TT HE WHITE Hoi 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
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 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
FROM THE TAN-YARD 
 TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
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FROM THE TAN-YARD 
 
 TO THE 
 
 WHITE HOUSE, 
 
 be Storij 0f IJresfocut Grant s fife, 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM M. THAYER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE" ETC., ETC. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION, COMPLETING TWENTY-SIXTH 
 
 THOUSAND. 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
 
 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXIX. 
 r^s Edition.} 
 
Entered at Stationers Hall. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tins Life of General Grant is designed to be 
 a companion volume, in the author s Series of 
 Presidents who have occupied the White House, 
 to the Life of Garfield " FROM LOG CABIN TO 
 WHITE HOUSE " of which more than two hundred 
 and fifty thousand copies have been sold. The 
 other volumes in the Series are " THE PIONEER 
 BOY, AND HOW HE BECAME PRESIDENT : The Story 
 of the Life of Abraham Lincoln and " GEORGE 
 WASHINGTON : His BOYHOOD AND MANHOOD." 
 
 The aim of this volume is like that of its pre 
 decessors, which was to show the elements of 
 character that made the subjects great. That a 
 man almost unknown to fame at thirty years of 
 age, struggling to support his family, and scarcely 
 succeeding in filling a clerkship at eight hundred 
 dollars a year in a country village, unassuming, 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 shy, and of supposed moderate abilities, should 
 prove himself to be the greatest general of modern 
 times, and, later, the wise statesman and foremost 
 man of his age, is stranger than fiction. For this 
 reason, many have pronounced his life an " acci 
 dent." Others have claimed that he was born 
 under a "lucky star." Not a few have regarded 
 him as a "child of destiny." But these pages 
 will prove conclusively to the reader, that the boy 
 Grant and the man Grant were as nearly related 
 as bud and fruit that the latter cannot be ac 
 counted for without the former is studied, and 
 that the former would have remained inexplicable 
 without the latter. Hence, incidents crowd these 
 pages to tell their story facts from the life of 
 one of the most real boys who ever lived, and 
 from one of the most real men the world has 
 known. There is no fiction here, no creation of 
 the fancy, no attempt at concealment, no extrava 
 gant eulogy ; but facts speak for themselves ; and 
 they tell the story of one of the most marvellous 
 lives on record, from earliest boyhood to ripe man 
 hood a fit companion for Washington, Lincoln, 
 and Garfield ! 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 The author, while availing himself of the infor 
 mation furnished by the numerous works on 
 General Grant s life and public services, has, in 
 addition, had access to fresh sources of know 
 ledge, including the assistance of an army officer, 
 who accompanied General Grant through his 
 remarkable campaigns in the West, for two and 
 a half years, to the fall of Vicksburg. 
 / The life of General Grant, as a whole, presents 
 one of the most unique and beautiful characters 
 for young and old to study. The hero was not 
 perfect. " Great men have great faults " ; Grant 
 had his. " Great men make great mistakes " ; 
 Grant was no exception. And yet, his CHARACTER 
 challenges universal admiration. Parents may 
 study it with profit, and hold it up for a model 
 to their children. Children may accept it, not as 
 the example of one too far above them for imita 
 tion, but of one who cultivated the common 
 place virtues of truthfulness, obedience, industry, 
 perseverance, self-reliance, honesty, loyalty, and 
 fidelity. The masses of people, men and women, 
 may find material in his life for their instruction. 
 He was born of common people, lived with them, 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 fought for them, presided over them, and never 
 rose above them in his heart. He was the same 
 in renown and power that he was in poverty and 
 obscurity, as modest and unassuming, as quiet, 
 amiable, self-forgetful, and simple in his habits. 
 
 We have adopted the title which this volume 
 bears, not only because it is appropriate, but, also, 
 that it may harmonize with the names of its com 
 panions. W. M. T. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 i. 
 
 BALLOTING FOR A NAME. 
 
 FAOB 
 
 Point Pleasant. Jesse Grant s Son. General Joy. Ten 
 Pounds and Three-quarters. The Young Couple Popular. 
 Naming the Baby. A Difficult Problem. Visit to 
 Grandpa Simpson s. A Scene. Discussing a Name. 
 Proposition to Ballot for it. Hannah s Perplexity. 
 Ulysses the Name Chosen. The Other Ballots, and 
 who Cast Them. Mrs. Simpson s Remark. The Grand 
 father s Disappointment. How Baptized. Only Child 
 Named by Ballot. Reason of the Singular Demonstra 
 tion. A New Country. Pioneers. James A. Garfield 
 Eight Years after Ulysses. Grant s Small Opportunities \ 
 
 II. 
 " CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." 
 
 Genealogy by Richard A. Wheeler. A Dialogue about his 
 Ancestry. Seventeen Ship-loads in 1630. "Honest 
 Matthew Grant." Religious People. Settled Near 
 Boston. Short of Food. Matthew s Wife Dies. He 
 Goes to Connecticut Valley. Influential Man. Fights 
 Schism in Church. Marries Again, and has Eight 
 Children. Matthew s Son Samuel. Samuel s Son 
 Samuel. Second Samuel s Son Noah. Noah s Son 
 Noah. Heroic Officers in Wars. The Military Noah 
 Removes to Pennsylvania. Two Years Later Removes 
 to Ohio. Jesse Grant Married. Ulysses Born. Indian 
 
 b 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Troubles. Jesse at Five Years of Age. Loyalty Here 
 ditary. Carrying Grist to Mill. In Trouble. Family 
 Broken Up. Home at Judge Tod s. Silver Spoons. 
 Learning Tanning Business. Setting up for Himself. 
 Marrying at Twenty-five. Courting in a Business Way. 
 Married. Speaker and Poet. Educated by Business. 
 CHIP LARGER THAN THE BLOCK . . .10 
 
 III. 
 
 HOME AND MOTHER. 
 
 A Scholar s Remark. John Adams Letter. Jesse Grant s 
 Estimate of His Wife. A Neighbour s Opinion. Key to 
 His Home Life. His Home More Attractive than Beer- 
 shop. Fired a Pistol at Two Years of Age. Difference 
 between Mr. and Mrs. Grant. Her Modesty and 
 Humility. Force of this Quality in the Family. An 
 Amusing Incident. What Ulysses Father said of His 
 Modesty. Riding a Pony when Two Years Old. Later 
 a Furious Pony Ride. No Element of Fear. His 
 Mother s View . . -. " . . . . " . 21 
 
 IV. 
 THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
 
 Beginning of School Days. Poor Schools and Teachers. 
 Slow, not Brilliant. The Difficult Lesson. His Nick 
 names. The Teacher s Rebuke and Advice. Talent and 
 Energy." Ulysses Grant." Excelled in Arithmetic. 
 The Declamation. His Canadian Cousin. Military 
 Ancestors. A Contest over Washington. The Reproof 
 of His Mother. His Father s Interference. The Phreno 
 logist and His Remark. Love of Games. Nice Sense of 
 Honour and Justice. The Broken Pane. Expert in Draw 
 ing Horses. Love of Horses Interferes with Studies. 
 Going to School in Kentucky. At School in Ripley. 
 Too Large to be Educated by Schools. Abraham Lincoln 
 too Large for any School Curriculum. True also of James 
 A. Garfield, True of U. S. Grant 29 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 V. 
 
 THE TANNER BOY. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Tanning Business. The Bark Mill. Process of Grinding 
 Described. Does Not Like the Tannery. Hauling Brush 
 with the Colt. Propriety of the Beast. The Pile of 
 Brush. His Father s Wonder. The Result. The 
 Drunken Journeyman and his Expulsion. Teaming at 
 Eight Years of Age. Taking Care of the Span. Driving 
 a Pair of Horses to Cincinnati. Meeting William Denni- 
 son, a Future Governor. Laying up Twenty Dollars. 
 Buying a Horse for Himself. His Father s Opinion. 
 Standing on his Colt to Ride. Best Rider and Trainer 
 of Horses at Ten. Truthful, Obedient, never Profane. 
 Buying a Horse for his Father. The Cheater Outwitted. 
 Made a Good Tanner. Tact, Push, and Principle . . 40 
 
 VI. 
 
 A NOTABLE TRIP. 
 
 Death of Mr. Marshall. Ulysses Goes to the Funeral. 
 The Trip and Steamer. Remains Three Weeks at 
 Deerfield. Return to Georgetown. Difficulties En 
 countered. Steamer Lady Byron. Mischief Planned 
 at Wheeling. Sorry for the Deed. Six Days on the 
 Return. A Good School. Building a New House. 
 Ulysses Drawing Materials. No Play. Teaching a 
 Horse to Pace. The Trick Exposed. The Last Horse 
 Trained. The Cholera Scare. Medicine Obtained. 
 Vanished before Juvenile Curiosity. Ulysses Froze his 
 Feet His Mother s Treatment. Self-reliance in the 
 Family. Its Excellent Discipline c;i 
 
 VII. 
 BUILDING THE JAIL. 
 
 Mr. G. Contracts to Build Jail. Ulysses 5 Proposition. Buy 
 ing a Horse. The Animal s Name. Men Hired. Work 
 Begun. Men Gone. His Trouble. New Way to Load 
 Logs. His Father s Surprise and Satisfaction. Giving 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 the Horse Credit. An Interruption. Ulysses Goes to 
 Kentucky for Deposition. The Letter. Runaway and 
 Captain. The Captain s Regard for the Boy. Arrives 
 Home. Ulysses Buys Another Colt. The Jail Finished. 
 The Wagon Sold. Trying his New Colt. Going to 
 Aberdeen. The Fracas. Sells his Colt on the Way. 
 Suspicion Aroused. The Compliment. His Return. 
 Poor Talker, but Good Listener. Learning of Visitors. 
 His Sharp Observation. Studied Men and not Books. 
 How it Helped to Make a Noble Man of Him . .61 
 
 VIII. 
 AT WEST POINT. 
 
 Desiring to Go Up Higher. His Decision, and His Father s 
 Acquiescence. Wanted an Education. The Wide Field 
 He Opened. What a " Mississippi Trader" Was. His 
 Father s Surprise. His Pecuniary Ability and Family. 
 Desire to Go to West Point. How it Came About. 
 Congressional Districts and Senators Nominate Cadets. 
 Mr. Grant s Letter and Reply. How a Vacancy was 
 Made. The Application. More Trouble About His 
 Name. Ulysses Receives the Appointment. Studies 
 Hard to Prepare. Preparing Outfit. News of His Ap 
 pointment Surprises People. Not understood by Paul 
 Devore. The Philadelphia Journalist. His Departure. 
 The Bailey Tears. The Gap. A Week in Philadelphia. 
 The Contingency Fund. Good Examination. West 
 Point, Where and What. Course of Study. Poor 
 Students. Discipline. Nicknames. Going Home. His 
 Progress. A Noble Record. His Fine Horsemanship. 
 A Popular Student. Application the Foundation of his 
 Military Success . . .. . .... .72 
 
 IX. 
 ON THE WAR PATH. 
 
 Graduated and Furlough. Jefferson Barracks. Size of Army. 
 Near City of St. Louis. The Dent Family. Falls in 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 FAGB 
 
 Love with Julia. Opposition of Mr. and Mrs. Dent. 
 Their Plea Against Betrothal. Furlough and Visit 
 Home. Ordered to Red River. Unjust War. The 
 Drunken Colonel. Grant Seeks and Finds Him in 
 Court. The Alibi. General Taylor Dismisses the 
 Drunken Colonel. Battle of Palo Alto. The Scene. 
 Battle of Resaca. Balls Falling Behind Them. Battle 
 of Monterey. Meeting an Old Georgetown Friend. 
 Letter to His Parents. Taking the Old Mill. Forty 
 Surrounded by One. Battle of Molino. Rapid Promo 
 tion of Grant. The Engagement at Chepultepec. Scal 
 ing Breastworks. Report of Major Lee. Praise of Grant. 
 In Less Than Twenty Years He Surrenders to Grant. 
 Promoted to Captain. A Wonderful Feat. The Wild . 
 Boar. In Every Battle. General Scott. Two Horse 
 Stories of Grant. The Readiest Carver. Noble Record . 86 
 
 X. 
 
 FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 
 
 Returns to His Home. Matrimonial Intentions. In the Dent 
 Family. Married August 22nd. Satisfied. Ordered to 
 Detroit. A Change. The First-Born. Dominoes at 
 Gore s. The Surprise. The False Estimate. His 
 Popularity. To Pacific Coast and Vancouver. Lonely. 
 Leaping the Battery. Resigns. Becomes a Farmer 
 and Builds Log House. Hauling Wood. Death of His 
 Mother-in- Law. Hon. H. T. Blow s Wood. The 
 Oyster-Man. Catching the Wood-Stealer. Goes into 
 Partnership with Boggs. Sells " Hardscrabble." Family 
 in St. Louis. The Rich Lady s Visit. His Business not 
 a Success. His Conclusion, Applies for Engineership. 
 Too Kind-Hearted. In Custom House. His Wife s 
 Support. His Exemplary Life. Removes to Galena. 
 In Leather Business. His Honesty. Kept Aloof from 
 People. Lincoln and Douglas Clubs. Becomes a Re 
 publican ........ . 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 XI. 
 
 CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Assault on the Flag, and Call for Troops. Scene in Galena. 
 Grant s Remark. Meeting of Citizens. Rawlins, the 
 Fighting Democrat. The Presiding Officer Weak. 
 Washburne s Patriotic Words. Applause. The Resolu 
 tions. The Speech of Rawlins. Effect on Grant. His 
 Decision. Meeting to Raise a Company. Grant Made 
 President. President of a Meeting at Hanover. His 
 Speech. Conversation on the Way Home. Grant Pre 
 dicts a Long War. Drills the Company, but Declines 
 to be Captain. Collins and Washburne. Washburne s 
 Interview. Takes Grant to Springfield. Disgusted with 
 Office-Seekers. Governor Yates Employs Him. Musters 
 in Regiments. Goes to Galena. His Modest Answer. 
 Applies to General McClellan. Appointed Colonel. His 
 Return. Yates Inquiring of Book-keeper. The Regi 
 ment a Mob. Grant s Appearance. How he Disciplined 
 Them. Popular. Visits Galena. Buys Outfit. Wash 
 burne s Opinion of Him. Marches Regiment Across the 
 Country, In for the War . . . . . , : . 114 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 
 
 His Command. Punishing Whiskey-Drinkers. How to 
 Serve a Boy. Asking Blessing at Table. Another 
 Balloting. A Surprised Brigadier. Making up his 
 Staff. Hillyer the Minute Man. Pilot Knob. Com 
 mands District of South-East Missouri. Grant at Cairo. 
 Battle of Belmont. Moves on Paducah. His First 
 Order. Dishonest Contractors Snubbed. Buell s 
 Opinion of Grant. Order to Respect Private Property. 
 Reduction of Fort Henry. Grant s Sagacity. Moves 
 on Fort Donelson. Terrible Battle. The Turning 
 Point. Scenes Described by Eye-Witness. The Negro. 
 The Surrender. Grant s Famous Reply. Interview 
 with Buckner. Scene at Nashville. Halleck s Order to 
 Send Back Fugitives Ignored. Buckner s Complaint. 
 
CONTENTS. xv 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Earning Promotion. Mrs. Grant s Opinion of his 
 Abilities . 129 
 
 XIII. 
 MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 
 
 Made Major-General. Stanton s Rebuke of Timid Officers. 
 Fresh Captures. The Enemy at Corinth 80,000. 
 Halleck s Bad Treatment of Grant. Absurd Charge of 
 Drunkenness. Marching on Corinth. Grant at Savan 
 nah. Firing Sunday Morning. Breakfast Left. Hurry 
 ing up River. Order to Wallace. Grant Rides to the 
 Front. Scene of Disaster. Sends Rowley to Grant. 
 Latter Still Hopeful. Shot and Shell Falling About 
 Him. Where Heaviest Firing Grant was. Buell s 
 Arrival. Fall of Rebel General Johnston. Dismay of 
 Rebel Army. Union Gunboats Fire. The Crisis. 
 Carson s Head Blown off. Council of War. Urges 
 Battle at Early Morn. The Army Victorious. Grant 
 Leading a Charge. The Enemy Driven. Beauregard s 
 Note. A Great Battle. False Charges Against Grant. 
 His Letter. His Thanks to the Army. Halleck s 
 Jealousy. Grant s Exemplary Conduct. Halleck s 
 Timidity. Grant s Impatience. Logan s Rebuke. 
 Halleck s Promotion. Grant s [Onward Movement. 
 More Military Skill. Phil Sheridan. Knocks Down a 
 Soldier . , , .146 
 
 XIV. 
 ON TO VICKSBURG. 
 
 Discipline of His Army. His Baggage a Tooth-Brush. A 
 Brilliant Affair. Sherman s Assault on Vicksburg. A 
 Gibraltar Indeed. Must Open the Mississippi. At 
 Young s Point. Defences of the City. Planning to 
 Attack Vicksburg. Grant Defending Sherman. The 
 First Canal. Second Canal. Other Failures. Council 
 of War. Taking the Risk Sherman s Visit to Thayer. 
 Keeping Halleck in the Dark. I shall take the City. 
 Grant Described. Letter of General Thayer. A Lady s 
 View of Grant. Sherman Opposed Grant s Plan. The 
 
xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 River-Men. Grierson s Wonderful Raid. The Army 
 Starts Around the Swamp. The Memorable Night. 
 Running Past the Batteries. The Exasperated Rebel. 
 Crossing the River. Newspaper Men Captured. Onward 
 with Little Baggage. Six Battles. Halleck s Telegram. 
 Grant s Promptness. Building the Bridge. The Union 
 Woman. Young Rebel Officer. Another Risk. Fred, 
 his Son. Rebel Manufacturer. Paying Tavern Bills. 
 What Member of Staff said. Major Penniman s View . 163 
 
 XV. 
 STEGE OF V1CKSBURG. 
 
 Investing the City. Two Assaults on Works. The Siege 
 Begun. Terrible Cannonading. Cave-Life in the City. 
 Short of Provisions and Powder. Grant s Way of Getting 
 Information. Conversation with a Rebel Picket. Grant s 
 Example to Scared Men. Capture of Letters between 
 Pemberton and Johnston. Another Rebel Army in the 
 Rear. Another Assault Planned. The White Flag 
 Raised. Pemberton Proposed to Surrender. Grant s 
 Reply. The Two Generals Meet. Grant s Letter after 
 Conference. Orders Sherman to Fall on Johnston s 
 Army. Grand Victory. Another Letter from Pemberton. 
 Surrender, July 4, 1863. Raising the Union Flag over 
 the City. Rudeness of Pemberton and Staff. The News 
 paper Issued and a Joke. Amount of Grant s Capture. 
 His Praise on every Lip. Even Halleck Praised. Letter 
 from Lincoln. His Modesty did not Surrender. Order 
 against Extortion. Drove out Speculators. Soldiers 
 Voting. Another Proof of Modesty. Views of Slavery. 
 Port Hudson. Hurt at New Orleans. Wife and Children 
 with him . > . " . ; i- . . 183 
 
 XVI. 
 GREATER THINGS YET. 
 
 Great Expectations. Editor of the Chronicle. Lincoln s great 
 Trouble. Critical Condition of Rosecrans and Burnside. 
 Taking Command of 200,000 Men. Supersedes Rose 
 crans. General Thomas, Brave. Arrival of Grant at 
 
CONTENTS. xvii 
 
 I AGB 
 
 Chattanooga. Rebels Strong Positions. Jeff. Davis 
 Exults. " Can t " not in Dictionary. Telegram to 
 Sherman. Telegram to Thomas. The Pontoon Bridge. 
 Grand Scene. Battle of Orchard Knoll. Of Lookout 
 Mountain. Of Missionary Ridge. Fearful Fighting. 
 Grant s Telegram. The Hot Pursuit. Deceit of Jeff. 
 Davis. Relief sent to Burnside. The Woman s Story. 
 The Skilful Plan Successful. Universal Rejoicing. 
 Resolution of Congress and Gold Medal. The Medal 
 Described. Lincoln s Noble Letter. Grant s Address to 
 his Army .......... 202 
 
 XVII. 
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 
 
 Destroying the Rebel Army. Letter to Halleck. How Army 
 Distributed. Results of Sherman s Raid. His Tour of 
 Inspection. Honouring Him at Lexington. Public 
 Dinner in St. Louis. The Serenade. Can t make a 
 Speech. At Washington. Made Lieutenant-General. 
 Lincoln s Inquiry. Grant and the Presidency. His Letter 
 about Becoming President. Halleck s Letter. Sum 
 moned to Washington. His Letter to Sherman. 
 Sherman s Letter to him. Ovation on way to Wash 
 ington. Scene at Dinner Table at Willard s. At the 
 President s Levee. Lincoln presents to him Commission 
 of Lieutenant-General. Grant s Reply. His Opposition 
 to a Ball. The Play of Hamlet, and Hamlet Not There. 
 The Driver couldn t Find Him. Appointed Commander 
 of all the Union Armies. His Return. Joy in Wash 
 ington. 214 
 
 XVIII. 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 
 
 A Tangled Skein of Affairs. Difference between Grant and 
 Halleck. Grant s View and " Balky Team." Not a Book- 
 made General. Remark of Sherman. Greater Responsi 
 bility on him than ever Mortal bore. Order out of 
 Confusion. His Common-Sense Plan. Mrs. Grant s 
 View. Making Rawlins a Brigadier. March to Rich- 
 
xviii CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 mond Begins. The Enemy Encountered. Battle of the 
 Wilderness. Second Day s Battle. Battle at Spottsyl- 
 vania. Death of Sedgwick. Rumours in Washington. 
 Dana s Midnight Trip. A Rebel Bribed. Lincoln s 
 Address to the Country. Bloody Battle on loth. Grant s 
 Famous Report to Stanton. " Bull-dog Grip." Battle 
 on 1 2th. Capture of Rebel Generals. Eighth Day of 
 Battle. His Plan to take Richmond formed at Vicksburg. 
 The Stranger s Suggestions. Sheridan s Splendid Raid. 
 Cold Harbour Battle. On to Petersburg , . . 273 
 
 XIX. 
 FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 Telegram to Halleck. Confident of Success. Bombardment 
 of Petersburg. Description by an Eye-witness. Resolved 
 on a Siege. Army of Discontents in his Rear. Letter 
 to Quiet Them. Grumblers Still at Work. Early s Raid 
 on the North. General Scott s Letter. His Gift to Grant. 
 Death of McPherson. Grant s Sorrow. Letter from 
 McPherson s Grandmother. Grant s Touching Reply. 
 Honest Tears. The Faithful Sentinel and Cigar. 
 Triumphs of his Best Generals. Getting Ready for Final 
 Campaign. Confederacy on its Last Legs. His Team 
 Well in Hand. Lincoln s Cheering Letter. Final Order. 
 Striking the Last Blows. Lincoln at the Front. Three 
 Days Fight. The Auspicious Sunday. Jeff. Davis called 
 out of Church. Prepares to Escape. Fearful Scene in 
 Richmond. Iron-clads Blown Up, and City Set on Fire. 
 Not a "Retreating Man." Davis Fleeing. Negroes 
 Jubilant. Lincoln Goes into the City. Grant Pursues 
 Lee. Race to Danville. Grant s Letter to Sherman. 
 Lee Cornered, no Escape. Grant Demands Surrender. 
 Vain Attempt to Break Union Lines. Lee s Letter to 
 Grant the Day Before. Grant s Reply. Lee Decides to 
 Capitulate. Grant s Answer. The Terms of Surrender 
 Arranged at Appomattox. A Singular Fact. Terms of 
 Surrender. Grant s Clemency. Laying Down Rebel 
 Arms. Grant s Rebel Cousin. Remarks of Conquered 
 Men ... . 240 
 
CONTENTS. xi x 
 
 xx. 
 
 THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Great Rejoicing over Fall of Richmond. Greater Joy Still 
 over Lee s Surrender. Grant in Washington. Meeting 
 of Cabinet on I4th. Grant Left at Night. Lincoln 
 Assassinated. Providence Saved Grant. Grant s Hasty 
 Return. Severely Criticised for Lenity. Treatment of 
 his Enemies Noble. Number of Prisoners. Grand 
 Review at Washington. Nothing Like it Before. 
 Grant s Final Address to Army. Reception at Fifth 
 Avenue Hotel. Great Fair in Chicago. " Old Jack " 
 there. Rides " Jack" through Streets. Welcome to 
 Union Hall. Grant s Speech. Sherman s Speech. 
 Grant s Humour and an Amusing Incident. Relics Sold 
 at Chicago Fair. Grant s Tour to New England. Wel 
 come Home at Galena. The Scene. Arches and Mottoes. 
 Removes to Washington. More Honours . . . 259 
 
 XXI. 
 
 BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Grant s View of Military Rule. Disagrees with Johnson.- 
 Declines to go to Mexico. Sherman and Grant. 
 Favoured Negro Suffrage. Advice to Southerners. 
 Supports Stanton and Sheridan against the President. 
 Grant Becomes Secretary of War. Order to Remove 
 Sheridan Denounced. Removing Civil Officers. Makes 
 Great Improvements in War Department. Resigns. 
 Lenient Terms towards the South Necessary to Peace. 
 Opposes the Arrest of Lee for Treason. Testimony 
 before Committee. His Views Prevailed. No Painting 
 of Surrender in Capitol. Tender and Kind. What 
 General Badeau Says. Report of his Southern Tour. 
 Visits New York Again. Large Gift. Left-hand Writing. 
 What Facts Prove. Absence of Jealousies a Sign 
 of Greatness. More Magnanimity. Two Great Souls 
 Conferring. His Praise of Sheridan. General Badeau s 
 Estimate. Same Traits through Life. Stamped Out 
 Army. Like Moltke 
 
xx CONTENTS. 
 
 XXII. 
 AT THE TOP. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Room at the Top. Eighteen Chances in a Hundred Years. 
 Objected to Being President. Letter of John A. Andrew. 
 Carried Every Vote in Republican Convention. En 
 thusiasm Manifested. Grant s Letter of Acceptance. 
 Another Communication. "Let us have Peace." 
 Opposed Measures for Party Success. His Situation 
 Difficult. His Inauguration and Cabinet. Changes in 
 Cabinet. Johnson an Obstacle. From His First 
 Message. His Indian Policy. The Church and not 
 State to Manage Them. Opposing Republicans. 
 Annexation of Santo Domingo. His Civil Service 
 Reform Opposed. Indian Policy Opposed. His Plan of 
 Appointments. The Electoral Commission a Political 
 Shiloh. His Study to Do Right. Examples. Party 
 Against Him. Renominated by Acclamation. A Third 
 Term. Generous to a Fault. Philosophy of His Success. 
 Further Testimony of Creswell. Eulogy of General 
 Devens . . 286 
 
 XXIII. 
 IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 
 
 A Foreign Tour Contemplated. Sixteen Years of Service. 
 Departure Amid Honours. England Decided to Receive 
 Him as a Sovereign. The Voyage. Deputation from 
 Ireland. Enthusiastic Reception at Liverpool. Recep 
 tion and Speech at Manchester. Lunch and Toasts. 
 Speech of Bright. At Bedford. Arrival in London. 
 Ceremony of Presenting the Freedom of the City. 
 Speech of Lord Mayor, and Grant s Reply. Lunch, and 
 Another Speech. A Third Speech. Splendid Fireworks. 
 Banquet by Trinity College. Reception by the Queen 
 at Windsor Castle. The Working-men s Deputation, and 
 Grant s Speech. Other Banquets. His Opinion of 
 Racing. Worshipping in Westminster Abbey. Honours 
 Multiply. Reception at Liverpool, and His Humorous 
 Speech. Adieu r : * 37 
 
CONTENTS. xxi 
 
 XXIV. 
 ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Off for Ostend. Incidents that Show Grant. Going to the 
 Roman Camp. Reception at Geneva. Laying Corner 
 stone of a Church. Lunch, and Grant s Speech. Over 
 the Simplon Pass. Napoleon s Engineering. Grand 
 Scenery. The Descent, and "Gorge of Gonda." 
 Another Reception. Returns to Scotland. Freedom of 
 Edinburgh Tendered. Grant s Speech. His Views of 
 Hand-shaking. Freedom of the City of Glasgow. 
 Ovation on the Town Moor of Newcastle. Description 
 of the Scene in the Chronicle. Laying Another Corner 
 stone. Reception at Birmingham, and His Speech. 
 " Grantism." Goes to France. Reception by President 
 MacMahon. Other Receptions. Views Published in the 
 Figaro About Grant. Editors Talk with Him. Banquet 
 by Americans in Paris. Also by Mrs. Mackay. Also by 
 a Banker. Off on the Steamer Vandalia . . . 320 
 
 XXV. 
 TO THE ORIENT. 
 
 At Naples. Going up Vesuvius. Outgeneraled. Return. 
 At Pompeii. The Guard and Sheridan. Opening a 
 House for Grant. Excavating Beefsteak at Palermo. 
 Christmas Dinner on Board. Description by Young. 
 To the Orient. Reception at Alexandria. Reception by 
 the Pasha. Dinner with Vice-Consul. Stanley, the 
 African Traveller. Going to Cairo. Reception There. 
 His Old Acquaintances Found. Grant s Praise of Stone. 
 The Yankee Doodle Pony. Goes up the Nile. 
 Reception at Siout. Visits Thebes. Ruins. Recep 
 tion at Thebes. The Relic Manufacturer. Statues of 
 Memnon. Whipping Girls. Grandest Ruin in the 
 World. At Keneh. Inside Life of the People. At 
 Assouan. Buying Ostrich Feathers. The Result. 
 Letter to Grant from General Gordon. Goes to See 
 Him. Return to Cairo. Goes to Joppa. Looking up a 
 Tannery. Reception at Jerusalem. Visiting Sacred 
 Places. Goes to Nazareth. Damascus. Constantinople 331 
 
xxii CONTENTS. 
 
 XXVI. 
 FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Sultan of Turkey. Gives a Pair of Fine Horses to Grant. 
 Description of Them. Goes to Athens. What He 
 Saw. On to Rome. Marvellous Sights. A Good 
 Custom There. On to Venice. Reception There. 
 Milan and Its Cathedral. Vinci s Great Painting. 
 At the World s Exhibition in Paris. Goes to Holland. 
 Visits Berlin. Meeting with Bismarck. The alutations. 
 The Conversation. About Sheridan. About the 
 Emperor. Grant s Words About War. About the Union 
 and Slavery. To Hamburg. A Grand Dinner and Fine 
 Speech by Grant. From Hamburg to St. Petersburg. 
 Visits the Emperor. Great Sights. -Yacht Excursions. 
 To Warsaw and Vienna. Public Library at Munich. 
 Napoleon at Ulm. Letter from King Altbnzo , , . 342 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 FROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 
 
 King Alfonzo s Welcome. Grant s Reply. Reference to the 
 Death of the Queen. Castellar Thanked by Grant. 
 Palace and Picture Gallery at Madrid. The Escurial 
 Palace. Banquet in Lisbon. The Boston Lady. In 
 Seville. Cadiz. Gibraltar. Welcome and Speech of 
 Grant. Starts for Ireland. Banquet at Pau. Welcome 
 and Noble Speech at Dublin. At His Daughter s. 
 Ready to Visit India. Welcome at Bombay. At Agra, 
 Visits the Taj. Honours at Jeypoor. Visit to Lucknow 
 and Benares. A Cow Attacks Mrs. Grant. Degrees 
 Conferred. In Burmah. Invitation from King of Siam. 
 His Welcome. Another King. Finally the Real King 
 and Grant s Bust. George Washington. Royal Dinner. 
 Grant s Speech. Grand Temples. Reception at 
 Canton. The Green Chair. Reception at Shanghai. 
 At Pekin Rides in Emperor s Chair. Address from 
 English University. Grant s Reply. Talks with the 
 Prince and Viceroy. His Great Good to China. 
 Confidence of the People in Him 353 
 
CONTENTS. xxiii 
 
 XXVIII. 
 JAPAN AND HOME. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 Visit to the " Great Wall of China." Grant s Estimate of the 
 Labour. Welcome to Nagasaki. March to Head 
 quarters. A Dinner of Twenty Courses. Reception at 
 Tokio. Highest Honour. Emperor s Address. Grant s 
 Reply. Address to Mrs. Grant. Fourth of July. 
 Address of Mr. Bingham. Breakfast and Review. Great 
 Good Done to Japan. An Earthquake. Taking Leave 
 of the Emperor. Grant s Address. The Emperor s 
 Reply. Farewell Honours. Reception at San Francisco. 
 Costly Decorations. At Palace Hotel. Honour by 
 Chinese. Honours at Oakland. Five Thousand School 
 Children. Twenty Thousand Children Greet Him in 
 San Francisco. At Sacramento. Taking His Leave. 
 Reception at Chicago. At Philadelphia. Magnificent 
 Display. Feted for a Week. Many Speeches Omitted. 
 Goes to see his Mother 362 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 
 
 A Busy Civilian. Interest in Public Questions. Mexico. 
 Resides in New York. Poor. A Large Fund Raised for 
 Him. His Friends put him Forward for a Third Term. 
 A Special Partner with Grant and Ward. Borrows 
 One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars for Ward. 
 Ward s Arrest. Effect on Grant. Universal Sympathy. 
 Arrest of Fish. Turned to Literary Work. Mighty 
 Will Power. No Parallel to It. News that he must 
 Die. A Nation in Sorrow. Crowds of Inquirers Before 
 His House. Visit of George W. Childs. On the Retired 
 List. Mrs. Grant s Words. Thought to be Dying. His 
 Condition Explained. General Grant Dying. Great 
 Sympathy. Scene at Second Attack. Mrs. Sartoris at 
 His Bedside. Obeying Orders. Blessing His Grand 
 child. Mrs. Grant s Grief. Dr. Newman sent for. 
 Views of Doctors. Another Interview with Dr. Newman. 
 Eight Hundred Letters of Sympathy. The Old Man 
 
xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 Praying for Him. His Birthday Celebrated. His 
 Condition . . . . . . , , . . 371 
 
 XXX. 
 
 HIS LAST JOURNEY. 
 
 Removal to Mount McGregor. Slight Improvement. Sym 
 pathetic Messages. United Prayer for Grant. Visit of 
 Mexican Editors. Returning Exhaustion. Peaceful End. 
 Proclamation of the President. Messages of Condo 
 lence from British Royal Family. From Japan, etc. 
 Dr. Tiffany s Reminiscences. Funeral Arrangements. 
 Dr. Newman s Sermon. Funeral Procession. Arrival 
 at New York. Floral Tributes. Route to the Tomb. 
 Mourners. Site of Tomb. Prayer by Chaplain Wright. 
 Words of Old Comrades. Rest ! 385 
 
I. 
 
 BALLOTING FOR A NAME. 
 
 THERE was joy in the little frontier town of Point 
 Pleasant, Clermont Co., O., on the twenty-seventh day 
 of April, 1822. It was a new, quiet settlement of 
 pioneers on the banks of the Ohio, making for them 
 selves and their posterity a home in the wilderness. A 
 new-comer to such a settlement was an event of great 
 interest ; hence the smile of satisfaction that wreathed 
 the faces of the people on the day mentioned, for there 
 was a fresh arrival, "direct from Heaven," as many a 
 mother loved to express it a pledge that the young 
 inhabitant had come to stay an increase of one to the 
 population of the town. 
 
 " Jesse Grant has a boy ! " 
 
 The announcement spread from lip to lip and family 
 to family, until the whole community were rejoicing, 
 men, women, and children, over the arrival. James 
 Monroe was President of the United States at that time, 
 and had he put in an appearance on that day, instead of 
 Jesse Grant s son, the general satisfaction would have 
 been less, because he would have come to see and not to 
 dwell, and because there was not a habitation in the 
 township suitable for the reception of a President. His 
 coming would have created more fluster, but less joy. 
 On the other hand, the surroundings were well adapted 
 to the reception of Jesse Grant s boy. While a famous 
 
 B 
 
2 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WhTTE HOUSE. 
 
 visitor from Washington would have annoyed them, 
 this one from the skies only made them glad. 
 
 " Weighs ten pounds and three-quarters ! " 
 
 This important intelligence followed the first an 
 nouncement, and was carried over the town until the 
 weight of the baby was as well understood as his verit 
 able existence. 
 
 "A bouncing fellow; weighs ten pounds and three- 
 quarters ! " 
 
 If it was repeated once, it was a hundred times, by 
 the inhabitants of the town, together with other bits 
 of information concerning mother and child, all per 
 fectly natural in a pioneer settlement, and proving as 
 well the high estimate put upon the young parents by 
 an honest community. 
 
 Jesse R. Grant and Hannah, his wife, were much 
 beloved by the citizens of Point Pleasant. Seldom do 
 a young couple establish themselves so quickly in the 
 confidence and affections of a people. Intelligent, enter 
 prising, industrious, and virtuous, they were a valuable 
 accession to the little community. Here was still 
 another good reason for the prevailing interest in young- 
 Grant s prosperity. 
 
 The child was but a few days old when the subject 
 of naming him came to the front. Whether the fond 
 young parents could not find a name good enough for 
 so promising a boy, tradition saith not ; but the fact 
 remains, that at the end of six weeks he was nameless. 
 
 " What is his name ? " was the repeated inquiry made 
 by callers. 
 
 " Have you named him yet ? " 
 
 The inquiries were repeated until they became well- 
 nigh annoying. 
 
 "Good enough without a name," kindly suggested 
 
BALLOTING FOR A NAME. 3 
 
 one old lady ; " but suit yourselves, and don t hurry ; 
 he won t use a name yet awhile." Her advice was 
 comforting to the perplexed couple, who had come 
 squarely up to this difficult problem of their married 
 life. Indeed, they had courted, made a match, married, 
 established a home, and made themselves valued citizens 
 of Point Pleasant without the least trouble ; but now, 
 for six weeks, they had been wrestling with the serious 
 difficulty of naming their first-born. 
 
 " We will decide upon a name when we go to father s," 
 suggested Hannah to Jesse. " Pa will help us." 
 
 " May be," answered Jesse ; " and may be that we 
 shall be still more unsettled by multiplying counsellors." 
 
 Nevertheless, the subject was held in abeyance until 
 they visited Mrs. Grant s parents, a short time there 
 after. Her parents lived ten miles distant, to which 
 place they came from Pennsylvania only two years 
 before, bringing Hannah with them, who became Jesse 
 Grant s wife one year later ; evidently a plan of Provi 
 dence for the special accommodation of Jesse. 
 
 It was a great day in the Simpson family, when they 
 welcomed their first and only grandchild to their humble 
 abode. To be breveted " Grandpa " and " Grandma," 
 by the hearing of the ear, was sufficient promotion to 
 gratify their ambition for the time being ; but to set 
 their eyes upon the bright-eyed cause of all their 
 honours filled their cup of joy to the brim, and over 
 flowed it. 
 
 There were present, in addition to Grandfather and 
 Grandmother Simpson, and the parents of the child, 
 two sisters of Mrs. Simpson, aunts whom Hannah 
 dearly loved six in all, well-to-do, worthy, honoured 
 people. 
 
 " What s his name ? " inquired the elder aunt. 
 
4 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Baby," answered his mother, while Jesse smiled that 
 the old inquiry of his neighbours at home should be the 
 first one there. 
 
 " Not named him yet ? " responded the other aunt 
 with considerable surprise. 
 
 " Not yet," replied Hannah. " Perhaps we can get 
 him a name here, to-day." 
 
 " Names enough, if that is what you want," remarked 
 Grandfather Simpson. " Leave it to me, and I will fit 
 one to him before dinner." 
 
 Thus, very naturally and quickly, the conversation 
 drifted to naming the boy. One thought that an 
 honoured ancestry should be remembered, and a name 
 be selected from the long line of noble ancestors, so 
 well known. Another preferred the name of some 
 distinguished man living. Still another advocated a 
 fancy name, and so on. The names suggested were 
 more numerous than the debaters, and the prospect of 
 getting a name for the child seemed more dubious, for 
 a time, than it ever did at Point Pleasant. 
 
 " Let us ballot for a name," suggested Grandfather 
 Simpson. 
 
 " And the name on the most ballots be chosen ? " 
 inquired Jesse. 
 
 " Yes, that, or the first name drawn out of the hat be 
 adopted." 
 
 " I like that," remarked Grandmother Simpson. 
 " Each one write the name of his or her choice on a 
 slip, and drop them into a hat, shake up the ballots, 
 and the first name drawn out shall be the child s 
 name." 
 
 " If all agree to that," continued Mr. Simpson, " the 
 child can have a name before dinner, as I said before." 
 
 Hannah, the doting young mother, hesitated for a 
 
BALLOTING FOR A NAME. 5 
 
 moment. She did not know exactly about giving her 
 blessed boy a name by ballot. The method was not 
 quite civilized. But, after considerable discussion, it 
 became evident that the baby would return to Point 
 Pleasant as he came, nameless, unless there was an 
 appeal to the ballot. Under these circumstances, Han 
 nah consented ; and the company resolved themselves 
 into a sort of legislative body, for effective business. 
 Pen, paper, ink, and Grandfather Simpson s hat were 
 provided, when the balloting commenced, and was soon 
 ended. The eldest aunt was appointed, by general 
 agreement, to shake the hat, and draw therefrom the 
 ballot that would determine the child s name for ever. 
 The interest culminated at this point ; and the company 
 waited, with bated breath, the result. Lo ! the ballot 
 which she drew bore the name Ulysses, written in a 
 bold, plain hand. All could see it. It was the hand 
 writing of the child s father. The child was irrevocably 
 named, and dinner was not quite ready. Grandfather 
 Simpson looked disappointed, but remarks were not in 
 order. The agreement was a fair one, and there was 
 no appeal from the ballot. He only suggested that the 
 other ballots be exam ined, which suggestion was adopted 
 with the following result : 
 
 HIRAM i 
 
 ALBERT 2 
 
 THEODORE i 
 
 ULYSSES 2 
 
 Grandfather Simpson cast the ballot for Hiram, from 
 respect to an honoured ancestor. He had urged his 
 claim for that before the vote was cast. The maiden 
 
6 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 aunt, who made a plea for a fancy name, voted Theo 
 dore ; it was a charming name to her. Hannah and 
 the other maiden aunt cast the ballots for Albert ; and it 
 came about in this way : There was a very distinguished 
 public man then living, by the name of Albert Gallatin, 
 known throughout the country, and especially popular 
 in the West. At that time (1822) he was resident Min 
 ister of our Government at Paris, It was quite natural 
 for those who desired the child should bear a great man s 
 name to vote Albert. He must have been a very re 
 markable man, if he did what political history claims, 
 that he did. For, in his fifty years of public service, he 
 declined a seat in two Cabinets and the Vice-Presidency 
 of the United States. Hannah showed her wisdom in 
 desiring to name her boy after such a rare man ! 
 
 Jesse and Grandmother Simpson cast the two ballots 
 for Ulysses ; and the reason for it was rather romantic. 
 Not long after Jesse and Hannah were married, a neigh 
 bour came into possession of a copy of Fenelon s " Tele- 
 machus." Books were very scarce at that time in the 
 settlement, and they were lent to the readers of the 
 town. Jesse borrowed " Telemachus " and read it with 
 the deepest interest. He was captivated by the charac 
 ter of the great Ulysses. Grandma Simpson was visit 
 ing the newly-wedded pair at the time, and she read the 
 book. She, too, admired the character of Ulysses. 
 From the day his boy arrived at Point Pleasant, Jesse 
 had not ceased to urge the name of Ulysses. No other 
 name compared with it in his estimation. So that when 
 the ballot was taken, he and his mother-in-law voted 
 for Ulysses as a matter of course. 
 
 " Well, Jesse," said Grandmother Simpson, "your boy 
 will carry something home with him that he didn t 
 bring." 
 
BALLOTING FOR A NAME. 7 
 
 " A name ! " answered Jesse ; " and my favourite 
 one, too." 
 
 " And all are pretty well satisfied, I think," added 
 Mrs. Simpson. 
 
 If she could have looked into her husband s heart 
 just then, that remark would not have been made ; for 
 Grandfather Simpson was greatly disappointed, though 
 he spoke not a word of complaint ; but his silence was 
 of that peculiar quality that speaks. The reader will 
 be thoroughly convinced of this when we state the 
 important fact, that when the child was christened,, 
 subsequently, it was with the name, Hiram Ulysses 
 Grant; positive proof of his strong desire concerning the 
 name ! So that the doings of the grand council of rela 
 tives was partially upset by one of the best grandfathers 
 who ever lived ; not the only legislative action that has 
 been nullified by secret personal influence. 
 
 We risk little in claiming that our hero is the only 
 American who was ever named by ballot. In this he 
 was a marked character from the outset. 
 
 The reason of so much excitement over the naming 
 of a child is not quite clear to the author, for a baby 
 was not a novelty in the Grant family at that time. 
 We have carefully traced the genealogical record away 
 back to the original ancestor," Honest Matthew Grant," 
 who set his feet on Nantasket Beach on the thirtieth 
 day of May, 1630, ten years after the Pilgrim Fathers 
 landed at Plymouth Rock ; and we have found that the 
 ancestral tree has yielded large crops of humanity. 
 Grant families averaged anywhere from six to thirteen 
 children each, so that a baby was never a novelty in 
 that particular branch of the human family ; and yet, 
 more remarkable demonstration was never made over 
 a child than was made over Ulysses. There are not 
 
8 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 wanting those who behold in the fact the forecasting of 
 future events ; they call it " destiny." 
 
 This chapter would not be complete without some 
 notice of the inheritance to which Ulysses was intro 
 duced at birth. That event occurred sixty-three years 
 ago, when the nation was in its infancy. Ohio was then 
 a new State on the frontier, comparatively a wilderness, 
 so far away that Home Missionaries had not been sent 
 thither. Two years before, the Home Missionary enter 
 prise originated in Massachusetts, and one or more 
 missionaries crossed the borders of New England into 
 New York, to labour among the scattered pioneers. 
 The whole population of the United States was less 
 at that time than it now numbers west of the Mississippi 
 River. Boston contained less than forty-five thousand 
 inhabitants ; New York less than one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand ; Cincinnati was a bustling trading- 
 post of less than ten thousand people, while Cleveland 
 was a collection of log-huts, inferior frame-houses 
 and stores, accommodating a population of about six 
 hundred. 
 
 Only two years before the subject of our narrative 
 was born, Abram Garfield, father of our late lamented 
 President Garfield, being seized with the " Ohio fever," 
 emigrated from New York to that portion of the " Far 
 West " ; a young man of twenty years. He was married 
 to Eliza Ballou fourteen months before Ulysses was born, 
 and settled in what is now a part of Cleveland, living in 
 a log-house, with three-legged stools for chairs, and 
 greased paper for "stained windows." A .few years 
 later, Garfield removed his family into the wilderness, 
 fifteen miles away, where he built a log-cabin on fifty 
 acres of land, which he purchased for two dollars an 
 acre. His nearest neighbour was seven miles away 
 
BALLOTING FOR A NAME. 9 
 
 Here our late President Garfield was born, eight years 
 and eight months after the birth of Ulysses at Point 
 Pleasant. 
 
 Our purpose in rehearsing these facts is to remind the 
 reader that the subject of our volume was born at a time 
 when, in that portion of our country, opportunities were 
 few and small. True, the birthplace of U. S. Grant was 
 somewhat more advanced than that of James A. Garfield, 
 although it was in the same State. He was not born 
 in a log-cabin, nor far away from neighbours, nor where 
 schools were unknown ; .^or was he born to an inherit 
 ance of poverty, for his father, through his industry and 
 frugal habits, was well-to-do for that time and place. 
 And yet, after a careful memorandum of the advantages 
 which his boyhood shared, we are compelled to admit 
 that his opportunities for social and intellectual improve 
 ment were small. Born in a frame-house of inferior 
 appearance, as will be seen by the accompanying picture, 
 taught in a log school-house by inferior teachers, associ 
 ating with friends and neighbours of little culture, and 
 whose inexorable condition of life was " work or starve, 
 his early years were not especially flattered by hopes 
 and promises. 
 
II. 
 
 " CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." 
 
 TWENTY years ago, more or less, Richard A. Wheeler, 
 of Stonington, Conn., denied the usual claim set up, that 
 Ulysses S. Grant was of Scotch descent. 
 
 " Not a word of truth in it. He descended from the 
 most Puritan of Puritan stock," said Wheeler. 
 
 " His biographers ought to have found it out," sug 
 gested the friend addressed. " I supposed that there 
 was no question about his ancestry." 
 
 "There has not been, because no one has taken 
 the pains to investigate until I attempted it recently/ 
 answered Wheeler. " I was not a little surprised my 
 self by the clearness of the Puritan, instead of the 
 Scotch, claim." 
 
 " How about the ancient Scottish Clan, whose chosen 
 motto was, Stand fast, stand firm, stand sure ?" in 
 quired his friend. " That fits pretty well, any way." 
 
 " Very true ; and that is all there is to it. Because 
 the motto would be appropriate on Grant s shield, 
 biographers catch at the story of the Scottish Clan, 
 and proclaim that his veins run with the best Scotch 
 blood. I have nothing to say against Scotch blood, 
 the blood is good enough, capital blood for a man to 
 hold ; but I tell you that it is not the blood to which 
 our great American General is indebted." 
 
 " Possibly not," responded his friend ; " but I should 
 
"CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." n 
 
 like to hear what proof there is of your position. It is 
 admitted, as I supposed, that little is known of General 
 Grant s foreign ancestry, and that what little is known, 
 points to Scotch origin." 
 
 " Well," continued Mr. Wheeler, " give me your ear 
 for a short time, and I will tell you what I know about 
 it. The year 1630 was distinguished for the large num 
 ber of emigrants to this country. The fame of the New 
 England Colony awakened a wide-spread interest 
 among the English people, and, during the year men 
 tioned, seventeen ship-loads of families, with their 
 horses, cattle, and furniture, were brought hither. One 
 of these ships, the Mary and John, which sailed from 
 Plymouth, England, on the twentieth day of March, 
 brought one hundred and forty passengers, and a more 
 interesting company never trod a ship s deck ; for 
 nearly all of them were young, married couples and young 
 bachelors. Among the number was Matthew Grant, 
 married of course ; for the Grants always marry early 
 and well. They landed at Nantasket, though Captain 
 Squibs agreed to take them to Boston. The result was 
 that the passengers, under the leadership of Matthew 
 Grant, brought a suit against the captain, and recovered 
 damages for the violation of his agreement. Thus did 
 the original Grant set his face like a flint against in 
 justice and duplicity. 
 
 " This ship-load of colonists were thoroughly religious, 
 according to the record, and found solid comfort, during 
 their long voyage, in their Christian worship. One 
 Roger Clap kept a diary on the way, in which he said : 
 So we came, by the good hand of God, through the 
 deep, comfortably, having preaching and expounding the 
 Word of God every day for ten weeks together by our 
 ministers! 
 
12 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Matthew Grant and his fellow-passengers settled at 
 Matapan, about four miles from the present city hall,- 
 Boston. Subsequently they changed the name to 
 Dorchester, in memory of a town by that name in 
 their own native County of Dorsetshire. Here they 
 suffered for want of food. Roger Clap said, in his 
 diary, The place is 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 could ask 
 for better?" 
 
 " Matthew Grant s wife, Priscilla, died when they had 
 been four years in this country, leaving four children. 
 The year after her death (1635), Matthew, and about 
 half of the colony, removed to the Connecticut Valley, 
 between Hartford and Springfield, settling where the 
 town of Windsor now is. Here they were more ex 
 posed to depredations by Indians, but the land was 
 more fertile. 
 
 " Honest Matthew Grant/ as he was called, became 
 the chief spirit in the rich Valley of the Connecticut. 
 He was surveyor, town clerk, and recorder ; and he 
 filled various other positions of honour and trust, from 
 time to time. A schism arose in the church, after a 
 few years, about an old minister who came with the 
 colonists from Dorchester. The younger members of 
 the community thought he was too old and rigid to be 
 their spiritual adviser, so they withdrew, organized a 
 new parish, and called a younger minister. Matthew 
 Grant opposed the malcontents from the start, and he 
 refused, as clerk of the church, to enter their doings 
 upon the records. The malcontents insisted that the 
 record should be made ; but Matthew stood by his guns, 
 
" CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." 13 
 
 in Grant style; refused to budge an inch, and denounced 
 their enterprise as the outcome of the growing impiety 
 of the times. Finally, however, the record was made, 
 but not by the unconquerable Matthew Grant. 
 
 "Ten years after the death of Mrs. Priscilla Grant, 
 her husband married Mrs. Susannah Rockwell, a widow 
 with eight children. He was forty-four, and she was 
 forty -three. Mr. Grant loved children, and some 
 thought that the children attracted him fully as much 
 as the charms of their widowed mother. At any rate, 
 he seemed to be perfectly happy when, in his new-made 
 home, with his excellent wife, he found that the two 
 broods together numbered twelve. He outlived his 
 second wife fifteen years, and died at eighty years of 
 age, in the family of his youngest son, John. 
 
 " Matthew s son Samuel left eight children when he 
 died, the eldest of whom was named Samuel, after him. 
 The last Samuel left nine children, at death, the eldest 
 of whom was Noah, who, in turn, had a son born July 
 1 2th, 1718, whom he named Noah; and this last Noah, 
 with his brother, Solomon, proved themselves heroic 
 soldiers in the French and Indian War of 1755, and both 
 were officers ; and both were killed in battle in 1756. 
 
 " The military Noah, just mentioned, had a son, 
 Noah, who was born June 23rd, 1748, and became an 
 officer in the American Army, in the war for Inde 
 pendence, and fought in the battle of Lexington. His 
 wife died while he was in the army ; and, at the close of 
 the Revolution, he returned to his home in Connecticut, 
 where he sincerely and deeply mourned the loss of his 
 wife. Under the depression caused by his great afflic 
 tion, he resolved to remove to Pennsylvania, where he 
 settled in 1790, in Westmoreland County, near Greens- 
 burg. 
 
14 FROM THE TAN -YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Two years after, he married Widow Rachel Kelley, 
 by whom he had seven children, the fourth of whom 
 was Jesse Root Grant, the future father of Ulysses S. 
 Grant. When Jesse was five years of age, his father 
 removed to Ohio, where Jesse was married, in course of 
 time., as we have seen, and Ulysses was born. 
 
 " There you have briefly," added Mr. Wheeler, " the 
 genealogy of the Grant family, traced back two hundred 
 and fifty years ; intelligence, honesty, industry, morality, 
 and religion, prominent in all the generations ; and not 
 a few illustrious names on its roll of honour. Gov. 
 Samuel Huntington of Ohio belonged to this family ; 
 also, Congressman Delano, Representative from Ohio ; 
 and Gen. Don Carlos Buell. What say you to it ? " 
 
 " Well, I don t see but you have made out your case/ 
 replied his friend ; " and there is not much Scotch about 
 it, either. Our General does not need any Scotch 
 blood ; that is plain enough." 
 
 Noah Grant, the grandfather of Ulysses, inherited 
 the intelligence, tact, and virtues of his ancestors, and 
 not a little of their bravery. When he first made him 
 self a home in Ohio, the Indians were troublesome. 
 One of his neighbour s sons had an altercation with 
 White Eyes, and shot him ; and this aggravated their 
 troubles. Noah Grant saw at once that, henceforth, 
 peace was impossible unless the Indians were driven 
 from that section, and he proposed a campaign against 
 them. The proposition was popular with the inhabit 
 ants ; and uniting their forces, the Indians were driven 
 out. From that time, their most serious troubles were 
 removed. 
 
 Jesse, the father of Ulysses, was not excelled by his 
 ancestors in mental ability and tact for business. He 
 was singularly practical in his views and methods, up- 
 
"CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." 15 
 
 right in all transactions with his fellows, and devotedly 
 pious. He and his wife belonged to the Methodist 
 Church, in which their example and influence were a 
 tower of strength. Their home was thoroughly religious, 
 and their parental lessons sound and elevating. 
 
 When Jesse was five years old, he saw his mother 
 in tears one day, and his child-heart was touched. 
 Running up to her, he called out, 
 
 " Mamma, what you crying for ? " 
 
 " General Washington is dead," she replied, with tears 
 streaming down her cheeks. The tidings of his death 
 had just reached the family. 
 
 " Was he any relation of yours ? " inquired the 
 youngster, evidently thinking that it was not worth 
 while to cry over dead men, except they were relatives. 
 
 Had he been mature enough to understand, Jesse 
 would have accepted the honest grief of his mother as 
 proof of that patriotism and loyalty which had come 
 down from former generations of the Grant family, 
 "The mother s milk had been the milk of liberty." 
 
 He was but six years of age when he began to carry 
 the grist to mill on the back of the old family horse. 
 One day, on his return, he fell asleep, as the moderate 
 beast walked along lazily, and fell from the back of the 
 animal, bag and all. The fall awoke him suddenly to 
 comprehend the novelty of his situation. He was too 
 small to reload the meal, or to mount the horse himself. 
 Should he leave the meal, and lead the old horse home, 
 the hogs, running at large in every direction, would 
 devour it before his father could return for it. What 
 could he do ? His fertile brain soon found an expedient. 
 He saw a half-fallen tree near by, forming an inclined 
 plane with its stump, on which the butt rested six or 
 eight feet high. Drawing the bag of meal to the foot of 
 
1 6 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the plane, and pulling it across the trunk, he gradually 
 worked it up higher and higher, until he could push it 
 off upon the horse s back ; then he dropped himself 
 upon the bag and drove home. 
 
 Jesse was ten years old when the Western Reserve 
 was thrown open for settlement, and thither his father 
 removed, settling in Portage County, near the present 
 town of Deerfield. One year later his mother died, and 
 the family was broken up. Jesse went to live in the 
 family of Judge George Tod, of the Supreme Court, 
 twenty-five miles distant. Judge Tod was wealthy, for 
 that day and place, and lived in much style. Jesse 
 looked with wonder upon the shining spoons and dishes, 
 and finally ventured to ask the son, David, 
 
 "What are these spoons made of?" 
 
 " Silver." 
 
 "What are the bowls made of?" 
 
 "China." 
 
 "What did they cost?" 
 
 " I don t know ; I ll go and ask mother." 
 
 The little fellow soon returned with the message, 
 
 " She says that you will have to be very rich before 
 you can own them, for the set cost eighteen dollars ! " 
 
 " I don t care how much they cost. When I am a man 
 I will own some just as good as them," answered Jesse. 
 
 This little David Tod became Governor of Ohio when 
 Jesse s son, Ulysses, was leading the Union Army to 
 victory over the late Rebellion. 
 
 At sixteen years of age, Jesse left Judge Tod s to 
 learn the tanning business ; and at twenty-one years of 
 age, set up the business in his own name, at Deerfield 
 In four years he laid up fifteen hundred dollars, and 
 was worth vastly more than that in the confidence and 
 affections of the people. 
 
" CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." 17 
 
 Several years before, he promised himself to get 
 married at twenty-five, and he never broke a promise to 
 himself any more than he did to another. So, on the 
 morning of his twenty-fifth birthday, he awoke early, 
 and said to his bed-fellow, 
 
 " I have always promised myself a wife at twenty-five 
 and to-day I am twenty-five ; but where to look for one 
 is more than I can tell. But I am going to make a 
 beginning to-day, anyhow." 
 
 " Not much of a job to find a wife, especially for you, 
 Jess," replied his chum. " Enough girls who will jump 
 at a chance to marry you? 
 
 " Do you really believe that ? " responded Jesse. 
 
 " Of course I do I know it." 
 
 The conversation proceeded on this line, while Jesse 
 was arraying himself in his best suit, thereby showing 
 that he meant business. Having completed his toilet 
 he sallied forth to inspect the tan-yard, and see that 
 everything was right before breakfast. He boarded at 
 the tavern ; and when he responded to the call for 
 breakfast, his landlady observed that he had on his 
 Sunday clothes, and she said, 
 
 " What s to be done to-day, Jesse ? " 
 
 " Find a wife, if I can," replied Jesse, with the most 
 serious air. 
 
 " Where are you going to find her ? Not out of town, 
 I hope," continued the landlady, scarcely thinking that 
 the young tanner was in earnest. 
 
 "The Lord only knows, I don t; except I shall be 
 under the necessity of going where there are girls," 
 answered Jesse. " I am twenty-five years old to-day, 
 and I always said that I would get married at twenty- 
 five, and I will." 
 
 " Well, if you didn t keep your word, you wouldn t be 
 
 c 
 
1 3 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Jesse Root Grant," added the landlady, in a compli 
 mentary way. " I don t think you will meet with much 
 trouble in rinding a wife, unless you are a difficult young 
 man to please." 
 
 Jesse satisfied her that he was serious in his inten 
 tions ; and so she gave him some good advice, accom 
 panied with words of encouragement, such as her 
 motherly instincts suggested. 
 
 To make a long story short, we must say that Jesse 
 had thought of a young lady in the neighbourhood, on 
 whom he first called ; but, before he had time to make 
 known the object of his visit, she volunteered a recom 
 mendation of her cousin, in the next house ; adding, 
 " She will make you a capital wife, Mr. Grant" The 
 result was that an engagement was entered into with 
 Prudence Hall, which engagement was subsequently 
 broken by her, reminding Jesse of what his landlady 
 said "Marry for love, Jesse/ So far, it had been a 
 matter of business with him, and he did not get on 
 remarkably well. 
 
 But he persevered, the Grants were famous for per 
 severance, and Jesse was not a whit behind his illustrious 
 predecessors in that reliable quality. Failure only stim 
 ulated his determination to succeed. He said that he 
 would get married, and he would. It was this important 
 element of character which he transmitted to his first 
 born son ; who, forty years thereafter, declared, " I will 
 fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." 
 
 But the battle was more than half fought then. He 
 was nearer success than he thought he was. The slip 
 which Prudence Hall gave him, proved an introduction 
 to Hannah Simpson, whom he won and "married for 
 love." 
 
 Jesse Grant could turn his hand to almost anything. 
 
CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK." 19 
 
 In addition to tanning, he ran a slaughter-house, did 
 something at teaming, and occasionally erected a build 
 ing for other parties. Clear-headed and practical, his 
 judgment and counsel were often sought. Possessing 
 sharp observation, knowledge acquired by contact with 
 men, and a benevolent spirit, he became a leading man 
 in the community; and later, was elected the first 
 mayor of the city. He was a ready, forcible speaker in 
 town-meeting, and on other public occasions ; and often 
 wrote both prose and poetry for the Castigator a paper 
 published at the shire-town of the County. At one 
 time, a " backwoodsman," who was out of money and 
 shoes, addressed a letter to him in rhyme, through the 
 Castigator. The letter began : 
 
 "Jesse R. Grant, my loving friend, 
 I cannot go ; and therefore send 
 This little letter, and less news, 
 To let you know I m out of shoes," etc. 
 
 Through the same paper, Mr. Grant replied in rhyme r 
 as follows : 
 
 " Backwoodsman, sir, my aged friend, 
 These lines in answer back I send, 
 To thank you for your rhyming letter, 
 Published in The Castigator. 
 The story of your worn-out shoes 
 Is, to a tanner, no strange news ; 
 We often hear that story told, 
 By those whose feet are pinched with cold 
 When they apply to get some leather, 
 To guard against the frosty weather. 
 That cash is scarce, they oft complain 
 And wish to pay their bills in grain. 
 Others who wish to be supplied, 
 Will promise soon to bring a hide. 
 
 " Such pay by us is greatly prized, 
 But is not always realized. 
 
20 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Now, one thing here I must relate, 
 
 As written in the Book of Fate : 
 
 As you ve grown old, you have grown poor, 
 
 As poets oft have done before. 
 
 And yet, no one of common, sense 
 
 Will charge that fault to your expense ; 
 
 Or, otherwise, disprove the weight, 
 
 Than charge it to a poet s fate. 
 
 " Dame Fate with me, though, need not flirt, 
 For I m not poet enough to hurt ! 
 The world, \ is said, owes all a living : 
 What can t be bought, then, must be given. 
 And though I have not much to spare, 
 I can, at least, supply a pair 
 Or leather for a pair of shoes, 
 That you may sally forth for news. 
 And when another pair you want, 
 Just drop a note to 
 
 J. R. GRANT." 
 
 He was educated by business, and not by schools. 
 -He studied men and things, and learned something 
 from them every day. Common sense, which is the 
 most uncommon kind of sense, was conspicuous in his 
 plans and work ; and this quality kept constant com 
 pany with decision and principle. 
 
 As Ulysses advanced to youth and early manhood, 
 it became evident that he had inherited the noblest 
 qualities of his father. Though not precocious, nor 
 very remarkable, except in certain lines, his ways often 
 reminded others of his father. Frequently the remark 
 was heard, l( A chip of the old block " ; and this was a 
 just estimate of the son, with tnis difference, as the 
 sequel will show, 
 
 THE CHIP WAS LARGER THAN THE BLOCK. 
 
III. 
 
 HOME AND MOTHER. 
 
 AN eminent scholar once said, "Good professors can 
 make good scholars, but good mothers only can make 
 good men." 
 
 John Adams wrote to his wife, after an interview 
 with George Washington, " In reading history, you will 
 generally observe, when you light upon a great cha 
 racter, whether a general, a statesman, or a philosopher, 
 some female about him, either in the character of a 
 mother, wife, or sister, who has knowledge and ambition 
 above the ordinary level of women, and that much of 
 his eminence is owing to her precepts, example, or 
 instigation, in some shape or other." 
 
 Jesse Root Grant wrote of his wife (mother of 
 Ulysses), " Her steadiness, firmness, and strength of 
 character, have been the stay of the family through 
 life." And a neighbour, with the best opportunities 
 to observe and judge, said of her, " She was a very 
 remarkable woman, modest and unassuming, amiable 
 almost to a fault, kind and benevolent towards all, for 
 getful of herself, and a sincere Christian. She was 
 always pleasant in her family, never cross or irritable, 
 and laboured to make her home attractive to her hus 
 band and children. She would not have a rod in the 
 house, but governed her household by love. She once 
 said to me, 
 
22 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Mothers make a great mistake in using the rod so 
 much ; there is no need of it. If a son or daughter can 
 not be controlled by love, I am quite sure they cannot 
 be by the rod. 
 
 " But would you never use the rod ? I asked. 
 
 " I never have used it/ she replied. I do not say 
 that circumstances may never arise to make its use 
 necessary ; but so far I have not been placed in such 
 circumstances. 
 
 " If you had some children to manage, you would 
 find your theory lame/ I added ; but your children are 
 naturally obedient. 
 
 " No child is naturally obedient/ she instantly replied; 
 * all children want to have their own way ; and that is 
 just as true of my children as it is of other folk s chil 
 dren. But I try to make them feel that their mother 
 seeks their highest good in all that she does ; and I 
 know that I can accomplish this better by appealing to 
 their hearts in love, than I can by stern authority. 
 
 "Certainly," continued the neighbour, "her method 
 worked well in her own family, and a more harmonious, 
 happy home I never knew. The Grant children would 
 do anything for their mother ; and her boys were never 
 seen racing about the streets in the evening; they seemed 
 glad to be at home." 
 
 This is very important testimony, and furnishes the 
 key to the home-life of Ulysses. The mother makes the 
 home. There is no real home without a good mother. 
 She is its sun ; and children, like planets, revolve around 
 her. No matter how good and true the father is, the 
 mother gives the moulding character to home. That 
 was certainly true of Ulysses home. Nor does what 
 we have said respecting the qualities inherited from his 
 father and grandfather detract in the least from this 
 
HOME AND MOTHER. 23 
 
 claim for maternal influence. Some of his best qualities 
 were inherited from his mother, and those inherited 
 from his father were more or less directed by her home 
 influence. 
 
 Mrs. Grant realized that Georgetown was a hard place, 
 and therefore a bad school for boys. There was much 
 drinking, and consequent revelry and vice there. There 
 was more or less gambling, also, together with the many 
 temptations that usually follow in the wake of dram 
 shops and other places of vicious resort. She knew that 
 some boys in the place had fallen victims to prevailing 
 vices ; and her sensible plan was to make home more 
 potent to control her sons than the street or bar-room. 
 In this she was entirely successful. Her boys were at 
 home when many others were on the street and in the 
 beer-shops. They were at home, where both example 
 and precept enforced temperance, honesty, purity, and 
 religion. Their home was more than a match for the 
 liquor-shops and gaming-clubs of the village. But for 
 this power of the home, the Union Army might not 
 have found a successful general to lead it on to victory. 
 
 When Ulysses was two years old, his father was on 
 the street with him on the morning of some gala-day. 
 The son of a neighbour came along, a boy of twelve or 
 thirteen years, with a pistol in his hand. Seeing Ulysses, 
 he stopped and said, 
 
 " Hullo, Lyss, you here ? Want to see my pistol ? " 
 And he proceeded to exhibit the pistol, and to explain 
 to the child in petticoats how it would explode and make 
 a loud noise. 
 
 " Wouldn t you like to fire it off, Lyss ? " he con 
 tinued. The child signified that it would afford him 
 great pleasure ; and so, turning to Mr. Grant, he 
 pleaded, 
 
24 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Let Lyss fire it" 
 
 After a little parleying, Mr. Grant put the child s 
 forefinger around the trigger, and told him to pull ; 
 when, lo ! the pistol banged away, startling some of the 
 bystanders, but not startling Ulysses in the least. Most 
 children would have been terrified by the report, but 
 the only effect upon Ulysses was to extort a shout of 
 delight. 
 
 " Fick it again ! Fick it again ! " the child pleaded. 
 The pistol was loaded again, and again Ulysses fired it, 
 shouting with increased delight over its stunning report, 
 one of the lookers-on remarking, as he saw the coolness 
 of the child, 
 
 " He will make a general." 
 
