The army pushed forward slowh', Lieutenant Grant beino- sent 84 boys' life of general grant. forward with his company to explore the chapaii'al on the right of the advance, and prevent the army being ambushed. This was a hazardous piece of work; but work that was necessary, and cheerfully performed. Luckily for Grant and his men, nothing was found to interfere with their movements. They moved slowly on till they came to a line of ponds or lakes formed by a change in the bed of the Rio Grande a long time before. The Mexicans had gone to the other side of these ponds, and thrown up a defense of dead trees and brush in their front, and placed their artillery so as to defend the ap- proaches to their position. Word was sent back to the army; and while it was coming up, the advance party to which Lieuten- ant Grant belonged began firing upon the enemy. When the army arrived. Grant pressed forward with his company whenever he could find a chance to do so, and suddenly found himself much nearer the enemy than he thought he was. The fighting became general, and after a time the Mexicans gave way. Grant pursued a battalion of them until he discov- ered that he had penetrated quite a distance into their lines. Luckily for him, the Mexicans whom he pursued halted and surrendered, and he dropped back a little until he rejoined his own line. The fight of the 9th of May is known as the BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA. 85 battle of Resaca de la Palma, which means '-Grove of Palms." The artillery was used much less than at Palo Alto, owing to the thickness and the density of the chaparral. The infantry was several times engaged ; and more than once during the battle bay- onets were crossed. When the Mexican line gave way, it broke in great confusion, the Mexicans fleeing towards the river about three miles back in the rear of where the line of battle had formed. The pursuing Americans found the enemy's camp with a good breakfast ready cooked and the tables spread for eating. Some of the soldiers wanted to stop and be the uninvited guests of the Mexicans, but their officers pushed them on after the fleeing foe. Many of the latter were killed while retreating, and many Avere drowned in the Rio Grande while attempting to swim over to the other side. The American loss in killed and mortally wounded at Resaca de la Palma was forty-four. Among the killed was Lieutenant Cochrane of the Fourth Infan- try, Grant's regiment. General Taylor captured eight cannon, two thousand small arms, several flags, and a large quantity of military supplies and camp equi- page. Nearly one thousand prisoners were taken, and were marched along with the army to Fort Brown. Lieutenant Grant was under heavy fire several times during both battles, but escaped unharmed. 86 boys' life of general grant. General Taylor's march the rest of the way to Fort Brown was not interrupted; and when his army reached there the firing upon the fort was stopped at once. In a few days the Mexicans evacuated Matamoras, and General Taylor crossed tlie river and took pos- session of the town. They found it a pleasant old- fashioned Mexican settlement; some of the houses of stone, but the majority constructed of adobe or sun- dried brick. Adobe is one of the most common build- ing materials throughout Mexico, as it is both cheap and durable. The bricks are made of clay, sand, and straw, and are almost identical with the bricks which the Israelites made in Egypt many hundreds of years ago. After the occupation of Matamoras by the Amer- icans, the army changed its name again. At first, as the reader knows, it Avas called the " Army of Observation;" then when it came to Corpus Christi it^was the "Army of Occupation," meaning thereby that it was possessing territory which w^as in dispute between the United States and Mexico. Now that we had passed beyond the boundary of all our claims, the force under General Taylor's command became the "Army of Invasion." At the time President Polk issued his proclama- tion declaring the existence of a state of war, Gen- INVADING MEXICO. 87 eral Scott, who was then the ranking officer of the army, was instructed to proceed to Mexico by way of Vera Cruz. His plan was to land near the last- named city and establish his camp, and begin siege operations as soon as possible. After capturing Vera Cruz he would then follow the road to the City of Mexico, up the eastern slope of the mountains which stand between that city and the sea. General Taylor received orders to advance into Mex- ico, and then . proceeded to occupy Camargo, farther up the Rio Grande. Volunteer regiments arrived one after another, and were landed at Point Isabel, or taken up the river by steamboats to Matamoras or Camargo. Some of the troops marched along the banks of the river; but the heat was so great that the marching was done principally at night. It was the custom to break camp about midnight, march until nine in the morning, and then form camp again. The policy of conciliation towards the people that had been commenced at Corpus Christi was adhered to by General Taylor. No marauding was allowed; everything taken was paid for; and many of the in- habitants who had fled in terror at tlie approach of our troops, returned to their homes when they learned how matters were going. General Taylor gave orders that Camargo should be fortified; and a line of de- fense was thrown up. It was here that General Pil- 88 boys' life of geneual grant. low, a volunteer officer from Kentucky, committed the mistake of placing the ditch of his fortification on the wrong side. This blunder became widely known, and adhered to him through life. At Camargo, Lieutenant Grant was made acting- assistant-quartermaster, in charge of the property of the Fourth Infantry. It was an appointment of con- siderable importance, entailing much more activity and responsibility than his former position of second lieu- tenant in the line. It required considerable business capacity, and the records show that the young lieu- tenant acquitted himself creditably. During the halt at Matamoras and Camargo, there was comparatively little for the officers and soldiers to do. There was a large amount of military stores in Matamoras, left behind by the retreating Mexicans; and among their public property was a great quan- tity of cigars and tobacco. Tobacco was a govern- ment monopoly in Mexico, the same as in France, Spain, and other Continental countries. General Tay- lor distributed the tobacco and its products among the soldiers, and for a few days nearly everybody seemed to be engaged in smoking for at least twelve out of the twenty-four hours. The hospitals w^ere full of wounded Mexicans, and our army surgeons were kept busy attending them. Many of our soldiers mingled with the natives, and ADVANCE ON MONTEREY. 89 endeavored to learn Spanish; and very quickly they were on the best of terms with the people. It was not until late in August that the army was in readiness to be put in motion. Monterey was General Taylor's objective point, the largest city of Northern Mexico, and finely situated on a pla- teau two thousand feet high. General Taylor moved in its direction with an army of six thousand men, about equally divided between regulars and volunteers. There was no hurry about the movement; and the marches were slow, avoiding as much as possible the great heat of the middle of the day. The plan of the movement up the river to Camargo was followed ; the army breaking camp at midnight, marching un- til nine in the morning, and then going into camp until midnight came around again. The army moved in four divisions, one day apart from each other ; and on nearing Monterey, the foremost divisions halted, until the others came up. The roads were very bad, and a wagon-train which up to Camargo had been quite sufficient for the needs of the army was totally inadequate for the movement to Monterey. To make up for the de- ficiency it was necessary to hire pack-mules, and also to hire Mexicans to manage them. If the work of management, packing, handling, and driving had been thrown upon the soldiers, it would have required 90 boys' life of general grant. about twice as many men as they had in the army at the time. It took several hours to pack up the camp equi- page of a regiment, and load it on the backs of the mules. By the time the last of the mules were loaded the first had got tired of standing, and kicked their burdens off; and when they began to kick they usually kept at it until everything, packsaddle in- cluded, was scattered about on the ground. Some would start to run, humping their backs, or '* buck- ing " as the process was called, at the same time kicking their heels high in the air. If this was not successful they would try to disarrange their packs by lying down and rolling on the ground. Mules that had been loaded with tent-poles would manage to get a small tree between themselves and the poles, and in this way they were quickly released from their burdens. Lieutenant Grant learned all about the business in his capacity of assistant-quarter- master. In speaking of it, he said tliat he Avas not aware of ever having used profane language in his life, but he could excuse any man who did so while in charge of a train of Mexican packing-mules. The Mexicans made no opposition to General Taj^- lor's advance. A few squads of cavalry were seen, and that was all ; and very often the cavalry came quite near the advance of our army. Orders had A PRACTICAL JOKE. 91 been issued that there should be no shooting at the Mexicans unless they began first. Everywhere the people fled as the invaders approached ; but within a day or two most of them returned and found their property unharmed. Several regiments of volunteers had been added to General Taylor's force previous to the departure from Camargo, and the regular soldiers took great delight in playing pranks upon them. One day a volunteer soldier missed a book that he was reading, and after making inquiries throughout his regiment he continued them among some regulars who were camped near him. One of the regulars pointed to General Taylor's tent, and said, — ''I saw an old fellow in that tent reading a book, and I guess it must have been yours." The volunteer bent his steps to the tent, where he found "an old fellow" in plain clothes, whom he at once accosted with, — "Say, old chap, you've got my book, and I want it." " I haven't your book, my man," was the reply. "Somebody said he saw you reading it; and I've come to get it." With that the soldier proceeded to pull off his coat, preliminary to a figlit. The old fellow smiled, and checked the proceeding by saying, — 92 boys' life of general grant. " I'm General Taylor, my man ; and I hope you don't think I would steal your book." "Excuse me, General," said the soldier, as he pulled his coat into place again ; '• I don't suppose a gen- eral would steal books or anj^thing else. I didn't take you for a general, seeing you don't have any brass-mounted clothes on. I'll know better when I get to learn the ropes." The general enjoyed the joke, and used to tell it with much gusto. During the presidential campaign in which Gen- eral Taylor was the candidate of the Whig party, the affidavit of an Ohio volunteer was published by the Democrats to the effect that while at Camargo Gen- eral Taylor had said that the Ohio volunteers weie a set of cowards and would run from the enemy. The story had the faintest shadow of a foundation, which is not always the case with campaign yarns about candidates. The circumstances were these : — General Taylor saw a soldier seize a chicken, and ordered him to drop it. Tlie man pretended to do so, but passed the chicken behind him, and into the hands of a comrade. Thereupon Taylor thundered out: — " Drop that chicken ! Any man who would steal is a coward, and would run from the enemy." Grant was near Taylor at the time, and witnessed the whole affair. When the campaign story came A CAMPAIGN STORY. 93 out, Grant publicly denied it, gave the facts in the case, and hinted that the soldier who signed the af- fidavit was probably the one who tried to steal the chicken. An investigation of the origin of the story showed that this was actually the case. 94 boys' life of general grant. CHAPTER VII. The battle of Monterey. — Strength and organization of the army. — Defenses of the city. — Bishop's palace. — Black Fort. — Movements of Worth's Division. — Capture of the Saltillo Road, — Advance into the city. — Grant goes for ammunition.— A perilous ride. — General Arapudia surrenders. — Hoffman's verses on " ]Monterey." — Men who became famous. — Characteristics of General Taylor. — His hatred of uniform. — An amusing incident. — An armistice. —Scott's plans for the war. — Grant goes to Vera Cruz. — Battle of Buena Vista. On the 19th of September, General Taylor's army was at Walnut Springs, within three miles of Mon- terey. Between Walnut Springs and the city there is a broad plain. Close to the city, on this plain, there Avas a fort for defending the approach. The soldiers gave it the name of Black Fort on account of its color. On the north and north-west, the city was defended by the Bishop's Palace, a fortress of considerable strength; and this fort also covered the road to Saltillo on the Avest end of the city. The eastern end was defended by some small in- trenchments which had been hastily thrown up, and an observation showed that they were well manned and ready for fighting. In the center of the city v\^as the usual plaza or public square ; and this was oLrongly defended by artillery, which swept the ATTACKING BUENA VISTA. 95 streets in every direction. General Ampudia was in command of the Mexican army, which numbered fully ten thousand men. General Taylor's force was about sixty-five hundred strong, in three divisions, under Generals Twiggs, Butler, and Worth. While the - troops were resting and getting in readi- ness at Walnut Springs, General Taylor, with the en- gineer officers, made a careful reconnaissance. After a thorough study of the city, they found that it would be possible to get around to the Saltillo Road without bringing the troops in range of the forts. General Taylor sent General Worth with his divis- ion to take possession of the Saltillo Road and the works in its vicinity. The rest of the troops were drawn up as if to attack the north and east sides of the city. General Worth's movement was the real attack, and the others were simply to support it. General Worth began his movement on the after- noon of the 20th of September. He met no opposi- tion, and spent the night in a good position on the hills north-west of Monterey. During the night, General Taylor planned an attack upon the Black Fort. A battery was placed on the crest of the ridge near it, and the Fourth Infantr}^ was standing just below the ridge to support the battery in case of assault. Lieutenant Grant was left at Walnut Springs in 96 liOYS' LIFE OF GENERAL GIIANT. charge of the regimental property ; but when the fight began in the morning, he mounted his horse, and joined his regiment. Just as he reached it, the order was given to charge. He had no business in the charge, as he was at that time quartermaster, and quartermasters are not supposed to fight. But he hadn't the moral courage to stay behind, and so he cliarged with the rest. About one third of the men engaged in the movement were wounded or killed in less than twenty minutes, and then the order tu retreat was given. The movement of General Worth on the north, and also the advance on the east of the town, were successful, to the extent that by the end of the da\' (the 21st) the Bishop's Palace had been taken, and Monterey was completely invested b}^ the Americans. Very little was done on the 22d. On the other side of the city during the niglit of the 21st, Black Fort and the other batteries Avere captured, and the east end of Monterey was indisputably in American hands. The Third and Fourth regiments of infantry made an advance into the city, and suffered heavy losses, the most of them caused by the firing of the soldiers from the liouse-tops. When they were within a block or two of tlie plaza, they came to a halt, where they sheltered themselves as much as possible Battle of Buena Vista, 1847. grant's dangerous ride. 97 against the houses, and watched for Mexican heads rising above the sand-bags. AVhenever a head was shown, it was sure to bring a volley of shots from the Americans. In making their progress towards the plaza, the infantry used up most of their ammunition; and Col- onel Garland, who commanded the advance, wished to send a messenger to General Taylor asking for a fresh supply. As the mission was a very dangerous one, he did not like to order any one to carry the messag-e, and therefore called for a volunteer. Lieu- tenant Grant at once said he would go, and his offer was accepted. Grant fully realized the dangerous ride he was about to make. He adjusted himself on the side of the horse farthest away from the enemy; and with one foot clinging to the cantel of the saddle, and one arm around the neck of the horse, he started on a full run. He was fired at many times, and a shell exploded close to him ; but he finished his ride with- out injury either to himself or the horse. Before the ammunition could be brought up, the regiments for which it was intended had been forced to retire ; and fortunately their losses were much less when coming out than in going in. While this was going on at the eastern side of the city. General Worth with a small division of troops 98 boys' life of general grant. was making his way to the plaza on the other side. Instead of marching through the streets, he adopted the plan of cutting his way through the houses. He had very little loss of life, and did not stop opera- tions during the night. In the morning, lie was so near the plaza that General Ampudia realized the hopelessness of further defense, and proposed terms of surrender. Fighting ceased at once; and the sur- render was soon arranged, the troops being paroled and allowed to take away their personal property. Shortly after the capture of Monterey, the fol- lowing verses were written by Charles Fenno Hoff- man. They were very popular at the time of their publication, and a great favorite of General Grant. They found their way into the school-readers of that period; and many a gray -haired man of the present time has used these verses as a recitation piece in his schoolboy days. "We were not many — we who stood Before the iron sleet that day ; Yet many a gallant spirit would Give half his years if he but could Have been with us at Monterey. Now here, now there, the shot it hailed In deadly drifts of fiery spray ; Yet not a single soldier quailed When wounded comrades round them wailed Their dying shouts at Monterey. a MONTEREY. 99 And on, still on, our columns kept, Through walls of flame, its withering way ; Where fell the dead, the living stept, Still charging on the guns that swept The slippery streets of Monterey. The foe himself recoiled aghast When, striking where he strongest lay, We swooped his flanking batteries past, •And, braving full their murderous blast. Stormed home the towers of Monterey. Our banners on those turrents wave, And there our evening bugles play, Where orange-boughs above their grave Keep green the memory of the brave Who fought and fell at Monterey. We were not many — we who pressed Beside the brave who fell that day ; But who of us hath not confessed He'd rather share their warrior rest Than not have been at Monterey?" The American loss during the battle was one hun- dred and t^Yenty killed, and three hundred and sixty- eight wounded. By far the greater part of the loss was the result of injudicious attacks upon strong po- sitions. In the battle of Monterey there was a consider- able number of officers in addition to Lieutenant Grant who became generals on one side or the other during the Civil War. One of them was Lieut. Georo-e G. Meade, who afterwards commanded the 100 boys' life of general grant. National Army at Gettysburg. He was in General Worth's command, and made the reconnaissance of the Saltillo Road on the night of the 20th of Sep- tember. Col. Jefferson Davis, who became President of the Southern Confederacy, was at Montere}^ in com- mand of the First Mississippi Rifles ; Major Mansfield, who was a general during the War of the Rebellion, was in General Worth's division at Monterey ; and there were also engaged in the battle Lieutenant- Colonel Garland and Colonel Quitman, both of whom became generals in the Confederacy. General Taylor is described as a man of great abil- ity and strength of character, and he was beloved and admired by all who served under him. Every move which he made was carefully considered before- hand, and he never subjected his men to needless ex- posure. He was modest and unassuming in manner, and had a great aversion to wearing a uniform ; in fact, he never put it on except at a review or some other occasion when it was considered indispensable. He w^ent about camp in the ordinary dress of a far- mer. But he w^as known by sight to all the soldiers, and invariably returned their salutes. Some interesting stories are told concerning his avoidance of uniform, and among them is the follow- ing : — While General Taylor was at Matamoras, previous "DON PATRICIO MILMO." . 101 to the advance into Mexico, he received notice that the flag-officer of the fleet at the mouth of the river would pay him a visit on a certain day. When the time came for the visit, Taylor reluctantly donned his uniform. He knew that the officers of tlie navy Avere accustomed to wear their uniforms on every possible occasion, and therefore argued with himself that the flag-officer would be di-essed in all the fine clothes he could put on. It haj^pened, how- ever, that the flag-officer, having heard of Taylor's dislike for uniform, came in civilian dress. The inter- view was, of course, very embarrassing to both of them, and the conversation consisted chiefly of apologies. After the surrender of Monterey, a cessation of hostilities w^as arranged between the Mexican and American commanders to continue for eight weeks. During that time, and afterwards, tlie army lay idle in Monterey; and the officers cultivated the acquain- tance of the people, with whom they fraternized in the most friendly way. Some of the soldiers liked Monterey so well, that when the war was over they returned and settled there. Among them was an Irishman, who became a permanent citizen of Mon- terey, married one of its fair residents, and accumu- lated a large fortune. His name when he went there to live was Patrick Mullen ; but as he pros- pered and grew wealthy it was changed to Don Pa- tricio Milmo. 