 Mr. Grant was very much impressed by this scene; and 
 the incident may be used to illustrate a difference between 
 himself and wife. He was proud of his children, and 
 often spoke of Ulysses precocity ; but Mrs. Grant never 
 did. No one ever heard a word of this kind drop from 
 her lips. She abhorred self-praise ; and, next to that, 
 was praise of her own children. Even when Ulysses 
 commanded the Union Army, and victory had finally 
 perched upon his banner, she would blush when he was 
 highly praised in her presence. The journals which she 
 read, teemed with praises of the conqueror ; and nearly 
 every man and woman with whom she conversed was 
 equally emphatic in their expressions of admiration ; but 
 she could not get used to the praise of her son. No doubt 
 that, in her heart of hearts, there was real joy over his 
 success ; she was human, and such must have been the 
 fact. But her modesty and humility exerted such con 
 trolling power over her life as to prevent all external 
 demonstration of such internal pleasure. 
 
 We can scarcely estimate the force of this quality 
 
HOME AND MOTHER. 25 
 
 exerted upon a family, year in and year out, through 
 wedded life. Here is where the great modesty of the 
 son, Ulysses S. Grant, originated. Who ever saw him 
 indicate, by word or deed, that he had accomplished 
 great things? When his grateful country laid its proudest 
 honours at his feet, and when other nations vied with 
 each other to swell his fame, who ever saw the least 
 gleam of pride in his eye ? When the Government 
 feted him, at the close of the war, in Washington, he 
 suppressed his personal distaste, and submitted from a 
 sense of duty ; but when the ovation ceased, he could 
 not withhold the exclamation, " lam tired of this show 
 business . 
 
 Little, however, as Mrs. Grant was interested in the 
 pistol-firing, she was very much amused soon afterwards 
 by the following incident : Ulysses was taken suddenly- 
 sick, and was so ill that the physician was called. 
 Usually, Mrs. Grant doctored her own children, and was 
 very successful in her treatment ; but Ulysses case now 
 demanded the physician. Dr. Bailey came, examined 
 the patient, and prescribed. 
 
 " I will leave some powders for him to-night," said the 
 doctor, after having administered a dose. 
 
 At this announcement, Ulysses burst out crying. 
 
 " What is the matter, my child ? " said his mother, 
 with some surprise, for her two-year-old was not given 
 to crying. 
 
 " I don t want to take powder ; twill blow me up." 
 
 Sick as he was, the child was obliged to hear con 
 siderable laughter at his own expense, while his mother 
 comforted him by saying, 
 
 " Dr. Bailey never carries the kind of powder that 
 blows up people." 
 
 Ulysses recovered, not only from his sickness, but also 
 
26 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 from the fear of being " blown up ; by powder ; for, 
 from that time, and all through the war, he never 
 appeared to think that powder put his life in jeopardy. 
 
 It was genuine modesty, and not bashfulness, as his 
 father said, In response to an inquiry in 1863, his father 
 wrote : " When a child, and all the way up to the 
 present time, he has been extremely modest and un 
 assuming. Some called it bashfulness, but that was not 
 the proper name ; for those who knew him best said, that 
 if he were required to meet a company of crowned heads 
 from Europe, male or female, he would approach them 
 with as much ease and confer with them as free from 
 embarrassment as he would meet his playmates in the 
 streets." 
 
 A circus came to town when Ulysses was about two 
 years old, and his father took him, with his family, to 
 witness the performance. Mr. Grant said, " Ulysses had 
 a passion for horses almost from the time he could go 
 alone," and it came out visibly on this occasion. The 
 little fellow became intensely excited over the feats of 
 horses and men, and when a beautiful pony appeared 
 upon the course, and a boy rode him gracefully around 
 the circle, he became almost wild with enthusiasm. He 
 stretched out his little hands and pleaded for a ride. 
 He could not take No for an answer, denial would break 
 his heart, so he was held upon the tiny beast, and rode 
 several times around the course, to his inexpressible 
 delight. 
 
 Several years afterward, when he had become dis 
 tinguished in town as a boy-rider, he was present at 
 another circus, when a pony was introduced upon the 
 course. 
 
 " Will some boy step forward and ride the pony ? " 
 inquired the manager, who had already exhibited the 
 
HOME AND MOTHER. 27 
 
 feats of a monkey on his back, the monkey being at last 
 thrown. 
 
 " I will ride him," answered Ulysses, as he stepped 
 forward. The audience, who knew him well, clapped 
 their hands. The pony could not throw him, they 
 thought, for they had seen him, again and again, dash 
 ing around the public square on the back of a vicious 
 colt, whose feet, in front and rear, were alternately in 
 the air. 
 
 " You are not afraid of being thrown, I suppose ? " 
 remarked the manager, as the boy mounted the animal. 
 
 " No, sir," answered Ulysses promptly, and he never 
 made a truer answer. Afraid of being thrown ! not 
 he ; it was the last thought to enter his head. 
 
 Away flew the pony, under the crack of the driver s 
 whip, faster and faster, as round and round he sped, the 
 audience testifying to their appreciation of the fun by 
 their shouts and laughter. At length the pony leaped 
 and kicked, throwing his heels high into the air, for the 
 express purpose of hurling Ulysses to the ground ; but 
 he stuck his bare feet into the sides of the beast, clung 
 to his mane, and looked, for all the world, as if saying 
 to himself, " You can t do it." The audience clapped 
 their hands, laughed, and shouted in wild excitement. 
 Scarcely had their noisy demonstrations abated, when a 
 trained monkey leaped upon the lad s shoulders for the 
 purpose of hastening his discomfiture ; but all in vain. 
 Standing there, the monkey seized the hair of his head, 
 holding on for dear life, as the pony darted round the 
 course, kicking, plunging, and rearing, amid a still wilder 
 demonstration by the spectators, some of whom cried 
 out 
 
 " Stick ! Lyss, stick ! Good ! Good ! " 
 
 Not a muscle of Ulysses face moved, not the least 
 
2S FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 sign of fear appeared in his demeanour ; but, rather, a 
 calm, self-possessed, satisfied expression rested on his 
 countenance, as if he felt sure of winning. 
 
 The pony was beaten. The manager confessed that 
 the lad was too much for him ; and the audience re 
 warded the young hero with rounds of applause. This 
 incident is important only as showing an element of 
 character which had not a little to do, thirty years and 
 more thereafter, with Ulysses triumphs on the field of 
 battle. Here, as in more important events, it is proved 
 that " the boy is father of the man." 
 
 Mrs. Grant did not enjoy these things. There was 
 no merit in them to her, while there was danger, and, 
 perhaps, moral exposure. Her boy was neither profane, 
 nor disobedient, nor vicious ; but she feared that he 
 might become all of these by such appeals to his lower 
 nature. But home influence guided what she feared 
 was of evil tendency up to a high plane of life. In a 
 corrupt home, such tendencies would undoubtedly lead 
 to ruin. 
 
IV. 
 
 THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
 
 WHEN Ulysses was nearly four years old, he began to 
 attend school. At that time most of the inhabitants 
 lived in small, cheap, frame-houses ; but the school-house 
 was built of logs such a structure as a few men would 
 erect in a day. 
 
 Schools were poor, and as short as they were poor. 
 A few weeks in summer, and as many more in winter, 
 continued for a few years only, constituted the education 
 of that day. As soon as Ulysses was able to render his 
 father substantial assistance in the tannery, he attended 
 school only the few weeks in winter. 
 
 The pioneer class did as well as they could to instruct 
 their children. They did not undervalue education; but 
 they did not see the necessity of so thorough and pro 
 tracted culture as the people of Georgetown demand to 
 day. While many of them would have been glad of 
 better schools, they were forced to accept such as they 
 could get ; and the same was true of their teachers. 
 Georgetown would not now tolerate such uncultivated 
 teachers as were employed then. It was the best the 
 parents could do at that time. 
 
 Ulysses was a shy, slow, but reliable pupil all through 
 his school-days. He was in no sense brilliant ; and some 
 teachers might have pronounced him dull. His indomi- 
 
30 FROM 7 HE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 table perseverance, however, enabled him to perform his 
 tasks surely. When he was seven or eight years of age, 
 the teacher gave out an unusually difficult lesson in 
 arithmetic. 
 
 " I can t do it, and I won t try," said one of the 
 scholars to another. 
 
 " I shall try," answered the pupil addressed ; " but I 
 have no idea that I can master it." 
 
 "Lyss will put it through," remarked another boy, 
 casting a patronizing look upon him. " His forte is in 
 arithmetic, and he will dig away until he has got it ; 
 but I can t do it." 
 
 "Can t! can t!" responded Ulysses quizzically. 
 " What does that mean ? " and away he rushed to the 
 teacher s desk to examine the dictionary. The boys 
 looked on silently, awaiting to see what was up. " Can t ! " 
 exclaimed Ulysses ; " there s no such word in the dic 
 tionary," as he closed the volume. " It can be done." 
 
 His companions laughed ; for their decided little 
 schoolmate was unusually demonstrative for him. It 
 was not exactly surprising to them ; but it was rather 
 unexpected. 
 
 "That is so, Hug," added one of the scholars, who 
 admired Ulysses pluck. 
 
 His usual nickname was " Lyss " ; but sometimes the 
 boys called him " Hug," from his initials " H. U. G." 
 There was something in the boy s nature which caused 
 them to think that the nickname " Hug " was appro 
 priate. At one time he was called " Texas," because 
 his father visited that far-off part of the country, and 
 when he returned, published a long account of his visit. 
 
 The discussion of the boys about the lesson occurred 
 at recess, and the teacher heard it. So, when the recita 
 tion had proved a failure with most of the class, Ulysses 
 
THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 31 
 
 and one other pupil excepted, he called attention to the 
 conversation which he heard. 
 
 "No, there is no such word as can t in the dictionary," 
 he said. " Ulysses is right ; and he never would have 
 mastered the lesson if he had believed with some of you 
 boys that he could not do it. Believe you can, and 
 you can. It is half the battle to have confidence in 
 your ability to accomplish a task. To try and fail, is 
 vastly better than it is to fail without trying." 
 
 Ulysses was an illustration of a remark of the famous 
 teacher of Rugby, Doctor Arnold. "The difference in 
 boys is not so much in talent as energy" He meant 
 that the boy with five talents and unconquerable force 
 of character will make his way in the world, when a boy 
 of ten talents and lack of energy will prove a miserable 
 failure. 
 
 When speaking of nicknames, we should have men 
 tioned another by which Ulysses was sometimes known, 
 when a party wanted to be facetious. It was "Useless," 
 and it originated thus : 
 
 His mother sometimes indulged in dry wit ; and when 
 counselling him concerning the improvement of his time, 
 in his early school-days, so as to make an honoured 
 man, she added, 
 
 " I hope you will never give people a reason for call 
 ing you Useless, instead of Ulysses, Grant." His play 
 mates derived some sport at times from the use of the 
 nickname. 
 
 As we have said, Ulysses excelled in arithmetic. He 
 was deficient in some branches of study, perhaps 
 below the average. He was a good speller and a fair 
 reader. He engaged in spelling matches with consider 
 able enthusiasm, and with credit to himself; but he 
 shrank from declamation and debate. At one time 
 
32 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 there was a debating society in the school, but he could 
 not be induced to participate. It was the same with 
 declamation. No amount of persuasion could coax him 
 upon the rostrum. A Methodist minister relates, how 
 ever, that once, when he was stopping at Jesse Grant s 
 house (this was the home of ministers who came to 
 town), he remembers that his mother asked him to 
 " speak a piece," and the boy responded by stepping 
 into the middle of the room, making his bow, and 
 reciting, with much force and fluency, 
 
 " You d scarce expect one of my age 
 To speak in public on the stage." 
 
 Ulysses was nine or ten years of age when his father 
 invited a nephew in Canada to a home in his family, 
 that he might attend school. The lad had no oppor 
 tunity for schooling in his native place. In due time 
 John came, and was duly entered as a member of the 
 Grant family. He was about the age of Ulysses, and 
 the two boys became attached to each other, although 
 their mutual attachment did not prevent one serious 
 collision. 
 
 Ulysses had read the life of Washington, and admired 
 the great man s character. He had heard much, too, 
 about the American Revolution, and the French and 
 Indian War, because some of his ancestors were engaged 
 in those contests. People of that day, throughout the 
 country, rehearsed much more than now the heroic 
 deeds of ancestors. The scarcity of books was made up 
 by tradition, and lack of reading matter was supplied 
 by talk. A military spirit prevailed at that day the 
 laws of the country requiring that it should be fostered. 
 Military companies were familiar to Ulysses, and he 
 often witnessed military drills. To attend the annual 
 
THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 33 
 
 military muster, with its grand display of all the com 
 panies in the region, was his chief delight. In addition 
 to this, townships and institutions around him were 
 named in honour of famous military characters ; Scott 
 was named after Gen. Winfield Scott ; Ripley after Gen 
 eral Ripley ; and Brown County after Gen. Ethan Allen 
 Brown ; all of whom distinguished themselves in the 
 war with England, in the year 1812. 
 
 In these circumstances, it was perfectly natural for 
 Ulysses to talk much about Washington with his Cousin 
 John. No doubt that he supposed his cousin was in full 
 sympathy with him in his loyal spirit, although belong 
 ing to the British dominion ; and it is quite evident that 
 John was disposed to tolerate his patriotic deliverances 
 until they became annoying ; for John was loyal to his 
 country also. He was a genuine patriot, and possessed 
 courage enough to defend his government whenever it 
 became necessary. He surprised Ulysses one day, by 
 replying to his praise of Washington, 
 
 " Well, your great Washington was a rebel, anyhow. 
 He fought against the King." 
 
 "What is that you say ?" Ulysses inquired, with some 
 earnestness, as if not quite satisfied that he heard 
 correctly. 
 
 " I say that Washington was a traitor to his country, 
 because he fought against the King." 
 
 " You say that again, and I will thrash you if you are 
 my cousin," answered Ulysses, in patriotic anger. " I 
 am not the boy to stand by and hear Washington called 
 a traitor." 
 
 " I do repeat it," rejoined John, whose loyal spirit was 
 now fully aroused. " Washington was a rebel, and you 
 can t deny it and keep truth on your side." 
 
 More quickly than the incident can be related 
 
 D 
 
34 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Ulysses took off his coat, and grappled with his cousin. 
 The latter withstood his ground like a faithful subject 
 of the King, and held his own readily for some time ; 
 but the dogged perseverance of Ulysses proved too 
 much for his English bravery, and finally he lay spraw 
 ling upon the ground. 
 
 " There ! " shouted Ulysses, " call Washington a 
 traitor, will you ? I wouldn t submit to hear my own 
 mother call him so." 
 
 John was not inclined to prolong the controversy, and 
 Ulysses cooled off rapidly, so that the two cousins were 
 soon on good terms again. But the affair was reported 
 to Mrs. Grant by some one. 
 
 " How is this, Ulysses," she said, calling him into the 
 house. "After all that you have heard me say about 
 fighting, is it true that you have been fighting with your 
 cousin ?" 
 
 " I thrashed John," answered the lad, modestly. 
 
 " Your own cousin, too," continued his mother. " You 
 know that I always promised to punish you for getting 
 into a quarrel with any one." 
 
 "But John was to blame," pleaded Ulysses; "he 
 called Washington a traitor, and I wouldn t stand it." 
 And he proceeded to rehearse the affair in detail, show 
 ing that he did not administer the thrashing from revenge 
 or malice, but on patriotic principles. 
 
 His father stood by, and was evidently delighted with 
 his son s conduct. 
 
 " I don t think you ought to punish him," he finally 
 interjected. " He did not fight because he loves 
 fighting ; he is not that sort of a boy. No one ever 
 knew him to quarrel with a schoolmate before ; and he 
 did it now in defence of his country ; and, to tell you 
 the truth, I should not think much of a boy who would 
 
THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 35 
 
 not defend the good name of his country." How clear 
 that Ulysses was a " chip of the old block " ! 
 
 Here the matter ended ; and Ulysses never fought 
 again on principle until he went into the Mexican War, 
 and subsequently conquered the Rebellion. 
 
 A phrenologist came to town one winter when Ulysses 
 was a school-boy, and gave a course of lectures. At 
 the close of each lecture he allowed himself to be blind 
 folded, when the citizens set whoever they pleased into 
 the chair for examination. One evening a gentleman 
 set Ulysses in the chair, after the lecturer was blind 
 folded. The latter proceeded to examine his head, and 
 continued so long without saying a word, that a citizen 
 inquired, 
 
 " Do you discover any special ability for mathematics 
 in that boy s head ? " 
 
 " Mathematics ! " retorted the lecturer, as if that kind 
 of ability did not cover the case. " You need not be 
 surprised if this boy is President of the United States 
 some day." 
 
 This remark was unexpected to most of the audience ; 
 and it did not increase the reputation of the phrenologist 
 in Point Pleasant. They knew that Ulysses excelled in 
 arithmetic, and that he was a boy of invincible will ; but 
 they could not see that these qualities were particularly 
 suited to make him President of the United States. 
 
 School-boys engaged in ball-playing and various 
 other games, for which Ulysses had some taste and 
 tact. He was an expert skater and swimmer, usually 
 bearing off the palm when there was a trial. He pos 
 sessed a nice sense of honour and justice in his inter 
 course with his playfellows, and this quality was accom 
 panied by profound respect for his superiors. 
 
 He was engaged in a hotly-contested game of ball, 
 
36 FROM THE TAN -YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 into which he was throwing his best endeavours. By 
 a fortunate hit, he sent the ball to quite a distance, and 
 it went through a window in Doctor Bailey s house. 
 Throwing down his bat, he rushed to the house, and 
 entering, almost out of breath, he said, 
 
 " Mrs. Bailey, I have broken your window, but I am 
 going right off for another pane of glass for you, and 
 have it put in at once." 
 
 He would stop the game of ball at once in order to 
 do justly to others ; or, in other words, to right a wrong- 
 
 " No, indeed, you won t do any such thing, Lyss," 
 replied Mrs. Bailey, who admired the manliness of the 
 boy. " Go back to your game of ball, and we will take 
 care of the glass." And she fairly compelled him to 
 relinquish his purpose of restoring the broken pane. 
 Ulysses was a great favourite with her, and, indeed, 
 with all her family, on account of some of his elements 
 of character already mentioned. 
 
 We must not forget to record his talent for drawing 
 with pen or pencil. He could beat every boy and girl 
 in school in drawing animals, on slate or paper ; es 
 pecially the horse, which he loved so well. For natural 
 ness and real beauty, his pictures of the horse challenged 
 the admiration of even his teachers. It was when he 
 gratified his talent in this direction in school-hours, so 
 as to interfere with his studies, that his teachers objected. 
 He v/as very apt to indulge this propensity at the 
 expense of his standing as a scholar, and had to be 
 watched, and sometimes reproved, in consequence. 
 
 One thing interfered very much with his progress in 
 school ; it was his love of horses. As soon as he was 
 old enough to assist his father by driving a horse (and 
 that was at five or six years of age), there were frequent 
 demands upon his time to carry passengers, to haul a 
 
THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 37 
 
 load, or to go upon some errand. He was not so fond 
 of teacher or school, but that he would catch at a chance 
 any time to ride or drive a horse. He was more ready 
 to be absent from school for such a purpose, than his 
 parents were to have him. On this account, when he 
 quitted the log school-house for ever, at about twelve 
 years of age, he was deficient in all studies except 
 arithmetic. 
 
 At fourteen, he spent one winter in Maysville, Ky., 
 attending school. Peter Grant, his uncle, lived and died 
 there; and his widow invited Ulysses to spend the 
 winter with her, and attend the public school, which 
 was far in advance of the school at Point Pleasant. 
 Two years later he attended the Presbyterian Academy 
 at Ripley a few months, where he applied himself closely, 
 and made marked proficiency in all the branches of 
 study he pursued. This constituted all the schooling 
 Ulysses enjoyed until he entered West Point 
 
 We must stop here to call the reader s attention to 
 the fact that Ulysses S. Grant was not educated in 
 school. Some boys are too large to be squeezed into 
 the narrow limits of a school curriculum. Their great 
 natures protest against it. There is not room for them. 
 Their development is actually hindered by the straight- 
 jacket rules and systems that prevail. There was no 
 school in the American Colonies large enough to educate 
 Washington. Indeed, there was none large enough 
 in Great Britain to educate him. Had he been sent 
 thither, as his brother was, he might never have been 
 qualified to lead the American armies, or to preside 
 over the destiny of the nation when independence had 
 been achieved. But he was educated in the field and 
 forum. From the time he entered upon public service, 
 at nineteen, he developed remarkably fast. Surveying 
 
38 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 vast tracts of land, and exploring the wild country, was 
 a school. Every drill, siege, and battle was a school. 
 All public service appealed to his large soul ; and under 
 its inspiring power, he developed into the great General 
 and Statesman that he was. " First in war, first in 
 peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 
 
 The same was true of Lincoln. The severe discipline 
 of life educated him. Poverty, hardship, obscurity, and 
 work, were his daily teachers ; the world was his school 
 room. Had he been shut up within the walls of the 
 academy and college, he might never have become 
 President, and the " Great Emancipator." His great 
 ness required larger liberty, a broader field, and the 
 study of stern, practical life. So Providence educated 
 him outside of schools for a mighty leader. 
 
 Garfield never found but one teacher as great as 
 himself. He outgrew every school he entered within a 
 few months. In two years he was ahead of his college. 
 He learned more by teaching others than his own 
 teachers taught him. He was cramped and hampered 
 even here ! Providence called him out into the broader, 
 grander, more exciting arena of public service ; and he 
 soon proved himself a greater man than his best instruc 
 tors supposed him to be. No school was great enough 
 to educate him. 
 
 It was so with the subject of our narrative. His 
 school-days did not forecast his future renown. No 
 teacher would have prophesied that he would become, 
 in any respect, the greatest man of his age. No instruc 
 tor believed him to be a great man in embryo ; and it 
 was because he was larger than his surroundings. He 
 could not soar without leaving the nest. His nature 
 demanded the discipline of battle and peril. Peace 
 could not arouse his latent energies. The call, " To 
 
THE LOG SCHOOL-HOUSE. 39 
 
 arms. 1 " fired his soul. From that moment he grew 
 mighty, until his victorious banner floated over a thou 
 sand battle-fields. He had found his place, a regene 
 rated nation had found him. 
 
V. 
 
 THE TANNER BOY. 
 
 WE have said that Jesse Grant was a tanner, and that 
 Ulysses, his son, learned the business. His tannery was 
 a small one ; and, at that time, the leather business of 
 the country was small. But Mr. Grant understood the 
 business thoroughly, and was regarded as a first-class 
 tanner. 
 
 The first work of Ulysses was driving the horse in 
 the bark-mill. A horse ground the bark by travelling 
 round in a circle, hitched to a pole that was attached to 
 the sweep which he drew. The pole led the horse, and 
 Ulysses applied the whip. The lazy old beast required 
 considerable urging at times to keep from falling to 
 sleep in his monotonous work. Our embryo tanner was 
 the boy to quicken his pace. 
 
 Another boy stood at the hopper of the mill, and, 
 with a hammer, broke the strips of bark (which were 
 brought to the mill three feet long) into it. In due 
 time Ulysses was promoted to do this work, which was 
 less attractive to him because there was less horse in it. 
 Step by step, from year to year, he acquired a know 
 ledge of different parts of the business, until he could 
 tan hides as well as he tanned rebels twenty-five years 
 later. All his time out of school was not spent in the 
 tannery ; indeed, the tannery was not in operation all 
 the time ; and it was for this reason that Mr. Grant 
 
THE TANNER BOY. 41 
 
 turned his attention occasionally to other business. He 
 had other irons in the fire nearly all the time. Ulysses 
 liked some of the irons better than he did the tannery. 
 To tell the plain truth, he did not like the tanner s 
 business at all. Teaming, farming, choring, skating, 
 swimming, almost anything else which he did, was pre 
 ferable to tanning leather. Even the log school-house 
 had more attractions for him than the tannery. Any 
 assistance that he could render his father with the help 
 of a horse suited him exactly. 
 
 One day his father was going to Ripley on business, 
 and he said to Ulysses, 
 
 " I shall not be back until evening ; see that the 
 chores are done, and the rest of the time you can play. 1 
 Mr. Grant believed that there was a time for play as 
 well as for work that is, for boys ; but he would make 
 work the rule. 
 
 His father had not been absent a half hour before 
 Ulysses thought of the colt, a very promising young 
 animal which had never been harnessed. He thought 
 of the brush in the woods, also, for he had heard his 
 father say that he should haul it up before long. 
 
 " Now/ 5 he said within himself, " if I could take the 
 colt and haul up the brush to-day, father would be 
 mightily pleased." 
 
 Something else inside said to him, " But the colt was 
 never harnessed, and suppose he should be scared, and 
 kick and thrash about, and break the harness, and a 
 leg, too, what would your father say ? " 
 
 " Oh, Billy will never do that to me ; he is gentle as a 
 lamb," he argued silently, but thoughtfully. " I don t 
 believe he will kick if the cart should strike his heels. 
 Then, there is no business without some risk, as I have 
 heard father say forty times. I ll take the risk." 
 
42 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 And he did ; and just here was one of the points of 
 Ulysses character which helped him win success in later 
 life, especially in the war. He took risks, as we shall 
 see hereafter. 
 
 The colt was taken out by his young master, who 
 was then but seven years and six months old, to be 
 initiated into actual labour. The lad was too short to 
 reach the animal s head, so he inverted a half bushel, 
 and, standing thereon, proceeded to bridle him. Docile 
 and happy, the colt yielded to the appeal of kind words, 
 and allowed the whole harness to be adjusted without 
 objection. Cautiously Ulysses advanced to the more 
 difficult part of the experiment, that of hitching Billy to 
 the cart. But it was done successfully, the considerate 
 beast not protesting in the least. And he started off 
 as steadily as the old family horse would have done, 
 worked all day without any refractory demonstration 
 and closed his first day s work with evident self-com 
 placency. If the colt could have talked as distinctly as 
 "Balaam s ass, he could not have made it more evident 
 that he meant to help Ulysses through that experiment, 
 to prove that the wisest men must assume risks. 
 
 At the close of the day Ulysses had a pile of brush 
 in the yard as big as the log school-house ; and he was 
 in his element. His mother enjoyed the result as well, 
 although her venturesome son did not venture to consult 
 her about using the colt. He knew very well that she 
 would issue an order to arrest the plan, and an order 
 from headquarters must be obeyed. It is equally true, 
 no doubt, that if his experiment with the colt had 
 proved a failure, he would have been court-martialled 
 by his mother before the head of the family returned at 
 night. But taking the risk turned out well, and all were 
 happy. 
 
THE TANNER BOY. 43 
 
 It was dark when Mr. Grant reached home, but not 
 dark enough to conceal the huge pile of brush. It was 
 close by the carriage-drive. 
 
 " What s this ? " he said, in a tone of surprise to 
 Ulysses, who was on the spot awaiting his father s 
 arrival. 
 
 " A pile of brush I have hauled to-day. 
 
 " A pile of brush ! " exclaimed his father, " I did not 
 tell you to haul brush." 
 
 " No ; but I heard you say that you were going to 
 haul it up some time, and I thought if I hauled it to-day, 
 it would be clear gain." 
 
 "But what did you haul it with ? " inquired his father, 
 wondering. 
 
 " With the colt and cart." 
 
 "The colt, bless you," replied Mr. Grant, with still 
 greater surprise. " How in the world did you manage 
 him ? I should have thought he would kick the brains 
 out of you." 
 
 "Well, you see he didn t; my brains are all right," 
 answered Ulysses. " He behaved just as well as the 
 old horse would." 
 
 Going into the house, the subject was renewed with 
 Mrs. Grant, and the conversation ended by Mr. Grant 
 saying,- 
 
 " Lyss will turn into a horse yet." 
 
 " If I do," retorted Ulysses, " I shall be worth more 
 to you than that drunken journeyman in the tan-yard." 
 
 "I guess you are right there, Lyss," answered his 
 father laughing. "Jack is a miserable fellow anyway, 
 and I am only waiting for a favourable opportunity to 
 send him adrift." 
 
 Jack was a journeyman, a roving, drinking fellow 
 from New York, who floated into the place, and Mr. 
 
44 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Grant hired him. He was a good workman, but a man 
 of dissolute habits. Soon afterwards, the opportunity 
 to dismiss him, for which his employer was waiting, 
 offered itself in this way. Jack was on a spree, and, 
 getting out of money, he appropriated several calf-skins 
 belonging to his employer, and offered to sell them to a 
 shoemaker. The latter exposed him, and he was ex 
 pelled from the tannery. He lingered about the place 
 for some time, however, until Mr. Grant met him one 
 day, and ordered him out of town. 
 
 "When I get ready, and not before," was Jack s 
 laconic reply ; at the same time drawing his jack-knife 
 upon Mr. G. 
 
 "You villain!" exclaimed Mr. Grant, seizing the 
 fellow at the same time, and wresting the knife from 
 him ; " we will see whether you will go or stay. Here, 
 Lyss, run and bring my cowhide." Lyss, who was 
 with his father at the time, never moved his feet 
 more nimbly than he did then, his father holding the 
 wretched culprit with an iron grip, and occasionally 
 shaking him up, until Ulysses returned with the cow 
 hide. A more thorough basting was never administered 
 to a mean man, than Jack got from the Georgetown 
 tanner. He did leave town, and never returned. 
 
 Ulysses was a kind-hearted boy, and had a poor 
 opinion of cowhides in general ; but ever afterwards, 
 for this particular cowhide he cherished profound re 
 spect. The proof was now overwhelming, that if Jesse 
 Grant s son were nothing better than horseflesh, he 
 would be more valuable to his father than the brute of 
 a journeyman in the tannery. 
 
 There was more or less teaming to be done to and 
 from the tan-yard ; and, at eight years of age, Ulysses 
 did it with a pair of horses. He enjoyed this hugely, 
 
THE TANNER BOY. 45 
 
 for the occupation took him away from the tannery a 
 part of the time, and provided him with that most 
 enjoyable of all business driving horses. 
 
 He took the whole care of the horses, also, though 
 he could not harness them without mounting the half- 
 bushel measure. It was a spectacle which strangers 
 often stopped to enjoy, the sight of this eight-year old, 
 who was rather small of his age, hauling hides, wood, 
 bark, and other merchandise, with the tact and ability 
 of a man. 
 
 "Lyss, how would you like to go to Cincinnati for 
 some passengers ? " inquired his father one day. " Day 
 after to-morrow, three or four men will be there, who 
 want to come here." 
 
 "I should like nothing better," answered Ulysses. 
 
 " Forty miles is a long way for a small boy to drive a 
 pair of horses, but I will risk you," continued his father. 
 Another instance of the propensity of the Grant family 
 to assume risks. 
 
 Ulysses drove his pair of horses to Cincinnati on the 
 following day. Stopping over night, he returned with 
 his passengers on the next day. His trip was so suc 
 cessful, that, afterwards, he frequently drove to Cincin 
 nati, always stopping at Dennison House. Here he 
 became acquainted with the proprietor s son, William 
 Dennison, the senior of Ulysses by six or seven years. 
 Young Dennison became much interested in Ulysses, 
 because he was a child-driver of a pair of horses from 
 Georgetown. This William Dennison became Governor 
 of Ohio thirty years thereafter, and subsequently he was 
 a member of Abraham Lincoln s cabinet, when Ulysses 
 was leading the Northern army in triumph. The boy- 
 teamster and the tavern-keeper s son became first, when 
 their more highly-favoured companions were last. 
 
46 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Mr. Grant allowed his son some perquisites, so that 
 he could accumulate a little money, to encourage him. 
 Carrying passengers, doing odd jobs for neighbours, 
 performing extra work in these ways he made money 
 for himself ; and, at nine years of age, he had laid up 
 twenty dollars. He loved a horse more than ever ; and 
 now he longed to have one of his own. It seemed to 
 him the climax of all material things to own a horse. 
 
 " Father, may I buy a horse ? " he asked one evening. 
 
 His father had not dreamed of such a thing ; and the 
 inquiry was unexpected. 
 
 " What can you do with another horse ? " he an 
 swered. 
 
 " I want one for my own," replied the boy. 
 
 " Got money enough to pay for him ? " 
 
 " Enough to pay for a co/t" 
 
 "Perhaps you could invest your money better," Mr. 
 G. suggested ; for he always looked at the economical 
 side of all questions. 
 
 "I think it is the best way to invest my money," 
 replied Ulysses. " A three-year-old colt will double its 
 value in three years, and during the three years he will 
 be bringing me in money by use." 
 
 "Perhaps so," answered his father, doubtfully; "but 
 suppose he is taken sick and dies, or breaks a leg, or 
 your neck how then ? There is a risk in buying a 
 horse." 
 
 "And I am willing to take the risk, father," said 
 Ulysses, decidedly. There it was again, willingness to 
 take a risk ! 
 
 " Well, just as you please, Lyss. I don t know that I 
 have any serious objection ; only don t get cheated in 
 buying a horse," was Mr. Grant s final decision, rather 
 pleased, on the whole, with the enterprise of his son. 
 
THE TANNER BOY. 47 
 
 Ulysses had already canvassed the subject without 
 saying a word to any one. He had his eye then upon 
 a colt, and knew exactly what it could be bought for 
 seventeen dollars. In less than twenty-four hours he 
 had purchased the colt, and it was in his father s barn. 
 A child, nine years old, the happy owner of a horse ! 
 And there was never a time thereafter when he did not 
 own a horse. 
 
 A horse-trade by such a youngster created consider 
 able remark in town. People who had thought 
 Ulysses was a dull scholar, began to open their eyes. 
 There was no other boy in the township who displayed 
 so much talent for business. No other parents had sons 
 to be trusted with so great responsibilities at nine years 
 of age. Horse-flesh was contributing to the reputation 
 of Ulysses. His bargain turned out to be a good one. 
 
 Within a few months Ulysses trained his three-year- 
 old colt to be under perfect control. One day he sur 
 prised the villagers by riding around the public square 
 at a breakneck speed, standing on the back of his well- 
 trained beast. He had strapped a sheep-skin on the 
 colt s back to keep his feet from slipping, and fearlessly 
 assumed all the risks. He frequently performed this 
 feat afterwards, until it was quite common to see him 
 ride furiously in a standing posture. 
 
 At ten years of age, he surpassed every person in 
 the county as rider. Horse-traders, who wanted to ex 
 hibit the speed of their horses, frequently applied for his 
 services as a rider. Owners of sick horses, desiring to 
 heat them through and through, as a remedy, employed 
 him to race their animals for miles. Colts, to be broken, 
 were submitted to his management. It was certainly 
 a rare spectacle to see men of mature years applying to 
 a boy of ten to break their colts, and teach their vicious 
 
4 3 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE, 
 
 horses how to behave. It made him a marked boy in 
 the region, although few prophesied that he would rise 
 higher than a circus-rider or horse-trainer. 
 
 His father had great confidence in him, and he had 
 reason to trust him ; for his integrity was undoubted. 
 His yea was yea, and his nay, nay. He had no bad 
 habits, and, like his father, discountenanced the prevail 
 ing vice of the community, intemperance. Unlike 
 many boys, he was never profane nor vulgar, and was 
 always obedient to his parents, and proverbially trust 
 worthy ; and what is worthy of note, he was singularly 
 ingenuous, as the following incident will show : 
 
 His father wanted to buy a horse of Robert Ralstons, 
 who lived one or two miles away, and he sent Ulysses 
 to make the purchase. Doubtless this plan was adopted 
 for the discipline of the boy, or else as a matter of 
 curiosity, to see how he would transact the business. 
 
 " Offer him fifty dollars," said Mr. Grant, in giving the 
 young horse-buyer his instructions. 
 
 " But you don t expect to buy him for that ? " inter 
 jected Ulysses. 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but if he won t take that, offer him 
 fifty-five dollars ; rather than not get the horse, you may 
 pay him sixty." 
 
 The boy started upon his important errand, intending 
 to obey his father s instruction to the letter. In his 
 own mind he went through the operation of a bargain, 
 agreeably to the programme cited ; but the whole plan 
 was overturned by the first inquiry of Mr. Ralston. 
 Ulysses made known his errand, wheri Mr. R. asked, 
 
 " How much did your father tell you to pay ? " 
 
 This question was not anticipated, and the little 
 horse-trader was confused for a moment ; but his honest 
 heart leapt to the rescue, and he answered, 
 
THE TANNER BOY. 49 
 
 " Father told me to offer you fifty dollars, and if you 
 wouldn t take that, to offer you fifty-five ; and rather 
 than have me come home without the horse, to pay 
 sixty." 
 
 Mr. Ralston smiled at the frankness of the boy, and 
 thought that he was stupid. Because the little fellow 
 was more honest than he himself was, he supposed that 
 Ulysses was not a born trader, and sought to take 
 advantage of him. But he " counted without his host" 
 
 "Well, my price is sixty-five dollars," replied Mr. 
 Ralston. 
 
 " I shan t give that," retorted Ulysses at once, seeing 
 the dishonest purpose of the man ; " sixty dollars is all 
 the horse is worth. I shall go home without him." 
 
 The conversation was not prolonged, for Mr. R. saw 
 that he had mistaken the boy, and taken his honesty to 
 be verdancy. The bargain was closed at sixty dollars, 
 and Ulysses drove the horse home. 
 
 So much outside work interfered somewhat with the 
 boy s progress in the tannery, as it had done with his 
 education in the log school-house. Nevertheless, in the 
 ten or twelve years he served there, he had ample 
 opportunity to become a good tanner. 
 
 The facts of this chapter show that Ulysses possessed 
 those three elements of character which a great English 
 merchant said insure success tact, push, and principle. 
 The first is the ability to use one s powers, opportunities, 
 and acquisitions to the best advantage. With it, a 
 single talent will accomplish more in practical life than 
 five talents can without it. Emerson put it facetiously 
 in rhyme, thus : 
 
 " Tact clinches the bargain, 
 Sails out of the bay, 
 
50 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Gets the vote in the Senate, 
 Spite of Webster or Clay." 
 
 The least promising of a group of boys may outstrip 
 the whole number by his tact While the brilliant 
 fellow without it makes a failure of life, he ascends to 
 the top round of the ladder. Through tact, his dulness 
 beats talent ; the tortoise wins the race. We shall see 
 that Ulysses did that ; but not without push energy, 
 singleness of purpose, and perseverance. There was 
 a quiet energy about him ; we might call it determina 
 tion a quality which an English writer says " will do 
 anything that can be done in this world ; and no talents, 
 no circumstances, no opportunities, will make a two- 
 legged creature a man without it"; and not without 
 principle, either. " Sheridan might have ruled the world 
 if he had possessed principle" it was said. Ulysses 
 would not lie even to save his father money. He was 
 taught, that while wealth was not absolutely necessary, 
 nor fame, nor even health, PRINCIPLE was indispensable 
 The lesson was drilled into his soul. 
 
VI. 
 
 A NOTABLE TRIP. 
 
 ULYSSES was eleven years old when his Uncle Marshall 
 died, six miles beyond Deerfield, Ohio, nearly one 
 hundred miles distant. The widow was in great trouble 
 in consequence, and Mr. Grant, whose sister she was, 
 felt deeply for her. 
 
 " She must come here with her family, that I may 
 look after her," he said ; " I shall bring her right along 
 with me when I return, if possible." 
 
 " As I cannot go with you, why not let Ulysses go ? 
 suggested Mrs. Grant. " He can be of much assistance 
 to you, if you move the family here." 
 
 " He can go ; I would like to have him go with me," 
 replied Mr. Grant. And it was so arranged, to the great 
 satisfaction of the boy. 
 
 They hurried away so as to be present at the funeral. 
 Going to Ripley, they took the steamer to Wellsville, 
 and thence by stage to New Lisbon, thirty-five miles, 
 travelling the last fifteen miles on horseback. The trip 
 from Ripley to Wellsville was Ulysses first ride on a 
 steamer, and he enjoyed it thoroughly. Still, he was 
 not so enraptured with the sail that he lost any interest 
 in the horse. He would not have traded his colt for the 
 steamer, with the river thrown in. 
 
 Widow Marshall was greatly comforted by the arrival 
 
 51 
 
52 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of her brother, who made himself very useful at once in 
 the final preparations for the funeral. This solemn 
 occasion having passed, he disclosed his plan of remov 
 ing her to Georgetown, to which she readily acceded. 
 Her decision to remove made it necessary for Mr. Grant 
 to remain two or three weeks at Deerfield. She had 
 business to be transacted, household articles to sell, and 
 various incidental things to be attended to, all of which 
 required time. Selecting from the furniture what was 
 the most valuable, like beds and bedding, crockery, and 
 other articles, which could be easily transported, he sold 
 the remainder at auction. 
 
 Mrs. Marshall owned a farm -wagon and a pair of 
 horses, with which the goods and family were transported 
 to Georgetown. A convenient seat was arranged for 
 herself and children on top of the load, which was a 
 heavy one. Her eldest son, James, who was about the 
 age of Ulysses, rode on the coupling-pole behind the 
 wagon an expedient suggested by the latter, that they 
 might relieve the horses by jumping off when going up 
 hill or over hard places. 
 
 All things being ready, they started on Monday after 
 noon and travelled to Deerfield, six miles, where they 
 stopped at the " tavern " over night. On Tuesday night 
 they reached New Lisbon, the horses very much ex 
 hausted by their day s work. 
 
 " The load is too much for them," said Mr. Grant, 
 " and we must hire another team here. If the horses 
 give out, it will cost us more than it will to hire a team 
 now." 
 
 " I thought they would give out before we got here," 
 answered Ulysses, whose sympathy for the jaded horses 
 was stirred. "Another day with the load will finish 
 them." 
 
A NOTABLE TRIP. 
 
 53 
 
 It was settled that another team should be engaged to 
 convey a part of the furniture to Wellsville, where they 
 would take the steamer, and run down the river to Mays- 
 ville. After a good night s rest at the " village tavern," 
 Mr. Grant chartered a wagon and pair of horses, and 
 dividing his load, proceeded to Wellsville, where they 
 arrived during the day. Here the hired team was dis 
 missed to return to New Lisbon, the goods being 
 transferred back to the original wagon, which was driven 
 on board the steamer Lady Byron. Thence to Maysville 
 by water afforded an opportunity for the horses to rest. 
 
 The steamer was obliged to stop several hours at 
 Wheeling, for the repair of a broken wheel. Ulysses 
 and his cousin strolled into the town, and while making 
 observations about the City Hotel, a gentleman came out 
 and accosted them. 
 
 " Will you take my trunk down to the steamer ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered Ulysses. 
 
 " For how much ? " 
 
 " A fi -penny bit," replied the boy. This was six and 
 a quarter cents, sufficiently small pay to show that 
 Ulysses did not practise extortion. It was a full half- 
 mile to the steamer. 
 
 "It is a bargain," responded the gentleman, evidently 
 pleased to get his trunk down to the steamer for so little 
 money. 
 
 The two boys took up the trunk, one at each end, and 
 bore it to the steamer, perfectly satisfied on arriving 
 there that they had earned every cent of the pay. 
 
 Now occurred the only deliberate act of mischief which 
 we have found to record against our hero. There was 
 no wharf built at Wheeling. The water came up nearly 
 to the top of a wall, from which a loose staging extended 
 to the boat. Over this the children of some French and 
 
54 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 German emigrants on board were running for amuse 
 ment. Ulysses and James thought the amusement 
 might be varied by an involuntary bath. Accordingly, 
 the opportune moment was improved to move the planks 
 so that the first boy who should step upon them again 
 would fall into the water. Scarcely was the trap laid, 
 when a little, chubby, three-year-old German, wearing 
 a red-flannel dress, ran upon the staging and tumbled 
 into the water. A shout of alarm arose, and all on 
 board rushed to the scene. One of the boat s crew 
 seized the child by the hair of his head, and rescued him 
 from a watery grave. 
 
 The two naughty boys, who were the cause of the 
 accident, were more scared than the little Teuton in the 
 water. Their thoughtless act came near ending in a 
 tragedy, and they saw the guilt of it the moment the 
 child dropped into the water. No one saw them set the 
 trap, and so they kept the knowledge of it within their 
 own breast, which was worse for them. They were over 
 joyed, however, when the child was saved. 
 
 Ulysses always condemned himself for this thoughtless 
 deed. It was wholly unlike him ; there is nothing else 
 of the kind in his life-record. Perhaps James was the 
 author of the plan, and Ulysses only yielded. Be that 
 as it may, the incident proves that Ulysses was suffi 
 ciently human to have some mischief in him. 
 
 The steamer reached Maysville on Saturday, the party 
 having consumed six days in performing a journey which 
 can now be accomplished in less than six hours. They 
 visited relatives in Maysville, and remained several days, 
 when the horses were in a good condition to take them 
 the remaining twenty miles to Georgetown. 
 
 Ulysses enjoyed this trip, though he was glad to get 
 home. It was a good school for him, and he learned some 
 
A NOTABLE TRIP. 55 
 
 good lessons. He thought more of Georgetown than 
 ever. The place where his Uncle Marshall had lived 
 was isolated, away from school and church privileges, so 
 different from Georgetown that the latter place seemed 
 doubly inviting, and his home dearer than ever. 
 
 Mr. Grant s house was becoming crowded. His grow 
 ing family required more room. He was able to build 
 a larger dwelling, and pay for it. More than all, Mrs. 
 Grant wanted a new house, and that alone was reason 
 enough for building. 
 
 " A job for you, Ulysses," he said. " I shall build of 
 brick, and you must haul the brick, and sand, and stone 
 for the cellar." 
 
 " That I can do. I would rather do that than work in 
 the tannery," replied Ulysses. 
 
 " I thought so, and you will be of more service to me, 
 hauling stuff for the house, than working in the tan- 
 yard," added his father. 
 
 Mr. Grant decided to erect a spacious brick dwelling, 
 two stones high, his old house becoming its L, and 
 Ulysses began the work of drawing materials at once. 
 Four or five months elapsed before the building was 
 completed, and the family occupied it, and they were 
 months of industry, fatigue, and progress to Ulysses. 
 The interest of no one in the erection of the house was 
 greater than his. He had interest in no outside matter 
 during the whole time. In vain was he asked to hunt 
 and fish, and engage in other pastimes. It did not 
 trouble him at all to see other boys engaged in amuse 
 ments while he was at work. His profound interest in 
 the new house became the source of his highest enjoy 
 ment. The discipline of that season contributed much 
 towards his manhood. 
 
 We have said that Ulysses turned aside for nothing 
 
56 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 while his father s house was building. There was a 
 single exception, however. A citizen owned a fine 
 horse, which he would have trained to pace, and he knew 
 that Ulysses could do it. But the boy had become quite 
 sensitive about training horses, for he was often called 
 a "horse-jockey," jocosely it is true, but he was such a 
 matter-of-fact boy, that even jokes became real to him 
 in time. He had declined to train several horses for 
 this reason, when this neighbour approached him. So 
 the owner of this horse resorted to stratagem in order to 
 secure his services. 
 
 " I will give you two dollars, Ulysses, if you will jump 
 on my horse and carry a letter to Decatur for me to 
 day," he said. 
 
 " I suppose I can do it without hindering the work 
 on the house," replied Ulysses, " if the business is 
 urgent." 
 
 " Well, it is urgent, and if you start very soon, you 
 can get back before night," added the .citizen. 
 
 Decatur was thirteen miles distant, and the owner of 
 the horse thought that the animal could be taught to 
 pace in that distance. Ulysses was soon ready, and 
 when the neighbour handed him the letter, he said, as if 
 it were a thought just suggested, 
 
 " By the way, Lyss, do you suppose that horse could 
 learn to pace ? " 
 
 " Of course he can," responded Ulysses ; " any good 
 horse can learn to pace." 
 
 " Well, you try him while you are gone, and see what 
 you think about it." 
 
 Ulysses dashed away as he was wont to do on horse 
 back, saying to himself, " Of course this horse can pace. 
 I will prove it before I get back." 
 
 When he reached home at sundown, the horse was 
 
A NOTABLE TRIP. 57 
 
 a good pacer, as Ulysses proved to the neighbour by 
 riding up and down the street two or three times in his 
 presence. Training the horse to pace had cost the 
 owner but two dollars, and his letter was delivered, into 
 the bargain. He would gladly have paid ten dollars for 
 this successful training. 
 
 It was soon noised about the village that a laughable 
 trick had been played upon Ulysses, and many friends 
 teased the boy much concerning it. At first he did not 
 quite understand the jokes cracked at his expense, but 
 when he really learned the facts in the case, he said that 
 he would never train another horse for anybody, and he 
 never did. 
 
 In this his decision of character was strikingly set 
 forth. When he said he would do a certain thing, he 
 did it ; and when he said he would not do it, no amount 
 of coaxing could induce him to do it. And in this 
 particular case, his decision was doubly fortified by his 
 aversion to being called a " horse-jockey." 
 
 About this time there was a cholera scare throughout 
 the West. The disease was feared more then than it is 
 now. Its approach caused a general consternation. 
 Many people were superstitious in regard to it, and they 
 would catch at every straw that promised protection 
 against its ravages. In many places it was making sad 
 havoc, and there were some cases of it in Georgetown. 
 At Maysville it prevailed alarmingly, and proved fatal 
 in a majority of cases. Everywhere it created intense 
 alarm. The authorities of Georgetown heard that a 
 wonderful remedy had been brought to Maysville, and 
 that the scourge was rapidly disappearing. They de 
 cided to procure the remedy, and appointed Mr. Grant 
 to proceed to that city and secure a quantity of the 
 medicine. Mr. Grant lost no time in going to Maysville, 
 
$8 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 for he, in common with the whole population, stood in 
 mortal fear of the scourge. He returned with an ample 
 supply of the remedy, but the disease had disappeared 
 when it was ready for use. It was stored in Jesse 
 Grant s cellar. 
 
 The history of that cholera-medicine closed in this 
 way : Juvenile curiosity was as active fifty years ago as 
 it is to-day, and the medicine in question vanished be 
 fore it. Ulysses was in the habit of staying at home 
 from meeting often on Sunday afternoons ; and some of 
 his companions were in the habit of keeping him com 
 pany on these occasions. It was rumoured that their 
 conduct was not always of a strictly religious type, for 
 they drilled themselves in athletic exercises, such as 
 jumping, turning somersaults, and the like. 
 
 For some reason they had occasion to visit Mr. 
 Grant s cellar one Sunday, and the cholera-medicine 
 was discovered. Juvenile curiosity led them to investi 
 gate its flavour, and the stuff was found to be decidedly 
 palatable. Each one imbibed, perhaps more than once. 
 On the following Sabbath afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Grant being at meeting, they imbibed again. And this 
 was repeated, Sabbath after Sabbath, until the medi 
 cine had entirely disappeared. Neither Ulysses, nor 
 any one of his curious companions, ever had the cholera, 
 though we might reasonably wonder why the remedy 
 did not kill them. As it turned out, the medicine did 
 them less injury, without doubt, than their Sabbath- 
 breaking. 
 
 Some time during the eleventh or twelfth winter of 
 Ulysses life, he froze his feet while skating. He 
 strapped his skates too tightly, and his feet were frozen 
 in consequence. Skating he enjoyed almost as well as 
 teaming, so that he frequently indulged his passion in 
 
A NOTABLE TRIP. 59 
 
 this direction with other boys. On this occasion the 
 cold was intense, and the skating of superior quality. 
 His feet were frozen before he fully realized that they 
 were cold. 
 
 Reluctantly he quitted the sport and started for 
 home, accompanied with the other boys. There was 
 only one person in creation to whom he would have run 
 in such a time of need, and she was his mother. 
 
 " Frozen my feet, mother," he announced on entering 
 the house. 
 
 " Why, Ulysses, how did that happen ? Sure they are 
 frozen ? " his mother answered. 
 
 "You can see for yourself," replied the boy, calmly. 
 
 Examination showed that they were badly frozen, 
 and Mrs. Grant hurried to relieve him at once, remark 
 ing, 
 
 " They must be attended to immediately." 
 
 One of the boys suggested that Doctor Bailey be 
 called. 
 
 " Ma is my doctor," Ulysses responded ; " I don t 
 want any other." 
 
 Mrs. Grant seldom employed a physician. She had 
 a whole materiel medica of herbs, besides numerous 
 other catholicons for every emergency. Pioneer women 
 of the West were obliged to know much about the treat 
 ment of different maladies. Many townships could not 
 boast of a doctor. In cases of severe sickness, a neigh 
 bour would be posted off twenty, thirty, and, perhaps, 
 forty miles, to call one. Georgetown had a physician, 
 out ordinarily Mrs. Grant relied upon her own know 
 ledge and skill to restore the sick members of her 
 family. This case was no exception. 
 
 She sent one of the boys to the barn for some hay, 
 with which she smoked the feet thoroughly, and then 
 
60 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 bound slices of bacon upon them to extract the frost. 
 Doctor Bailey would not have cared for the patient 
 more promptly, coolly, and successfully than did Mrs. 
 Grant. 
 
 The fact illustrates the self-reliant spirit that per 
 vaded the home of Ulysses. Parents and children were 
 trained to depend upon themselves. We have seen this 
 element of character prominent thus far in Ulysses 1 
 young life. Not the spirit of conceit that overestimates 
 one s abilities, but that manly confidence in self which 
 enables one to make his own way in the world. When 
 Samuel J. Mills said to a fellow-student, "You and I 
 are little men, but before we die our influence must be 
 felt on the other side of the globe," there was no conceit 
 in his heart. It was simply a self-reliant, Christian 
 spirit asserting itself in view of the needs of a benighted 
 world the essential spirit that controls the being, and 
 puts all the faculties upon the qui vive, so that a youth, 
 under its power, will make the most of himself possible. 
 Ulysses possessed this element of character ; and so did 
 his mother and father, too, as well as other ancestors far 
 back in the family history. This quality was lifting 
 him into a nobler life, even when some people thought 
 he was dull. 
 
VII. 
 
 BUILDING THE JAIL. 
 
 WHEN Ulysses was twelve years old, his father con 
 tracted to build the county jail. Georgetown being the 
 shire-town of the county, the jail was to be located 
 there, making a very convenient job for Mr. Grant. A 
 jail had become a necessity. As population increased, 
 criminals increased. 
 
 " If you will buy Paul Devore s horse to work with 
 ours, I will draw all the logs, brick, and stone," was 
 the proposition of Ulysses to his father. " He wants 
 to sell his horse." 
 
 " It will be the heaviest job you ever undertook," 
 replied his father ; " but if you think you can put it 
 through, I can buy the horse." 
 
 " I can ; and that horse t will be a good match for 
 ours," said Ulysses. 
 
 Paul Devore was the Georgetown attorney, whom 
 thoughtless people called " Dave." He had a large, 
 black horse, and Mr. Grant had another black one 
 about the same size ; the two would make a splendid 
 pair. Such was the lad s opinion ; and his father 
 seemed to think it was correct, for he purchased the 
 horse for fifty-five dollars, and Ulysses christened him 
 "Dave," without discussion or ballot. The naming was 
 done in honour of the attorney, though report said that 
 the latter regarded it as an insult, and ever afterwards 
 
 61 
 
62 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 appeared to owe the boy a grudge. But the name 
 suited Ulysses, who bestowed it upon the animal with 
 out ill-will toward any member of the human family ; 
 and the horse was certainly content to wear the dis 
 tinguished honour. 
 
 The first thing to be done was to secure the logs, 
 each one of which must be a foot square when hewn 
 and fourteen feet long. Eleven hewers and one scorer 
 were engaged, and the work commenced in earnest. 
 The woods were two miles from the site for the jail, and 
 soon Ulysses had all that he could do. Rather proud 
 of his pair of fine, black horses, he began his summer s 
 work whole-hearted and resolute. 
 
 One morning he went to the woods, as usual, and no 
 hewers were there. It was their business to load the 
 timber ; the boy was to drive the team only. What 
 could he do now ? He called aloud, supposing they 
 might be in the vicinity somewhere, but there was no 
 response to his call. He was in trouble never more 
 perplexed in his life than he was for a short time on 
 that morning. Should he return without a load of 
 timber? That would be humiliating to himself, and 
 disappointing to his father. He was accustomed to 
 accomplish whatever he undertook. He looked about 
 for a way out of the difficulty. He saw a half-fallen 
 sugar-maple, with its top lodged in another tree. Its 
 trunk slanted just right for him to haul the hewn logs 
 up to a proper height upon it. Hitching " Dave " to 
 the logs, one by one, he drew them up, resting one end 
 of each on the inclined plane which the fallen tree 
 formed. Then backing his wagon up to them, and 
 fastening a chain to one, " Dave " drew it into the 
 wagon easily ; and so on until the load was complete. 
 
 " Nothing like trying," he thought, in his exultation, 
 
BUILDING THE JAIL. 63 
 
 for he had good reason to congratulate himself in sur 
 mounting this difficulty ; " how many times I have 
 heard father say that ! " 
 
 He was happier, and perhaps prouder, on his return 
 with that load than he ever was before. His wits had 
 done him good service, and his self-reliance and per 
 severance supplemented them well. 
 
 " Not one of the men in the woods to-day," he said 
 to his father, as he delivered his load. 
 
 " How is that ? Where are they? " his father asked 
 with surprise. 
 
 " That is what I tried to find out ; I almost split my 
 throat calling for them," said Ulysses. " Perhaps they 
 thought it was going to rain, and so stayed at home." 
 
 There was a drizzling rain in the morning, when 
 Ulysses started for the woods, and a pouring rain was 
 threatening ; but the boy was not accustomed to stop 
 work for so slight causes. Doubtless the threatening 
 weather did keep the hewers at home. 
 
 "Well, that is singular ; but who loaded the logs for 
 you ? " continued Mr. Grant. 
 
 " Dave and I loaded them." 
 
 " A pretty story, Lyss ; now, tell me how in the world 
 you got the logs loaded," responded his father. 
 
 It was not strange that Mr. Grant considered the 
 claim of his son improbable, for it took four or five men 
 to load the logs ; and they accomplished it by taking 
 the wheels off on one side, and letting the axles rest on 
 the ground ; then lifted the logs on with handspikes, 
 raised up the axles with levers, and put back the wheels. 
 It was not a probable story to him, that Ulysses loaded 
 the logs, when he considered these stubborn facts. 
 
 "It is true, father ; Dave and I did it," repeated 
 Ulysses. 
 
64 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " It is not possible ; it is incredible," re-asserted Mr. 
 Grant. 
 
 Ulysses proceeded to describe the process of loading 
 to his father, as we have already narrated ; and when he 
 was through, the whole thing was clear and simple to 
 him as A, B, C. He saw that his son had resorted to 
 a plan which the hewers might thereafter adopt to the 
 advantage of all concerned. 
 
 "Your wits did it this time, Lyss," remarked Mr. 
 Grant. 
 
 "My wits would not have done it without Dave," the 
 boy promptly answered. " Dave is a splendid beast." 
 
 He would not take all .the glory to himself. He was 
 too honest and just to rob even a horse of his laurels. 
 
 " Well, you can divide the glory with Dave if you 
 wish," added his father ; " the thing was well done, 
 whether you do or not." 
 
 Mr. Grant enjoyed this feat, particularly because 
 Ulysses method of loading logs v/as vastly better than 
 that adopted by the hewers. He advised them to use 
 more wit and sweat less thereafter. 
 
 The work of Ulysses, hauling logs, brick, and stone, 
 was not interrupted during the summer, except once. 
 His father had a law-suit pending in the State of 
 Connecticut, and the deposition of a man in Louisville, 
 Ky., was indispensable. His hands were so full of 
 business, that he could not spend time to go himself, 
 so he wrote two or three times to different parties, but 
 all in vain. He failed to secure the deposition. 
 
 " I can do the business," said Ulysses, when he heard 
 his father deploring the necessity of going to Louisville. 
 
 " I am afraid not," replied Mr. Grant ; " law business 
 is not exactly in your line ; it is more difficult than 
 loading logs." 
 
BUILDING THE JAIL. 65 
 
 "Well, I can try, anyway," added the boy, taking 
 advantage of his father s stereotyped counsel respecting 
 the virtue of trying. " I should like to go, first-rate." 
 
 Strange as it may seem, it was finally arranged that 
 this lad of twelve years should go to Louisville to 
 transact that important business. 
 
 " Who knows but you may be taken for a runaway 
 before you get there," suggested his father, who was not 
 joking in the least ; " but I can give you a letter to use 
 when it is necessary." 
 
 He wrote a letter, stating that the bearer was his son 
 Ulysses on his way to Louisville to transact business for 
 his father. He feared that when he went on board the 
 boat, the captain might not carry him without a pass of 
 this kind. 
 
 It happened that, on the way to Louisville, he met 
 with an acquaintance going thither, so that he had no 
 use for his letter until he returned. He reached the 
 city and transacted the business without the least diffi 
 culty ; securing the deposition and additional papers 
 necessary. 
 
 On taking a boat at Louisville to return, the captain 
 declined to carry him. 
 
 " I don t know but you are a runaway," said the 
 captain. " Who are you, anyway ? " 
 
 Ulysses was more amused than scared, because he 
 had the letter ; without the letter, he would have been 
 more scared than amused, in the circumstances. He 
 told the captain who he was, and produced his letter. 
 
 "All right, my boy," responded the captain, after 
 reading the letter. " You and I must get acquainted." 
 
 They did get acquainted, and became friends for ever. 
 The captain was curious to learn what the important 
 business was which a twelve-year-old was sent to ac- 
 
 F 
 
66 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 complish ; and he finally drew it all out of the boy. 
 By the process of extracting this knowledge, he found 
 that he had made the acquaintance of an uncommon 
 youth. That a father should send a son, twelve years 
 old, such a distance to transact important business, and 
 that, too, among strangers, was evidence to him that the 
 son must be a miniature man. He became so much 
 interested in his young passenger, that, on learning he 
 had relatives at Maysville, he invited him to go there 
 without any charge. 
 
 It is sufficient to add, that the mission of Ulysses was 
 very successful ; and his father, in consequence, was 
 enabled to conduct his suit to a favourable issue. 
 
 Before the jail was completed (in December), Ulysses 
 bought another colt for himself, a beautiful bay mare, 
 three and a half years old. The animal had never been 
 harnessed ; and her general appearance indicated that 
 she never would be without a tussle. She was high- 
 spirited and fractious. 
 
 When the jail was finished, Mr. Grant sold his wagon 
 to a citizen of Aberdeen, who happened to be in 
 Georgetown on business. He was to deliver the wagon 
 at Aberdeen, twenty-one miles away, the purchaser 
 leaving his horse to pair with another for that purpose. 
 
 " You must take the wagon over," said Mr. Grant to 
 Ulysses ; " it will be an interesting trip for you." 
 
 " I can make it interesting by harnessing my new colt 
 beside the Aberdeen horse," replied Ulysses. 
 
 " I think I should not undertake to harness your colt 
 yet at least, not on this trip," advised his father. 
 
 " I think she will keep sober beside another horse. 
 I will risk her," answered Ulysses. "It is a good 
 opportunity to begin with her." 
 
 The young colt was harnessed beside the Aberdeen 
 
BUILDING THE JAIL. 67 
 
 horse without much trouble. A saddle was put into the 
 wagon ; for Ulysses would ride the colt back, after the 
 wagon had been delivered. She was already broken to 
 the saddle, but was nervous and frisky. All things 
 ready, Ulysses drew the reins on his span, when, much 
 to his surprise, the colt started off as sedately as an old 
 horse, and for ten miles behaved herself with the ut 
 most propriety. All at once she began to prick up her 
 ears and snort, as if frightened. Ulysses had scarcely 
 discovered the cause, which proved to be the smell of a 
 slaughter-house near by, when she began to rear and 
 kick furiously. The more he tried to quiet her, the 
 more she kicked, until she cleared herself from the 
 harness. The resolute driver leaped to the ground, 
 seized her by the head, and held her until she became 
 quiet, during which time he took in the situation, and 
 resolved what to do. 
 
 Putting the saddle upon the fractious colt, he jumped 
 on her back and rode hurriedly into Ripley. 
 
 " Are there any horse-buyers in town ? " he inquired 
 of a man on the street. 
 
 "Yes, there is one here, certainly," the citizen 
 answered. "He is collecting horses to transport to 
 New Orleans. He was over yonder [pointing] at the 
 stable a half hour ago." 
 
 " Thank you," said Ulysses, and dashed away to the 
 stable. Seeing a man standing at the stable door, he 
 inquired, 
 
 " Are you buying horses ? " 
 
 " Yes ; got any to sell ? " 
 
 " My horse is for sale." 
 
 "What do you ask for him ?" 
 
 " Sixty-five dollars, and the use of him or some other 
 horse to take my wagon to Aberdeen." 
 
68 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHlTE HOUSE. 
 
 " Well, I like the appearance of your mare ; she is a 
 smart beast, I should think ; but your price is rather 
 
 high." 
 
 " Not for as valuable a mare as she is. Examine her, 
 such horses are scarce." 
 
 " I will give you sixty dollars and risk it," said the 
 horse-buyer. 
 
 " No, I can t take that ; she is worth more." 
 
 " I ll split the difference then," continued the man. 
 
 Ulysses hesitated a moment, canvassing his situation, 
 and then replied, 
 
 " Agreed ; I will close the bargain." 
 
 When the buyer was about to pay the money, he 
 hesitated a moment, and said, 
 
 " Look here, little fellow, you are pretty young to be 
 selling a horse. How do I know that it is all right ? " 
 
 Evidently the buyer was surprised that a mere boy 
 should be selling a horse, and his suspiciDn was aroused 
 that he might be disposing of what was not his own. 
 
 "If you suspect there is any dishonesty connected 
 with the trade, I think I can satisfy you," Ulysses 
 answered, in a way so manly as to impress the stranger. 
 
 "No, no; not exactly that. But you are the first 
 small boy I ever bought a horse of, and I have bought 
 a great many; and I wondered if everything was right 
 about it." 
 
 But Ulysses desired to remove all suspicions, and he 
 ran over the way for Captain Knight, whom he knew, 
 telling him what he wanted. 
 
 The captain left his work, and went to the stable with 
 his young friend. Accosting the stranger, he said, 
 
 " You ve bought a horse of Ulysses ; it is all right. 
 Any trade you make with him is just as straight as it 
 would be if you made it with his father." 
 
ZUILDING THE JAIL. 69 
 
 " His father couldn t have done it better," replied the 
 stranger ; " and when he is as old as his father is now, 
 he will be head and shoulders above him." 
 
 Ulysses paid no attention to the stranger s compli 
 ment, and it did not inflate his pride at all. 
 
 "Now for a horse to drive to Aberdeen," he said ; " I 
 shall have to hurry." 
 
 " There is a good, reliable beast you can take," the 
 buyer said, pointing to one in a stall. "You can 
 depend on him every time." 
 
 The stranger had no suspicions now. When he 
 hesitated about closing the bargain, doubtless he 
 thought of the horse he was to provide for the drive to 
 Aberdeen. Was it a trick to get pay for the horse sold, 
 and get another horse into the bargain ? But all such 
 unjust, though not unnatural, suspicions were dissipated 
 by Captain Knight ; and Ulysses drove the horse to 
 Aberdeen, and rode him back to Ripley on the follow 
 ing day. From Ripley he went by stage to George 
 town. 
 
 Ulysses was unlike his father in conversational 
 powers. He was not much of a talker ; but his father 
 was. He was a capital listener, however. From the 
 time he was three or four years of age he enjoyed the 
 society of his elders, because their conversation afforded 
 him pleasure. He would sit for hours, drinking in 
 every word of their conversation ; this habit continued 
 with him .into manhood. He was constantly learning 
 through the ear. By the time he was twelve or fifteen 
 years of age, his father was the foremost man of the 
 town ; deeply interested in public affairs, and able to 
 discuss them. He became quite a politician, in the best 
 sense of the word, and could support his views well on 
 public occasions. Of course, the visitors at his house 
 
70 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 were kindred spirits, an influential class, intelligent and 
 well posted. Much of Ulysses knowledge acquired in 
 his early life, was derived from this class by listening. 
 He always knew more than most people gave him 
 credit for. That was true during his whole life. He 
 never told all he knew to others. He pondered it in 
 the silence of his own mind. In this way, he derived 
 more satisfaction from it than was possible by retail 
 ing it. 
 
 Another element of Ulysses character, which has 
 cropped out all along thus far, was Observation. We 
 mean by this just what one of his neighbours meant, 
 when he said, " Ulysses keeps his eyes peeled." He 
 might have added, also, that he kept his mind " peeled," 
 for he saw with his mind, as well as with his eyes. This 
 was the kind of observation which he possessed the 
 highest and best known. This transforms the farmer 
 into a geologist, the blacksmith into a linguist, the 
 shoemaker into a statesman, the printer into a philo 
 sopher, the clerk into a merchant-prince, the mill-opera 
 tive into a United States Senator, and the Tanner Boy 
 into a great General and President of the United States. 
 
 We have seen that, while Ulysses did not read many 
 books, he did read " men and things." Patrick Henry s 
 advice to young aspirants for the legal profession was, 
 "Study men, not books." That is what Ulysses did. 
 He observed the tendency of acts, good and bad, and he 
 chose one and avoided the other. He saw that vice 
 hindered and virtue helped young and old in many 
 ways. He satisfied himself that his wisest course was 
 to husband his resources, to improve his time, to be 
 acquainted with the business of life, to do the right 
 thing at the right time, to be equal to emergencies, to 
 know men and even horses. Herein his keen, sharp 
 
BUILDING THE fAJL. ^l 
 
 observation assisted him through life, in school, on the 
 play-ground, in the tannery, at home and abroad, in 
 peace and war, in private and public life. The boy was 
 like the man in this regard, and vice versa. If he had 
 been a disciple of Hugh Miller, he could not have put 
 his advice into practice more directly than he did. 
 " Learn to make right use of your eyes ; the commonest 
 things are worth looking at ; even stones and weeds, 
 and the most familiar animals" 
 
VIII. 
 
 AT WEST POINT. 
 
 ULYSSES was not satisfied with his position as he grew 
 older. His dislike to the tannery rather increased than 
 diminished from year to year. He aspired to some 
 thing higher. His spirit grew impatient within its 
 narrow limits ; it would soar. Point Pleasant had 
 ceased to be all the world to him. There was a larger, 
 wider field of thought and action which he would enter. 
 It was not an idle dream to him ; it was a deep, earnest 
 conviction, which could not be suppressed. Now and 
 then he gave utterance to his desires, though not as 
 forcibly as he felt ; but, chiefly, he pondered these 
 things in his own heart. At length, however, the way 
 opened for him to express his mind. His father said to 
 him, 
 
 " Ulysses, I have been thinking that you had better 
 go into the beam-house to work." 
 
 The son had never worked there, and he never 
 wanted to, for it was the dirtiest and most disgusting 
 part of the business. The hides were cleaned there. A 
 knife, with a handle at both ends, was used to scrape off 
 flesh, hair, and dirt. The whole thing was repulsive to 
 Ulysses, and the thought of working in such a place he 
 could scarcely endure. And yet his reply was that of 
 an obedient son. It was, 
 
 " Father, if you say I must go into the < Beamhouse 
 
 72 
 
A T WEST PC1NT. 73 
 
 to work, I shall go ; but my whole soul is against it. 
 I will work at the tanning business until I am twenty- 
 one years old, if you say so, but not one day longer." 
 
 " Why, my son," replied Mr, Grant, " I did not know 
 that you were so bitterly opposed to this business." 
 
 He did not know it, because Ulysses had not said 
 much about it. He had felt vastly more than he had 
 expressed. 
 
 " I do not want you should follow this business if 
 you feel so about it," continued Mr. Grant. " Unless 
 you intend to make it your business for life, it is not 
 best that you should work at it another day." 
 
 " Well, that is the way I feel, father," added the son, 
 " and I have felt so a long time ; I never did like the 
 business, and I want to go into some other." 
 
 " What business do you want to follow ? " inquired 
 his father. 
 
 " Best of all, I should like to get an education ; next 
 to that, I would be a farmer, or a Mississippi trader." 
 
 Here was an unexplored field opened by a single 
 reply. It was the first definite knowledge Mr. Grant 
 had that his son desired an education. Few people in 
 Point Pleasant would have anticipated such a revelation. 
 Most of them would have expected to hear that he 
 wanted to become a boss horse-dealer. He was not 
 understood. He was greatly misunderstood. Looking 
 back from our present standpoint, we should say that 
 he was a standard human puzzle to his neighbours. 
 He knew much about farming, and he could be a farmer 
 with satisfaction to himself, showing that his new atti 
 tude was not prompted by pride or vanity. He was a 
 born trader, so that the life of a " Mississippi trader " 
 he could choose readily. Such a trader carried truck 
 up and down the Mississippi river on a flat-boat. Abra- 
 
74 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ham Lincoln did this business, for a time, in his early 
 manhood. Ulysses could do it as well. 
 
 " I should not care to have you become a Mississippi 
 trader, " answered his father ; " it is a life of great ex 
 posure, and there are many temptations connected with 
 it. You would come in contact with a class of the 
 meanest men, though you need not be mean because 
 they are. Your desire for an education is as gratifying 
 to me as it is unexpected." 
 
 " I have been thinking about it a good while," con 
 tinued Ulysses. " I could not see exactly how it could 
 be brought about, and I do not see, now, how it can ; 
 but I desire an education all the same." 
 
 At this time, Mr. Grant s property was estimated at 
 eight or ten thousand dollars, but he had five children 
 besides Ulysses, viz. : Simpson, Clara, Virginia, Orville 
 L., and Mary Frances. Should he educate Ulysses, he 
 would be doing more for him than would be possible 
 for him to do for the others, and he could not justify 
 himself in doing that. He said, 
 
 " I will spend money more freely for education than 
 for almost anything else, but if I spend it on you, I 
 shall have little to spend on your brothers and sisters." 
 
 " I know that," responded Ulysses ; " but I have been 
 thinking about West Point, where Doctor Bailey s son 
 is." 
 
 " Would you like to go there ? " 
 
 " Nothing would suit me better, father ; and I shall 
 do the very best I can, if I go." 
 
 " Well, I think we can bring that about, and I will 
 attend to it at once," added Mr. Grant, in a tone which 
 indicated the matter was settled in his own mind. 
 
 Ulysses desire to go to West Point Academy came 
 about in this way. His near neighbour, Doctor Bailey s 
 
AT WEST POINT. 75 
 
 son, was there, so that the school had been talked about 
 more or less. He was well acquainted with its general 
 character, and knew that young men were educated 
 there at the expense of their country. Perhaps no one 
 supposed that he was adapted to a military life. Per 
 haps he himself did not think so ; but he desired an 
 education, and there he could be well educated, although 
 it would take of the military character, and his father 
 would have no bills to pay. 
 
 Each Congressional District could keep one young 
 man at West Point all the while, and George Bailey 
 was supposed to be the cadet from that particular Dis 
 trict, so that it would do no good for Mr. Grant to apply 
 to his Congressional Representative. Each Senator, 
 also, could appoint one cadet, as Mr. Grant learned ; so 
 he wrote to Senator Morris, inquiring if he had a cadet 
 vacancy to fill. He received the following reply : 
 
 "I have not. There being no application for the 
 cadetship, I waived my right to appoint in favour of a 
 Member of Congress from Pennsylvania. But there is 
 a vacancy in your own District, and doubtless Mr. 
 Hamer, your Representative, will fill it with your son." 
 
 This correspondence exposed an unpleasant fact. 
 As we have said, George Bailey was supposed to fill 
 the place, but he had been expelled for what might be 
 regarded a trivial offence alleging illness as an excuse 
 for being absent from recitation, when he was not ill. 
 He was so mortified at his expulsion that he did not 
 return home, but went to Illinois, and his parents and 
 friends had kept the affair secret. But now the facts 
 were made known, and there was a vacancy for Ulysses, 
 if he could secure the appointment. Mr. Grant wrote 
 immediately to Hon. Thomas L. Hamer, a Representative 
 from his District at Washington. Mr. Hamer received 
 
76 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the letter on March 3, 1839, a few hours before the close 
 of the session. He dispatched a note to the Secre 
 tary of War, asking for the appointment, and immedi 
 ately wrote to Mr. Grant : 
 
 " I received your letter, and have asked for the ap 
 pointment of your son, which will doubtless be made. 
 Why didn t you apply to me sooner ? " 
 
 When Mr. Hamer applied for the appointment, he 
 did it without recurring to Mr. Grant s letter, and so 
 made a blunder in the name, giving it Ulysses S., in 
 stead of Hiram Ulysses. By that name he was ap 
 pointed and recorded, and by that was known at West 
 Point. He made several unsuccessful attempts to get 
 back his baptismal name, but all to no purpose. Na 
 tional red-tape was altogether too mighty for his noblest 
 efforts, and he finally gave up in despair, accepting the 
 name accidentally given to him by his Congressional 
 Representative, and wore it through life. 
 
 Never did another mortal have such a time in getting 
 and keeping his name, and losing it after all, as our 
 tanner s son. There seemed to be some direful fatality 
 attending it, so that he bore a name for forty-five years, 
 which neither he nor his parents meant he should bear ; 
 and yet, no one was to blame, and no one intended to 
 do him a wrong. This fact is in complete harmony 
 with much that was so puzzling about Ulysses early life. 
 It was the Nation s name that he took when he became 
 a cadet, which means son son of the Nation and the 
 Nation is not sorry. It is better that his name should 
 go down through the ages without being encumbered 
 with Hiram. 
 
 Ulysses secured the appointment in March, 1839, a 
 month before his sixteenth birthday ; and he was a 
 happy boy. 
 
AT WES * POINT 77 
 
 " I have laid up enough money to pay the bills," said 
 Ulysses to his mother. 
 
 " I thought the nation paid the bills," answered his 
 mother. 
 
 " The government requires a deposit of sixty dollars, 
 so that I can have something to get home with, in case 
 I don t pass an examination," replied Ulysses. " Then 
 my outfit of shirts, flannels, towels, etc., and my fare, 
 will take the remainder. But I am satisfied ; when I 
 get there, there will be a respectable distance between 
 me and the tannery." 
 
 "You will have occasion to use that sixty dollars in 
 getting back home," responded his mother, " unless you 
 improve the few weeks to come in hard study." 
 
 " I comprehend that truth fully ; and I am going to 
 see if Mr. Summers will hear me recite," said Ulysses. 
 " A few weeks with him will give me a pass to West 
 Point." 
 
 Mr. Summers was a popular teacher in Georgetown, 
 and Ulysses arranged with him to study up to the very 
 day of leaving. And he applied himself closely to his 
 studies, making decided progress, and proving that there 
 was more of the scholar in him than his father had 
 supposed. 
 
 His mother was equally busy in preparing his outfit. 
 He must leave on the i$th day of May, so that her 
 work crowded every moment. 
 
 The news that Ulysses had been appointed cadet in 
 that Congressional District, spread through the town 
 quickly. It was unexpected. Few supposed that he 
 wanted to go to school. Some wondered how so dull a 
 boy could get the appointment. Paul Devore, the 
 attorney, who remembered that Ulysses named his 
 horse after him, said, 
 
78 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Lyss going to West Point ? Why in the world did 
 Hamer not appoint a boy who would do credit to the 
 District?" 
 
 If he was honest in his remark, and that was all he 
 knew about Ulysses, his ignorance should be forgiven, 
 and the ignorance of all other citizens of Georgetown 
 who understood the human nature of Ulysses no better 
 than they did Hebrew or Greek. 
 
 A journalist of Philadelphia, who was born in George 
 town about the time Ulysses was born in Point Pleasant, 
 wrote as follows about his becoming a West Pointer ; 
 and his words show what the prevailing feeling was at 
 home when the news of his appointment came. The 
 journalist s letter was written since the war. 
 
 " A brother of the General was a fellow- devil in the 
 printing-office in which we were then the younger imp, 
 and through him we became acquainted with Ulysses, 
 or Lyss/ as he was called by the boys. He was then 
 a stumpy, freckle-faced, big-headed country lad of fifteen, 
 or thereabouts, working in his father s tan-yard ; and we 
 often stood by his side and exercised our amateur hand, 
 under his direction, in breaking bark for the old bark- 
 mill down in the hollow. Though sneered at for his 
 awkwardness by the scions of noble Kentucky, who 
 honoured Georgetown with their presence, Ulysses was 
 a favourite with the smaller boys of the village, who had 
 learned to look up to him as a sort of protector. 
 
 "We well remember the stir created by the appoint 
 ment of the tanner s son to a cadetship at West Point. 
 The surprise among the sons of our doctors, lawyers, 
 and store-keepers was something wonderful. Indeed, 
 none of us boys, high or low, rich or poor, could clearly 
 imagine how Uncle Sam s school-masters were going to 
 
AT WEST POINT. 79 
 
 transform our somewhat outre-look mg comrade into our 
 beau ideal of dandyism a West Pointer. But the rude 
 exterior of the bark-grinder covered a wealth of intellect, 
 which, of course, we youngsters were not expected to be 
 cognizant of. Modest and unassuming, though deter 
 mined, self-reliant, and decisive then as he still seems to 
 be we mistook his shy, retiring disposition for slowness, 
 and, looked up to as he was by us all, we must confess 
 there was much joking at his expense as we gathered. in 
 the evenings in the Court-house Square." 
 
 The departure of Ulysses was the first breach in the 
 Grant family, and it was a large one. But there was 
 bravery there ; and, for the cadet s sake, all determined 
 that tears should not disclose how badly they felt. So 
 their faces were as smiling as that May morning, when 
 he bade them good-bye, and ran across the street to say 
 " good-bye " to Doctor Bailey s people. He was some 
 what put back, however, when he would have had a cheer 
 ful parting, by Mrs. Bailey and her daughter bursting 
 into tears. He was confused for a moment. Doubtless 
 Miss Bailey was the first girl who ever shed a tear over 
 him. His fluster was excusable. Recovering his equi 
 librium in a moment, he said, 
 
 " Why, you must be sorry that I am going. They 
 didn t cry at our house"; and off he hurried. 
 
 " They didn t cry at our house." No, but they wanted 
 to badly. Jesse Grant himself would not have been 
 more missed by his family. Take away from a house 
 hold such a trusty, handy, driving, loving, faithful 
 member, and nothing can be found to fill the place. 
 There is a gap there, and it continues to be a gap. For 
 a week or two, a gap was about all there was of the 
 Grant family. In the morning, at night, at breakfast, 
 
So FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 dinner, and supper, the gap appeared. The gap which 
 Ulysses left behind him was not so great as death occa 
 sions, but it was next to it. 
 
 Mrs. Grant had relatives in Philadelphia, and Ulysses 
 always had a strong desire to go there, and now was the 
 favourable opportunity for him to spend a week in the 
 " Quaker city," of which he had heard so much. It was 
 so arranged on planning his journey, and relatives were 
 written to in that metropolis. 
 
 A more delightful time Ulysses never had than he 
 spent in Philadelphia. Everything was new and attrac 
 tive to him. From morning until night, day after day, 
 for more than a week, he walked the streets, wondering, 
 enjoying, spending his money, and running over with 
 interest. He had seventy-five dollars when he left 
 home, including the sixty dollars he would be required 
 to deposit at West Point ; but when he concluded his 
 visit at Philadelphia, he had remaining but little more 
 than enough to carry him to West Point. 
 
 On reaching the Military Academy, and responding 
 to his name, he replied to the inquiry about his deposit 
 money in case he should not pass the examination, 
 
 " I intend to pass examination." 
 
 Of course he had no need of sixty dollars to deposit 
 for such a contingency. He would annihilate the con 
 tingency ; and he did. He passed the examination 
 without the least difficulty, and entered upon his four 
 years course of study with high hope? 
 
 West Point is situated on the west bank of the 
 Hudson River, fifty-two miles from New York City. It 
 occupies a beautiful plateau, and is world-renowned for 
 its attractions. The military school was established 
 there in 1794 by the recommendation of Washington. 
 
 The course of study, when Ulysses entered, embraced 
 
AT WEST POINT. Si 
 
 a thorough English education ; the modern languages, 
 particularly French and Spanish ; chemistry ; experi 
 mental philosophy; ethics; constitutional, military, and 
 international law; mineralogy and geology; together 
 with drill in infantry and artillery tactics ; the use of 
 rifled, mortar, siege, and sea-coast guns ; small sword 
 and bayonet exercise ; construction of field-works and 
 fortifications ; and the fabrication of munitions and 
 material of war. Within the last twenty-five years, 
 changes have been adopted for the improvement of the 
 institution, until now it is said to be second to nc 
 American college in thorough instruction and discipline. 
 
 After a class is admitted, each one is examined 
 separately in regard to family connections, particularly 
 as to the occupation and pecuniary circumstances of his 
 father. The student is limited to three answers, viz. : 
 "indigent," "moderate," or "affluent." This examination 
 is conducted by the adjutant at his office, so that the 
 result cannot be known to the students, lest the rich 
 should impose upon the poor. It has been found, how 
 ever, that a majority of the students are the sons of 
 " indigent " parents. Another fact is publicly stated, 
 that a majority of students dropped out or expelled 
 during the past history of the institution, have been the 
 sons of rich men. 
 
 A rigid examination of each student as to his physical 
 condition is considered indispensable, and many appli 
 cants are rejected. A student must be five feet high. 
 Ulysses measured five feet and one inch. If he had 
 been one inch and a quarter shorter, he would have been 
 rejected, and the United States would have lost a great 
 general. Young Grant grew several inches during his 
 college-course, and measured five feet and eight inches 
 when he was graduated. 
 
 G 
 
82 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The students are awakened at five o clock In the 
 morning by the drum-beat ; and, from that time, the 
 drum calls them to every duty as well as to their meals. 
 They are drilled five days in the week from March to 
 November, and encamp in tents like an army, during 
 July and August, performing in rotation the duties of 
 sentinel night and day, while subject to all the regula 
 tions and discipline of an army in the field. They are 
 drummed to bed every night at ten o clock, from the 
 time they enter until they are graduated. They study 
 five hours in the morning ; then dinner ; roll-call at one 
 o clock p.m. ; then drill from two to four ; then recrea 
 tion until ten o clock, except dress parade at sundown. 
 
 The government of the institution is firm and auto 
 cratic. And yet the aim is to make each student feel 
 that he stands upon his honour that he is something 
 more than a student ; he is a soldier and gentleman 
 qualifying himself to serve his country. Ulysses was 
 just the youth to regard such a rule to the letter. It 
 was no self-denial, but a real pleasure for him to come 
 under such a regulation. 
 
 Ulysses was nicknamed " Uncle Sam " by his fellow- 
 students, because he was grave and reliable. All the 
 students were nicknamed ; one was called " Dad," be 
 cause his hair was prematurely gray; another "Doctor," 
 because he had studied medicine; still another, for some 
 unrecorded reason, was called " Bullhead " ; and yet 
 another, " Jeremy Diddler." 
 
 During the four years course, students can go home 
 but once at the end of the second year. Ulysses went 
 home after an absence of two years, and after the first 
 joyful salutation, his mother said, 
 
 "Why, Ulysses, how much straighter you have 
 grown ! " 
 
AT WEST POINT. 83 
 
 "That is the first thing they taught me," he replied. 
 
 Everybody took notice of his great improvement in 
 manners, culture, and conversation. He was less retiring, 
 much more manly, and his general bearing was that of 
 a gentleman. 
 
 Many false stones have been told about his trouble 
 with fellow-students ; how he was ridiculed and in 
 sulted, until he thrashed the offenders and taught them 
 better. As a matter of fact, he never had any trouble 
 with students, and he was treated kindly by them. 
 Indeed, he became popular with them for his many good 
 qualities ; and no student ranked higher for sound judg 
 ment than he. Often, when questions of dispute arose, 
 a student would say, 
 
 " Well, let us leave it to Uncle Sam." 
 
 As a scholar he did not excel, though he was thorough, 
 and never slid over a lesson without understanding it 
 In mathematics he was superior to most of his class. 
 In all branches of study he exhibited decided ability to 
 get at the root of the matter. Indeed, he sought to 
 master his lessons, although he was slower than many 
 in accomplishing it. When he was graduated, he stood 
 number twenty-one in a class of thirty-eight, which was 
 remarkably good standing, when we consider that he 
 was very poorly prepared for college in comparison with 
 most of his class-mates. Notwithstanding this dis 
 couraging odds against him, by application and perse 
 verance he maintained this creditable standing. His 
 class numbered a hundred at the beginning of his 
 course, and more than half of them dropped out or were 
 expelled before the expiration of the four years. Yet 
 young Grant, with all the drawbacks from lack of early 
 culture, stood number twenty-one ! That was a noble 
 record ! 
 
84 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 In horsemanship he surpassed all. He was considered 
 the best rider the institution ever had. He could ride 
 the most vicious steed, and ride standing, sitting, or 
 lying down. The most powerful horse known in the 
 whole region was " York," ugly as sin, and brilliant as 
 he was ugly. Only two students had pluck enough to 
 ride him Grant and Clouts. Grant delighted to mount 
 him, and ride him upon the " dead run," and leap the 
 fifth bar, about six feet from the ground. Hamilton 
 said to him one day, after he had taken the highest leap 
 ever taken at West Point on the back of York, 
 
 " Grant, you will get killed some day by that beast." 
 
 " Well, I can t die but once," answered Grant. He did 
 not appear to possess the slightest fear, or even to think 
 there was any danger. 
 
 Grant won the confidence and esteem of his teachers 
 for his amiability, purity, fidelity, and commendable 
 application to his daily tasks. He won the respect of 
 his fellow-students, also, for his generous, fair-minded, 
 straight-forward conduct in school and on the campus. 
 His classmates might have been surprised at his success 
 in the field ; but none of them were sorry. Rather, they 
 rejoiced in the glory which he won in so many bloody 
 conflicts. 
 
 There can be no question that Grant laid the founda 
 tion of his great generalship at West Point. There is 
 no proof that he was a born military genius. People 
 who knew him were surprised that he entered a military 
 school ; but a few only construed his choice into taste or 
 tact for military life. We think the secret lies here. 
 He entered West Point with a high aim, which could 
 not be sustained without rallying the noblest forces of 
 his being. APPLICATION was indispensable ; and this 
 demanded singleness of purpose, industry, thoroughness, 
 
AT WEST POINT. 85 
 
 and a whole group of virtues. Sir Isaac Newton said, that 
 his success was due, not to genius, but to " continued 
 application " ; and that has been true of successful men 
 in all departments of work. It was certainly true of 
 Grant at West Point. He learned the great business of 
 his life there. The ability to lead a million men, and to 
 plan and execute mighty campaigns, had its origin there. 
 True, the first two years of the war gave him experience, 
 which proved a higher education to him ; but that 
 would never have been without the four years of APPLI 
 CATION at West Point 
 
IX. 
 
 ON THE WAR PATH. 
 
 GRANT was graduated at West Point in June, 1843, 
 receiving ninety days furlough, according to the custom, 
 which time he spent at home with his friends in Ohio. 
 He was appointed brevet second lieutenant in the Fourth 
 Infantry, stationed at " Jefferson Barracks," near St. 
 Louis. To that post he repaired, after having had a 
 particularly good time with relatives and friends for 
 ninety days. 
 
 Here began his real army life. At that time, the army 
 of the United States numbered but seven thousand five 
 hundred men, scattered over the country, to garrison 
 forts and to protect settlers on the frontier from the 
 depredations of Indians. "Jefferson Barracks" was 
 designed to protect the scattered whites from the 
 violence of savages. Of course, soldiers had little to do 
 in time of peace. It was a dull, monotonous, lazy life, 
 especially when barracks were far away from civiliza 
 tion. 
 
 " Jefferson Barracks " being near the city of St. Louis, 
 the soldiers found congenial society and pleasures in that 
 town. Grant found additional enjoyment, also, in the 
 family of Col. Frederick Dent, who lived four miles from 
 the " Barracks." Grant was in the twenty-second year of 
 his age, and there was a daughter in this estimable 
 
ON THE WAR PATH. 87 
 
 family three years younger. She was accomplished and 
 beautiful, the most attractive young lady he had 
 ever seen ; that is, if results are an index. The city of 
 St. Louis had no attractions for him so long as the Dent 
 family was accessible. To be a doorkeeper in the latter 
 was preferable to the tents of wickedness which abounded 
 in the city. Very fortunate for Grant that affairs took 
 this turn ; for not a few soldiers were led into evil ways 
 by the temptations of the city. On the other hand, 
 Grant was led up, up, up, by the love of the Dent house 
 hold. He had never manifested the slightest sensibility 
 to the charms of girlhood ; but he was here led up grad 
 ually to the high plane of true love ; and his affection 
 was reciprocated. The young couple struck up a bar 
 gain, somewhat to the annoyance of the parents, who 
 could not discover large promise in the future of a young 
 second lieutenant in the " Jefferson Barracks." 
 
 " You know nothing about his history," her mother 
 said to her infatuated daughter. " He is really a stranger 
 to you." 
 
 " But he is a graduate of West Point," the daughter 
 replied. " If he was an unprincipled, good-for-nothing 
 young man, he could not have taken a diploma there ; 
 and certainly he appears to be a worthy young man." 
 
 " I grant that his appearance is that of a steady, honest 
 young man," responded Mrs. D. ; " but appearances are 
 often misleading. It is better to wait and learn facts." 
 
 Her father felt as deeply upon the subject, and, 
 possibly, more than the mother, had been hoping that 
 his daughter would marry greatness or a fortune. He 
 could discover neither of these in store for her if she 
 married an unknown army officer. 
 
 " Wait, Julia, and not take up with a man who is not 
 your equal," he said. " You can do better ; and you 
 
88 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 are young yet. Do not take a step for which you will 
 be sorry all your life-time." 
 
 Opposition availed nothing. It it said that " love will 
 go where it is sent," and it did in this case ; and it not 
 only went, but it stayed. The engagement was con 
 summated and confirmed. The two lovers determined 
 to wait for each other, whether the time might be long 
 or short. 
 
 Grant had been at "Jefferson Barracks" nearly two 
 years when he received a furlough, and started for his 
 home in Ohio. On the same day that he reached home, 
 he was notified by letter that his regiment was ordered 
 to Red River. Stopping with his parents but one day, 
 he returned to Missouri, bade his betrothed good-bye, 
 and moved with his regiment towards the war-cloud. 
 War with Mexico was imminent an unjust war on the 
 part of the United States, because it was waged in the 
 interest of slavery ; but the army had to obey orders, 
 right or wrong. Hostilities were delayed, however, and 
 the regiment was encamped nearly a year at Ecore, on 
 the Red River ; then moved, and for a time rendezvoused 
 near New Orleans, where the colonel of the regiment 
 made himself obnoxious by drunkenness. Sometimes 
 the police of that city arrested him, and locked him up. 
 At one time, Grant went to search for him, and found 
 him in the police court, awaiting his call for trial for 
 " drunkenness and disorderly conduct." Grant took a 
 seat by his side ; and before the case was reached, he 
 heard the tramp of soldiers in the street, and very soon 
 the command, 
 
 " Halt ! Ground arms ! " 
 
 The young lieutenant hurried to the door, where he 
 found a squad of his own company. 
 
 " Boys, what does this mean ? " he inquired. 
 
ON THE WAR PATH. 89 
 
 " Well," answered the corporal, " we heard the colonel 
 had got into an ugly scrape with those rascally police, so 
 I have brought up a squad to prove an alibi 
 
 " It is too late ; you may march back," answered 
 Grant, laughing. 
 
 At Corpus Christi, subsequently, General Taylor 
 became so thoroughly tried with this dissolute colonel 
 that he said to him, 
 
 " You have my permission to resign." 
 
 " That is not practicable," answered the colonel, who 
 had partially recovered from a debauch ; " I have spent 
 all my property, and have no other means to live by. 
 Military life is the only one I am acquainted with, and 
 I am too old to learn any other/ 
 
 " You are not too old to be decent, and not disgrace 
 your uniform ; but we shall see about that," replied 
 General Taylor. 
 
 The colonel was removed ; but in view of his long 
 service, President Polk reinstated him. 
 
 But war was enevitable ; and Grant fought the first 
 battle of his life at Palo Alto, where the tall grass of the 
 prairie was set on fire by burning wads, and, under 
 cover of the smoke, Grant s regiment and Ringgold s 
 battery flanked the enemy on his left, and forced him to 
 change his line of battle. It was a new experience to 
 Grant, to see comrades falling at his side. Captain 
 Page had his lower jaw shot off by a cannon ball. The 
 head of another soldier near by was blown off. A 
 bayonet was thrust into the mouth of another, and it 
 pierced through the neck and came out on the other 
 side, and he was left for dead on the field ; but, strange 
 to say, he entirely recovered. 
 
 Another battle was fought on the following day at 
 Resaca de la Palma. Captain McCall, with Grant and 
 
90 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 one hundred picked men, engaged the foe. Grant and 
 his regiment were in the hottest of the fight. It was 
 here that an officer entreated General Taylor, who was 
 under a hot fire, to retire to a place of safety, to which 
 the brave General replied, 
 
 " No, we won t go back ; but let us ride a little for 
 ward, where the balls ivill fall behind us" The Mexi 
 cans were completely routed in this battle. 
 
 Subsequently, Grant was appointed acting-assistant 
 quartermaster a very honourable position, requiring 
 the best business capacity. 
 
 Soon followed the assault on Monterey, where two of 
 Grant s messmates, Hoskins and Wood, fell while 
 cheering on their men. Grant was not under obliga 
 tions to fight, because he was quarter-master ; but he 
 was in the thickest of the battle, fighting with more 
 bravery than ever. He wrote to his parents when he 
 was " en route to the City of Mexico," 
 
 " My new post of quartermaster is considered to 
 afford an officer an opportunity to be relieved from 
 fighting ; but I do not and cannot see it in that light. 
 The post of danger is the post of duty in war. This is 
 the way Warren looked at it, you remember, when he 
 asked General Putnam where he would send him in the 
 battle of Bunker Hill. I shall send you, Mr. President, 
 replied Putnam (for you recollect that Warren was the 
 President of the Continental Congress at that time), to 
 a place of safety. 
 
 " No, General, said Warren quickly; send me 
 where the fight may be the hottest, for there I can 
 do the most good to my country. 
 
 " So I feel, in my position as quartermaster. I do 
 not intend it shall keep me from fighting for the flag 
 when the battle comes." 
 
ON THE WAR PATH. 91 
 
 On the day after the battle of Monterey, Grant met 
 an old friend of his boyhood, from Georgetown. He 
 was captain of an Ohio company of volunteers. They 
 sat down together, and talked over the days of auld 
 lang syne. The Captain said he was going to be 
 married on his return after the war was over. Grant 
 confided to him an account of his own engagement, 
 disclosing the fact that his betrothed had offered to 
 release him from the engagement, because her father had 
 become pecuniarily embarrassed ; but Grant did not 
 hanker for such release. The girl had captured him, 
 after taking all the approaches by storm, and a more 
 willing captive never figured in history. The two old 
 friends parted, each promising to name his first son 
 after the other. More than twenty years afterwards 
 a son of the Ohio Captain was graduated at West Point, 
 by the name of Ulysses Grant White. 
 
 The battle of Molino del Rey, Sept. 8, 1847, was one 
 of the most sanguinary contests of the Mexican War, 
 and here Grant so distinguished himself for bravery that 
 he was promoted to the first lieutenancy of infantry. 
 Congress proposed to confirm this as a brevet appoint 
 ment, but he modestly declined the honour, preferring, 
 as he said, 
 
 "To reach the position by regular gradations of 
 service." 
 
 In working their way up to Chepultepec, it was 
 necessary to capture an old stone powder mill, several 
 hundred feet long. It was crowded with Mexicans, who 
 had fled into it for refuge. Grant left his commissary- 
 wagons to engage in the fight, and it was here that he 
 saw Robert Anderson fall, shot through the shoulder. 
 This was the Anderson who subsequently commanded 
 at Fort Sumter, when the rebels fired upon it. In this 
 
92 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 charge upon the mill, too, he stumbled over the body ol 
 his friend Dent, who was wounded in the thigh. Stop 
 ping to learn whether his old friend was dead or alive, 
 he discovered a Mexican adjusting his musket to fire 
 at Dent ; but seeing Grant, and noticing Lieutenant 
 Thome near by, the Mexican suddenly wheeled about to 
 run his bayonet through the latter officer, when Grant 
 shouted, 
 
 " Look out, Thorne ! look out ! " 
 
 Quicker than we can relate it, Sergeant Robinson 
 thrust his bayonet through the Mexican s body, while 
 Thorne put a bullet through his head. In a twinkling, 
 Grant, Thorne, and Robinson rushed into the mill, and 
 drove the frightened Mexicans from room to room, until 
 the building was cleared, and they passed out on the back 
 side. Forty or fifty of the enemy were on the top of 
 the building, and to reach them, Grant turned up a cart 
 against the mill, and climbed the shafts to the roof. 
 To his surprise, there he found an Irish soldier, with 
 musket in hand, keeping guard over the terrified 
 Mexicans, whom he had, alone, captured. The prisoners 
 still bore their arms, and yet yielded to their single- 
 handed captor without a contest. Grant took away 
 their arms. 
 
 The terrible battle of Chepultepec quickly followed, 
 in which Grant not only displayed great courage, but 
 decided military skill as well. He pursued the fleeing 
 foe toward the San Cosmo Gate, but was stopped at a 
 cross-road by a volley of musketry from a breast-work. 
 Taking a half-dozen men, he led them around to the 
 rear on the run, where he found Captain Brooks, who 
 had come up with his cannon and fifty men. 
 
 "Captain," shouted Grant, "we can carry the works 
 by storm. Shall we do it ? " 
 
ON THE WAR PATH. 93 
 
 " Forward ! " answered the brave Captain. 
 
 In five minutes, Grant and Brooks had taken the 
 enemy in the rear, and were over the breast-work, 
 driving the startled Mexicans at the point of their 
 bayonets. On the following morning the capital of 
 Mexico surrendered. Grant received honourable men 
 tion for his exploits in official reports. Major Lee 
 said, 
 
 " At the first barrier the enemy was in strong force, 
 and stood his ground well. We had to be very cautious 
 how we came up under his raking fire, for he enfiladed 
 us the whole length of the line. So up we went, slowly 
 creeping along, until the head of the battalion was with 
 in short musket-range of the barrier. At this point 
 Lieutenant Grant came up handsomely, pushed forward 
 with our men, and drove in the enemy s flank." 
 
 Major Lee made special mention of Grant in his 
 report, thus : 
 
 "Second-lieutenant Grant behaved with distinguished 
 gallantry on the I3th and I4th." 
 
 General Garland also said, " I must not omit to 
 call attention to Lieutenant Grant, 4th Infantry, who 
 acquitted himself most nobly on several occasions, 
 under my own observation." 
 
 It is worthy of note that the Major Lee, who reported 
 as above, became commander of the confederate forces 
 in the late War of the Rebellion, and finally surrendered 
 his sword to Grant at Appomattox. Little did the 
 Major dream, when he wrote so kindly of young Grant 
 in his report, that he was speaking of his future 
 conqueror, in the bloodiest civil war on record, and 
 that to him, in less than twenty years, he would be 
 forced to surrender his sword, the most humiliating act 
 of his life. 
 
94 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 General Worth, too, made special mention of Grant s 
 bravery and skill, in his official report of the battle 
 at Chepultepec ; but one other officer was mentioned. 
 For meritorious conduct in this engagement, he was 
 promoted to a captaincy in the regular army, and 
 Congress confirmed the appointment at its next session, 
 in 1849. 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable feat which Grant per 
 formed in the Mexican war was his perilous ride for 
 ammunition, at the battle of Monterey. The detach 
 ment engaged found themselves, towards night, with 
 scarcely any ammunition, and their supply was a mile 
 away, with General Twiggs. 
 
 " Who will volunteer to go for ammunition ? " said 
 the commanding officer, who would not order any one 
 of the rank or file to go, on account of the perilous 
 undertaking. 
 
 " I will go," responded Grant, stepping forward 
 promptly. 
 
 In his frontier soldier-life he had learned much of 
 horsemanship from the Comanche Indians. This 
 knowledge, added to his previous skill in this line, 
 made him the best horseman in the army. 
 
 He had a well-trained animal, and he went behind a 
 house to get ready for the fearful ride, and then dashed 
 forward. 
 
 Clinging to the side of his beast, on the side opposite 
 the enemy, with one foot thrown over the saddle, 
 and holding on upon the horse s mane, the animal 
 just flew over the ground, through a shower of deadly 
 missiles the whole distance. A bullet could not hit 
 the rider without passing through the horse, but 
 that the latter was not riddled through and through 
 with balls before accomplishing half the distance was 
 
ON THE WAR PATH. 95 
 
 indeed miraculous. He found the General, who at once 
 issued an order to forward the ammunition, but before 
 it started the detachment engaged came rushing back, 
 being unable to hold their position. They had gallantly 
 marched forward into a dangerous position, which they 
 were forced to abandon. Grant said, 
 
 " I am reminded of the man who caught a wild boar. 
 Friends, coming up, congratulated him upon his success, 
 when he replied, 
 
 " Yes, I did pretty well in catching him, but now I 
 wish somebody would come and help me let him go. " 
 
 Grant was in every battle of the Mexican war, except 
 that of Buena Vista. He was at the capital of Mexico 
 when it fell, the final event of the war. He beheld 
 the flag, under which he had fought, unfurled over the 
 national palace. The claim of the United States to 
 the territory of Texas was established, and sealed with 
 blood. The result was that Mexico ceded to our 
 government that portion of our country which we call 
 California and New Mexico. 
 
 Several facts should be recorded here. The most 
 difficult part of the Mexican war was to supply the 
 army, and here was one reason for Grant s position as 
 quartermaster. He had ability for the position. General 
 Taylor, who distinguished himself in that war, wrote 
 to the Government, " Fighting and whipping the enemy 
 is among the least difficulties we encounter ; the great 
 question of supplies necessarily controls all operations." 
 
 Gen. Winfield Scott was commander-in-chief of our 
 forces in the Mexican war ; and he remarked, when he 
 first learned of Grant s rising fame in the War of the 
 Rebellion, " I remember a little lieutenant by the name 
 of Grant who won laurels in the war with Mexico." At 
 Vera Cruz, General Scott was walking the trenches, 
 
96 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 when the soldiers rose up to look over the parapet at 
 his noble form. 
 
 " Down, down, men ; don t expose yourselves," Scott 
 cried. 
 
 " But, General, you expose yourself," one replied. 
 
 " Oh, well," answered Scott, " Generals can be made 
 out of anything now-a-days ; but men can t." 
 
 Coppee, who was with Grant at West Point, tells this 
 story of him in Mexico : 
 
 " He was an admirable horseman, and had a very 
 spirited horse. A Mexican gentleman with whom he 
 was on friendly terms, asked the loan of his horse. 
 Grant said afterward, I was afraid he could not ride 
 him, and yet, I knew if I said a word to that effect, the 
 suspicious Spanish nature would think I did not wish 
 to lend him. The result was, that the Mexican 
 mounted him, was thrown before he had gone two 
 blocks, and killed on the spot." 
 
 Another officer relates the following : 
 
 " One day he came to see Colonel Howard, who was 
 in command of the castle of Chepultepec. The Colonel s 
 quarters were inside of the fortress, which was sur 
 rounded by a high, broad earth-work. Grant rode up 
 to the slope outside, and, after riding around the castle 
 two or three times, and seeing no post to hitch his horse 
 to, deliberately spurred the animal down the broad but 
 long and steep stone stairs that led into the fort. When 
 Colonel Howard came out of the castle and saw Grant s 
 horse tied at the door, where, perhaps, a horse had 
 never before been, he said, in astonishment, Lieutenant, 
 how in the world did you get your horse in here ? 
 Rode him in, sir, quietly replied Grant. And how do 
 you expect to get him out ? Ride him up the steps 
 instead of down, answered Grant ; and, mounting the 
 
ON THE WAR PATH. 97 
 
 animal, he rode him to the foot of the stairs, and, with 
 Grant on his back, the intelligent brute climbed like a 
 cat to the top, where Grant, waving his hat to Colonel 
 Howard below, disappeared like a flash over the breast 
 works." 
 
 Without doubt Grant was the readiest learner among 
 the West Point graduates in the Mexican war. He said 
 that, at Palo Alto, he learned how it was that Napoleon 
 made such a fearful agency of his flying artillery. It 
 was chiefly an artillery fight ; the bugles sounding and 
 the banners flying, while the cannon-balls literally 
 ploughed up the earth under the very feet of the foe. 
 He went into that war an unknown, humble soldier, with 
 no friend or military officer to aid him in promotion. 
 By his own unassisted efforts, the display of his native 
 courage and skill, he worked his way up, and came out 
 of that contest, after several promotions, with his name 
 on his country s roll of honour. 
 
X. 
 
 FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 
 
 AT the close of the Mexican war, Grant returned to his 
 home in Ohio on a furlough. His mother s anxiety for 
 him, during his absence in Mexico, was intense so in 
 tense that her hair turned gray. She welcomed him 
 almost as one from the dead. Mother and son were 
 happy in each other s society, to say nothing of the joy 
 that sprang up in the whole family over his return. 
 The hardships and perils of war gave him a new relish 
 for the quiet and rest of home ; so that his few weeks 
 there vanished like a tale that is told. Before leaving, 
 however, he made known to his mother that he should 
 enter into matrimony on reaching Missouri. 
 
 "A wise thing, Ulysses," was his mother s glad en 
 dorsement of his intentions. 
 
 On returning to St. Louis, the Dent family extended 
 to him a most cordial welcome. It was their son, Miss 
 Julia s brother, whose life Ulysses saved at the capture 
 of the old powder-mill near Chepultepec. All opposi 
 tion to the young Second Lieutenant of the "Jefferson 
 Barracks" had disappeared. Their daughter was en 
 gaged to CAPTAIN Grant, a hero of the Mexican war. 
 All were happy now ; and the sound of the marriage- 
 bells could be heard. 
 
 Grant went to claim his bride ; and the wedding was 
 appointed on the twenty-second day of August. This 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 99 
 
 was in the year 1848, so that Grant was twenty- six 
 years and four months old on the day of his marriage. 
 
 The wedding was a lively one, as all weddings ought 
 to be. Many friends of the Dent family from far and 
 near were present, and many friends of Captain Grant, 
 also, from St. Louis and the "Barracks"; Grant was in 
 his element. He was enjoying the rewards of victory ; 
 not the triumph of arms in Mexico, for that was a small 
 affair in comparison with the victory of true love. He 
 was satisfied ; and that is much more than was true of 
 Alexander after he had conquered the world. 
 
 His regiment had been ordered to the northern fron 
 tier, with headquarters at Detroit ; so that he took his 
 wife there, and commenced housekeeping in a cottage 
 near the garrison. He was still quartermaster of his 
 regiment ; but another officer, who wanted the position, 
 secretly plotted for it, and, by intrigue and deception, 
 secured it, and Grant was sent to Sackett s Harbour. 
 But the matter was laid before General Scott, who 
 ordered him back to his old position. 
 
 When Grant selected his cottage for housekeeping, a 
 Jitizen said, 
 
 "A bad neighbourhood, Captain. I m afraid you will 
 find disorderly neighbours there." 
 
 "No matter," replied Grant; "if home has a hell 
 outside of it, it ought to be a heaven within." So far 
 as we know, Grant never changed his opinion. 
 
 In the spring of 1850, Mrs. Grant returned to her 
 father s house, where their first-born son was given to 
 them. Captain Grant relinquished the cottage, and 
 boarded with Capt. J. H. Gore ; and he continued to 
 board there after Mrs. Grant returned with little Fred, 
 who was named after Grandpa Dent. Grant was no 
 more of a talker then than he has been since. He was 
 
loo FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 so silent, that neither Captain Gore, nor Mr. Bacon, 
 who owned the house in which Gore lived, understood 
 him. Bacon frequently spent the evening at the Gores , 
 where he played dominoes with Grant, and interviewed 
 him about the Mexican war. And yet, when the fame 
 of Grant was spreading over the country in the late 
 civil war, Bacon did not recognise that he was the same 
 Captain Grant with whom he played dominoes. Finally, 
 however, something arose which hinted to him that they 
 might be identical, and he was heard to say, thought- 
 fully,- 
 
 " Grant, Grant; was not that a Captain Grant who 
 boarded with Captain Gore in my house ? I can hardly 
 believe it that silent, bashful little fellow. 
 
 " Let me see," he continued, after musing awhile ; " he 
 cut his name with a diamond-ring on a pane of glass in 
 his chamber, so Gore said. I will find out." 
 
 So he proceeded to Captain Gore s, where he found 
 inscribed on a pane of glass, ULYSSES S. GRANT. The 
 hero of Donelson, Henry > and Vicksburg, was the very 
 man with whom he and Gore played dominoes. Grant, 
 the Silent, was a veritable surprise to his old friends at 
 Detroit, as well as to those of Ohio, who were supposed 
 to know him better yet. 
 
 Some of the lighter duties of the quartermaster, 
 Captain Grant allotted to a sergeant ; and one day a 
 clerk of Major Sibley said to the sergeant, 
 
 "Why in the world have they put that lieutenant in 
 as quartermaster and commissary? Is it because he 
 knows less than any other man in the regiment ? " 
 
 " He is the ablest and best officer in the Old Fourth," 
 answered the sergeant, in a burst of indignation. "He 
 knows the duties of a soldier better than any other man 
 in the regiment." 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 101 
 
 This was the honest testimony of one who knew 
 Grant well ; and every other soldier who knew him was 
 ready to confirm it. 
 
 Captain Grant and his family endeared themselves to 
 the people of Detroit to such a degree that there was 
 general regret when his regiment was ordered to Sackett s 
 Harbour. To this day citizens speak of the pleasure it 
 afforded them to see him ride through their streets on 
 his favourite " Cicotte mare," which was subsequently 
 sold for fourteen hundred dollars. Here, as everywhere, 
 his passionate love for a fine horse was prominent. 
 
 His regiment was ordered from Sackett s Harbour 
 to the Pacific Coast in June, 1852 ; thence the regiment 
 removed to Fort Vancouver, on Columbia River, Wash 
 ington Territory. This was the dreariest location he 
 had ever found, far away from civilization, and therefore 
 lacking all the social advantages to which he had been 
 accustomed. To add to his loneliness and hardship, he 
 left his wife behind him, to remain at her father s during 
 his absence. The thought of living in that part of the 
 country for any considerable length of time made him 
 wretched ; and he could not think of ever bringing his 
 wife there to dwell : it would be inflicting sorrow upon 
 her. Yet, he was not so homesick as to lose his admira 
 tion for a horse. An officer tells the following : 
 
 "One morning, while sitting with some comrades in 
 front of the officers quarters, we observed Grant riding 
 on his fine horse toward Major Hathaway s battery, 
 which was in park about two hundred and fifty yards 
 distant. As Grant drew near the guns, and we were 
 observing the motions of his fine animal, we saw 
 him gather the reins, take a tighter grip on his cigar, 
 pull down his hat firmly on his head, and seat himself 
 securely in the saddle. Grant is going to leap the 
 
102 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 battery, cried two or three of the officers, and we all 
 stood up to see him do it. He ran his horse at the 
 pieces, and put him over the four guns one after an 
 other as easily and gracefully as a circus rider." 
 
 Grant sent in his resignation to take effect July 31, 
 1854, saying to a comrade, 
 
 "Whoever hears of me in ten years, will hear of a 
 well-to-do old Missouri farmer." 
 
 He returned to Missouri, and adopted the life of a 
 farmer. His wife s father had made her a present of 
 sixty acres of land, situated about four miles from St. 
 Louis, on which he built a log-house. He drew the 
 stone for the cellar, cut and hauled the logs, split the 
 shingles, and put up the house, except, according to the 
 prevailing custom, the neighbours turned out to raise it. 
 Inside and outside it was an humble abode ; but it was 
 a happy home. 
 
 He knew little or nothing about farming. What 
 little he learned of the business in his boyhood, he had 
 lost during his years of military life. For this reason 
 he found a difficulty in supporting his family; and he 
 added the sale of wood to his business, cutting and 
 hauling it to market. He drove a fine pair of horses in 
 hauling wood, and never rode himself on the load, even 
 though he was hauling it ten miles. On being asked 
 why he did not ride, he answered, 
 
 " The horses have enough to draw without carrying a 
 lazy rider." 
 
 In 1856 his wife s mother died. She had become 
 very much attached to her soldier son-in-law; and she 
 appeared to have a more accurate estimate of his abilities 
 than many of his friends. She once had a dream, which 
 she interpreted as meaning that Grant would some day 
 rise to great distinction ; and she died in this belief. 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 103 
 
 When he was elected President of the United States, 
 there were old customers of 57 and 58 in St. Louis who 
 voted for him. They remembered him as the wood- 
 vender, wearing a soldier s blue overalls and slouched 
 hat, always driving a nice pair of horses. The following 
 incident is related by a friend : 
 
 " He used to supply Hon. Henry T. Blow, of St. 
 Louis, with wood. Mr. Blow was elected to the Thirty- 
 ninth Congress, and on one occasion went with his wife 
 to one of General Grant s popular receptions. Mrs. 
 Blow wondered if General Grant would recognise her as 
 an old acquaintance and customer, under the different 
 circumstances of their relative situations in life. Well, 
 Mrs. Blow had not been long in the General s house 
 before he came to her and said, 
 
 " Mrs. Blow, I remember you well. What great 
 changes have taken place since we last met ! 
 
 " Yes, General/ said Mrs. B., the war is over. 
 
 " c I did not mean that, he replied ; I mean with 
 myself. Do you recollect when I used to supply your 
 husband with wood, and pile it myself, and measure it, 
 too, and go to his office for my pay? 
 
 " Oh, yes, General; your face was familiar in those 
 days. 
 
 " Mrs. Blow, those were happy days ; for I was 
 doing the best I could to support my family. " 
 
 He was on his way to Massachusetts while President. 
 In the city of New York a man rushed up to his carriage 
 from the great crowd on Broadway, and reaching up his 
 hand, called out enthusiastically, 
 
 " How do you do, General ? How do you do?" 
 
 General Grant took his hand and shook it mechani 
 cally, all the while scanning him, as if trying to make 
 out who the man was. Evidently he was an old acquaint- 
 
104 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ance, and his countenance looked familiar. Just as the 
 man was turning aside, the President located him, and 
 he said, 
 
 "Oh, I remember you ; you kept the best oysters in 
 St. Louis. I used to call there often to get a plate." 
 
 In the winter of 1856 or 57 he discovered that some 
 party was stealing his wood two miles distant, and he 
 resolved to find out who the thief was. On a bright 
 moonlight night he secreted himself in the woods to 
 await results. He did not wait long before he heard a 
 team approaching. Soon appeared the strapping great 
 fellow who leased the adjoining farm, arid stopped his 
 team close by Captain Grant s hiding-place. The thief 
 proceeded to chop down a tree, cut it up, and load it, 
 when he started for the main road. Grant took a circuit, 
 and came out on the main road to intercept him, which 
 was soon accomplished. 
 
 " Halloo, Bill ! Going to St. Louis with your wood, I 
 suppose ? " Grant said. 
 
 " Yes," answered Bill, somewhat disconcerted. 
 
 " How much do you ask for it?" 
 
 " About four dollars." 
 
 "Well, I will take it. Bring it over to my house." 
 
 " No, I can t do that ; the wood is promised to a man 
 in town." 
 
 "But I must have it," insisted Grant. There s no 
 use in hesitating ; you must haul this load to my house, 
 and pay me twenty dollars for what you have cut and 
 carried off before. That won t be more, than half-price, 
 you know." 
 
 " If I don t, I suppose you will sue me before the 
 Squire ?" 
 
 " No, we won t trouble the Squire or the public, but 
 settle the whole thing here and now." 
 
FROM ^SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 105 
 
 "Well, I ll do it," wisely concluded the thief; "but 
 don t say a word to anybody about it. I will never take 
 any more." 
 
 The wood was driven to Grant s house, the money 
 paid, and the thief dismissed, the Captain all the while 
 ready to laugh over the comical turn of affairs. 
 
 Grant carried a load of corn to St. Louis one day, 
 when he met Harry Boggs, who married Mrs. Grant s 
 cousin. 
 
 " Good morning, Harry," said Grant, in his usual 
 familiar way. " I have been wanting to see you. 
 Father Dent is trying to persuade me to go into business 
 with some one, and he speaks of you. He thinks I 
 could soon learn the details, and that my large acquaint 
 ance among army officers would bring enough additional 
 customers to make it support both our families." 
 
 " I have worked hard to build up the business," an 
 swered Boggs, " and I do not want a partner unless he 
 can increase it ; but I think you can. Come and see me 
 the next time you are in town." 
 
 The result was a partnership, under the name of 
 BOGGS & GRANT, to collect rents, negotiate loans, buy 
 and sell real estate, etc. 
 
 Grant was not able to board at a hotel, or even a 
 respectable boarding-house, so he hired an unfurnished 
 room of Boggs, and took his meals out. There was no 
 carpet on the floor, and no chair in the room, except a 
 very poor one, which held the wash-bowl. A second 
 hand bedstead, on which was laid one poor mattress, 
 occupied one corner. This was all the furniture. He 
 occupied this room, through the business-week, for two 
 months, walking home on Saturday nights, to spend the 
 sabbath with his family. 
 
 At the expiration of two months he exchanged the 
 
io6 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 log-house at " Hardscrabble " for a small one in St. Louis. 
 The buyer failed to meet his pledges, litigation followed, 
 and it was not until two years after the close of the war 
 that Grant recovered " Hardscrabble." He purchased, 
 also, Wishtonwish and the Whitehaven House, together 
 with six hundred acres of land in the vicinity. Captain 
 Grant, himself, christened his farm " Hardscrabble," 
 because he had to scrabble so hard there to support his 
 family. 
 
 An incident occurred after Grant removed his 
 family to the city, which shows how poor he was. A 
 gentleman of considerable prominence in St. Louis, who 
 had made the acquaintance of Captain Grant, and liked 
 him much, advised his wife to call upon Mrs. Grant. 
 Accordingly, she embraced the first opportunity to make 
 the acquaintance of the Captain s wife. On her return, 
 she said to her husband, 
 
 " Why did you send me there ? " 
 
 " Because I thought it would be a good place for you 
 to go. I like Captain Grant ; he is a fine man." 
 
 " And Mrs. Grant is a fine woman, without doubt," 
 replied the lady ; " but they must be very poor indeed, 
 for the house is very shabbily furnished. I have not 
 been into such a poverty-stricken place for many a 
 day." 
 
 " Well, poverty is no sin. Captain Grant is highly 
 esteemed by our leading men, although they do not 
 regard him as having special capacity for business. If 
 I were you, I should not avoid Mrs. Grant because she 
 is poor." 
 
 This was excellent counsel, and the gentleman s wife 
 was wise enough to accept it, and the result was a friend 
 ship between the two ladies, true and strong, which has 
 continued to this day. 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 107 
 
 Captain Grant won many friends in St. Louis by his 
 genial, honest, straightforward way of doing business, 
 but he did not increase the income of the firm largely- 
 Boggs visited Philadelphia and New York City to 
 interest capitalists to invest their money in Missouri at 
 ten per cent. He arranged with one in each city, and 
 returned to loan their funds, to the amount of four 
 hundred thousand dollars, at ten per cent. But the 
 securities they were able to offer did not satisfy the 
 eastern capitalists, so the project was a failure. 
 
 When Captain Grant had been in company with 
 Boggs nine months, he said to him, 
 
 " It is quite evident that my best efforts do not 
 increase your business as we expected. It is not right 
 for me to embarrass you by continuing the partnership 
 to your disadvantage. The business will not support 
 two families, that is clear." 
 
 " It is not your fault, however," answered Mr. B., who 
 meant to be as magnanimous as his partner was. " I 
 think you have done the best you could ; but there is 
 one good thing about it if you have not made much 
 money, you have made many friends." 
 
 " How would it do for me to apply for the vacant 
 county engineership ? " inquired Grant. " That is a good 
 position ; salary is nineteen hundred dollars a year." 
 
 " Capital ! capital ! " replied Boggs ; " if you say the 
 word, I will prepare a petition, and get the leading men 
 of the city to sign it." 
 
 Mr. Boggs did as he promised, and supplemented 
 Grant s letter of application with a petition signed by 
 forty of the leading business men of St. Louis ; but 
 political considerations decided the matter, and Grant s 
 petition was rejected. In the meantime the co-partner 
 ship of Boggs & Grant was dissolved. 
 
io8 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Some parties claimed that Grant was " too kind- 
 hearted to make a successful collector." 
 
 " How is that ? " inquired a friend. " I don t exactly 
 see how that sort of a heart should interfere with the 
 collector s business." 
 
 "Well, it did, and his commissions were smaller because 
 of it. You see, all sorts of excuses were rendered to 
 him for not paying bills. Many debtors were really 
 poor, and when they told their pitiable stories of want 
 and suffering, his heart yielded at once, and he said it 
 would be too bad to force payment. Sometimes, instead 
 of pressing his claim, he actually gave parties small sums 
 to relieve their wants. Do you see it now ? " 
 
 "Yes, it is tolerably plain, and such a collector couldn t 
 be very popular with creditors." 
 
 " But he was popular with debtors, I assure you." 
 
 About that time a vacancy occurred in the Custom 
 house, and Captain Grant s friends secured him the situa 
 tion without any difficulty. But a month had scarcely 
 passed before the collector died, and this threw him out 
 of employment again. It seemed as if every avenue 
 to success was closed against him. Still, while he was 
 somewhat cast down, he was not in despair. Mrs. Grant 
 came to his rescue every time. She was a remarkable 
 woman, intelligent, self-reliant, hopeful, and cheerful. 
 In her Captain Grant found both counsellor and com 
 forter, when otherwise he might have yielded to des 
 pondency and said, " There is no use in trying." But, 
 in her presence, he was under the necessity of being 
 resolute and plucky, so he hoped against hope. Her 
 sympathy, devotion, and true love were ever a reserve- 
 force to him in battling with misfortune. 
 
 In March, 1860, Grant removed to Galena, 111., to fill 
 a clerkship for his brothers, who were in the leather 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN* 109 
 
 trade. He had made a host of friends in St. Louis, and 
 frhey were sorry to lose him. He was so exemplary, 
 although not professedly a Christian man, that he was 
 respected by all who knew him. He never used profane 
 or vulgar language, thus maintaining the habit of his 
 boyhood. He never told coarse stories, but was pure 
 and dignified in his conversation. He never spoke evil 
 of any one, but had a kind word for all. He smoked, 
 but did not use intoxicating liquors. On his leaving 
 the army, he became a total abstainer in self-defence. 
 At Fort Vancouver, away from his family, lonesome and 
 depressed, his habit of moderate drinking grew into 
 partial excess ; but he had the good sense to see it, so 
 that, on returning home, he resolved to adopt total 
 abstinence. His decision was often severely tested in 
 St. Louis, where the drinking customs were universal. 
 But he maintained his integrity with himself in this, as 
 in other things, and always declined the proffered cup. 
 All these things, and more we need not mention, en 
 deared him to a large circle of influential people in St. 
 Louis, none of whom had the least idea that in five 
 years from that time he would be the most famous man 
 in America. 
 
 His father had been in the leather business with his 
 brothers, in Galena, but he had retired with a com 
 petency ; still, however, retaining an interest therein. 
 The sign over the door remained, " J. R. Grant." 
 
 Captain Grant devoted himself to business closely, 
 although he was not much of a salesman. His brothers, 
 Simpson and Orville, attended chiefly to customers. 
 He loaded and unloaded leather, bought hides, weighed 
 stock, kept books, and did many other things equally 
 necessary. One day the clerk of the court sent to the 
 store for leather to cover a desk. Captain Grant 
 
no FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 shouldered a roll of leather, walked up to the court 
 house, cut off what was needed, and tacked it on. 
 Rowley, the clerk, looked on, and said to himself, " A 
 handy man," little dreaming that the most remarkable 
 man of the times was repairing the desk. WITHIN 
 EIGHTEEN MONTHS GRANT WAS A MAJOR-GENERAL 
 IN THE FIELD, AND ROWLEY A CAPTAIN ON HIS 
 STAFF. 
 
 Western currency was much depressed at that time, and 
 the firm bought large quantities of pork and shipped it to 
 New York to pay eastern bills, and save the great price 
 of exchange. A farmer brought a load of pork one 
 day, and wanted gold instead of notes for it, that he 
 might pay his taxes. The gold was offered him at a rate 
 which Grant considered high. 
 
 " I think that is more than the banks charge," he 
 suggested modestly, out of the honesty of his heart. 
 
 " Have you inquired ? " one of the firm asked. 
 
 " No, but the gentleman can run over to the bank 
 and see for himself." 
 
 The suggestion was adopted, and the farmer saved 
 twelve dollars by Captain Grant s scrupulous honesty. 
 Some people very ridiculously ascribed his failure in 
 business to this noble virtue. 
 
 Grant sought no acquaintances in Galena. He found 
 his society at home, chiefly with his wife and four 
 children. He was less talkative there than he was in 
 St. Louis. He was a stranger, poor, and unknown ; 
 and therefore debarred from familiar intercourse with 
 the people, were he disposed to mingle with them. His 
 wife was " tied down " to her family. She did her own 
 work, dressed plainly, and accepted her situation cheer 
 fully. Few of the people knew what a prize the town 
 had in her until the outbreak of the war. 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. rti 
 
 A neighbour says of Grant, 
 
 " I first encountered him coming down the hill to 
 ward the store with Orville. He wore a blue overcoat 
 and old, slouched hat, and looked like a private soldier. 
 He had not more than three intimates in the whole 
 town." 
 
 He kept himself so much aloof from citizens, except 
 as he met them in business, that even Hon. Elihu B. 
 Washburne, his fellow-townsman, did not know that such 
 a man lived in Galena, until the presidential election of 
 1860. 
 
 Each town had its Lincoln and Douglas clubs, Re 
 publican and Democratic. A few Democrats knew that 
 Grant s sympathies were with Douglas, although he 
 could not vote in Illinois. So they elected him president 
 of their club. 
 
 " I do not want the position, and I will not accept it," 
 he said. " I am not a voter ; I never voted but once in 
 my life ; and besides, I desire to attend to my business, 
 and not dabble in politics." 
 
 Douglas spoke in Dubuque before the election, and 
 Grant went to hear him. 
 
 " How did you like him ? " some one asked. 
 
 " He is an able man, and very eloquent ; but I was 
 disappointed ; I don t like some of his ideas ; if I had 
 the legal right to vote, I should be more undecided than 
 ever." 
 
 Rowley was a Democrat, and tried to convince Grant 
 that he was a voter, whereupon his brother Orville in 
 terrupted by saying, 
 
 " You let Ulysses alone, Rowley ; if he were to vote, 
 he would vote our ticket." Grant s brothers were Re 
 publicans, in favour of Lincoln, and so was his father. 
 
 " I don t know about that," replied Captain Grant , 
 
112 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 11 1 never voted but once, and then I voted against 
 Fremont." 
 
 " You ought to be ashamed for voting for Buchanan," 
 replied Orville. 
 
 " I didn t ; I voted against Fremont. I thought it 
 would be a misfortune to the country if he should be 
 elected. Otherwise, I have never meddled with politics. 
 I don t like the position of either party." 
 
 Grant could never be a politician. He disliked chi 
 canery and log-rolling in politics as in everything else. 
 This was one reason why he did not enter into politics 
 with interest. He did not like Buchanan, who was the 
 Democratic candidate for President in 1856 ; but he 
 liked him better than he did Fremont, the Republican 
 candidate, and so he called it "voting against Fre 
 mont." 
 
 But Lincoln was elected, and Douglas was defeated. 
 The demonstrations of joy over the result were enthu 
 siastic in Galena, and Grant participated in them to 
 such an extent, that Republicans claimed him. From 
 that time his attitude towards his country was not 
 questioned. 
 
 The following extract from a letter which he wrote 
 to a friend in St. Louis shows where his sympathies 
 were : 
 
 " It is hard to realize that a State or States should 
 commit so suicidal an act as to secede from the Union, 
 though from all the reports, I have no doubt but that at 
 least five of them will do it. And then, with the present 
 granny of an executive, some foolish policy will doubt 
 less be pursued which will give the seceding States the 
 support and sympathy of the Southern States that don t 
 go out. The farce now going on in southern Kansas is, 
 I presume, about at an end ; and the St. Louis volunteer 
 
FROM SOLDIER TO CIVILIAN. 113 
 
 General Frost at their head, covered all over with glory. 
 You will now have seven hundred men more in your 
 midst, who will think themselves entitled to live on the 
 public for all future time. You must provide office for 
 them, or some of them may declare Missouri out of the 
 Union. It does seem as if just a few men have pro 
 duced all the present difficulty. I don t see why by the 
 same rule a hundred men could not carry Missouri out 
 of the Union." 
 
XI. 
 
 CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 
 
 ON the twelfth day of April, 1861, the rebels fired on 
 Fort Sumter. This assault upon the nation s flag 
 awakened every loyal heart to the perils of the hour. 
 President Lincoln issued a call for SEVENTY-FIVE 
 THOUSAND volunteers. The whole North blazed with 
 patriotic fire. 
 
 Galena was wild with excitement, and Captain Grant 
 was no less excited than his neighbours. Indeed, all 
 loyal men forgot the distinction between Republicans 
 and Democrats over the insult to the old flag. 
 
 " I thought I had done with soldiering," said Grant. 
 " I never expected to be in military life again. But I 
 was educated by the Government, and if my knowledge 
 and experience can be of any service, I think I ought to 
 offer them." 
 
 A meeting of citizens was called at the court-house 
 the following evening. They assembled with banners 
 and music, among the number several prominent Demo 
 crats. John A. Rawlins was there, a young lawyer of 
 large ability. In the autumn before he stumped the 
 State for Douglas, and was one of the electors on the 
 Democratic ticket. His soul was on fire over the attack 
 on Sumter. 
 
 " Assault on Liberty, Union, and Free Government," 
 he said to a fellow Democrat. " We must fight." 
 
 IT4 
 
CALL OF HISi COUNTRY. 115 
 
 " It is all done by the Abolitionists," replied his 
 democratic friend. " Better leave it for them to fight 
 out." 
 
 " I know no party now, Republican, Democratic, or 
 Anti-slavery," roared Rawlins. " It is enough for me 
 that the South has fired on our flag." 
 
 " Well, you ll find that you will injure our party if 
 you side with the Republicans," continued his friend. 
 
 " Any party ought to be injured when it declines to 
 defend the flag," added Rawlins with vehemence. " I 
 propose to join heart and hand with true and loyal men 
 to defend the country." 
 
 The war-meeting was crowded ; Mayor Brand was 
 elected president. Though he was a Democrat, it was 
 supposed he would prove loyal to the flag in the 
 crisis, but he was timid and irresolute. On taking the 
 chair, he made a brief speech, in which he indirectly 
 claimed that Republicans had plunged the nation into 
 present difficulties, and he hoped that some compromise 
 would make it unnecessary for the North to wage war 
 against the South. He had scarcely taken his seat, 
 when Hon. Elihu B. Washburne sprang to his feet, and 
 exclaimed, at the top of his voice, 
 
 " Any man who will try to stir party prejudices at 
 such a time as this is a traitor ! " 
 
 The sentiment created the greatest furor of enthu 
 siasm, and the hall rang with cheer on cheer ; the band 
 struck up " Yankee Doodle," men threw up their hats, 
 and the wildest excitement followed, in which Rawlins 
 and most of his brother Democrats joined. 
 
 As soon as quiet was restored, Mr. Washburne arose 
 and presented a series of resolutions, in which a union 
 of all parties to support the Government and defend the 
 flag was recommended, as well as the immediate organi- 
 
Ii6 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 zation of military companies. The resolutions closed 
 with the following : 
 
 "Finally, we solemnly resolve, that having lived under 
 the stars and stripes, by the blessing of Almighty God, 
 we propose to die under them." 
 
 Another wild scene of excitement followed ; cheering, 
 shouting, the band playing, the banner waving, and hats 
 flying, until many were fairly exhausted by their patrio 
 tic efforts. As soon as the enthusiasm abated, another 
 shout went up, 
 
 " Rawlins ! Rawlins ! Rawlins ! " The call was re 
 peated from every part of the hall, until that gentleman 
 responded by pushing his way through the crowd to the 
 platform. 
 
 Such an ovation as he faced the audience ! Peal on 
 peal of honest applause ! It was several minutes before 
 he could speak. Then he went on for forty minutes, 
 portraying the greatness of the American Union, and 
 the necessity of uniting heart and hand in its defence, 
 denouncing the assault upon the flag as treason, and 
 calling upon loyal men, without distinction of party, to 
 stand shoulder to shoulder in conquering rebellion. 
 He closed his impassioned speech with the following 
 words : 
 
 " I have been a Democrat all my life, but this is no 
 longer a question of politics ; it is simply country or 
 no country. I have favoured every honourable com 
 promise, but the day of compromise is passed. Only 
 one course is left for us. WE WILL STAND BY THE 
 
 FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY, AND APPEAL TO THE GOD 
 OF BATTLES ! " 
 
 Still another burst of loyal feeling, greater even than 
 what had been heard, rang out, longer and louder, last 
 ing till the audience had strength to shout no more. 
 
CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 117 
 
 Captain Grant was captivated by Rawlins speech. He 
 had never made the acquaintance of the speaker, but 
 from that time they became intimate friends. Subse 
 quently, Rawlins became Grant s favourite staff-officer. 
 
 On his way home, Captain Grant said to his brother 
 Orville, 
 
 " I think I ought to offer my services to the Govern 
 ment" 
 
 "I think so, too," replied his brother; "and if you 
 will go, I will stay and take care of the store." 
 
 Two days later a meeting was called to raise volun 
 teers, and the somewhat famous and numerous John 
 Smith family was represented on that evening. John 
 E. Smith arose, when the time of the meeting arrived, 
 and calling the meeting to order, said, 
 
 " I nominate Capt. Ulysses S. Grant for chairman of 
 this meeting." 
 
 The motion was carried unanimously, and loud ap 
 plause followed. A large number of the audience had 
 never seen the Captain, and most of them knew nothing 
 of him until he declined to be president of the Douglas 
 Club. 
 
 Grant made his way to the platform, with hat in 
 hand, and broke his silence for the first time in Galena, 
 by making a brief, patriotic speech, in which he im 
 parted the needed information in regard to organizing 
 a military company. He proceeded to business at once. 
 
 The rolls were opened, and A. L. Chetlain, who 
 became major-general during the war, was the first to 
 enlist. Nine or ten others signed the roll that evening, 
 and within a week the company was full, and two hun 
 dred applicants were rejected. 
 
 On Saturday morning, Rowley called at the leather 
 store, and said to Grant, 
 
Ii8 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Captain, there is to be a meeting at Hanover this 
 afternoon, to raise a company, and Rawlins and I are 
 going. Won t you go with us ? " 
 
 " Yes, I think I will," answered Grant. " You anc 
 Rawlins come around after dinner, and Orville and 1 
 will take the ponies and drive over." 
 
 Accordingly, the four men drove to Hanover, and 
 Captain Grant presided at the meeting, which was held 
 in a school-house. Rawlins made a rousing speech, 
 followed by brief remarks by others. Then, the first 
 time in his life, the Captain was called upon for a 
 speech, and he responded as follows : 
 
 " I don t know anything about making speeches, that 
 is not in my line, but we are forming a company in 
 Galena, and mean to do what we can to put down the 
 Rebellion. If any of you feel like enlisting, I will give 
 you all the information and help I can." 
 
 Many loyal men responded to his appeal, and the 
 meeting proved a successful one. On the way home 
 the party conversed about the attack on Sumter, and 
 the ability of the South to carry on a war. 
 