102 boys' life of general grant. The Government promised General Scott all the troops, supplies, ammunition, and other war material that he wanted ; and he had authority to take from General Taylor whatever troops then with the latter that he might desire. He proceeded at once to Mexico, going first to the Rio Grande, where he • hoped to meet General Taylor, and discuss with him the meas- ures to be taken for the conquest of Mexico. Fail- ing to meet General Taylor, who was then absent on an expedition to Tampico, General Scott was compelled to make his own selection from Taylor's forces, instead of leaving it to General Taylor himself. Among the troops which General Scott designated to be sent to Vera Cruz was the Fourth Infantry, and of course Lieutenant Grant went with it. The landing was made inside of a small island, about three miles south of Vera Cruz. It was impossible for the ships to go near the shore, and so everything had to be landed in surf-boats. It was much easier to land the troops than the stores, as the men jumped out of the boats and waded ashore ; while every- thing that would be injured by salt water required to be handled carefully. Vera Cruz was then a walled city, but its walls were not very strong ; they were entirely removed in 1880 to allow the expan- sion of the city, and also because of their useless- ness against modern artillery. The invading army CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ. lOB proceeded to invest the city, placing batteries all around it; and when everything was ready, they began their attack. By the 27th of March they had made a consid- erable breach in the wall surrounding it, and were preparing to make an assault; thereupon General Morales, who commanded the city and the fort San Juan d'UUoa, opened a correspondence with General Scott, which resulted in the surrender of five thou- sand prisonei^, and the capture of four hundred pieces of artillery, and a great quantity of small arms, am- munition, and military stores. The loss of the Americans during the siege amounted altogether to sixty-four officers and men killed and wounded. We will leave General Scott to prepare for his march into the interior of Mexico, and go back tem- porarily to Monterey and General Taylor. Failing to meet Taylor at the Rio Grande, Gen- eral Scott sent to the latter his plan of operation ; the courier who carried the letter was captured, and the letter fell into Mexican hands. General Santa Anna thus learned what line Scott intended to fol- low, and furthermore, that he would take away about five thousand of Taylor's troops, including all the regulars. On learning this, Santa Anna determined to strike his enemies in detail ; first he Avould de- stroy Taylor's army, and then proceed to attack and destroy Scott. 104 boys' life of general grant. lu Febriiaiy, 1847, General Santa Anna, with nearl}' twenty thousand men, marched upon Taylor, who had taken a strong position in a mountain-pass at Buena Vista, to the south of Monterey ; Santa Anna sent a flag of truce demanding Taylor's surrender within one hour, and received the historic reply, " Gen- eral Taylor never surrenders!" Early next morning the Mexicans advanced, and the battle became des- perate ; twenty thousand Mexicans against four thou- sand Americans, all of the latter being volunteers, of whom very few had been under fire. The battle was hard fought, and on more than one occasion it seemed as though victory was about to perch on the Mexican banners. At one critical moment General Taylor was standing near the bat- tery of Captain Bragg; the Mexicans charged upon it, and Bragg loaded his guns with grapeshot, which he poured into the Mexicans when they were within twenty feet of the muzzle of the cannon. The ter- rible fire checked them; and as it did so General Taylor called out, "Give them a little more grape, Captain Bragg ! " This phrase became historic, and soon was widely known throughout the country. It was often quoted as an indication of the coolness under exciting cir- cumstances of '' Old Rough and Ready," as General Taylor was called. BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 105 Captain Bragg's grape turned the tide of battle. The enemy broke and fled, though fighting contin- ued in several parts of the field until night. The Americans bivouacked on the field, and expected to renew the fight next morning; but under cover of the darkness Santa Anna retired. The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded was nine hundred and forty-six, while the Mexicans lost about two thousand. The sanguinary nature of the battle can be realized by observing that the American loss was almost one-fifth of the whole num- ber engaged. On the night after the battle, while the troops were anxiously waiting for the morrow. General Tay- lor sent for his division commanders, in order to have a consultation. General Worth was the first to arrive, and was evidently very anxious as to the result. " Do you think we can whip them ? " was his first question, after the ceremony of hand-shaking was over. ''Whip them ! " exclaimed Taylor; "we haven't begun to fight yet. If we all hang together, we'll whip them out of their boots." "Well," answered Worth, greatly encouraged by the words of his chief, " we'll hang together, of course, until we do whip them ; and if they whip us, we'll probably hang together all the same." 106 boys' life of general grant. During the battle, owing to a mistake in the de- livery of an order, the Second Indiana Infantry left the field and marched to the rear, but immediately returned to the fighting as soon as the mistake be- came known. Tliis gave rise to many slanders upon the regiment, and caused much indignation among its officers and men. In 1861, when the Second In- diana Infantry was organized for the War of the Rebellion, it was drawn up in line in front of the State House at Indianapolis to receive its colors. Its colonel (afterwards major-general), Lew Wallace, ordered the men to kneel as the colors were pre- sented, and swear a solemn oath to wipe out the stigma that rested on their regimental name. The oath was taken amid the most profound si- lence on the part of the assembled multitude ; and then as the regiment lose and marched away the cheering was long and loud. Nobly did the regi- ment redeem its name ; none showed greater bra- very or bore itself more grandly in the many battles in which it was engaged than the Second Indiana Infantry. General Wallace served as a lieutenant of the First Indiana Infantry during the Mexican War, and was with his regiment at the battle of Buena Vista. MARCH FKOM VERA CRUZ. 107 CHAPTER VIII. March from Vera Cruz. — Meeting the enemy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — Scott's plan of battle. — " Always obey your superior officer." — Advance to Perote and Puebla. — A long wait for reinforcements.— Advance into the valley of Mexico. — Battles of Contreras and Chur- ubusco. — Attack upon the city. — Grant's exploit at Molino del Rey. — In a church belfry with a howitzer. — Grant's memory. — Capture of the city. — Declaration of peace. After capturing Vera Cruz, General Scott began his preparations for the march to tlie City of Mexico. Twelve thousand was a very small army with which to invade a country with a population of eight or nine millions, which was to be penetrated two hun- dred and sixty miles from the sea. At the end of that distance the capital city with a population of one hundred thousand was to be besieged and cap- tured. Scott's army was in three divisions, under Generals Twiggs, Patterson, and Worth. Twiggs's division got away on the 8th of April, Patterson's followed on the 10th, and Worth's, in which was the Fourth Infantry, left Vera Cruz on the 13th. Twiggs's division ran against the enemy at Cerro Gordo, fifty miles west of Vera Cruz ; and as soon as they ascer- tained the whereabouts of the Mexicans, the divis- 108 boys' lifp: of general giiant. ion went into camp, and waited fur the others to come up. General Scott was still at Vera Cruz, awaiting the departure of the last division ; but im- mediately on hearing of the position of the Mexicans, he hurried forward and began his preparations for capturing Santa Anna and his army. It is said there was not a battle in the Mexican War, and very few battles in any war, where the orders issued before the engagement were so nearly a correct report of what took place. The time for each movement had been calculated very closely, and in many instances to the very minute. Divisions and brigades moved in different directions, and came to- gether at the exact times and places designed by the commander-in-chief. The engineers had led the way, and the troops followed ; in some places the slope was so steep that the artillery was let down by hand by means of ropes on one side of the chasm, and drawn by hand up the other side. In this way the troops reached their assigned positions in the rear of the enemy's intrenchments quite unobserved. When the signal was given and the advance was made, the Mexicans surrendered. There was some lighting on other parts of the field, in which there were losses on both sides. Three thousand prisoners were taken, and a large amount of military stores. The Americans lost in killed and wounded four hundred OBEYING ORDERS. 109 thirty-one officers and men. General Santa Anna escaped on the back of a mule. His carriage and personal baggage were captured, but were returned by General Scott. After the oi'ders for the battle had been issued, the colonel of a volunteer regiment came to Gen- eral Scott to complain of the part that had been as- signed to him in the coming affair. '^The order I have received," said he, "is absurd, and will render my regiment liable to be annihilated. I come to you, General Scott, as the commander-in-chief, to know Avhat I sliall do about obeying it." "Always obey your superior officer," replied the general. "But look at this order. General, and see where it will put me." General Scott scanned the paper; and as he re- turned it to the colonel, he remarked,— "That is all right; obey your superior officer al- ways." " But suppose he orders me to jump out of a fourth- story window; shall I do it?" "Certainly," responded the general; ''do it Avith- out hesitation. He will have made preparations for catching you when you reach the ground." Shortly after this battle the army advanced to Jalapa, and then to Perote and Puebla, where Gen- 110 > boys' life of general grant. eral Scott waited from May until August for rein- forcements, which were slow in arriving. When they came, the army advanced over the Rio Frio Moun- tain, the highest point on the road being about 11,000 feet above sea-level. From this mountain the soldiers looked down on the great basin, or valley, in which the city of ^Mexico stands. Between the foot of the mountain and the capital city, there are three lakes ; and between two of them, there is a narrow strip of land over wdiich the road to the city runs. General Garland's brigade of Worth's division, the brigade to which the Fourth Infantry was attached, was sent to San Antonio, near the village of Churu- busco, on the road to Mexico, and ten or twelve miles from it. During the day and night of Aug. 19, the engineer officers completed roads by which the American troops Avere got around to the north and west of the Mexican positions. One of the strongest of these positions was at Contreras, a forti- fied hill; and operations were directed towards that point. Garland's brigade was kept in position at San Antonio, while the attack was made on Contre- ras on the morning of the 20th. Half an hour after the order to advance was given, Contreras was in the hands of the Americans, with all its artillery and military supplies; and when this point was secured, Moj.iNo dp:l hey. Ill or-lers came for Garlaiicrs brigade to advance upon San Antonio and Churubusco. The advance upon San Antonio was practically unopposed, as the Mexi- cans fled when they saw that Contreras was lost to them. Somewhat contrary to General Scott's expectation, the Mexicans made a stand at Churubusco; they held their position and did some hard fighting, so that the American troops, and especially General Shields's brigade, suffered heavily. Some of the gun- ners who stood their ground to tlie very last were deserters from General Taylor's army in Northern Mexico. A truce was agreed upon ; and it lasted until Sept. 4, when hostilities were resumed. General Scott was then with Worth's division, which Avas occupying Tacubuya, about four miles south-west of the city. Not far from it was Molino del Rey (^' Mill of the King "), a long stone building, one story higli, and used as a storehouse for grain. Nearer to the city is Chapultepec, a long mound about three hundred feet high, which was fortified on the top and on both sides. From Chapultepec to the city there is a stone aqueduct built on arches, that supplies water to the capital ; and there is a similar aqueduct which receives its water from a mountain stream close to Molino del Rey. One aqueduct enters the 112 boys' life of general gkant. city by the San Cosme gate, and the other by the Belem gate. There were strong fortifications at both the gates, wliile at intervals along the aqueduct parapets had been thrown up to facilitate the defense of tlie cit3^ Naturally the first point of attack was Molino del Rey ; and the assault upon it was made on the morn- ing of the 8th of September. When the troops were drawn i\p, and everything was in readiness, a single charge was made, and the enemy, after firing a few shots, broke and ran towards Chapultepec. Lieuten- ant Grant was one of the first to enter the mill. As he was watching the fleeing enemy, he happened to look up, and noticed that there were still many of them on the top of the building. He gathered some of the soldiers of his command, and ordered an emptj^ cart turned up against the side of the mill. This cart he used as a ladder to climb up to the roof. When he got there he found that a private soldier had got in ahead of him, and captured the whole party, including a major and five or six officers of lower grades. All the Mexicans still had their Aveap- ons with them. While the one American soldier was guarding them, he told Lieutenant Grant that he had '' surrounded them all by himself." The Lieu- tenant immediately received the swords of the com- BATTLE OF THE ARCHES. 113 missioned officers, and, with the aid of the soldiers wlio accompanied him, broke up all the muskets by striking them over the edge of the wall. There is no doubt that if the capture of Molino del Rey had been followed up by an attack on Cha- pultepec, and the San Cosme and Belem gates, the city could have been taken with ease ; but such was not the case, and consequently there was more loss of life in taking these positions several days after. The bombardment of Chapultepec began on the morning of the 12th; aiKl on the 13th the hill was stormed and captured. After the fall of Chapultepec the advance began along the two aqueduct roads ; General Worth commanding the attack on San Cosme, and General Quitman that against Belem gate. Lieutenant Grant was on the San Cosme road, and was present throughout the entire engagement. The troops found the arches very useful in making their advance ; they went forward an arch at the time, halted until they had taken breath, and then got ready for another arch. Dodging in this way, they got along pretty well, keeping a close watch on the intrenchments, and firing at every head that sliowed itself above the parapets. The Mexicans fled from the parapets as soon as the Americans came within shooting distance. While reconnoitering the ground at one place, 114 boys' life of general grant. Lieutenant Grant found a cliurch on one si'le of the road ; and it occurred to him that the belfry might command the ground inside the San Cosme gate. He got an officer of the voltigeurs with a mounted liowitzer and the men to work it to go with him and his infantry. As the enemy had possession of the road, they were compelled to go around through the fields, which obliged them to cross several ditches breast high with water. They got to the church, however, and were met by the priest, who told them they could not enter. They explained to him that he might save property by opening the door, and said that they would go in whether he would admit them or not. Finally he opened the door ; and they mounted to the belfry with the howitzer, which they hastily put together, it having been taken in pieces in order to carry it. Then they opened fire on the troops inside the San Cosme gate, and created a great confusion. General Worth observed the effect of the howitzer, and was so pleased with it that he sent one of the staff, Lieutenant Pemberton (who was afterwards a lieutenant-general in the Confederacy), to bring Lieu- tenant Grant to him. He said the howitzer in the clitirch steeple was doing great service, and ordered a captain of voltigeurs to report to Grant with another howitzer for a similar service. The fact is, THE HOWITZER IN THE BELFRY. 115 there was not room enough in the steeple for another gun ; but etiquette forbade the young lieu- tenant to say so to liis superior officer. He saluted and took the captain, but did not use the howitzer. Eighteen 3'ears afterwards, when General Grant was commander-in-chief of the armies engaged in crush- ing the Rebellion, and was actively pushing in the direction of Richmond, the colonel of a Pennsylva- nia regiment came to him one day to make a report which had to be made in person. When his duty had been performed, he saluted, and was about to retire, when the general said, — " Colonel, haven't I met you before ? " "Yes, General," was the reply; "and I think you'll remember the incident. I was the sergeant with the howitzer that you took into the belfry of a church near the San Cosme gate of the city of Mexico." " We shook the Mexicans up very lively, didn't we ? " said the general as he seized the colonel's hand and shook it warmly. Then he added, "Take a chair." The colonel obeyed, and for half an hour and more the conversation was wholly devoted to the Mexican War. By the evening of the 13th, the American troops were close to the walls of the citv at the San Cosme lit) BOVS' LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. and Beleii gates ; in the morning it was found that Santa Anna and his army had left the city, and the gates were undefended. The army entered the gates amid loud cheering, and the capital of the Republic of Mexico was in the hands of the invaders. The convicts in the prisons had been released, and there was a considerable number of deserters remaining in the city ; when our troops entered they were fired upon by these fellows, and possibly by some of the citizens. Several of our officers and soldiers Avere struck by the bullets, some of them fatally. Among the latter was Lieutenant Smith of the Fourth Infan- try, who died a few days later ; and in consequence of his death second Lieutenant Grant was promoted to the grade of first lieutenant. That promotion is slow in the army is illustrated by the experience of the hero of our story. He was commissioned a • second lieutenant in the army in 1843 ; he entered the city of Mexico four years later with the same rank, after being in all the battles which were possible for one man during that war. His regiment had lost heavily in commissioned offi- cers, but it was not until the death of Lieutenant Smith that he rose to the rank of first lieutenant. General Scott followed the troops into the city, and, according to his custom, made as much display as possible. He was in full uniform, wearing evevj- ENTERIKG THE CITY OF MEXICO. 117 thing " that the law allowed ; " and he required his officers to follow his example. Scott's habits in re- gard to uniform were just the reverse of those of General Taylor, who, as before stated, disliked wear- ing any uniform whatever. In consequence of their different peculiarities, General Scott received the soubriquet of '* Old Fuss and Feathers," while Gen- eral Taylor was known as "Old Rough and Ready." It was a wonder that General Scott, with his tall, commanding figure, was not fii-ed upon as he entered the city. He made a grand parade through the prin- cipal streets, and then took possession of the famous building known as "The Halls of the Montezumas." After the capture of the city of Mexico, General Scott issued orders for the government of the con- quered city, in terms which assured the inhabitants that they were not to be despoiled of their property. Everything that was taken for the army or for in- dividuals was paid for, and no marauding of an}^ kind was allowed. Taxes were levied upon the cities and states of Mexico for supporting the army, and duties were collected on all imports at the ports opened for trade. The principal cities of Mexico were occupied by the American troops ; and this state of affairs continued until peace was arranged in Feb- ruary, 1848, and the army retired from Mexico. The terms of peace were that the Rio Grande should be 118 JiOVS' LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. the bouudaiy between the two countries ; the dis- puted territory between the Rio Grande and the Nueces was ceded to Texas, and the whole of New Mexico and Upper California became the property of tlie United States. In return for this addition to its territory, the United States paid to Mexico the sum of fifteen millions of dollars. While the army Avaited for the settlement of the terms of peace. Lieutenant Grant went with some other officers to visit Popocatepetl, the great volcano of Mexico. Owing to a severe storm, he did not succeed in reaching the summit. In writing of this trip, he said that one of the most interesting inci- dents was the experiences of a mule that fell from a path cut in the mountain on one side of a deep and narrow valley. The animal was carrying two sacks of barley, and mule and load rolled over and over again to the rocks at the bottom of the val- ley. All supposed that the poor beast had been dashed to death. Imagine their surprise when the mule subsequently overtook them with its load, and neither of them much the worse for the long roll down the side of the mountain. GRANT AGAIN PROMOTED. 