 "I guess the seventy-five thousand men, which the 
 President has called for, will stop such work," remarked 
 Rowley. "There is more bluster than fight in the 
 South, I think." 
 
 " I don t agree with you exactly," answered Grant. 
 "This is a bigger thing than you imagine. I think 
 those fellows will fight, and mean it. Uncle Sam has a 
 heavy job on his hands, and if I am needed, I shall go." 
 
 " Look here, Captain," interrupted Rawlins in a 
 jesting way, "suppose we get up a company for the war, 
 longer or shorter ; you shall be captain, and Rowley 
 and I will toss up to see who will be first and second- 
 lieutenant." 
 
CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 119 
 
 "This is not mere fun," replied Grant ; " we shall find 
 it serious business before we get through. No one can 
 tell how long the war will last it may be six months, 
 and it may be six years. But war is inevitable now. 
 The South has declared war against the United States 
 Government, and the Government must defend itself. 
 That is the only alternative." 
 
 Grant appeared to have a just idea of the magnitude 
 of the war even then. He knew that West Point had 
 educated a large number of young men from the South, 
 and that most of them would cast in their lot with their 
 respective States, so that the Southern Army would 
 have able commanders. He knew that Southerners 
 were brave and desperate, and would fight to the bitter 
 end. Knowing these things, he was satisfied that a 
 long and bloody war was before the country. 
 
 Captain Grant drilled the company formed at Galena 
 several days, and the members wanted he should be 
 come its captain ; but he declined, perhaps, because 
 Chetlain desired the position. The latter was elected. 
 
 There was a peace Democrat in the town by the 
 name of Collins, who met Mr. Washburne one day on 
 the street, and addressed him rather abruptly, thus, 
 
 " A pretty set of fellows your soldiers are to elect 
 Chetlain for Captain." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Well, Chetlain is well enough as a man, but he has 
 had no experience at all," replied the Democrat. " To 
 take such a man when Captain Grant could be had was 
 not very wise." 
 
 " Do you know Grant s history ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; he is the son of the old man Grant 
 Jesse Grant. He was educated at West Point, and 
 went all through the Mexican war. Although he was 
 
120 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE V/HITE HOUSE. 
 
 one of the youngest officers in the war, he distinguished 
 himself in several battles by his skill and bravery." 
 
 " Is that so ! " responded Washburne, becoming 
 greatly interested. "We shall need that class of men 
 to lead our armies. I must see him." 
 
 Mr. Washburne embraced the first opportunity to 
 have an interview with Grant, and he was very favour 
 ably impressed by his appearance. 
 
 "I left the army expecting never to return," Grant 
 said. " I am no seeker for position, but the country 
 which educated me is in sore peril, and, as a man of 
 honour, I feel bound to offer my services for whatever 
 they are worth." 
 
 " Captain," rejoined Washburne with deep emotion, 
 " we need just such men as you are in this war, men 
 of military education and experience. The Legislature 
 meets next Tuesday, and several of us are going to 
 Springfield. You must go with us, for your services 
 will certainly be wanted." 
 
 " I will go if you think it is best," was Grant s final 
 decision. 
 
 An hour afterwards Grant said to Orville and 
 Simpson, 
 
 " I guess you will have to get along without me here 
 after. Mr. Washburne wants me to go to Springfield 
 at once with him, and I think I must. Uncle Sam 
 educated me, and though I have served him through 
 one war, I am still his debtor. He will want all the 
 help he can get, and I think he will want me." 
 
 His brothers heartily supported his decision, and he 
 went with Mr. Washburne to Springfield. 
 
 Capt. John Pope had charge of military affairs at the 
 capital, and in spite of his noblest efforts, everything 
 was in confusion. 
 
CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 121 
 
 "No head nor tail to anything," said Grant; and it was 
 so. The scramble for positions was confusing a dozen 
 for every post of honour. Mr. Washburne and others 
 urged Governor Yates to give Grant a position without 
 delay ; but so many were pressing their claims, that the 
 Governor was bewildered. Besides, Grant was more 
 silent than ever, being altogether too modest to press 
 his own claims. The scramble for office disgusted him, 
 also. He was shocked that loyal men should enter into 
 such a contest for position. 
 
 " This is no place for me," at length he said to Wash 
 burne ; " I will go home to Galena. I will not be an 
 office-seeker, and I can t afford to stay here idle." 
 
 " Hold on a little, Captain," replied jAVashburne. 
 " Can t do everything in a minute. Red tape must be 
 cut. Have patience, and things will come about right" 
 
 It was only by coaxing and promising that Grant 
 could be prevailed upon to remain at Springfield. If 
 nobody wanted him, he was the last man to force 
 himself upon the attention of officials. He had already 
 offered his services to the War Department at Washing 
 ton, by letter, and no notice had been taken of his offer. 
 His name had been sent, also, to the Governor of his 
 native State, Ohio, and there had been no response ; 
 and now it looked to him as if there were three office- 
 seekers in Springfield to every office to be filled. That 
 disgust should crowd hard against patriotism in his soul 
 was not strange. 
 
 However, by persuasion and skilful explanation, 
 Washburne succeeded in keeping him at Springfield 
 until the first of May, when Governor Yates asked him 
 
 " How many men and officers are there in a company 
 and regiment ; do you know ? " 
 
 Probably neither the Governor nor Council could 
 
122 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 answer the question, so that the Governor doubted 
 whether this West Pointer could ; at least, his question 
 implied as much. 
 
 Finding that Grant could answer his intricate ques 
 tion, the Governor took him into his office, where the 
 latter found "confusion worse confounded." There was 
 scarcely a printed blank for anything. Grant went to 
 work ruling paper, and preparing necessary forms. He 
 was not under the necessity of consulting books for 
 needed information ; it was all in his head ; and in a 
 few days Governor Yates saw the tangled skein of 
 military affairs adjusted, and experienced great relief in 
 his own mind. He had found a prize unexpectedly 
 in his clerical assistant. 
 
 Captain Pope, who had charge of Camp Yates, had 
 leave of absence for a few days, and Grant was ap 
 pointed to fill his place. On the return of Pope, Grant 
 was employed to muster in several regiments. It was 
 now the last of May, and he went home on a visit, 
 having been absent six weeks. On his way back, 
 a friend said to him, 
 
 " Captain, why do you not go in for the command of 
 an Illinois regiment ? You are entitled to one." 
 
 Grant s reply was characteristic ; modesty, his ruling 
 virtue, pervading it clear through. 
 
 " To tell you the truth, I would rather like a regi 
 ment ; but there are few men competent to command a 
 thousand soldiers, and I doubt whether I am one of 
 them." 
 
 Grant knew himself no better than other people did 
 at some points. He doubted whether he was competent 
 to command a thousand men ; and yet, in three years, 
 he commanded a MILLION, and appeared to do it with 
 ease. 
 
CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 123 
 
 In June, Grant left Springfield to visit his father in 
 Covington, Ky., just across the river from Cincinnati. 
 As General McClellan s head-quarters were in the latter 
 city, Grant called twice at his office to tender his 
 services, thinking the General might give him a place 
 on his staff. Doubtless, for this reason he went to visit 
 his father ; but he failed to see McClellan, though he 
 saw the same sorry scramble for office that he had wit 
 nessed in Springfield. He had remained in Springfield 
 until every regiment was mustered in without getting a 
 position, and now it was not at all strange that he con 
 cluded his services were not wanted, and was deciding 
 whether to go home and resume business or not. Provi 
 dence, however, and not politicians, was hedging up 
 his way. The " God of battles " had an appointment 
 waiting for him. It would come in the right time and 
 place. 
 
 Governor Yates forwarded the following telegram to 
 him at Covington at the last minute, 
 
 " You are this day appointed Colonel of the Twenty- 
 first Illinois Volunteers, and requested to take command 
 at once." 
 
 This was like a message from the skies ; it was 
 unexpected, but no less acceptable on that account. 
 Colonel Goode commanded the Twenty-first when he 
 left Springfield what had happened ? 
 
 Returning at once, he found that Colonel Goode had 
 been dismissed for incompetency, and that his regiment 
 was in a state of insubordination. Some of the men 
 had deserted, and all were dissatisfied. Grant took 
 command at once. He learned, also, on his return, 
 that Governor Yates conferred with the book-keeper of 
 the Grants in Galena before sending the above telegram. 
 After all the opportunities to learn Grant, which the 
 
124 FROM THE TAN -YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Governor had enjoyed, he evidently did not know him. 
 His manhood appears to have been as great a puzzle 
 to Yates as his boyhood was to his neighbours. For 
 Governor Yates said to the book-keeper, 
 
 " What kind of a man is this Captain Grant ? Though 
 anxious to serve, he seems reluctant to take any high 
 position. He even declined my offer to recommend 
 him to Washington for a brigadier-generalship, saying 
 he didn t want office till he had earned it. What does 
 he want ? " 
 
 " The way to deal with him," the book-keeper replied, 
 " is to ask him no questions, but simply order him to 
 duty. He will promptly obey." 
 
 This reply furnished Yates with the key to Grant s 
 character ; and hence the telegram. The book-keeper 
 was God s messenger to put the Governor on the right 
 track. Grant had found his place. From that he would 
 go forth, " from conquering to conquer." 
 
 Governor Yates was reported as saying, sometime 
 during the war, 
 
 " It was the most glorious day of my life when I 
 signed Grant s commission." 
 
 Colonel Grant took command of his regiment under 
 the most unfavourable circumstances. The men were 
 more like an armed mob. They were ragged and in 
 subordinate. Expecting that the Government would 
 provide them with uniforms, they had worn their poorest 
 clothes to camp. As the uniforms were not then provi 
 ded, the reader can imagine what a dilapidated appear 
 ance they presented. No officer, who had not been 
 through great tribulation, would have had pluck enough 
 to undertake the discipline of such a crew, but Grant 
 was equal to it. Providence had been training him for 
 that work many years. He had been educated by one 
 
CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 125 
 
 tribulation after another, greater and greater, until now 
 he was prepared to command the " Twenty-first Illinois 
 Volunteers." 
 
 Some of the regiment claimed that they looked as 
 well as their Colonel did, but the claim was not alto 
 gether valid. There was an approximation to truth 
 in their claim, as we judge from General Smith s des 
 cription of the new Colonel. General Smith accom 
 panied Grant to the camp, and he said of him, 
 
 " I went with him to camp, and shall never forget 
 the scene when his men first saw him. Grant was 
 dressed in citizen s clothes, an old coat worn out at the 
 elbows, and a badly damaged hat. His men, though 
 ragged and bare-footed themselves, had formed a high 
 estimate of what a Colonel should be, and when Grant 
 walked in among them, they began making fun of him. 
 They cried in derision, What a colonel ! and made all 
 sorts of fun of him. And one of them, to show off to 
 the others, got behind his back and commenced sparring 
 at him, and while he was doing this another gave him 
 such a push that he hit Grant between the shoulders." 
 
 On the morning after Colonel Grant took command, 
 roll-call was an hour behind time. 
 
 " Return to your quarters," was the Colonel s brief 
 reprimand, not waiting for the morning report. As 
 there was no report, there were no rations during the 
 day, and a hungry set of fellows they were at night, and 
 nearly as mad as they were hungry. 
 
 At the first dress-parade several officers appeared 
 without coats. The Colonel surveyed them from head 
 to foot, contemptuously, and then said, 
 
 " This is a dress-paradQ ; officers are expected to 
 wear their clothes, Dismiss the men to quarters." 
 
 That was all he said. The men laughed as they 
 
126 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 marched back to their quarters, satisfied that the Gover 
 nor had now provided them with a commanding officer, 
 with whom no one could trifle. 
 
 " He knows what he is about." 
 
 " He means business." 
 
 " Can t scare or deceive him." 
 
 These and kindred remarks showed that the regiment 
 appreciated the new condition of affairs, and they rapidly 
 came into good discipline. In one week the change 
 was surprising, and in time it became one of the best 
 regiments in the field. Soldiers respect a commander 
 who knows his business, and whom they cannot over 
 ride. Grant s men learned to respect him. Indeed, 
 they learned to love him, and became so enthusiastic 
 for their leader, that they all re-enlisted for the war, 
 although they had been mustered in for thirty days 
 only. 
 
 Before taking the field, Colonel Grant visited Galena 
 to bid his family good-bye, and get money to buy an 
 outfit. If some of the swords, badges, and horses, pre 
 sented to him a few years later, had been given to him 
 then, the gift would have been a double blessing, for he 
 was poor. But he wrote his note for three hundred 
 dollars, Collins, his father s old partner, endorsing it, 
 and he drew the money from the bank. With the 
 money he purchased a uniform, and a horse with proper 
 equipments. 
 
 He called on Mr. Washburne before leaving Galena, 
 and had a long talk about the Rebellion and how to 
 conquer it. Grant expressed his views freely, and so 
 intelligently, that from that day Mr. Washburne regarded 
 him as " the coming man." He was never surprised at 
 his successes, and was about the only man in the country 
 who expected much of him. Several times thereafter, 
 
CALL OF HIS COUNTRY. 127 
 
 when official inefficiency or ignorance attempted to 
 supersede him, Washburne fought for him as the ablest 
 general in the field. 
 
 When Colonel Grant returned to Springfield, Gover 
 nor Yates said to him, " I would send another regiment, 
 if I had transportation." 
 
 " Order mine, and I will find transportation," replied 
 Grant, with a decision that impressed the Governor 
 wonderfully. How the new Colonel could find trans 
 portation, unless he brought it down from the skies, 
 was more than Yates could tell. But there was that 
 about Grant s reply which satisfied him that trans 
 portation was sure. The Governor did not stop to 
 think that the soldiers had legs, and could use them. 
 He did order the regiment to Mexico, in Northern Mis 
 souri, where the enemy was making trouble. 
 
 " All right ! " said Grant to the Governor ; " I shall 
 march my regiment directly across the country to Mis 
 souri, leaving railroad trains for those who come after 
 us." 
 
 "As you elect," answered the Governor, laughing at 
 the Colonel s simple method of transportation. " I see 
 that you are a practical man, and such men are the 
 ones we want in the field." 
 
 The regiment raised no objection to the long march. 
 Evidently they saw it would do no good. Perhaps 
 some of them thought it would give them a good oppor 
 tunity to commit depredations on the way ; at any rate, 
 quite a number of them tried it. The first night out, 
 the Colonel had several of them tied up by their 
 thumbs for stealing. Before reaching their destination, 
 all were fully convinced that obedience to orders was 
 the only way to keep the peace with their determined 
 Colonel. 
 
128 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Colonel Grant marched his regiment across the coun 
 try, really because he thought it was the best way to 
 drill them. A week s march, with all the incidental 
 experience of field-life, was exactly what his men needed. 
 The wisdom of his measure was never questioned after 
 the experience. The march worked them into the ser 
 vice finely. In one week the regiment went into camp 
 at Mexico, Mo. Colonel Grant was now fairly equipped 
 for the war. 
 
XII. 
 
 THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 
 
 GENERAL POPE commanded in Northern Missouri, and 
 Grant was put in charge of a brigade. On a raid, some 
 of his men obtained whiskey, and became intoxicated. 
 As soon as he discovered the trouble, he ordered the 
 regiment to halt, and he searched every canteen, pouring 
 all the whiskey he found on the ground. He tied the 
 drunken men on the baggage-wagons, and severely 
 reproved the officers for allowing such freedom. 
 
 An officer applied to him, asking him how to deal with 
 a young soldier, a mere boy, from an excellent home, 
 who was forming the habit of drinking and gambling. 
 Grant s reply was tender, 
 
 " The army is a hard place. It will ruin a great many 
 young men. Talk to him, and try to teach him more 
 self-control. Do everything to counteract the evil in 
 fluences of camp-life, but do not punish him till you find 
 it absolutely necessary, for that brings a sense of degra 
 dation." 
 
 There was a chaplain in the mess at head-quarters, 
 and Grant said to him, 
 
 " Chaplain, when I was at home, and ministers stopped 
 at my house, I always invited them to ask a blessing at 
 the table. I suppose it is quite as much needed here as 
 
ijo FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. , 
 
 there, and I shall be glad to have you do it whenever we 
 sit down to a meal." 
 
 There was a special session of Congress in July. At 
 the time, Illinois had sent thirty-six regiments into the 
 field. President Lincoln sent a printed request to the 
 senators and representatives of the State, to recommend 
 four soldiers for brigadier-generals. Washburne nomin 
 ated Grant, then followed Hurlbut, Prentiss, and Mc- 
 Clernand. Grant received every vote, and he was the 
 only one who did. He was started off, when he came 
 into the world, by ballot, and now a ballot gave him 
 another send-off. Since that time, ballots have had 
 much to do with his remarkable experience. He has 
 been balloted for more than any other American, we 
 think. 
 
 Grant knew nothing about the balloting that was going 
 on in his behalf. He had little time to read papers, or 
 to lay plans to go up higher, because he was thoroughly 
 absorbed in present duty. But his chaplain brought a 
 St. Louis paper to him, which contained his appoint 
 ment, before his commission was received. 
 
 " Good morning, Colonel. There is a bit of news in 
 this paper that will interest you, I think," said the chap 
 lain. 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "You have been made a brigadier-general." 
 
 " You are joking," replied Grant. 
 
 " Read it for yourself ; there it is." 
 
 Grant took the paper and read the announcement, 
 then replied, 
 
 " I had not the slightest suspicion of any such thing. 
 It was not brought about by any request of mine. I 
 guess that it is some of Washburne s work." 
 
 He had commanded the Twenty-first Illinois Volun- 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 131 
 
 teers but two months, and now his connection with it 
 was broken. He was going up higher. Leaders were 
 beginning to know him. The mystery of his life was 
 wearing off. 
 
 Major-general Fremont commanded the department, 
 and he sent General Grant to Pilot Knob, where an 
 attack was threatened to the Union forces ; but the 
 enemy not appearing, Fremont ordered him to Jefferson, 
 the capital of the State, which was in imminent peril. 
 Here he invited his old friend Hillyer, of St. Louis, to 
 take a place on his staff. Hillyer was a lawyer of con 
 siderable prominence, without any hankering for the 
 honours of military life ; but, by appointment, he met 
 General Grant at the Planter s House in St. Louis. 
 
 " Hillyer, you must go upon my staff," he said. " I 
 have kept the steamer waiting three hours for you ; got 
 a horse all ready for you, and you must go. I must be 
 off in a hurry to Cape Girardeau." 
 
 "Why, sir, I haven t even enlisted. Such a thought 
 never entered my head until I received your telegram," 
 answered Hillyer. 
 
 " Well, it has entered now, and you can enlist on the 
 way ; we can make that all right." 
 
 " But I ve got no clothes, and no money ; my wife ex 
 pects me home to tea, and my business needs attending 
 to. I do not see how it is possible," urged Hillyer. 
 
 " I see," added Grant. " In time of war we are all 
 minute-men. I owe you fifty dollars, and here it is 
 (passing the money to him); that is all the money you 
 will need. As to clothes, we can make out a suit among 
 us. We are ordered to the field at once, and expect a 
 fight with Jeff Thompson. If you survive the battle, I 
 will give you leave to come home and fix up your busi 
 ness." 
 
132 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " But I have just taken a beef contract ; I can t attend 
 to that, and be on your staff, too." This was a contract 
 to supply a quantity of beef for the army. 
 
 " Of course you cannot do both," said Grant ; "so give 
 up your beef contract, and come along with us." 
 
 " Well, I ll meet you at the steamer," Hillyer said, 
 at last, and rushed out. He turned over his contract to 
 a friend, ran home to see his wife, and hurried to the 
 steamer, in time to sail with Grant a minute-man, 
 indeed ! 
 
 " Have you a commission for me ? " Hillyer inquired, 
 when the steamer was under way. " A staff-officer 
 without a commission can t be of much use." 
 
 "Not yet," General Grant answered ; "but Fremont 
 promised me that he would appoint you. You are a 
 staff-officer all the same, however." 
 
 " What is my rank ? " 
 
 " I cannot say positively, but it will be the best I can 
 get for you, of course. For the present, we will call you 
 captain." 
 
 There was very little red-tape used in making this 
 staff-officer, and yet he was well made. The new general 
 understood his business, so that there would be no 
 trouble about the arrangement. 
 
 The command reached Pilot Knob, when Jeff Thomp 
 son, who believed that "discretion is the better part of 
 valour," fled at his approach, taking his arrny with him. 
 
 Just then General Fremont was superseded by General 
 Halleck, who appointed Grant to take charge of the dis 
 trict of South-east Missouri, with head-quarters at Cairo. 
 To the latter place he repaired at once, and Hillyer, on 
 leave of absence, hurried home to see his wife, and ar 
 range his business for a long war. 
 
 Grant was soon settled in his head-quarters at Cairo. 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 133 
 
 C. C. Coffin, the war correspondent of the Boston Journal, 
 speaks as follows of him, showing the great contrast be 
 tween him and General McClellan : 
 
 "Having" credentials from the Secretary of War, I 
 entered the head-quarters of the commanding officer, 
 and found a man of medium stature, thick set, with blue 
 eyes, and brown beard closely cropped, sitting at a desk. 
 He was smoking a meerschaum. He wore a plain blue 
 blouse, without any insignia of rank. His appearance 
 was clerkly. General McClellan, in Washington, com- 
 mander-in-chief, was surrounded by brilliant staffs, men 
 in fine broadcloth, gold braid, plumed hats, and wearing 
 clanking sabres. Orderlies were usually numerous at 
 head-quarters." 
 
 " Is General Grant in ? " was the question directed to 
 the clerk in the corner. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said the man, removing the meerschaum 
 from his mouth, and spitting with unerring accuracy 
 into a spittoon by his side. 
 
 " Will you be kind enough to give this letter to him ? " 
 
 But the clerk, instead of carrying it into an adjoining 
 room to present it to the commander-in-chief, opened it, 
 ran his eye rapidly over the contents, and said, 
 
 " I am happy to make your acquaintance, sir ; Colonel 
 Webster will give you a pass." 
 
 A more astonished man than Coffin was not found in 
 Cairo just then, to find himself conversing with Grant. 
 " The last shall be first." 
 
 The rebels were strongly fortified at Columbus, and 
 their guns commanded the fort at Belmont. Grant re 
 solved to destroy that fort ; and, taking with him three 
 thousand men, he steamed down the river under cover 
 of night, and the next day, by desperate fighting, under 
 very unfavourable circumstances, the enemy was driven 
 
134 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE PIG USE. 
 
 from the fort with heavy loss, leaving all sorts of camp- 
 furniture behind, to which the torch was applied. It was 
 a fierce battle, and nearly five hundred Union soldiers 
 fell in it. General Grant was in the thickest of it, and 
 his horse was shot under him ; mounting another, he led 
 his gallant army to speedy victory. 
 
 The enemy sallied out from Columbus in large force 
 to intercept their return. An officer rode up to General 
 Grant, and said, 
 
 " We are surrounded, General ! " 
 
 " Very well," replied Grant, with the utmost coolness ; 
 " then we must cut our way out as we cut our way in, 
 We have whipped them once, and I think we can do it 
 again." 
 
 They did cut their way through thirteen rebel regi 
 ments of infantry, and two squadrons of cavalry, and 
 returned to Cairo. 
 
 General Grant learned that the enemy had taken 
 possession of Paducah, with the design of making it a 
 stronghold. It was all-important that the Union forces 
 should hold it as a strategic point. Grant telegraphed 
 to his commander-in-chief for permission to drive out 
 the enemy, and take possession of the place. At once 
 he prepared an expedition, and no reply to his telegram 
 being received, he telegraphed again, 
 
 " I am ready to go to Paducah, and shall start should 
 not a telegram arrive preventing the movement." 
 
 He waited until ten o clock that night, and no answer 
 came. He said to his staff, 
 
 " Come on, now ; I will wait no longer. I will go to 
 Paducah if it costs me my commission." 
 
 With three regiments and a light battery, Captain 
 Foote, of the flotilla, co-operating with him, he was in 
 Paducah the next morning. The rebels fled without 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 135 
 
 firing a gun. Had his expedition been delayed a single 
 day, the place could not have been entered without a 
 bloody fight, for a large rebel force was on its way there. 
 Grant performed the feat at the risk of losing his com 
 mission ; another instance of the advantage accruing to 
 him by assuming a risk. 
 
 Rebel flags were flying from the tops of many houses, 
 but they were speedily exchanged for the stars and 
 stripes. Here, General Grant issued his first order, 
 characteristic, and clear as the note of clarion, 
 
 " PADUCAH, KY., Sept. 6, 1861. 
 " To THE CITIZENS OF PADUCAH : 
 
 " I am come among you, not as an enemy, but as your 
 fellow-citizen ; not to maltreat you, nor annoy you, but 
 to respect you and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens. 
 An enemy in rebellion against our Common Government 
 has taken possession of, and planted his guns on, the 
 soil of Kentucky, and fired upon you. Columbus and 
 Hickman are in his hands. He is moving upon your 
 city. I am here to defend you against this enemy, to 
 assist the authority and sovereignty of Government. / 
 have nothing to do with opinions, and shall deal only with 
 armed rebellion and its aiders and abettors ! You can 
 pursue your usual vocations without fear ; the strong 
 arm of the Government is here to protect its friends and 
 punish its enemies. Whenever it is manifest that you 
 are able to defend yourselves and maintain the authority 
 of the Government, and protect the rights of loyal 
 citizens, I shall withdraw the forces under my command. 
 
 " U. S. GRANT, 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding." 
 
 When it is known that Kentucky claimed to be 
 
136 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 neutral, and that Grant led this expedition without 
 authority from his superior officer, the foregoing order 
 must be regarded as one of the most ingenious docu 
 ments of the war. Written on the spur of the moment 
 as it was, it is insignificant proof of Grant s readiness 
 for any emergency. 
 
 Leaving a force large enough to hold the town, the 
 General returned to Cairo, and immediately directed his 
 attention to Fort Henry. 
 
 We should say here, however, that General Grant re 
 pudiated all army contractors who were trying to fleece 
 the Government ; and there were many such. He read 
 them at a glance, and turned them off abruptly, while 
 he rendered efficient aid to honest men. His course 
 brought down upon him the wrath of some of these 
 contractors ; and they spread abroad false reports as to 
 his habits, repeating them from time to time. There 
 was not the slightest foundation for these stories ; malice 
 created them, and time demonstrated their cruelty and 
 falsity. 
 
 Through a Southern journal it came out, about this 
 time, that rebel officers in Richmond discussed the 
 ability of Northern generals to conduct a great war. 
 Their opinions were not at all complimentary to our 
 officers generally ; but General Buell said, 
 
 "There is one West Pointer, I think in Missouri, little 
 known, and whom I hope the Northern people will not 
 find out. I mean Sam Grant. I knew him well at 
 West Point and in Mexico. I should fear him more 
 than any of their officers I have yet heard of. He is 
 not a man of genius, but he is clear-headed, quick, and 
 daring." 
 
 Buell was right ; so much had been proved already. 
 
 General Grant s men, or some of them, were inclined 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 137 
 
 to disregard the laws of civilized warfare by appro 
 priating what did not belong to them in the enemy s 
 country. This brought out the following order from 
 him : 
 
 " Disgrace having been brought upon our brave fel 
 lows by the bad conduct of some of their members 
 showing, on all occasions, when passing through territory 
 occupied by sympathizers of the enemy, a total dis 
 regard of the rights of citizens, and being guilty of 
 wanton destruction of private property, the General 
 commanding desires and intends to enforce a change in 
 this respect. . . . 
 
 " It is ordered that the severest punishment be in 
 flicted upon every soldier who is guilty of taking or 
 destroying private property, and any commissioned 
 officer guilty of like conduct, or of countenancing it, shall 
 be deprived of his sword, and expelled from the army, 
 not to be permitted to return," etc. 
 
 To the honour of General Grant be it said here, that 
 he adhered to both the letter and spirit of the foregoing 
 order to the end of the war. A more humane and 
 thoughtful man never led an army. 
 
 Fort Henry was doomed. Captain Foote (now Com 
 modore) co-operated with General Grant in an expedition 
 to reduce this stronghold. With eight gunboats he pro 
 ceeded down the river to attack the fort in front, while 
 General Grant marched his army across the country to 
 attack it in the rear. The day of assaulting the fort 
 was agreed upon ; but a heavy rain had converted the 
 soil into mud, so as to delay the land force ; and besides, 
 the commodore found, on reaching the fort, that every 
 thing was favourable for immediate attack, and he bom 
 barded it at once, without waiting until the assigned 
 time of attack arrived. When General Grant reached 
 
138 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the fort, the Union flag was flying over it, and it was 
 immediately passed over into his hands. 
 
 Here, again, the superior wisdom of General Grant 
 appeared. General Halleck did not yield to the request 
 of General Grant to move on Fort Henry, until Com 
 modore Foote interceded. But General Grant s desire 
 for immediate action arose from the fact that the enemy 
 was erecting another fort just across the river from 
 Henry. Waiting until that was completed would have 
 given the rebels great advantage. 
 
 Grant lost no time in preparing an expedition to 
 reduce Fort Donelson, which the South considered im 
 pregnable. Donelson was only twelve miles distant, 
 built to blockade the Cumberland River, as Henry was 
 to blockade the Tennessee. 
 
 With fifteen thousand men and eight batteries, 
 General Grant started for Donelson. It was on the 
 morning of Wednesday, February I2th. He came 
 within shooting range of the fort before night, but Foote 
 did not arrive till the next day. The fort was garri 
 soned with twenty-one thousand men, and General 
 Floyd was in command. The engagement commenced 
 soon after the arrival of Foote. The battle was a terri 
 ble one. Beginning on Thursday, it was renewed on 
 Friday, and continued all day Saturday, with the odds 
 against the Union army at three o clock p.m. of the 
 last day mentioned. 
 
 At that time, General Grant, who had been to the 
 flagship to confer with Commodore Foote, who was 
 wounded, and his fleet disabled, returned to find his 
 army badly demoralized, a portion of it on the retreat, 
 and the whole scene one of discouragement. 
 
 Grant stopped for a moment considering what to do, 
 when he overheard a soldier say to another, 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 139 
 
 " They are too much for us this time. They are so 
 strong that they know they can lick us. But they are 
 figuring on it that it may take several days righting." 
 
 " How do you know that ? " asked the comrade. 
 
 " Why, they ve got th-eir knapsacks on, and their 
 haversacks are full of grub." 
 
 " Are their haversacks full ? " asked General Grant, 
 who had heard the conversation. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Let me see one," he added hurriedly. 
 
 Quick as thought one was passed to him, and lo ! it 
 contained three days rations. The fact disclosed to 
 Grant s quick judgment the exact state of affairs at the 
 fort. He turned hastily to his officers, and said, 
 
 " Their purpose is plain. Men defending a fort and 
 making a charge don t carry three days rations ; it 
 means they are trying to get away ! They have been 
 trying to cut a way out, and the desperateness of their 
 situation would not permit them to hesitate now if they 
 were not badly injured. The party that now takes the 
 offensive will win." 
 
 Added to the demoralized condition of the troops, 
 the weather was bitter cold, and part of the time for two 
 days a chilling sleet had been falling. But Grant re 
 solved at once to take the offensive, and recover the 
 lost ground. He despatched an order to General Smith, 
 one of the oldest officers, whose hair was long, and 
 white as snow, to storm and capture the works in front. 
 
 " Tell General Grant that I will do it," was the answer 
 the war-worn veteran sent back. 
 
 An eye-witness shall tell the rest of the story : 
 
 " The Second Iowa was to take the lead. He formed 
 it into two lines, thirty paces apart, and taking his place 
 between them, cried, 
 
140 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Forward ! 
 
 " Far away to the right the guns arc booming, telling 
 that Wallace is meeting the foe. 
 
 " Forward ! 
 
 " They go with a dash. 
 
 " The artillery pours a hot fire into the rebel works as 
 they climb up the steep hillside and burst into view on 
 the hill where the rebel outworks are planted. 
 
 "Gallant Smith s eyes flashed with delight. It was 
 the kind of fighting he loved. And the men he led 
 caught something of his enthusiasm and never faltered 
 more than he, when the pattering shower of bullets grew 
 into a terrible hurricane of grape and canister as the 
 enemy caught sight of them. 
 
 " The ridge is reached. 
 
 " A pause now to form the lines, during which Smith 
 rides along, and says, 
 
 " Boys, I am here because fighting is my business, 
 and the Government sent me. But you volunteered for 
 this kind of work, and I expect you to go in and do it ! 
 
 " And he added, 
 
 " Now, then, we ve got some stiff work before us ! 
 But we don t dare to be defeated, and not a man must 
 shrink. And I won t ask you to do what I don t dare 
 do myself. Do you understand that ? By the Lord 
 Harry, I mean to be the first man to step over the rebel 
 works, and I expect you to be close behind to support 
 me ; and I don t want a shot fired we must take it at 
 the point of the bayonet ! 
 
 "The lines formed, he gave the order to advance, 
 leading himself with the colour-bearer beside him. 
 
 " It is a terrible scene. 
 
 " The flagstaff is almost shot in twain. 
 
 " Fourteen bullets pierced the emblem itself, and one 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 141 
 
 two three four five colour-bearers go down ! But 
 a sixth is not wanting, the glorious stars and stripes are 
 not allowed to trail in the dust ! 
 
 "Smith now drops behind the advance, and hat in 
 hand, and white hair streaming in the wind, shouts en 
 couragement, inspiring them with new heroism. 
 
 " Once a withering fire halts them for a moment. 
 
 " I m here, boys! I m here! you can go where I 
 can ! and the wavering men no longer shrink when 
 they see the white hair dancing in the wind, and see the 
 hat now perched on the point of Smith s sword. 
 
 " * Forward again ! 
 
 " Forward and over the works ! 
 
 " Without firing a shot, they reached the protecting 
 ditch, poured down it, climbed up, then over the parapet 
 by twos, by threes, in squads at last ! Swift and deadly 
 work the flashing bayonets flashing and bright at first, 
 but soon stained with blood perform, and then the 
 rebels begin to quiver and quake. It is a hand-to-hand 
 struggle, a duel to the death ! The rebels suddenly be 
 come seized with a panic, and their own batteries are 
 turned on them as they desert the works in mad haste, 
 and the air is rent by wild shouts of joy as the rebel 
 colours come down and the glorious stars and stripes 
 wave in their stead above the works. 
 
 " Our batteries come rapidly forward. Steaming 
 horses drag in the guns on the run, and, quickly man 
 ned, they soon are pouring iron death, keeping company 
 with the captured pieces, into the precipitately fleeing 
 enemy. 
 
 "The position is commanding, and an enfilading fire 
 is poured upon the flanks and faces of the works. 
 
 "Four hundred of Smith s gallant column have 
 fallen, but the bl<7W struck is a decisive one. Grant s 
 
142 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tactics and Smith s gallantry have turned defeat into 
 victory. 
 
 " Darkness ended the fight." 
 
 Before light on Sunday morning General Smith sent 
 a negro, who had just come in from Fort Donelson, to 
 General Grant s head-quarters. The negro claimed to 
 be the servant of a rebel officer. 
 
 " Dey s been a-going all night," he said. 
 
 "What! leaving the fort, and running away?" in 
 quired Grant. He suspected they might do that 
 
 " Yes, massa." 
 
 " Tell us the truth now, for many lives may depend on 
 your information. If you deceive us, we shall hang you." 
 
 " All right, massa ; if Fs don t tell the truf, Fll hang. 
 Fs just come from de fort, and dey s been a-going all 
 night. 
 
 It was found, on the next day, that Floyd transferred 
 the command to Fillow, the second officer in command; 
 and the latter, in turn, passed it over to Buckner, the 
 third officer in rank. Then Floyd and Pillow escaped 
 on five rebel steamers, taking with them three or four 
 thousand soldiers. 
 
 On Sunday morning, General Buckner sent a letter to 
 General Grant, asking for terms. Accompanying is a 
 fac-simile of Grant s famous reply, the effect of which 
 was felt to the close of the war. 
 
 The surrender was immediate and unconditional ; and 
 the fall of Donelson electrified the whole North ; for it 
 was the first great victory of the contest. At the same 
 time it filled the South with alarm. 
 
 As soon as Grant received Buckner s unconditional 
 surrender letter, he jumped upon his horse, and with his 
 staff rode over to Buckner s. Fighting being over, they 
 shook hands like friends. 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 143 
 
 " If I had been in command," said Buckner to Grant, 
 "you would not have reached the fort so easily." 
 
 " No," replied Grant ; " but if you had been in com 
 mand, I should have waited for reinforcements. I knew 
 Pillow would never come out of his works to fight." 
 
 Just then General Smith arrived. Buckner was an 
 old acquaintance ; they were together at West Point. 
 
 "That charge of yours last night was a splendid 
 affair," remarked Buckner, as he shook hands cordially 
 with him. 
 
 "Yes, yes," answered the veteran; "the men did 
 well they did well. But it was no affair of mine ; I 
 simply obeyed General Grant s orders." 
 
 The papers being signed, the conference ended. Grant 
 was in favour of moving directly on to Nashville, and 
 telegraphed to Halleck for permission ; but the lattei 
 vetoed the measure, a great mistake. 
 
 Early on Sunday morning the journals of Nashville 
 issued extras, with the intelligence, in flaming letters, 
 
 " Enemy Retreating Glorious Results Our Boys 
 Following and Peppering Their Rear A Complete 
 Victory ! " 
 
 The bells rang out more cheerily than ever, calling 
 the people to worship ; but, within ten minutes, the 
 news came, 
 
 " Fort Donelson has fallen ! The whole garrison cap 
 tured by the Yankees ! " 
 
 Consternation took the place of joy. Instead of going 
 to meeting, the people ran through the streets in wild 
 excitement. Alarm bells were rung. A train of cars 
 was made ready as quick as possible to carry citizens 
 away. Every other vehicle was pressed into the ser 
 vice ; and the inhabitants fled from their homes, as if 
 fearing the " Yankees " would show them no quarter. 
 
144 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The prisoners were sent to Cairo in charge of Union 
 officers. General Grant sent the negro, who brought 
 him information on Sunday, with the officers, notwith 
 standing the order of General Halleck, to exclude them 
 from the lines, At first he was inclined to obey the 
 order ; but, finding the ex-slaves loyal and helpful, he 
 disregarded the order on military principles. Thou 
 sands of slaves came into the lines for protection, and 
 were allowed to remain. 
 
 On Monday night General Buckner rushed into 
 Grant s head-quarters, and throwing himself into a 
 chair, the following conversation took place : 
 
 Buckner. "Put me in irons, General; put me in 
 irons ! " 
 
 Grant." What do you mean ? " 
 
 Buckner. " Your troops are simply robbing my men. 
 They are stripping them of everything. They are taking 
 the officers arms, which, by your agreement, they were 
 to retain. They are even stealing their blankets, and 
 declare that is by your orders." 
 
 Grant. "This compels me to say things which I 
 hoped to avoid speaking of, because I wanted to save 
 your feelings. Your men have committed the grossest 
 outrages. I know you cannot approve of them, and I 
 suppose you could scarcely prevent them. But on the 
 morning of the surrender, one of your officers, growing- 
 angry in discussion, shot Major Mudd, of the Second 
 Illinois Cavalry, in the back. Your soldiers have 
 stripped my dead, and left them naked on the field, 
 while it was in your possession. They have taken 
 every blanket from prisoners, and been guilty of many 
 other things which I do not feel like detailing. The 
 weather is cold, and my troops need these blankets. By 
 the laws of war they are entitled to them ; for in an un- 
 
THE COMING MAN FORESHADOWED. 145 
 
 conditional surrender, everything belongs to the victors. 
 They are to remain in the field. Your men are going 
 to Cairo, where the Government has plenty of supplies, 
 and will see them properly cared for. Our soldiers, 
 falling into Confederate hands, have been almost starved, 
 and are kept in the foulest prisons. Yours receive here 
 the same accommodations and fare as my own. I have 
 simply disarmed them, because I don t want my officers 
 assassinated. They can get their side-arms again by 
 applying for them at Cairo." 
 
 About this time a friend wrote to Grant that Presi 
 dent Lincoln was willing to make him major-general, 
 Grant replied, 
 
 " I do not want promotion until I earn it." 
 
 He was now piling up proof of his wife s words, 
 
 " Mr. Grant has great natural ability. He would fill 
 any public position well, if he only had the chance." 
 
 Friends heard this remark in the days of her adver 
 sity, and smiled. They overlooked it on the ground of 
 a wife s blinding affections. Even when his promotion 
 to major-general was announced, a relative said to her, 
 
 " Ulysses may do very well as a brigadier ; but he d 
 better be satisfied with that, and not attempt to rise 
 higher." Mrs. Grant replied, 
 
 " There is no danger of his reaching a position above 
 his capacity. He is equal to a much higher one than 
 this, and will certainly win it if he lives." 
 
 Mrs. Grant, Elihu B. Washburne, and President Lin 
 coln were almost the only persons, outside of his own 
 command, who understood and appreciated Grant even 
 now. The conundrum of his boyhood was not yet 
 solved. 
 
XIII. 
 
 MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT was made major-general immediately 
 after the fall of Donelson. President Lincoln and Mr. 
 Stanton, the Secretary of War, had been sorely tried by 
 the dallying course of generals : first McClellan, and 
 then Halleck ; and General Grant s method of " carry 
 ing the war into Africa " just suited them. Secretary 
 Stanton issued the following congratulatory address to 
 the country upon the glorious victory at Donelson, 
 evidently intending to rebuke over-cautious generals by 
 his praise of Grant : 
 
 " We may well rejoice at the recent victories, for they 
 teach us that battles are to be won now, and by us, in 
 the same and only manner that they were ever won by 
 any people, or in any age, since the days of Joshua, by 
 boldly pursuing and striking the foe. What, under the 
 blessing of Providence, I conceive to be the true organi 
 zation of victory, and military combination to end this 
 war, was declared in a few words by General Grant s 
 message to General Buckner : / propose to move im 
 mediately on your works? " 
 
 The fall of Fort Donelson forced the enemy to 
 abandon Columbus, which they called the " Gibraltar of 
 America." Also, the Union army took immediate 
 possession of Island No. 10 and New Madrid. But the 
 third great battle was at hand. The two great Con- 
 
 146 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 147 
 
 federate Generals, Johnston and Beauregard, had con 
 centrated eighty thousand troops at Corinth, converting 
 it into another " Gibraltar," as they thought, with the 
 design of raiding from that point, and sweeping the 
 Union army of the West out of existence. 
 
 General Halleck, a vacillating and over-cautious com 
 mander, ambitious and conceited, thought to take all 
 the glory of the third victory to himself. Jealous of 
 General Grant, whose praise was now on all loyal lips, 
 he took command of the army in person, after the 
 preliminary organization had been perfected, reducing 
 Grant s rank, and ordering him to watch at Fort Henry ; 
 at the same time placing Sherman in command at 
 Cairo. True, Grant commanded the " District of West 
 Tennessee," but the change was brought about in such 
 a way, that even General Sherman regarded it as the 
 act of a jealous superior officer, to degrade Grant before 
 the country. Halleck wrote to Washington that General 
 Grant was insubordinate, proving that the change men 
 tioned was a blow at Grant. He had manhood enough 
 to give no credit to the reports about Grant s intemper 
 ance, for he knew that the latter was a total abstainer, 
 and he publicly expressed the absurdity of such a 
 charge, after the fall of Donelson, by issuing the follow 
 ing bulletin from his head-quarters, in St. Louis : 
 
 " If Grant s a drunkard, and can win such a victory, I 
 shall issue an order, that any man found sober in St. 
 Louis to-night, shall be punished by fine and imprison 
 ment." 
 
 President Lincoln, also, who learned that Grant was 
 a total abstainer, through Washburne, and to whom 
 complaints were made, with the request that Grant be 
 removed for intemperance, exposed the foolishness of 
 the charge, by saying, 
 
1 48 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " Do you know what kind of liquor Grant uses ? " 
 
 " Why no/ answered the complaining party ; " I 
 don t know as that makes any difference." 
 
 "Well, I was only thinking if I knew what kind oi 
 liquor he used, I would recommend it to some other 
 generals." 
 
 When preparations to march on Corinth were com 
 pleted, General Grant was at Savannah, General Wallace 
 at Crump s, with his command, five miles above, and the 
 remainder of the army, thirty-five thousand, encamped 
 on the south bank of the Tennessee River, in five 
 divisions. General Sherman was near Shiloh Meeting 
 house, three miles from the river, holding the front. 
 General Buell was on his way, with forty thousand 
 men, to reinforce Grant. 
 
 It was Saturday night, April 5th, 1862. On retiring, 
 General Grant said, 
 
 " We will move our quarters to Pittsburg to-morrow. 
 We must breakfast early, and while our traps are being 
 got on board, ride out and have a talk with Buell before 
 we go up the river." 
 
 The General understood the designs of Johnston and 
 Beauregard, but he did not expect an attack before 
 Monday or Tuesday. He never dreamed that, at that 
 moment, the flower of the rebel army, led by two of the 
 most famous Southern generals, were silently resting on 
 their arms, only three or four miles away, awaiting early 
 dawn to fall upon the Union army and crush it. 
 
 General Grant was out of bed before daylight on 
 Sunday morning, and ordered the boats to get up 
 steam, and the horses to be saddled ; then sat down to 
 breakfast. Before they were half through, a noise like 
 distant thunder startled them. 
 
 " That s firing," said Colonel Webster. 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 149 
 
 " Yes," answered Grant, " it sounds very much like 
 it." 
 
 At that moment his favourite orderly rushed in, ex 
 claiming, 
 
 " General, there is terrific firing up the river." 
 
 All sprang up and hurried out of the door. The roar 
 of cannonading increased. The earth seemed to tremble 
 under the shock of battle. 
 
 "Where is it?" inquired Webster, nervously. "At 
 Crump s, or Pittsburg Landing ? " 
 
 " I am trying to determine," answered Grant, with 
 the utmost coolness. "Very heavy, isn t it? I think 
 it s at Pittsburg Landing." Turning quickly about, 
 
 " Orderly," he said, " take the horses right on the 
 boat, and tell the captain to make ready for starting at 
 once. Come, gentlemen, tis time to be moving." 
 
 The breakfast was left on the table, Grant buckled on 
 his sword, and, with Webster s help, hobbled down to 
 the boat. A few days before the General s horse fell, 
 injuring one of the rider s limbs quite seriously. 
 
 " I have been looking for this," he said, " but did not 
 believe the attack would be made before Monday or 
 Tuesday." 
 
 Perfectly self-possessed, Grant dictated orders, one 
 after another, and sent them hither and thither. His 
 order to General Buell was, 
 
 " Hurry up your reinforcements as quickly as pos 
 sible." 
 
 The roar of battle increased, as the General and staff 
 steamed up the river. A negro said it sounded like 
 "the wrath of God." At Crump s, General Wallace 
 was standing upon the guard of his steamer, and Grant 
 called out to him, 
 
 " General, have your baggage and camp-equipage 
 
150 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 moved right down to the bank, and your men ready to 
 march at a moment s notice." 
 
 " They are already under arms," replied Wallace. 
 
 Grant went ashore at Pittsburg Landing, was helped 
 upon his horse, and, with his staff, galloped hurriedly to 
 the front. Here a scene of disaster met his eye, which 
 would have appalled any General but himself. The 
 encampment of the advance line was in the hands of the 
 enemy. General Prentiss division was destroyed. Even 
 the divisions of Generals Sherman and McClernand 
 were greatly demoralized, and had been driven back 
 two miles. Many soldiers were running in terror from 
 the field to the river, to get under the protection of the 
 gunboats. The army was made up of raw recruits, and 
 such a terrific assault upon them at the outset, overcame 
 them. Almost any General but Grant would have said 
 that the day was lost, and ordered retreat. 
 
 It seems that the rebel army, having twice the number 
 of the Union forces, rushed upon the latter, in three 
 divisions, early in the morning, when many of the troops 
 were fast asleep. The attack was a fearful one, and as 
 sudden and unexpected as it was terrific. No doubt 
 that Generals Johnston and Beauregard expected to 
 destroy Grant s army by their first mighty swoop upon 
 them ; and but for the coolness and bravery of the 
 commanding officers, such would have been the tale. 
 
 General Grant took in the situation readily and posted 
 away his orderlies with messages in every direction. 
 Rowley was sent to Sherman. 
 
 " General Grant sent me to see how you are getting 
 along," he said. 
 
 " Tell him if he has any men to spare, I can use them ; 
 if not, I will do the best I can. We are holding them 
 pretty well just now pretty well but it s a hard fight." 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 151 
 
 Rowley noticed a white handkerchief tied round 
 Sherman s hand, and he inquired, 
 
 " Why, General, are you wounded ? " 
 
 "Well, yes," he replied, looking at his hand; "but 
 that don t hurt me half so much as this thing on my 
 shoulder, which I suppose hasn t left any mark what 
 ever." 
 
 A spent ball had struck his shoulder-strap, his horse 
 had been shot under him, and his face was besmeared 
 with powder and blood. Yet he was dashing about in 
 the thickest of the fight, animating his soldiers, who 
 would have quailed before the foe and run from the 
 field, but for his inspiring presence and example. 
 
 Rowley said to General Grant, on his return, 
 
 " General, this thing looks pretty squally, don t it ? " 
 
 " Well, not so very bad. We ve got to fight against 
 time now. Wallace must be here very soon." 
 
 General Grant and his staff passed near a rebel battery, 
 which opened upon them. The first shell struck just in 
 front of Grant. 
 
 "We must ride fast here," he said, spurring up his 
 horse, without taking any other notice of the danger. 
 The words were scarcely out of his mouth before another 
 shell struck under his horse. 
 
 " Pretty loud call that, for my horse s legs," he re 
 marked. 
 
 " I think it is a pretty loud call for your legs," re 
 sponded Rowley. 
 
 They rode behind a house and stopped for consulta 
 tion ; but shells soon crashed through the roof, scattering 
 the shingles about them. 
 
 " The old building don t seem to be very good shelter ; 
 suppose we move on," remarked the General. 
 
 Scarcely had they begun to move forward, when a 
 
152 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 bullet struck the General s scabbard and threw it into 
 the air. The sword dropped out, and was never found. 
 
 They found a portion of our troops in the woods, 
 righting from tree to tree. Now and then a rebel 
 shouted, 
 
 "How about Bull Run?" 
 
 " How about Fort Donelson ? " our men shouted back. 
 
 A large number of our troops were panic-stricken, and 
 the stream of this class going to the river for the pro 
 tection of the gunboats was increasing. 
 
 " Go and see if you can t persuade them to return to 
 the front," the General said to Rowley ; " and return to 
 me when you have done that." 
 
 " Where shall I find you ? " inquired Rowley. 
 
 " Probably at head-quarters. If you don t, come to 
 the front, wherever you hear the heaviest firing" 
 
 All this time the Union forces were falling back, 
 and the rebel army was advancing with yells and 
 murderous cannonading. Nelson had not arrived with 
 his command, nor Wallace, though it was nearly two 
 o clock in the afternoon. Soon, however, the arrival of 
 Beull was announced, with the advance line of his re 
 inforcements. 
 
 " What preparations have you made for retreating ? " 
 inquired Buell. 
 
 " Why," answered Grant, " I haven t despaired of 
 whipping them yet." 
 
 " Of course ; but in case of defeat ? " 
 
 " Well, we could make a bridge across the river with 
 these boats, and protect it with artillery. But if we do 
 have to retreat there won t be many men left to cross." 
 
 The Union army expressed their joy over the arrival 
 of reinforcements by cheer on cheer ; and they were 
 now re-assured for the conflict. An hour later, the 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 153 
 
 enemy were greatly demoralized by the fall of their able 
 General, Johnston. A piece of a shell struck him on the 
 thigh, cutting a terrible gash. 
 
 tf Are you hurt ? " inquired one of his aids. 
 
 "Yes; I fear, mortally." 
 
 And in a moment he fell from his holse, and soon 
 died in the arms of his friend. 
 
 The death of Johnston sent dismay through the rebel 
 ranks. It disheartened them more than the arrival of 
 Buell s reinforcements ; although they subsequently 
 captured General Prentiss, with twenty-two hundred 
 men. 
 
 Later in the day the enemy showed signs of exhaus 
 tion. In driving back our columns, too, they had come 
 within range of the gunboats, whose deadly fire checked 
 their ardour. General Grant smiled for the first time 
 since he left Savannah in the morning. He beheld a 
 gleam of victory to his arms through the battle-smoke. 
 
 " It was at such a drisis as this, when the enemy 
 faltered, at Fort Donelson, that I ordered General Smith 
 to make a charge on the ranks in front of him, and won 
 the victory," he said. 
 
 The shades of night were gathering, and the battle 
 must close for the day. Just then, Carson, one of 
 General Grant s scouts, came up and reported to him. 
 As he was turning away, a shot knocked off his head, 
 bespattering General Grant with his blood. 
 
 Beauregard had promised his soldiers that they should 
 sleep in the "Yankees camp" on that Sunday night, 
 and they did. 
 
 Grant was very busy on that night. He held a 
 council of war, and said to his officers, 
 
 " It is always of great advantage to be the attacking 
 party. We must fire the first gun to-morrow morning." 
 
154 FROM THE TAN -YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 There were officers and men who wondered that Grant 
 did not order a retreat on that Sunday night. Some 
 of them thought it was foolhardy to engage in another 
 battle the next day with their victors. But Grant had 
 decided for battle, and that settled the matter. 
 
 During the whole day General Grant suffered much 
 pain in his injured leg ; and yet he kept in the saddle 
 all day, always being " where the heaviest firing was 
 heard." In the evening, his aids lifted him upon his 
 horse, and he rode to see every division commander, to 
 urge prompt, resolute, and united action ; for the Union 
 army would fall upon the foe early on Monday morning. 
 Returning about midnight, he lay down upon some 
 hay, with a stump for a pillow, and was soon fast asleep. 
 
 He was up before daylight on Monday morning, 
 giving orders. To his staff he said, 
 
 " Ride along the line, and see that every division 
 moves up to attack and press the enemy hard, the 
 minute it is light enough." 
 
 The men were in excellent spirits ; for the arrival of 
 Nelson, Wallace, and Buell had about doubled the 
 Northern army, and began the contest of Monday at 
 dawn of day. The enemy was surprised, as much sur 
 prised as Grant s army was on the previous morning. 
 They could not hold their ground, but kept falling back, 
 until, at one o clock p.m., our army had recovered their 
 camp. At that time, Beauregard made a bold and heroic 
 stand near the Shiloh chapel. Two regiments sent to 
 reinforce a wavering Union brigade were hesitating in 
 the face of the enemy s fire as Grant rode up. Seeing 
 that the men were faltering, the General shouted to 
 them, 
 
 " Come on, boys ! " and placing himself at their head, 
 he lead them valiantly up to the battle-line, where they 
 charged grandly. 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 155 
 
 As Grant returned, Sherman shouted to his gunners, 
 
 " Drop your shots right over there," pointing to rebels 
 on a hill in the distance. The Parrott guns responded 
 furiously, and the rebels retired in confusion. Grant, 
 looking on, shouted, 
 
 " That s the last of them. They will not make another 
 stand." 
 
 General Grant saw that the day was already won. 
 He rode over to General Thomas with a glad heart, and 
 said, 
 
 " General, those fellows are completely demoralized. 
 Take your division and another, and pursue. We can 
 cut them all to pieces and capture a great many." 
 
 " My men are completely used up," replied Thomas. 
 " They marched all Saturday and Sunday, and have 
 been fighting all day. If you say so, they shall march, 
 of course ; but they are hardly able to move." 
 
 Very reluctantly Grant relinquished his intention of 
 pursuing the enemy ; and that night Beauregard fled 
 with his beaten army to his entrenchments at Corinth. 
 The next morning General Beauregard sent the follow 
 ing communication to Grant : 
 
 " At the close of the conflict yesterday, my forces 
 being exhausted by the extraordinary length of the time 
 during which they were engaged with yours on that and 
 the preceding day, and it being apparent that you had 
 received, and were still receiving, reinforcements, 1 felt 
 it my duty to withdraw my troops from the immediate 
 scene of the conflict? 
 
 General Grant laughed when he read it aloud to his 
 staff, and jocosely remarked, 
 
 " I believe I shall reply that no apologies are neces 
 sary." But his very courteous reply was, 
 
 "The dead are already buried, otherwise I should be 
 
156 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 glad to extend this or any other courtesy consistent 
 with duty and dictated by humanity." 
 
 The result of this conflict must have been a fearful 
 disappointment to the rebel General Beauregard. For 
 he had staked his all upon it ; he expected to win ; he 
 had completely exhausted the South-west in preparation 
 for the battle. His chagrin was so great that he could 
 not bear to telegraph the truth to Richmond, so he 
 telegraphed thus : 
 
 " We have gained a great and glorious victory, eight 
 to ten thousand prisoners, and thirty-six pieces of can 
 non. Buell reinforced Grant, and we retired to our 
 intrenchments at Corinth, which we can hold. Loss 
 heavy on both sides." 
 
 A "great and glorious victory," which forces the army 
 into its intrenchments to escape annihilation, is not such 
 a victory as aspiring generals usually covet. But, while 
 the rebel authorities at Richmond were rejoicing over 
 the lying telegram of Beauregard, the real facts turned 
 joy into sadness. Over twelve thousand Union soldiers 
 were lost ; and though Beauregard reported his loss as 
 ten thousand, Grant believed it was double that number. 
 It was a singular battle, too. Both armies were victors 
 once, and both were defeated. On the first day, the 
 Union army was driven back three miles, with heavy 
 loss and virtual defeat. On the second day, the rebel 
 iumy was driven back five miles, with heavy loss and 
 actual defeat. 
 
 The South never recovered from the consequences of 
 this battle. It gave New Orleans to the Union, and 
 opened the river to Memphis. It proved as exhilarat 
 ing to the North as it was depressing to the South. 
 President Lincoln appointed a national Thanksgiving 
 Day, and the people throughout the North assembled 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 157 
 
 iii their churches on that day, to thank the Lord for 
 the victory at Shiloh, and the harbinger it was of the 
 final triumph. The fame of General Grant was im 
 mensely increased by it, so that, in the estimation of 
 loyal men, he stood head and shoulders above all other 
 generals. 
 
 But the old hatred of contractors, and the miserable 
 jealousy of conceited and aspiring officers, revived the 
 old stories about insubordination, drunkenness, and in 
 activity, and they had their run once more. Grant 
 minded little about them, except he wrote to his father, 
 " I will go on and do my duty to the very best of 
 my ability, and do all I can to bring this war to a 
 speedy close. I am not an aspirant for anything at 
 the close of the war. . . . One thing I am well 
 assured of, I have the confidence of every man in my 
 command." 
 
 The letter was published, and Grant saw it, where 
 upon he telegraphed that no more letters of his should 
 go into print. 
 
 General Grant issued the following congratulatory 
 order to his troops : 
 
 " The General commanding congratulates the troops 
 who so gallantly maintained their position ; repulsed 
 and routed a numerically superior force of the enemy, 
 composed of the flower of the Southern army, com 
 manded by their ablest generals, and fought by them 
 with all the desperation of despair. In numbers en 
 gaged, no such contest ever took place on this continent. 
 In importance of result, but few such have taken place 
 in the history of the world." 
 
 General Grant would have moved immediately upon 
 the rebel works at Corinth, while Beauregard s force 
 was so demoralized, but General Halleck opposed the 
 
158 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 measure. Besides, General Halleck wanted to show the 
 country what wonderful military genius he himself pos 
 sessed ; and, at the same time, gratify his jealousy of 
 Grant. So he kept the army waiting some weeks, until 
 he collected one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, 
 twice as many as Beauregard had. Then, instead of 
 storming the works at Corinth, in Grant style, he 
 crawled along up towards them, as if afraid of getting 
 hurt, always taking good care to keep his own person 
 at a respectable distance from " the heaviest firing." 
 
 But we stop here to record two or three facts about 
 Grant. The war-correspondent of the Neiv York Tri 
 bune, A. D. Richardson, messed at Grant s headquarters 
 after the battle of Shiloh, and he wrote of him: 
 
 " Our tent was always near the General s. Each 
 evening he reclined on the logs, or stood before the 
 camp-fire, smoking and talking of the Mexican war, or 
 of Shiloh ; or sat for hours in the tent beside us, while 
 we played whist or twenty-one/ offering an occasional 
 suggestion about the game, but never touching a card or 
 a glass of liquor" 
 
 The correspondent never heard him allude, but once, 
 to the base stories which reckless contractors and rival 
 officers circulated about him, or to Halleck s unjust and 
 cruel treatment of him. Once he said, 
 
 "After we have all done our best, to have such a 
 torrent of obloquy and falsehood poured among my own 
 troops is too much. I am not going to lay off my 
 shoulder-straps until the close of the war, but I should 
 like to go to New Mexico, or some other remote place, 
 and have a small command out of the reach of the 
 newspapers." 
 
 One evening he remarked : " After the war is over 
 and I wish it might be over soon I want to go back to 
 
MOVING ON 7 HE ENEMY S WORKS, 159 
 
 Galena and live. I am saving money from my pay now> 
 and shall be able to educate my children." 
 
 Halleck marched his army but fifteen miles in six 
 weeks, he was so fearful of falling into some trap. 
 Grant kept saying, 
 
 "Every rebel will escape, and carry away all his 
 property." 
 
 Generals Sherman and McPherson agreed with Grant, 
 that the way to accomplish anything was to hurry at 
 once to Corinth, and carry the works by storm. They 
 agreed with him on another measure also ; viz. that an 
 advance on our rigJit was the way to drive the enemy. 
 Halleck maintained that an advance on our left was 
 the military way of doing it. One day Grant returned 
 from Halleck s under excitement, which he had never 
 exhibited before. His chief-of-staff, noticing that his 
 lip quivered with emotion, said, 
 
 "What now?" 
 
 " You know what we have always talked about," re 
 plied Grant, " that the way to attack Corinth was on 
 the right ? " 
 
 " Yes, by this road, I know." 
 
 "Well, I suggested it to Halleck, and he treated it 
 with contempt. He pooh-poohed it, and gave me to 
 understand that when he wanted my advice he would 
 let me know." 
 
 When Halleck approached Corinth, after accomplish 
 ing the wearisome march of fifteen miles in six weeks, 
 most of his officers were disgusted that he did not push 
 right into the city. Grant said, 
 
 " If I were in command, I would push in and win or 
 lose. I may be rash, but I would not wait here always. 
 Corinth was conquered at Shiloh." 
 
 Thus Halleck exposed his incompetency until the 
 
I Go FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 twenty-ninth day of May, when his timidity reached its 
 climax. On that day there was a tremendous explosion 
 in the town. Grant and the other generals knew at 
 once that the rebels had fled, and were blowing up their 
 works. But Halleck said, evidently scared out of his 
 wits, 
 
 " The enemy will attack us in force to-morrow morn 
 ing," and he issued an order to that effect, and in the 
 morning he actually drew up his army in battle-array to 
 receive the shock. While he was doing this, most of 
 the rebel army was miles away, running for dear life, 
 and the explosion was the signal of the completion of 
 one of the most thorough and deliberate evacuations on 
 record. Halleck ordered General Logan to advance 
 and intrench, which he did, laughing " in his sleeve " all 
 the while, and his men were using shovels when a squad 
 of Union cavalry had entered the city, and were scouring 
 the forsaken streets. The enemy had been carrying 
 away their property for several weeks. Halleck had 
 given them abundant opportunity to escape, and they 
 had improved it, leaving scarcely a knapsack as a me 
 mento of their occupation. An army of seventy thousand 
 men escaped from the foe, whose advance line was within 
 two hundred yards of him, and the conceited General 
 did not know it ! 
 
 General Logan said to another officer, " My men shall 
 never dig another ditch for Halleck, unless it is to bury 
 him in." 
 
 In July, General Halleck succeeded General McClellan 
 as commander-in-chief of the great Union army, and 
 removed to Washington. A prominent Union officer 
 remarked, 
 
 " It is the first time I ever knew an officer promoted 
 for his blunders 
 
MOVING ON THE ENEMY S WORKS. 161 
 
 " It is done to take him out of the way, that we may 
 do something," responded another. 
 
 Commodore Foote said, " If we could have had our 
 way, we would have destroyed the rebellion in the West 
 within a few months." 
 
 In justice to General Halleck it should be said, that 
 he made a concession to General . Grant, after he found 
 that Corinth was evacuated. 
 
 " After all, General Grant," he said, "you fought the 
 battle of Corinth at Pittsburg Landing." 
 
 And yet, he offered to turn over his command to 
 another, who indignantly declined it. Then he tele 
 graphed to the war department, to inquire whether the 
 Government would appoint his successor, or he should 
 turn the department over to the next in command. 
 
 The Government replied, "The officer next in command 
 will succeed you," and so General Grant had an opportu 
 nity to reduce the fortress at Vicksburg. But every loyal 
 reader will agree with the writer, that Halleck s treat 
 ment of Grant was prompted by his conceit and jealousy. 
 
 General Grant turned his attention to Vicksburg at 
 once. But first it was necessary that he should drive 
 out or destroy the rebel forces, which might follow and 
 annoy him there. The city of Memphis was already in 
 his hands, having been captured by the gunboats, and 
 he removed his head-quarters to Jackson, Mississippi, 
 leaving General Rosecrans in command at Corinth. 
 And here General Grant gave striking proof of his 
 military genius. 
 
 He was satisfied that the rebel General Price designed 
 to attack Corinth, and that certain movements in another 
 direction were feints. He laid his plans accordingly. 
 He would attack Price at luka, which would be the 
 signal for Van Dorn to move on Corinth. 
 
 M 
 
162 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE, 
 
 A force, under his Generals, Hurlburt and Ord, \vas 
 sent where they could cut Van Dorn s army to pieces 
 on his retreat. His plan assumed that he should whip 
 Price, and Rosecrans would whip Van Dorn, all of 
 which transpired according to his programme. He 
 never planned for defeat ; and here was one of the 
 secrets of his success. 
 
 General Grant was now ready to move on Vicksburg. 
 We add, however, that when the enemy evacuated 
 Corinth, the young colonel of the Second Michigan 
 Cavalry made a dash upon the rear of five thousand 
 rebel horse, and followed them twenty miles, capturing 
 many prisoners, although his own troops numbered but 
 two thousand. Subsequently General Grant sought 
 him out, and recommended him for a brigadier to the 
 war department. The young hero was Phil Sheridan. 
 
 Some time after the battle of Corinth, General Grant 
 was riding past a dwelling with his staff, when the report 
 of a gun was heard in the house, and a mother and 
 daughter came rushing out, followed by a Union soldier, 
 who had attempted to violate their persons, and fired 
 his gun to scare them. Leaping from his horse, the 
 General seized the miscreant s gun, and with one blow 
 over his head with the breech, he laid him prostrate. 
 
 " I guess you have killed him, General," remarked 
 Rawlins, on looking at the fellow. 
 
 " If I have, it has only served him right," replied 
 Grant. 
 
 He was only stunned, however. In a short time he 
 recovered, and was put under arrest. 
 
XIV. 
 
 ON TO VICKSBURG. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT brought his army under the strictest 
 discipline. By order he limited the baggage of each 
 soldier, his own with all the rest. His baggage was so 
 light that a soldier jocosely remarked, 
 
 " The General s baggage consists of a pipe and tooth 
 brush." 
 
 He entirely stopped depredations by making the 
 soldiers responsible for all property taken, and sub 
 tracting the same from their pay-roll. By such rigid 
 regulations his one hundred and thirty thousand men 
 were disciplined into one of the best armies ever known. 
 
 Grant s first movement towards the capture of Vicks- 
 burg was a master stroke. In a speech at St. Louis, 
 General Sherman said, 
 
 " Grant moved direct on Pemberton, commander of 
 Vicksburg, while I moved from Memphis, and a smaller 
 force, under General Washburne, struck directly for 
 Grenada ; and the first thing Pemberton knew, the 
 depot of his supplies was almost in the grasp of a small 
 cavalry force, and he fell back in confusion, and gave us 
 the Tallahatchie without a battle. The credit of this 
 plan, which was as brilliantly conceived as executed, 
 belongs to Grant." 
 
 General Sherman was sent with his command by 
 
 water, in advance of Grant, who was to unite and co- 
 
 163 
 
1 64. FROM THE TAN -YARD TO 771 L WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 operate with him in the attack on Vicksburg. But the 
 disaster to Union arms at Holly Springs, in consequence 
 of the inefficiency of Murphy, the commander of the 
 post, delayed General Grant, sadly interfering with his 
 plans. Sherman reached Vicksburg, and made two 
 assaults upon the works, in which he was repulsed. 
 But the movement disclosed the great strength of the 
 works. 
 
 Vicksburg is located on a bluff, or hill, on the east 
 side of the Mississippi, opposite a remarkable bend in 
 the river. It has sometimes been called a " city of a 
 hundred hills," because there are so many hills within 
 and without it. The enemy, appreciating the import 
 ance of keeping possession of the Mississippi, had spent 
 time and money lavishly in fortifying it. Every con- 
 ceivable means of defence was adopted. Eight miles of 
 batteries swept the river, so that Gen. John C. Pember- 
 ton, the commander, had reason to say, 
 " No gunboat can pass without my consent." 
 He considered the place absolutely impregnable. 
 He had not the least fear that any force the U. S. 
 Government could send against it, could reduce the 
 works. He felt perfectly secure. Nor were there want 
 ing Union officers and civilians who regarded the pro 
 posed assault upon Vicksburg extremely unwise. But 
 General Grant entertained the Western view of the case, 
 that opening the Mississippi, from St. Louis to the Gulf, 
 would be substantially the end of the Rebellion. And 
 conviction alone was enough to enlist all the powers of 
 his being in the momentous enterprise. 
 
 Of his one hundred and thirty thousand troops, he 
 took fifty thousand on the expedition against Vicks 
 burg, locating the remainder where they could render 
 him essential aid, and, at the same time, be of the most 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 165 
 
 service to the country. Destroying railroad communi 
 cations in the region he was leaving, so as to cripple the 
 enemy as much as possible, he took up his line of march. 
 His army encamped at Young s Point, opposite Vicks- 
 burg. There Sherman joined him with his command. 
 Now the modus operand* of capturing Vicksburg was 
 thoroughly discusse.d. It was the toughest problem to 
 solve which the clear-headed General had ever under 
 taken. Pemberton had sixty thousand men in the fort, 
 and more than that number were ready to come to his 
 assistance. He had all the ordnance he wanted, of 
 every sort and kind. The Union army could not pass 
 down the river, for the eight miles of water-batteries 
 would send every Union soldier into eternity before 
 half the distance was accomplished. The prospect of 
 capturing the stronghold was not encouraging. 
 
 Sherman s experience in his repulse, together with 
 his own observation now, convinced Grant that there 
 was only one way of capturing the place, and that was 
 to attack it in the rear ; but how to get into the rear, 
 that was the question. His army could not be conveyed 
 clown the river on transports, for the water-batteries 
 would sink them on the way ; nor could they march 
 down the banks of the river to a suitable place for cross 
 ing, because an impassable swamp, too extensive for 
 corduroy roads, prevented. The swamp spread out into 
 the country for twenty miles or more, so that to march 
 around it would take his army from the base of supplies, 
 a measure that would violate all military rules. Never 
 theless, General Grant soon solved the difficult problem 
 in his own mind -the gunboats could run the gauntlet 
 of the rebel batteries on some dark night, and the army 
 could march around the impassable swamp. But none 
 of his officers believed it, except Rawlins and McPher- 
 
166 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 son, and therefore he yielded to the trial of other 
 expedients. 
 
 There was great complaint at this time against Sher 
 man, because he failed in his assault upon the works at 
 Vicksburg. 
 
 " The complaint is unjust and cruel," said Grant to a 
 friend. 
 
 " Was not Sherman to blame ? " 
 
 " Of course not ; not in the least," was Grant s prompt 
 reply. 
 
 " He was badly defeated." 
 
 " True ; but that was not his fault, nor mine ; it was 
 one of the inevitable accidents of war." 
 
 It was proposed to cut a canal across the narrow 
 peninsula, made by the. bend of the river at Vicksburg. 
 Grant acquiesced, though with little faith. If the canal 
 was successful, and the river was turned from its ancient 
 course, Vicksburg would be an inland city, six miles 
 away ; Grant s army could then pass below without 
 danger. v .But the canal proved a failure ; the Mississippi 
 refused to change its old habits, and pursued the even 
 tenor of its way. No one could explain it, but the aged 
 river refused to budge an inch from its old channel. 
 Another canal from Lake Providence to the Mississippi 
 failed ; so it was with the " Yazoo Pass," " Steele s 
 Bayou," and " Milliken s Bend " projects all failed. 
 After wasting weeks of precious time, Grant becoming 
 more and more impatient all the while, the army and 
 the country grew disheartened ; but Grant was more 
 determined than ever. 
 
 " There is only one way to do it," he said with so 
 much emphasis, that Rawlins knew what it meant. 
 
 He called his generals together, one night, for con 
 ference. 
 
ON TO V2CKSBURG. 167 
 
 " What next ? " he inquired. No response. 
 
 He proceeded to give his opinion as to the practi 
 cability of marching his army around the swamp, and 
 the gunboats running by the batteries. And then he 
 asked the opinion of each officer separately. Rawlins 
 and McPherson only favoured the enterprise. 
 
 " It is taking the army away from the base of sup 
 plies," said one. 
 
 " The enemy once between our army and supplies, 
 and we are beaten," remarked another. 
 
 " The sacrifice of life will be too great ; the country 
 will not support us in it," said a third. And so on. 
 Every officer but two opposed the plan. 
 
 "Nevertheless," said Grant, after having listened to 
 each one, "it must be done. It is the only alternative 
 left to us. Unless we do this we can do nothing. There 
 fore we will do this. I assume the whole responsibility. 
 We will move as soon as possible." 
 
 This was the greatest risk that Grant ever assumed ; 
 and if his plan had failed, he would have been set aside 
 for ever from military life. 
 
 The conference closed about midnight, when General 
 Sherman went over to the tent of Gen. John M. Thayer, 
 from whom the author received this account of the affair, 
 and peering in, 
 
 " Are you awake, Thayer ? " he said. 
 
 " Yes ; what now ? " replied General Thayer, arousing 
 from a dreamy sleep. 
 
 " General Grant has decided to march the army around 
 the swamp, and to steam the gunboats past the batteries. 
 It is not a plan I could recommend ; but he has settled it, 
 and we must co-operate with him and do the best we can." 
 
 "All right," answered General Thayer, whose con 
 fidence in General Grant s judgment was unfaltering. 
 
i OS FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Taking the risk forced General Grant to take another. 
 He knew that a telegram to General Halleck announc 
 ing his intentions, would bring back a veto of the plan 
 at once, because it would be marching the army directly 
 into the enemy s country, away from the base of supplies. 
 So he ordered that no steamer should be allowed to 
 pass up the river to Cairo for six days. By the expira 
 tion of this time he would be where it would make 
 no difference whether Halleck should telegraph him to 
 abandon the project or not. He made no provision 
 for defeat. He counted upon success. A friend called 
 at his office to whom he said, 
 
 " The problem is a difficult one, but I shall certainly 
 solve it. Vicksburg can be taken. I shall give my days 
 and nights to it, and shall surely take it" 
 
 A newspaper correspondent at that time gave such 
 an accurate description of Grant, that we quote it 
 here : 
 
 " Grant is more approachable and liable to interrup 
 tion than a merchant would allow himself to be in his 
 store. Citizens come in, introduce themselves, and say, 
 as I heard one man, * I have no business with you, 
 General, but just wanted to have a little talk with you, 
 because folks at home will ask me if I did. He is one 
 of the most engaging men I ever saw quiet, gentle, 
 extremely, even uncomfortably, modest ; but confiding, 
 and of an exceedingly kind disposition. He gives the 
 impression of a man of strong will and capacity under 
 lying these feminine traits." 
 
 General Thayer, to whom we have just referred, has 
 kindly furnished us with the following letter concerning 
 his first impressions of Grant. And he confirms the 
 testimony of a lady of the Christian Commission, whom 
 we shall soon quote, by saying, that, during the two and 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 169 
 
 a half years he was with him, he never saw him play 
 cards, nor take a drop of intoxicating liquors, or heard 
 him utter a profane word. 
 
 "GRAND ISLAND, NEB., April 27, 1885. 
 " REV. WM. M. THAYER, Franklin, Mass. 
 
 "Dear Sir, In reply to your inquiries in regard to my 
 impressions of General Grant when my acquaintance 
 ivith him began, I take pleasure in stating, that on 
 arrival at St. Louis with my regiment, the First Nebraska, 
 in August, 1861, and reporting to General Fremont, then 
 commanding the Western Department, he informed me 
 that the Confederate General Hardee was moving up 
 towards Pilot Knob, at the end of the Iron Mountain 
 Railroad, eighty miles south of St. Louis, with the pur 
 pose of its capture. He also stated that General Grant 
 was in command there with a small force, which he, 
 Fremont, was increasing as fast as troops arrived, and he 
 desired me to proceed by rail that night with my regi 
 ment to reinforce him. Arriving at Pilot Knob at 
 daylight, the next morning, I found the General in a 
 small farm-house in the outskirts of the town. Entering 
 the room pointed out to me as his head-quarters, I found 
 him seated at a little pine table, standing on one side 
 of the room, engaged in writing. I gave him my name, 
 and that of the regiment, stating I had been directed 
 to report to him for service. He received me very 
 pleasantly, and said, Please be seated a few minutes 
 while I finish this communication. I had never heard 
 of Grant till a few days previously, and all that I had 
 learned of him was, that he was a graduate of West 
 Point, and was a lieutenant in the Mexican War. Expect 
 ing soon to be engaged with the enemy, I was very glad 
 of the opportunity to become acquainted with our com- 
 
170 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 mander, and to take observations of him. His continu 
 ing his writing was very favourable for that purpose. 
 There was no appearance of show or of rank about the 
 establishment ; one orderly at the door of the house, 
 and some troops in camp near by, were all that indi 
 cated anything like a military condition of things. The 
 General was dressed in a suit of army-flannel, dark-blue, 
 his coat and army-blouse with no sign of rank upon it 
 Having so good an opportunity to observe him, I made 
 good use of it. His appearance, his features, the ex 
 pression of his face indicated to me that he was a man 
 of marked will-force, of great self-determination, and of 
 fixedness of purpose, and of great firmness. Something 
 about him impressed me with the idea that he would 
 adopt his plans only after mature deliberation, and then, 
 having once fixed upon them, there would be no letting 
 up on his part till his object was accomplished. His 
 expression, his firm-set mouth, his whole face and bear 
 ing, indicated the possession of these qualities. While 
 sitting there, thus observing him, he made such an im 
 pression upon me, that the thought passed through my 
 mind, Who knows but there sits the man who is to 
 come out of this war its great central figure the great 
 leader of our armies ? 
 
 " I could see far enough ahead to know that, no matter 
 how many great commanders the war might develop, 
 there must, in all probability, arise some one who would 
 overtop all others by his military genius and his great 
 achievements. 
 
 "After he had finished his writing, there was some 
 conversation which still further impressed me with the 
 possession, on his part, of remarkably good, practical, 
 common-sense, self-reliance, and self-poise. Serving 
 under him for over two years, I had many opportunities 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 17 1 
 
 for observing that my first impressions in regard to him 
 were fully correct, only in a far greater degree. His 
 bearing and appearance were always modest and retir 
 ing ; utterly devoid of anything like vanity and ostenta 
 tion. He was a man of unflinching courage, both moral 
 and physical. When convinced of the right, no power 
 on earth could move him. Always regardful of the 
 rights of others ; always anxious to give full credit to 
 others instead of to himself ; never seeming to harbour 
 resentments towards those who he thought had wronged 
 him ; it seemed as if his whole purpose was to do his 
 duty to his country, and to all mankind. If I were 
 asked to name a man who combined within himself all 
 the qualities of a true and noble manhood, and who was 
 also among the great commanders of the world, I should, 
 without hesitation, name Gen. U. S. Grant. 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 "JOHN M. THAYER." 
 
 The lady of the Christian Commission, whom we 
 promised to quote, wrote : 
 
 "At a celebration on the 22nd of February, while all 
 around were drinking toasts in sparkling champagne, I 
 saw Grant push aside a glass of wine, and, taking up a 
 glass of Mississippi water, with the remark, This suits 
 the matter in hand/ drink to the toast, God gave us 
 Lincoln and Liberty ; let us fight for both. 
 
 . . , "On board the head-quarters boat at Milliken s 
 Bend, a lively gathering of officers and ladies had 
 assembled. Cards and music were the order of the 
 evening. Grant sat in the ladies cabin, leaning upon a 
 table covered with innumerable maps and routes to 
 Vicksburg, wholly absorbed in contemplation of the 
 great work before him. He paid no attention to what 
 
172 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 was going on around, neither did any one dare to inter 
 rupt him. For hours he sat thus, until the loved and 
 lamented McPherson stepped up to him with a glass of 
 liquor in his hand, and said, General, this won t do, you 
 are injuring yourself; join with us in a few toasts, and 
 throw this burden off your mind. Looking up and 
 smiling, he replied, * Mac, you know your whiskey won t 
 help me to think. " 
 
 General Sherman was so much opposed to Grant s 
 plan, of marching around the swamp, that he said to 
 him, 
 
 " Of course I shall give the movement my heartiest 
 support ; but I feel it to be my duty to protest in 
 writing." 
 
 "Very well," replied the General, send along your 
 protest." 
 
 Sherman sent a letter to Rawlins, Grant s Chief-of- 
 Staff, which closed with these very courteous words, 
 
 " I make these suggestions with the request that 
 General Grant simply read them, and give them, as I 
 know he will, a share of his thoughts. I would prefer 
 that he should not answer, but merely give them as much 
 or as little weight as they deserve. . . . Whatever 
 plan of action he may adopt, will receive from me the 
 same zealous co-operation and energetic support as 
 though conceived by me." 
 
 General Grant read the letter, smiled, slipped it into 
 his pocket, and marched his army away from its base 
 of supplies. Several months afterwards, he came across 
 the letter when overhauling some old papers, and pass 
 ing it to Sherman, remarked, 
 
 " By the way, Sherman, here is something that will 
 interest you." 
 
 General Grant was confirmed in his opinion, that the 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 173 
 
 gunboats could run past the batteries at Vicksburg with 
 out being destroyed, by conversation with rivermen. 
 They were an uncultivated class. Such a man as 
 Halleck would not expect to learn anything from this 
 class ; but Grant would. They were practical men, and 
 their business entitled them to speak on this subject. 
 One of them said, 
 
 " The Queen of the West ran past the batteries with 
 little damage, and these gunboats certainly can." 
 
 This was a small wooden ram that steamed past the 
 batteries before Grant appeared upon the scene. 
 
 Before the memorable night on which the gunboats 
 ran past the batteries, General Grant saw that it would 
 prove a great damage to Vicksburg to cut the railroad 
 east of Jackson, Miss., as that was the chief source of 
 supply to the rebel garrison. He wrote to General 
 Hurlburt, 
 
 " It seems to me that Grierson, with about five hun 
 dred picked men, might succeed in cutting his way 
 south, and cut the railroad east of Jackson, Miss. This 
 undertaking would be a hazardous one, but it would 
 pay well if carried out." 
 
 Colonel Grierson undertook the raid, and achieved 
 one of the most brilliant triumphs of the war. He rode 
 six hundred miles, tore up fifty miles of railroad, broke 
 down all the telegraph wires he could find, destroyed 
 bridges, and three thousand stands of arms, captured 
 five hundred prisoners, and spread consternation among 
 the rebels. His loss was only three killed and seven 
 wounded. 
 
 General McClernand was posted off with the advance, 
 the Eleventh Army Corps, around the swamp to New 
 Carthage. General Grant remained to see the gunboats 
 steam down the river, which occurred on the night of 
 
IJ4 PROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 April 1 6th, a very dark night. The plan was for the 
 transports, loaded with army-store, to glide down the 
 river under the protection of the gunboats. It was an 
 undertaking so perilous that General Grant thought 
 it not best to order the crews to go, but to call for 
 volunteers. So eager were the soldiers to take the risk, 
 that twice as many offered their services as were 
 needed. When the required number was obtained, 
 others began to offer premiums to their comrades for 
 their places on the gunboats and transports ten, 
 twenty, and even one hundred dollars. 
 
 At the appointed hour the craft glided out of their 
 places of concealment, and silently stole down the river. 
 
 Commodore Porter s flag-ship led the fleet, the Benton> 
 and the enemy, on the alert, discovered it about mid 
 night, and at once the thunder of artillery made night 
 hideous. The enemy set fire to buildings, and lighted, 
 also, a great mass of combustible rubbish collected for 
 the purpose, until the river for miles was ablaze with 
 light. The barges and transports, clinging to the shore, 
 pushed on as rapidly as possible. Again and again 
 they were hit by shot and shell ; but no great damage 
 was done, except setting the Henry Clay on fire by a 
 bursting shell, and sending her down the river a burning 
 mass. Her crew escaped in their yawls. On, on the 
 fleet sped, our gunboats responding to the enemy s 
 terrific fire, and before daylight, the entire fleet, except 
 the Henry Clay, were received at New Carthage with 
 yells of delight by McClernand s command, who had 
 reached that place. General Grant was the happiest 
 man on the continent then, or he ought to have been ; 
 for his enterprise was successful beyond his most san 
 guine expectations. One man only was killed, and but 
 three wounded on the gunboats ; and no one was hit or 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 175 
 
 hurt on the transports. General Grant immediately 
 gave a furlough of forty days to all the men engaged in 
 running the batteries, with transportation to and from 
 home. 
 
 In a few days six more steamers towed twelve barges 
 loaded with supplies, on a dark night, past the batteries, 
 with the loss of only one steamer and four barges. 
 
 On the night of the i6th, when the burning wreck of 
 the Henry Clay floated down in sight of McClernand s 
 command, anxiously awaiting the result, a rich se 
 cessionist, jubilant over the scene, said to General 
 McClernand, 
 
 " Where are now your gunboats ? The batteries of 
 Vicksburg have sunk them all." 
 
 When, an hour later, the remainder of the fleet ap 
 peared, the provoking Yankee nettled the rich old fellow 
 by retorting, 
 
 " Where are now your gunboats ? Has Vicksburg 
 destroyed them ? " 
 
 This secessionist owned one of the finest homesteads 
 in the whole South. His costly residence, surrounded 
 by green lawns and wide savannas of corn and cotton, 
 stood near by. And he was so disappointed and mad 
 dened by the Union success, that he belched forth, 
 
 " My house shall never shelter these Yankee mis 
 creants." 
 
 He actually applied the torch to his beautiful home, 
 and burned it to the ground. 
 
 General Grant transported his troops across the river 
 to Grand Gulf, where he fought a battle and took 
 possession of the place. Learning from an old negro of 
 a better road at Bruinsburg to the rear of Vicksburg, he 
 pushed on and landed his force there. 
 
 Three newspaper correspondents attempted to pass 
 
1 76 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the rebel batteries on a barge loaded with hay and pro 
 visions. They were Richard T. Colburn, of the New 
 York World, and A. D. Richardson and J. Ross Browne, 
 of the Neiv York Tribune. A shell struck the boat and 
 exploded, setting the hay on fire, and killing or burning 
 all except those who leaped into the water and floated 
 on bales of hay until the enemy s boats picked them up. 
 Sixteen of the thirty-two on board were picked up by 
 the rebels. The three correspondents were imprisoned ; 
 but Colburn was soon released because he served a 
 Democratic paper that sympathized with the South ; 
 but Richardson and Browne endured two years im 
 prisonment in different rebel prisons. 
 
 General Grant realized that he must move with 
 celerity, that General Johnston might not have time to 
 join Pemberton at Vicksburg. In the lightest trim 
 possible, he and his army took up their line of march. 
 Mr. Washburne, of Galena, who was on a visit to Grant 
 to witness the capture of Vicksburg, said, 
 
 " Grant took with him neither a horse, nor an orderly, 
 nor a camp-chest, nor an overcoat, nor a blanket, nor 
 even a clean shirt. His entire baggage for six days was 
 a tooth-brush. He fared like the commonest soldier in 
 his command, partaking of his rations and sleeping on 
 the ground, with no covering but the canopy of heaven." 
 
 On his way to the rear of Vicksburg, Grant fought 
 battles at Port Gibson, Raymond, Champion Hills, 
 Jackson, and the Big Black, taking possession of all the 
 places. In twenty days he marched two hundred miles, 
 and fought six battles, in which he captured six 
 thousand of the enemy, with ninety guns, killing and 
 wounding many more ; drove Johnston s army out of 
 Jackson, so that he could not join Pemberton, who had 
 marched his army from Vicksburg to Edward s Station, 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 177 
 
 half-way to Jackson ; cut Pemberton s communications, 
 and forced him to retire, without being reinforced, to 
 his entrenchments at Vicksburg. He supported his 
 army, also, from the country through which he marched. 
 His loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was but four 
 thousand. 
 
 During this time, the authorities at Washington, in 
 cluding President Lincoln, were extremely anxious. 
 They thought General Grant s plan of getting into the 
 rear of Vicksburg was not good generalship, and antici 
 pated that a terrible disaster would overtake his com 
 mand. He had scarcely reached the rear of Vicksburg 
 when, as Gen. J. M. Thayer, an eye-witness, informs 
 us, an officer came dashing up with an order from 
 General Halleck. Grant opened the envelope, and read 
 the order aloud, which was that he should turn back and 
 proceed to Port Hudson to reinforce General Banks 
 Putting the message in his pocket, he said to his fellcw 
 officers standing by, 
 
 " I am not in a situation to obey that order now." 
 
 Very fortunate for the country that he concealed his 
 purpose from General Halleck ; for if the latter had had 
 his own way, the fall of Vicksburg never would have 
 thrilled the mition with delight. 
 
 Several incidents that occurred during the rapid and 
 victorious march, are so charged with General Grant s 
 characteristics, that we stop to rehearse them. 
 
 When he left Grand Gulf General Grant remarked, 
 " I think we can reduce Jackson and re-open commu 
 nication with the fleet above Vicksburg in about five 
 days"; and they were just five days about it an ex 
 ample of his promptness. 
 
 At the South Fork the retreating rebels had destroyed 
 
 the bridge. 
 
 N 
 
178 FROM TtfE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " This bridge must be re-built at once," said Grant to 
 McClernand. 
 
 " I have ordered it done," answered the latter. 
 
 Four or five hours afterwards General Grant rode 
 down to the river, expecting the bridge was completed, 
 but found that it was not even begun. 
 
 <( How is this, General ?" he said, sharply, to General 
 McClernand. 
 
 " My men are too much worn out," was the cool 
 answer he received. 
 
 General Grant reined up his steed, and galloped off 
 to tell Rawlins and Wilson to build the bridge in the 
 shortest time possible. In three hours the bridge, one 
 hundred and twenty feet long, was completed. Grant 
 was happy, for that was promptness. 
 
 The General had just passed a wretched cabin, when 
 a woman ran out swinging her bonnet. 
 
 "Go back and see what she wants," Grant said to one 
 of his staff. 
 
 " We came here from Cairo just before the war," she 
 told the officer. " We are Union people, but my husband 
 was impressed into the rebel service, and lost his health, 
 and he has been confined to his bed more than a year, 
 and we are very poor. I only wanted to welcome the 
 Union army, and so I swung my bonnet." 
 
 "Leave a guard at that house," ordered Grant, on 
 receiving this report, and rode on. Suddenly he stopped 
 again, and ordered, 
 
 " Send back a surgeon to that sick man, with instruc 
 tions to report his condition to me." 
 
 The order was obeyed. The General rode forward 
 but stopped again to give a third order : 
 
 " Have the commissary leave rations at that house, 
 that the woman and her husband may not suffer." 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 179 
 
 This tender care was just what the sick man needed, 
 Mid in a short time Grant was pleased to give them 
 transportation to Cairo. One would think that, with 
 the mighty pressure of duties at that juncture, increased 
 by the consciousness of running a campaign, which the 
 War Department would not approve, if they knew it, 
 and of marching away from his base of supplies in the 
 enemy s country, the General would have. been too much 
 absorbed to stop to aid an unknown couple. But his 
 humanity was equal to his valour. 
 
 A young rebel officer was captured, and brought to 
 General Grant. He claimed to be a member of General 
 Bowen s staff, and he was a dashing fellow. He rode a 
 fine horse, with costly saddle and trappings. 
 
 " General Grant," he said, " this horse and saddle do 
 not belong to the Confederate Government, but are my 
 private property, presented by my father. I should be 
 glad if I might retain them." 
 
 " Well," replied Grant, " I have three or four horses, 
 which are also my private property, running about some 
 where in the Confederacy. I will make an exchange 
 with you. We ll keep yours, and when you find one of 
 mine, just take it in his place." 
 
 Grave and thoughtful as the General usually was, 
 there was a vein of humour in his soul, which sometimes 
 created comedy, where tragedy was natural. 
 
 When General Grant was at the Big Black, he was 
 between two wings of the rebel army. Pemberton was 
 on his left, with fifty thousand men, and on his right 
 Johnston was collecting an unknown number. The 
 latter must be conquered before he could attack the 
 former, or his rear would be imperilled. Without hesit 
 ating a moment, he decided again to march away from 
 his base of supplies at Grand Gulf, fall upon Johnston s 
 
i8o FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 army and crush it, and then take Pemberton in hand. 
 Another instance of his readiness to assume risks ! 
 
 His son, Fred, thirteen years of age, was with him in 
 this campaign, riding a spirited charger beside his father. 
 He rode ahead of the General and his staff into the city 
 of Jackson, after the rebels were driven out. The pre 
 sence of the lad became a source of interest to the staff- 
 officers, because it drew out so much of the father from 
 the great General. 
 
 After occupying Jackson, General Grant sent on 
 details to destroy railroads, army-stores, manufactories, 
 machine-shops, and whatever was aiding the rebel army. 
 A manufacturer, who had a mill full of duck, rushed to 
 Grant, begging to have his factory saved. 
 
 " For whom do you make duck ? " inquired Grant. 
 
 " My customers are many and widely scattered," 
 replied the mill-owner, evasively. 
 
 "Wilson," called Grant, "did you examine that duck?" 
 
 " I did." 
 
 " What mark is there on it ? " 
 
 " It bears the stamp of C. S. A." (Confederate States 
 of America), Wilson replied. 
 
 "Then, sir, your factory must burn with the rest," 
 said Grant, forcibly, turning to the proprietor. He was 
 putting down the rebellion, and duck must be put down, 
 because it was a factor of the rebellion. 
 
 When General Grant entered Jackson, he drove directly 
 to the hotel where General Johnston had his head 
 quarters before the evacuation. On leaving, he directed 
 Rawlins to settle the bill with Confederate money. 
 
 " How much is our bill ? " 
 
 "Ninety dollars." 
 
 The officer handed the amount to the proprietor in 
 Confederate money. 
 
ON TO VICKSBURG. 181 
 
 " If I had known that you were going to pay in that 
 money I should have charged you more/ the proprietor 
 said. 
 
 " Oh, well, charge what you please ; we propose to 
 pay you with this money." 
 
 " It will be two hundred dollars, then." 
 
 The bill was paid ; and it was not dear living at all 
 for the Government, General Grant thought ; for he 
 captured a large quantity of Confederate money at Fort 
 Gibson. 
 
 " It will help to put down the rebellion, to pay them 
 in their own coin," remarked the General, humorously. 
 He was equal to any emergency, so cool, so observing, 
 so fearless, and yet so wise ! 
 
 A member of his staff said of him : 
 
 " If you could see the General as he sits just over 
 beyond me, with his wife and two children, looking 
 more like a chaplain than a general, with that quiet air 
 so impossible to describe, you would not ask me if he 
 drinks. He rarely ever uses intoxicating liquors. He 
 is more moderate in his habits and desires, and more 
 pure and spotless in his private character, than almost 
 any man I ever knew. He is more brave, has more 
 power to command, and more ability to plan, than any 
 man I ever served under ; cool to excess when others 
 lose nerve, always hopeful, always undisturbed, never 
 failing to accomplish what he undertakes." . . . 
 
 Major Penniman wrote of him : 
 
 " I have seen him in the familiarity and seclusion of 
 camp-life, and I know perfectly well what his personal 
 habits are. He messes with his staff as he would with 
 his own family. No intoxicating liquors are on the 
 table at dinner or at any other time. It is not his habit 
 to use them, nor does he encourage it in others. No 
 
182 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 man of all the hundreds of thousands he has commanded 
 ever heard General Grant use profane language. One 
 of his highest meeds of praise consists in the fact, that, 
 through all his commands to his present elevated post, 
 he has had no jealousies, bickerings, or quarrels among 
 his officers. He has the rare faculty of selecting the 
 right man for the right place, 
 
XV. 
 
 SIEGE OF VICKSBURG, 
 
 HAVING fought his way to the rear of Vicksburg, General 
 Grant invested the city and its defences with his army, 
 drawn up in a semi-circle, extending eight miles. He 
 had no more doubt of capturing the city than he had of 
 his own existence. Neither had General Sherman, now; 
 for, on his way from Grand Gulf, he said to General 
 Grant, 
 
 " Until this moment I never thought that your expe- 
 pition would be a success. I never could see the end 
 clearly ; but this is a campaign, this is a success if we 
 never take the town." 
 
 At first, General Grant thought to carry the works by 
 storm. On the iQth day of May he ordered a general 
 assault ; and it was made in splendid style. The 
 soldiers faced the " leaden rain and iron hail," and suc 
 ceeded in capturing two or three outer works and quite 
 a number of prisoners ; but they were forced to with 
 draw. On the 22nd of May another assault was ordered, 
 more deadly than the first. Union and rebel soldiers, 
 in places, grappled in a hand-to-hand fight; but the 
 works proved too strong for flesh and blood to carry by 
 assault. Grant determined to carry it by siege, and at 
 once set his army at work. A rebel woman, who came 
 within the Union lines, asked Grant, tauntingly, 
 
 " When do you expect to take Vicksburg ? " 
 
184 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " I can t tell exactly," he replied, in a pleasant way ; 
 " but I shall stay until I do, if it takes thirty years." 
 
 Siege-work commenced with signal earnestness ; and 
 soon twelve miles of trenches were dug, and two hun 
 dred guns were in position. Then he set his men to 
 work to mine Fort Hill, one of the most important of 
 the rebel works. The mine was partially successful. 
 Fifteen hundred pounds of powder were exploded in it, 
 destroying a portion of the fort. General Grant soon 
 became satisfied, however, that exhaustion of food and 
 powder could only reduce the stronghold. 
 
 It was not long before the rebel army and the inhabi 
 tants of the city were reduced to one meal per day. 
 The bombardment of the city was terrible, beyond 
 description, and the inhabitants dug caves in the earth 
 for protection from shot and shell. Many dwellings 
 were literally riddled to pieces. The siege lasted forty- 
 six days ; and during that time, the storm of shot and 
 shell was almost incessant, night and day. One-half of 
 the Union army worked with the spade, while the other 
 half cannonaded the fortress, and picked off rebels with 
 their rifles. Probably no place ever had such a contin 
 uous fire concentrated upon it for so long a time. There 
 was scarcely a building in the city that was not damaged 
 more or less. After the war, a Vicksburg woman pub 
 lished a book, in which she said, 
 
 "Caves were the fashion, the rage, over besieged 
 Vicksburg. Negroes who understood their business 
 hired themselves out to dig them at from thirty to fifty 
 dollars, according to the size. Many persons, consider 
 ing different localities unsafe, would sell them to others 
 who had been less fortunate or less provident ; and so 
 great was the demand for cave-workmen that a new 
 branch of industry sprang up and became popular. 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 185 
 
 " So constantly dropped the shells around the city, 
 that the inhabitants all made preparations to live under 
 ground during the siege. . . . Our dining, break 
 fasting, and supper hours were quite irregular. When 
 the shells were falling fast, and servants came in for 
 safety, our meals waited for completion for some time ; 
 again they would fall slowly, with the lapse of many 
 minutes between, and out would start the cooks to their 
 work." 
 
 In the course of three or four weeks the enemy found 
 their provisions short, and their ammunition, too. 
 Soldiers and citizens alike were forced to omit one 
 meal, and afterwards, two meals a day ; for some time 
 they lived on one meal per day. The last week before 
 Pemberton s surrender, mule meat was freely used. 
 
 General Grant had satisfactory knowledge of the want 
 and suffering in the city. He had his own way of 
 getting necessary information ; sometimes it was a very 
 ingenious way. At one time, while he was in charge of 
 the Department of Tennessee, he wanted to send a spy 
 into the enemy s lines near by, to acquire needful infor 
 mation. So he picked his man, and made a great com 
 motion over him by charging him with being a rebel, 
 and drumming him out of the army. The enemy, of 
 course, received him gladly, wondering that the "Yan 
 kees " had not shot him ; and, within two or three days, 
 he was back again with the coveted information for 
 Grant. General Grant knew that Pemberton s surrender 
 was only a question of time. When flour was worth a 
 thousand dollars per barrel, and meat two dollars and 
 fifty cents a pound as they were in Vicksburg, in 
 Confederate money starvation and surrender were not 
 distant. 
 
 The advance ditches of the two armies were so near 
 
lS6 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 each other that conversation between Confederate and 
 Union pickets were common. The following was re 
 ported : 
 
 "What are you fellows doing out there, any way?" 
 asked a rebel picket. 
 
 "Guarding thirty thousand of you prisoners," an 
 swered the Union picket, " and making you board your 
 selves." 
 
 " Why don t you come and take Vicksburg, if you are 
 going to do it ? " 
 
 " Oh, we are in no hurry at all. General Grant has 
 not transportation yet to send you up North." 
 
 "We have a lot of your wretched old flags in here." 
 
 " Glad of it ; you can make shirts of them ; they ll 
 look vastly better than that old butternut ! " 
 
 " Will you trade some coffee for corn-meal ? " 
 
 " Yes, to oblige you ; we ve meal enough ; but you 
 may throw it over here." 
 
 General Grant ordered the ground to be prepared for 
 a new battery in front of Logan s division, where the 
 workmen were much exposed to the enemy s sharp 
 shooters. The bullets came so thick and fast as to 
 interrupt the work. The soldiers, with their spades, 
 were less brave than they were with guns. General 
 Grant, whose eye was on the alert, took in the situation, 
 and he coolly took a seat upon a pile of rails close by, 
 and went to whittling a stick and giving orders, as if 
 the firing were a thousand miles away. The bullets 
 fell around him as thick and fast as they did about the 
 workmen, but he paid no attention to them. His ex 
 ample reassured the exposed soldiers, their fear van 
 ished, and there was no more dodging or disposition 
 to run. 
 
 As early as the twenty-seventh day of May, Grant 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 187 
 
 captured a letter from Pemberton to Johnston, which 
 read, 
 
 " I have fifteen thousand men and rations for thirty 
 days one meal a day. Come to my aid with an army 
 of thirty thousand men. If you cannot do this within 
 ten days, you had better retreat. Ammunition is almost 
 exhausted, especially percussion caps." 
 
 On the fourteenth day of June, Johnston wrote to 
 Pemberton, 
 
 " By fighting the enemy simultaneously at the same 
 points of his line, you may be extricated; our joint forces 
 cannot raise the siege of Vicksburg" 
 
 On the iQth of June, Pemberton wrote back, 
 
 " My men have been thirty-four days and nights in 
 the trenches without relief, and the enemy within con 
 versation distance. We are living on very reduced 
 rations, and, as you know, are entirely isolated. What 
 aid am I to expect from you ? " 
 
 On the twenty-eighth day of June, General Grant 
 reported that his lines were about two hundred and 
 thirty rods nearer the city than his original works were. 
 No doubt that Pemberton took this factor into his ac 
 count. 
 
 General Johnston had collected another force of 
 twenty-five or thirty thousand men, and established 
 his head-quarters again at Jackson. Grant had reason 
 to believe that an attack upon his rear was contemplated. 
 So he determined upon another and still more vigorous 
 attack upon the enemy s works on the fourth day of 
 July, as a fitting time for patriotism to do its best. 
 
 But on the morning of July 3rd, a white flag was dis 
 covered floating above the Confederate works. Firing 
 ceased immediately ; and soon General Bowen was seen 
 approaching the Union lines. He was met and blind- 
 
1 88 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 folded ; then led to General Grant, to whom he de 
 livered the following communication from General Pem- 
 berton : 
 
 "HEAD-QUARTERS, VlCKSBURG, July 3, 1863. 
 
 " MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT, commanding United States 
 forces 
 
 "General, I have the honour to propose to you an 
 
 armistice of hours, with a view to arranging terms 
 
 for the capitulation of Vicksburg. To this end, if agree 
 able to you, I will appoint three commissioners, to meet 
 a like number to be named by yourself, at such place and 
 hour as you may find convenient. I make this proposi 
 tion 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. The communication will be handed you, under 
 a flag of truce, by Maj.-Gen. John S. Bowen. 
 
 "Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. C. PEMBERTON." 
 
 General Grant replied as follows : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, 
 " IN THE FIELD, NEAR VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. 
 
 " LIEUT.-GEN. J. C. PEMBERTON, commanding Con 
 federate forces, etc. 
 
 "General, Your note of this date is just received, 
 proposing an armistice for several hours, for the purpose 
 of arranging terms of capitulation through commissioners 
 to be appointed, etc. The useless effusion of blood you 
 propose stopping by this course, can be ended at any 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 189 
 
 time you may choose, by the unconditional surrender of 
 the city and garrison. Men who have shown so much 
 endurance and courage as those now in Vicksburg, will 
 always challenge the respect of an adversary, and, I can 
 assure you, will be treated with all the respect due 
 prisoners of war. I do not favour the proposition of 
 appointing commissioners to arrange the terms of 
 capitulation, because I have no terms other than those 
 indicated above. 
 
 " I am, General, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " U. S, GRANT, 
 
 " Major- General? 
 
 At three o clock p.m., Generals Grant, Logan, Rawlins, 
 McPhen-on, Smith, and Ord rode out of the trenches to 
 a large oak tree, where they dismounted and sat down 
 upon the grass. Ten minutes thereafter, General Pem- 
 berton, accompanied by General Bowen and one of his 
 staff-officers, appeared. General Grant, who was with 
 Pemberton and Bowen in the Mexican war, arose and 
 shook hands with them both. General Bowen intro 
 duced the other Union officers to his chief. Pemberton 
 proceeded to business at once. 
 
 " I have come, General Grant," he said, " to see if 1 
 can arrange terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg. 
 What do you demand ? " 
 
 " All the terms I have are stated in my letter of this 
 morning," replied General Grant. 
 
 " If that is so," retorted Pemberton, putting on airs, 
 "the conference may terminate, and hostilities be re 
 sumed." 
 
 "Very well," said Grant, "my army was never in a 
 better condition to prosecute the siege." 
 
190 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 General Bowen urged that a conference should be 
 had. 
 
 " Suppose we do talk the matter over," continued 
 Grant, in a spirit of accommodation. 
 
 He and Pemberton went a short distance from the 
 other officers, and conferred together. Fifteen minutes 
 later Grant called up McPherson and Smith, and Pem 
 berton called Bowen, and these three stepped aside for 
 consultation. The terms of capitulation were finally 
 agreed upon, when Grant said, 
 
 " I will go home and write out the terms agreed upon. 
 General, you can have rations for your men if you 
 desire." 
 
 " Oh, no, we will use our own ; we have plenty," Pem 
 berton replied, telling a falsehood. If he had known 
 that his communication to Johnston about "one meal 
 a day" had fallen into Grant s hands, he would have 
 known how to explain the smile that played over 
 Grant s face, when he claimed a " plenty." 
 
 Just then the Union gunboats in the river opened a 
 terrible fire upon Vicksburg. Grant sprang to his feet 
 and said, 
 
 "This is a mistake. I will send to Admiral Porter 
 and have the firing stopped." 
 
 " Never mind," answered Pemberton ; " let it go on. 
 It won t hurt anybody ; the gunboats never hurt any 
 body ! " 
 
 Another falsehood. The cave-life of the people of 
 Vicksburg was quite well understood in the Union ranks 
 at that time. 
 
 The two commanders separated, and an hour later 
 Grant sent the following communication to Pember 
 ton : 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 191 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, 
 
 "NEAR VlCKSBURG, July 3, 1863. 
 
 "LiEUT.-GEN. J. C. PEMBERTON, commanding Con 
 federate forces, Vicksburg, Miss. 
 
 " General, In conformity with agreement this after 
 noon, I will submit the following proposition for the 
 surrender of the city of Vicksburg, public stores, etc. 
 On your accepting the terms proposed, I will march in 
 one division as a guard, and take possession at eight 
 a.m. to-morrow. As soon as rolls can be made out and 
 paroles signed by officers and men, you will be allowed 
 to march out of our lines, the officers taking with them 
 their side-arms and clothing, and the field, staff, and 
 cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file will 
 be allowed all their clothing, but no other property. 
 
 " If these conditions are accepted, any amount of 
 rations you may deem necessary can be taken from the 
 stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking 
 utensils for preparing them. Thirty wagons also, count 
 ing two two-horse or mule-teams as one, will be allowed 
 to transport such articles as cannot be carried along. 
 The same conditions will be allowed to all sick and 
 wounded officers and soldiers, as fast as they become 
 able to travel. The paroles for these latter must be 
 signed, however, whilst officers are present, authorized 
 to sign the roll of prisoners. 
 
 " I am, General, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " U. S. GRANT, 
 
 "Major-General" 
 
 As soon as General Grant had forwarded this letter 
 to Pemberton, he ordered General Sherman to march 
 immediately upon Johnston s army at Jackson, and 
 
192 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 crush it, while the rebel General was considering what 
 to do next. Johnston was taken wholly by surprise, 
 though he made a bold stand. But Sherman s com 
 mand swept all opposition before it, and drove the rebel 
 force out of Jackson with heavy loss. Sherman captured 
 eight hundred prisoners and thirty guns. This was the 
 second time Grant had captured Jackson, and now 
 Johnston was in as pitiable condition as Pemberton, and 
 they might have held an experience meeting to the 
 advantage of both, had circumstances favoured their 
 coming together. 
 
 Later in the day, Pemberton replied to Grant s last 
 proposal : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. 
 " MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT, commanding United States 
 forces. 
 
 " General, I have the honour to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your communication of this date, proposing 
 terms of capitulation for this garrison and post. In the 
 main, your terms are accepted ; but in justice both to 
 the honour and spirit of my troops, manifested in the 
 defence of Vicksburg, I have to submit the following 
 amendments, which, if acceded to by you, will perfect 
 the agreement between us. At ten o clock a.m. to 
 morrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around 
 Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and garrison under 
 my command by marching out with my colours and 
 arms, stacking them in front of my present lines, after 
 which you will take possession ; officers to retain their 
 side-arms and personal property, and the rights and 
 property of citizens to be respected. 
 
 " I am, General, yours very respectfully, 
 
 "J. C. PEMBERTON, 
 
 " Licntcnant- General" 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 193 
 
 About sunrise, July 4th, Grant sent his last communi 
 cation : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, 
 " BEFORE VICKSBURG, July 4, 1863. 
 
 " LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PEMBERTON, commanding 
 forces in Vicksburg. 
 
 " General, I have the honour to acknowledge the re 
 ceipt of your communication of 3rd July. The amend 
 ment proposed by you cannot be acceded to in full. It 
 will be necessary to furnish every officer and man with 
 a parole signed by himself, which, with the completion 
 of the roll of prisoners, will necessarily take some time. 
 Again, I can make no stipulations with regard to the 
 treatment of citizens and their private property. While 
 I do not propose to cause them any undue annoyance 
 or loss, I cannot consent to leave myself under any 
 restraint by stipulations. The property which officers 
 will be allowed to take with them will be as stated in 
 my proposition of last evening that is, officers will 
 be allowed their private baggage and side-arms, and 
 mounted officers one horse each. If you mean by your 
 proposition for each brigade to march to the front of the 
 lines now occupied by it, and stack arms, at ten o clock 
 a.m., and then return to the inside and there remain 
 prisoners until properly paroled, I will make no objec 
 tion to it. Should no notification be received of your 
 acceptance of my terms by nine o clock a.m., I shall 
 regard them as having been rejected, and shall act ac 
 cordingly. Should these terms be accepted, white flaga 
 should be displayed along your lines to prevent such ol 
 
 O 
 
194 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 my troops as may not have been notified from firing 
 upon your men. 
 
 " I am, General, very respectfully, 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 " U. S. GRANT, 
 " Major-Genera^ U.S.A." 
 
 That was a great day for our country the 4th of 
 July, 1863. At ten o clock a.m., Pemberton s exhausted, 
 hungry, ragged army marched out of their entrench 
 ments, and stacked their arms. Over two hours were 
 occupied in this ceremony of surrender, and not an 
 order was given, nor a word spoken. The silence of 
 humiliation on one side, and the silence of sympathy 
 on the other, ruled the hour. 
 
 Then the Union army marched into the city and took 
 possession. General Logan s division occupied the post 
 of honour, and raised the old flag over the court-house. 
 Now the silence was broken ; and the " boys in blue," 
 who had refrained from all acts of exultation over the 
 "boys in grey," broke forth in song with their favourite 
 chorus, 
 
 " Yes, we ll rally round the flag, boys, we ll rally once again, 
 
 Shouting the battle-cry of freedom ; 
 We ll rally from the hill-side, we ll gather from the plain, 
 Shouting the battle-cry of freedom." 
 
 It was such a moment as comes to no man but once 
 in a lifetime ; and there are very few to whom it comes 
 even once. The scene was indescribable. The par 
 ticipators only will ever know what it was. 
 
 And now occurred an incident illustrative of one of 
 General Grant s strong characteristics. He rode away 
 to call upon the vanquished general Pemberton ac 
 companied by his staff. Pemberton was sitting upon the 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 195 
 
 porch of his head-quarters with several of his officers. 
 Neither he nor one of his officers offered General Grant 
 a seat. He took one after the lapse of ten or fifteen 
 minutes, which was vacated by some one who preferred 
 to stand. Being thirsty, Grant asked for water, when 
 Pemberton pointed to the back side of the house, as 
 much as to say, Go and help yourself. Grant went for 
 the water, and found, on his return, his chair occupied. 
 He remained standing during the remainder of the 
 interview. 
 
 After leaving the group of distinguished rebels, 
 General Grant s staff expressed their indignation in 
 strong language ; but Grant himself laughed heartily, 
 and said, 
 
 " Well, if Pemberton can stand it, in the circumstances, 
 I can." 
 
 One city newspaper had been published through the 
 siege, although the last two weeks its size was reduced 
 to a foot square, on account of the scarcity of paper. 
 Some Union soldiers, printers by trade, were curious 
 enough to examine the printing office, where they found 
 the following paragraph in type, ready to go into the 
 paper : 
 
 "ON BIT. That the great Ulysses the Yankee 
 Generalissimo, surnamed Grant has expressed his in 
 tention of dining in Vicksburg on Saturday next, and 
 celebrating the Fourth of July by a grand dinner, and so 
 forth. When asked if he would invite General Jo 
 Johnston to join, he said, No ! for fear there would be 
 a row at the table. Ulysses must get into the city 
 before he dines in it. The way to cook a rabbit is, 
 first catch the rabbit. " 
 
 The printer-soldiers set to work and issued the paper, 
 with the above paragraph, adding another as follows : 
 
196 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 "The rabbit is caught and cooked. The Yankee 
 Generalissimo, surnamed Grant, did take his dinner in 
 Vicksburg on the glorious Fourth of July, without invit 
 ing Gen. Jo Johnston, whom he is to whip again soon." 
 
 General Grant s receipts on that Independence Day 
 are worthy of mention, viz : Fifteen generals, thirty-one 
 thousand six hundred soldiers, and one hundred and 
 seventy-two cannon, which some have claimed to be the 
 largest capture at one time ever known in history. He 
 had captured ten thousand four hundred and fifty-nine 
 rebels since the first of May, making the sum total forty- 
 two thousand and fifty-nine. 
 
 The surrender of Vicksburg filled the North with joy, 
 and the South with dismay. Grant was now " the 
 greatest general on earth." All the reports of the past 
 derogatory to his private or public character were swept 
 out of existence. Nobody would believe that such 
 stories were true of the conqueror of Vicksburg. Eulo 
 gistic resolutions from legislatures, conventions, Sunday- 
 schools, and Christian conferences ; splendid swords, 
 gold-headed canes, fine horses, university degrees, and 
 other testimonials of gratitude and love were showered 
 upon him. 
 
 Ordinary men would have been ruined by this sudden 
 and lavish ovation, from Maine to California ; but Grant s 
 head was not turned in the least. It kept level as ever, 
 although every paper he read, and every man he met, 
 had only praise for him. He was forced to hear praise, 
 see praise, and eat praise. He had it for breakfast, 
 dinner, and supper. It was cooked in all sorts of ways, 
 and came upon his table in all sorts of dishes. Great 
 men praised him, and little men praised him. Even 
 General Halleck praised him, one of the most remark 
 able facts of the war. Halleck wrote to him : 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 19? 
 
 " In boldness of plan, rapidity of execution, and 
 brilliancy of routes, these operations will compare most 
 favourably with those of Napoleon about Ulm. You 
 and your army have well deserved the gratitude of your 
 country ; and it will be the boast of your children, that 
 their fathers were the heroic army which re-opened the 
 Mississippi River." 
 
 President Lincoln, whom General Grant resembled 
 in several of the noblest traits of his character, wrote a 
 letter to him, in which his own characteristic magna 
 nimity loomed up grandly in his purpose to praise the 
 conqueror for his country : 
 
 "EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 16, 1863. 
 
 "To MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 " My Dear General, I do not remember that you and 
 I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful 
 acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you 
 have done the country. I wish to say a word further. 
 When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I 
 thought you should do what you finally did march the 
 troops across the neck, run the batteries with the tran 
 sports, and thus go below ; and I never had any faith, 
 except a general hope that you knew better than I, that 
 the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could succeed. 
 When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, 
 and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river 
 and join General Banks ; and when you turned north 
 ward east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. 
 I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that 
 yo2i ivei e right and I ^vas wrong. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "A. LINCOLN." 
 
 And yet, Grant s MODESTY never surrendered. It 
 
198 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 was a tremendous bombardment it received from big 
 and little guns, artillery, infantry, and cavalry ; but its 
 flag continued to float over his entrenched manhood, 
 more beautiful, even, than the star-spangled banner 
 which he bore in triumph. It was never trailed in the 
 dust, never abandoned in the field, and never lowered at 
 the call of fame. 
 
 General Grant sent Rawlins to Washington imme 
 diately upon the fall of Vicksburg, with his report. Raw 
 lins found that the steamers on the Mississippi River 
 were charging soldiers going home on furloughs enormous 
 prices. He reported the facts to General Grant, who 
 issued an order at once, requiring the steamboat com 
 panies to carry soldiers at Government prices. Soon 
 after, word was brought to Grant that the. //<?/, about 
 leaving Vicksburg for Cairo, was charging officers and 
 men from ten to twenty-five dollars each to Cairo. At 
 once the General wrote an order, requiring the captain 
 to refund to every officer the excess above seven dollars 
 paid, and to every enlisted man the excess above five 
 dollars, and he sent a file of soldiers to enforce the 
 order. 
 
 " I will teach these steamboat-men," he said, " that 
 soldiers who have perilled their lives to open the Mis 
 sissippi for their benefit must not be imposed upon." 
 
 Grant could never excuse extortion, nor advantage 
 taken of the Government; hence he opposed speculators 
 who asked for permits to buy cotton and other merchan 
 dise. One day a gentleman handed him a recommen 
 dation, signed by several members of Congress and 
 prominent Northern politicians. Grant ran his eye over 
 the document, and said, 
 
 "This is for a permit to buy cotton, is it not ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 199 
 
 " Well, you can take it, and leave these head-quarters 
 at once. If I find you here again I will have you 
 arrested. Men of your class are doing more to corrupt 
 this army than all other kinds of rascality put together." 
 
 General Grant said to one speculator, " I have not yet 
 found one honest man following the army as a trader." 
 
 It was the last of August now, and the presidential 
 election would occur in November. Northern States 
 made provision for their soldiers to vote in the field. 
 An inquiry on the subject was sent to him from Iowa, 
 and he replied, 
 
 " Your letter, asking if citizens of the State of Iowa 
 will be allowed to visit this army and distribute tickets 
 when the election is held for soldiers to vote, is just 
 received. In reply I will state that loyal citizens of 
 Northern States will be allowed to visit the troops from 
 their States at any time. Electioneering, or any course 
 calculated to arouse discordant feelings, will be prohibited. 
 The volunteer soldiers of the army will be allowed to 
 hold an election, if the law gives them the right to vote, 
 and 110 power shall prevent them from voting the ticket of 
 their choice." 
 
 How General Grant, himself, would vote, we learn 
 from what he wrote to General Logan, who was stump 
 ing the State of Illinois for the Union candidates. 1 
 
 " I send you ten days extension of leave, and will 
 give you as many more as you require. I have read 
 your speeches in Illinois, and feel that you are really 
 doing more good there than you could possibly here, 
 while your command is lying idle." 
 
 President Lincoln proposed to enlist a hundred thou 
 sand coloured soldiers, and he wrote to General GranJ 
 about it. 
 
 " By all means do it. The coloured people are 
 
200 FROM THE TAX-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 thoroughly loyal, and coloured men are more easily 
 disciplined than white men. Put as many of them 
 as possible under my command." 
 
 Senator Henry Wilson wrote a letter to Mr. Wash- 
 burne about calling General Grant to the East, and 
 Mr. Washburne sent the letter to Grant. It called out 
 a characteristic letter from Grant, in which his ruling 
 virtue of modesty is conspicuous, and his views of slavery 
 plainly stated. We extract the following : 
 
 " I fully appreciate all Senator Wilson says. Had 
 it not been for General Halleck and Dana, I think 
 it altogether likely I would have been ordered to the 
 Potomac. My going could do no possible good. They 
 have there able officers who have been brought up with 
 that army, and to import a commander to place over them 
 certainly could produce no good. 
 
 "Whilst I would not positively disobey an order, I 
 would have objected most vehemently to taking that 
 command, or any other, except the one I have. I can 
 do more with this army than it would be possible for me 
 to do with any other, without time to make the same 
 acquaintance with others I have with this. I know that 
 the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee can be relied 
 on to the fullest extent. I believe I know the exact 
 capacity of every general in my command to command 
 troops, and just where to place them to get from them 
 their best services. This is a matter of no small con 
 sequence. 
 
 " . /U; ;,.o The people of the North need not quarrel 
 over the institution of slavery. What Vice-president 
 Stephens acknowledges as the corner-stone of the 
 Confederacy is already knocked out. Slavery is already 
 dead, and cannot be resurrected. It would take a stand 
 ing army to maintain slavery in the South, if we were 
 
SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. 201 
 
 to make peace to-day, guaranteeing to the South all 
 their former constitutional privileges. 
 
 " I never was an Abolitionist not even what could 
 be called Anti-slavery but I try to judge fairly and 
 honestly ; and it became patent to my mind early in 
 the rebellion, that the North and South could never live 
 in peace with each other except as one nation. As 
 anxious as I am to see peace, and that without slavery, 
 re-established, I would not therefore be willing to see 
 any settlement until this question be for ever settled" 
 
 Port Hudson was evacuated soon after the fall of 
 Vicksburg, as Grant predicted. General Halleck 
 thought that Grant should co-operate with Banks and 
 reduce Port Hudson before Vicksburg was assaulted. 
 Grant held that the fall of Vicksburg would necessitate 
 the fall of Port Hudson, and he was right. 
 
 He visited New Orleans to confer with General Banks. 
 While there, Banks ordered a grand review, and pro 
 vided General Grant with the finest horse in the city 
 for the occasion. A steam-whistle frightened the animal, 
 and he ran against a carriage, and both horse and rider 
 fell. This time Grant did not find himself at the top, 
 as usual. The horse was top, and the result was that 
 Grant was in bed twenty days, and then walked with 
 crutches two months. It is the only instance we find 
 of Grant falling from a horse, although he began to ride 
 horseback at five years of age. This time the conqueror 
 was almost conquered by a horse ! 
 
 On his return to Vicksburg, his wife and children 
 spent some time with him in that city an episode in 
 his military life which he enjoyed as only a devoted 
 husband and father can. 
 
XVI. 
 
 GREATER THINGS YET. 
 
 THE "Father of Waters" rolling now, as President 
 Lincoln said, " unvexed to the sea," greater things than 
 ever were expected of General Grant. Lincoln s con 
 fidence in him was confirmed, and those croakers who 
 had worried him for months because he adhered to 
 Grant were silenced. Lincoln disclosed to the editor of 
 Forney s Chronicle the trouble he had experienced, when 
 the latter called, just as the news of the fall of Vicks- 
 burg reached the President. 
 
 " Mr. President, have you any news to give me to 
 night ? " the editor inquired. 
 
 " Yes, great news ; but you must hurry up, for I have 
 company downstairs, and can t wait long. Grant has 
 taken Vicksburg ! Here are two dispatches, one from 
 Rawlins, the other from Hurlburt. Don t stop to read 
 them, but I ll copy the short one while you copy the 
 long one, as you can write faster than I." 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln, this must be most gratifying to you 
 after standing by Grant so steadfastly," suggested the 
 editor. 
 
 "Yes, it is. No man will ever know how much 
 trouble I have had to carry my point about him. The 
 opposition from several of our best Republicans has 
 been so bitter that I could hardly resist it." 
 
GREATER THINGS YET, 203 
 
 The newspapers assailed him outrageously," added 
 the editor. 
 
 "True, but that wasn t half the trouble. Why, after 
 Shiloh, a Republican senator from Iowa denounced him 
 to me as bloodthirsty, reckless of human life, and 
 utterly unfit to lead troops ; and because I wouldn t sit 
 down and dismiss him at once, went out in a rage, 
 slamming the door after him. Even within the last two 
 days, senators have demanded his immediate removal." 
 
 If President Lincoln had not possessed as much 
 sound common sense, good judgment, self-reliance, and 
 courageous decision as General Grant himself, the 
 latter would never have had the opportunity to capture 
 Vicksburg. 
 
 At this time, General Rosecrans was cooped up at 
 Chattanooga with his army of sixty thousand men. 
 The rebels had invested the place with eighty thousand 
 troops, in order to starve him into surrender. He had 
 fought the hard battle of Chickamauga, and was driven 
 back to Chattanooga, within his entrenchments. His 
 situation was critical. His army was subsisting on half 
 rations, and supplies could reach him only by one hard 
 mountain road. General Bragg was threatening General 
 Burnside at Knoxville, whose situation was also pre 
 carious. General Grant was appointed to coiamand all 
 these forces, including the division of Thomas, the de 
 partment extending a thousand miles, from Natchez on 
 the Mississippi to Knoxville on the Tennessee, He was 
 to lead the three armies of the West, numbering two 
 hundred thousand men, and provide for them. In order 
 to leave him untrammelled, he was clothed with the 
 powers of a dictator, in part. His control of the 
 " Grand Military Division of the Mississippi " was ab 
 solute, necessarily so. If Grant could not save the army 
 
204 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of Rosecrans, and deliver the Union cause from great 
 peril in the West, then no one could. This was the 
 feeling of Lincoln and the country. 
 
 Grant, by telegram, directed General Thomas to 
 supersede Rosecrans at once, and instructed him, 
 
 " To hold Chattanooga at all hazards." 
 
 Thomas, whom the soldiers named " Rock of Chicka- 
 mauga," for his heroic deeds in the late battle, re 
 plied, 
 
 " We will hold it till we starve." 
 
 On the 2$rd of October, at midnight, in a hard storm 
 and dense darkness, General Grant reached Chatta 
 nooga, and proceeded at once to provide a way to feed 
 the half-starved army. His orders flew like wind in 
 every direction. In five days he brought order out of 
 confusion, had possession of Lookout Valley, with 
 ample food for man and beast pouring into the city ; 
 and what was better still, inspired the disheartened 
 army with the hope and enthusiasm of his own soul. 
 
 The enemy commanded three important elevations, 
 Lookout Mountain, Raccoon Mountain, and Missionary 
 Ridge ; and here heavy batteries were planted and pro 
 tected by earth-works. The first elevation was two 
 thousand four hundred feet above the river, the second 
 nearly as high, and the third four hundred feet. To 
 human view it was impossible for Grant, with any num 
 ber of heroic men, to scale those heights and capture 
 the batteries or drive the foe. Jefferson Davis, the 
 Confederate President, visited Lookout Mountain, and 
 looking down upon the Union forces in pent-up Chatta 
 nooga, said, 
 
 " I have them now in the trap I have set for them." 
 
 Nevertheless, General Grant resolved to possess the 
 heights. Can t was not in his dictionary. He was still 
 
GREATER THINGS YET. 205 
 
 suffering from his injury at New Orleans ; and, when he 
 took possession of Lookout Valley, and was obliged to 
 dismount in some hard places, his soldiers had to carry 
 him in their arms. But his presence was absolutely 
 necessary to the successful execution of his plans. 
 
 Grant could not assault the aforewarned strongholds 
 until Sherman, who was marching across the country 
 from Memphis with his command a distance of four 
 hundred miles arrived. Neither could he send rein 
 forcements to Burnside until Sherman s arrival. He 
 could make feints he had a tact for that. He tele 
 graphed Sherman at Florence, 
 
 " The enemy have moved a great part of their force 
 from the front towards Burnside. I have to make an 
 immediate move from here towards their lines of com 
 munication, to bring them back if possible. I am 
 anxious to see your old corps here at the earliest mo 
 ment." 
 
 It became so evident that General Bragg was about 
 to attack Burnside, that Grant resolved to make an 
 assault upon the enemy s works before the arrival of 
 Sherman. He sent the following order to General 
 Thomas, 
 
 "The news is of such a nature that it becomes an 
 imperative duty for your force to draw the attention of 
 the enemy from Burnside. I deem the best movement 
 to attack to be an attack on the north end of Missionary 
 Ridge with all the force you can bring to bear against 
 it ; and, when that is carried, to threaten and attack 
 even the enemy s line of communication between Dai- 
 ton and Cleveland. Rations should be ready to issue 
 a sufficiency to last four days the moment Mission 
 ary Ridge is in our possession ; rations to be carried in 
 haversacks. 
 
206 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 "When there are not horses to move the artillery, 
 mules must be taken from the teams, or horses from 
 ambulances, or, if necessary, officers dismounted and 
 their horses taken ; immediate preparations should be 
 made to carry these directions into execution. The 
 movement should not be made a moment later than to 
 morrow morning." 
 
 But so many horses had perished that Grant was ob 
 liged to delay the attack until Sherman arrived. The 
 interim was used to complete arrangements for a pon 
 toon bridge five miles above Chattanooga, for the pur 
 pose of conveying a portion of Sherman s command 
 across the Tennessee, to operate in the rear of Mission 
 ary Ridge. 
 
 On the arrival of General Sherman, Grant moved upon 
 Orchard Knoll, and carried it in fifteen minutes ; driving 
 the enemy pell-mell out of their works. 
 
 Lookout Mountain was fought, and the enemy driven 
 from it. When the reader considers that this mountain 
 was two thousand four hundred feet above the river, 
 covered with forest trees, and broken by abrupt rocky 
 cliffs, he will understand what bravery and efficiency the 
 Union soldiers must have possessed to carry it by storm. 
 In the face of an appalling fire, they climbed the rugged 
 sides of the mountain, fighting their way up, up, up, until 
 the terrified rebel soldiers broke and ran. General 
 Hooker fought this " battle above the clouds," though 
 the programme was Grant s. The enemy fled to Mission 
 ary Ridge, where another battle was fought the next 
 day, and the Ridge captured. Sherman moved upon 
 the Ridge from the north, and Hooker from the south. 
 Then Thomas pushed forward his whole force from the 
 centre, to carry the Ridge by storm. Grant s programme 
 contemplated that, at this juncture, Bragg would send a 
 
GREATER THINGS YET. 207 
 
 column to meet Sherman s assault ; and he did, much 
 to Grant s satisfaction, who had taken his position on 
 Orchard Knoll, where he could watch the progress of 
 the fight. Thomas army, in four columns, was con 
 cealed by the knoll, awaiting the call of Grant. The 
 moment the latter saw a column of Bragg s army going 
 to repel Sherman, he shouted, 
 
 " Now, boys, onward ! " 
 
 Six rousing guns gave the signal to charge, and Grant 
 himself cheered lustily as Thomas four columns, led by 
 Johnson, Sheridan, Wood, and Baird, started off upon 
 the double-quick. Not a word was spoken, nor a gun 
 fired ; but, with glistening bayonets fixed, they rushed 
 upon the first line of rifle-pits, capturing them in three 
 minutes, with a thousand prisoners ; then chasing the 
 rebel fugitives many of whom threw down their arms, 
 and fled in dismay to the second line of rifle-pits higher 
 up. Thirty pieces of artillery, and regiments of musketry, 
 poured a deadly fire upon our brave troops as they 
 clambered up the hill, cutting down five men in succes 
 sion, who bore the same Union colours ; but the rank 
 and file wavered not, but swept on, on, up, up, capturing 
 the second line of pits, and more prisoners still, amid the 
 wildest cheers that were ever raised in the name of free 
 dom. On the summit was still another line of rifle-pits, 
 where sharp-shooters swarmed, and gunners hurled shot 
 and shell in showers. But, with unbroken columns, the 
 brave patriots pressed on in the face of death, with shouts 
 of triumph which well-nigh drowned the roar of the 
 artillery, and poured into the rebel works upon the crest 
 a living torrent of victorious men. The movement 
 was executed so speedily, and with such resistless power, 
 that flesh and blood could not resist the charge. And 
 still the battle raged upon the summit. The enemy 
 
2cS FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 fought with desperation ; sixty cannons belched fire 
 every ""minute ; conquerors and conquered grappling in 
 deadly contest ; the cheers of the living mingling with 
 the cries and groans of the dying in horrible confusion, 
 until whole regiments threw down their arms and fled 
 for safety ; the Union soldiers turning the rebel batteries, 
 which they had faced, upon the fugitives, to accelerate 
 their flight. The day was won ; the Union flag was 
 raised. General Grant appeared upon the scene, which 
 was the signal for a fresh round of cheers, which were 
 heard with delight in Chattanooga. Seven thousand 
 prisoners were taken, ten thousand stands of arms, and 
 fifty-two pieces of artillery ; and the battle-ground was 
 literally covered with the rebel slain. 
 
 General Grant s telegram to General Halleck at the 
 close of that terrible day was like all his reports, 
 modest to a fault : 
 
 " Although the battle lasted from early dawn till dark 
 this evening, I believe lam not premature in announcing 
 a complete victory over Bragg. Lookout Mountain-top, 
 all the rifle-pits in Chattanooga Valley, and Missionary 
 Ridge entire, have been carried, and are now held by us. 
 I have no idea of finding Bragg here to-morrow." 
 
 Early the next morning General Grant in person con 
 ducted a vigorous pursuit of the enemy. All along the 
 way he found proof that the rebel army was terribly 
 demoralized and broken ; for broken wagons, abandoned 
 guns, scattered fire-arms, cartridge-boxes, maimed and 
 exhausted men, strewed the roads. Whole regiments, 
 finding themselves closely pursued, threw down their 
 arms and ran like sheep in every direction, or gave them 
 selves up as willing captives. The overthrow of the 
 enemy was complete. The rank and file of the Southern 
 army saw how wickedly their leaders had deceived them, 
 
GREATER THINGS YET. 209 
 
 Jefferson Davis said in a speech at Memphis in 1861 : 
 " You need not fear to cast off your allegiance to the 
 General Government. There will be no war. The 
 Yankees will never fight. One Southern man can, at 
 any time, whip five Northern men, if he can only run 
 fast enough to catch them." 
 
 And now the flower of his army was routed, and were 
 fleeing in consternation from the Yankees who had not 
 courage enough to fight ! The Southern Confederacy 
 was broken ; and destruction and desolation were taking 
 the place of thrift and progress. 
 
 An amusing incident occurred when Longstreet dis 
 covered the Union forces on the hills above Lookout 
 Valley, showing how the comic will sometimes mingle 
 with the tragic in war. The Confederate general saw 
 at once that the siege of Chattanooga must be raised if 
 Grant s men were not driven from that position. So, in 
 the darkness of the night, he attacked them, and a 
 severe battle was fought. In the engagement a large 
 number of mules became frightened, broke from their 
 wagons, and ran furiously towards the enemy, who 
 supposed, in the darkness, that it was a cavalry-charge ; 
 and they became panic-stricken and fled. A soldier-poet 
 produced the following parody the next day : 
 " 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 the air, 
 
 Scattering the Chivalry there, 
 All the world wondered." 
 
 P 
 
210 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 As soon as the pursuit of the enemy was relinquished, 
 General Grant sent Sherman with his command to 
 relieve Burnside. Longstreet had invested Knoxville 
 with his army, expecting to starve out Burnside ; but 
 the brave general did not starve easily. Before Sherman 
 reached Knoxville, Longstreet made a vigorous assault 
 upon Burnside s works, and a severe battle was fought. 
 Longstreet was repulsed with heavy loss. Hearing that 
 the Union army had captured the rebel strongholds at 
 Chattanooga, and that reinforcements were on the way 
 to Burnside, he very wisely raised the siege and ran 
 away. 
 
 How thoroughly the rebel commanders trusted in their 
 works at Chattanooga, the following fact shows. A 
 woman residing on the plateau of Missionary Ridge told 
 one of our Union generals that Bragg had not the least 
 idea that the whole Union army could capture Lookout 
 Mountain or Missionary Ridge. 
 
 " Just before you all came up here," she said, " I asked 
 him, What are you going to do with me, general ? and 
 lie answered, Lord ! madam, the Yankees will never 
 dare to come up here! And it was not more than 
 fifteen minutes before you were all around here." 
 
 The author of the Military History of General Grant 
 says of this memorable battle : 
 
 " Few battles have ever been won so strictly according 
 to the plan laid down. Grant s instructions in advance 
 would almost serve as a history of the contest. Hooker 
 was to draw attention to th( right, to seize and hold 
 Lookout Mountain ; while Sherman, attacking Mission 
 ary Ridge on the extreme left, was still further to 
 distract the enemy ; and then, when reinforcements and 
 attention should be drawn to both the rebel flanks, the 
 centre was to be assaulted by the main body of Grant s 
 
GREATER THINGS YET. 211 
 
 force, under Thomas. Everything happened exactly as 
 had been foreseen. 
 
 " Each event proceeded regularly according to the 
 calculation. Each subordinate carried out his part 
 exactly as he had been ordered. Each army, brought 
 from a distance, came upon the spot intended, crossed a 
 river or climbed a mountain at the precise moment ; and 
 even the unexpected emergencies of the fight contributed 
 to the result, as if anticipated and arranged. In this 
 respect Chattanooga was one of the most notable battles 
 ever fought." 
 
 Again the loyal States were made wild with enthu 
 siasm over Grant s victories, and no eulogy of the chief 
 was considered extravagant. President Lincoln ap 
 pointed another day of National Thanksgiving for the 
 Chattanooga victory, and both pulpit and press exalted 
 the genius and bravery of Grant. Other generals had a 
 forte in creating Fast Days ; but General Grant s forte 
 lay in another direction that of Thanksgiving. 
 
 Congress assembled just after this last great victory, 
 and adopted the following resolution :- 
 
 "That the thanks of Congress be, and they hereby 
 are, presented to Maj.-Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and 
 through him to the officers and soldiers who have fought 
 under his command during this rebellion, for the gaU 
 lantry and good conduct in the battles in which they 
 have been engaged ; and that the President of the 
 United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be 
 struck, with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, 
 to be presented to Major-General Grant." 
 