119 CHAPTER IX. Promoted again. — Favorably mentioned in several reports. — General Scott's rattlesnake story. — Grant returns to the United States. — Robbed on the way. — Marries Miss Dent. — On duty at Sackett's Harbor and Detroit. —The first baby. — "The Cicotte mare." — Quarrel with Zachary Chandler. — Dog-fight on Grosse Isle. — A Son of Temperance and an Odd Fellow. — Second son born. — Mrs. Grant returns to St. Louis. Not long after the capture of the city of Mexico, Lieutenant Grant was promoted to a brevet captaincy, dating from the day of the entry into the city. His conduct had received favorable mention in the offi- cial report of General Worth, and his action of pla- cing the howitzer in the belfry of the church was referred to in the reports of Major Lee and Colonel Garland. The latter spoke of him as " acquitting him- self most nobly on several occasions under my ob- servation." Capt. Horace Brooks of the artillery gave him credit for helping to carry a strong field- work, and turn the enemy's right after an obstinate resistance. The various reports in his favor showed the promotion to be well-deserved. The commander-in-chief invited all the general of- ficers of his army to meet him at dinner one even- ing about two weeks after the fall of the capital 120 boys' life of general grant. of Mexico. Generals Pillow and Worth declined the invitation in consequence of their personal hostility to General Scott; but all the others accepted. In his briefly spoken words of welcome, General Scott acknowledged the efficient services of his guests in securing the success of the campaign, and said that there were few instances in history where an army had successfully prosecuted an aggressive campaign into a hostile country, opposed constantly by a force double its own strength. Other words of congratu- lation followed from the lips of the hero, and his was the only formal speech of the evening. Conversation and story-telling occupied the greater part of the time ; and during the course of the din- ner General Twiggs asked General Scott to tell his rattlesnake stor}^ The general smiled, and nodded assent. He said he had told the story many times before, and was afraid that it might not be new to some of the gentlemen present ; but since it had been called for by General Twiggs, he would tell it; and he did tell it, with emphasis. '' During the Florida campaign," said General Scott, *' I was one night quartered in a rough building that stood upon posts that raised it two feet or more from the ground. The floor was open in many places ; and we had scarcely made preparations for a ])ivouac, before the sound of rattling from below GENERAL SCOTT'S RATTLESNAKE STORY. 121 told us that many rattlesnakes were there. We sur- veyed them with a light, and found there was a goodly battalion of them. I went out and measur- ed with my eye the height of the floor from the ground, and saw at once that it was beyond reach by about two inches of the tallest rattlesnake ever known. I knew, as a boy, from experiments, that the rattlesnake never jumped or darted, only stood up as high as he could, and bit. I returned and told the officers that it was perfectly safe to sleep on the floor, and I intended to do it. But they left me alone in my glory, with my martial cloak around me, — a temporary Sir John Moore, — while they camped outside. Indeed, I rather enjoyed the discomfiture of the snakes as they rattled me to sleep and vainly tried to reach the holes in the floor." After the Mexican War the State of Louisiana gave swords of honor to Generals Scott, Taylor, and Twiggs, the scabbard of each sword bearing an in- scription appropriate to the deeds of its recipient. The gentleman who designed the inscription for Gen- eral Scott's sword happened to meet that officer one day in a jewelry store in New York, and made bold to introduce himself, and tell what lie had done. He added that he would be pleased to know how the design met the views of the general as a work of art, 122 boys' life of general grant. The general assumed an air of majestic dignity, and said, — " Admirable sir, admirable. But there was a slight mistake, sir, a slight mistake." "Indeed! and what was that?'' "The inscription, sir. The inscription should have been on the blade, sir. On the blade, sir; not on the scabbard. The scabbard may be taken from us ; the blade — never / " Several years after the close of the War of 1812, Congress voted a gold medal to General Scott. The general placed it for safe keeping in the vault of a bank, which was afterwards robbed by an expert burglar, who left nothing of value except the medal. The burglar was captured, and during his trial he said, — " I examined that medal with my lantern, and well knew its value ; but I scorned to take from the sol- dier what had been given him by the gratitude of his country." During the time the American troops remained in Mexico after the cessation of hostilities, Grant con- tinued to act as quartermaster. The tradition is that he showed great ability in the discharge of his duties. He never failed to keep his regiment well fed. When the army was making the hardest of marches, there was always fresh beef waiting for his regi- grant's MEXICAN HOliSE. 123 raent when it went into camp. He was famous al- ways for his good horsemanship; and he had a very spirited horse that no one else could ride. One day a Mexican gentleman whom he knew very well asked permission to ride his horse; but Grant hesitated to permit him, fearing an accident might happen. He knew that the Mexican wa& a fair rider, but not a first-class one ; and he also knew that it would be a great affront to him to be refused. So the captain consented, but very unwillingly. The Mexican mounted the animal ; but before he had gone more than a block or two he was thrown from the saddle, and instantly killed. On another day. Grant went to see Colonel How- ard, who commanded the castle of Chapuitepec. He rode up the outside slope of the fortification, and then went two or three times around the castle. Finding no place to hitch his horse, he rode the ani- mal down the long and steep stone stairs that led into the fort. There he tied the steed, and made his call upon the officer. When he came away Colonel Howard came out to the entrance with him ; and seeing the horse stand- ing there, he said to Grant, — " Lieutenant, how did you manage to get that horse inside?" " I rode him in, sir," was the repty. 124 boys' life of general grant. "Well!" said the colonel in a tone of astonish- ment; "how are you to get him out?" " Why, ride him out, of course." said Grant, as he sprang upon the horse and turned him in the di- rection of the stone steps. The animal went rapidly up the steps; and when Grant reached the top he waved his hat to the colonel, and disappeared over the breastworks. While the army was on the marcli back to Vera Cruz, Lieutenant Grant met with a misfortune. He had about one thousand dollars of Government money in his truidv. The lock became broken, and he put the money in the trunk of a fellow officer. One niglit this trunk was broken open and all the money it contained abstracted. The lieutenant reported the loss with an affidavit as to how it happened, and supported it by the affi- davits of several other officers. A bill was placed before Congress for his relief, and it remained there twelve years. In 1862, when Grant had captured Fort Donelson and became a major-general. Congress passed the bill which provided that one thousand dollars should be allowed to Lieutenant Grant in the settlement of his accounts as regimental quartermas- ter of the Fourth Infantry. Even then the bill was not passed unanimously, no fewer than eight sena- tors voting against it, and only a minority of them were Democrats, GRANT MARRIES MISS DENT. 125 On leaving Mexico the Fourth Infantry went to Pascagoula, Miss., where it was to remain during the summer. Grant obtained leave for four months' absence. He went first to St. Louis to see Miss Dent, and renew his protestations of devotion. Per- haps they did not need any verbal renewal, as the two had corresponded frequently during his absence, but he "went there all the same." A few days after his arrival, he was married to the lady, and they spent their honeymoon in visiting his parents and relatives in Ohio. During Grant's absence on leave, his regiment moved to Sackett's Harbor, N.Y. ; and when the time of his leave had expired he rejoined his company at that point. It was a time of peace, and nothing of importance oc- curred there. In the following spring the regiment was ordered to Detroit, Mich. ; and there Grant spent two years in the liumdrum existence of a military barrack in time of peace, or, to be more exact about it, he spent there all the time when he was on duty. All the married officers lived outside ; and Lieutenant and Mrs. Grant began their first experience of house- keeping at Detroit. He paid two hundred and fifty dollars for house-rent, which was considered a high price when the building and all the circumstances connected with it were considered. There was a 126 boys' life of general grant. great deal of visiting among the officers and their families, and also among neighbors and friends. The evenings were largely devoted to social calls and games of dominoes, chess, and other simple amuse- ments. Occasionally there was a visit to the theatre; but at that time the dramatic attractions of Detroit were not of the highest class, and traveling com- panies were by no means as numerous as they are at present. A story used to be told about McKean Buchanan, an actor of Cincinnati who went to Detroit, San- dusky, and other lake cities, on what is called a star- ring tour; his support in each place being the local company. His tour was a very short one ; and on his return to Cincinnati somebody questioned his agent as to the success of the affair. "Pretty bad all through," replied the agent; ''and the support was awful. We ojjened with Hamlet in Sandusky, and the local company was made up of canal-boatmen and blacksmiths, the worst actors I ever saw. They were worse than ' ^lac ' himself ; even he couldn't stand them. He played the first act with 'em, and the other four acts alone." Another story about McKean Buchanan relates to his skill at the American game of cards known as " poker." He decided to try his fortune in Califor- nia, and asked a theatrical manager of Cincinnati to THE FIRST BABY. 127 give him a letter of introduction to a fellow-manager in San Francisco. The letter was promptly given, and read as follows : — " Dear Sir : — This will introduce the actor, Mr. McKean Buchanan. He plays Hamlet, Richard III., Henry VIII., Othello, Richelieu, Claude Melnotte, The Hunchback, and Poker." Early in 1850 the Grants broke up housekeeping. Mrs. Grant went back to her father's in St. Louis ; and shortly after her going there her first son was born. Meantime Lieutenant Grant boarded with Cap- tain Gore, another officer of the Fourth Infantry. When Mrs. Grant returned, bringing the baby, she and her husband remained with the Gores. The house where the}^ lived was of a better quality than the one they had previously occupied, and was situated on Jefferson Avenue, which was at that time the principal avenue in the city. The houses along it were not very close to each other at that time ; but since then a great many fine residences have sprung up, and the inhabitants of the locality point with pride to their avenue. Detroit was at that time the head of a large de- partment. Lieutenant Grant was commissary and quartermaster of the post where his regiment was stationed ; and the department quartermaster was 128 boys' life of GENEPvAL GKA>'T. iMajor Sibley, tlie inventor of tlie Avell-known Sibley tent. Grant's duties at his own office were very light, the most of them being performed by his ser- geant, so that the officer had no occasion to spend much time there. He was more frequently to be found at the office of Major Sibley; and divided his time during the day between the major's head- quarters and the sutler's store of the post. The latter place was the favorite resort of the army officers, in- cluding those on active duty and those who had re- tired. There was quite a number of the latter; and it is safe to assume that the halls of the building resounded with a great many stories of army life, and especially of the Mexican War which was so recently in everybody's mind. Grant's fondness for horses still continued; and outside of war he was more interested in stories of horse-flesh than of anything else. Grant brought from Mexico a large gray horse, which is still re- membered by some of the old inhabitants of Detroit, and w^as probably the same animal with which he rode down and up the steps at Chapultepec. He did not by any means confine his riding to this horse. He used to ride the French ponies which abounded in Detroit at that time, and, in fact, was ready to ride any steed that was brought along. On one occasion he offered two hundred dollars " THE CICOTTE MAEE." 129 for a mare which belonged to a Mr. Cicotte, on con- dition that the animal could pace a mile in two min- utes and fifty-five seconds, at the same time drawing a buggy containing two men. The offer was ac- cepted, and Jefferson Avenue was chosen as the place of trial. The horse was harnessed into the buggy, arranp-ements were made for '' timing " the speed, and Grant and Cicotte stepped into the vehicle. Away went the horse,- and the mile was finished inside the time agreed upon. Grant became the owner of the animal, and kept it for several years. He sent it to St. Louis, where it won a race for one thousand dol- lars, and was sold soon after for fifteen hundred dollars. A local amusement of Detroit at that time w^as an occasional dog-fight. Grant was not a keeper of doo-s, and had no fondness for the sport. One day two dogs, belonging to Thomas Lewis and Horace Gray, had a very savage encounter on Grosse Isle, in the Detroit River. Gray lived on Grosse Isle ; and when the fight was going on, he turned to Lewis and said, — " Either your dog or I must quit this island ! " Grant happened to be standing by, and joined in the laugh at the remark. Their next meeting was during the Civil War, when Grant commanded the Army of the Tennessee and Gray was major of a 130 boys' life of general grant. ^Michigan regiment. When they met and had shaken hands, Grant's first question Avas, — '^ Which one of you left the island, Gray ? you or the dogr?" During a part of his residence in Detroit, Grant lived in a house belonging to a Mr. Bacon, and the landlord and his tenant became fairly well acquainted. When the news of the surrender of Fort Donelson was telegraphed over the North, accompanied by the " unconditional surrender letter," Mr. Bacon said, — '' Seems to me that there was a Captain Grant lived in one of my houses ; I wonder if this is the same one." Then he remembered that Grant wrote his name one day on a window-pane with a diamond. He went to the house at once, and was greatly rejoiced to find that his tenant and the hero of Donelson were one and the same. Grant was considered one of the mildest mannered men in Detroit, and was very unlikely to get into a row with anybody. He did have one quarrel, how- ever, with Zachary Chandler, who was then a dry- goods merchant, and later became United States Sen- ator. The cause of the trouble was that Chandler did not keep his sidewalk clear of snow and ice, and they had a great deal of those articles in Detroit. Several of the officers had slipped and fallen on the GRANT VS. CHANDLER. 131 ice in front of Chandler's house ; and one evening Avhile Grant was on his way home he was unfor- tunate enough to slip and receive a severe sprain. Being very angry in consequence of his mishap, he swore out a complaint against Cliandler for his fail- ure to comply with the city ordinances which re- quire the sidewalks to be kept clear. The case came to trial, and Chandler insisted upon a jury and upon the rig] it of being his own lawyer. The witnesses in the case were principally officers of the post, and they convinced the jury that the or- dinances had been violated flagrantly. During his career in the United States Senate, Chandler was famous for his power of abusing his opponents, and at this trial he assailed the officers so savagely that possibly some of them wished they had never testified against him. He called them idle loafers who lived upon the community, and said that if they would keep sober they would not be slipping on other people's side- walks. The jury brought in a verdict against Chand- ler, but the damages were placed at the moderate sum of six cents and costs. The affair created a great deal of talk in Detroit, and it was thouglit that a personal encounter between Chandler and some of the officers might come of it. Nothing happened, however; and when fifteen years afterwards Senator Chandler entertained General Grant at his home in 132 boys' life of general grant. Detroit, both of them had a hearty laugh over the sidewalk incident. Early in 1851 the Fourth Infantry was transferred from Detroit to Sackett's Harbor, N.Y. Before the transfer, Mrs. Grant went to the home of her parents in St. Louis with the understanding that she was to remain until Grant could provide a suitable home for them and send for her. Sackett's Harbor was a much smaller place than Detroit, and its population was of a somewhat different character. Detroit had quite a sprinkling of old French families, while Sackett's Harbor had none. It was not far from the spot where, in the old French War, about one hundred years before. Grant's great-grandfather was killed. It was a place of considerable importance in the War of 1812, as it was the rendezvous for the American fleet on the lake. While at Sackett's Harbor, Grant joined the Sons of Temperance and also the Odd Fellows. He joined the former on account of having observed the drink- ing tendency among officers in time of peace ; and as to the Odd Fellows, he became a member more to kill time than for any other purpose. He attended the regular quarterly meetings, but rarely took an active part. The stor}- goes that he was once put on a committee of three for some purpose ; he dis- agreed with the other two, and brought in a minor- KAOIN^-^ I^S Li^, « r/ ^ |u HE^ - -''^^^n^l _-.Ii Battle of Fredericksburg. PEMBERTON DEFEATED. 28T Hovey's flank. This movement uncovered the line of retreat towards Vicksburg, whereupon the enemy embraced the opportunity, and retreated in the direc- tion of their fortifications. The battle lasted altogether about four hours, and before it faiily opened there were at least two hours of pretty heavy skirmishing. About fifteen thousand Union troops were actually engaged in the fight ; and the loss in killed and wounded was fully twenty-five hundred. Pemberton's loss was over three thousand killed and wounded, and about three thousand prison- ers. If General Grant had been able to bring np all his troops, tlie probability is that he would have cap- tured tlie whole force that was with Pemberton. One division of Pemberton's army, under General Loring, did not get back to Vicksburg at all. Its line of retreat was cut off; and it was obliged to march to the south, and by a circuitous route join the forces under Johnston. Pemberton fell back to Vicksburg, contrary to the orders he had received from Johnston. Johnston di- rected him that, if unsuccessful in an encounter with the enemy, he was to make a night march to the Big Black, and by moving north and east make a junction with Johnston. Of course tliat movement would have abandoned Vicksburg; but it would have avoided a worse calamity, that of surrendering the place six weeks later with all its garrison. I 288 boys' life of general grant. The Rebels made a stand at the crossing of the Big Black, but were quickly dispersed after a sharp fight of less than an hour. The enemy succeeded in burning the bridge just after crossing; and as the river was high, the advance of the Union forces was temporarily stopped. Three temporary bridges were constructed, — one of rafts fastened together, and an- other of cotton-bales similarly fastened. The third one Avas made by felling trees from opposite sides of the river, so that they would fall across the stream with their branches interlaced and without entirely severing the trees from their stumps. The interla- cing branches were firmly fastened together, and then the bridge was built above with the trees to support it. In less than twenty hours from the time the Rebels were driven away, all three of the bridges were finished, and the troops were marching across. Had it not been for the destruction of the original bridge, it is probable that Grant's troops would have pursued so closely on the demoralized and retreating enemy that they would have entered Vicksburg and captured it without serious opposition. The time lost in their advance by the destruction of the bridge was of great value to the Confederates. There was no more serious fighting between the two armies until the rear of Vicksburg was reached, and the right wing of the army rested on Haines's ''HARD-TACK." 289 Bluff, and opened communication with the gunboat fleet, and the transports that were waiting there with supplies for the army. Immediately roads were built; and as fast as the teams could move them, cases and barrels and bags and boxes of provisions were brought forward and distributed. Cheer upon cheer greeted the commissary wagons as they arrived and discharged their burdens. The men had now been out more than twenty days, with only five days' rations. The}^ had lived upon the country, and on the Avhole had lived well; but they longed for reg- ular supplies of the bacon and other food to which they were accustomed. Just before the provisions came. General Grant happened to be riding along the line when one of the soldiers said under his breath, " Hard -tack." The cry was taken up by the others, and very quickly it was in every mouth. General Grant appreciated the situation; and stopping his horse for a moment, he said, — "Boys, we're building roads to bring you provis- ions just as soon as we can get them to you." This was enough. Cheer upon cheer rose from the long line, and the cheering did not die away until the general was out of sight. General Grant drew his lines around Vicksburg; and when he did so he had fewer men in his com- 290 mand than were afterwards surrendered b}^ General Pemberton. He sent to Washington asking for re- inforcements, meantime strengthening his position as much as possible. There was constant skirmishing for several days, and on one or two occasions it rose almost to the extent of a battle. On the 22d of May an assault was made on all parts of the line; and at several points the troops succeeded in reach- ing the enemy's parapets and planting their flags upon them; but at no place were they able to enter. The fighting did not end until nightfall, when the troops retired from the positions they had gained. Thus ended the last assault upon Vicksburg. Now began the siege. The line of investment was more than fifteen miles long, extending from Haines's Bluff, above Vicksburg, to Warrenton, below the city. The Rebel line was about seven miles long. Grant had far too few troops to hold such a long line ; and in addition, he had to watch out for John- ston, who might attack him at any moment. Re- inforcements were needed, and they came promptly. General Halleck appreciated the situation fully, and hurried reinforcements and supplies to Grant with great rapidity. The investing lines around Vicksburg were formed on the 18th of May. In twenty days Grant's army had marched two hundred miles, and fought five COURTESIES OF THE SIEGE. 291 battles ; it had taken six thousand prisoners, and had killed and Avounded as many more; it had captured ninety pieces of artillery, destroyed the Rebel store- houses and factories at Jackson, cut off Pemberton's communications, and bottled him up in Vicksburg. And all this had been accomplished with a loss in killed, wounded, and missing of a little over four thousand men ! The siege-works were pushed all along the line, and in some places besieged and besiegers were only a few yards apart. There was constant skirmishing and sharp-shooting on both sides, and many men fell under the bullets of their enemies. The ditches were so close together that the opposing pickets frequently talked to each other in a friendly and familiar way, and sometimes the Union men exchanged coffee or tea for packages of tobacco. Tobacco was abundant in the Confederate lines; but coffee and tea were very scarce, so that the trade was generally to the advantage of the Northern side. Sometimes there was quite an exchange of rough wit in the dialogues between the opposing sides. One day a newspaper writer who had gone to the Union front made a memorandum of a conversation like this : — " What are you-uns doin' out there ? " a Rebel picket called out. 292 boys' life of general grant. " Guarding thirty thousand of you prisoners, and making you board yourselves," was the reply. " Good enough," retorted the Rebel. " Why don't you come and take Vicksburg?" " We don't want to just now," replied the Union soldier ; " Grant is waiting for the transportation to take you up North." " We've got a lot of your old flags here ; what shall we do with them ? ' ' "Make shirts of 'em," replied the Northerner. *' They'll look better than your old butternut." " Will you trade coffee for tobacco ? " " Certainly," was the answer, " just to oblige you, but we've got lots of both. Fling 'er over here." Occasionally it would be agreed among the soldiers that they would suspend firing for a stipulated number of minutes. That would give an opportunity for a good-natured parley in full view of each other. On several occasions of this sort the Rebel soldiers took the opportunity to escape into the Union lines, where- upon General Pemberton issued an order prohibiting any more of these friendly arrangements. Pemberton was not an able commander, but he was thoroughly in sympathy with the rebellion. Notwith- standing these circumstances, he was frequently ac- cused by his own people of sympathizing with the North. He endeavored to set these rumors at rest FAMINE IN VICKSBUUG. 293 one day by a speech to his men, of which the following is an extract : — " You have heard that I was incompetent and a traitor, and that it was my intention to sell Vicksburg. When the last pound of beef, bacon, and flour, the last grain of corn, the last cow, and hog, and horse, and mule, shall have been consumed, and the last man shall have perished in the trenches, then, and only then, will I surrender Vicksburg ! " , Within a week after the beginning of the siege, there were evidences of famine in Vicksburg. The soldiers were put on half-rations, and the same rule was adopted in regard to citizens. Several times General Pember- ton endeavored to negotiate with General" Grant to send away the citizens, together with their families ; but each time the proposition was emphatically refused. Grant said : — "I am sorry for the unfortunate citizens; but this is war, and we are besieging Vicksburg. The more people that remain there, the sooner must the city surrender. If I allow Pemberton to send away all tioncombatants, it will prolong the siege. My inten- tion is to shorten it. Therefore everybody now in the place must remain there ! ' Flour rose in the besieged city to one thousand dol- lars a barrel, in Confederate currency, and meat sold for two hundred and fifty dollars a pound. Diseases 294 boys' life of general gran^t. caused by hunger, fatigue, and terror added to the liorrors of the condition of the besieged. All parts of the city were reached by the Union shot and shell. Soldiers in the hospitals, citizens in their offices, and men, women, and children in their homes, were killed by the shells. Many of the citizens resorted to caves dug in the bluffs on Avhich Vicksburg stands. Some of the excavations were of considerable size, and were furnished with carpets, beds, chairs, tables, and other things brought from the houses. ]\Iost of these caves were bomb-proof, but unhappily all were iiot so. Oc- casionally a shot or shell penetrated through to the interior of a cave, and killed or wounded the occupants. In one case a child, sleeping by its mother's side, was torn in pieces by a shell which came through the roof of the cave and then exploded. So great was tlie scarcity of food that every cat and dog around Vicksburg was slaughtered and eaten. In many instances rats and mice were caught for the same purpose ; and some of the poorer people, together with some of the soldiers, became experienced ratters in the struggle to support life. It was learned that some of the inhabitants had secreted quantities of food in their houses previous to the siege, in expectation of a calam- ity of the very kind which had arrived. General Pem- berton ordered a search of all suspected houses, and a seizure for army purposes of everything that should SUFFERINGS OF BESIEGERS AND BESIEGED. 295 be discovered. For the last two days of the siege everybody was reduced to one-quarter rations ; and there was loud complaining by the soldiers, who Avere nearly ready for mutiny. Nearly every horse and mule in Vicksburg had been slaughtered. The only horses that escaped were those of General Pemberton and his staff, together with those of the highest offi- cers serving under him. Grant's army was well supplied with provisions, which were landed at Haines's Bluff, and then brought by wagons for distribution along the rear of the line. The soldiers suffered greatly from dysentery, caused by the unwholesome water which they were compelled to use. The officers were in the same category as the men, and some of them were ill the most of the time. The negroes living in the neighborhood brought in some roots and herbs as remedies; one of them, called dittany, was especially recommended, and its effica- ciousness was shown by a few trials. Under its heal- ing influence many of tlie sufferers in the army recovered their health in a short time. After digging twelve miles of trenches, and getting two hundred pieces of artillery in position, Grant caused a mine to be made under Fort Hill, one of the strongest points of the Rebel defenses. It was dug underground, from inside the Union lines, directly under the hill ; and then branches or galleries were 296 boys' life of general grant. extended in several directions, the intention being to blow up the entire hill. Nearly a ton of powder was placed in the galleries and connected by fuses. When all was ready, a cannonade was ordered along the whole line, and then the mine was exploded. Only a portion of the powder ignited, and consequently all of the fort was not blown up. A great many timbers, rocks, and guns, together with all the men then in that part of the fort, were blown into the air, accom- panied by a vast cloud of smoke. Most of the men thus blown up were killed, but not all. Some came down only slightly hurt; and one negro, who was working underground at that time, fell within our lines. He gathered himself up, and to the astonish- ment of everybody who saw him, was practically un- hurt, but terribly frightened. An officer asked him, as he slowly recovered his senses, how far up in tlie air he went. "I don' know, sah," he replied; "but I tink about free miles." " Do you want to go back to Yicksburg ? " "No, sah; as long's Fs come here I done reckon I'll stay. De Lord hab sent me." And he staid. BLOWING UP A FORT. 29( CHAPTER XX. Result of the mine. — The Lord and Joe Johnston. —A flag of truce. — Terms of surrender. — Vicksburg in Union hands. —Rudeness of Gen- eral Pemberton. — Grant's "Yankee trick. " — Surrender of Port Hudson. — Grant ordered to Cairo. — Commanding the grand military division of the Mississippi. —Grant at Chattanooga. —A state of siege. — Capture of Lookout Valley. — Charge of the mule brigade. The column of troops was ready to make an assault through the breach, but the mass of debris which fell back into the crater formed by the explosion greatly impeded their progress. The Rebels recoiled for a moment when the explosioii took place ; but they quickly rallied, and defeated all attempts of the North- ern men to enter. There was a sharp contest, in which the bayonet was used and many hand-to-hand fights took place. Hand grenades were thrown over on both sides until the supply w^as exhausted. As soon as it became apparent that the assault would not be suc- cessful, the troops that made it were withdrawn. One day a Rebel woman, who had been brought into Grant's presence, sneeringly asked liim how much longer it was going to take him to go into Vicksburg. '^I can't say exactly," he replied; ''but I shall stay ]iere until I do, if it takes thirty years." 298 boys' life of general grant. Several times during the siege, dispatches between Pemberton and Johnston were captured; they showed that Johnston intended to attack the besieging army, and thus relieve Pemberton. Johnston was known to be in the neighborhood of Jackson, and scouts were kept on the watch to ascertain if there was any move- ment in the direction of the besieged city. Grant had received large reinforcements ; and though he would not detach any of his troops from the siege, he ordered a strong force to be read}^ to march against Johnston in case he made an offensive movement. A Rebel officer in Yicksburg wrote to his wife a letter which was captured. At the close of the letter he said, '* We put our faith in the Lord, and expect Joe Johnston to come to our relief." In sending the order to one of his commanders to be ready in case of Johnston's advance. Grant added : — " They seem to p)ut a good deal of faith in the Lord and Joe Johnston, but you must whip Joe Johnston at least fifteen miles from here ! " As the end of June came, the army grew weary of the siege ; and though quite confident of capturing Yicksburg, the soldiers were very impatient. Grant determined to make another assault on the 4th of July, but he vv\as prevented from doing so by circumstances not altogether unforeseen. On the morning of the 3d a white flag appeared PROPOSALS FOR SURRENDER. 299 at one part of the Rebel works. Of course all firing at that point ceased; and the Rebel General Bowen came forward to the Union lines, where he was blind- folded and taken to General A. J. Smith, who com- manded at that point. General Bowen asked for an interview with General Grant, but his request was promptly denied; thereupon he presented the follow- ing letter : — Headquarters, Vicksburg, July 3, 1863. Major-General Grant, Commanding United States Forces. General, — I have the honor to propose to you an armis- tice of hours, with a view to arranging terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg. To this end, if agreeable to you, I will appoint three commissioners to meet a Uke number to be named by yourself, at such place and hour as you may find convenient. I make this proposition to save the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite period. This communication will be handed to you, under a flag of truce by Major-General John S. Bowen. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J, C. PEMBERTON, Lieut. -Gen. White flags appeared all along the line, and in the constant fusillade and bombardment for the past six weeks, the stillness was almost oppressive. 300 boys' life of general grant. In a verbal reply, Grant named three o'clock in the afternoon of that day as the time when he would meet Pemberton. At that hour Grant and several of his officers rode out from the lines, and halted under a small oak-tree. A few minutes later General Pemberton appeared, accompanied by General Bowen and another officer. Grant was well acquainted with both Pemberton and Bowen, having served with the former in Mexico, and lived as a near neighbor to the latter in St. Louis. He shook hands with both of them, and Bowen introduced to General Pemberton the Union officers that accompanied General Grant. Pemberton drew himself up with an air of dignity, and said : — "I've come to see if we can arrange terms for the surrender of Vicksburg. What is your demand?" "All the terms I have I stated in my letter of this morning," replied Grant. Pemberton answered with even more haughtiness, — "If that is so, the conference may terminate at once, and hostilities be resumed." " Very well," responded Grant ; " my army has never been in better condition to prosecute the siege." Pemberton turned as though he intended to be as good as his word; but General Bowen, who accom- panied him, interposed, and suggested that the matter be discussed further. To this Grant assented, and TERMS OF CAPITULATION. 301 then he and Pemberton stepped aside from the rest. Grant was calmly smoking a cigar, and he motioned to Pemberton to sit down beside him on the ground. As they sat there talking, Grant remained motionless, while the Confederate leader nervously pulled up the thin grass around him. They talked together only a few minutes ; and then Grant called up McPherson and A. J. Smith, Avhile Pemberton called upon Bowen to join them. Grant adhered, though not with an air of absolute firmness, to his terms of unconditional surrender ; while Pember- ton insisted that the Union commander ought to be satisfied with the place, and the cannon, ammunition, and public stores which it contained. He reiterated that he had abundant provisions, and could hold out for a much longer period. The other three officers who had been called in made various suggestions, and in less than half an hour the terms of surrender were practically settled. Then the parties separated, Pem- berton going back to Vicksburg, and Grant returning to his headquarters to write out the conditions. There was further correspondence between Grant and Pemberton, and two or three hitches ; but before the day was ended the whole matter was completely arranged. The Rebel soldiers were to march out from Vicksburg, pile their guns and flags in front of the Union lines, and then march back again and remain in 302 boys' life of general grant. their old camps until they were paroled. Officers were permitted to retain their side-arms and personal baofcraofe, and the soldiers were allowed all their cloth- ing, but nothing else. At eight o'clock the next morning, July 4, Logan's division marched into Vicksburg and took possession. His men fraternized at once with the Confederate sol- diers, talking to them in a most friendly way, and in numerous cases giving the hungry Rebels food from their haversacks. All through the town there were little groups of the Blue and the Gray; and at almost every step, while walking along the streets, one would encounter pairs of soldiei'S, Unioji and Confederate, chatting and strolling together as though they had been acquaintances of twenty years. The Confed- erates frequently assumed the position of hosts or guides, and pointed out to the strangers places of interest in the town. Grant gave orders for rations to be issued to the Confederate troops when asked for in proper form. Pemberton's statement that he had an abundance of provisions was, to say the least, a piece of boasting, as the garrison had been in a condition of starvation for several days. It is needless to say that the appli- cations for rations came verv qTTickl}^ There was loud and long-continued cheering through the entire leno-th of the Union lines whan the knowl- FOES TREATED GENEROUSLY. 303 edge of the surrender became known. General Grant issued orders that there should be no cheering when the Confederate troops marched out and piled their guns, as agreed, in front of the Union lines. He felt that the men who made such a noble defense of the fortifications of Vicksburg, and had fought for the cause which they considered right, should not be humil- iated any more than was absolutely necessary ; and afterwards, when the troops had been paroled and were marched through the Union lines in the direction of Jackson, he repeated the order at all points where the line of march had been laid out. To his dogged persistency in attacking his foe, he added a heartfelt generosity to that same foe after he had surrendered. As soon as the terms of surrender were settled and the agreement signed. Grant sent the two divisions of his army which comprised the Fifteenth Corps in pur- suit of Johnston, who was known to be about half-way between Vicksburg and Jackson. Very quickly John- ston's army was broken, scattered, and in full retreat. It was pursued a considerable distance beyond Jackson, and put in such a condition that it was of little use afterwards as an army. After Logan's division htid taken possession of Vicksburg, Grant rode into the place, accompanied by his staff and a small escort. He went first to Gen- eral Pemberton's headquarters to return the visit of 304 boys' life of general grant. that officer, and was received with scant courtes}^ Pemberton and his staff Avere sitting on the veranda of the Rebel headquarters, and not one of them rose to greet their visitors, or asked them to be seated. General Grant was thirsty, and asked for a drink of water; General Pemberton merely motioned with his hand in the direction of the rear of the building, where there was a well. Grant followed the direction, and found the Avell surrounded by negroes, who were assuaging their thirst with the water. One of them went into the house and brought out a glass, which he filled and offered to Grant. The latter thanked him, and accej)ted the proffered drink. Grant's officers were very indigant at this uncivil treatment of their chief, and did not hesitate to say so. Grant laughed and said, — "I guess I can stand it if Pemberton can. These fellows have jio occasion to feel particularly gracious towards us." Returning from the well. Grant remained standing for a moment, and then with some irony in his tone thanked General Pemberton for his hospitality, and bade him good-day. All of Grant's division commanders thought the terms very lenient ; and the opinion was prevalent that the Rebel troops should have been taken North as pris- oners of war instead of being paroled, but they after- grant's "YANKEE TRICK." 305 wards admitted that their leader acted far more shrewdly than they thought. If the men were held as prisoners of war, and there were thirty-one thousand of them, it would have cost a great deal of money to transport them up the Mississippi River, and then by railway to the regular point of exchange on the James River near Richmond, meantime guarding them as prisoners until they could be regularly exchanged. Grant's idea was that most of them were tired of fighting, and would go straight to their homes as soon as they were outside our lines. The result proved the correctness of his reason- ing. Some of the men refused to be paroled, and were sent North as prisoners of war. Others gave their paroles, but remained within the Union lines, refusing to march' out Avith their comrades. Pember- ton begged hard for a suiBcient number of guns to arm a guard to keep the discontented ones from straggling, but this Grant refused. As soon as the Rebel column was outside our lines, the men began to straggle in every direction ; and by the time Pember- ton was fairly on Confederate soil, not more than ten thousand men remained of the thirty-one thousand that had been surrendered. Pemberton declared that Grant's performance was a Yankee trick, and when all the facts are considered it looks very much that way. The Mississippi Avas now open from Cairo to the 306 boys' life of general grant. Gulf of Mexico with the single exception of Port Hudson, which was then besieged by General Banks. Grant immediately wrote to Banks, offering him all the men he wanted for the capture of the stronghold. Banks caused a copy of this letter, in which was the announcement of the surrender of Vicksburg, to fall into the hands of General Gardner, who then com- manded at Port Hudson. Gardner immediately wrote to Banks, saying that if Vicksburg had really surren- dered it would be useless for him to hold out any longer. Banks replied on his word of honor that Vicksburg had really fallen, whereupon Gardner sur- rendered unconditionally on the 9th of July. Thus was the Mississippi River open to Union navigation throughout its whole course. '' The Father of Waters flowed unvexed to the sea." News of the surrender of Vicksburg caused great rejoicing throughout the entire North, and especially so as it came almost simultaneously with the victory of Gettysburg, where the Rebellion reached its high- water mark, and the tide was turned back never to rise again. The capture of Vicksburg and the defeat at Gettysburg were considered by many people as prac- tically the end of the war, but it was not so with the great military leaders on either side. Tlie South had yet many men in the field; she had able soldiers; and whatever views may bo entertained of the right or CAPTURE OF PORT HUDSON. 307 wrong of their cause, they believed in it, and fought for it as gallantly as did those who fought on the other side to maintain the Union. Grant realized that there was still a great deal of fighting to be done before the war would come to an end; and in the same dispatch in which he announced officially the fall of Vicksburg, he asked for orders as to what he should do next. After the fall of Port Hudson, General Banks, with the greater part of his army, returned to New Or- leans ; and shortly after he did so, General Grant went down the river to pay him a visit. Before starting, he asked permission to capture Mobile, which was not strongly defended; but the Government had other movements in contemplation, and took away a consid- erable portion of Grant's army to reinforce General Banks. Great Britain and France were affordino- aid and comfort to the Rebellion by their conduct in Mexico, in whose national aifairs they had intervened. It had been determined to send a strong force to the Rio Grande, and occupy the left bank of that river opposite Matamoras. Grant's forces were further weakened to reinforce Rosecrans in Tennessee. A day or two after Grant's arrival in New Orleans, General Banks held a review of his troops in honor of his guest. Knowing that Grant was a fine eques- trian, Banks had supplied a very high-spirited horse 308 boys' life of general grant. for Grant's use. The animal was restive, and it was with difficulty Grant could control him during the review. On their return to the city the horse became un- manageable, and taking friglit at a locomotive, ran against a carriage, and fell with his whole weight on Grant's leg and hip. He was picked up nearly insen- sible, and carried on a stretcher to the hotel where he was stopping. He was confined to his bed about twenty daj^s, taking his confinement philosophically, and amusing himself with one of the funniest Ameri- can books ever published, '' Phenixiana." He remarked one day to a friend that he was illustrating the truth of a Chinese proverb which is thus rendered in pidgin- English : — " What man swim best, that man most catcheee drown ; Wlio lidee best make mostee tumble down." As soon as he could get about on crutches. Grant returned to Vicksburg, where he was joined by his family. There was very little activity in military movements in his department at that time, and he waited with some impatience for orders to do something. On the 10th of October, Grant received the following dispatch from General Halleck : — ''It is the wish of the Secretary of War that, as soon as General Grant is able to take the field, he will go to Cairo and report by telegraph." GRANT MEETS STANTUN. 