 The medal was designed by Leutze. On one side 
 was a profile likeness of Grant, surrounded by a laurel- 
 wreath. His name and victories were inscribed upon it, 
 and all surrounded by a galaxy of stars. On the reverse 
 
212 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 was the figure of Fame, sitting on the American Eagle, 
 in her right-hand a trumpet, in her left a scroll bearing 
 the names of Corinth, Vicksburg, Mississippi River, and 
 Chattanooga ; on her head a helmet ; front of the eagle 
 the emblematical shield of the United States ; beneath, 
 the pine and palm intertwined ; and over all, " Proclaim 
 Liberty through the Land." 
 
 President Lincoln sent to him the following : 
 
 " Understanding that your lodgment at Chattanooga 
 and at Knoxville is now secure, I wish to tender you, 
 and all under your command, my more than thanks, 
 my profoundest gratitude, for the skill, courage, and 
 perseverance with which you and they, over so great 
 difficulties, have effected that important object. God 
 bless you all ! " 
 
 On the loth of December, General Grant issued the 
 following congratulatory order to his troops, in which he 
 ascribes all the glory to them, as if their illustrious 
 commander were of no account whatever : 
 
 " The General commanding takes the opportunity of 
 returning his sincere thanks and congratulations to the 
 brave armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Ten 
 nessee, and their comrades from the Potomac, for the 
 recent splendid and decisive successes achieved over the 
 enemy. In a short time you have recovered from him 
 the control of the Tennessee River, from Bridgeport to 
 Knoxville. You dislodged him from his great strong 
 hold upon Lookout Mountain ; drove him from Chatta 
 nooga Valley ; wrested from his determined grasp the 
 possession of Missionary Ridge; repelled, with heavy loss 
 to him, his repeated assaults upon Knoxville ; forced him 
 to raise the siege there, driving him, at all points utterly 
 routed and discomfited, beyond the limits of the State. 
 
 " By your noble heroism and determined courage you 
 
GREATER THINGS YET. 213 
 
 have most effectually defeated the plans of the enemy 
 for regaining possession of the States of Kentucky and 
 Tennessee. You have secured positions from which no 
 rebellious power can drive or dislodge you. For all this 
 the General commanding thanks you collectively and in 
 dividually. The loyal people of the United States thank 
 and bless you. Their hopes and prayers against this 
 unholy rebellion are with you daily ; their faith in you 
 will not be in vain ; their hopes will not be blasted ; 
 their prayers to Almighty God will be answered. You 
 will yet go to other fields of strife ; and with the in 
 vincible bravery, and unflinching loyalty to justice and 
 right, which have characterized you in the past, you will 
 prove that no enemy can withstand you, and that no 
 defences, however formidable, can check your onward 
 march. 
 
XVII. 
 
 THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT wasted no time after the Chattanooga 
 victory. 
 
 "The enemy must not be allowed to rest or concen 
 trate," he said, " The war will be brought to an end 
 only by the destruction of the Confederate army." 
 
 Rewrote to General Halleck, 
 
 " I am now collecting as large a cavalry force as can 
 be spared, at Savannah, Ten., to cross the Tennessee 
 River, and co-operate with the cavalry from Hurlburt s 
 command, in clearing out entirely the forces now collect 
 ing in West Tennessee under Forrest. It is the design 
 that the cavalry, after finishing the work they first start 
 upon, shall push south through East Mississippi, and 
 destroy the Mobile Road as far south as they can. 
 Sherman goes to Memphis and Vicksburg in person, and 
 will have Grenada visited, and such other points on the 
 Mississippi Central Railroad as may require it. I want 
 the State of Mississippi so visited that large armies 
 cannot traverse there this winter." 
 
 His three armies were distributed as follows : 
 
 General Thomas was at Chattanooga, watching the 
 movements of Bragg; General Schofield was at Knoxville 
 looking after Longstreet ; and General Sherman went 
 on a raid into the interior of Mississippi all parts of 
 one plan by Grant s fertile brain. Sherman s raid was 
 
 magnificent in its results, furnishing additional proof of his 
 
 214 
 
THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 215 
 
 chiefs remarkable knowledge of the situation, enabling 
 him to strike blows at the right time and in the right 
 place. Sherman marched four hundred miles ; drove 
 the rebels out of Mississippi ; destroyed all the railroads ; 
 supported his army upon stores which he captured, and 
 brought back four hundred prisoners, five thousand 
 negroes, a thousand white refugees, and three thousand 
 animals. His loss was twenty-one killed, and one 
 hundred and forty-nine wounded and missing. 
 
 Grant must know his armies, their condition, needs 
 and spirit, even to the outposts ; so he determined upon 
 a tour of inspection, though it was cold winter weather. 
 He visited Nashville and Knoxville, infusing not a little 
 of his own enthusiasm into his soldiers ; and from the 
 latter place travelled on horseback to Louisville, by the 
 way of the Cumberland Gap, because he desired to know 
 the exact condition of the roads. The weather was 
 bitter cold in the mountains, and the exposure and peril 
 great, The officers who accompanied him described 
 their sufferings as intense ; yet the General did not ap 
 pear to mind so slight an inconvenience, so absorbed 
 was he in conquering the rebellion. 
 
 At Lexington thousands of people assembled to see 
 the hero of Vicksburg and Chattanooga. They crowded 
 into the city from the surrounding country to do him 
 honour. 
 
 "A speech ! a speech ! a speech ! " 
 
 The call for a speech from the conqueror was general 
 and earnest. They would not take no for an answer. 
 Finally, General Coombs of his staff mounted a chair 
 and said, 
 
 " General Grant has told me, in confidence, that he 
 never made a speech, knows nothing about speech- 
 making, and has no disposition to learn." 
 
216 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 He was summoned to St. Louis to see one of his 
 children who was seriously ill. The citizens grew wild 
 over him. Thousands gathered about the hotel to get 
 sight of him. They ran after him in the streets, and 
 cheered until they were hoarse. Finally, they invited 
 him to a public dinner. He replied : 
 
 "Your highly complimentary invitation to meet old 
 acquaintances, and make new ones, at a dinner to be 
 given by citizens of St. Louis, is just received. I will 
 state that I have only visited St. Louis on this occasion 
 to see a sick child. Finding, however, that he has 
 passed the crisis of his disease, and is pronounced out 
 of danger by his physicians, I accept the invitation. 
 My stay in this city will be short, probably not beyond 
 the first proximo. On to-morrow I shall be engaged. 
 Any other day of my stay here, and any place selected 
 by the citizens of St. Louis, it will be agreeable for me 
 to meet them. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 
 "Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " U. S. GRANT." 
 
 A large number sat down to the dinner. When the 
 toast was given, " Our distinguished guest, Major- 
 General Grant," the band played " Hail to the Chief," 
 and General Grant arose with less self-possession than 
 he ever maintained in the direst battle, and said, 
 
 " Gentlemen, in response, it will be impossible for me 
 to do more than to thank you." 
 
 In the evening he was serenaded, and an immense 
 crowd gathered around and near the hotel. They 
 wanted to see the General whose fame had gone out 
 through all the land ; and, of course, they clamoured 
 for a speech. That would bring him out upon the 
 balcony. His appearance upon the balcony, with hat 
 
THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 2i- f 
 
 A hand, was the signal for one of the craziest demon^ 
 strations of delight the city ever witnessed. As soon as 
 the cheering ceased, the General said,- 
 
 " Gentlemen, I thank you for this honour. I cannot 
 make a speech. It is something I have never done and 
 never intend to do ; and I beg you will excuse me." 
 
 The General s statement was not quite correct. He 
 had forgotten the little speech he made for a Methodist 
 minister in his boyhood, "You d scarce expect one of 
 my age," etc. ; with that exception, his statement was 
 literally true. 
 
 " A speech ! a speech ! " 
 
 The call was louder than ever for a speech. The 
 multitude would not be put off. 
 
 "Tell them that you can fight for them, but cannot 
 talk for them," suggested a friend. " Do tell them that." 
 
 " No ; I must get some one else to tell them that." 
 
 Then, leaning over the railing, the General spoke : 
 
 " Gentlemen, making speeches is not my business. I 
 never did it in my life and never will. I thank you, 
 however, for your attendance here," then bowed and 
 retired. 
 
 While these things were going on as here narrated, 
 the leading men of the country, in Washington, were 
 trying to arrange suitable honours for the conquering 
 General. Congress, by special act, revived the rank of 
 lieutenant-general, which a grateful country created for 
 Washington; since which time, no one but General Scott 
 had shared the honour. It was done that the President 
 might appoint General Grant to fill the high position. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln remarked, after having signed the bill, 
 
 " I have never seen Grant. Before I appoint him to 
 the command of the armies, I want to learn all about 
 him. Who of his friends knows him best?" 
 
2i8 FROM 7 HE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 "Russell Jones, United States Marshal for Illinois," 
 answered Mr. Washburne. " You know him well ; and 
 he knows Grant thoroughly." 
 
 So Mr. Jones, who was in Washington at the time, 
 ivas summoned to the White House. 
 
 " What do you know about Grant, Mr. Jones ? " in 
 quired the President. 
 
 " I know he is a great general, whose modesty is 
 equal to his bravery ; and a thoroughly honest man." 
 
 The conversation continued for some time, the Presi 
 dent asking many questions, until he had no more 
 questions to ask. 
 
 "Now, Mr. President," continued Jones, "perhaps 
 you would like to know whether Grant is going to be a 
 candidate for the presidency ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I confess to a little curiosity on that point." 
 
 "Well, I have just received a reply from him to my 
 questions on the subject. It is a private letter ; but I 
 see no impropriety in showing it to you, and it will be 
 more satisfactory than anything I can tell you." 
 
 The President read the letter, in which Grant said 
 that " he had not the least wish for the high office ; and 
 that even if he had an ambition in that direction, he 
 would not permit his name to be used, because he him 
 self was in favour of Abraham Lincoln above all men, 
 and under all circumstances." 
 
 President Lincoln laughed as he returned the letter 
 to Jones, remarking, 
 
 " I wanted to know ; for when this presidential grub 
 once gets to gnawing at a man, nobody can tell how 
 far in it has got. It is generally a good deal deeper 
 than he himself supposes." 
 
 It was the last of February, 1864, and people were 
 discussing presidential candidates. General Grant was 
 
THE ROLL OF HONOUR, 219 
 
 the favourite candidate of many ; and he was consulted 
 by several leading men about running for the office. 
 Most of these letters he did not answer, because he was 
 personally opposed to the candidacy of Ulysses S. 
 Grant. One of these letters was written by a son of 
 Senator Morris, who secured Grant s appointment to 
 West Point, and this letter he answered. It is so 
 characteristic, and so decidedly confirms all that we 
 have said concerning Grant s leading qualities, from 
 boyhood to manhood, that we quote it entire. 
 
 " Your letter of the 2Qth of December I did not see 
 until two days ago. I receive many such, but .do not 
 answer. Yours, however, is written in such a kindly 
 spirit, and as you ask for an answer confidentially, I will 
 not withhold it. 
 
 " Allow me to say, however, that I am not a politician, 
 never was, and I hope never to be, and could not write 
 a political letter. My only desire is to serve the Country 
 in her present trials. To do this efficiently it is neces 
 sary to have the confidence of the army and of the 
 people. I know no way to better secure this end than 
 by a faithful performance of my duties. 
 
 "So long as I hold my present position, I do not 
 believe I have the right to criticise the policy or orders 
 of those above me, or to give utterance to views of my 
 own, except to the authorities at Washington, and the 
 general-in-chief of the army. In this respect I know I 
 have proven myself a good soldier. 
 
 " In your letter you say that I have it in my power to 
 be the next President. This is the last thing in the 
 world I desire. I would regard such a consummation 
 as highly unfortunate for myself, if not for the Country. 
 Through Providence I have attained to more than I 
 ever hoped, and, with the position I now hold in the 
 
220 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE, 
 
 regular army, if allowed to retain it, will be more than 
 satisfied. 
 
 " I certainly shall never state a sentiment, or the ex 
 pression of a thought, with the view to being a candi 
 date for office. I scarcely know the inducement that 
 could be held out to me to accept office, and unhesita 
 tingly say that I infinitely prefer my present position to 
 that of any civil office within the gift of the people. 
 
 " This is a private letter to you, and not intended for 
 others to see, or read, because I want to avoid being heard 
 from by the public except through! my acts, in the per 
 formance of my legitimate duties." 
 
 On the third day of March, General Grant was sum 
 moned to Washington by the Secretary of War. He 
 received, also, a communication from General Halleck, 
 as follows : 
 
 " The Secretary of War directs me to say that your 
 commission as lieutenant-general is signed, and will be 
 delivered to you on your arrival at the War Department. 
 I sincerely congratulate you on this recognition of your 
 distinguished and meritorious services." 
 
 Before leaving for Washington, he penned a familiar 
 and noble letter to General Sherman, to whom he was 
 attached as to a brother. The letter is so charged with 
 Grant, that we want our readers to study it carefully : 
 
 " Dear Sherman, The bill reviving the grade of lieu 
 tenant-general has become a law, my name has been 
 sent to the Senate for the place. I now receive orders 
 to report to Washington immediately in person, which 
 indicates a confirmation, or a likelihood of confirmation. 
 I start in the morning to comply with the order. 
 
 " Whilst I have been eminently successful in this war, 
 in at least gaining the confidence of the public, no one 
 feels more than I how much of this success is due to the 
 
THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 221 
 
 energy, skill, and the harmonious putting forth of thai- 
 energy and skill, of those whom it has been my good 
 fortune to have occupying subordinate positions under me. 
 
 " There are many officers to whom these remarks are 
 applicable to a greater or less degree, proportionate to 
 their ability as soldiers ; but what I want is, to express 
 my thanks to you and McPherson, as the men to whom, 
 above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had 
 of success. 
 
 " How far your advice and assistance have been of 
 help to me, you know. How far your execution of 
 whatever has been given you to do entitles you to the 
 reward I am receiving, you cannot know as well as I. 
 
 11 1 feel all the gratitude this letter would express, 
 giving it the most flattering construction. The word 
 you, I use in the plural, intending it for McPherson also. 
 I would write to him, and will some day ; but, starting 
 in the morning, I do not know that I will find time just 
 now. " Your friend, 
 
 " U. S. GRANT." 
 
 Grant s letter to Sherman could be excelled in its 
 magnanimity and real friendship only by Sherman s 
 reply to Grant, which ought to be read with it ; because 
 together the communications show how the great na 
 tures of two illustrious men trusted each other. 
 
 " Dear General, I have your more than kind and 
 characteristic letter of the 4th inst. I wiH. send a copy 
 to General McPherson at once. 
 
 " You do yourself injustice, and us too much honour, in 
 assigning to us too large a share of the merits which 
 have led to your high advancement. I know you ap 
 prove the friendship I have ever proffered to you, and 
 will permit me to continue, as heretofore, to manifest it 
 on all proper occasions. 
 
222 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " You are now Washington s legitimate successor, and 
 occupy a position of almost dangerous elevation ; but if 
 you can continue, as heretofore, to be yourself, simple 
 honest, and unpretending, you will enjoy through life 
 the respect and love of friends, and the homage of mil 
 lions of human beings who will award you a large share 
 in securing to them and their descendants a government 
 of law and stability. 
 
 " I repeat, you do General McPherson and myself too 
 much honour. At Belmont, you manifested your traits, 
 neither of us being near. At Donelson, also, you illus 
 trated your whole character. I was not near, and Gen 
 eral McPherson was in too subordinate a capacity to 
 influence you. 
 
 " Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost 
 cowed by the terrible array of anarchical elements that 
 presented themselves at every point ; but that admitted 
 a ray of light I have followed since. I believe you are 
 as brave, patriotic, and just, as the great prototype, 
 Washington ; as unselfish, kind-hearted, and honest as a 
 man should be ; but the chief characteristic is the simple 
 faith in success you have always manifested, which I can 
 liken to nothing else than the faith a Christian has in 
 the Saviour. 
 
 " This faith gave you the victory at Shiloh and at 
 Vicksburg. Also, when you have completed your best 
 preparations, you go into battle without hesitation, as at 
 Chattanooga, no doubts, no reserves ; and, I tell you, 
 it was this which made us act with confidence. 
 
 " My only point of doubt was in your knowledge of 
 grand strategy, and of books of science and of history ; 
 but I confess your common sense seems to have supplied 
 all these. 
 
 " Now, as to the future. Don t stay in Washington. 
 
THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 223 
 
 Come West; take to yourself the whole Mississippi 
 Valley. Let us make it dead sure ; and I tell you, the 
 Atlantic slopes and Pacific shores will follow its destiny 
 as surely as the limbs of a tree live or die with the main 
 trunk. We have done much, but still much remains. 
 Time, and time s influence are with us. We could al 
 most afford to sit still, and let these influences work. 
 
 " Here lies the seat of the coming empire ; and from 
 the West, when our task is done, we will make short 
 work of Charleston and Richmond and the impoverished 
 coast of the Atlantic. Your sincere friend, 
 
 "W. T. SHERMAN." 
 
 The telegraph had told the whole country that Grant 
 was summoned to Washington. As a result, his journey 
 thither was that of a mighty conqueror, without any 
 planning of his, and very much to his annoyance. At 
 every railroad station where the train stopped, crowds of 
 people gathered, with bands and banners ; and " Hail to 
 the Chief" was played, and cheers for the hero of Donel- 
 son, Vicksburg, Corinth, and Chattanooga, repeated, 
 until the modest General was surfeited. 
 
 On reaching Washington he went quietly to Willard s 
 Hotel, and sat down unobserved at the dining-table. A 
 gentleman at the table knew him ; and he immediately 
 arose, and said, 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, we are honoured at this table 
 by the presence of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant." 
 
 The announcement was electric. Every guest rose as 
 by instinct, and men and women joined in the ovation 
 to the world-renowned ( V,neral. The men sent up cheer 
 after cheer, and women waved their white handkerchiefs, 
 like flags of truce, to the utter surprise of the warrior. 
 
 In the evening he attended the President s levee at 
 the White House. The crowd rushed in to see him. 
 
224 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The mansion was crammed. Hundreds could not gain 
 admittance. The enthusiasm was unbounded. The 
 President himself joined in the cheers and every other 
 demonstration in Grant s honour, with the liveliest in 
 terest. Lincoln and Grant were alike in their unselfish, 
 humble, and patriotic spirit. As he retired from the 
 levee on that night he remarked to a friend, 
 
 " I hope to get away from Washington as soon as 
 possible, for I am tired of the show business already 
 This is the hottest campaign I ever fought." 
 
 He was more at home on the battle-field than he was 
 in Washington. His whole soul was absorbed in con 
 quering the Rebellion, for which he asked no reward. 
 
 On March Qth, the President presented him with his 
 commission as lieutenant-general. The ceremony took 
 place in the Executive Chamber, The Cabinet were 
 present, and many invited guests. President Lincoln 
 thus spoke : 
 
 " General Grant : The nation s approbation of what 
 you have already done, and its reliance on you for what 
 remains to be done in the existing great struggle, is 
 now presented, with this commission constituting you 
 Lieutenant-General of the Army of the United States. 
 With this high honour devolves on you a corresponding 
 responsibility. As the country here entrusts you, so 
 under God it will sustain you. I scarcely need add, that 
 with what I here speak for the nation goes my own 
 hearty personal concurrence." 
 
 General Grant replied " Mr. President : I accept this 
 commission with gratitude for the high honour conferred. 
 With the aid of the noble armies, who have fought on 
 so many fields for our common country, it will be my 
 earnest endeavour not to disappoint your expectations. 
 I feel the full weight of the responsibility now devolving 
 
THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 225 
 
 upon me. I know that, if it is properly met, it will be 
 due to these armies, and, above all, to the favour of that 
 Providence which leads both nations and men." 
 
 While the General was in Washington, prominent 
 ladies desired to have a ball in his honour. There was 
 to be a grand review of the Army of the Potomac ; and 
 they proposed that it should be on the evening of that 
 day. A committee of ladies waited upon him, to secure 
 his consent thereto ; but he dashed several pailfuls of 
 very cold water on the scheme, by saying, 
 
 "Ladies: I am not a cynic, and enjoy rational 
 pleasure as well as any one else ; but I would ask you, 
 in all candour and gentleness, if this is a time for music 
 and dancing and feasting among officers in the army ? 
 Is our country in a condition to call for such things at 
 present ? Do army balls inspire our troops with courage 
 in the field ? Do they soothe our sick and wounded in 
 the hospitals ? " 
 
 Mrs. Lincoln gave a grand military dinner in honour 
 of General Grant. Twelve other prominent generals 
 were invited. But Grant was in a hurry to return to 
 the West, and he so stated to Mrs. Lincoln, whereupon 
 she pressed her claim as a woman only can. 
 
 " I trust that you will excuse me, in the circumstances," 
 he urged. " My presence is needed now in the field." 
 
 " I do not see how we can excuse you," pleaded Mrs. 
 Lincoln. " It would be Hamlet with the Prince left out." 
 
 " I appreciate fully the honour Mrs. Lincoln would 
 do me, but time is precious ; and really Mr. Presi 
 dent, / have had enough of the show business" 
 
 Doubtless he spoke the truth in the last sentence. 
 This lavish bestowal of public admiration upon him was 
 not at all congenial. It was a terrific charge upon his 
 modesty. He had to flee. 
 
 Q 
 
226 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Mrs. Lincoln gave her grand military dinner, but 
 General Grant was not there he was on his way to the 
 " Grand Military Department of Mississippi." The 
 society of twelve generals, in conference, to destroy the 
 Confederate army, he coveted ; but their society in feast 
 ing and pleasure, he did not seek. 
 
 He reached Cincinnati on Sunday morning, where he 
 was to spend the day with his parents. His father sent 
 his carriage to the station for him ; but before the carriage 
 returned, he was surprised to see the Lieutenant-General 
 coming into the house with his carpet-bag in his hand. 
 The driver looked for a great man with epaulettes and 
 gold braid ; but discovered no such one in the crowd 
 alighting from the cars. The General wore no badge 
 of honour, and his overcoat was plain army-blue. 
 
 When he reached Nashville, he found an order from 
 the War Department, appointing him to the command 
 of all the armies of the United States, with head-quarters 
 in the field ; superseding General Halleck, who treated 
 him rudely in the early part of the war. Halleck was 
 to remain in Washington as his chief-of-staff; Sherman 
 to succeed him in command of the Military Division of 
 Mississippi ; and McPherson to take Sherman s place 
 as commander of the Department of Tennessee. 
 
 General Grant was obliged to retrace his steps to 
 Washington as soon as possible ; and that was in half 
 the time ordinary generals would have required for so 
 important a change. He took with him his wife and 
 children, and Rawlins, Rowley, Duff, Bowers, Leet, 
 Parker, and Badeau, of his staff. His arrival in Wash 
 ington, as commander of all the armies of the United 
 States, was hailed with universal joy ; for it augured to 
 loyal hearts the speedy overthrow of the " Southern 
 Confederacy. 
 
XVIII. 
 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 
 
 WHEN General Grant assumed command of all the 
 armies of the United States, with head-quarters at 
 Culpepper Court House, the skein of military affairs 
 was very much tangled. General Halleck could not 
 pick out the snarl. Things were discouragingly mixed 
 True, some victories had been achieved in the East ; 
 but, on the whole, little progress had been made. Grant 
 was expected to remove the tangle. " The two men 
 were as opposite in their ideas of how the war should be 
 carried on as they were in how a battle should be fought 
 One was for cutting off the tail first, and then the claws, 
 and so work by regular, safe approaches up to the head; 
 the other, for a close and deadly interlock, in which the 
 life of one or the other should go out before it should 
 unloose. One wished to carry on the war by operating 
 with different armies in separate points ; the other, for 
 concentrating them all on one vital point. Like Napoleon, 
 Grant had no idea of winter quarters, or the proper 
 season for carrying on a campaign. When once his 
 blows began to fall, he proposed they should never 
 cease falling until the object was ground to powder." 
 
 " Lincoln is right," said Grant. " Keep pegging 
 away is his motto. To hammer continuously against 
 
 the armed force of the enemy until, by the mere attrition 
 
 227 
 
228 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of the lesser with the larger body, the former shall be 
 worn out, is the way to do it." 
 
 Grant was often like Lincoln in his illustrations, 
 homely, but pat. To the inquiry, " What is the 
 trouble ? " he answered, 
 
 "The armies in the East and West acted indepen 
 dently and without concert, like a balky team, no two 
 ever pulling together; enabling the enemy to use to 
 great advantage his interior lines of communication for 
 transporting troops from East to West, reinforcing the 
 army most vigorously pressed ; and to furlough large 
 numbers during seasons of inactivity on our part, to go 
 to their homes and do the work of providing for the 
 support of their armies ; so that it was a question 
 whether our numerical strength and resources were not 
 more than balanced by these disadvantages, and the 
 enemy s superior position." 
 
 Grant knew how to manage a " balky team," and no 
 team was long " balky " under his control ; and this 
 homely view of the situation enabled him to draw the 
 reins just right on the fiery steed of war. Halleck was 
 a book-general, made to order at West Point, and sent 
 out to wage war according to rules taught in the text 
 books for generations. Grant ignored books, and took 
 a plain, common-sense view of things, and acted accord 
 ingly, rule or no rule. A way of righting which seemed 
 practical, and therefore promising, to him he adopted, 
 though it upset all the military text-books, and defied 
 the whole curriculum of West Point. This fact explains 
 a remark of Sherman : 
 
 " General Grant is not a man of remarkable learning, 
 but he is one of the bravest I ever saw. I do not say 
 he is a hero I do not believe in heroes ; but I know he 
 is a gentleman and good man," 
 
OJV TO RICHMOND. 229 
 
 And just here we might record Grant s opinion of 
 Sherman, since it has so much horse in it, and is, withal, 
 so pat : 
 
 " I always find it the best way to turn Sherman out 
 like a young colt, and let him kick up his heels. I have 
 great confidence that he will come in all right in due 
 time." 
 
 Grant s sharp observation learned more from a horse t 
 to help him in crushing the Rebellion, than some of the 
 generals acquired at West Point ! Thirty years before 
 he found that the best way to do with a balky colt was 
 to sell him ; and, on the same principle, he got rid of 
 McClernand in the Vicksburg campaign, and other 
 balky officers, at different times, later in the war. 
 
 Grant always shouldered great responsibilities ; and 
 he seemed to carry a great one with the same ease that 
 he carried a small one. He drove a pair of horses at 
 eight years of age, as we have seen ; at ten, loaded logs 
 which usually required five men to load ; at twelve, 
 went to Louisville to transact legal business for his 
 father; bought and sold horses as men buy and sell 
 them ; and so, bearing heavy burdens of care from boy 
 hood upward, Providence disciplined him to shoulder 
 the greatest responsibility in 1 864 that any one man ever 
 bore. At the outbreak of the war, he doubted whether 
 he could lead a regiment ; but now he was the com 
 mander of nearly a million men ; his field of operations 
 extending from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, FIVE 
 THOUSAND MILES, including, also, a naval force of SIX 
 HUNDRED vessels of war, on the rivers and along the 
 coast for two thousand five hundred miles ; while FOUR 
 THOUSAND CANNON waited for his command to belch 
 their thunders. What a mountain of care ! What an 
 empire of war to control ! What mighty power ! 
 
230 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Going back to his remarkable childhood, the way in 
 which the Lord led him on and up to this imperial 
 charge, is both clear and marvellous. 
 
 General Grant soon brought order out of confusion, 
 and had his great army well in hand, to fall upon the 
 foe. Richmond, Atlanta, and Mobile must be captured, 
 and movements against them at once inaugurated. 
 Their fall would be the fall of the Rebellion. Such was 
 General Grant s view of the situation. His plan was 
 for General Banks to operate against Mobile ; General 
 Sherman against Atlanta ; while he himself would move 
 on Richmond. These were parts of one stupendous 
 whole. 
 
 Circumstances, however, interfered with the opera 
 tions of Banks against Mobile, so that the whole army 
 was hurled against Richmond and Atlanta. 
 
 Some ladies in Washington asked Mrs. Grant, at this 
 time, what she thought of her husband s prospects in 
 this new and more difficult field of action. 
 
 " Mr. Grant has succeeded thus far," she replied, 
 "wherever the Government has placed him; and he 
 will do the best he can." 
 
 " Do you think he will capture Richmond ? " 
 
 " Yes, before he gets through. Mr. Grant always was 
 a very obstinate man." 
 
 Another example of General Grant s magnanimity 
 we must record here. He asked to have Rawlins, his 
 chief-of-staff, made brigadier-general ; and some sena 
 tors thought it could not be done legally, because he 
 had never led a command on the field. This objection 
 drew out the following, addressed to Senator Wilson : 
 
 " General Rawlins has served with me from the be 
 ginning of the Rebellion. I know he has most richly 
 earned his present position. He comes the nearest 
 
ON TO RICHMOND. 231 
 
 being indispensable to me of any officer in the service. 
 But if his confirmation is dependent on his commanding 
 troops, he shall command troops at once. There is no 
 department commander, near where he has served, that 
 would not most gladly give him the very largest and 
 most responsible command his rank would entitle him 
 to. ... If he fails to be confirmed, besides the 
 loss it will be to the service and to me personally, I 
 shall feel that, by keeping with me a valuable officer, 
 because he made himself valuable, I have worked him 
 an injury." 
 
 The fourth day of May was fixed as the time for 
 Grant s great army to start for Richmond. Sheridan 
 led the advance, followed by four thousand covered 
 wagons, and column after column of well-trained troops 
 under floating banners, farther than the eye could see, 
 moving forward out of sight to make room for other 
 hosts marching with glittering bayonets to strains of 
 martial music that filled the air from a hundred bands. 
 
 The army crossed the Rapidan at two fords, six 
 miles apart, and lay down for rest at night in the edge 
 of a vast wilderness. The next morning the " Battle of 
 the Wilderness " opened. It was a fearfully bloody con 
 test in the woods, where neither artillery nor cavalry 
 was of any service. An eye-witness wrote, 
 
 " Manceuvering here had been out of the question, 
 and only Indian tactics told. The troops could only 
 receive direction by a point of the compass ; for not 
 only were the lines of battle entirely hidden from the 
 sight of the commander, but no officer could see ten 
 files on each side of him. Artillery was wholly ruled 
 out of use, the massive concentration of three hundred 
 guns stood silent. Cavalry was still more useless. But 
 in that horrid thicket there lurked two hundred thou- 
 
232 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 sand men, and through it lurid fires played ; and, though 
 no array of battle could be seen, there came out of it 
 the crackle and roll of musketry, like the noisy boiling 
 of some hell-caldron, that told the dread story of death." 
 
 It was an unexpected battle to Grant, in an unex 
 pected place, at an unexpected time ; but he held his 
 own with great slaughter. 
 
 Longstreet arrived during the night to reinforce 
 Lee ; and early the next morning the two armies, with 
 out waiting for breakfast, fell upon each other again. 
 Grant drove back the rebel force, many of whom re 
 treated upon the run, until Longstreet s fresh troops 
 came up to share the brunt of battle. Now the retreat 
 ing columns stopped, and again the battle raged in a 
 perfect storm of fire. Grant s troops were driven back 
 a mile ; but just then Burnside arrived with his thirty 
 thousand soldiers, and the conflict continued, fierce, 
 bloody, and hideous. At the close of the day, Grant s 
 army held the position they did in the morning. Sol 
 diers did not stop for rations during the day, and both 
 sides were completely exhausted. At night the enemy 
 took refuge within his entrenchments. 
 
 Both armies rested on the next day ; and, at night, 
 Grant silently marched away for Spottsylvania, for the 
 purpose of getting between the enemy and Richmond. 
 But Lee learned of the movement, and took up his 
 march for Spottsylvania, also ; a hard battle followed, 
 and the Union advance was repulsed. The day after, 
 Grant started Sheridan off on a raid to break Lee s 
 communications with Richmond, and moved again upon 
 the enemy s works with renewed energy. Through the 
 whole day the battle raged with great fury ; five times 
 the Union General Hancock was driven back, and five 
 times he rallied and pushed back the enemy, capturing 
 
ON TO RICHMOND. 233 
 
 four thousand prisoners and thirty guns. But the enemy 
 was still safe within the works. 
 
 Grant said to a journalist, 
 
 " It has been my experience that, though the South 
 erners fight desperately at first, yet when we hang on 
 for a day or two, we whip them awfully." 
 
 We have said that Grant did not expect a battle in 
 the wilderness on Thursday. An orderly came dashing 
 up and said, 
 
 " Warren has met the enemy." 
 
 Grant scarcely believed it. 
 
 " Then the rebels have left a division here to fool us 
 while they concentrate toward the North Anna," sug 
 gested General Meade, commander of the Army of the 
 Potomac. 
 
 Just then a despatch arrived from Sheridan, 
 
 " The enemy mean to fight us here." 
 
 " Very well," answered Grant ; " let him be attacked 
 vigorously wherever he appears." 
 
 When night had put an end to hostilities, Grant 
 ordered, 
 
 " Move upon the enemy at four o clock in the morn 
 ing. It is of great importance that tve should begin 
 the battle." 
 
 At Spottsylvania, Grant lost one of his best generals 
 Sedgwick. He was leading his corps in the face of 
 sharp-shooters when he saw some of his men dodge the 
 bullets. Laughingly he said, 
 
 " Pooh, men, don t duck ; they couldn t hit an ele 
 phant at that distance." 
 
 The words were scarcely uttered when a bullet 
 pierced his brain, and he fell dead instantly. 
 
 Rumours reached Washington, after the fight at Spott 
 sylvania, that Grant was in full retreat. Fugitives from 
 
234 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the army poured into Washington, several hundreds of 
 them, and four runaway Union colonels were taken in 
 irons to the War Department. There was great con 
 sternation in the city. Lincoln and Stanton were ex 
 ceedingly anxious, and they started off Dana, Assistant 
 Secretary of War, to the front, at midnight, by special 
 train. But they called him back from Alexandria, by 
 telegram. 
 
 " We are afraid to have you go to-night, The danger 
 of your capture is too great," said Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " Then I will go home to bed ; good-night." 
 
 " Are you afraid to make the journey ? " inquired the 
 President. 
 
 " Oh, no ; I have a good escort, and two of Sedgwick s 
 officers, who know every ford of the Rapidan and every 
 foot of the country." 
 
 " Then," added Mr. Lincoln to Stanton, " I guess we d 
 better let him go." 
 
 He did go, and found Grant and Meade safe and 
 hopeful on Saturday noon, making their dinner of sand 
 wiches. 
 
 Cadwallader, correspondent of the New York Herald, 
 accompanied Grant s army ; and he started from Spott- 
 sylvania for Washington with a bag full of letters for 
 head-quarters and despatches of his own. He was cap 
 tured by guerillas at midnight ; but in the morning a 
 small force of Union soldiers were encountered, and, in 
 the skirmish, Cadwallader gave the sergeant who had 
 him in charge, a horse, saddle, and bridle, and two hun 
 dred dollars, to look in the opposite direction while he 
 escaped. 
 
 The country was so agitated by false rumours about 
 Grant, after the Spottsylvania affair, that President 
 Lincoln issued the following : 
 
ON TO RICHMOND. 235 
 
 " To the Friends of Union and Liberty, Enough is 
 known of the army operations within the last five days 
 to claim our special gratitude to God. While what 
 remains undone demands our most sincere prayers to, 
 and reliance upon, Him without whom all human effort 
 is vain, I recommend that all patriots, at their homes, 
 in their places of public worship, and wherever they 
 may be, unite in common thanksgiving and prayer to 
 Almighty God." 
 
 The bloodiest battle was on the loth of May. Nearly 
 three hundred thousand soldiers and five hundred guns, 
 on both sides, engaged in mortal combat, and over ten 
 thousand men fell- on each side. The Union army made 
 decided gain on this day. In answer to the inquiry, 
 " How does it look, General ? " Grant said, 
 
 " We are going through ; there is no doubt about it." 
 
 Mr. Washburne, of Galena, Grant s old friend, had 
 accompanied him to Spottsylvania, and was going to 
 return to Washington on the morning after the battle. 
 
 "What word have you to send to Stanton, General 
 Grant ? " he asked. 
 
 " None, I think ; except that we are fighting away 
 here." 
 
 " Hadn t you better send Stanton just a scratch of the 
 pen ? " 
 
 " Perhaps so," Grant answered ; and stepping into his 
 tent he dashed off the following without stopping a 
 moment for reflection, and handed it to Washburne 
 without even reading it over : 
 
 "We have now ended the sixth day of very hard 
 fighting. The result, to this time, is much in our favour. 
 Our losses have been heavy, as well as those of the 
 enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. 
 We have taken over five thousand prisoners in battle, 
 
236 FROM THE IAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 while he has taken from us but few, except stragglers. 
 I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all sum 
 mer? 
 
 This hasty message not only reassured the War 
 Department, but the whole country. It was full of 
 Grant the veritable Grant who carried Donelson and 
 Vicksburg. The closing sentence, published in every 
 part of the land, became a motto on loyal lips. Through 
 the papers it was spread throughout the army, and be 
 came an inspiration to the troops, It was like Grant. 
 It added to his fame. 
 
 F. B. Carpenter, the artist, who painted " Signing the 
 Proclamation," asked Mr. Lincoln about this time, 
 
 " How does Grant impress you as a leading General?" 
 
 " The great thing about him is," replied Mr. Lincoln, 
 " cool persistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, 
 and he has the grip of a bull-dog. When he once gets 
 his teeth in nothing can shake him off" 
 
 Another long and fearful battle was fought on the 
 1 2th, and our army captured thirty stands of colours, 
 and over three thousand prisoners, among them Gen 
 erals Johnson and Stewart. General Hancock was well 
 acquainted with both of them in the old army, and he 
 stepped up and courteously shook hands with Johnson, 
 who said, with tears in his eyes, 
 
 " I wish death had overtaken me rather than this dis 
 aster." 
 
 Turning to Stewart, Hancock said, 
 
 " And how are you, Stewart ? " 
 
 " Sir, I am General Stewart of the Confederate army," 
 answered the captive, " and, under present circumstances, 
 I decline to take your hand." 
 
 " Under any other circumstances, General, I should 
 not have offered it" 
 
ON TO RICHMOND. 237 
 
 Hancock wrote briefly to Grant, 
 
 " I have finished up Johnson, and am now going into 
 Early." 
 
 And by a sudden, bold movement, he captured 
 Early s rifle-pits. 
 
 The battle-ground of the 12th of May was literally 
 covered with the dead. One tree, eighteen inches in 
 diameter, was cut entirely off by bullets. Grant lost 
 eight thousand men ; but he drove the enemy. He was 
 doing this now every time. He forwarded the following 
 despatch to Washington : 
 
 "The eighth day of battle closes, leaving between 
 three and four thousand prisoners in our hands for the 
 day s work, including two general officers. The enemy 
 are obstinate, and seemed to have found the last 
 ditch." 
 
 So far Grant s plan to capture Richmond was working 
 well on the whole. It was said that he formed this 
 plan when he was before Vicksburg. An officer asked 
 him, 
 
 " Do you think Richmond can be taken ? " 
 
 " With ease," General Grant replied. 
 
 " By the Peninsula ? " 
 
 " No ; if I had charge of the matter, I should want 
 two large armies, one to move directly on Lee s, and the 
 other to land at City Point and cut communications to 
 the southward. Lee would be then compelled to fall 
 back, and the army from the north could press, and, if 
 possible, defeat him. If he would open up communica 
 tions again with the Cotton States, he must fight the 
 army south of the James ; and, to do this, he must cross 
 his whole force, otherwise he would be defeated in detail 
 If he did so cross, the northern army could take Rich 
 mond. If he did not, that from the south could move 
 
238 PROM THE 1 AN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 up to the heights south of the James, and shell and 
 destroy the city." 
 
 When Grant was near Spottsylvania, and the anxiety 
 of the country was great, a stranger called at his tent 
 and found him in conversation with a staff-office*. 
 
 " General," replied the stranger, " if you frank Lee and 
 get between him and Richmond, will you not uncover 
 Washington, and leave it exposed to the enemy ? " 
 
 " Yes, I reckon so," was the General s quiet answer 
 with a significant twinkle in the eye. 
 
 " Do you not think, General," continued the stranger, 
 " that Lee can detach sufficient force to reinforce 
 Beauregard at Richmond, and overwhelm Butler ? " 
 
 " I have not a doubt of it." 
 
 " And is there not danger that Johnson may come up 
 and reinforce Lee, so that the latter will swing round 
 and cut off your communications, and seize your sup 
 plies ? " 
 
 " Very likely," Grant replied, without showing the 
 least concern. 
 
 The stranger must have been as much puzzled with 
 the General as his neighbours were with his boyhood. 
 Evidently the stranger intended to suggest to Grant 
 what he supposed the latter had never thought of before; 
 but not a point was suggested which Grant had not 
 thoroughly canvassed and provided for. While the 
 disasters suggested by the stranger were possible, Grant 
 had no fear that they would occur, because a part of his 
 programme was to prevent them. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth day of May, Sheridan returned 
 from his raid, having rendered Grant essential service 
 in tearing up railways, capturing supply trains, and 
 harassing the enemy. He defeated a large cavalry-force 
 within six miles of Richmond, and mortally wounded 
 
ON TO RICHMOND. 239 
 
 the famous rebel cavalry-leader, J. E. B. Stuart. He 
 pursued the rebels he routed into their defences at 
 Richmond, capturing a section of artillery and a hun 
 dred prisoners. 
 
 General Grant moved forward, multiplying flanking 
 movements, his arms becoming more and more victo 
 rious. He fought a long and hotly contested battle at 
 Cold Harbour, driving his foe, and marched on to Peters 
 burg to unite with General Butler in capturing that 
 city. Thus far his losses had been heavy, but he had 
 inflicted lasting injury upon the enemy, and taken 
 thirteen thousand prisoners. He had conducted his 
 marching and flanking movements with great skill. 
 During much of the time he supplied more than a 
 hundred thousand soldiers over roads so narrow that 
 one wagon could not pass another, yet his men never 
 suffered for food, nor did he lose a single wagon. 
 
XIX. 
 
 FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT telegraphed to Halleck, on his way 
 to Petersburg : 
 
 " Our forces will commence crossing the James to-day. 
 The enemy shows no signs of yet having brought troops 
 to the south side of Richmond. I will have Petersburg 
 secured, if possible, before they get there in much force. 
 Our movement from Cold Harbour to the James River 
 has been made with great celerity, and, so far, without 
 loss or accident." 
 
 Abraham Lincoln replied with his own hand : 
 " I have just received your despatch of one p.m. 
 yesterday. / begin to see it. You will succeed. God 
 bless you all ! " - 
 
 Of course Grant would succeed. He always did ; if 
 not by one plan, then by another. After he invested 
 Petersburg, and Lee had entered the city with a hundred 
 thousand troops to defend it, Grant said to one of his 
 staff, 
 
 " I shall capture Richmond, and Lee knows it." 
 General Grant reached Petersburg, and, on the fifteenth 
 day of June, the bombardment of the city began. He 
 meant to carry the works by assault before Lee could 
 reach the place with his hundred thousand men. Three 
 successive days he charged upon the defences with some 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 241 
 
 success, but was unable to hold the advance he made. 
 They were three days of awful battle and carnage. 
 One who saw it, says, 
 
 " Could one have looked down from a balloon upon the 
 scene presented, a very extraordinary spectacle would 
 have met the eye. Three hundred thousand men, in 
 organized masses, were spread over a space about fifteen 
 miles in breadth and nearly forty in length. They were 
 marching in all directions, in apparently inexplicable 
 confusion. The heads of antagonistic columns were con 
 tinually meeting in deadly fight. Batteries were thunder 
 ing from hill-tops ; squadrons of cavalry were sweeping 
 the plains ; shot and shell shrieked through the air ; long 
 lines of infantry rushed, like ocean surges, in the im 
 petuous charge ; clouds of smoke were rising in all 
 directions. Piercing the tumult of musketry and artillery, 
 wild battle-cries blended with shrieks of agony and death- 
 groans. Such a scene cannot be described. No mortal 
 mind can conceive it." 
 
 At the close of the three days fight, General Grant 
 was satisfied that Petersburg could be carried only by 
 siege. Lee had arrived with his great army, rendering 
 further assaults upon the defences more discouraging. 
 In these circumstances, he addressed himself earnestly to 
 the capture of Petersburg and Richmond by siege. It 
 was a heavy job on his hands, as he well knew ; and it 
 turned out to be heavier than he supposed. 
 
 To add to the tremendous burden laid upon him, many 
 Northern people were dissatisfied, including influential 
 loyal men. Some Senators and Representatives in Con 
 gress grew impatient ; and, because Grant did not march 
 directly into Richmond, they complained, and attacked 
 him in the rear. This army in his rear tested Grant s 
 patience more than the army in front. Yet he kept his 
 
 H 
 
242 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 temper, and even turned aside to silence the guns that 
 were belching away at his back. He wrote : 
 
 " The enemy do not propose to fight in future, except 
 behind strong entrenchments. To capture the strong 
 holds is a work of time, or else involves terrible destruc 
 tion of human life. The enemy is now concentrated in 
 two great armies, both besieged, and neither daring to 
 risk a battle outside of their fortifications. The South 
 has no more men to put into the army, their last man 
 has been recruited. Rebel soldiers are deserting by 
 thousands, and other thousands are dying of disease or 
 wounds, or being captured ; and this heavy loss can 
 never be replaced. I can see the end of the Rebellion ! " 
 
 Many anxious hearts were cheered by these hopeful 
 words, and many were not. Many continued to find 
 fault, depreciate Grant s generalship, and Lincoln s states 
 manship, and, in other ways, to hinder the Union cause 
 for which acts they ought to have been ashamed of 
 themselves to this day. Again Grant wrote a letter of 
 encouragement and hope, to quiet these Northern 
 enemies, who were too cowardly to oppose the war 
 openly. He said : 
 
 " If the Rebellion is not perfectly and thoroughly 
 crushed, it will be the fault, and through the weakness, of 
 the people of the North. Be of good cheer, and rest 
 assured that all will come right." 
 
 But neither his sword nor pen, nor both together, could 
 satisfy the class whose hearts were secretly disloyal to 
 the Government under which they lived. Nevertheless, 
 he fought on, like the patriot that he was, determined to 
 save the country or die in the trenches. 
 
 Lee scraped together all the soldiers he could muster 
 outside of Petersburg and Richmond, and sent Early 
 with them to invade the North and threaten Washington, 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 243 
 
 hoping thereby to force Grant to raise the siege at Peters 
 burg and rush to the rescue of the North. The raid into 
 Maryland and Pennsylvania did create a panic in the 
 loyal States ; but Grant did not budge an inch. He 
 understood the game perfectly, and laughed to think 
 what a signal failure it would be. The enemy cut a few 
 railways, burned a few houses, and captured a quantity 
 of horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, and clothing, of which they 
 were in perishing need ; and that was all. The Union 
 General was not to be fooled by such tactics. 
 
 In July Mr. Washburne received the following commu 
 nication from General Scott : 
 
 " I heard, a short time ago, that some one had informed 
 Lieutenant-General Grant that I had spoken lightly of 
 him as an officer. As it is probable that your frank may 
 enable this letter to reach him, I beg leave to say, 
 through you, that I have never uttered an unkind word 
 about him. 
 
 "The inquiry has frequently been addressed to me, 
 Do you know General Grant ? I have answered that 
 he made the campaign of Mexico with me, and was con 
 sidered by me, and I suppose by all his brothers in 
 commission, a good officer, and one who attained special 
 distinction at Molino del Rey. Of his more recent 
 services, I have uniformly spoken in terms of the highest 
 admiration ; and added that, in my opinion, he had 
 richly earned his present rank. I hope he may speedily 
 put down the Rebellion." 
 
 A few months later, General Grant was in New York 
 city, and called upon General Scott, whose autobiography 
 had just been issued from the press. Scott presented a 
 copy to Grant, first writing on the fly-leaf, 
 
 < From the oldest to the ablest General in the world. 
 
 "WlNFIELD SCOTT." 
 
244 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 In July a great sorrow overtook Grant. His very dear 
 friend, General McPherson, who was with General Sher 
 man, on his "grand march to the sea," was killed in 
 battle. When Grant received the sad intelligence, he 
 remarked, 
 
 " The country has lost one of its best soldiers, and," 
 bursting into tears, " I have lost my best friend." 
 
 A short time thereafter, General Grant received the 
 following touching letter, dated at Clyde, Ohio : 
 
 " I hope you will pardon me for troubling you with 
 the perusal of these few lines from the trembling hand 
 of the aged grandmother of our beloved Gen: James B. 
 McPherson, who fell in battle. When it was announced 
 at his funeral, from the public prints, that when General 
 Grant heard of his death he went into his tent and wept 
 like a child, my heart went out in thanks to you for the 
 interest you manifested in him while he was with you. 
 
 " I have watched his progress from infancy up. In 
 childhood he was obedient and kind ; in manhood inter 
 esting, noble, and persevering, looking to the wants of 
 others. Since he entered the war, others can appreciate 
 his worth better than I can. 
 
 " When it was announced to us by telegraph that our 
 loved one had fallen, our hearts were almost rent 
 asunder ; but when we heard the commander- in-chief 
 could weep with us too, we felt, sir, that you have been 
 as a father to him ; and this whole nation is mourning 
 his early death. I wish to inform you that his remains 
 were conducted by a kind guard to the very parlour 
 where he spent a cheerful evening in 1861, with his 
 widowed mother, two brothers, only sister, and his aged 
 grandma, who is now trying to write. In the morning 
 he took his leave at six o clock, little dreaming he should 
 fall by a ball from the enemy. 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 245 
 
 " His funeral services were attended in his mother s 
 orchard, where his youthful feet had often pressed the 
 soil to gather fruit, and his remains are resting in the 
 silent grave, scarce half a mile from the place of his birth. 
 His grave is on an eminence but a few rods from where 
 the funeral services were attended, and near the grave of 
 his father. The grave, no doubt, will be marked, so that 
 passers-by will often pause to drop a tear over the dear 
 departed. 
 
 " And now, dear friend, a few lines from you would be 
 gratefully received by the afflicted friends. I pray that 
 the God of battles may be with you, and go forth with 
 your armies till the Rebellion shall cease, the Union be 
 restored, and the old flag wave over our entire land. 
 
 " With much respect, 
 
 " I remain your Friend, 
 
 "LYDIA SLOCUM, 
 
 " Aged eighty-seven years and four months." 
 
 General Grant replied, 
 
 " Dear Madam, Your very welcome letter of the 
 third instant has reached me. I am glad to know the 
 relatives of the lamented Major-General McPherson are 
 aware of the more than friendship existing between him 
 and myself. A nation grieves at the loss of one so dear 
 to our nation s cause. It is a selfish grief, because the 
 nation had more to expect from him than from almost 
 any one living. I join in this selfish grief, and add the 
 grief of personal love for the departed. He formed for 
 some time one of my military family. I knew him well, 
 and to know him was but to love him. 
 
 " It may be some consolation to you, his aged grand 
 mother, to know that every officer and every soldier who 
 served under your grandson felt the highest reverence 
 
?46 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 for his patriotism, his zeal, his great, almost unequalled 
 ability, his amiability, and all the manly virtues that 
 can adorn a commander. Your bereavement is great, 
 but cannot exceed mine. 
 
 " U. S. GRANT." 
 
 This affecting correspondence is valuable as a key to 
 a side of Grant s character which the severities of war 
 are likely to conceal. He was a devoted, loving friend, 
 because he was a true man. Like David and Jonathan, 
 Grant and McPherson were united by mutual confidence 
 and love, and when the latter fell, the tears of the former 
 were honest. 
 
 The General was accustomed to stroll about his camps 
 and defences, often at midnight, to see that everything 
 was rightly conducted ; and in one of these strolls, 
 he approached a commissary warehouse guarded by 
 negroes. 
 
 "You must throw away that cigar, sir," exclaimed one 
 of the sentries. 
 
 " Why so ? " replied Grant. 
 
 "My instructions are not to let any man pass my 
 beat who is smoking. If you want to go by you must 
 throw away that cigar." 
 
 " That is right," said Grant, throwing away the cigar. 
 "Always stick to your instructions." And he passed 
 on without disclosing his identity to the faithful sentinel. 
 
 During the autumn of 1864 and the beginning of 
 1865, startling events occurred. While Grant was doing 
 nothing more before Richmond than recruiting and 
 disciplining his army for the spring campaign, and look 
 ing out for his defences, he was accomplishing much 
 elsewhere through his ablest generals strictly obeying his 
 orders. Sheridan cleared the valley of the Shenandoah, 
 and relieved Washington, Pennsylvania, and Maryland 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 247 
 
 of all fear ; Sherman captured Atlanta, and Thomas 
 crushed the command of Hood before Nashville. 
 
 Sherman, having completed his triumphant march to 
 the sea, was ordered to report before Richmond with his 
 victorious army, and join Grant in his final blow at the 
 Rebellion. So Sherman left the seacoast upon another 
 conquering march ; but to the North now. Grant spent 
 much time and thought in arranging a final campaign, 
 in which his whole army might engage directly or 
 indirectly. He had no more doubt that this last great 
 struggle for the possession of Richmond would be suc 
 cessful than he had of his own existence. He knew 
 that the rebel army was ragged, hungry, and dispirited ; 
 that over seventy thousand deserters had left it since 
 October, 1864; and that a large number of rebel soldiers 
 in the ranks did not want to fight another day, 
 
 "The Confederacy is on its last legs," he wrote to 
 Lincoln. 
 
 Another has said of that time and situation : 
 
 " Grant had his mighty team well in hand now, and 
 the western teamster was handling it with consummate 
 skill. He had winnowed out the inefficient and im 
 practicable and unfit commanders, so that he knew it 
 would prove no balky team! but pull together, and with 
 a power that nothing could withstand." 
 
 Just then Grant received the following brief but cheer 
 ing communication from President Lincoln : 
 
 " If there be anything wanting which is within my 
 power to give, do not fail to let me know it. And now, 
 with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain 
 you." 
 
 The final gigantic movement would begin on the 
 twenty-ninth day of March. The closing paragraph of 
 Grant s last order was, 
 
248 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " By these instructions a large part of the armies 
 operating against Richmond is left behind. The enemy, 
 knowing 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 impressed 
 too strongly 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 almost 
 conclusive evidence of such a weakening of his lines. 
 / wo2ild have it particularly enjoined upon corps com 
 manders that, in case of an attack from the enemy, those 
 not attacked are not to wait for orders from the command 
 ing officer of the army to which they belong, but tJiat 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 other parts of their corps are 
 engaged. In like manner, I would urge the importance of 
 following up a repulse of the enemy 
 
 This order breathes the spirit of one who is confident 
 of accomplishing his object. His expectation of the 
 downfall of Richmond is seen in every line of the order. 
 Let his programme be carried out, and the Confederacy 
 tumbles to pieces. 
 
 President Lincoln was on the ground by General 
 Grant s invitation, to witness the final collapse of the 
 Southern cause. 
 
 The enemy contested every foot of ground, and fought 
 with desperation ; but Grant s army was flushed with 
 victory, and no opposition could block their way. They 
 swept on and on, narrowing the investing circle on the 
 29th, capturing many prisoners, and wounding and kill 
 ing many more. Again, on the 3Oth and 3ist, repeating 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 249 
 
 the victories of the previous day at great cost of life ; 
 until, at four o clock, on Sunday morning, April 2nd, 
 Lee s line of communication south of Petersburg was 
 broken, thousands of his soldiers were captured, and a 
 large force cut off from the main army. Grant said to 
 Sherman, on the 28th : 
 
 " I will compel Lee to weaken his line and afford 
 opportunity for attack, or to come out and fight." 
 
 He did both ; and the result was the complete de 
 struction of Lee s right, against which the Union army 
 had been beating in vain for ten months. 
 
 Grant telegraphed to Bowers, at City Point, 
 
 " The whole captures since the army started out 
 gunning will not amount to less than twelve thousand 
 men, and probably fifty pieces of artillery. ... If 
 the President will come out on the nine a.m. train to 
 Patrick Station, I will send a horse and an escort to 
 meet him. It would afford me much pleasure to meet 
 the President in person at the station ; but I know he 
 will excuse me for not doing so, when my services are 
 so liable to be needed at any moment." 
 
 Lincoln replied, 
 
 " Allow me to tender to you, and all with you, the 
 nation s grateful thanks for this additional and magnifi 
 cent success. At your kind suggestion, I think I will 
 meet you to-morrow." 
 
 The inhabitants of Richmond did not learn before 
 meeting, on that Sunday, what disaster had befallen 
 them ; not even Jefferson Davis. The church bells, as 
 usual, called the people together, or the few who had a 
 heart to respond, and among them the rebel President. 
 
 The Sentinel said, on Saturday : 
 
 " We are very hopeful of the campaign which is open 
 ing ; and trust that we are to reap a large advantage 
 
250 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 from the operations evidently near at hand. We have 
 only to resolve that we never will surrender^ and it will 
 be impossible that we shall ever be taken." 
 
 Service had scarcely commenced when a messenger 
 entered the church with a despatch for Davis from Lee. 
 He opened and read what made him deadly pale. 
 
 " The enemy has broken my lines in three places. 
 Richmond must be evacuated to-night." 
 
 Davis went out of the church as calmly as he could, 
 so as not to spread consternation, and the services con 
 tinued. He walked rapidly to his house, where he wrote 
 orders to remove coin from the banks to Danville, and 
 to carry thither, or burn, the archives of the Confederacy. 
 He planned for his own escape, also. 
 
 By the time services in the churches were concluded, 
 news of the disaster was spreading like wildfire through 
 the streets. The greatest excitement immediately pre 
 vailed throughout the city. Men, women, and children 
 ran through the streets half-crazed. They knew not 
 what to do. Every sort of a vehicle was soon in 
 extravagant demand ten, twenty, fifty, and even a 
 hundred, and a thousand dollars for conveyance to a 
 place of safety. " Army wagons, loaded with boxes and 
 trunks, drove furiously towards the Danville depot ; pale 
 women and ragged children streamed after, going they 
 knew not whither ; excited men filled the air with 
 blasphemies, while the more desperate surged up around 
 the commissary depots, awaiting the signal for pillage. 
 There was no order no attempt on the part of any one 
 to enforce it." 
 
 To add to the consternation, the rebel General Ewell 
 ordered the iron-clads in the river to be blown up, the 
 deafening explosion of which reminded the terrified 
 citizens of the last judgment. The desperate class broke 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 251 
 
 open the warehouses, and helped themselves to goods. 
 Whiskey was free as water ; and men and women drank 
 themselves into an uncontrollable mob, staggering 
 through the streets, robbing houses, pillaging stores, and 
 making day hideous. Ewell set fire to the shipping in 
 the river and the Government warehouses, thus kindling 
 a fire which consumed a thousand houses in the heart of 
 the city ; and would have consumed more, but for the 
 timely arrival of Union soldiers, who threw down their 
 arms, manned the engines, and extinguished the fire. 
 
 When the Battle of the Wilderness was in progress, a 
 staff-officer said to Ewell, 
 
 " Grant will retreat." 
 
 Ewell, who knew Grant well, replied,- 
 
 " He will not retreat. Grant is not a retreating man." 
 
 His words were confirmed. No retreating-general 
 could ever have captured Richmond. 
 
 At eight o clock in the evening Jefferson Davis and 
 his Cabinet fled to Danville by rail. The Southern 
 Confederacy had burst like a bubble. Its President 
 was a fugitive his fortunes ruined for ever. A more 
 complete wreck of a political organization never defaced 
 the world. Its builders had to run to escape its falling 
 walls. 
 
 Coloured Union soldiers were the first to enter the 
 city ; and they were jubilant. They marched singing 
 through the street : 
 
 / John Brown s body lies a mouldering in the grave, 
 But his soul is marching on." 
 
 On Monday President Lincoln visited Richmond ; 
 walked through the streets without escort, sat in the 
 head-quarters of Jefferson Davis, passed through Libby 
 Prison, and everywhere beheld the evidence of a defeated 
 army. The negroes crowded about him, and laughed 
 
252 FROM THE JAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and cried, as they implored the blessing of God upon 
 him. 
 
 General Grant had other work on his hands. Lee s 
 army was in full retreat towards Danville, to unite 
 Johnson s army for further fight. Grant resolved to 
 interfere with that arrangement, and he started in hot 
 pursuit. " Burke s Station, where Lee proposed to 
 strike the Danville Railroad, was fifty miles from Rich 
 mond ; and both armies put forth almost superhuman 
 energies to reach it first. If Lee did, his escape from 
 immediate surrender was almost assured ; if Grant did, 
 Lee was lost. The troops, on one side, goaded on by 
 desperation, on the other, urged by the prospect of a 
 speedy, crowning victory, pressed on night and day to 
 wards this goal. Grant reached it first ; and Lee, with 
 a sinking heart, saw his last hope cut off. It was true, 
 he might reach Lynchburg and escape to the mountains, 
 and thus avoid the mortification of a surrender ; but 
 even this poor consolation was denied him. For Sher 
 idan was after him there. " 
 
 On the fifth day of April, Grant wrote to Sherman: 
 
 " Sheridan is up with Lee, and reports all that is 
 left horse, foot, and dragoon at twenty thousand 
 men, much demoralized. We hope to reduce this 
 number one half. I shall push on to Burkesville ; and 
 if a stand is made at Danville, will, in a very few days, 
 go there. If you can do so, push on from where you 
 are, and let us see if we cannot finish the job with Lee s 
 and Johnson s armies. 
 
 Lee struck for Lynchburg, and the next night 
 encamped near there. While holding council of war 
 with his generals, to decide what to do, Sheridan s 
 cannon boomed in his front, proclaiming that the way 
 of Lee s army in that direction was blocked. The 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 253 
 
 rebel general, with his shattered army, was caught. 
 Two days before, General Grant had sent the following 
 to Lee : 
 
 " General, The result of the last week must convince 
 you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part 
 of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I 
 feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from 
 myself the responsibility of any further effusion of 
 blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion 
 of the Confederate States Army known as the Army 
 of Northern Virginia." 
 
 Lee replied by saying that he did not think he was 
 under the necessity of surrendering ; but yet inquired 
 for Grant s conditions. 
 
 But on the Qth, when the booming of Sheridan s 
 cannon was heard in the front, he sent General Gordon 
 to cut his way through the Union forces, saying to a 
 staff-officer, 
 
 " If that fails, further resistance will be vain." 
 
 It did fail ; and on the receipt of the news, Lee said 
 to Longstreet, 
 
 " General Longstreet, I leave you in charge. I am 
 going to hold a conference with General Grant." 
 
 On the day previous Lee wrote to Grant as follows : 
 
 " General, I received, at a late hour, your note of 
 to-day. In mine of yesterday I did not intend to pro 
 pose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
 but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, 
 I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the 
 surrender of this army ; but as the restoration of peace 
 should be the sole object of all, I desired to know 
 whether your proposals would lead to that end. I can 
 not, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the 
 Army of Northern Virginia ; but as far as your proposal 
 
254 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 may affect the Confederate States forces under my 
 command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should 
 be pleased to meet you at ten a.m. to-morrow, on the 
 old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of 
 the two armies." 
 
 Grant did not receive it until early the next morning, 
 April Qth. He immediately replied, 
 
 " General, Your note of yesterday is received. I 
 have no authority to treat on the subject of peace ; the 
 meeting proposed for ten a.m. to-day could lead to no 
 good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally 
 anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole North 
 entertains the same feeling. The terms upon which 
 peace can be had are well understood. By the South 
 laying down their arms they will hasten that most 
 desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and 
 hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. 
 Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled 
 without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, etc." 
 
 Two hours after Grant s letter was sent, an orderly 
 dashed up on his foaming steed, and delivered a des 
 patch to him ; it was a reply from Lee. Grant read it 
 with a smile, and, passing it to Rawlins, said, 
 
 " Here, General Rawlins, read this." 
 
 Rawlins read as follows : 
 
 "9th APRIL, 1865. 
 
 " General, I received your note of this morning on 
 the picket-line, whither I had come to meet you, and 
 ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your 
 proposal of yesterday, with reference to the surrender of 
 this army. I now ask an interview, in accordance with 
 the offer contained in your letter of yesterday, for that 
 purpose. " R. E. LEE, 
 
 " Lieut-Gen. U. S. Grant." General. 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 255 
 
 u Well, how do you think that will do ? " inquired 
 General Grant. 
 
 " I think that will do," answered Rawlins. 
 
 Grant returned this answer, 
 
 " General, Yours of this date is but this moment 
 (fifty minutes past eleven) received, in consequence of 
 my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg 
 to the Farmville and Richmond road. Am at this 
 writing about four miles west of Wallace Church, and 
 will push forward to the front for the purpose of meet 
 ing you. Notice sent to me on this road where you 
 wish the interview to take place will meet me here," 
 
 So the way was open for Lee to confer with Grant 
 when Gordon s last effort to escape failed. He repaired 
 to Appomattox Court-house ; and Sheridan, also, went 
 thither. General Ord was there. Grant had not arrived; 
 but he soon came galloping up, covered with mud. 
 
 " Sheridan, how are you ? " he said. 
 
 " First-rate, thank you ; how are you ? " 
 
 " Is General Lee here ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 And soon the two generals were conferring together, 
 not under an apple-tree, according to the song, 
 
 " If you ask what State he hails from, 
 
 Our sole reply shall be 
 He comes from Appomattox 
 And its famous apple-tree." 
 
 But under a kind of thorn-tree. After a few moments 
 in conversation, Lee and Grant mounted their horses, 
 accompanied by the members of their staff present, to 
 ride to the village near by ; Maj. Wilmer McLean met 
 them, and invited the party to his house, a brick mansion 
 containing eight rooms ; and his invitation was accepted 
 
256 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 It is a notable fact that this Mr. McLean lived near 
 Manassas, at the outbreak of the war, and the battle of 
 Bull Run was fought near his house, so that he was 
 forced to leave it ; and he removed to Appomattox 
 Court-house. The house he left was riddled to pieces 
 by deadly missiles ; and his house at Appomattox was 
 used by the generals and their aides, at the close of the 
 war, for signing the terms of surrender, embraced in the 
 following document : 
 
 "APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, VA., April 9, 1865, 
 "General, In accordance with the substance of my 
 letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the 
 surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia on the fol 
 lowing terms, to wit : Rolls of all the officers and men 
 to be made in duplicate, one copy to - be given to an 
 officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained 
 by such officer or officers as you may designate. The 
 officers to give their individual paroles not to take up 
 arms against the Government of the United States until 
 properly exchanged ; and each company or regimental 
 commander sign a like parole for the men of their com 
 mands. The arms, artillery, and public property to be 
 parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers ap 
 pointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace 
 the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or 
 baggage. This done, each officer and man will be al 
 lowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by 
 United States authority so long as they observe their 
 paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. 
 
 " U. S. GRANT, 
 
 " L ieutenant- General 
 "Gen. R. E. Lee." 
 
 After the signatures were attached, Lee remarked, 
 
FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY. 25? 
 
 " I forgot one thing, General. Many of the artillery 
 and cavalry horses in my army belong to the men who 
 have them in charge. But it is too late to speak of that 
 now." 
 
 Grant (interrupting). " I will instruct my paroling 
 officers that all the enlisted men of your cavalry and 
 artillery who own horses are to retain them, just as the 
 officers do theirs. They will need them fur their spring 
 ploughing and other farm work." 
 
 Lee (with great earnestness). " General, there is 
 nothing you could have done to accomplish more good, 
 either for them or for the Government." 
 
 After hesitating a moment, Lee added, 
 
 " I would like also to have my soldiers furnished with 
 a parole to protect them from Confederate conscription 
 officers." 
 
 " It shall be done," answered Grant. 
 
 Greater courtesy and magnanimity was never shown 
 by a conqueror to the conquered. Northern criticisms 
 of Grant s lenient policy were numerous and sharp ; but 
 time has vindicated it. 
 
 Three days after the aforesaid document was signed, 
 the ceremony of surrender occurred at Appomattox 
 Court-house. In order to avoid all parade, and to 
 gratify his own feelings of true sympathy for the con 
 quered general, Grant did not appear on the scene. 
 General Chamberlain, of Maine, was delegated to re 
 ceive the sword of Lee, with instructions to return it to 
 him in recognition of a brave and able officer. When 
 the Southern soldiers marched out to lay down their 
 arms, and battered colours, hundreds of them did it 
 with streaming eyes, while Union soldiers looked on in 
 silence, not a word or act of exultation appearing 
 throughout the lines. On the day of the surrender/ 
 
 S 
 
258 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 General Grant ordered twenty thousand rations to be 
 distributed to the Confederate army, who were hungry 
 and exhausted. 
 
 On the next morning, General Grant s rebel cousin, 
 of Virginia, was brought in to him, a cousin he had not 
 seen since boyhood. 
 
 Grant. " Are you one of Aunt Rachel s sons ? " 
 
 Prisoner. " Yes Charley." 
 
 Grant. " What are you doing here ? " 
 
 Prisoner. " I have been fighting in Lee s army." 
 
 Grant. " Bad business, Charley. What do you want 
 to do now ? " 
 
 Prisoner. " / ivant to go home / " 
 
 Grant. " Have you got a horse ? " 
 
 Prisoner. " No ; mine was killed under me, day be 
 fore yesterday." 
 
 Grant. " Have you got any money ? " 
 
 Prisoner. " No." 
 
 "Well, here are fifty dollars, and you will be furnished 
 with a horse and pass. That is the best I can do for 
 you." 
 
 Union and rebel officers and men mingled together 
 freely. A Confederate officer said, 
 
 " You astonish us with your generosity." 
 
 Another said, " I loved the cause, but we are fairly 
 beaten ; now the stars and stripes are my flag, and I 
 will be as true to it as you." 
 
 General Gordon remarked, " This is bitterly humili 
 ating to me ; but I console myself by thinking that the 
 whole country rejoices that the war is over." 
 
XX. 
 
 THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 
 
 THE fall of Richmond on April 2nd, set all the bells of 
 the North ringing, cannons firing, and people shouting. 
 Excepting some of the large cities, the news of its capture 
 did not reach the people generally until early Monday 
 morning, when it was hailed with almost frantic demon 
 strations of joy. Business was suspended, mills stopped, 
 legislatures adjourned ; nobody could work with a will ; 
 they wanted to rejoice. They knew that the fall of 
 Richmond was the end of the Rebellion. The enemy 
 might evade capture for a time, and fight more, but the 
 end was near. The bottom had dropped out of the 
 Confederacy, and no miracle could put it back. There 
 was reason for general rejoicing. 
 
 But the climax of joy was not attained until Lee 
 surrendered to Grant, just one week later. The country 
 had witnessed no such demonstration of joy since Corn- 
 wallis surrendered at Yorktown, bringing to a close the 
 eight years war of the American Revolution. We shall 
 make no attempt to describe the scene throughout the 
 loyal States ; nor to measure the gratitude to General 
 Grant which was manifested in every public gathering. 
 The names of Lincoln and Grant were on every loyal 
 lip ; and no gift, or praise, or honour, was too great for 
 these remarkable benefactors. 
 
 The surrender of Johnson to Sherman soon followed, 
 
 259 
 
2Co FROM THE 7 AN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and then every other scattered fragment of the Con 
 federate army ; and war ceased throughout the land. 
 
 On the morning of April I3th, Grant arrived at 
 Washington. In the evening there was an illumination 
 of the public buildings never before equalled in that 
 city. Unbounded enthusiasm possessed the crowds of 
 people in the street. President Lincoln, ordering his 
 carriage, requested General Grant to drive out with Mrs. 
 Lincoln to witness the display. His appearance on the 
 street was the signal for renewed expressions of delight, 
 Round after round of cheers rent the air, and spread 
 wildly from street to street. The heart of the victorious 
 chief must have swelled with an honest pride, though 
 friends could discover no change in his demeanour. 
 The same quiet, thoughtful, unpretentious appearance 
 characterized him in the hour of victory as in that of 
 battle. 
 
 There was a meeting of the Cabinet on the I4th, to 
 consider the grave questions which peace at once raised. 
 General Grant was present by special request. It was 
 just four years on that day since the flag of Sumter was 
 assailed. Plans for the early restoration of the South 
 were discussed, in which General Grant participated 
 with more than ordinary interest. 
 
 President Lincoln was very much exhausted by con 
 tinued application to business, night and day, and Mr. 
 Colfax and other friends had secured his promise to 
 attend the theatre that night, thinking it would prove a 
 much needed relaxation. General Grant was invited to 
 join them, but he had planned to accompany Mrs. Grant 
 to Burlington, N. J., where their children were attending 
 school, and he begged to be excused. On that night 
 President Lincoln was assassinated in Ford s Theatre ; 
 and an attempt was made upon the life of Secretary 
 
THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 261 
 
 Sevvard in his room. As learned thereafter, General 
 Grant was included in the conspiracy of the assassins ; 
 and had he remained in Washington on that night it is 
 probable that he would have fallen with Mr. Lincoln. 
 It was remembered afterwards that J. Wilkes Booth, 
 the assassin, galloped for some distance beside the car 
 riage in which Mr. and Mrs. Grant rode to the station, 
 looking in to discover who was there. That watchful 
 Providence which had shielded him through four years 
 of peril on the battle-field, guarded and guided him 
 now that secret enemies sought his life. His work was 
 not all done. Providence had other labour for him to 
 perform ; and the nation wanted he should do it. 
 
 General Grant reached Philadelphia at midnight, on 
 the I4th, and had crossed the city in a carriage to the 
 railway ferry, when a telegram from Stanton, announc 
 ing the terrible tragedy, reached him. He accompanied 
 his wife to Burlington, where he ordered a special train, 
 and immediately returned to Washington. 
 
 Perhaps if Lincoln had not been assassinated, the 
 loyal people of the country would have readily ac 
 quiesced in Grant s terms of surrender to Lee. But 
 the baseness of that act, approved if not instigated by 
 Southern leaders, arrayed multitudes of them against 
 Grant s lenient policy. They demanded severity and 
 retaliation. Forgetting the eminent services of Grant 
 in saving the country, in their sorrow and madness they 
 denounced him in terms that were unjustifiable and 
 cruel. But whatever else may be said about those 
 terms, they certainly proved General Grant to be one 
 of the most humane soldiers ever known, incapable of 
 exultation over a fallen foe, and merciful even to his 
 worst enemies. If true magnanimity and generous 
 sympathy on the part of a victor ever excelled this, we 
 
262 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WH17E HOUSE. 
 
 know not on what page of history to find it recorded. 
 One who knew the General s motives well said, 
 
 "Grant had given his very liberal terms at Appo- 
 mattox partly from policy. He knew that if Lee de 
 clined them his troops could not be kept together after 
 learning their nature ; and that if he accepted, John 
 son s army also, learning their generosity, would grow 
 clamorous for peace. 
 
 "He had given them partly from feeling. Like all 
 our soldiers, he realized how fearfully the South had 
 been punished ; and if the rebels were now willing to 
 lay down their arms, obey the laws, and not oppress 
 Union white men or Union black men at the South, he 
 thought it unworthy of a great people to degrade or 
 humiliate them. He wanted no more bloodshed, no 
 vengeance, no requiring that men who had staked all 
 should be glad that they had lost all, or manifest any 
 sudden affection for their conquerors. The national 
 authority restored ; those who had helped to restore it 
 fully protected from their late foes ; and he was willing 
 to leave the rest to the softening influences of time." 
 
 On the sixteenth day of April, our Government 
 paroled and liberated all prisoners of war, numbering 
 sixty-three thousand. The aggregate number of the 
 enemy surrendered in all the rebel commands, was only 
 about one hundred thousand, although on the rolls 
 there were one hundred and seventy-five thousand. 
 The rolls of the Union military force, on the first day 
 Of May, showed ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED AND 
 SIXTEEN MEN. Over EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND 
 soldiers were mustered out in six months. The fact is 
 without a parallel in history. 
 
 On the twenty-second and twenty-third days of May, 
 a grand review of the Union army, on their way home 
 
THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 263 
 
 from the battle-fields of the South, occurred in Wash 
 ington. Such a military review was never before known 
 in the world, so imposing, so extensive, so captivating, 
 with uniforms, banners, caparisoned steeds, and martial 
 music. The whole city was arrayed in bunting and 
 flags. Beautifully decorated mottoes appeared by the 
 hundred. "HONOUR TO THE BRAVE!" "WELCOME, 
 SOLDIERS!" "VICKSBURG!" "SHILOH!" "WIL 
 DERNESS ! " On the Capitol was this inscription, 
 (< THE ONLY NATIONAL DEBT WE CAN NEVER PAY, 
 
 IS THE DEBT WE OWE TO THE VICTORIOUS UNION 
 
 SOLDIERS ! " 
 
 The school-children of the city came out in force, 
 with music and banners, and sung, "WHEN JOHNNY 
 COMES MARCHING HOME," and other favourite airs with 
 loyal people. 
 
 Through two whole days, General Grant, President 
 Johnson, and other high officials, stood to review the 
 triumphant Union army, as regiment after regiment filed 
 past the presidential mansion, in such a display of mili 
 tary glory as none of them ever witnessed before. It 
 is probable that General Grant himself never had so 
 exalted an idea of the grandeur of his army as that 
 review afforded him. 
 
 On the second day of June, the Lieutenant-General 
 issued his final congratulatory order to his vast army : 
 
 " Soldiers of the Army of the United States : -By 
 your patriotic devotion to your country in the hour of 
 danger and alarm, your magnificent fighting, bravery, 
 and endurance, you have maintained the supremacy of 
 the Union and the Constitution, overthrown all armed 
 opposition to the enforcement of the laws, and of the 
 proclamations for ever abolishing slavery (the cause and 
 pretext of the Rebellion), and opened the way to the 
 
264 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 rightful authorities to restore order, and inaugurate 
 peace on a permanent and enduring basis on every foot 
 of American soil. 
 
 "Your marches, sieges, and battles, in distance, dura 
 tion, resolution, and brilliancy of results, dim the lustre 
 of the world s past military achievements, and will be 
 the patriot s precedent in defence of liberty and right in 
 all time to come. 
 
 "In obedience to your country s call, you left your 
 homes and families and volunteered in its defence. 
 Victory has crowned your valour and secured the pur 
 pose of your patriotic hearts ; and with the gratitude 
 of your countrymen and the highest honours a great 
 and free nation can accord, you will soon be permitted 
 to return to your homes and families, conscious of hav 
 ing discharged the highest duty of American citizens. 
 
 "To achieve the glorious triumphs, and secure to 
 yourselves, your fellow-countrymen, and posterity the 
 blessings of free institutions, tens of thousands of your 
 gallant comrades have fallen and sealed the priceless 
 legacy with their lives. The graves of these a grateful 
 nation bedews with tears, honours their memories, and 
 will ever cherish and support their stricken families." 
 
 This document is alike worthy of the head and heart 
 of the General. No wonder that the soldiers loved 
 him ! 
 
 In June, General Grant was called to West Point; 
 and, on his return, a grand reception was tendered him 
 at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York. It was one 
 of the most brilliant companies that ever assembled in 
 the metropolis. Everything about it was on a grand 
 scale. Among the decorations was the national flag 
 made of tuberoses, jessamines, heliotropes, and camel 
 lias. It was a part of the "show-business" which 
 
THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 265 
 
 eclipsed anything which General Grant had seen 
 hitherto. He quailed before the costly compliments 
 and honours more than he did before the grape and 
 canister of Shiloh. 
 
 At the close of the war, the Lieutenant-General 
 established his head-quarters at Washington, where, as 
 head of the armies of the United States, his hands were 
 as full of business as ever, only less bloody. The 
 military department of the Government could not be 
 abandoned while the work of reconstruction was in its 
 incipient stages. 
 
 In June, a great fair opened in Chicago to assist dis 
 abled soldiers and their families. General Grant was 
 invited to be present, in order to draw the people. Mrs. 
 Sherman invited him, also, to make a contribution to 
 the fair. He responded cheerfully by contributing 
 "Old Jack," the cream-coloured horse which he rode 
 the first eighteen months of the war. So " Old Jack " 
 was shipped to Chicago, and was the centre of at 
 traction until Grant himself arrived. The Lieutenant- 
 General put the horse in the shade ; and yet the " Great 
 North-west " could not pay suitable tribute to the hero 
 of Donelson without the aid of the horse. 
 
 When Grant alighted at the station in Chicago, he 
 found a multitude which no man would think of num 
 bering, crowded into that city to do him honour. The 
 crowd extended from the station, not only as far as the 
 eye could see, but through nearly all the streets of the 
 city a patriotic, happy, uproarious mass of humanity. 
 And there, waiting at the station, was " Old Jack," with 
 saddle and bridle on, to bear his master through the 
 streets. The General was somewhat confused at first, 
 for "Old Jack" was not to carry him now into a Shiloh 
 battle, but into the "show-business"; and to this the 
 
266 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 conqueror of Lee demurred at first. But the Fair Com 
 mittee insisted that it was a part of their well-con 
 sidered programme, and he must ride faithful " Old 
 Jack " once more before the beast was placed upon the 
 retired list. 
 
 General Grant, being a very pliable man, notwith 
 standing his wife s assertion that he always was " very 
 obstinate" yielded to their solicitations, and mounted 
 the horse, without spur or whip, and jogged through the 
 streets, amidst cheers that seemed to jar the skies, and 
 the thunder of a hundred guns announcing, "THE 
 CONQUERING HERO COMES!" 
 
 He had been drawn in " a coach and six," both white 
 and black, and now he was forced to confess that the 
 managers of the fair had selected the most appropriate 
 mode of conveyance possible for the occasion. The 
 people enjoyed his ride hugely, whether he did or not ; 
 and ten thousand people welcomed him to Union Hall. 
 The band played " The Red, White, and Blue " as he 
 entered, but the deafening applause of ten thousand 
 voices drowned the music. General Hooker presided, 
 and he introduced General Grant to the immense 
 audience as the hero of the war. The General said, 
 
 " Ladies and Gentlemen : As I never made a speech 
 myself, I will ask Governor Yates to return the thanks 
 which I should fail to express." 
 
 Governor Yates responded in one of his glowing 
 speeches, that stirred every heart. Then General 
 Sherman was called for, and he replied, 
 
 " I am here to-day to listen ; I am not going to make 
 any speech whatever. Always ready, always willing, 
 always proud to do anything the Lieutenant-General 
 asked me to do, I know he never asked me to make a 
 speech." 
 
THE NATIONS GRATITUDE. 267 
 
 "No," quickly responded Grant, "I never asked a 
 soldier to do what I could not do myself." Great 
 applause followed. 
 
 With all his gravity, the General was quick-witted, and 
 often entertained his friends by his dry humour. Since 
 we began to write his life, we have met with the following 
 incident, which is one of the best on record, in the line 
 of humour. 
 
 When Grant was in command in South-eastern Mis 
 souri, he led an expedition against a rebel force in 
 North-east Arkansas, one hundred and ten miles distant. 
 Much of the way was through a wilderness, and there 
 were few settlers anywhere in that region. Lieutenant 
 Wickfield, of an Indiana Cavalry regiment, commanded 
 the advance guard, consisting of eight mounted men. 
 About noon of the second or third day out, Wickfield 
 came across a cabin. He dismounted and entered with 
 his men. 
 
 " Can you get us something to eat ? " he inquired. 
 
 The woman looked him over, and then asked, 
 
 " Who are you ? " 
 
 " I am Brigadier-General Grant." 
 
 She had heard of Grant, so she and other members of 
 the family hastened to put on the table all there was in 
 the cabin, of which the men partook heartily and thank 
 fully. When they got through, there was only one pie 
 left 
 
 "What is to pay?" asked Wickfield. 
 
 " Nothing, sir ; you are welcome." 
 
 They hurried forward, and one hour after Grant came 
 up to the same cabin, and said to the woman who stood 
 in the door, 
 
 " Can you cook us a meal ? " 
 
 " No, we can t ; for General Grant has just been here 
 
26S FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and eaten everything in the house except one pumpkin- 
 pie." 
 
 " Well, that s bad," replied Grant, perceiving at once 
 that Wickfield meant to play a joke. " What is your 
 name ? " 
 
 " Selvidge," answered the woman. 
 
 Flinging a half-dollar to her, Grant added, 
 
 " Will you keep that pie till I send an officer for it." 
 
 " I will certainly," she answered. 
 
 After selecting a camping-ground, towards night, 
 Grant issued an order for a parade at half-past six, and 
 requested officers to see that their men turned out. 
 
 " What can it mean ? " said one. 
 
 " The enemy is near, no doubt," said another. 
 
 " Some important instructions," a third. 
 
 But when the men were formed in lines, the assistant 
 adjutant-general rode in front, and read the following 
 order :- 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY IN THE FIELD. 
 " SPECIAL ORDER No. . 
 
 " Lieutenant Wickfield, of the Indiana Cavalry, having 
 on this day eaten everything in Mrs. Selvidge s house, at 
 the crossing of the Trenton and Pocahontas and Black 
 River and Cape Girardeau roads, except one pumpkin- 
 pie, Lieutenant Wickfield is hereby ordered to return 
 with an escort of one hundred cavalry and eat that pie 
 also. " U. S. GRANT, 
 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding" 
 
 The parade was over, and every one was inquiring to 
 know what it all meant. They learned very soon,, how 
 ever ; and the camp was filled with merriment. The 
 jocose Lieutenant collected his escort to return and 
 eat the pie that night, and departed amidst peals of 
 
THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 269 
 
 laughter ; and he never heard the last of it. Nor did 
 Grant ever know that his name was used thereafter by 
 any party foraging for himself. 
 
 To return to the Chicago Fair. " Old Jack " brought 
 a thousand dollars for the benefit of disabled soldiers. 
 Nothing could have been more appropriate. The pro 
 ceeds of the Fair were over two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars ; twice as much as it would have been 
 if General Grant had not been there. The revolver 
 which Jeff. Davis had in his hand when he was captured 
 brought a large price. So did the Eagle of the Eighth 
 Wisconsin Infantry, which was carried all through the 
 war ; fifteen thousand dollars worth of his photographs 
 were sold. The following characteristic letter from 
 President Lincoln to a lady in St. Louis, who wrote to 
 him for his autograph, was a relic sold for a great 
 price : 
 
 " Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this 
 mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if 
 it should be God s will that it should continue until all 
 the wealth piled up by the bondman s two hundred and 
 fifty years of unrequited labour shall be sunk, and every 
 drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another 
 drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years 
 ago, so still it must be said, The judgments of the Lord 
 are true and righteous altogether. " 
 
 General Grant returned to Washington to find dele 
 gations there to urge him to visit New England. The 
 request was too urgent to be refused. In July he went 
 to Saratoga, and from there to Massachusetts and 
 Maine ; making a brief tour through Canada, and re 
 turning to Galena, his old home. 
 
 In Boston the welcome extended to him was remark 
 able. People crowded into the city from every part of 
 
270 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 New England. Some came a hundred, and even two 
 hundred, miles. The last yard of bunting was bought 
 in the stores for the display, and thousands of flags 
 fluttered from the tops of buildings and ships in the 
 harbour. Everywhere throughout his tour, the effort to 
 do him honour was the same. 
 
 When he reached Galena, one dense mass of human 
 beings filled the town, and the enthusiasm was un 
 bounded. Cannon boomed, bands played, banners 
 waved, the people cheered ; and he was conducted 
 through an arch spanning a street, bearing the inscrip 
 tion, wrought in flowers : " GENERAL, THE SIDEWALK 
 is BUILT." 
 
 The citizens had presented him with a house costing 
 sixteen thousand dollars, thoroughly furnished ; and 
 built a sidewalk from it to the station, a half mile away. 
 
 Two hundred flags floated over the De Soto House ; 
 and a triumphal arch spanned the main street, having 
 inscribed on one side : 
 
 " Welcome to Our Citizen 
 " WELDON RAILROAD." " FAIR OAKS." 
 
 " WILDERNESS." " PETERSBURG." 
 
 " RICHMOND." " FIVE FORKS." 
 
 On the other side : 
 
 "Hail to the Chief who in Triumph Advances? 
 " BELMONT." " LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN." 
 
 " DONELSON." " CHATTANOOGA." 
 
 "SHILOH." "VICKSBURG." 
 
 " CORINTH." " APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE." 
 
 He was escorted past the old leather-store, where a 
 magnificent arch was erected, under which stood thirty- 
 six girls in white, each representing a State of the Union, 
 and bearing the national colours. As Grant passed 
 beneath the arch, the girls reigned a shower of bouquets 
 
THE NATION S GRATITUDE. 271 
 
 upon his head. Then Hon. E. B. Washburne delivered 
 an address of welcome, to which Rev. J. H. Vincent 
 replied for the General. At the close of the public 
 demonstration, he was driven to his new house, where 
 old friends and neighbours rejoiced to see him alight. 
 
 His duties made it necessary for him to dwell in 
 Washington so long as he held the position of lieuten 
 ant-general. In due time he repaired thither, and impor 
 tant work accumulated upon his hands. The President 
 and Cabinet never decided important questions relating 
 to reconstruction without consulting him. His know 
 ledge and judgment were constantly brought into re 
 quisition. - 
 
 Congress enacted a bill reviving the grade of " General 
 of the Army of the United States," which no American, 
 but Washington, ever held. It was done specially to 
 honour Grant, with no design that any other American 
 should ever share it, and he was appointed to fill the 
 office. When the bill was under discussion, Senator 
 Yates of Illinois, who signed Grant s commission as 
 colonel, said, 
 
 " Lincoln wisely read the nation s will in committing 
 to him the command of all our armies, and particularly 
 of the unlucky, but heroic, Army of the Potomac ; which, 
 baffled, but not beaten, had stood for long years like a 
 wall of fire against the assaults of treason. And here, 
 again, victory followed the invincible Grant ; and in a 
 series of battles more bloody than Waterloo, more 
 brilliant than Austerlitz, he displayed the sterling 
 qualities of the great commander. ... It was the 
 two-handed sword of Cceur de Lion against the flashing 
 cimetcr of the Paladin ; it was the axe of the Norseman, 
 thundering on the light shield of the Saxon, or the 
 Celt." 
 
XXI. 
 
 BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH General Grant was a military man, he held, 
 from the close of the war, that military rule should be 
 employed only as a necessity in the work of reconstruc 
 tion. It should be abandoned altogether, as soon as 
 civil government could assert and maintain itself in the 
 late rebellious States. For example : President John 
 son s apparently disloyal course was attracting atten 
 tion ; and his policy towards Maryland, in respect 
 to apprehended troubles in electing a Legislature, was 
 declared, by leading Republicans, to be identical with 
 the policy of Jefferson Davis. He proposed that General 
 Grant should send United States troops into the State to 
 maintain order ; but the General protested as follows : 
 
 " The conviction is forced on my mind that no reason 
 now exists for giving or promising the military aid of 
 the Government to support the laws of Maryland. The 
 tendency of giving such aid or promise would be to 
 produce the very result intended to be averted. So 
 far, there seems to be merely a very bitter contest for 
 political ascendency in the State. 
 
 " Military interference would be interpreted as giving 
 aid to one of the factions, no matter how pure the in 
 tentions, or how guarded and just the instructions. It 
 is a contingency I hope never to see arise in this coun 
 try, while I occupy the position of General-in-Chief of 
 the army, to have to send troops into a State, in full 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 273 
 
 relations with the general Government, on the eve of an 
 election, to preserve peace. If insurrection docs come, 
 the law provides the method of calling out forces to 
 suppress it. No such condition seems to exist now." 
 
 The President desired that he should go to Mexico, 
 to represent the Government, for the purpose of pre 
 venting or adjusting difficulties there ; but he declined, 
 for fear that the military power would be used in his 
 absence where it would serve to complicate affairs. 
 General Sherman said to Grant, " You are right ; don t 
 you go. We need you here every moment." 
 
 And he went to the President and said, " Grant ought 
 not to go to Mexico, he is needed here ; but I can go 
 as well as not. My trunk is always packed." 
 
 Until Sherman thus expressed himself, President 
 Johnson supposed that he would favour military inter 
 vention in Maryland ; and Sherman would have filled 
 Grant s place during his absence in Mexico. Hence 
 Johnson s anxiety to send him thither. But Grant re 
 mained at home, and Sherman went. 
 
 On the question of negro suffrage he said, 
 
 " I never could have believed that I should favour 
 giving negroes the right to vote ; but that seems to me 
 the only solution of our difficulties." 
 
 A necessity commanded his support at once, whether 
 in war or peace. 
 
 Leading Southerners, in the winter of 1866-7, op 
 posed to giving the ballot to negroes, asked his advice, 
 and he gave it plainly, thus : 
 
 " Go to the Union Republicans in Congress, and to 
 them alone. Have nothing whatever to do with North 
 erners who opposed the war ; they will never again be 
 entrusted with power. The more you consort with them, 
 the more exacting the Republicans will be t and ought 
 
 T 
 
274 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to be. When you get home, urge your people to accept 
 negro suffrage. If you had promptly adopted the con 
 stitutional amendment abolishing slavery, or the one 
 making negroes citizens, and guaranteeing the public 
 debt, Congress would undoubtedly have admitted you 
 ere this. Now it will add impartial suffrage. The sooner 
 you accept that, the better for all concerned." 
 
 President Johnson was opposed to these views of 
 General Grant ; but the latter held the confidence of 
 the loyal people to such an extent, that the former had 
 not the courage to wage a direct war upon him. 
 
 The President came into collision with Secretary 
 Stanton, and conferred with Grant about removing him ; 
 but the latter stoutly opposed the measure verbally, 
 and subsequently opposed it even more strenuously by 
 letter, because of " the great danger to the welfare of 
 the country." At the same time, Johnson proposed to 
 remove General Sheridan, which Grant opposed with all 
 his might, saying, 
 
 " He is universally and deservedly beloved by the 
 people who sustained this Government through its trials, 
 and feared by those who would still be its enemies. It 
 fell to the lot of but few men to do as much against an 
 armed enemy as General Sheridan did during the Re 
 bellion ; and it is within the scope of the ability of but 
 few in this or any other country to do what he has." 
 
 And he closed his letter with the following plain, fear 
 less opposition : " In conclusion, allow me to say, as a 
 friend desiring peace and quiet, the welfare of the whole 
 country, North, and South, that it is, in my opinion, more 
 than the loyal people of this country (I mean those who 
 supported the Government during the great Rebellion) 
 will quietly submit to, to see the very men of all others 
 whom they have expressed confidence in, removed. 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 275 
 
 " I would not have taken the liberty of addressing 
 the Executive of the United States thus but for the 
 conversation on the subject alluded to in this letter, and 
 from a sense of duty, feeling that I know I am right in 
 this matter." 
 
 But the obstinate President, made more obstinate, 
 no doubt, by his intemperate habits, did remove Secre 
 tary Stanton, when Congress was not in session ; and 
 he appointed General Grant in his place as Secretary of 
 War. In the circumstances, probably, he did not dare 
 to remove Stanton and put any one but Grant in his 
 place. General Grant accepted the appointment solely 
 because he feared that, if he did not accept, another 
 man, in full sympathy with the President, would be 
 appointed ; and such a Secretary would come into im 
 mediate collision with Congress, and hinder the work 
 of reconstruction. 
 
 The President, also, issued an order on the I7th of 
 August, removing Sheridan, to which order General 
 Grant protested in the following communication, which 
 elicited the universal commendation of loyal people : 
 
 " I am pleased to avail myself of your invitation to 
 urge [Johnson accompanied his order with a request to 
 Grant to make any suggestions] in the name of a pat 
 riotic people, who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands 
 of loyal lives, and thousands of millions of treasure, to 
 preserve the integrity and union of this country, that 
 this order be not insisted on. It is unmistakably the 
 expressed wish of the country that General Sheridan 
 should not be removed from his present command. 
 This is a republic, where the will of the people is the 
 law of the land. I beg that their voice may be heard. 
 
 " General Sheridan has performed his civil duties 
 faithfully and intelligently. His removal will only be 
 
276 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 regarded as an effort to defeat the laws of Congress. It 
 will be interpreted by the unreconstructed element in 
 the South, those who did all they could to break up 
 this Government by arms, and now wish to be the only 
 element consulted as to the method of restoring order, 
 as a triumph. It will embolden them to renewed 
 opposition to the will of the loyal masses, believing that 
 they have the Executive with them." 
 
 Attorney-General Stanberry, who was in full sym 
 pathy with Johnson, gave his opinion that department 
 commanders could not remove civil officers who at 
 tempted to obstruct the laws of Congress. But General 
 Grant believed they could, and said that " they are re 
 sponsible for the faithful execution of the reconstruction 
 acts of Congress." After the Attorney-General pub 
 lished his opinion, Grant telegraphed to Pope : 
 
 " Enforce your own construction of the military bill, 
 until ordered to do otherwise. The opinion of the 
 Attorney-General has not been distributed to district 
 commanders in language or manner entitling it to the 
 force of an order ; nor can I suppose that the President 
 intended it to have such force." 
 
 When Congress reassembled, the Senate refused to 
 sanction the removal of Stanton, whereupon Grant re 
 signed. His brief conduct of the business of the War 
 Department proved his eminent fitness for that posi 
 tion. Many leading Republicans claimed that the office 
 had never been administered with so much ability. He 
 stopped the employment of mounted orderlies and of 
 ambulances not absolutely required ; selling the horses 
 and vehicles. He required all proposals for supplies to 
 be properly advertised, and let to the lowest bidder, in 
 stead of being given to some friend or favourite. He 
 ordered that soldiers on trm frontier should gather the 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 277 
 
 hay and fuel necessary, instead of paying contractors a 
 great price for them, and that Government teams should 
 deliver them. He prohibited commanding officers em 
 ploying civilians as clerks, mechanics, or labourers, or 
 to do any work which the soldiers could do ; and he gave 
 notice that any officer who disobeyed should have the ex 
 pense incurred charged to his own personal account. In 
 this way, he reduced the current expenses of the depart 
 ment more than half a million a month, and, at the same 
 time, sold stores and material in the quartermaster s 
 department to the amount of many millions of dollars. 
 
 General Grant was firm, too, in his opinion that the 
 National Government must not exhibit a spirit of ex 
 ultation or retaliation in the final settlement of the 
 difficulties. He had an eye to the future harmony of 
 the North and South, as indispensable to the unity and 
 prosperity of the nation ; and he believed that the 
 largest magnanimity possible towards the conquered 
 was absolutely necessary to this end. Hence, his mag 
 nanimous spirit in submitting terms of surrender to Lee, 
 terms which he ever vindicated with the soundest 
 logic and the noblest sentiments. 
 
 He did not hesitate to come directly in collision with 
 the President and Congress, in urging national magna 
 nimity in the treatment of even traitors. 
 
 When it was proposed to arrest General Lee for treason, 
 he protested against the measure as a violation of the 
 terms of surrender which he accepted. He was called be 
 fore the Judiciary Committee of Congress in July, and said: 
 . . . I frequently had to intercede for General 
 Lee and other paroled officers, on the ground that their 
 parole, so long as they obeyed the laws of the United 
 States, protected them from arrest and trial. The 
 President at that time occupied exactly the reverse 
 
278 FROM 1 HE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 grounds ; viz. that they should be tried and punished. 
 He wanted to know when the time would come that 
 they should be punished. I told him not so long as 
 they obeyed the law and complied with the stipulation." 
 
 Eldridge. "You looked on that in the nature of a 
 parole, and held that they could only be tried when they 
 violated that parole ? " 
 
 Grant. " Yes, that is the view I took of the question." 
 
 Eldridge. "Did you consider that that applied to 
 Jefferson Davis ? " 
 
 Grant. " No, sir ; he did not take any parole. . . 
 It applied to no person who was captured only to those 
 who were paroled." 
 
 Eldridge. "Did the President insist that General 
 Lee should be tried for treason ? " 
 
 Grant. " He contended for it. ... I insisted on 
 it that General Lee would not have surrendered his 
 army, and given up all their arms, if he had supposed 
 that after surrender he was going to be tried for treason 
 and hanged. I thought we got a very good equivalent 
 for the lives of a few leaders, in getting all their arms 
 and getting themselves under control, bound by their 
 oaths to obey the laws. . . -. . 
 
 " I never claimed that the parole gave these prisoners 
 any political rights whatever. I thought that that was 
 a matter entirely >v th Congress, over which I had no 
 control; that simply as General-in-Chief commanding 
 the army, I had a right to stipulate for the surrender on 
 terms which protected their lives. That is all I claim. 
 The parole gave them protection and exemption from 
 punishment for an offence not in violation of the rules of 
 civilized warfare, so long as their parole was kept." 
 
 That General Grant s lenient and magnanimous policy 
 prevailed, was fortunate for the country. If his views 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 279 
 
 and recommendations on certain other difficult questions 
 had been adopted, instead of following the lead of par 
 tisan Congressmen, there is no question but that Gov 
 ernment would have been the gainer. 
 
 After the surrender of Lee, the Union army began to 
 salute Grant by firing cannon. He directed the firing to 
 cease at once, saying, 
 
 " It will wound the feelings of our prisoners, who have 
 become our countrymen again." 
 
 A few months after the war closed, Grant was waited 
 upon by a Congressional Committee, of which Charles 
 Sumner was Chairman, to propose that a picture of 
 Lee s surrender should be painted, and placed in the 
 rotunda of the Capitol. The General listened respect 
 fully to their proposal, and replied, 
 
 " So far as I am concerned, I can never consent to 
 any picture being placed in the Capitol to commemorate 
 a victory in which our own countrymen were the losers." 
 
 However much any of us may have differed from 
 General Grant in his policy then, there are very few 
 thoughtful citizens who do not approve of it now. Re 
 bellion in the family can never be succeeded by peace, 
 except by forgiving and forgetting ; and it is equally 
 true of the nation. Like Abraham Lincoln, Grant was 
 tender and kind, incapable of malice even towards his 
 enemies, and altogether too great to be revengeful. In 
 consequence, the North and the South are more rapidly 
 becoming one people. 
 
 General Badeau has recently said, in The Century \ 
 
 " The men whom he conquered never forgot his mag 
 nanimity. A few months after Appomattox, he made 
 a tour through the Southern States, and then entered 
 Richmond for the first time. Had he been the saviour 
 instead of the captor of the town, he could hardly have 
 
280 FROM THE TAN-YARD 70 THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 been more cordially received. The Southerners felt 
 indeed that he had been a saviour to them. He had 
 saved them from the rancour and revengeful spirit of 
 many at the North. The terms he had granted them at 
 Appomattox were unexampled for clemency ; and when 
 Andrew Johnson attempted to violate those terms, 
 Grant declared he would resign his position in the army 
 unless they were respected. At Richmond, Raleigh, 
 Charleston, Savannah, the most important Southerners, 
 civilians, and soldiers made it their duty to call upon 
 him, to welcome him, to show him their gratitude. 
 
 " At Raleigh the State Legislature was in session, and 
 he was invited to be present, and the body rose as he 
 entered the Capitol which his armies had captured not 
 six months before. Important Southerners soon ad 
 dressed him, requesting him to become a candidate for 
 the Presidency, assuring him of the unanimous desire of 
 the South to see him at the head of the Government. 
 Gen. Richard Taylor came to me on this errand, and 
 urged that Grant should allow himself to become the 
 candidate of the Democrats." 
 
 General Grant made the tour through the South to 
 which General Badeau refers above, in the winter of 
 1866-7. On his return he made a report, at the request of 
 President Johnson, from which we extract the following : 
 
 " I am satisfied that the mass of thinking men of the 
 South accept the present situation of affairs in good 
 faith. The questions which have hitherto divided the 
 sentiments of the people of the two sections slavery 
 and State rights, or the right of a State to secede from 
 the Union they regard has having been settled forever 
 by the highest tribunal arms that man can resort to. 
 I was pleased to learn from the leading men whom I 
 met, that they not only accepted the decision arrived at 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 281 
 
 as final, but, now that the smoke of battle has cleared 
 away, and time has been given for reflection, that this 
 decision has been a fortunate one for the whole country 
 they receiving the like benefits from it with those who 
 opposed them in the field and in the council. . . . 
 
 " The Southern States are anxious to return to self- 
 government within the Union as soon as possible ; that 
 while reconstructing they want and require protection 
 from the Government ; that they are in earnest in 
 wishing to do what they think is required by the Gov 
 ernment, not humiliating to them as citizens, and that if 
 such a course was pointed out they would pursue it in 
 good faith. It is to be regretted that there cannot be a 
 greater commingling at this time between the citizens of 
 the two sections, and particularly with those entrusted 
 with the law-making power." 
 
 In February, 1867, he visited New York again, where 
 the leather-trade invited him to a costly banquet. He 
 was presented with ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS 
 from the citizens. The citizens of Philadelphia had 
 previously given him thirty thousand, 
 
 On this trip he visited the rooms of the Union Relief 
 Committee, and was there shown two hundred and 
 seventy specimens of penmanship executed by soldiers 
 who had lost their right arms. Grant remarked, 
 
 " These boys write better with their left hands than I 
 do with my right." 
 
 There was no part of his experience in New York 
 city, at this time, which won his heart so much as the 
 achievements of these " boys in blue " in penmanship, 
 with their left hands. 
 
 We have called attention to a few of the complex 
 tasks to which General Grant was called, between the 
 close of the war and his occupancy of the White House. 
 
282 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 These facfs confirm previous statements, that General 
 Grant has never been understood and appreciated until 
 actual work has proved his fitness for every position. In 
 every office he has surprised his friends by his singular 
 ability to perform whatever he undertook, readily, easily, 
 speedily. Questions of statesmanship were no more 
 difficult for his versatile talents to compass than ques 
 tions of the camp and field. We have seen that he was 
 alike at home in all. 
 
 The absence of petty jealousies, never indulging resent 
 ment or a personal pique, conceding to all their just 
 deserts, whether friend or foe, happy in the successes of 
 others, and always simple and unassuming in the highest 
 position these qualities made the General great as a 
 military leader. Small men never rise above piques and 
 jealousies ; these are proof of weak minds. 
 
 History can furnish no parallel to the moral grandeur 
 of that scene in Washington, when Mr. Elaine and other 
 leaders proposed to fix matters so in Congress that 
 Grant could return to his post of general-in-chief, after 
 having served the country as President. 
 
 " We will adopt a resolution in both Houses of Con 
 gress, giving you leave of absence for four years, so 
 that you can resume your position at the close of your 
 Presidency," said Mr. Elaine to Grant a short time before 
 his inauguration. 
 
 General Grant was not favourably impressed by the 
 proposition. Another added, 
 
 "The rank of general-in-chief was created for you 
 alone, and it is not just that you should sacrifice it by 
 going up higher for four years to serve your country." 
 
 " It strikes me differently," replied Grant ; " and I 
 cannot consent to such an arrangement. I could not 
 sleep at night if I felt that I was depriving Sherman 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 283 
 
 and others of promotion which they have earned as 
 I can be said to have earned mine." 
 
 He insisted that General Sherman should succeed 
 him in the office, and he did. 
 
 We have said that history does not furnish a parallel 
 to the above, in honest friendship and unselfish aims. 
 But perhaps it is paralleled by another incident, illus 
 trating the lofty spirit of patriotism and true friendship, 
 which characterized both Grant and Sherman. General 
 Grant had been for several months in front of Peters 
 burg, apparently accomplishing nothing, while General 
 Sherman had captured Atlanta, and completed his 
 grand " march to the sea." Then arose a strong cry to 
 promote Sherman to Grant s position as Lieutenant- 
 General. Hearing of it, Sherman wrote to Grant, 
 
 " I have written to John Sherman to stop it. I would 
 rather have you in command than any one else. I 
 should emphatically decline any commission calculated 
 to bring us into rivalry." 
 
 General Grant replied, 
 
 " No one would be more pleased at your advancement 
 than I, and if you should be placed in my position, and 
 I put subordinate, it would not change our relations in 
 the least. I would make the same exertions to support 
 you that you have done to support me, and I would do 
 all in my power to make our cause win." 
 
 Two great souls striving to be equally magnanimous ! 
 Could anything be more beautiful and noble in public 
 life, where jealousy, selfishness, and double-dealing 
 appear to rule the hour, than such self-abnegation, 
 where "each esteems the other better than himself" ? 
 
 General Grant not only accorded to each officer his 
 mede of praise, but he came promptly to his rescue 
 when he was unjustly criticised. Thus, when critics 
 
284 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 were sharp on Sheridan, he said to the public, "The 
 people don t understand Sheridan. Though he has all the 
 popularity any man could desire, his capacity is not 
 appreciated. The impression seems to be that he is only 
 a brave, downright fighter. Really, he is a man of admir 
 able judgment ; capable of handling, under any circum 
 stances, the largest army ever seen in the United States." 
 
 And he is reported as saying more recently, "Sheridan 
 is the peer of any soldier living." 
 
 We shall close this chapter by quoting from the 
 article of General Badeau his estimate of General Grant s 
 character and ability in the field and forum : - 
 
 " At the close of the war, the man who had led the 
 victorious armies was not forty-three years of age. He 
 had not changed in any essential qualities from the 
 captain in Mexico and merchant in Galena. Developed 
 by experience, taught by circumstance, learning from 
 all he saw, and even more from what he did, as few 
 have ever been developed or taught, or have learned 
 he, nevertheless, maintained the self-same personality 
 through it all. The characteristics of the man were 
 exactly those he manifested as a soldier directness and 
 steadiness of purpose, clearness and certainty of judg 
 ment, self-reliance, and immutable determination. 
 
 " No capture of places, or outflanking of armies, would 
 have annihilated the Confederacy. It had to be stamped 
 out ; its armies and its resources had to be destroyed ; 
 its territory and its people conquered ; its soldiers killed. 
 Its own magnificent bravery, the spirit of its armies, the 
 heroism of its population, rendered just such a course as 
 Grant pursued indispensable. His greatness lay in the 
 fact that he perceived the situation, and adapted his 
 means to the end. His good fortune was, that his 
 nature was fitted for just such emergencies. 
 
BETWEEN WAR AND THE WHITE HOUSE. 285 
 
 "He who was capable of the combinations that 
 stretched across a continent, who could direct the opera 
 tions of a twelvemonth so that every movement was a 
 part of the plan, and finally concentrate all his forces 
 toward a single point, and consummate exactly what 
 he set out to do, a year before, with a completeness un 
 exampled then, and unsurpassed since in war, may laugh 
 at the critics who pronounce him inept and blundering. 
 
 "There are many traits in Grant resembling those 
 displayed by Moltke. All great soldiers, indeed, have 
 much in common ; but perhaps the parallel between these 
 two is closer than any other in recent history. Both 
 lived simply and almost unknown to their countrymen 
 for many years. Both are plain in behaviour, modest 
 under unexampled success, undemonstrative in manner, 
 simple in habits and tastes, unassuming and retiring, 
 though thrust into the highest position. Neither ever 
 sought advancement, but each earned it by his deeds. Both 
 are admirable in the family, and attach friends warmly 
 despite their reserved and dispassionate demeanour. 
 
 " Both have expressed in their public career the 
 tremendous determination, the sustained energy, the 
 persistency of purpose, which the world has recognised. 
 Both have exhibited the power to hurl men in successive 
 masses to certain danger, or even destruction, in order 
 to gain the victory which they deemed essential to their 
 country, as well as the ability to control different armies 
 simultaneously on the widest theatres ; moving them in 
 apparently opposite directions only to concentrate them 
 at last for a single aim. One general struck down an 
 empire, and accomplished the capitulation of a sovereign; 
 the other overthrew a rebellion greater than the world 
 had ever seen before, and stamped out every vestige of 
 resistance on a continent." 
 
XXII. 
 
 AT THE TOP. 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER S reply to a young man who com 
 plained that all departments of business were crowded 
 with aspirants for promotion, " ROOM ENOUGH AT THE 
 TOP," may be true in one sense ; but its application in 
 the case before us is at least doubtful. There is room 
 at the top of the nation for only one man in four years. 
 General Grant was the eighteenth man who had reached 
 that high position in nearly one hundred years. There 
 is room in the White House for only one man at a time. 
 The largest encouragement that can be held out to 
 aspiring men here is twenty-five chances in one hundred 
 years. That is not a particularly wide opening. The 
 way to the top is rather "straight and narrow," with 
 only " here and there a traveller." Many there are who 
 seek it, but " few there be that find it." General Grant 
 was one of the few ; and he found the " way " without 
 seeking for it. The " way" came to him ; he did not go 
 to the " way." To numerous friends who proposed to 
 assist him to step upon the top round of the ladder, he 
 turned a deaf ear. There was no plan to raise him 
 there which met his approval. 
 
 " General, we want you for President," said an editof 
 from Texas. " I am going to support you, and so arc 
 my people. What shall I say of your views when I get 
 home." 
 
 286 
 
AT THE TOP. 287 
 
 " Say nothing about them," was Grant s quick reply. 
 
 To a leading Republican who suggested to him, " The 
 loyal people will not take NO for an answer," he said, 
 " I do not want the office, and others do." 
 
 To the suggestion that the condition of the country 
 required that a military man be President, he said, 
 
 "All the military service necessary now in the adminis 
 tration of the Government I can render where I am, 
 and more effectually, too ; besides, in a republic like 
 ours, there is a reasonable objection to making a Presi 
 dent of a general." 
 
 If interested friends had not ceased to confer with 
 him in respect to becoming a candidate for the presi 
 dency, he never would have been their nominee. It 
 was not that the honour would not have been congenial 
 to him ; but it was too delicate a subject for his great 
 modesty to discuss. He could always see reasons why 
 some one else should be President instead of himself. 
 Nevertheless, but one sentiment seemed to possess loyal 
 hearts. The " War Governor" of Massachusetts, John 
 Albion Andrew, expressed it, when he wrote to a 
 personal friend : 
 
 " The tendency of the hour is toward Grant, and that 
 is best. It is not the ideal good. It is bad for the 
 country that he must leave his present post bad for 
 him, the soldier, to try to endure the hard fate which 
 awaits him in civil life. But it is apparently the best 
 practical good the country can have ; and Grant is so 
 square and honest a man, that he is bound to be right 
 in the main anywhere." 
 
 Andrew died very suddenly three days after he wrote 
 as above. 
 
 A national Republic convention, in Chicago, May 19, 
 1868, nominated Grant unanimously for the presidency. 
 
288 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Every State in the Union was represented in that con 
 vention ; and the unanimity and enthusiasm of the 
 delegations were remarkable. There were SIX HUNDRED 
 AND FIFTY delegates present ; and when, as usual, the 
 roll of States was called to name a presidential candidate, 
 General Grant was named by SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY 
 delegates! He carried every vote in the convention, 
 which was without a parallel. 
 
 The result was hailed with great delight by members 
 of the convention. The whole assembly sprang to their 
 feet at the announcement of the vote, and a scene of 
 the wildest enthusiasm followed. The band played, hats 
 were tossed into the air, cheer after cheer arose, loud and 
 long continued. Scarcely had the glad tumult ceased, 
 when a curtain arose in the rear of the stage, exhibiting 
 " a painting of two pedestals standing in front of the 
 White House : one (bearing the figure of Grant) labelled, 
 * Republican nominee of the Chicago Convention, May 
 20, 1868; the other, Democratic nominee, New York 
 Convention, July 4, 1868. Between the two stood the 
 Goddess of Liberty, pointing with one hand to Grant, 
 and with the other to the vacant pedestal. Overhead 
 was the motto : MATCH HIM ! At that moment a 
 dove, painted in the national colours, was let loose, and 
 flew back and forth ; and the historic eagle of the 
 Eighth Wisconsin added his screams to the tumult" 
 
 There was no such thing as mistaking the wishes of 
 the people after this demonstration. That was a repre 
 sentative body of men, who understood the strong desire 
 of their constituents to make the victorious leader of the 
 American army President of the United States. 
 
 Ex-Governor Hawley, of Connecticut, was president 
 of the convention ; and, a few days after, officially notified 
 General Grant of his nomination, to which the General 
 replied : 
 
AT THE TOP. 289 
 
 " Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the National Union 
 Convention, I will endeavour, in a very short time, to 
 write you a letter accepting the trust you have imposed 
 upon me. Expressing my gratitude for the confidence 
 you have placed in me, I will now say but little orally, 
 and that is to thank you for the unanimity with which 
 you have selected me as a candidate for the presidential 
 office. I can say, in addition, I looked on during the 
 progress of the proceedings at Chicago with a great deal 
 of interest, and am gratified with the harmony and una 
 nimity which seem to have governed the deliberations of 
 the convention. If chosen to fill the high office for 
 which you have selected me, I will give to its duties the 
 same energy, the same spirit, and the same will that I 
 have given to the performance of all duties which have 
 devolved upon me heretofore. Whether I shall be able 
 to perform these duties to your entire satisfaction, time 
 will determine. You have truly said, in the course of 
 your address, that I shall have no policy of my own to 
 enforce against the will of the people." 
 
 On the 2Qth he wrote to the Committee : 
 
 " In formally accepting the nomination of the National 
 Union Republican Convention of the 2ist of May, met, 
 it seems proper that some statement of views beyond the 
 mere acceptance of the nomination should be expressed. 
 
 " The proceedings of the convention were marked with 
 wisdom, moderation, and patriotism, and I believe ex 
 press the feelings of the great mass of those who sustained 
 the country through its recent trials. I endorse the reso 
 lutions. 
 
 "If elected to the office of President of the United 
 States, it will be my endeavour to administer all the laws 
 in good faith, with economy, and with the view of giving 
 peace, quiet, and protection everywhere. In times like the 
 
 U 
 
2QO FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 present it is impossible, or at least eminently improper, to lay 
 doivn a policy to be adhered to, right or wrong, through an 
 administration of four years. New political issues, not 
 foreseen, are constantly arising ; the views of the public 
 on old ones are constantly changing, and a purely admi 
 nistrative officer should always be left free to execute the 
 will of the people. I always have respected that will, 
 and always shall. 
 
 " Peace and universal prosperity its sequence with 
 economy of administration, will lighten the burden of 
 taxation, while it constantly reduces the national debt. 
 Let us have peace ! " 
 
 These views exhibit the spirit with which General 
 Grant entered upon his duties as President of the United 
 States. "With malice towards none and charity for all," 
 he became the Chief Executive. Though first in war, 
 he planned and laboured for "peace." Though conqueror 
 of the South, he was its best friend. His leading pur 
 pose continued to be, to heal the breach between the 
 North and South, that the two sections of country might 
 dwell together in unity. To this end he bent his ener 
 gies, willing to bear the severest criticisms of leaders in 
 his own party, if, by tolerant means, he could restore 
 peace to the distracted nation. 
 
 Here he found more than one army to meet and van 
 quish. The humbled South, the Democratic party of the 
 North, and some leaders of his own party all these were 
 factors in the intricate problem of national affairs to be 
 solved. " Grant wished all personal hatred and animosi 
 ties laid aside the past to be wiped out, and the welfare 
 of the country the whole country the only object to 
 be sought after. As President, he determined to treat 
 his former enemies with the same magnanimity that he 
 did as General in the field. He would not even listen to 
 
AT THE TOP. 291 
 
 arguments for this or that measure that looked only to 
 party success." 
 
 Of course it was a period of critical importance when 
 Grant became President Had all loyal citizens believed 
 with him, the difficulties of the hour would have largely 
 diminished. But there was much difference of opinion 
 in respect to public policy, and these differences were 
 sustained by an inexcusable amount of personal bitter 
 ness. To bring harmony out of the chaotic state of 
 affairs existing, with hostilities waged in his own party, 
 was well-nigh as difficult a campaign as Donelson or 
 Shiloh. Only a self-reliant, independent, and honest 
 President could carry himself successfully through such 
 a conflict. 
 
 General Grant was inaugurated President March 4, 
 1869. His cabinet were : Elihu B. Washburne, his old 
 friend and townsman of Galena, 111., for Secretary of 
 State ; Alexander T. Stewart, of New York, Secretary 
 of Treasury ; Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, Secretary of the 
 Interior ; Adolph E. Borie, of Pennsylvania, Secretary 
 of the Navy ; John M. Schofield, of Illinois, Secretary 
 of War; John A. J. Creswell, of Maryland, Postmaster- 
 General; E. Rockwell Hoar, of Massachusetts, Attorney- 
 General. Schuyler Colfax was Vice-President. 
 
 It was found, however, that Mr. Stewart was disquali 
 fied for the position by an act of 1789, prohibiting a 
 person engaged in trade and commerce being appointed 
 to the office ; and George S. Boutwell, of Massachusetts, 
 received the appointment. Soon, also, Mr. Washburne 
 was appointed Minister to France, and Hamilton Fish, 
 of New York, became Secretary of State. Mr. Scho- 
 field also retired from the War Department, and John A. 
 Rawlins, Grant s friend and neighbour of Galena, his 
 true and tried staff-officer through the war, became 
 
292 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Secretary of War. Rawlins died, however, in four 
 months, and William W. Belknap of Iowa was ap 
 pointed to fill his place. Mr. Borie resigned in June, and 
 George M. Robeson of New Jersey took his place. Mr. 
 Hoar resigned in July, 1870, and was succeeded by A. T 
 Akerman of Georgia, who, in turn, resigned in Decem 
 ber, 1871, and was succeeded by George H. Williams of 
 Oregon. Mr. Cox resigned in November, 1870, and 
 Columbus Delano succeeded him. 
 
 The work of reconstructing the late rebellious States 
 had been obstructed by the antagonism of President 
 Johnson to Congress ; but now both President Grant and 
 Congress addressed themselves to the work with industry 
 and determination. President Johnson, with whose dis 
 solute habits and public career the loyal people had 
 become disgusted, was no longer an obstacle to just and 
 necessary legislation. 
 
 On his first message to Congress, President Grant 
 recommended a return to specie payment as soon as 
 possible, " for which no substitute can be devised." 
 Also, civil service reform and a more humane and satis 
 factory Indian policy were recommended ; these, in 
 addition to the numerous questions connected with re 
 construction. President Grant said in his message: 
 
 "On my assuming the responsible duties of Chief 
 Magistrate of the United States, it was with the convic 
 tion that three things were essential to its peace, pros 
 perity, and fullest development. First among these is 
 strict intregrity in fufilling all our obligations. Second, 
 to secure protection to the person and property of the 
 citizen of the United States in each and every portion of 
 our common country, wherever he may choose to move, 
 without reference to original nationality, religion, colour, 
 or politics, demanding of him only obedience to the laws 
 
AT THE TOP. 293 
 
 and proper respect for the rights of others. Third, union 
 of all the States with equal rights indestructible by 
 any constitutional mean s." 
 
 President Grant proceeded early to reform the manage 
 ment of Indian affairs, which had been conducted by the 
 military arm of the Government. His acquaintance 
 with Indians on the frontier, as well as his correct know 
 ledge of human nature, led him to repudiate the old 
 method of dealing with the Indians. In his first message 
 he said, 
 
 " From my own experience upon the frontiers, and in 
 Indian countries, I do not hold either legislation or the 
 conduct of the whites who come most in contact with the 
 Indian, blameless for these hostilities. The past, how 
 ever, cannot be undone, and the question must be met 
 as we now find it. I have attempted a new policy 
 towards these wards of the nation (they cannot be re 
 garded in any other light than as wards) with fair results 
 so far as tried, and which I hope will be attended ulti 
 mately with great success. The Society of Friends is 
 well known as having succeeded in living in peace with 
 the Indians in the early settlement of Pennsylvania, 
 while their white neighbours of other sects, in other sec 
 tions, were constantly embroiled. They are also known 
 for their opposition to all strife, violence, and war, and 
 are generally noted for their strict integrity and fair 
 dealings. These considerations induced me to ^ive the 
 
 o o 
 
 management of a few reservations of Indians to them, 
 and to throw the burden of selection of agents upon 
 the Society itself. The result has proved most satis 
 factory." 
 
 Here is the great warrior and fighter, so intent upon 
 " peace" and "goodwill" among all men, that he selects 
 agents who repudiate all war as wicked in the extreme, 
 
294 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to govern and educate the most savage tribes of men. 
 He stoutly maintained that the Church instead of the 
 State should have the management of the Indians 
 throughout the land. He submitted the matter, at one 
 time, to the officers of the American Missionary Associa 
 tion, whose special field of labour was among the Freed- 
 men of the South ; and they decided to assume the 
 responsibility, at least so far as a portion of the Indian 
 tribes were concerned; and they appointed some of their 
 most successful missionaries for Indian agents. The 
 plan proved successful. 
 
 President Grant s Indian policy introduced a new era 
 of hope for the Indian in America ; and from that 
 time, the improvement of this class has been rapid, and 
 that, too, with increased economy for the government, 
 and fewer outbreaks in violence and war by the Indians. 
 If Grant s administration were distinguished for nothing 
 more than his new Indian policy, this alone would be 
 sufficient to give it a foremost place in history. 
 
 The opposition to his Indian policy, civil-service re 
 form, renewal of specie payment, and other measures in 
 Congress, was decided, and sometimes even violent. A 
 few leading Republicans of the country, like Charles 
 Sumner and Horace Greeley, arrayed themselves against 
 him, and bandied about severe criticisms, as unwise as 
 they were partisan. 
 
 A formal petition from Santo Domingo was received 
 by the Government, asking to be taken under its protec 
 tion. President Grant had no particular interest in the 
 matter, except that he believed the United States should 
 have some foothold in the West Indies to promote 
 commerce. First, he sent his own agents thither to in 
 vestigate the state of affairs and report. Their report 
 was favourable in every respect ; whereupon the Pre- 
 
AT THE TOP. 295 
 
 sident submitted a treaty to the Senate. At the same 
 time, for the purpose of furnishing all available informa 
 tion, he sent a commission, composed of public men in 
 whom the country had entire confidence, to investigate 
 further. B. F. Wade of Ohio, A. D. White of New York, 
 and S. G. Howe of Massachusetts, constituted that com 
 mission the best selection of men that could possibly 
 have been made. Frederick Douglas was sent with them 
 also, that all sides of the question might be represented. 
 This commission reported unanimously in favour of 
 annexation ; and nothing was left for the President but 
 to recommend the measure. Charles Sumner opposed 
 the project vehemently, to the surprise of some of his 
 best friends. For he had advocated the payment of 
 seventy-one million dollars for Alaska ; and an equal 
 sum for St. Thomas. Subsequent events proved con 
 clusively that the defeat of the measure was unfortunate 
 for the best interests of the country. To-day the wisdom 
 of Grant is more conspicuous than that of Sumner in 
 this affair. 
 
 He was bitterly assailed, also, for his acts in the line 
 of civil-service reform. That he shoidd sometimes make 
 a mistake in the appointment of thousands of men to 
 office, is not strange. Even some good men cannot 
 withstand the temptations of a political life, and break 
 down morally after their appointment. But that Grant 
 intention ally appointed a bad man to any place of trust, 
 no man believes to-day. But he was persistently opposed 
 by members of Congress. This body was so slow to 
 adopt his recommendations -upon civil-service reform, that 
 (he said, in his fourth message, "In three successive 
 messages to Congress, I have called attention to civil- 
 service reform." The difference between Grant and 
 most of his opponents in Congress, was that he was 
 
296 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 thoroughly honest, ever deciding for what he thought 
 was right and for the highest good of the country, while 
 most of his Republican opponents had an eye to the 
 loaves and fishes of political promotion, either for them 
 selves or their party. 
 
 His Indian policy, too, stirred up a nest of fault-finders, 
 though the most thoughtful and honest people regarded 
 it as singularly humane and wise. It was not altogether 
 strange that there should be difference of opinion in the 
 settlement of this and other important questions ; but 
 the degree of bitterness manifested by a class of oppo 
 nents was very good evidence that personal animosity, 
 selfish interest or a partisan spirit, was the real source of 
 the opposition. 
 
 The Governor of Louisiana called upon President 
 Grant for United States troops, to assist him in preserv 
 ing order. The President responded by sending troops, 
 as the Constitution required that he should do. Some 
 of Grant s opponents held that the election of Governor 
 was fraudulent, which was true, no doubt ; but that was 
 a question for Congress to investigate, and not the Pre 
 sident. The duty of the latter was plain to respond to 
 the demand of the Governor of Louisiana for troops. 
 But this was made the occasion of renewed attacks upon 
 the President by a class of politicians who were deter 
 mined not to be satisfied with his administration. Some 
 of them had been aspirants for the presidency, and w-re 
 sorely disappointed that he had beaten them in the rac. 
 Others were aspirants for other positions, which they 
 failed to secure, much to their chagrin and mortification. 
 In his appointments, Grant disappointed many prominent 
 Republicans, because he selected men who had not 
 figured largely in politics, but were men of integrity and 
 ability in their vocations. The President believed that, 
 
AT THE TOP. 297 
 
 in this way, he would secure a better class of public 
 servants, than by the usual plan of selecting men who 
 had worked hard for the party. Besides, this plan alone 
 would enable him to carry out his ideas of civil-service 
 reform far more successfully than the other. 
 
 When the Electoral Commission were transacting their 
 important business, the President removed United States 
 troops nearer Washington, which raised a great hue and 
 cry among his enemies. The opponents of the measure, 
 who were the strong friends of Tilden, threatened violence 
 in Washington. The authorities of that city and many 
 of its leading citizens, together with influential members 
 of Congress, believed that there was imminent danger 
 of mobocratic rule, and earnestly besought the President 
 to provide for the emergency. To provide thus against 
 a possible rebellion could do no hurt, though the troops 
 might not be needed. The President adopted the 
 measure in the interest of good order ; and the result 
 vindicated his wisdom. 
 
 Without speaking of other measures which caused the 
 opposition of President Grant s enemies, those considered 
 show that his civil administration was well-nigh as 
 stormy as his military life. It was a political Shiloh, 
 for which only a man of steel, like himself, was qualified. 
 The heaviest guns never caused him to quail ; and he 
 stood by his colours like one who was expected to defend 
 them or die. His triumphant election to a second term 
 of office proved that the great majority of the loyal 
 people endorsed his administration. 
 
 Hon. J. A. J. Creswell, who was five years in President 
 Grant s Cabinet, as Postmaster-General, spoke of him 
 as follows : 
 
 " General Grant s great characteristic was his sublime 
 and unflinching courage. It was of that kind that no 
 
298 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 impression could be made upon it by opposition. He 
 discharged his duties always without selfishness ; never 
 stopping to consider how an action would affect him 
 personally. He wanted to know what was just, what 
 was right. I remember an instance of this kind at the 
 time we had a postal treaty with Japan, which gave us 
 almost entire control of the Japanese postal service. 
 When their relations grew more intimate with us and 
 with other nations, they desired to have charge of their 
 own service, and took steps in that direction. After the 
 Japanese minister had talked with me about a treaty to 
 that effect, I went to Grant and laid the matter before 
 him. I found that he had but one idea to do what 
 was right and just toward Japan. I pointed out to him, 
 that if he should sign such a treaty, we would be sur 
 rendering our control of the Japanese service, and would 
 be subjected to severe criticism, especially on the Pacific 
 coast. But isn t it right ? was his reply. Can there 
 be any doubt about it ? I told him I only wanted to 
 advise him of the consequences. He was satisfied that 
 the treaty was just, and he signed it. I remember the 
 time when he refused to sign the bill, which appeared to 
 be a deflection from the course we have determined upon. 
 " For the resumption of specie payment, there was an 
 immense pressure brought to bear on Grant to sign the 
 bill. Republicans of prominence urged it, thinking the 
 bill would prove a satisfactory half-way measure. I 
 think Grant s personal inclination was to sign it. Secre 
 tary Fish and myself were the only ones in the Cabinet 
 who opposed its approval. At the Cabinet meeting, 
 when it was considered, Grant drew from his desk a 
 paper and read it It was a message to Congress, return 
 ing the bill with his signature. I said, * I regret very 
 much that you should have felt it your duty to pursue 
 
AT THE TOP. 299 
 
 such a course. That isn t my view of the matter/ he 
 replied. I wanted to do what was best, so I wrote all I 
 could in behalf of the bill ; but it doesn t satisfy me ; 
 and he refused to sign it. If he had signed it, it would 
 have caused us unlimited trouble. 
 
 "Grant never lost his head when we came so near 
 being engaged in a war with Spain on account of the 
 Virginius affair. There was a good deal of excitement at 
 the Cabinet meeting, and a war with Spain was imminent. 
 Grant knew what war meant ; and by his coolness and 
 by his sound judgment prevented it. He was assisted 
 in this by the Spanish representative in this country, 
 who was a naval officer. He, too, knew what fighting 
 meant ; and these two really prevented a war." 
 
 The opposition of Charles Sumner, Horace Greeley, 
 and others, culminated in a union of Grant s Republican 
 opponents with the Democratic party, and the nomina 
 tion of Horace Greeley for President, and B. Gratz 
 Brown for Vice-President. Pilate and Herod became 
 friends under this singular and unexpected arrangement 
 the most violent friends of slavery uniting with the 
 most radical friends of freedom. Very bitter things 
 were said about Grant by the Republican leaders who 
 joined this faction. But they inflicted more injury upon 
 themselves than they did upon him, as the election very 
 clearly proved ; for the appeal to the verdict of the 
 people resulted in Grant s renomination by acclamation, 
 and his election by an overwhelming majority. Grant 
 and Wilson received two hundred and sixty-eight votes 
 in the Electoral College, against eighty for other candi 
 dates. Grant s popular majority over Greeley was seven 
 hundred and sixty-two thousand nine hundred and 
 ninety-one. This was an unexpected endorsement of 
 Grant s administration to those Republicans who com- 
 
300 FROM THE TAN -YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 mitted themselves against it ; and many of them felt the 
 sharp rebuke. 
 
 It is not our purpose to occupy space by the details of 
 President Grant s second term as Chief Executive. It 
 was a successful administration, to which there was less 
 opposition than there was to his first term of four years. 
 His ability as a statesman was more and more apparent 
 to the people, as his military genius became more and 
 more manifest in each succeeding year of the war 
 Many who doubted the wisdom of electing a military 
 man President, became satisfied that the measure was a 
 fortunate one for the country. So strongly did many of 
 the wisest leaders, both North and South, feel upon the 
 subject, that they proposed to nominate him for a third 
 term, contrary to all precedent ; but Grant, supported by 
 many of his best friends, condemned the plan as sub 
 versive of a time-honoured custom, which could result in 
 no great advantage to the country. But in 1880 a 
 movement of great magnitude, to secure his election to 
 a third term, was inaugurated, and would have proved 
 successful if Grant himself had actively engaged in the 
 canvass. 
 
 Mr. Creswell, who was almost as familiar with the 
 facts as Grant himself, says, 
 
 " He didn t desire to be President a third term for any 
 glory or reputation, but his sole object was to reconcile 
 the North and South, and I think he would have done 
 it thoroughly. The ( Solid South would have been a 
 thing of the past." 
 
 Here, as elsewhere, Grant s unselfish spirit was mani 
 fest. He was always ready to sink himself for the good 
 of his country. George W. Childs, Esq., of Philadelphia, 
 one of his most intimate friends, said, 
 
 " He is generous to a fault, and has given away a 
 
AT THE TOP. 301 
 
 fortune in charities. In this, like in everything else, he 
 was modest. The same modesty that prevented him 
 from asking for an appointment or a promotion, caused 
 him to maintain silence concerning his gifts to the 
 needy. I remember that when he was on one of his 
 visits to me during his presidency, a great many people 
 called here to ask favours of him. Not caring to have 
 him worried, I refused admittance to all whom I sus 
 pected of being on an errand of that kind. One day a 
 lady who lived in the same block in fact only a few 
 doors from my house called and asked to see him. 
 c You may see her, General, said I, laughing, I guess 
 she is not after an appointment. 1 He came back in a 
 little while and said, * You were wrong ; she was after 
 an appointment. I looked at him in astonishment, and 
 he explained that the lady wanted him to transfer the 
 sister-in-law of Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln s Secretary 
 of War, from the mint, where she was then employed, 
 and where the work was too hard for her, to the Treasury 
 Department. He requested me to see the Assistant 
 United States Treasurer in this city, and ask him to give 
 her a position. I did so, and the Assistant Treasurer 
 told me he had no vacancy. General Grant s request 
 is law, however/ said he, and I can make room for Mrs. 
 Stanton, by removing a lady who has no need for a 
 position here/ This was done, and some time afterward 
 I met a son of Mr. Stanton (the latter was dead at the 
 time), who thanked me for getting his aunt the appoint 
 ment. General Grant appointed her, said I. * Oh no, 
 said he, General Grant himself told me that you had 
 got the appointment for her. This is characteristic of 
 the General, who is continually doing good, and giving 
 others the credit." 
 
 Thus, the Tanner Boy and humble leather merchant 
 
302 FROM THE TAN- YARD 2^0 THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of Galena climbed to the top round of the ladder of fame. 
 In eight years from the time he took his satchel and left 
 his Galena home to enlist for the war, he became Pre 
 sident of the United States. So unknown at the out 
 break of the war that no one prophesied for him a 
 career of even moderate distinction ; yet, he outstripped 
 the military men of whom the nation expected great 
 things, and carried off the garlands which had been 
 woven for them. Though about the last man to whom 
 his nearest friend looked for statesmanship before the 
 war, his eight years of service at the head of the nation 
 abundantly vindicated his claim to be ranked with our 
 wisest rulers of the past. 
 
 And now the problem of his life is not difficult to solve. 
 From the standpoint of to-day it is clear as noonday 
 how he worked his way up to the highest post of renown. 
 He made the most of himself possible, not by the aid of 
 friends or political patronage, but by his own personal 
 efforts, in spite of obstacles that would have carried 
 dismay to hearts less persistent and brave. Elements 
 of character, to which we called attention again and 
 again, dominating his whole life, from boyhood to man 
 hood, wrought for him as only such qualities can. It 
 would be quite impossible to find, a public man, in all 
 the annals of the past, with whose career what men call 
 "accident," or "luck," or "fortune," had so little to do as 
 they did with Grant. From the bottom to the top round 
 of the ladder, it was one persistent climbing by his own 
 unassisted efforts, patronage, fortune, and all the rest of 
 the aids to which politicians look for help, standing aloof 
 to let him climb. This is what distinguished his career 
 from that of most public men, whom the accident of 
 birth, patronage, and good fortune favoured. He 
 " earned " every oromotion before it became his. 
 
AT THE TOP. 303 
 
 We cannot do better than to close this chapter with 
 further testimony from Mr. Cresswell, who knew Grant 
 so well. Being asked what he thought of President 
 Grant as a writer, he replied, 
 
 " He wrote with great facility. His style, like his 
 character, was the embodiment of directness. He used 
 few metaphors and little ornamentation, and never two 
 words where one would do, preferring Saxon words to 
 Latin or French. He never hesitated for a word, and 
 always went right to the point. He wrote all his own 
 papers, notwithstanding the reports to the contrary, 
 and all his messages were framed and written by him 
 self." 
 