309 The dispatch was received about noon, and before sunset Grant was ascending the river in the direction of Cairo. On reaching that place he found the follow- ing order waiting for him : — "Proceed by way of Indianapolis to the Gait House, Louisville, Ky., where you will meet an officer of the War Department with your orders and instructions. You will take with you your staff for immediate operations in the field." He proceeded oy the first train ; and on reaching In- dianapolis he met Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, who joined him on the train and accompanied him to Louisville. It was the first time that these men had ever met. They had a long and earnest confer- ence, and the result of it was the consolidation of three military departments into one. These were the depart- ments of the Oliio, commanded by General Burnside, of the Tennessee under Grant, and of the Cumberland under Rosecrans. These departments were made into one, which was called the Grand Military Division of the Mississippi ; and the command of this extensive territory was given to General Grant, with headquar- ters to be in the field, wherever he chose to make them. Grant was given the choice of continuing Rose- crans in his command, or of replacing him by General Thomas. Grant had been dissatisfied with Rosecrans 810 boys' life of general grant. for various reasons, and he at once decided to make a change of commanders. Rosecrans was then holding Chattanooga under great difficulties. General Bragg had cut off all communica- tion with the Union base of supplies, except a very difficult road across the mountains. Tlie army was suffering greatly from lack of provisions, and the horses and mules were starving for want of forage. It had been feared that Rosecrans would abandon Chattanooga and fall back, and certainly he would not have been without justification had he done so. After Grant had telegraphed the order superseding Rosecrans by Thomas, he sent another dispatch in tliese words : — " Hold Chattanooga at all hazards. I will be there as soon as possible." Thomas immediately replied, — " We will hold the town until we starve ! " Grant was still on crutches, and every unusual move- ment or exertion was painful to him ; nevertheless, he started at once for his new field of action. From Nash- ville, which he reached at midnight on the 20th of October, he sent dispatches to Thomas, Burnside, and Admiral Porter, ordering them to prepare for move- ments which he had already planned in his mind. The next day he continued his journey, and at Stevenson ROAD TO CHATTANOOGA. 311 met General Rosecrans, whom he had just removed from command. Rosecrans was too much the gentle- man and soldier to manifest any feelings of chagrin, however much he may have possessed them. He' greeted the new commander in the old familiar way, with the words, — " How are you, Sam ? " From Bridgeport to Chattanooga, a distance of sixty miles, the railway was obstructed and also the river; and it was necessary for Grant and his party to travel by wagon or horseback. Grant refused an ambulance, but mounted his favorite horse ; he had to be lifted into and out of the saddle, and at difficult places he was carried in the arms of soldiers. This ride of sixty miles was completed in a single day. That he persisted in going through in spite of his weakened and crippled condition is an instance of the bulldog determination which characterized General Grant from infancy to the end of his life. The road over the mountains was strewn with broken wagons, and almost lined from end to end with car- casses of dead mules, that were said to number fully ten thousand. The road was a very poor and rough one at best, and the thousands of wagons that had passed over it since it became tlie only line of com- munication had rendered it worse than ever. Towards the end of the day, when the party was within a few 312 boys' life of general grant. miles of Chattanooga, General Grant's horse stumbled and fell ; but it was a less severe fall than the one at New Orleans, and did no permanent harm. Grant and his staff took their first meals with General Thomas, who received them cordially, though some of his aids felt a little sore because a superior had been placed over their commander. Provisions were scarce; and for several days the party lived on coffee, hard biscuits, and dried vegetables, with a few meals of salt meat. The army was actually in a state of starvation. Fresh beef was very scarce, and soldiers considered themselves lucky when they could secure an ear of dried corn. So great was the scarcity of food that the soldiers hung around the place where the mules were kept, and sifted and washed the earth to obtain the corn which the animals had scattered on the ground in the daj's when corn was plenty. Chattanooga of itself is a place of no great impor- tance, but at that time it was of immense consequence when regarded from a strategic point of view. It is the junction of several railways, and is situated close to the spot where Tennessee joins Georgia and Ala- bama. About two miles east of the town is Mission Ridge, which is well described by its name. It is a ridge four liundred feet high, and the site of schools and churches established a long time ago among the Cherokee Indians. MISSION RIDGE AND LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 313 Lookout Mountain, about two thousand feet above sea level and fourteen hundred above the Tennessee River, is about three miles west of Chattanooga. From it one can look into no fewer than six States, — Ten- nessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina. Thirty miles of the Tennessee River can also be seen, and for quite a distance the stream flows directly at the mountain's base. The Union army had strongly fortified itself in Chattanooga. The place was almost completely in- vested by Bragg's army, Avliose lines extended from the river above the town to the river below it. It had batteries on Mission Ridge and Lookout Moun- tain, and they were dropping shells into the town at irregular intervals during both the day and night. The Northern army was on quarter-rations, and there were three thousand sick and wounded in the hospitals. The common necessaries of life were scarce ; and when the wagon-trains went to Bridgeport they frequently returned empty, as the heavy guards required for their protection had eaten up all their supplies, while the mules had destroyed all the forage. The troops were in need of ammunition, and their clothes were ragged ; but they kept up their spirits in the confident belief that they would be relieved some day or other. This was the state of affairs when Grant arrived. Rosecrans had made a plan to break the blockade by 314 boys' life of general grant. driving Bragg out of Lookout Valley on the west side of the mountain. He was about to execute it when he was superseded by Thomas, who immediately issued orders to carry it out; and these orders Grant confirmed immediately on his arrival. Hooker's army corps was at Bridgeport, guarding the river, and holding itself in readiness for orders to move. A little after midnight on the morning of the 26tli of October, Geary's division of Hooker's army crossed over silently to the south side of the river, and then pushed through the mountains toward Lookout Valley. At the same time, pontoon-boats, each con- taining thirty men of General Smith's command, started from Chattanooga, and floated six miles down the river, quite unobserved by the Rebel sentinels. They landed on the south bank at the mouth of Lookout Valley, and managed to capture the enemy's pickets before the latter could make any outcry or give any signal of trouble. Before morning they had intrenched them- selves and brought up artillery, and when the day broke they were in a strong position. With the pon- toons that floated them down, they built a bridge across the river, by which Grant could send rein- forcements to them in case of battle quicker than Bragg could reinforce the Confederate troops from Mission Ridge. The Rebels began to strengthen their positions CHARGE OF THE MULE BRIGADE. 315 when they saw that the Union forces were on the ofPensive. The next evening the camp-fires of Geary's division were visible from the top of Lookout Moun- tain. General Longstreet, wlio held the mountain, immediately perceived that, unless the movement was stopped, it would raise the siege of Chattanooga; and he sent troops to drive out the Union forces at all hazards. The attack was made about midnight, when it was so dark that the Union forces could hardly distinguish one another from tlie Rebels. The battle lasted for more than three hours; the losses were not very large on either side, as a battle in the dark- ness may waste an immense amount of ammunition and do very little harm. An amusing incident ended the battle, and brought victory to the Union arms. About two hundred mules broke loose from their fastenings, and stam- peded in the direction of the enemy. The thunder of so many hoofs coming towards them caused the Rebels to imagine that a cavalry charge was being made: they fled in terror from the scene of action, and did not learn until the next day that they had been thrown into a panic by a wild stampede of innocent but alarmed mules. One of the Union officers the next day made a record of the occurrence in a parody on Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." He called it ''The 81G boys' life of geneeal grant. Charge of the Mule Brigade," and the following is an extract from it ; — "Mules to the right of them, Mules to the left of them, Mules in front of them, Pawed, brayed, and thundered. Breaking their own confines, Breaking through Longstreet's lines. Into the Georgia troops, Stormed the two hundred. Wild all their eyes did glare. Whisked all their tails in air, Scattering the " Chivalry " there; All the world wondered !" Longstreet's force was larger than the Union one. Its movements were directed by signals given by torches from the top of the mountain, in full view of the Union commanders. Our officers had obtained the Rebel signal-code a few days beforehand, and were thus able to read all of Longstreet's orders. By this bit of good fortune the Union commanders w^ere able to intercept and repulse every attack. Be- fore morning Longstreet's men retreated, and the Union forces were in possession of the river all the way from Bridgeport to Cliattanooga. This was the end of starvation in Chattanooga. Supplies were sent up by steamer and by the river route, and the siege was brought to an end. In his GRANT PRAISES THOMAS. 317 report of the affair General Grant gave all the credit of the movement to his subordinate, in the following words : — " General Thomas's plan for securing the river and south-side road to Bridgeport has proven eminently successful. The question of supplies may now be regarded as settled."" 318 boys' life of general grant. CHAPTER XXI. Bragg's mistake. — Grant meets a party of rebel soldiers. — Bragg's notice to noncombatants. — Attack upon Mission Ridge. — Capture of Lookout Mountain. — The Battle above the clouds. — Great battle of Chattanooga. — How the Ridge was taken. — Bragg's retreat. — Effect of the victory in the North. — Grant named for the presidency. —His ambition. — " The sidewalk. " — Made a lieutenant-general. — Ordered to Washington. Shortly after this occurrence General Bragg com- mitted a grave military mistake. He detached Long- street's corps, together with Buckner's division, to make an expedition to destroy General Burnside, who was holding East Tennessee, with headquarters at Knoxville. He had twenty-five thousand soldiers in his command ; and General Bragg thought it a good scheme to destroy that army, and regain control of that part of the State. At the same time that Bragg detached Longstreet, Grant received reinforcements from the Army of the Tennessee, and immediately pre- pared to give battle. He instructed Thomas to attack Mission Ridge in the rear, so as to call Longstreet back; and at the same time he dispersed his troops in such a way as to make an attack upon Bragg's entire line. A BEBEL SCOUTING-PARTY. 319 The opposing lines were so near each other that the soldiers frequently talked familiarly, and made exchanges of the same sort as they had done at Vicks- burg. One morning as Grant was riding near Chat- tanooga Creek, a small stream only a few yards wide, a party of soldiers in blue came down to the opposite bank to water their horses. From their uniforms Grant supposed they were his own men, and asked, — '' What corps do you belong to ? " " Longstreet's, of course." "What are you doing in those coats, then?" " Oh, all our corps wear blue." Just then it occurred to Grant that Longstreet's corps was dressed in blue, but he had forgotten it at the moment. The Rebels knew he was a Union officer, but were quite unaware that he was the commander-in-chief. There was an understanding between the pickets that they would not fire upon each other as a regular pastime, but only when making a hostile movement; and, consequently, these men refrained from using their rifles on that occasion. Had they known whom they confronted, it is pretty certain that they would have made an exception in his case. Heavy rains came on, and the attack was delayed. Grant was impatient at the delay, but he could do nothing. One day a dispatch came from Bragg, saying :-^ 320 boys' life of ge^^ekal grant. "As there may be noncombatants in Chattanooga, I deem it proper to notify you that prudence would dic- tate their early withdrawal." Of course this was an intimation of an attack upon the Union forces ; but if a pun may be allowed, it was merely a case of brag, as there was no likeli- hood that the Confederate commander would make an attack at that time, when he had refrained from doing so before provisions and reinforcements had arrived; and furthermore, he found very soon that the withdrawal from the neighborhood was on his own part rather than on that of the noncombatants in the town. Grant endeavored to give the impression to Bragg that the main attack would be on Lookout Moun- tain. He did this by kindling fictitious camp-fires away to the west of the Union line, making a dis- play of troops, and then advancing up the western slope of the mountain. All the troops were grad- ually brought into position ; and on the 23d of No- vember everything was ready. The battle began by the movement of Granger's corps of Thomas's army, which was pushed forward towards Mission Ridge in such perfect order that the Rebel pickets thought it was a review, and stood leaning upon their rifles in admiration. As the line of blue came up to them, and marched directly ATTACK ON MISSION RIDGE. 321 towards their position, they realized their mistake, and, after the customary exchange of shots, fell bacl^ to their first rifle-pits. Then the fighting began in earnest; and before night the Union forces had advanced two-thirds of the way to the ridge, driving the enemy back slowly. The men bivouacked where the fighting ceased. During the night, a strong division on the left crossed the river on pontoons, and built a bridge on which the entire Fifteenth Corps crossed over; and almost before the Rebels knew they had crossed, the troops were securely posted at the east of the ridge. The whole extent of the Union lines, from the extreme right to the extreme left, was six miles, the army facing to the southward. Two days be- fore, when Bragg saw Hooker's division moving into position, he said, — " They're going to have a grand Potomac review." It was a revicAv, but of a kind different from what he had expected to see. One side of Lookout Mountain has an almost per- pendicular front, similar to the palisades of the Hudson, which most New Yorkers have seen; while the other side rises in a gentle slope. At the bot- tom of the palisade, there is a succession of wide hills which slope down to the river. Hooker moved his army to the Rebel front, on the sloping side of 822 boys' life of general grant. the mountain, as if to make an attack there. With large columns of troops maneuvering over the ground, he opened fire with artillery, as though he meant business. The Rebels laughed at his folly in making his attack there; and most of the Union of- ficers and soldiers who were not in the secret were inclined to laugh too. But while Hooker was making this demonstration in front, five brigades of his troops were making their way around to the rear. They ascended the mountain as far as the palisades, and then swept down through the woods in a wedge-shaped column that took the Rebels by surprise, capturing a great number of tliem and putting the rest to flight. The success of this movement showed General Bragg that it was impossible to hold Lookout Moun- tain, and so he ordered a retreat. In order to cover the retreat, he attacked Hooker in the evening, and kept up a skirmish for several hours. The mountain was enveloped in fog, to which was added the smoke of the artillery and small arms, so that the battle was rendered invisible to those farther down the val- ley. They could not see the combatants at all ; and except when the wind lifted the fog, all that was perceptible was the flashes of fire from the guns. This was the origin of the somewhat, though not altogether, imaginative story of the '' Battle Above the Clouds." HOOKER AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 323 When the news reached Grant that Hooker had captured Lookout Mountain, and that his losses were not heavy, Grant remarked that Bragg must have surmised his plan of battle, and withdrawn most of his troops to strengthen his right. The next morn- ing, Nov. 25, showed that Bragg's forces were all drawn in upon Mission Ridge. Some of Hooker's men climbed up to the top of Lookout Mountain, and placed a flag there, the mountain being quite deserted, as Grant believed it would be. Then Hooker moved down the east side of Lookout, having been ordered to reach Rossville Gap in Mission Ridge, four miles in the rear of Bragg's position. The rest of the army was to wait until it could get into place when ordered. The field of battle was visible from the house- tops of Chattanooga, and the positions of the greater part of the Union army. Grant was on the summit of a little hill called Orchard Knoll, which com- manded a magnificent view of the scene, the whole country being spread out before him like a map. Bragg's headquarters on Mission Ridge were dis- tinctly visible; and the two hostile commanders faced each other, but not within rifle-shot. The fighting was severe at the north end of the ridge, and the Union forces did not make much progress. No word was heard from Hooker away on 824 boys' life of general grant. the right, as he was delayed to build bridges over Chattanooga Creek, where they had been destroyed by the enemy. Bragg was so severely pressed at the north end of the ridge that he weakened his center to strengthen that part of his position. Grant immediately made an assault upon the ridge, and at the same time the guns of Hooker were heard away on the right. The order was given to advance, and very soon the entire Union line was in motion. So well formed were the columns, that the Rebels after- wards said they thought it was nothing but a review. The columns poured in through the timber, pressed back the Rebel skirmishers, and with a loud cheer and a vigorous rush drove them back to their rifle- pits at the foot of the ridge, and hoisted their flags upon the trenches. In a very short time our troops had full possession of the first line of trenches, but they did not stay long; halting briefly to take breath, they pushed on to the next line, under a heavy fire from their antag- onists. Many a man fell, but his fall did not check the advance. On and on the blue line went, on and up the slope of Mission Ridge, the flags fluttering at the very front of the line and not infrequently going down. Hardly does a flag fall before it rises again. The hands that held it are stilled in death, but other hands have seized it and wave it aloft VICTORY FOR THE UNION ARMY. 325 once more. The flag of one regiment goes down three times, and three dead color-sergeants mark the spots where it fell; but it is not allowed to stop, and in less than an hour from the time it left the foot of the ridge it is waving at the top. The Rebels resist bravely the onslaught of the Northern troops. All along their front they pour a deadly fire of musketry; and they light the fuses of shells, and roll them down the slope to explode among the advancing foe. Huge rocks are rolled down that they may crush the Northern soldiers; and at the crest of the ridge, where the enemy is so hard pressed that the men have no time to load and reload, they club their muskets and use them in this way as weapons of defense. Just as the sun touches the horizon, bathing the long ridge w4th its yellow light, the whole crest is surmounted by the Northern troops ; their flags are waving in triumph, and a loud cheer goes up from the entire length of the National army. The Rebels are in full retreat, and the battle is virtuall}^ ended. But the capture of the ridge did not by any means end the conflict. General Sheridan, without waiting for orders, pushed forward and continued the pursuit until midnight, capturing great numbers of prisoners. General Sheridan won a reputation at this battle which led to his promotion, and gave him an 326 boys' life of general grant. opportunity to demonstrate that he was the "greatest cavalry general of the present century. Bragg withdrew his forces, and established head- quarters at Chickamauga Station. In his retreat he abandoned much of his artillery, and destroyed great quantities of provisions, together with wagons, pon- toons, and caissons. In his ofificial report to the Con- federate Government he expressed liis surprise that his lines had given away, as the strength of his position was such that he had no doubt that he would be able to hold it. He said that a panic seemed to have seized upon officers and men, such as he had never before witnessed. The strength of Bragg's army at the battle of Mis- sion Ridge was about forty-five thousand, while the Union forces numbered not far from sixty thousand; but the Rebels had an immense advantage in their position; and, looking at the matter in this lapse of time, it seems a wonder that the Confederate general was not able to repel the Union attack. The old proverb, " Nothing succeeds like success," is fully ap- plicable to the victory at Mission Ridge. Grant was victorious, and therefore nobody criticised ; if he had failed, he would have been subject to the severest criticism for his folly in ordering a charge upon a stronghold so admirably situated for defense. His plan of battle was elaborate and complete. A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 32T Every movement was carried out just as he had planned and ordered ; and, furthermore, it would almost seem that he exercised hypnotic power over his oppo- nent, as General Bragg in every instance did exactly as Grant wished and expected him to do. The Union general was admirably supported by his soldiers, and the result shows that his confidence in them was not misplaced. They had the courage and ability to exe- cute what their great commander planned for them to do. When President Lincoln learned the result of Grant's campaign at Chattanooga, he recommended a national thanksgiving, and telegraphed personally to General Grant his profoundest gratitude for the skill, courage, and perseverance with which he and his men had triumphed over the great difficulties before them. Even the cold-blooded Halleck said that the battle of Chattanooga was the most remarkable battle of history. There was the wildest rejoicing throughout, the North, second only to that which followed the victories of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Every Northern heart beat with rene^yed vigor at the realization that another great step had been accomplished toward the suppres- sion of the Great Rebellion. Bragg's army retreated into Georgia, following the line of railway in the direction of Atlanta. A part of Grant's army was ordered to Knoxville to strengthen 328 boys' life of general grant. Burnside, and the remainder remained in its position at Chattanooga while waiting for orders to move. Shortly after his triumph at Vicksburg, Grant's name was frequently mentioned by politicians as the next candidate of the Republican party for the Presi- dency, but to all suggestions of that sort Grant re- turned an absolute negative. He said he was in the field to fight, and was not in politics. Until the Re- bellion was ended, and the last Rebel had thrown down his musket, he would adhere to army life and think of nothing else. His triumph at Chattanooga renewed the subject of the Presidency, though the politicians received no en- couragement. To a group of them who visited him at his headquarters at Nashville, he said : — " There is only one office I ever aspired to in my life. I should like to be mayor of Galena, so that I could order a new sidewalk from my house to the railway depot." When he went to Galena, after the war, he was re- ceived by a grand outpouring of citizens. Several triumphal arches were erected along the streets through which he was to pass ; and on one of them was the announcement in huge letters, which he could easily read from the carriage in which he was riding, — " General, the sidewalk is built ! " GEANT NAMED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 329 When it became known throughout the country that General Grant would not consider the question of the Presidency under any circumstances, the sub- ject was dropped ; but the people were determined that he should know their views concerning liim. The legislatures of several States gave him enthusiastic votes of thanks. Congress caused a gold medal to be struck ; and he received gifts without number from cities, corporations, and individuals. The gift which seemed to please him most was a cigar-case whittled out by one of his soldiers from a bullet-scarred tree on Lookout Mountain. One day he received a telegram that his son Fred was seriously ill in St. Louis; and he telegraphed to Washington for a leave of absence, which was imme- diately granted. He started at once for his son's bedside, but happily found him out of danger when he arrived there. He remained a few days in his old home, and while he was there the leading citizens and others tendered him a dinner at the principal hotel. Speeches were made in his honor, the band played " Hail to the Chief," and there were loud calls for a speech. Grant rose, and the audience became silent instantly. His speech was brief, as it consisted only of the words : — "Gentlemen, it will be impossible to do more than thank you." 330 boys' life of general grant. After the dinner there was a serenade, and the street in front of the hotel was brilliantly illuminated. Grant went to the balcony ver}^ reluctantly. In response to loud and repeated calls from the crowd, he bowed his acknowledgments, and was about to retreat, when loud calls were made of " Speech I Speech ! " This went on for some minutes ; and finally the general took his cigar from his mouth, and said : — " Gentlemen, making speeches is not my business. I never did it in my life, and I never will ! I thank you, however, for your attendance here." General Grant returned from St. Louis to his head- quarters at Nashville ; and, soon after his arrival there, Congress passed a bill reviving the degree of Lieuten- ant-General, which was originally created for General Washington in 1798, and Avas discontinued at liis death. It was conferred by brevet on General Scott after the Mexican War, and Washington and Scott were the only ones who ever held the title. The President speedily conferred the title upon Grant, and he was summoned to Washington to report in person at the War Department. Accompanied by two officers of his staff, he started for Washington, reacliing that city late in the after- noon of March 8, 1864. He made a hasty toilet, and then entered the great dining-room at Willard's Hotel, and sat down to dinner. The news of his presence GRANT IN WASHINGTON. 331 quickly spread among the people in the dining-room ; and suddenly one of the party, a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, rose to his feet, and said ; — ''Ladies and gentlemen, the hero of Donelson, of Vicksburg, and of Chattanooga is among us ! I pro- pose the health of Lieutenant-General Grant ! " Cheers upon cheers were enthusiastically given. Handkerchiefs were waved in the air, and the men and women crowded around the general to tender their congratulations. He could not eat his dinner in comfort; and finally retired, blushing, from the hall, ordered a beefsteak and a pot of tea sent to his room, and finished his repast by himself. In the evening he went to the President's reception, where for the first time he and Mr. Lincoln met. As they shook hands, they looked at each other very closely, and had a brief conversation. It was neces- sarily very brief, owing to the crowd of visitors that was pouring in for introduction to the President. The next day Grant was formally presented to Mr. Lincoln, accompanied by Rawlins and Comstock of his staff, and his son Fred. Several officers of the President's cabinet were present ; and after Mr. Lincoln had greeted the general, and introduced him to the bystanders, he read the following address : — " General Grant, — The nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains 832 boys' life of general grant. to be done, in the existing great struggle, are now pre- sented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant- general in the army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding respon- sibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add that with what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty per- sonal concurrence. '^ Grant had been informed of the character of the President's note, and had brought with him his own reply, which he had written in the hotel the evening before. It was as follows : — " Jfr. President, — I accept the 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 expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsi- bilities now devolving upon 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 interview with the President lasted less than half an hour, as both were very busy, and time was precious. Immediately after leaving the President, Grant went to visit the Army of the Potomac, and was heartily welcomed by General Meade, its then com- mander, who was quite willing to be relieved from GEANT VISITS GENERAL MEADE. 333 responsibility. Very quickly the corps and division commanders called to pay their respects. A few of them he had known before, but the greater part he had never seen until that time. It had been General Grant's intention, before going East, to bring with him two of his most trusted gen- erals from the Military Division of the Mississippi ; but he now found that such a transfer would excite ill feeling, as there was already a jealousy existing on the part of the East towards the West. The Western army had gained numerous victories, from Donelson to Chattanooga, while the Army of the Potomac was almost as far away from Richmond as at the begin- ning of the war. Grant found that General Meade had a great deal of popularity with the Army of the Potomac ; and so he decided to retain him in command, and take for himself the general charge of the whole. This was undoubtedly a very politic step for Grant to take in the army where so many jealousies abounded. In speaking of the subject one day, he said that if he had taken command of the Army of the Potomac two years before he would have undoubtedly failed ; but now he felt entire confidence in himself, having served through all the ranks of colonel, brigadier-gen- eral, and major-general, and had so much experience in the field. He thought that McClellan's misfortune 334 boys' life of general grant. was that he was put in command of that great army with practically no experience whatever. Before assuming active command of the Army of the Potomac, it was necessary for General Grant to go West, and close up the affairs of his military de- partment there. On the 11th of March he had an interview with the President and the secretary of war, and just as he was about to leave he received an invitation from Mrs. Lincoln for a military din- ner at the White House. The letter reached him when he was making a call upon the President, and Mrs. Lincoln said in her note of invitation that twelve other prominent generals would be there to meet him. The dinner was to be given in General Grant's honor ; but he begged to be excused, as he must return imme- diately to Nashville. President Lincoln replied that he could not ex- cuse him, as it would be Hamlet with the prince left out. Grant answered that he fully appreciated the honor which Mrs. Lincoln would show him, but added that time was precious, and the affairs of the country de- manded his first attention; then with some stammer- ing and hesitation he concluded by saying : — "Really, Mr. Lincoln, I've had enough of this show business." The dinner came off, but Grant was not there. *' ON TO lee's army ! " 335 When the party sat down at the table he was many miles away on his trip to Cincinnati. He reached that city one Sunday morning, spent a day with his father and mother, and then continued his journey to Nashville, his headquarters. After finishing his af- fairs at Nashville, he returned again to Washington, spending a part of another day at his father's house. Several visitors called to see him ; and one of them said, — " I suppose it's ' On to Richmond ' now ? " " No," replied Grant ; " it's ' On to Lee's army ! ' " Another then asked, — " How do you propose to do it, General ? " Grant said nothing, but gave an extra puff to his cigar, and changed the subject to something else. 336 boys' life of general grant. CHAPTER XXII. On duty at Washington. — His staff. — General plan of campaign.— State of affairs at the time. — Army of the Potomac. — Its condition and morals. —Lee's position. — Preparing for the offensive. — Begin- ning the movement. — Crossing the Rapidan. — Encountering Lee's army. — Hard fighting in The Wilderness. — Six days of battles. —A wily foe. — " Shall fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Grant reached Washington on the 23d of March, 1864, and assumed active direction of the army. He was accompanied by his staff-officers Rawlins, Bowers, Duff, Rowley, Leet, Parker, Badeau, Hudson, and Dunn. A day or two after his arrival he was joined by his newly appointed aids. Porter, Babcock, and Dent. It had long been his theory, and he was not alone in his belief, that the movements against the enemy should be simultaneous along the entire line, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and be- yond it. The reader will remember that this plan had already been acted upon two years earlier, when simultaneous movements were made in Missouri, Ten- nessee, at the mouth of the Mississippi, and at sev- eral points in the East. Grant's scheme was simply an elaboration of the old one, and included perfect GRANT AND McCLELLAN. 837 co-operation of time and purpose between our armies, so that the enemy, assailed everywhere, could not weaken one point to strengthen another. Now that he was in chief command, he made his plans with great care, and issued orders accordingly. The day after his arrival he began the re-organ- ization of the army for the campaign of the summer of 1864. He had able officers under him; and after his first inspection of the Army of the Potomac he said he felt entirely confident that it would secure the results desired of it. There was still a good deal of soreness remain- ing in the army over the removal of McClellan. The soldiers had idolized him, and so did most of the officers; and there was a deep feeling among them in favor of his return. There was also a feel- ing of jealousy that a Western commander had been appointed over Eastern troops. General Grant en- deavored in a very judicious way to quiet all this unpleasant rancor; and whenever he had occasion to mention General McClellan, he did so in the kindest manner, and always with an expression of admi- ration for the man. He said that the Confederates had recognized the importance of defending their cap- ital at all hazards, and had surrounded it with their best troops, under their best generals. He said one day,— 338 boys' life of general grant. "The Army of the Potomac is a very fine one, and has shown the highest courage ; still, I think it has never fought its battles through." Shortly after assuming command, General Grant sent for his family to come to Washington. Soon after their arrival a party of ladies asked Mrs. Grant her opinion of her husband's new responsibilities. She replied that he had succeeded thus far where- ever the Government had placed him, and she believed he would do the best he could. Then one asked if she believed he would capture Richmond. "Yes, I'm sure he will before he gets through," she replied. "Mr. Grant was always a very obstinate man." She almost always spoke of the general as "Mr. Grant," very rarely alluding to him by his official title. The necessity for the success of the Northern armies was very great. Repeated failures of the Army of the Potomac to accomplish anything had wearied the public, so that a sentiment for peace at any price was rapidly growing. A member of Con- gress from Ohio made a speech in the House of Representatives advocating the recognition of the Southern Confederacy. A motion was made for his expulsion ; but it did not receive the necessary two- PEACE SENTIMENT. 339 thirds vote, and therefore he retained his place. Sev- eral other members of Congress openly defended him and his speech, and one of them announced himself in favor of peace by the recognition of the Con- federacy. It must not be understood that the war sentiment was in the minority, but only that the peace sentiment was rapidly growing more bold and outspoken. Five of the Western States — Ohio, Illi- nois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana — voluntarily made an enlistment of ninety thousand men for garrison duty at home, thus enabling all the veterans to go to the front. Other States followed their example, but not to so great an extent; and altogether they caused a material increase to be made to the fighting force. One day while Grant was calling on the Presi- dent, the latter asked what the prospects were. Grant began to tell his plans to the President ; but the latter motioned him to stop, and said, — "Don't tell me anything about your plans; I don't want to know what they are. Everybody will be asking me, and I want to be able to say truthfully that I don't know what they are. If you are sat- isfied with them, I am, and believe they will turn out all right. I only want to know what your opin- ion is of the prospects." Grant answered that he thought they were good. He said that his two chief objects were to keep the 340 boys' life of general grant. troops active, and concentrate his supplies close to the front so that there would be no necessity of guarding long lines of communications. It took several weeks to get the army into con- dition to take the offensive, and to take it, as Grant had planned, simultaneously. The heaviest blow was that against Lee, who thus far had repelled every attack made upon him. The two armies had not been in conflict for three- quarters of a year. They were lying onl}- a few miles apart, — Lee at Orange Court House, and Grant at Culpeper Court House. Lee was perfectly fa- miliar with every inch of the ground he was defend- ing, as he had lived in that vicinity, and had defeated the Army of the Potomac in two campaigns. His army had great confidence in itself and in its leader. Moreover, the Confederate army had the habit of victory, while the Army of the Potomac had the habit of defeat. It had become a matter of course that when the Union army in Virginia marched out to meet the enemy, it would march back again in more or less disorder. Grant's army was greater than Lee's, but under the circumstances it can readily be seen that it would be less efficient until its habit of defeat was broken up. For some reasons Grant would have preferred ap- proaching Richmond by way of the James River POSITIONS OF THE TWO ARMIES. 341 rather than by the direct route from Culpeper Court House. The land route would have been shorter, and facilities for obtaining supplies easier; but the disadvantage was that the James River route, if taken by the Army of the Potomac, would leave Washington uncovered to the enemy; and as Lee was fighting on interior lines and Grant on exterior ones, the former could make a dash upon Washing- ton, and capture it before Grant could reach it. Furthermore, even if Lee's army did not attack or threaten Washington, the movement of the army from Culpeper back to the Potomac, to embark for the James, would be in the nature of a retreat, and have the effect to dishearten the men. The distance from Culpeper Court House to Rich- mond is about seventy miles. The country along the route was heavily timbered, and cut up by many streams running at right angles to the army's line of movement. These streams, though not very wide, were nearly all too deep to be forded by an army, and consequently could be easily held by the enemy against a largely superior force. Furthermore, what- ever advance was made into this region would render more difficult the supplying of the Union army, and at the same time make it easier to supply the Rebel one. The movement began on the evening of May 3, 342 boys' life of general grant. when Meade issued orders to send forward the pon- toon trains to lay bridges at Ely's Ford and Ger- mania Ford. Tents were struck soon after dark, and by midnight the army was in motion. So quietly did they move away, that the citizens of the town were not aware until they awoke in the morning that the army was gone. Grant and his staff spent the night at his headquarters in Culpeper, and break- fasted there. After breakfast they galloped away, and overtook the army at the Rapidan River, where the troops were crossing swiftly over the pontoon bridges already mentioned. Before night the entire army was south of the river, and camped on the blood- drenched field of Chancellors ville. Grant had ex- pected that the enemy would oppose his passage of the river, and was greatly pleased when the whole army, with its enormous supply-train of four thou- sand wagons, was safely over the stream. The three corps which formed the army of the Poto- mac were commanded by Generals Sedgwick, Hancock, and Warren ; and to these were added Burnside's Ninth Corps, which had been brought from Annapolis to take part in the movement. Sheridan, the only general whom Grant brought from the West, commanded all the cavalry. Grant's plan was to throw his army between Richmond and Lee's army ; and then, if he could crush Lee in a single battle, Richmond would THE WILDERNESS. 343 be open to him. He said in a later report that it was his intention to fight Lee between Culpeper and Richmond if he would stand. If Grant had any doubt that Lee would stand, it was speedily dispelled. He not only stood, but as soon as he heard of Grant's advance he pushed for- ward to meet him. He received notice early on the morning of May 4 (Wednesday) that the Union army was in motion, and immediately started his own army to strike Grant's column at a right angle to its line of march. The region south of the Rapidan is known as The Wilderness. It is a worn-out and deserted region, containing many old tobacco-fields, and covered to a great extent with low, scrubby trees, and with more or less underbrush. There is much more wooded than open ground in it. It is a bad place to maneuver an army in, and Grant did not wish to fight there if he could avoid it. But Lee gave him no option in this matter. By sunset on Wednesday, Lee had moved up very close to the position of the Union army. Early on the morning of May 6, Lee made his attack, coming first in contact with Warren's corps. Before eight o'clock the battle was well underway, and the fighting was vigorous nearly all the time until sunset. It was impossible to use artillery to advantage, and the greater 344 boys' life of general grant. part of the fighting was done by infantry. The thick- ness of the forest made it necessary to move the troops by compass in many instances, and every advance was a step into an ambuscade. Sometimes the Rebels at- tacked, but in most cases the Union troops did so. Whoever made the advance was at a great disadvan- tage, as the enemy was concealed behind and among trees, and reserved his fire until at very close range. Many of the bullets w^ere warded off by the trees ; but many others found their billets, and the ground was thickly covered with dead and wounded. An hour or so past noon the entire army was en- gaged. A report came to General Grant, that Han- cock had been repulsed, and the whole left wing of the army had given way. Grant was in conversation with Meade at the time, and was whittling at the root of a tree under which he was seated. When he heard the report about Hancock, he gave a vigorous stab with his knife into the root and re- plied, — " I don't believe it. It can't be true. There's some mistake about it." Wishing to see for himself, he called for his horse, mounted, and rode away, accompanied by General Meade. He found that the report about General Han- cock was untrue, as he had said. Neither side was gaining much upon the oth-r, and the battle at the BEGINNING THE BATTLE. 345 end of the day was practically a drawn one. Lee tele- graphed to" Richmond that his army had maintained its position, but had lost heavily. Grant did not send any dispatches, but gave orders that the battle should begin at half-past three the next morning. During the night he was called to receive a dispatch from General Meade, who said it would be too dark at the hour named for the soldiers to distinguish friend from foe, and suggested that the battle commence at six o'clock. Grant drowsily assented at first; but as soon as he was fully awake he countermanded the assent, and said, — "Let it begin at a quarter-past four o'clock and not a minute later. It is of great importance that we should be the first to open." There is an old saying to the effect that great minds think alike; and so it was in this case. Lee had exactly the same view of the importance of being the first to open the battle, and had given orders that the enemy should be attacked at daybreak. The result was that the Union troops began the attack on the center and left, while the Rebels fired the first gun on the right. The day was cloudless and very hot, as had been the preceding day. Both armies had thrown up in- trenchments, and were well prepared for resisting 346 boys' life of general grant. attack. The Union army faced towards the west ; Hancock and Sedgwick holding respectively the left and right wings, while Warren held the center. The fighting was active all through the morning. At nine o'clock Hancock pushed the Rebels in front of him for nearly two miles; and at one time it looked as if Lee's line was completely broken, and victory had perched on the Union banners. If Hancock had pushed forward he would have cut the Rebel army in two, and the campaign might have ended on that day. But he was in a dangerous position, as his lines were considerably broken, and his supports were far in the rear. He halted to re-form his line. Lee, always watchful to embrace an opportunit}^, placed himself at the head of a division of Texas troops to make a charge, and drive back Hancock's men. The Texans refused to move with their great com- mander in such imminent danger. As soon as he had taken his proper place in the rear of the column, they made a charge, and were successful. Just as they made the charge, they were reinforced by Long- street's corps; and shortly after, Burnside arrived, and took a position between Warren and Hancock. Burnside's corps had been left behind as a rear-guard at Culpeper, with orders to advance as soon as the rest of the army had crossed the Rapidan. A REBEL ASSAULT. 347 In the afternoon the Rebel forces in front of Han- cock were heavily strengthened, in the hope of crush- ing and turning our left wing. Just as the Rebel advance was to be made, Longstreet with his staff and escort came galloping down the road to give his personal direction to the movement. They were mis- taken for Union troops, and received a volley from their own men, which emptied several saddles, and wounded General Longstreet very severely. He was compelled to leave the field; and he was so severely disabled that it was nearly a twelvemonth before he recovered. Longstreet's injury resulted in considerable confu- sion, and delayed the Rebel advance until Hancock's corps had been sufficiently strengthened to meet it. It was a very narrow escape for Hancock, and also a narrow escape for the entire army. The crushing of the left wing would very likely have given Lee possession of the field. During the day General Grant ordered all the bridges over the Rapidan to be taken up with a sin- gle exception. One of his staff suggested that these bridges might be needed, to which Grant replied, — " One bridge will be enough to cross all the men we shall have left if we fall back." Another assault upon the Union line was made about four o'clock in the afternoon. The woods had 348 boys' life of general grant. taken fire ; and the smoke and flames blinded our men so that they fell back, and their trenches were occupied by the Rebels. As soon as the smoke blew away, the Union troops rallied and drove the Rebels out of the trenches, capturing many prisoners, and sending them to the rear. The fio^htinor continued after dark. General Gor- (Ion attacked the right of the Union lines, where he created a panic, and captured two entire brigades. General Grant brought order out of disorder ; but hardly had he done so when there was another as- sault, accompanied by loud and long-continued yell- ing. For the moment Grant thought that the Union line had been broken; but an investigation showed that the yelling was only a ruse of General Gordon to create the impression that his line was very strong, while in reality it was weak. The battle of The Wilderness lasted two days, Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6. On the morning of the 7th neither of the armies was in a condition to attack, and they lay in their trenches confronting each other. The surgeons were busy in caring for the wounded ; and many of those who escaped injury were occupied with the burial of the dead. Grant moved restlessly all along the line, keenly observant of everything, but speaking little. His losses had been heavy, and some of his subordinates expected him to order a retreat. "NOT A RETREATING MAN." 349 Inside the Rebel army it was believed the Union troops were retiring, and there was a general con- fidence that within two days the Confederate troops would be in their old position at Orange Court House. General Gordon said to General Lee that he thought there was no doubt that General Grant was retreating. General Lee replied, "You are mistaken. I'm very sure you are. I knew Grant in Mexico, and can assure you that he is not a retreating man ! " About the same time President Lincoln said to a friend : — " The great thing about Grant is his cool j)er- sistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, and he has the grip of a bulldog. When he once gets his teeth in, nothing can shake him off ! " Afterwards, when all the particulars of the battle of The Wilderness were known, President Lincoln said that any previous commander of the Army of the Potomac would have retired across the Rapidan after such a battle. After dark on Saturday, May 7, there was a com- motion in the Union army. Tents were struck, folded, and thrown into the wagons, and the army was in motion. The query arose in every mind, "Where are we going now ? " The generals knew, but their orders were not con- 350 boys' life of general grant. fided to any one else. Spottsylvania Court House was the objective point; and if Grant could seize that point he would be between Lee and Richmond, and thus compel Lee to fight to regain and protect his communications. But Lee was as quick as Grant to see the importance of Spottsylvania ; he started earlier and got there first, as Sheridan with his cav- alry found out, and notified Grant when the latter was still three miles away from the coveted point. Of course there was a battle which lasted through the greater part of Sunday. The enemy was pressed back, but it could not be driven out of the posi- tion which it had selected. Monday was similarly emplo3^ed, and was important for the death of one of the best officers in the Army of the Potomac, General Sedgwick. The circumstances of his death were peculiar. He was sitting on horseback close to one of his brigades, where occasional bullets came from the enemy. Some of the men were inclined to duck their heads as the bullets whistled past; and the general observing it, said, — " Nonsense, men ! don't dodge. They couldn't hit an elephant as far off as that." As he spoke the last word of the sentence, a bullet passed through his head, and lie fell dead instantly. His corpse wore the same smile that was evoked grant's report. 351 by the semi-jocular remark with which his life ended. On Tuesday morning Meade's line was six miles long. There was hard fighting during intervals of the day, and many prisoners were captured. The enemy's line was unbroken ; and the positions of the opposing forces were practically unchanged, thougli whatever change took place was favorable to the Union side. To every question that was asked in regard to the possibility of getting to Richmond, Grant replied, — '' We are going there. There is no doubt about it!" And to emphasize his belief that he was going tlirough, 'Grant had with him siege-trains of heavy artillery, with the special purpose of besieging Rich- mond when he reached it. On the morning of Wednesday, May 11, Repre- sentative Washburne, who was with the army thus far, was about to leave for Washington. While wait- ing for his escort, he suggested to Grant that he had better send a note to Secretary Stanton to say how he was getting along. Grant stepped into his tent, and rapidly penned the following : — "We have now ended the sixth day of very, hard fighting. The result to this time is much in our favor. 352 boys' life of general grant. Our losses have been heavy, as \vell as those of the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. We have taken over five thousand prisoners m battle, while he has taken from us but few, except stragglers. / propose to fifjht it out on this line, if it takes all suninierJ^ This was the first official news that the Govern- ment received since the army crossed the Rapidan. It was immediately given to the press, and published all over the country. It was a great relief every- where, and was I'eceived with immense enthusiasm, especially the closing sentence, which speedily be- came '' familiar in the mouth as household W'Ords." END OF THE WILDEIINESS BATTLES. 353 CHAPTER XXIII. End of The "Wilderness battles. — A few days of rest. — Meade's congratu- latory order. — Hancock attacks, and is repulsed. — Another advance. — Sheridan's raid and its results. — Grant's army on the Painunkey. — Attack on Petersburg. — Headquarters at City Point. — Reinforce- -ments. — Grant and the negro sentinel. — Mr. Lincoln's experience. — Sheridan again. — Battles in the Shenandoah Valley. — Grant's cool- ness at an explosion. Wednesday and Thursday were days of hard fight- ing, the latter particularly so. The night between those two days was dark and stormy. Hancock took advantage of the weather, and massed his troops nearer the Rebel left. At daylight his men made a charge, taking the enemy by surprise, rushing into their breast- works, and capturing them at breakfast. They took over three thousand prisoners, including two generals. The next morning, Friday, May 13, it was found that the main body of the enemy had fallen back ; but the skirmishing continued all day, and once General Meade narrowly escaped capture. The Rebels came suddenly out of the forest, and nearly surrounded the house which he had taken for headquarters. An officer who was familiar with the ground hustled the general out by the back door, and he safely made his way to 354 boys' life of general grant. Grant's headquarters. When he reached there, General Grant, who had witnessed the performance, said with a laugh, — " What's the fuss at that house ? " " Oh, nothing," replied Meade, " but they came very near capturing the commander of the Army of the Potomac." For some days both armies remained quiet. Grant was receiving reinforcements, and so was Lee ; but there were few which the latter could receive. Each side was caring for its wounded, and burying its dead, supplying itself with ammunition and provisions of various kinds, and getting in readiness for another struggle for the possession of Richmond. Meade, on May 13, issued a congratulatory order to his troops, from which the following is an ex- tract : — "For eight days and nights, without almost any inter- mission, through rain and sunshine, you have been fighting a desperate foe, in positions naturally strong, and rendered doubly so by intrenchments. . . . Now he has abandoned the last intrenched position, so tenaciously held, suffering in all a loss of eighteen guns, twenty-two colors, and eight thousand prisoners, including two general officers. . . . Let us return thanks to God for the mercy shown us, and earnestly ask for its continuance. . . . The enemy must be pursued, and, if possible, overcome. . . . We shall soon receive reinforcements, which lie cannot expect." ANOTHER ADVANCE. 355 During these days of rest, Meade suggested that if Hancock's corps made an attack again on the right, it might brealv the Rebel line. Hancock made tlie attempt at daylight on the 18th of May, but was re- pulsed with a loss of twelve hundred men. There was no lack of bravery on either side ; the Rebels were in a strong position, and they defended it manfully and successfully. On the afternoon of the 19th, Swell's corps of Lee's army got around in the rear of the Union right. It made a vigorous assault, but was repulsed with a heavy loss. On the night of May 21, the National army pushed forward to the North Anna River, which they reached about forty hours later. General Lee expected Grant's movement, and had a strong force on the south bank of the stream. Grant succeeded in pushing his forces across the river, crossing on a bridge built by Warren's men from timber which they cut in a Rebel saw-mill. The Union forces captured a thousand prisoners, but the Rebels were too strongly posted to be driven out without severe loss. Consequently Grant's men retired to the north bank, and there was a lull in the fighting. Let us go back a little. On the 9th of May, General Grant ordered General Sheridan to make a raid in the rear of Lee's army, to cut off his communications, and "smash things" generally. There was never a better 356 boys' life of general grant. man in the world for the smashing business than Phil Sheridan. He obeyed orders both to the spirit and to the letter. He captured supply trains and depots, using all the provisions and forage that he wanted, and destroying the rest. He released four hundred Union prisoners who were on their way to Richmond, tore up miles and miles of railway, burned trains and disabled locomotives, went close up to the Rebel de- fenses of Richmond, and would have entered the forti- fications themselves and taken possession if he had had any infantry to hold them. At Yellow Tavern, six miles from Richmond, Sheri- dan defeated a Rebel cavalry division under General J. E. B. Stuart, and mortally wounded the general himself. The death of Stuart was a great loss to General Lee, as he was considered the ablest cavalry leader in the Confederacy. From Richmond, Sheridan went down the valley of the James, and communicated with General Butler, who supplied him with everything he needed. After resting his men and horses, he started back again ; and after destroying more railways and capturing more supplies, he joined the Army of the Potomac. He was gone just sixteen days ; and his operations in that time struck terror to the enemy, as it was the first occasion on which the cavalr}^ of the Army of the Potomac had caused them any serious trouble. LEE S ARMY FALLS BACK. 357 Oil the night of May 26, Grant withdrew from North Anna and advanced again, keeping on the flank of Lee's army, which was thus compelled to fall back. There was skirmishing between the two armies for the next three or four days, but no heavy fighting ; Lee's army falling back on most occasions when it was pressed. On the 31st of May headquarters were established at Cold Harbor, on the Pamunkey River, twelve miles from Richmond, and not far from the spot where the battle of Gaines's Mill was fought in 1862. Grant attacked Lee again to drive him south of the Chickahominy River; but Lee had firmly intrenched himself, and the attack was a failure. June 2 was a quiet day ; and on the 3d there was another attack along the entire line, in which the Union loss was heavy witiiout material advantage gained, while the Confederate losses were light. After this the army intrenched, and for some time there was comparatively little fighting. Grant established a new line of com- munications by way of the Pamunkey River, so that he had no further occasion to guard the overland line by way of Culpeper. After several days of inaction. Grant suddenly aston- ished Lee by starting the entire army with the ex- ception of Warren's corps across the Chickahominy River, and thence in the direction of the James River. 358 boys' life of general grant. Meade's objective point was Petersburg, about t\Yenty- two miles south of Richmond. Several railways con- verge at Petersburg, and the capture of that city by the Union troops would inevitably lead to the sur- render of Richmond in a very short time. Butler was ordered to co-operate with Meade ; and it was believed that a quick movement would find Petersburg lightly guarded, and easy of capture. Butler sent General W. F. Smith with orders to at- tack Petersburg immediately. Meade sent Hancock's corps forward to aid him in the work ; and as Hancock was unacquainted with the region he set aside all question of rank, and placed himself under tlie com- mand of Smith. Smith attacked the northern defenses at seven o'clock on the evening of the 15th of June ; he cap- tured a portion of the defenses, together with three hundred prisoners and sixteen cannon. It was a moon- light night ; and if he had known how slightly Pe- tersburg was guarded, he would have gone straight inside and taken possession. But the wily enemy was a match for him. When Meade moved across the Chickahominy, Lee thought an attack upon the north side of Richmond was in- tended, and he immediately withdrew into the defenses of the city. On the instant when he heard of Smith's attack on Petersburg, he set every railway train in REPULSE AT PETERSBURG. 359 motion, and utilized them in moving troops to Peters- burg. Smith waited until after breakfast on the morn- ing of the 16th before making his assault. Wlien he did so he found the fortifications fully manned, and was forced to retire after considerable loss. In the evening of the same day another attack di- rected by Grant in person was made upon Petersburg, but without any success. Similar attempts were made on the 17th and 18th of June, but to Grant's great disappointment each attack resulted in a repulse. It was not possible to take Petersburg by assault, and Grant was compelled to sit down for a regular siege. The Rebels strengthened their line between Richmond and Petersburg so as to protect the railwaj^ and they succeeded in holding it until just before the finul surrender. After the failure to capture Petersburg, Grant es- tablished his headquarters at City Point, at the junc- tion of the Appomattox and James Rivers. There was considerable figliting for a few days, the attacks being made by the Rebels, and invariably repulsed. Grant sent out two or three expeditions to destroy the railways that were bringing supplies to the Rebels ; one of them being successful, another partly so, while the third was a failure. After these events there was a lull in the fighting as if by mutual understanding. Each side held its own, and did not disturb the other except in the siege operations. 360 boys' life of general grant. City Point was made the base of supplies, and immense warehouses of supplies and magazines for ammunition were erected there. City Point continued to be the headquarters for nearly nine months ; but all that time the siege of Petersburg was pushed, and there was not much idleness among the troops. Re- inforcements were brouglit forward, and the shattered regiments were filled up ; the new recruits were drilled and disciplined for the coming campaign ; the .veterans had a chance to recover from tlieir fatigue ; the sick in the hospitals, if seriously so, were sent North, while those who promised to be soon available for duty were nursed back to health again by the gentle hands and the tender hearts of the members and employees of the Sanitary Commission. It was evident that for the future the Rebels in- tended, if possible, to fight nowliere but behind strong breastworks. Grant said that under such circum- stances the option lay between taking time for siege operations, or suffering immense loss by direct attacks upon the fortifications. In reply to a friend, he said one da}^, — ^' The Confederacy has put its last men in the field. They've robbed the cradle and the grave in the attempt to strengthen their armies ; boj^s and old men are guarding prisons and bridges all through the South, and every able-bodied man has been sent to the front. k WHAT LEE PROPOSED. 361 We are destroying Lee's army by attrition, and when it is destroyed there are no more men to be had to replace it. In a few months more it will have ceased to exist." In the hope of compelling Grant to withdraw his troops from Richmond, and use them for the defense of Washington, Lee detached General Early's corps, and sent it down the Shenandoah Valley and across the Potomac. Early entered Maryland, captured trains between Baltimore and Philadelphia, threatened Balti- more, and burned houses within a few miles of Wash- ington. If he had continued h'is march with a rush, he might have entered the capital, and occupied it for a few hours ; but he was fearful tliat if he did so his whole force might be captured. Grant detached one corps from his army, and sent it to Washington, and he also ordered another corps, that had just reached For- tress Monroe, to go in the same direction ; but he did not move his main force from City Point, nor stop operations for a moment in the siege of Petersburg. Therein he greatly disappointed Lee, who had hith- erto succeeded in drawing every attention to the Nat- ional capital whenever he sent his forces across the Potomac. Lee was always favorable to carrying the war into the North ; and he several times proposed, so General Longstreet said, to abandon Richmond to its fate, and while Grant was occupying that city, he 362 boys' life of general grant. would make a sudden move upon Washington and capture it. But Jefferson Davis would never consent to anything of the kind, claiming that whatever ad- vantage it might be for the Confederacy to be in 2:)Ossession of the National capital, it would be offset by the loss of its own. One day General Grant was strolling about among the warehouses at City Point with the inevitable cigar in his mouth, and his head bent a little as if he was in contemplation. Suddenly he was brought to a stand- still by a most emphatic '' Halt ! " from the mouth of a negro soldier who was on duty in front of a build- ing. Grant obeyed the order, and said, — ''What do you want?" " Throw away that cigar ! " commanded the sentinel. "Why?" " My orders are to let nobody go near that ware- house with a lighted cigar. Throw it away or turn around ! " Grant smiled for an instant, then threw away his cigar and passed on. Whether the soldier knew who it was that he had halted, we are unable to say, but the incident caused him to be promoted to a corporal. On another occasion the general was halted in the same way near a powder magazine. The sentry re- plied in answer to his question, that his orders were to let no one go past him. LINCOLN VISITS GRANT. 363 "But I'm an officer," the general explained. " I don't care whether you're an officer or not ! " retorted the soldier. "If you were General Grant himself, you couldn't go by here ! " Grant smiled as he had smiled on the previous occasion, and turned the other wa}^ The sentries around headquarters were ordered to be very strict about the admission of strangers. One day a tall, thin man approached General Grant's tent, and asked if the general was in. " Yes, he's in ; but you can't see him." " I think he will see me," said the stranger. "Well, he won't! " was the answer. "And you'll find out mighty soon ! " "Well, please take my name to him, and we'll see." "I'll take your name, but 'twon't do any good. What is it?" " Abraham Lincoln." The sentinel stood, so Mr. Lincoln said, at least half a minute before he entered the tent to announce the name of the visitor. He ascertained that the stranger was right when he said he thought the general would see him. The first thing that Mr. Lincoln did on getting inside the tent was to tell the story of his experience, and he laughed heartily during the nar- ration. When Grant first established his headquarters at 364 boys' life of general grant. City Point, the commander of a brigade stationed there Avished to do something that would please the general, and sent the brigade band to play in front of the head- quarters' tent Avhile the general and his staff were at dinner. Grant stood it without a word of comment until the third day, wdien, just as the music began, he remarked, — " I've noticed that that band begins its tumult just as I'm sitting down to dinner and want to talk. Will somebody order it to cease firing?" One of the staff-officers went to notify the band- master that the services of himself and followers were no longer desired. It took some time to make him comprehend, as he was a newly landed German ; but when he did understand he went away crestfallen. While the siege of Petersburg was going on, Sheri- dan Avas very active ; and he gave Lee, in the language of the West, "a heap o' trouble." He cut the railway lines west of Richmond, destroyed trains laden with supplies, and in other ways stirred things up so that Lee had to weaken his forces in Richmond and Peters- burg to take care of the very annoying cavalry leader. Sheridan had several encounters with the Rebel cavahy, and was almost invariably successful, so that in a few months the Rebels had very little cavalry left. Grant placed him in command of the forces which were watching General Early. Sheridan maneu- SHERIDAN AND EARLY. 365 vered in the Shenandoah Valley, and bided his time until he had Early "just where he wanted him." Early concentrated upon Sheridan's center with the ■ intention of cutting his army in two, and taking pos- session of a ridge in his rear. Sheridan allowed him to do it. With tremendous yelling the Rebels pushed through Sheridan's center, and found themselves in an ambuscade, with several brigades of infantry and a dozen batteries of artillery waiting for them. The men were mowed down like grass; entire regiments were captured, and what was left of the Confederate forces Avas speedily in rapid flight from the scene. Night brought an end to the fight; and it was lucky for Early that the night did not fail to come, as he would have been annihilated if daylight had lasted two hours longer. The next day Sheridan was after the Rebels again, and drove their broken and disorganized line through the gaps of the Blue Ridge. Some of the newspapers of that day said that Sheridan had been a printer in his younger days, and it was in the printing-office that he first learned to go to press Early. On the Sunday after the news of Sheridan's success had been published in the North, a titter ran through the congregation of a church in Boston, when, at the opening of the service, the clergyman gave out a hymn, and read the opening lines : — 366 boys' life of general grant. . "Early, my God, without delay, I haste to seek thy face." But in the language of ]\Iacbetli, Sheridan had "scotched the snake, not killed it." A month later Early went into the Shenandoah again, and Longstreet went to reinforce him. Sheridan had gone to Wash- ington for a consultation with tlie War Department, leaving General Wright in command. Just as he reached Washington, he received a dispatch from Wright, saying that the signal-officers had read on the Rebel signal flags a message from Longstreet to Early as follows : — "Be ready to move as soon as my forces join you, and we will crush Sheridan." Sheridan stayed only six hours in Washington, and then started back. He reached Winchester on the morning of October 19, and there learned that Gen- eral Wright's front had been attacked at daylight by Longstreet's troops, and there were no better in the entire Confederate army. They broke the line at once, captured the camp, and sent the Union troops in full retreat down the valley. Sheridan rode a large, powerful black liorse ; and when the news reached him. of the attack, he sprang upon his steed and started for the front, about twenty miles away, telling his escort of twenty cavalry men to Sheridan's ride. 367 keep up with liim if possible, but if not, to drop behind and turn tlieir attention to rallying the fleeing soldiers. Less than a mile out from Winchester he began to meet the demoralized fugitives. He swung his hat and shouted, without checking the speed of his horse : — " Face the other way, boys ! Right about face ! AVe're going back to camp ! We're going to lick them out of their boots ! " So it was througli all the length of that ride ; the soldiers had every confidence in their leader, and at his order they faced about and went as fast towards the front as they had been going towards the rear. Wright had established a new line ; and as Sheridan reached it, the soldiers gave him a loud shout of wel- come. Sheridan rode along the line, straightening it out, and getting it ready to resist the next advance of the enem3^ On came the Rebels, flushed with their success in the early hours of the battle. They dashed against the blue line which Sheridan had formed, but they did not go through. The enemy was checked, and not only checked, but driven back. An hour later Sheridan gave the order, " Forward! " Early endeavored to move around on Sheridan's flank, but he probably wished he had not done so. Sheridan ordered a charge against the opening in the angle, made his way through the enemy's line, and captured 368 boys' life of general grant. the entire flanking force. Then a general advance drove back the whole Rebel army, capturing all the guns that had been lost in the morning, taking thou- sands of prisoners, and Early's camp with all his sup- plies, artillery, and wagon-trains. Thus was defeat turned to victory ; a disorderly retreat into an orderly advance ; a lowering morning into a sunlit afternoon — all by the genius and enthu- siasm of one man. Was it any wonder that the heart of the loyal North was stirred to the wildest enthu- siasm when it heard of Sheridan's achievement? Was it any wonder that Grant caused a salute of a hundred guns to be fired by each of the armies in front of Rich- mond, or that President Lincoln promoted Sheridan to the major-generalship in the regular army which had been made vacant by the resignation of McClellan ? Early never advanced again in the valley of the Shenandoah ; it was not an agreeable region for him to travel in. Autumn came, and then the winter ; and the armies lay facing each other and continually skirmishing, but making no especially active moves. One day, as a boat laden with ammunition was dis- charging its cargo at City Point, a case fell to the ground and exploded. Almost instantly the entire cargo blew up. Many men were killed, and several steamers and also several warehouses with all their THE GREAT EXPLOSION. 369 contents were destroyed, the loss amounting to fully two millions of dollars. The explosion was heard for miles, and the ground was shaken as if by an earth- quake. General Grant was sitting in his tent at the time, reading a Richmond newspaper that had been brought in from the front ; and, of course, he was smoking a cigar. On hearing the explosion, he placed the paper on the table, took his cigar from his mouth, and stepped to the front of the tent. After surveying for a moment the scene of desolation, he returned to his camp-chair and newspaper, and resumed his smoking. Officers and men were running wildly in every direc- tion, hardly knowing what they were doing; but Grant was no more disturbed than he would have been had there been nothing more exciting than a summer shower. Grant obtained a position on the Weldon Road which cut off an important feeder of Lee's army. The Rebels made desperate attempts to regain it, but were never successful. 370 boys' life of general grant. CHAPTER XXIV. Forming negro regiments. — Anger of the Confederates. — How they treated some negro soldiers. — General Butler's retaliation. — General Lee's letter and Grant's answer. —Hood's campaign and the result. — Grant visits New York. — Sheridan's raid. — Last movement on Rich- mond. — Battles of Dinwiddle, Five Forks, and Appomattox. — Evac- uation of Richmond. — Lee's army in a trap. In the last years of the war, negro regiments were formed and put into the field. The Rebel authorities affected to look with holy horror upon any step to arm the negroes, and tln-eatened to kill any wlio fell into their hands. General Butler had several of these negro regiments in his command. He was endeavoring to shorten the course of the James River by cutting a canal across what was known as Dutch Gap, and set his neo-ro regfiments at the work. Some of these sol- diers were captured by the Confederates, who refused to treat them as regular prisoners of war, but put them at work on some fortifications which were under the fire of the Union guns. They probably thought they were very smart in so doing, but they reckoned without- their host. Butler had as prisoners some Rebel officers ; and he immedi- ately put them at work on fortifications Avhich were TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 371 under the fire of the Rebel guns, and he notified Gen- eral Lee that he would keep them there until the ne- groes were treated like prisoners of war. These officers represented the aristocracy of the South. The slave- owners of the Confederacy and Lee speedily saw that they must be relieved from their dangerous position. He immediately caused the negroes to be taken from the fortifications, and treated like white prisoners. Of course when General Butler was informed of this, he ordered a like treatment of the Confederates in his hands. Lee took occasion to write a long letter to Grant concerning tlie question of slavery and State rights, which Grant declined to answer, saying that he would have nothing to do with a discussion of the slavery question, ]us business being to obey his su- periors, and to end the war as soon as possible. As the winter dragged on, the siege of Richmond and Petersburg progressed slowly, and the other armies in various parts of tlie field were doing good work. Jefferson Davis removed General Joseph E. Johnston from the command of the Confederate army in the west, and put General J. B. Hood in his place. Hood was confronted by the Army of the Mississippi, which had steadily pressed south from Chattanooga, driving the Confederates before it. Immediately on taking command, Hood planned a campaign to the northward, intending to press forward to the Ohio River, and pos- 372 boys' life of general grant. sibly invade Ohio and Indiana. Hood left the whole south uncovered, and pressed northward, as it seems, to his destruction. In speaking of this movement General Grant says : — "If I had the power of commanding both armies, I should not have changed the orders under which he seemed to be acting." At Nashville, Hood encountered General Thomas ; and a battle lasting altogether for two days was the natural consequence. Hood went no farther North. He entered Tennessee with a magnificent army of 50,000 men, and retreated with less than half that number of men in a very demoralized condition. He lost 13,000 prisoners, 2,000 deserters, 72 pieces of artillery, and most of his wagon-train. In the battle, he lost 2,000 killed and wounded; and among the killed were six major-generals, and other officers in proportion. It was one of the most disastrous cam- paigns undertaken by any Confederate commander. During the winter General Grant visited Wash- ington several times ; and on one occasion he extended his journey to Philadelphia and New York, in both of which cities he received much attention. While in New York, he visited General Scott, whose biog- raphy had just been published. General Scott pre- sented him with a copy of the volume, after inscribing on the fly-leaf : — GRANT VISITS NEW YORK. 373 " From the oldest to the ablest general in the Avorld." As Grant thanked him for the present, which he said he would always cherish with high honor, General Scott remarked, — "That inscription is not entirely original with me. You may remember that after the Revolutionary War, Frederick the Great sent a sword to George Washington, on which was inscribed : — <' From the oldest general in the world to the greatest." On his return to City Point, General Grant was accompanied by his wife and one of the younger children; and they remained there until the surren- der of Lee's army. Down to that time, General Grant had lived in a tent; but during his absence a rude log cabin was erected, and in this he resided until he had no more occasion to live at City Point. The New Year opened with a continual hammer- ing away at Petersburg, and with raids by Sheridan's cavalry. Sheridan went from the Shenandoah to Lynchburg, destroying railways and canals in every direction, capturing the Rebel camp at Waynesboro, and narrowly missing General Early himself as a prisoner. He wandered about Virginia in an appar- ently aimless, but very destructive, way; bewilder- ing the Rebels, destroying more railways, bridges, and canals, and finally bringing up at Grant's army. 8<4 BOYS LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. One of his officers, Colonel Newhall, in writing about this campaign afterwards, said : — " By choosing this course, he voluntarily forsook his large department, and put himself in the field at the head of two cavalry divisions, headquarters in the saddle ; and, applying for a new situation, made no stipulations for himself, and no objection to going into the country." Sheridan's men and horses had a few days of rest; and then Grant issued general orders for a movement on the 29th of March. The following is an extract from his order to the various commanders : — " By these instructions a large part of the armies oper- ating against Richmond is left behind. The enemy, know- ing this, may, as an only chance, strip their lines to the merest skeleton, in the hope of advantage not being taken of it, whilst they hurl everything against the moving column, and return. It cannot be too strongly impressed upon commanders of troops left in the trenches not to allow this to occur without taking advantage of it. The very fact of the enemy coming out to attack, if he does so, might be regarded as most conclusive evidence of such a w^eakening of his lines. I would have it particularly enjoined upon corps commanders that, in case of attack from the enemy, those not attacked are not to wait for orders from the commanding officer of the army to which they belong ; but that they will move promptly, and notify the commander of their action. I would also enjoin the same action on the part of division commanders, when ORDERS TO SHERIDAN. 375 other parts of their corps are engaged. In like manner, I would ii'rge the importance of following up a repulse of the enemy." Before daylight on the 29th of March, Meade, Sher- idan, and Ord had broken camp, and were movino- forward. The President was at City Point, and break- fasted with General Grant. After breakfast he went with Grant and his staff to the train, and bade them good-by as they started for the front, eighteen miles away. This railway was constructed by Grant's orders for the facilities that it afforded for the pushing for- ward of supplies, siege-material, and troops, in the in- trenchments before Petersburg and Richmond. In the afternoon Sheridan with his cavalry reached Dinwiddle Court House. The wagon-train failed to come up, and the men and officers went to bed with- out supper. Soon after dark Sheridan received a note from Grant, which read as follows : — " Our line is now unbroken from the Appomattox to Dinwiddle. ... I now feel like ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before going back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the enemy's roads at present. In the morning push around the enemy, if you can, and get on to his right rear." It came on to rain during the night of the 29th, and rained all day on the 30th. The roads became 376 boys' life of general grant. so bad that the movement of the army was next to impossible. Sheridan advanced his line in the direc- tion of Five Forks, which he reached on the morning of the 31st. Here he encountered the Rebel cavalry, backed by a heavy column of infantry. Warren's corps came up to reinforce him : but they found the force in front of them too strong to contend with, and fell back to Dinwiddie Court House. He held his position there during that day, and made another move on the 1st of April. His plan for the battle, which took place on tlie afternoon of that day, was clearly outlined in liis official report : — "I determined that I Avould drive the enemy with cav- alry to Five Forks, press them inside their works, and make a feint to turn their right flank ; and meanwhile quietly move up the Fifth (Warren's) Corps, with a view to attacking their left flank, crush the whole force if possible, and drive westward those who might escape, thus isolating them from their army at Petersburg." Considerable time was spent in maneuvering for position ; and at four in the afternoon everything was ready. It was a hard fight, and a Union triumph. The Rebels were taken in front and rear, and more than five thousand of them piled their guns and sur- rendered. The rest were cut off from Lee's army, and scattered in every direction, principally to the PLANS TO CAPTURE LEE. ^ 377 westward. The victory gave the Union troops pos- session of the South-Side Railway, six miles north of Five Forks, and possession also of that important point, which derives its name from being the meeting- place of five wagon-roads. Only one railway, the Kichraond and Danville, remained to Lee; and if Grant could obtain possession of that, the surrender of Richmond would be inevitable. General Grant cared much less for the capture of Richmond than he did for the surrender of Lee's army. Of course the possession of the Rebel capital was a matter of great importance to all concerned; but the escape of Lee was to be prevented if possible. His army, by marching westward, could unite with Joe Johnston's ; and then the combined forces of these tAvo generals would seriously endanger the safety of the Army of the Mississippi, which was then confronting Johnston. Grant's plans included the surrender of Lee along with the capture of Richmond, and step by step he was carrying them out. At daybreak on the 2d of April there was a general assault along the Confederate line at Petersburg and Richmond by the Second, Sixth, Ninth, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-fifth Corps. Tlie fire of the enemy was destructive, and retarded the advance at several points, but could not stop it. The Sixth Corps carried the works in its front ; and one division (Seymour's) broke 378 boys' life of general grant. through to the South-Side Railway, and began to tear it up. The Twenty-fourth Corps was also successful, and so were the Second and Ninth. The Ninth had probably the hardest fighting of the day, in which it captured Fort Mahone, on the Jerusalem plank-road. The enemy tried to take it back, and was nearly suc- cessful, when the Sixth Corps came to the aid of the Ninth, and the dearly obtained position was saved. A Confederate brigade (Hariis's), which defended one of the forts, was two hundred and fifty strong at the beginning of the battle, and lost two hundred and twenty men before it was over. After the outer line was taken, and the troops were movino- on the inner line. General Grant with his staff took up a position on a little hill which overlooked the field of operations. The spot was within range of the enemy's guns, and the Rebels soon turned one of their batteries in the direction of the group of ofii- cers and cavalrymen. The general had dismounted and sat down under a tree, where he busied himself with reading dispatches that came to him every few minutes, and sending orders to the generals who were conducting operations. The fire became pretty hot ; and several of the staff, who feared the general might be killed, suggested to him that they had better change their position for one of greater safety. He paid no attention to any RICHMOND IK DANGER. 379 of their remarks, and evidently didn't observe the cannon-shot falling around him. When he got through with his dispatches, he stood up and looked . around ; then he mounted his horse, and started for another part of the field, remarking as he did so, — '' The fellows seem to have the range on us." Along nearly the whole line the outer defenses were entirely in the hands of the assailants; and, though Lee still held the city of Petersburg, he saw that his position was no longer tenable. Accordingly, at 10.30 A.M., he telegraphed as follo^ys to President Davis : — ^'My lines are broken in three places. Richmond must be evacuated this evening." Mr. Davis was in church when this dispatch was handed to him. He rose and walked out quietly, and the service went on as though nothing had happened. But there was a deathly silence over the whole con- gregation, and every one felt that something awful was about to happen. After the service Avas over the news spread rapidly ; and before noon everybody who cared to know was aware that Richmond was about to be occupied by the enemy. There was great excitement in the city all throu