 " What are the facts about him as a talker ? " 
 
 " Those who thought Grant couldn t talk made a 
 mistake," was the reply. "When he became intimate 
 with one, he would talk as much as any companion 
 should. I have heard him do nearly all the talking for 
 an hour or two. He was a good talker, but slow ; some 
 times hesitating for aword something never experienced 
 in writing. He either had implicit confidence in a man 
 or he had none. He was quick to form an estimate of 
 a man, and if his suspicions were once aroused, his firm 
 jaws shut like a trap, and he would remain cold and 
 silent, and by his appearance could chill a speaker, no 
 matter how earnest he might be. He always was 
 modest and unassuming never presented himself as a 
 hero of an occasion, and never introduced military sub 
 jects in conversation. He had a very quick eye, and it 
 was surprising to me how he could take in the whole 
 topography at a glance. I remember once, while he was 
 visiting me at my farm, I took him along for a drive 
 around the country. I took a by-road, intending to 
 strike the main road, but missed my way, Finally, I 
 
304 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 laughingly confessed it. Where did you want to go ? 
 he asked. I wanted to strike a road which would take 
 me to the village which lies in that direction. He stood 
 up in the buggy, and, looking over the surrounding 
 country, said : If you will let down the fence here, 
 drive over this field, and then through that gate up 
 yonder, I think you ll strike the road you want on that 
 ridge. * Why do you think so ? I asked. * Well, you 
 say the village is in that direction [pointing] ; up there I 
 see quite a settlement. The people who live there will 
 have a way to reach the village, and they could not find 
 a better way than along that ridge. I did as he advised, 
 and found the road just where he said I would. I ex 
 pressed surprise at his accuracy, and he replied, ( It has 
 been part of my business to find roads. A good soldier 
 should be able by seeing a portion of the country to 
 form a good judgment of what the rest is. " 
 
 Mr. Cresswell adds, 
 
 " I had more admiration for General Grant than for 
 any man I ever saw, and it grieves me to the soul that 
 he should be ending his days in suffering. I knew 
 Lincoln, and I knew Stanton, and those two, with Grant, 
 made the distinguished trio. Grant, the great soldier ; 
 Stanton, the executive officer ; and Lincoln, the great 
 arbiter. Grant s qualities of true manliness were more 
 pronounced than those of any man I ever knew. In my 
 close relations with him, while I was a member of his 
 cabinet, I never heard him say a harsh or petty thing ; 
 never heard him speak impulsively, or use a profane 
 word. His relations with his family were most delight 
 ful and charming. There never was a kinder or more 
 indulgent father, and I never saw a more devoted couple 
 than General and Mrs. Grant. Of course everybody 
 knows how he loved his daughter. The meeting be- 
 
AT THE TOP. 305 
 
 tvveen them was very touching, and the emotion shown 
 by the old warrior exhibited the depth of his affection." 
 
 Gen. Charles Devens, of Massachusetts, who was 
 intimately associated with Grant, both in war and 
 peace, paid the following tribute to him at the " soldiers 
 carnival" in Boston, April 12, 1885 : 
 
 " Our service to-day has an added and peculiar 
 solemnity. With moistened eyes and quivering lips we 
 have seemed, as we celebrated it, to stand watching and 
 waiting by the very side of the dying couch of the illus 
 trious chieftain who was the leader of all our armies. 
 How great and noble he has been, how immense the 
 debt we owe him, we have never appreciated until the 
 time has come when we know we must part with him 
 for ever. The representative of all as he lies in the 
 august majesty of impending death, there gather around 
 him the tender memories of all who have gone before 
 him. His glory and his deeds were theirs, and theirs 
 were his, and no commander ever claimed less for him 
 self or gave more to those who followed him than Grant. 
 Well may a nation swell the funereal cry of him in whom 
 were embodied all there was of courage, of endurance, 
 of patriotism that distinguished the national soldier ; 
 and as the sounds of our sad farewell sink away in his 
 dying ear, we will believe there will rise the tones of 
 glad welcome from those he goes to meet. His place is 
 to be for ever with those whom God has reared up to 
 save great nations in their hour of peril. It is gratifying 
 to feel that all good men have fully given him their 
 hearts at last ; that detraction has been silent ; that 
 carping criticism its meanest form has been dumb ; 
 that many even of those once in arms against him 
 and the cause for which he fought have recognised his 
 generosity and forbearance, and that we who have loved 
 
 X 
 
306 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 him always have been allowed to renew to him the 
 assurances of our respect and devotion. As after a day 
 of clouds and storm there comes a calm, the winds are 
 still and the world is flooded with the mellow light of 
 the descending sun, even so as this great life of toil and 
 struggle, of labour and duty, of vast and patriotic ser 
 vice draws to its close, earth and sky are filled with its 
 glorious radiance, while he that has lived it, simple, 
 serene, and uncomplaining, waits for that final word 
 that will indeed dismiss him from our sight, but never 
 from our love," 
 
XXIII. 
 
 IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY, 
 
 GENERAL GRANT S fame had gone out through all the 
 world during the sixteen years of public service which 
 he had rendered to his country. There was a very strong 
 desire in other nations to see " the greatest general of 
 modern times." He was repeatedly urged by public 
 men in other lands to visit them. The request met with 
 a glad response from his own heart ; for he had become 
 wholly absorbed in the affairs of government, and he 
 would study other governments, and learn statesmanship 
 as it is found in other countries. He needed, too, the 
 relaxation from public business ; for sixteen years he 
 had been subjected to a constant strain, such as no 
 other American ever endured for so long a period. Four 
 years in war ; four years more at the head of our armies 
 in settling the issues of the war ; and eight years 
 President of the United States, service that involved 
 thought and deeds, night and day, much of the time ! 
 His fine physical organization, under the control of an 
 immense will-power, alone could have carried him 
 through such a strain. It is not strange that a long, 
 unbroken rest was absolutely necessary. 
 
 It was arranged for General Grant to sail for the Old 
 World on the Indiana, on the i/th day of May, 1877, 
 The news of his decision to start on that day had spread 
 
 over the land, and crossed the Atlantic to other land 
 
 307 
 
308 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 so that the distinguished tourist became an object of 
 interest to the world from the time of his departure. 
 He breakfasted with George W. Childs, Esq., of Philadel 
 phia, to whom we referred in the last chapter ; and then, 
 in company with many friends, including the Mayor of 
 the city, he boarded the Magenta to go down the 
 Delaware to the Indiana^ twenty-five miles distant. 
 The banks of the river were lined with people to bid 
 adieu to the man whose eminent service for the country 
 had awakened their gratitude. Men cheered, ladies 
 waved their handkerchiefs, and children shouted, as the 
 boat sped on her way. 
 
 A table was spread for lunch on the Magenta, and 
 toasts were read ; in reply to which eloquent speeches 
 were made. Major Stokley delivered a parting address 
 to General Grant, in which he spoke so kindly of his 
 service to his country, and of the debt of gratitude under 
 which the American citizen is placed, as to well-nigh 
 overcome him. In reply, the General said, with con 
 siderable emotion, 
 
 " I do not feel myself competent to respond to so 
 many kind words uttered, and can only express my 
 sincere thanks." 
 
 Once on board the Indiana, she steamed away amid 
 the cheers of the multitude and the thunder of cannon. 
 
 While this was transpiring on one side of the Atlantic, 
 on the other side distinguished leaders were discussing 
 whether Grant should be received as a sovereign or an 
 American citizen. Fillmore and Van Buren had visited 
 England, and they were received as honoured citizens of 
 the United States only. But Lord Beaconsfield finally 
 announced that he would be received as a sovereign. 
 In his nature he was just such a sovereign as would be 
 found beneath the jacket of almost any American 
 
IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 309 
 
 citizen ; and yet he was doomed to the crucial test. 
 What a trial to his prevailing modesty none but him 
 will ever know. 
 
 The steamer was eleven days on its voyage through 
 rough and stormy weather. Most of the passengers 
 were sea-sick, except General Grant, who was as quiet 
 and self-possessed as usual in the roughest weather. 
 
 At Queenstown a steamer from Cork, Ireland, with a 
 large delegation on board, steered alongside to tender 
 to General Grant the hospitalities of that city. They 
 were received on board, and conducted to the captain s 
 cabin, where an informal reception took place, and the 
 invitation to visit Ireland was extended. General Grant 
 replied briefly to the address, promising to visit Ireland 
 at a future day. 
 
 In the afternoon the Indiana reached Liverpool, where 
 an unexpected display greeted the honoured visitor. 
 The whole city was covered with flags, and flags of 
 every nationality floated from the ships in the harbour. 
 The wharves were literally crammed with people, whose 
 loud cheers rang out upon the water long before the 
 steamer reached her landing. With uncovered head, 
 Grant acknowledged the ovation as the steamer rode 
 into harbour. With the wife of the Consul-General of 
 London on his arm, he stepped upon the pier, where a 
 cordon of police closed around him ; and the Mayor 
 advanced and read an address of welcome, to which the 
 General briefly replied. Then, stepping into the Mayor s 
 carriage with his wife, he was driven to the Adelphi 
 hotel, followed by a long procession of carriages, occu 
 pied by lords and ladies, and a crowd of people com 
 pletely filling the streets, and making the city ring with 
 their plaudits. The next day he was shown the objects 
 of interest in the city, and lunched with the Mayor at 
 
310 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the town-hall, where speeches were made ; and he replied 
 to a toast, in which he spoke of the harmony existing 
 between the United States and the mother-country, and 
 then proposed the health of the Mayor, Mayoress, and 
 ladies of Liverpool. 
 
 On the following day he visited Manchester, where 
 the compliments, applause, toasts, and speeches were 
 repeated ; and here our modest American made the 
 longest speech of all. He spoke as follows : 
 
 " It is scarcely possible for me to give utterance to the 
 feelings evoked by my reception upon your soil from the 
 moment of my arrival in Liverpool, where I have passed 
 two days, until the present moment. After the scene I 
 have witnessed in your streets, the elements of greatness, 
 as manifested in your public and industrial buildings, 
 I may be allowed to say that no person could be the 
 recipient of the honour and attention you have bestowed 
 upon me without the profoundest feeling. Such have 
 been incited in me, and I find myself inadequate to 
 their proper expression. It was my original purpose on 
 my arrival in Liverpool to hasten to London, and from 
 thence proceed to visit the various points of interest in 
 the country. Among these I have regarded Manchester 
 as the most important. [Hear.] As I have been aware 
 for years of the great amount of your manufactures, 
 many of which find their ultimate destination in my 
 own country, so I am aware that the sentiments of the 
 great mass of the people of Manchester went out in 
 sympathy to that country during the mighty struggle in 
 which it fell to my lot to take some humble part. The 
 expressions of the people of Manchester at the time of 
 our great trial incited within the hearts of my country 
 men a feeling of friendship toward them distinct from 
 that felt toward all England, and in that spirit I accept, 
 
IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 311 
 
 on the part of my country, the compliments paid me as 
 its representative, and thank you." 
 
 A lunch followed in the programme, when the Mayor 
 highly complimented the city s guest, and facetiously 
 remarked, 
 
 "We have got out of him more and longer speeches 
 than his countrymen ever did." 
 
 General Grant replied, and as facetiously said, 
 
 " Englishmen have drawn from me more and longer 
 speeches than my countrymen, but they are poorer 
 simply because they are longer than I have been accus 
 tomed to make." 
 
 Jacob Bright, a member of Parliament, was called 
 upon for a speech, and he said, 
 
 "No guest so distinguished has ever before visited 
 Manchester. General Grant is a brave soldier, and he 
 has pursued a generous, pacific policy toward the enemy 
 he conquered. He should be honoured and beloved, 
 and deserves the hearty reception he is sure to receive 
 throughout the realm." 
 
 The next day, on his way to the London station, a 
 crowd of factory-girls met him, in their working-dresses, 
 and gave him a warm salute with handkerchief and voice, 
 
 A similar demonstration was made at Leicestershire 
 and Bedford, on his way to London. At the latter place 
 the Mayor, in his address to General Grant, called him 
 " the Hannibal of the American armies." 
 
 In reply, the General asked to be excused from mak 
 ing a speech, and called forth much laughter by suggest 
 ing, " I might provide a substitute, perhaps, as men do 
 in some other positions." 
 
 But the most remarkable festivities awaited his arrival 
 in London, such honours as are never bestowed upon 
 another there except crowned heads. Preparations had 
 
312 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 been making for several weeks on the most imposing 
 scale ; and for a whole week the humble leather-dealer 
 of Galena was feted by the aristocracy and royalty of 
 the kingdom in a manner that would have touched the 
 pride of any one but him. 
 
 The American Minister to England, Mr. Pierrepont, met 
 him at St. Pancras Station, and took him in his private 
 carriage to his own residence in London. 
 
 The most imposing of all the ceremonies to honour 
 their guest, was that of conferring upon him the free 
 dom of the city. The following is an accurate descrip 
 tion of the affair : 
 
 " This is the highest honour that can be paid by this 
 ancient and renowned corporation. The freedom of the 
 city was presented in a gold casket. The obverse cen 
 tral panel contains a view of the Capitol at Washington, 
 and on the right and left are the General s monogram 
 and the arms of the Lord Mayor. On the reverse side 
 is a view of the entrance to the Guildhall and an in 
 scription. At the end are two figures, also in gold, re 
 presenting the city of London and the Republic of the 
 United States ; these figures bear enamelled shields. 
 At the corners are double columns, laurel-wreathed, 
 with corn and cotton, and on the cover a cornucopia, as 
 a compliment to the fertility and prosperity of the 
 United States. The cover is surmounted by the arms 
 of the city of London, and in the decorations are inter 
 woven the rose, the shamrock, and the thistle. The 
 casket is supported by the American eagle in gold, 
 standing on a velvet plinth, decorated with stars and 
 stripes. 
 
 " The ceremonies attending the presentation of the 
 freedom of the city of London are stately and unique. 
 The Guildhall, one of the most ancient and picturesque 
 
IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 313 
 
 buildings in the city, was especially prepared for the 
 occasion, and eight hundred guests were invited to the 
 banquet, a considerable portion of them being ladies. 
 There were the members of the Corporation, the Ameri 
 can Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mem 
 bers of Parliament, and representatives of the American 
 Colony resident in London. On arriving at the Guild 
 hall the General was received by a deputation of four 
 Aldermen, with the chairman and four members of 
 the City Lands Committee, including the mover and 
 seconder of the resolution presenting the freedom. This 
 deputation conducted the General to his place in the 
 Common Council on the left-hand of the Lord Mayor. 
 The passage leading to the library was guarded by a 
 detachment of the London Brigade. The routine of 
 business being over, the Chamberlain arose and ad 
 dressed General Grant in quite a lengthy speech, in which 
 he spoke of the two countries, of Grant s military 
 achievements, and the distinguished position he had held 
 as President of a great Republic, and expressed the wish 
 that he might enjoy his visit, and closed by adding, 
 
 " Nothing now remains, General, but that I should 
 present you an illuminated copy of the resolutions of 
 this honourable Court, for which an appropriate casket 
 is in the course of preparation, and, in conclusion, offer 
 you, in the name of the honourable Court, the right 
 hand of fellowship as a citizen of London. " 
 General Grant s reply was as follows : 
 " It is a matter of some regret to me that I have 
 never cultivated the art of public speaking, which might 
 have enabled me to express in suitable terms my grati 
 tude for the compliment which has been paid to my 
 countrymen and myself on this occasion. Were I in 
 the habit of speaking in public, I should claim the right 
 
314 FROM THE TAN- YARD 70 THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to express my opinion, and what I believe will be the 
 opinion of my countrymen when the proceedings of this 
 day shall have been telegraphed to them. For myself 
 I have been very much surprised at my reception at all 
 places since the day I landed at Liverpool, up to my 
 appearance in this, the greatest city in the world. 1 1 
 was entirely unexpected, and it is particularly gratifying 
 to me. I believe that this honour is intended quite as 
 much for the country which I have had the opportunity 
 of serving in different capacities, as for myself; and I 
 am glad that this is so, because I Titent to see the hap 
 piest relations existing, not only between the United 
 States and Great Britain, but also between the United 
 States and all other nations. Although a soldier by 
 education and profession, I have never felt any sort of 
 fondness for war, and I have never advocated it except 
 as a means of peace. I hope we shall always settle 
 our differences in all future negotiations as amicably as 
 we did in a recent instance. I believe that settlement 
 has had a happy effect on both countries, and that from 
 month to month and year to year the tie of common 
 civilization and common blood is getting stronger be 
 tween the two countries. My Lord Mayor, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen, I again thank you for the honour you have 
 done me and my country to-day." 
 
 Then General Grant signed the roll of honour, which 
 all great men, to whom the freedom of the city was ever 
 granted, had signed. 
 
 The inevitable lunch followed these ceremonies, when 
 General Grant was again toasted by the Lord Mayor, 
 another speech being expected from the General. The 
 latter created considerable merriment by his response: 
 
 " My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen : Habits formed in 
 early life and early education press upon us as we 
 
IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 315 
 
 grow older. I was brought up a soldier not to talking. 
 I am not aware that I ever fought two battles on the 
 same day in the same place; and that I should be called 
 upon to make two speeches on the same day under the 
 same roof is beyond my understanding." 
 
 Yet he made a third speech on that day the last 
 one being strictly voluntary. Later in the day he at 
 tended a private dinner in the Crystal Palace, when Mr 
 Hughes proposed his health, and said that a speech was 
 not expected. General Grant arose and said, 
 
 " Nevertheless I must express the gratification it gives 
 me to lit v my health proposed in such kind words by 
 1 Tom Brown of Rugby. " 
 
 There was a fine display of fireworks in the evening, 
 in which one of the pieces was a fine likeness of Grant 
 " drawn in blazing lines against the sky." The General 
 gazed at the likeness until it faded from his view, and, 
 in its place, arose the Capitol in flaming splendour, a 
 magnificent spectacle, worthy of so great an occasion. 
 Turning to Lady Ripon, who was sitting beside him, he 
 remarked, " They have burned me in effigy, and they 
 are now burning the Capitol." 
 
 He attended a costly banquet given by the Corpora 
 tion of Trinity College, and presided over by the Prince 
 of Wales. It was here that General Grant made one of 
 his happiest speeches. A listener said, " He said not a 
 word too much nor too little. The United States was 
 never represented better anywhere than General Grant 
 represented it on this occasion." 
 
 This eventful week of festivities received its crowning 
 glory by the reception which the Queen herself gave to 
 the General at Windsor Castle. The inside of this grand 
 affair was never made public, for the reason that it is 
 the custom to treat everything of the kind as sacred ; 
 
316 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 but the external ceremonies were published abroad. 
 Dinner was served in St. George s Hall, used only for 
 state banquets. A select royal company was present ; 
 small in numbers, because the Queen must converse 
 with every one present. The American Minister, Mr. 
 Pierrepont, introduced General Grant to Victoria, and 
 Lord Derby introduced Mrs. Grant. The Queen shook 
 hands with them cordially, while the ladies in waiting 
 bowed. 
 
 Then the gentlemen led the way to the table in the 
 Oak Room. The Queen sat at the head of the table. 
 On her right were Prince Leopold, Princess Christian, 
 and General Grant ; on her left Prince Christian, Prin 
 cess Beatrice, and Mr. Pierrepont ; then, the Duchess of 
 Wellington, Lord Elphinstone, and Mrs.Pierrepont, Lord 
 Derby and Mrs. Grant, the Duchess of Roxburgh and 
 Lord Biddulph, the Countess of Derby and Jesse Grant. 
 
 During the dinner conversation was free and easy, in 
 which the Queen joined with her accustomed vivacity ; 
 and she conversed with every one present. No speech 
 from the General on this occasion. 
 
 But on the next day General Grant was obliged to 
 risk another speech ; for he was waited upon by a 
 deputation of forty men, representing a million English 
 working-men. He was at the house of his old friend 
 and staff- officer, Consul-general Badeau. The leader 
 read an elaborate address to him, welcoming him to 
 England, and assuring him of their great interest in the 
 country which the General represented, where English 
 workmen were always welcome. After the reading of 
 the address, several of the deputation made speeches. 
 General Grant s reply was apropos : 
 
 " In the name of my country I thank you for the 
 address you have presented to me. I feel it a great 
 
IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 3*7 
 
 compliment paid my Government, and to me per 
 sonally. Since my arrival on British soil I have re 
 ceived great attentions, which were intended, I feel sure, 
 in the same way for my country. I have had ovations, 
 free hand-shakings, presentations from different classes, 
 from the Government, from the controlling authorities 
 of cities, and have been received in the cities by the 
 populace ; but there has been no reception which I am 
 prouder of than this to-day. I recognise the fact that 
 whatever there is of greatness in the United States, as 
 indeed in any other country, is due to labour. The 
 labourer is the author of all greatness and wealth. 
 Without labour there would be no government, or no 
 leading class, or nothing to preserve. With us labour 
 is regarded as highly respectable. When it is not so 
 regarded it is because man dishonours labour. We 
 recognise that labour dishonours no man ; and no mat 
 ter what a man s occupation is, he is eligible to fill any 
 post in the gift of the people; his occupation is not 
 considered in selecting, whether as a law-maker or as 
 an executor of the law. Now, gentlemen, in conclusion, 
 all I can do is to renew my thanks for the address, and 
 repeat what I have said before, that I have received no 
 thing from any class since my arrival which has given 
 me more pleasure." 
 
 We have not room to describe all the receptions and 
 festivities of that memorable week. The Queen gave 
 him another reception at Buckingham Palace in the 
 city, which was regarded a great honour. The Duke of 
 Wellington gave him a costly banquet at Apsley House, 
 where lords and ladies, counts and countesses, earls 
 and viscounts, and other royal characters, assembled 
 to do him honour. The Prince of Wales gave him a 
 private audience at the Marlborough House, where he 
 
3i8 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 was introduced to all the members of the family with 
 little formality. 
 
 At one reception he was asked, " How does English 
 racing compare with the races in America ? " 
 
 "There is an impression abroad," answered General 
 Grant, smiling, " that I am a great horse-racer, fond of 
 horses, and know all about races ; but, on the contrary, 
 I really know nothing of racing, having seen only two 
 races one at Cincinnati in 1865, and at the opening of 
 Jerome Park in 1867. I f ee l therefore, that I am not 
 qualified to judge of the comparison. Thus far I like 
 London very much. I have, however, accepted so many 
 engagements that I shall be compelled to alter my 
 plans and remain here until the 2/th, when I shall visit 
 Ireland." 
 
 The reader will recall the sensitiveness of the boy 
 Grant, Avhen neighbours called him a "jockey," and he 
 repelled the appellation. Something akin to that ap 
 pears in the incident narrated. A horse-racer was a 
 position to which General Grant did not aspire. 
 
 He attended Divine service on Sunday at Westminster 
 Abbey, and heard the eloquent Dean Stanley. Of course 
 the General scarcely expected to make a speech on this 
 occasion, nor to have one made over him ; but in the 
 course of his sermon the preacher did say : 
 
 " We have in this congregation to-day the chief citizen 
 of the United States, who has just laid down the sceptre 
 of the American Commonwealth ; who, by his military 
 prowess and generous treatment of his comrades and 
 adversaries, has restored unity to his country. We wel 
 come him as a sign and pledge that the two great 
 kindred nations are one in heart and are equally at home 
 under this paternal roof. Both regard with reverential 
 affection this ancient cradle of their common life." 
 
IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY. 319 
 
 General Grant must have been satisfied by this time 
 that unsought honours are of rapid and luxuriant growth. 
 They grew on every tree. They dropped down in every 
 place. A crop of them, ripe and luscious, waited for him 
 in every field. Every day in the week, secular and 
 sacred, he was forced to pluck them. Even in the house 
 of God they fell at his feet without shaking the tree ! 
 
 The reader will recollect that General Grant promised 
 to visit Liverpool again before leaving England. That 
 promise was redeemed. The city welcomed him to a 
 grand dinner, at the conclusion of which the Mayor 
 toasted him, and the General replied in quite a lengthy 
 speech, much of which was charged with dry humour. 
 We have space for only a paragraph : 
 
 " I am a soldier, and the gentlemen here beside me 
 know that a soldier must die. I have been a president, 
 but we know that the term of the presidency expires, 
 and when it has expired he is no more than a dead 
 soldier. [Laughter and cheers.] But, gentlemen, I have 
 met with a reception that would have done honour to 
 any living person. [Cheers.] We are of one kindred, 
 of one blood, of one language, and of one civilization, 
 though in some respects we believe that we, being 
 younger, surpass the mother country. [Laughter.] You 
 have made improvements on the soil and the surface 
 of the earth which we have not yet done, but which 
 we do not believe will take us as long as it did you." 
 [Laughter and applause.] 
 
 By this time the General was thoroughly weary, and 
 both body and mind demanded rest. Such continuous 
 excitement taxed him fully as much as the exigencies 
 of war ; for he was more at home on the tented field 
 than he was in the courts of royalty. He sought repose 
 by escaping to other honours, 
 
XXIV. 
 
 ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
 ON the Fourth of July General Grant left England 
 for a respite amid the grand scenery of the Alps. 
 He left London for Ostend, where the royal car con 
 veyed him to Brussels, the Belgian capital. General 
 Badeau accompanied the party. 
 
 It is not our purpose to give a detailed account of 
 General Grant s travels, that would be quite impossible 
 in a volume of the size of this. We can do little more 
 than to record incidents of special interest ; chiefly those 
 which will show the reader more and more of Grant 
 himself. For that is the purpose of this book from 
 beginning to end. 
 
 At Frankfort- on-the-Main the people turned out en 
 masse to welcome him. A public dinner was served, 
 and great enthusiasm prevailed. A committee of 
 Americans met him at Hamburg les Bains, and con 
 veyed him to Sal burg to visit the famous Roman camp, 
 which was discovered about one hundred and fifty years 
 ago. The camp covers seven hundred acres, and is 
 under the control of the Prussian Government. A 
 singular custom prevails with the authorities. When a 
 very distinguished visitor comes, it is the custom to 
 open one of the graves. So, in honour of General 
 Grant, Professor Jacob! and Captain Fischer ordered a 
 
ON THE CONTINENT. 321 
 
 dead Roman soldier, after his repose of two thousand 
 years, to be dug up. The result was, ashes well-nigh 
 undistinguishable a delicate hint to the great American 
 general of the inevitable to himself. We need scarcely 
 say that the whole affair was of little interest to so 
 practical a man as Grant, who preferred " a living dog to 
 a dead lion." 
 
 At Geneva, beautifully situated at the foot of Lake 
 Leman, the public honours were conducted upon a 
 grand scale, having in the programme one incident as 
 interesting to Grant as it was novel. An American 
 citizen had given a site for an Episcopal Church ; and 
 it was arranged for General Grant to lay the corner 
 stone. A gathering of Americans at the Hotel Beau 
 Rivage, including several Protestant clergymen, formed 
 a procession and marched to the place. Prayer was 
 offered, followed by an address, when a box, containing 
 a variety of American and Swiss papers and coins, was 
 placed under the foundation. Then General Grant took 
 a mallet and struck the stone with it, declaring that it 
 was well laid in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost. A lunch followed, with several appropriate 
 addresses, alluding fully as much to the distinguished 
 guest as they did to the Holy Trinity. In reply, 
 General Grant said, 
 
 " I have never felt myself more happy than among 
 the assembly of fellow-republicans of America and 
 Switzerland. I have long had a desire to visit the city 
 where the Alabama claims were settled without the 
 effusion of blood, and where the principle of interna 
 tional arbitration was established, and which I hope 
 will be resorted to by other nations, and be the means 
 of continuing peace to all mankind." 
 
 Grant had a desire to go into northern Italy by the 
 
 Y 
 
322 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Simplon Pass, a highway over a mountain ten thousand 
 feet high. The road is regarded as a monument of 
 Napoleon s engineering skill. It is thirty-six miles long, 
 and twenty-five feet wide the whole length. Thirty 
 thousand men were employed six years in constructing 
 it. There are six hundred and eleven .bridges on it, 
 seventeen bridges to a mile, on the average, some of 
 them spanning fearful abysses. There are ten galleries 
 cut through solid rock, and twenty houses of refuge, 
 in which travellers can find shelter from destructive 
 avalanches. 
 
 Though, at its highest altitude, there is perpetual 
 snow, the average gradient is but one inch per foot. The 
 grandeur of the scenery is beyond description. When 
 once the tourist reaches the heart of the Alps, the road 
 winds its perilous way along the edge of deep gorges, 
 hundreds of feet below, crawling around ragged moun 
 tain spurs that shoot skyward, gliding under immense 
 glaciers towering hundreds of feet above, climbing 
 mountain-peaks that rise in solemn stateliness, and 
 finally gaining the snow-clad summit, where perpetual 
 winter holds carnival. Near the top is a place from 
 which the traveller can look straight down through an 
 awful gorge and behold Briez, the town from which he 
 started twenty miles away by the road travelled. 
 
 On the other side General Grant found the descent 
 still more grand, the work of God and Napoleon 
 combining to awaken awe at one place and terror at 
 another. The " Gorge of Gonda " is a gallery six 
 hundred feet long, cut through solid rock ; and this 
 -emarkable tunnel, together with the perpendicular cliffs 
 and monumental rocks seeking to pierce the skies, pre 
 sented a scene never to be effaced from memory. 
 
 Being perfectly familiar with the circumstances under 
 
ON THE CONTINENT. 323 
 
 which this road was built, and also with the career of 
 the mighty builder, General Grant was specially in 
 terested in his trip over the Simplon Pass. 
 
 At the hotel at Lake Maggiore a crowd assembled to 
 greet him. He was addressed by an officer who had 
 served under Garibaldi. In his reply, Grant said, 
 
 " There is one Italian whose hand I wish especially to 
 shake, and that man is Garibaldi." 
 
 A thundering applause followed this announcement ; 
 for it touched the hearts of the people. 
 
 The time was near when he had promised to be in 
 Edinburgh, Scotland, so that he was forced to cut short 
 his tour in Italy and Switzerland, and repair thither. 
 
 The freedom of the city of Edinburgh was presented 
 to him by Lord Provost Sir James Falshaw, in Free 
 Assembly Hall, in the presence of two thousand of the 
 leading citizens of Edinburgh. Grant replied : 
 
 " I am so filled with emotion that I scarcely know 
 how to thank you for the honour conferred upon me 
 by making me a burgess of this ancient city of Edin 
 burgh. I feel that it is a great compliment to me and 
 to my country. Had I the proper eloquence I might 
 dwell somewhat on the history of the great men you 
 have produced, on the numerous citizens of this city 
 and Scotland who have gone to America, and the 
 record they have made. We are proud of Scotchmen 
 as citizens of the United States. They make good 
 citizens of our country, and they find it profitable to 
 themselves. I again thank you for the honour you 
 have conferred upon me." 
 
 Three cheers were given " for the youngest burgess." 
 
 Grant had any amount of hand-shaking to go through 
 in Scotland. A friend, whose sympathies for the great 
 hand-shaker was stirred, asked, 
 
324 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " General Grant, do you not tire of this endless hand 
 shaking ? " 
 
 "Yes, I do," answered Grant. "I was under the 
 impression that there was no such custom here ; but in 
 England the habit is as strong as in America. I think 
 hand-shaking is a great nuisance, and the custom ought 
 to be abolished. In 1865 it was awful with me; I 
 thought I could hardly survive the task. It not only 
 makes the right arm sore, but it shocks the whole sys 
 tem and unfits a man for writing or attending to other 
 duties. It demoralizes the entire nervous and muscular 
 system." 
 
 Afterwards he enjoyed the pleasant reflection that he 
 had shaken the hands of more people than any other 
 man who ever lived. 
 
 On the 1 3th of September he arrived in Glasgow and 
 was presented with the freedom of the city, accompanied 
 by a formal and complimentary address, in which he 
 was called, "THE WELLINGTON OF AMERICA." He 
 was praised especially for his magnanimous treatment 
 of his enemies after he had conquered them. 
 
 " So different," the address said, " from the petty feel 
 ings of vengeance which disgraced so many northern 
 political leaders." 
 
 Grant s reply was brief; but he awakened laughter 
 and applause by the following sentence : 
 
 " I find that I am being made so much a citizen of 
 Scotland it will be a serious question where I shall go 
 to vote." 
 
 Returning to England, the working-men of North 
 umberland and Durham arranged to give him a splendid 
 ovation on the town moor of Newcastle, on Saturday 
 afternoon, September 22nd. It was estimated that 
 fifty thousand people assembled there. Twenty-two 
 
ON THE CONTINENT. 325 
 
 trade societies were out with badges and banners, 
 forming a procession that was twenty minutes in 
 passing a given point. Mr. Thomas Burt, Member of 
 Parliament for Morpeth, presented a eulogistic address 
 to Grant, to which the latter replied. 
 
 The Chronicle, a racy journal of Newcastle, gave an 
 account of the " immense crowd," the " banners, bands, 
 rush, and roar" of the occasion, in which appears the 
 following description of Grant : 
 
 " Looking as much like an ordinary Tyneside-skipper 
 as possible, open-browed, firm-faced, blunt, bluff, and 
 honest, and unassuming, everybody at once settled in 
 his own mind that the General would do. 
 
 " The vast concourse still rushing up from the turn 
 pike, and which now musters at least eighty to a 
 hundred thousand, estimate the unheard speech (speech 
 of Grant) after their own thoughts, and applauded every 
 now and again with might and main. When the General 
 finishes, everybody who has not yet shouted feels it in 
 cumbent to begin at once, and those who have bellowed 
 themselves hoarse make themselves still hoarser in their 
 endeavours to come up to the demands of the situation. 
 Hats are waved with a self-sacrificing obliviousness to 
 the affection subsisting between crown and brim which 
 is beautiful to witness. And right in the centre of the 
 crowd, little shining rivulets glistening on his ebony 
 cheeks, and his face glowing with intense excitement, 
 the whole soul within him shining out through the 
 sable skin, like a red-hot furnace seen through a dark 
 curtain, stands a negro, devouring Grant with a gaze of 
 such fervid admiration and respect and gratitude that it 
 flashes out the secret of the great liberator s popularity." 
 
 At Sunderland he laid another corner-stone that of 
 a museum accompanied with the usual display of 
 
326 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 bunting and buncombe, addresses, lunch, music, toasts, 
 with more addresses, toasts, and lunches. He had 
 knocked the corner-stone out of the Confederacy, and 
 now he was fast becoming the great corner-stone layer 
 of useful institutions. 
 
 Before going to Birmingham he rested several days 
 with his daughter, Mrs. Algernon Sartoris, of South 
 ampton. At Birmingham the address of welcome was 
 read by Mr. O Neil, in behalf of the International 
 Arbitration Union, and it referred very gracefully to 
 General Grant s policy towards the Indians of America. 
 The General s reply honoured both his head and heart. 
 
 "Members of the Midland International Arbitration 
 Union : I thank you for your address. It is one that 
 gives me very little to reply to, more than to express 
 my thanks. Though I have followed a military life the 
 better part of my years, there was never a day of my 
 life when I was not in favour of peace on any terms that 
 were honourable. It has been my misfortune to be en 
 gaged in more battles than any other general on the 
 other side of the Atlantic ; but there was never a time 
 during my command when I would not have gladly 
 chosen some settlement by reason rather than by the 
 sword. I am conscientiously, and have been from the 
 beginning, an advocate of what the society represented 
 by you, gentlemen, is seeking to carry out; and nothing 
 would afford me greater happiness than to know, as I 
 believe will be the case, that, at some future day, the 
 nations of the earth will agree upon some sort of Congress, 
 which shall take cognizance of international questions of 
 difficulty, and whose decisions will be as binding as the 
 decision of our Supreme Court is binding on us. It is a 
 dream of mine that some such solution may be found for 
 all questions of difficulty that may arise between different 
 
ON THE CONTINENT. 327 
 
 nations. In one of the addresses, I have forgotten which, 
 reference was made to the dismissal of the army to the 
 pursuits of peaceful industry. I would gladly see the 
 millions of men who are now supported by the industry 
 of the nations return to industrial pursuits, and thus 
 become self-sustaining, and take off the tax upon labour 
 which is now levied for their support." 
 
 There is much Grant in every line of this speech. 
 His heart comes to the front, and the hand which wielded 
 the sword with such power, bears the palm of peace. 
 That is real " Grantism." 
 
 On the 24th of October, General Grant sailed in the 
 yacht Victoria for France, and was welcomed at Bou 
 logne by a multitude of people. He spent a month in 
 that country, and most of the time was under the wing 
 of the Minister Noyes and a colony of Americans who 
 dwelt in Paris. 
 
 President McMahon showed him marked attentions, 
 and gave an elaborate dinner in his honour. Receptions, 
 dinners, public welcomes, and other demonstrations 
 followed in rapid succession. If possible, there was 
 more sight-seeing for Grant in France than there was in 
 England, leaving him little time for repose. The French 
 people were on tip-toe to see the great American General, 
 and tens of thousands of them were gratified. The press 
 was eulogistic in its comments upon the General s 
 appearance and career. The well-known paper, Figaro, 
 sent a member of the editorial staff to interview him, 
 and published a long article relating thereto, from which 
 we extract the following : 
 
 " The American General, who has been the guest of 
 Paris for the last two days, is generally considered the 
 most taciturn man in the world. To him Count Von 
 Moltke, whom the Germans call the Great Silent, is quite 
 
328 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 a talker, since they often get from him speeches of fifty 
 or sixty lines, while the longest speech which Grant is 
 remembered ever to have made was that pronounced the 
 day after he was first nominated President of the United 
 States. Here it is in all its simplicity. The General 
 appeared upon the balcony of the hotel where he was 
 staying. Below, in the streets, more than ten thousand 
 people were awaiting a speech. Gentlemen/ he said, 
 I am very glad to see you. Then he made a bow, as 
 much as to say, I hope you will not expect anything 
 more from me now. On another occasion he found the 
 means of being even more concise. One of his soldier- 
 friends, who is said to be almost as reserved as himself, 
 was commissioned to present the General with an ele 
 gantly engraved gold cup, in the name of the soldiers who 
 had served under him. The warrior was introduced into 
 the Grant household, having the cup in question. He 
 quietly placed the cup upon the side-board, remarking, 
 There s the cup. The President looked at it in a dreamy 
 sort of a way, and after the lapse of a few seconds, re 
 plied, Thank you. 
 
 " The physiognomy of the brave General, to whom I 
 had the honour to be presented, was very curious to 
 observe. I do not think, for example, that there is upon 
 earth any being whatever who, under whatever circum 
 stances, could flatter himself as having seen made upon 
 this enigmatic figure the shortest, the slightest, the most 
 momentary impression. I know, through a friend of the 
 General, that this phenomenal imperturbability is never 
 relaxed, even for a second even in circumstances the 
 most grave and perilous. The friend has seen him 
 under fire, mounted on his grizzly mare, as celebrated in 
 America as the white horse of Napoleon has been in 
 France ; and there was always the same figure impas- 
 
ON THE CONTINENT. 329 
 
 sible, indifferent. During a series of battles, which 
 lasted ten or twelve days, and which cost the Federals 
 nearly sixty thousand men, Grant slept at night for 
 eight hours at a time, as peaceably as an infant, arose in 
 the morning and dressed, then began to give his orders 
 about in the same way a city merchant arranges his 
 bills. Never have circumstances more grave, never has 
 heavier responsibility rested upon a man, than General 
 Grant has experienced ; yet a word of anxiety, trouble, 
 or discouragement was never known to escape him. 
 They called Wellington the Iron Duke ; the Americans 
 might well have entitled Ulysses S. Grant the Steel 
 General. 
 
 " The conversation commenced in English about Paris, 
 which the General now visits for the first time in his life. 
 I inquired what his first impression was. He replied to 
 me with much good sense and precision, to the effect 
 that he was unable to form an opinion, as he had ridden 
 from the railroad depot to the hotel in a covered carriage, 
 and was unable to see anything but the cushions in the 
 vehicle. 
 
 " But, General, have you not paid a visit to Marshal 
 McMahon? How did you find our President ? 
 
 " We were unable to comprehend each other. 
 
 " How was that ? I said with astonishment. 
 
 " Simple enough. I didn t understand a word of 
 French ; the Marshal does not know a word of English. 
 He bowed to me ; I bowed to him. He extended his 
 hand to me ; I extended mine to him. Then all was 
 over. 
 
 " Then the interview only lasted a minute ? 
 
 " I remained a few minutes to speak with Madame 
 McMahon ; and I was delighted, for she speaks English 
 admirably. I was, indeed, astonished that a French 
 
330 FROM THE TAN-VARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 lady should speak so beautifully. The Marshal has a 
 fine mien, and has the air of an honest man. 
 
 " General/ I continued, as you have been like our 
 Marshal, President of a Republic, and you have been 
 in an analogous situation to his, that is to say, at 
 variance with the legislative power, I am sure the 
 public would be glad to know your opinion of the present 
 crisis. 
 
 " I am not a Frenchman ; I am an American, replied 
 the General ; ( and as the Atlantic separates us, I have 
 not studied the question in any such way that I should 
 dare give my opinion on it. " 
 
 The American residents of Paris gave a magnificent 
 banquet to Grant, at which the General was requested 
 to appear in full uniform ; and he did. Several speeches 
 were made one by the Minister Noyes. The Marquis 
 de Lafayette and Rochambeau, both descendants of 
 honoured Frenchmen who took part in the American 
 Revolution, were present, and spoke in terms of eulogy 
 of General Grant. 
 
 A very expensive banquet was given, also, by Mrs. 
 Mackay, whose husband was known in Paris as 
 "Bonanza," on account of his immense wealth. He is 
 a large owner in the gold mines of California. The fare 
 well banquet was provided by a wealthy banker, whose 
 generosity left nothing to be supplied for the occasion. 
 
 The United States Government sent the steamer 
 Vandalia to France for General Grant s use while he 
 remained abroad. She arrived at Ville-Franche on the 
 thirteenth day of December, when, as soon as he could 
 complete his arrangements, Grant and his family em 
 barked for Naples. 
 
XXV. 
 
 TO THE ORIENT. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT was in Naples on the i8th of Decem 
 ber. H-e was more curious to visit Vesuvius than he was 
 to see the ancient city. So arrangements were made 
 early for a trip up the burning mountain. And here the 
 General was outgeneralled for once in his life. Knowing 
 that an army of beggars would surround him as he was 
 never surrounded on the field of battle, he provided him 
 self with a quantity of small coin with which to satisfy 
 this beggarly element. At the base of Vesuvius, where 
 they mounted donkeys for the ascent, the beggars were 
 on hand. The General threw clown several pieces of 
 coin, when there followed such a scramble as he had 
 never witnessed, not even among office-seekers. He 
 threw down more coin, and the numbers and tumult 
 doubled. Instead of satisfying the importunate crowd, 
 their determination to have more was only strengthened. 
 They became terribly in earnest. He scattered more 
 coin ; and the scramblers literally swarmed, tumbling 
 over each other, and yelling like so many cats in a fight. 
 It looked very much as if they intended to carry the 
 General by storm instead of by siege. He saw that he 
 had made a grave mistake. More grape and canister 
 would satisfy ordinary assailants, but fighting a battle 
 with coin at the base of Vesuvius with Italian beggars 
 
 331 
 
332 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 was quite another affair. The more coin the more beggars. 
 The more effort to satisfy, the greater the scramble. 
 General Grant was forced to retreat and change his 
 tactics. But he won the day finally, and accomplished his 
 purpose, as he was wont to do. He ascended Vesuvius 
 and returned, having added another day s experience 
 never to be forgotten. 
 
 He visited Pompeii, and wandered about among its 
 marvellous ruins. Here he found a guide who spoke 
 English. 
 
 " I was General Sheridan s guide when he visited 
 Pompeii," he informed Grant. " I am a soldier, too," 
 he added, appearing to understand all about General 
 Grant. 
 
 A singular custom prevails here with the Italian 
 authorities. When a great man from abroad visits 
 Pompeii, they order a house to be dug open in honour 
 of their guest, and afterwards call it by his name. A 
 house was dug open for Grant ; but nothing except a 
 few ornaments and a loaf of bread wrapped in a cloth 
 was discovered. The bread was stale enough for even 
 a chronic dyspeptic, having been -baked nearly two thou 
 sand years ago. 
 
 "We ll open another house for you," suggested the 
 guide, who seemed to be disappointed that no bones of 
 human beings were discovered. 
 
 " I prefer to excavate a beefsteak," replied an officer 
 of the Vandalia, who was exceedingly hungry. The 
 company decided for the beefsteak instead of more 
 ruins. 
 
 From Naples General Grant proceeded to Palermo, 
 where he arrived in the midst of Christmas festivities. 
 The officers of the Vandalia served a Christmas dinner 
 on board the ship in true American style. Everything 
 
TO THE ORIENT. 333 
 
 about it was home-like. Grant enjoyed it hugely, sur 
 rounded as he was by his own countrymen. The vessel 
 was decorated with evergreens, and the stars and stripes 
 made conspicuous. Mr. Young, the correspondent who 
 accompanied the General, said of the occasion : 
 
 " As the General sat under the green boughs of the 
 Christmas decorations, the centre of our merry company, 
 it seemed as if he were as young as any of the mess a 
 much younger man by far than our junior Dannenhower, 
 who looks grave and serious enough to command all the 
 fleets in the world. Mrs. Grant was in capital health 
 and spirits, and quite enchanted the mess by telling 
 them, in the earliest hour of the conversation, that she 
 already felt when she came back to the Vandalia from 
 some errand on shore as if she were coming home. I 
 wish I could lift the veil far enough to show you how 
 much the kind, considerate, ever-womanly and ever- 
 cheerful nature of Mrs. Grant has won upon us all ; but 
 I must not invade the privacy of the domestic circle. 
 She was the queen of the feast, and we gave her queenly 
 honour." 
 
 From Palermo to Malta, and thence to the Orient, 
 was Grant s programme. He reached the land of the 
 Pharaohs and disembarked at Alexandria, where the 
 authorities had made preparations for his arrival. 
 
 The American consul, vice-consul, and governor, to 
 gether with all the missionaries, came on board to pay 
 their respects before the party landed. According to 
 an Egyptian custom, the number of guns fired is deter 
 mined by the official rank of the honoured guest, so that 
 on this occasion the greatest number of guns were fired, 
 creating such a noise that the company were forced to 
 wait until cannon ceased to thunder, before conversation 
 could be heard. The Governor, in the name of the 
 
334 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Khedive, addressed General Grant, and offered him the 
 use of a palace in Cairo and a steamer to take him up 
 the Nile. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, Grant returned the 
 official visit. On going ashore, another round of firing 
 took place, followed by loud huzzas from the crews of 
 all the vessels in port, including that of the Vandalia. 
 A guard of honour took possession of him, and con 
 ducted him to the Pasha s palace, where a formal recep 
 tion took place. 
 
 In the evening, the General and Mrs. Grant dined with 
 the vice-consul, where they met Henry M. Stanley, the 
 African traveller. Stanley had completed his travels 
 across the "Dark Continent," and was on his way back 
 to England. A toast was given to him, and he replied 
 in quite a lengthy speech, closing by saying, 
 
 " It is the proudest moment of my life to find myself 
 beside the distinguished guest from the United States." 
 
 The Government provided him with a special train to 
 Cairo, only about four hours distant by rail. This was 
 an exceedingly interesting trip to him, not only because 
 a view of the pyramids was novel, but the elaborate 
 reception was unexpected, and old army acquaintances 
 surprised him by their presence. 
 
 When he alighted at the station, he found the way 
 carpeted for him to walk on, and a guard with a group 
 of cavaliers were waiting to receive him. The Oriental 
 costume and Egyptian uniform presented a novel spec 
 tacle ; and yet they did not conceal from his sharp obser 
 vation the features of two old acquaintances. 
 
 " Why, there is Loring, whom I have not seen for 
 thirty years," he said with much surprise. 
 
 Loring was at West Point with him ; and he was an 
 officer in the Southern army during the Rebellion. 
 
TO THE ORIENT. 335 
 
 "And there is Stone also," continued the General. 
 " He must have been dyeing his hair to make it so 
 white." 
 
 Stone was the American officer who was so severely 
 criticised in the Ball s Bluff affair. Grant knew that both 
 of them were in the service of the Khedive, but he did 
 not expect to meet them here. Before his surprise was 
 abated, Stone stepped forward and welcomed him to 
 Egypt. It was a pleasant meeting to Grant, and he 
 shook hands warmly with both of them. There was no 
 " bloody chasm " between him and Loring out there 
 under the shadow of the pyramids. 
 
 At the royal dinner in honour of Grant, the latter took 
 occasion to say to the Khedive, " I have known General 
 Stone from boyhood. I do not think we had an abler 
 officer in our army ; and I am happy to see him occupy 
 so high a position in your service." 
 
 " I like General Stone very much," replied the Khedive. 
 " He has great ability to organize troops, and I have 
 made him a member of my privy council." 
 
 The General enjoyed sight-seeing here ; and he was 
 greatly amused by an incident which showed that human 
 nature was about the same in Egypt as in America. 
 Boys were plentiful on the streets with donkeys for sale. 
 One of them accosted the General in language which, 
 translated into English, means, " Want to buy a donkey ? 
 His name is ( Yankee Doodle. " 
 
 The sharp little fellow thought that such a name would 
 take with " the great American General." 
 
 On the i6th of January, 1878, Grant started up the 
 Nile on a steamer provided by the Khedive. At Siout, 
 a city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, a public 
 reception awaited him. A sumptuous dinner was 
 provided, with twenty courses. Several speeches were 
 
33$ FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 made, very eulogistic of the United States and General 
 Grant. 
 
 He visited Giegel, Abydos, and ancient Thebes. The 
 latter place was once called "the wonder of the world." 
 Homer says that it once contained three hundred thou 
 sand inhabitants, and that its walls were provided with 
 a hundred gates. " The mighty city has crumbled to 
 ashes, and where once gorgeous equipages and a gay and 
 busy population thronged the streets, are now only a few 
 scattered villages, consisting of miserable huts, built in 
 the courts of the old magnificent temples, presenting a 
 sad commentary on the improvement of the present over 
 past ages." 
 
 General Grant was expected here, as flying flags indi 
 cated. The vice-consul and governor welcomed him to 
 the town ; and he was conducted over the city. On one 
 street a house was pointed out to the General, in which 
 an American lived fifteen years, manufacturing relics of 
 all sorts to sell to travellers. He could make " mummy- 
 lids," " idols," and " hieroglyphic inscriptions," in imita 
 tion of the original, and found it to be a profitable 
 business. His workmanship has gone out into all the 
 world, adorning parlours and adding variety to museums. 
 Relics indeed ! 
 
 Grant visited the statue of Memnon, a few miles away. 
 Quite a party accompanied him, which, with the donkey- 
 boys and water-girls, made quite a long cavalcade. The 
 importunities of the water-girls on the way, in their 
 eagerness for trade, led Hassan, the conductor, to apply 
 his whip to them vigorously. 
 
 " Hassan," exclaimed Mrs. Grant, " you shall not whip 
 those girls ; it is cruel." 
 
 " But I do not hurt them," replied Hassan. " I only 
 wished to scare them, and make them keep behind in 
 their place." 
 
TO THE ORIENT. 337 
 
 " Well, then," continued Mrs. Grant, " you tell the 
 water-girls and donkey-boys and pedlars of relics, that, 
 unless they keep behind and out of the way, they 
 will receive no baksheesh (money) at the close of the 
 day." 
 
 Her instructions were obeyed, and they had more effect 
 than the whip. 
 
 Grant was called by the common people here " The 
 King of A merica" 
 
 At Karnac he visited the "grandest ruin in the world. * 
 The chief temple "is three hundred and seventy feet 
 broad and fifty feet deep, with a tower one hundred and 
 forty feet high. An avenue two hundred feet long, lined 
 with statues and sphinxes, led up to the main entrance, 
 which conducts you to a court two hundred and seventy- 
 five feet by three hundred and twenty-nine. Through 
 the great western gateway across the court, with one 
 solitary column erect over its fallen peers, which lie their 
 length, shattered from their bases in regular rows, as if 
 they had been piles of milestones carefully upset, we 
 enter the great hall of Karnac, where one hundred and 
 thirty -four columns, thirty feet in circumference, rise in 
 silent majesty around you, speaking of a wondrous past, 
 on which the light of history will never shine." 
 
 The town of Keneh was another place visited, and 
 here Grant saw more of real life in Egypt than anywhere 
 else women grinding corn, and potters at work as 
 described in the Bible. He gave a few coins to a woman 
 for the privilege of entering her private house. He had 
 a strong desire to see how the people lived in their 
 homes. The following is a description of that particular 
 home : 
 
 " The house was a collection of rooms ; the walls made 
 of dried mud and bricks. It was one storey high, thatched 
 
 z 
 
338 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 with straw. The floor was the ground. The walls were 
 clay. In one room was the donkey, in another the cow, 
 a queer kind of buffalo-cow, that looked up at us as we 
 went in. In another room slept the members of the family. 
 There was neither bed, nor chair, nor table. They slept 
 on the ground, or on palm-leaves, like the donkey ; they 
 sat on the ground for meals, and ate out of the same 
 dish. ... I suppose there were not a thousand 
 slaves in the South, who were not better housed than 
 these free Egyptian citizens." 
 
 Asswan was the end of their journey, a town of 
 four thousand inhabitants. Here all sorts of articles for 
 sale were brought in from the surrounding country on 
 donkeys driven by naked boys. Among them were 
 feathers of the wild ostrich much more beautiful than 
 those of the tame ostrich in South Africa. 
 
 " Hassan," said Mrs. Grant, " inquire what is the price 
 of this bunch which I have in my hand." 
 
 " Twenty-four dollars," he answered, after having in 
 quired. And he took the bunch and handed it back to 
 the owner, exclaiming, " It is robbery." 
 
 "But I don t think it is a very exorbitant price," 
 answered Mrs. Grant, "when I recall the price for which 
 they sell in New York. Besides, the man looks poor, 
 and probably sells but a few feathers, and has a family 
 to support." 
 
 " That ain t it," responded Hassan. " I know them 
 better than you do. They always have two prices, and 
 often they don t get their lowest price." 
 
 Then Hassan harangued the crowd and denounced the 
 feathers, whereupon the owner extolled them with equal 
 emphasis, but closed by asking, 
 
 " What will the gracious lady give for them ? " 
 
 " Four napoleons," replied Hassan. 
 
TO THE ORIENT. - 339 
 
 The merchant assumed an attitude of surprise, and 
 then waxed eloquent over their beauty. 
 
 " See how they shine," he exclaimed ; "behold their 
 tints white, grey, and black ! " 
 
 Then waving them in the air like a plume, he con 
 tinued: 
 
 " Such feathers were never seen in Asswan. If they 
 came from the far desert, they would be cheap at a 
 hundred napoleons." 
 
 Another waving of the feathers, and more eloquence 
 expended upon their value. However, after wasting 
 fifteen minutes "on the desert air," Hassan bought the 
 feathers for " four napoleons." 
 
 Here, too, came a letter to General Grant from the 
 great English General Gordon, who was at Philse, five 
 miles distant, inviting him thither. He sent with the 
 message a beautiful Arabian steed for the General to 
 ride. The animal was a high-spirited, indomitable 
 creature ; and when Grant mounted him, and he began 
 to rear and prance, Sami Bey, one of his retinue, ex 
 pressed fears for the safety of the General. 
 
 " If I can mount a horse, I can ride him," replied 
 Grant ; " and all the attendants can do is to keep 
 away." 
 
 On his return, after a month s absence, the Khedive 
 met the General at Cairo, and showed him still further 
 attentions. And this same Khedive was compelled to 
 abdicate his throne a few months thereafter. 
 
 Thence General Grant proceeded to Jerusalem. 
 Stopping at Joppa, Grant embraced the first oppor 
 tunity to find the house of " Simon the tanner, by the 
 seaside." Having followed the craft of his illustrious 
 ancestor, and still retaining a vivid recollection of the 
 tannery, which he honestly hated, Grant knew just how 
 
340 FROM THE JAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to pity Simon, and only wanted the chance to get into 
 his house to show his sincere commiseration. 
 
 Here they obtained vehicles to convey them to Jer 
 usalem, thirty miles distant. They crossed " the Plain 
 of Sharon," stopped overnight at Ramleh, and the next 
 morning pushed on, with "the Mountains of Judea" in 
 full view. They passed the ruins of Gezer, and near to 
 " Kirjath-Jearim," where the ark rested for twenty years, 
 and beyond, the Valley of Ajalon, where the sun stood 
 still to let Joshua conquer in a battle greater than Grant 
 ever fought. Then came the deep valley through which 
 runs a rapid brook, where David killed Goliath, and with 
 stones enough in it to have supplied the slings of a 
 hundred thousand Davids. 
 
 As they came in sight of Jerusalem, a courier came 
 galloping up to announce to the General that a public 
 reception awaited him. In a moment cavalry appeared 
 in the distance, leading deputations from Greeks, Jews, 
 Armenians, and Americans. Horses were also sent to 
 the party the Pasha s splendid white steed, with gold 
 trappings, for General Grant to ride. 
 
 After some delay, the procession moved forward to 
 the city. For a whole mile before entering it, the way 
 was lined on both sides by crowds of people, with music 
 and banners, eager to behold the great General from 
 America. The Pasha received him with much pomp, 
 and dined him with great courtesy. 
 
 General Grant visited many of the places of sacred 
 interest. He visited Calvary, passing over the road up 
 which the Saviour toiled bearing His own cross. He 
 went to the Garden of Gethsemane and Mount Olivet, 
 and passed over the hill into Bethany, where Martha 
 and Mary lived. He visited the spot where the Saviour 
 stood when He wept over Jerusalem, and went down the 
 
TO THE ORIENT. 341 
 
 Valley of Jehoshaphat, over the brook, and around the 
 city to Damascus gate. 
 
 He left Jerusalem for Nazareth ; and the people 
 generally turned out to pay their respects and bid him 
 adieu. He journeyed on to Shiloh, through Nablous, 
 where was Jacob s Well, on which Jesus sat and con 
 versed with the woman of Samaria. 
 
 Passing through Nain, where Christ brought back the 
 widow s dead son to life, they came to Endor, once the 
 abode of a famous witch, whence they soon reached 
 Nazareth the early home of Christ. Tarrying here a 
 short time, the party pushed on to Damascus by the 
 road over which Saul of Tarsus was travelling when he 
 was struck down by a light from heaven, and heard 
 that mysterious voice which moved him to a new and 
 better life. 
 
 From Damascus General Grant proceeded to Beyrout, 
 where the Vandalia was awaiting his arrival. He 
 reached there both wearied and delighted with his 
 sojourn in the Holy Land. Here he went on board 
 his steamer, and sailed for Constantinople. 
 
XXVI. 
 
 FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 
 
 THE war with Russia had just closed, and the treaty 
 been signed, when General Grant reached Constanti 
 nople. The anxieties and labours, multiplied by the 
 termination of the war, engrossed the Sultan s time and 
 thoughts, so that he could not bestow upon the General 
 that attention which he desired to show. Yet, his 
 attentions were many, and among other things he pre 
 sented him with a pair of Arabian horses, full-blooded 
 and every way superior, selected from the imperial 
 stable, where five hundred and seventy of the finest 
 animals that could be found in the empire were stalled. 
 The following is a careful description of the animals : 
 " One is a dappled grey of fair size, and having all the 
 traits characteristic of the Arabian blood : small, well-set, 
 restless ears, wide, pink nostrils, and large, soft eyes ; 
 waving mane, and long tail reaching almost to the 
 ground, and a skin of such delicacy that the stroke of a 
 lady s whip is sufficient to draw blood. The other 
 stallion has all these points. He is an iron-grey, with a 
 white star on his forehead and white hind feet. When 
 the long forelock falls over his forehead, the large, black 
 eyes have all the expression of a Bedouin woman s. 
 Their gait is perfect, be it either the rapid walk, the 
 long, swinging trot, or the tireless, stretching gallop, 
 while a rein of one thread of silk is enough to guide 
 
 342 
 
FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 343 
 
 their delicate mouth. Let one of these Arabs, in the 
 mad rush of a charge or a flight, lose his rider, and that 
 instant the docile steed will stop as though turned to 
 stone. These horses are of the famous Lahtan race, 
 the purest Arabian blood, only found in and near 
 Bagdad. The dapple-grey is appropriately named 
 Djeyton (the Panther), and the iron-grey Missirli (the 
 one from Cairo), which cognomen he derives from 
 having been bought in Cairo, though foaled at Bagdad." 
 
 The Sultan had heard of Grant s love of horses, and 
 desiring to show him the greatest favour, presented him 
 with this pair. 
 
 Constantinople had much to interest Grant, being the 
 city which Constantine founded in 338, and having been 
 besieged by armies twenty-four times. But his time was 
 limited, and he hurried away to Athens, Greece, the 
 home of Homer, Demosthenes, Socrates, and Plato, 
 where a round of dinners and fetes awaited him. The 
 world- renowned Parthenon, Mars Hill with the Areo 
 pagus on its summit, where Paul preached to the 
 Athenians, the Temple of Theseus, Prison of Socrates, 
 Temple of Bacchus, Grotto of Apollo, ruins of the 
 Temple of Jupiter Olympus ; these were among the 
 objects of interest which the General examined. He 
 also visited the two famous battle-grounds of Greece, 
 Thermopylae and Marathon. 
 
 Thence he went to Rome, where both Church and 
 State united to do him honour. The aide-de-camp to the 
 King was the first to call upon him with the King s 
 congratulations. Then Cardinal McCloskey, with the 
 respects of the Pope. The latter gave him an audience, 
 and treated him with marked consideration. The King- 
 
 o 
 
 invited him to a great banquet, where the dignitaries of 
 the city assembled in Roman pomp. 
 
344 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The Colosseum, which seated thirty thousand people 
 before its fall, the Capitoline Hill, the Roman Forum, 
 Basilica of Constantine, Arch of Titus, the Campagna, 
 the hill on which stood the palace of the Caesars, to 
 gether with galleries of art in which the works of the 
 old masters were collected, these were among the 
 wonders of the Imperial City which Grant inspected. 
 His visit to St. Peter s, which defies description, a 
 church of such magnitude that a dozen of the largest 
 churches in the United States might be set into it, 
 was a source of as much surprise and pleasure as any of 
 Rome s marvels. 4 
 
 He was greatly interested in one custom which pre 
 vails in Rome that of designating where distinguished 
 persons lived and died, by a marble slab over the door. 
 Thus the house which Galileo occupied, the one in which 
 Dante was born, the home of Corinne, and that of 
 Americus Vespucius are marked by inscriptions on 
 marble slabs. It is a custom which the people of other 
 countries might imitate with profit. 
 
 Hasty visits to Florence and Pisa he made, and passed 
 on to Venice, where the authorities received him in 
 state. Here again dinners and imposing demonstrations 
 followed in rapid succession for three days. Venice 
 is unlike any other city in the world, being built on a 
 collection of small islands connected by four hundred 
 and fifty bridges, the largest of which is the Rialto, con 
 sisting of a single arch one hundred and eighty-seven 
 feet long. The only streets it has are canals, and the 
 only mode of conveyance is by gondolas. The city is 
 noted for its costly churches and palaces. Many Amer 
 icans reside here, and they assembled with music and 
 banners to do Grant honour when he departed for Milan, 
 a city that is known for having the largest and most 
 
FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 345 
 
 costly cathedral in the world except St. Peter s. It is 
 built of white marble, and there are four thousand 
 statutes on the exterior alone. Grant had time only to 
 visit this cathedral, and the original painting of Leon 
 ardo da Vinci, representing the Lord s Supper, which is 
 found in this city. He had promised to be in Paris near 
 the opening of the World s Exhibition, and was obliged 
 to hasten. On his way to Paris, the people gathered at 
 almost every station to see and honour him. He arrived 
 at Paris on the seventh day of May, 1878. 
 
 A day was appointed for General Grant to visit the 
 exhibition ; and it was made a gala-day. Thousands of 
 Americans were in the city, and all that time and money 
 could do to honour their illustrious countryman was 
 brought into requisition. He was overwhelmed by 
 invitations to dinners and public fetes, and was obliged 
 to decline many of them. 
 
 He paid a visit to Holland, stopping briefly at Rot 
 terdam and Amsterdam, where public receptions were 
 tendered him. At this time the news of the attempted 
 assassination of the Emperor of Germany caused him to 
 delay his early departure to Berlin for a week. But he 
 reached Berlin on the twenty-sixth day of June. Prince 
 Bismarck, whom most of all he desired to see, called 
 upon him first Grant was out, and the Prince called 
 the second time, only to find him absent. Then, Grant 
 sent a note to him, saying that he would call at any 
 hour he would name. The Prince named four o clock in 
 the afternoon. At that hour the two great men met. 
 
 "Glad to welcome General Grant to Germany," ex 
 claimed Bismarck, extending both hands to meet him 
 in the most familiar manner. 
 
 "Not more glad than I am to have the honour of 
 meeting you," replied Grant in his cordial way. 
 
346 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO TftE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " I am surprised to see so young a man," continued 
 Bismarck ; " much younger than I am." 
 
 " I don t know about that, not much difference in our 
 ages, I think," responded Grant. 
 
 Comparing ages, Bismarck was surprised to find him 
 self the senior of Grant by seven years only. 
 
 " This," remarked the Prince, " is the advantage of a 
 military life, for here you have the frame of a young 
 man, while I feel like an old man." 
 
 " I regard it a great compliment to be told, at my 
 time of life, that I look like a young man," answered 
 Grant, with a somewhat unusual smile for him. 
 
 " And what can you tell me about General Sheridan ? " 
 inquired Bismarck. " The General and I were fellow- 
 campaigners in France, and we became great friends." 
 
 " I received a letter from Sheridan recently, and he is 
 quite well," replied Grant. 
 
 " Sheridan seemed to be a man of great ability," added 
 Bismarck. 
 
 " Yes ; I regard Sheridan not only as one of the great 
 soldiers of our war, but as one of the great soldiers of 
 the world as a man who is fit for the highest command. 
 No better general than Sheridan ever lived." Such was 
 Grant s noble answer. 
 
 " I observed that he had a wonderfully quick eye," 
 continued Bismarck. "On one occasion, I remember, 
 the Emperor and his staff took up a position to observe 
 a battle. The Emperor himself was never near enough 
 to the front, was always impatient to be as near the 
 fighting as possible. Well/ said Sheridan to me, as we 
 rode along, we shall never stay here ; the enemy will, 
 in a short time, make this so untenable that we shall all 
 be leaving in a hurry. Then, while the men are advanc 
 ing, they will see us retreating. Sure enough, in an 
 
FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 347 
 
 hour or so the cannon-shot began to plunge that way, 
 and we saw we must leave. It was difficult to move the 
 Emperor, however ; but we all had to go, and [laughing] 
 we went rapidly. Sheridan had seen it from the be 
 ginning. I wish I had so quick an eye." 
 
 The European Congress on the Turkey affairs was in 
 session at Berlin at that time ; and Bismarck said, 
 
 " I am sorry that my attendance upon the Congress 
 will occupy much of my time, which otherwise I should 
 give to you. And the Emperor is very sorry that he 
 cannot see you ; but the doctors have forbidden him to 
 see any one." 
 
 4 1 regret very much that I could not have had the 
 honour of meeting him," replied Grant. "I hope that 
 he will entirely recover." 
 
 " You know that he is a very old man ? " added Bis- 
 mark, inquiringly. 
 
 "That adds to the horror one feels for the crime," 
 responded Grant. 
 
 " The Emperor has a very kind heart, a winning and 
 generous disposition ; and I wonder that any one should 
 want to take his life," remarked the Prince. 
 
 " It was the same with President Lincoln," said Grant. 
 " He was one of the kindest-hearted men who ever 
 lived, and yet he was killed by an assassin. The in 
 fluence which aimed at the Emperor s life is an influence 
 that would destroy all government, all order, all society, 
 republics, and empires." 
 
 This conversation about the Emperor and the attempt 
 upon his life continued for some time, when Bismarck 
 added, 
 
 " But the old gentleman is so much of a soldier, and 
 so fond of his army, that nothing would give him more 
 pleasure than to display it to so great a soldier as your- 
 
348 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 self. But / will now invite you to a review in the 
 morning." 
 
 " I accept your invitation," Grant replied ; and then 
 remarked, with a smile on his face, "the truth is, I am 
 more of a farmer than a soldier. I take little or no 
 interest in military affairs ; and, although I entered the 
 army thirty-five years ago, and have been in two wars, 
 in Mexico as a young lieutenant, and later in the war 
 of the Rebellion, I never went into the army without 
 regret, and never retired without pleasure." 
 
 "You are so happily placed in America," said Bis 
 marck, " that you need fear no wars. What always 
 seemed so sad to me about your last great war was, that 
 you were fighting your own people. That is always so 
 terrible in wars ; so very hard." 
 
 "But it had to be done," remarked Grant. 
 
 " Yes, you had to save the Union just as we had to 
 save Germany." 
 
 " Not only to save the Union, but destroy slavery," 
 added Grant. 
 
 " I suppose, however, the Union was the real sen 
 timent, the dominant sentiment, was it not ? " 
 
 " Yes, in the beginning, certainly ; but as soon as 
 slavery fired upon the flag, it was felt, we all felt, even 
 those who did not object to slaves, that slavery must 
 be destroyed. We felt that it was a stain to the Union, 
 that men should be bought and sold like cattle." 
 
 Grant attended the review on the next morning in 
 a pouring rain, which wet him through to his skin. 
 Bayard Taylor was American minister at Berlin, and he 
 gave a great dinner in honour of Grant ; and, before the 
 latter left Germany, Bismarck invited the General and 
 his wife to dine with him. 
 
 From Berlin he went to Hamburg, arriving there on 
 
FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 349 
 
 the 2nd of July. A deputation from the Senate waited 
 upon him, showed him about the city, and feted him in 
 the evening at the Zoological Gardens, where toasts 
 were given and speeches made. The vice-consul gave 
 an elaborate dinner on the fourth of July, to which he 
 invited prominent Americans in the city. There were 
 thirty or forty guests in all. Here, too, there were toasts 
 and speeches. The consul paid a noble tribute to Grant 
 as a soldier and statesman, and closed by saying, " He 
 saved the country." 
 
 This compliment brought out a characteristic speech 
 from Grant, in which modesty, magnanimity, and nobility 
 appear in about equal parts. 
 
 " Mr. Consul and Friends : I am much obliged to you 
 for the kind manner in which you drink my health. I 
 share with you in all the pleasure and gratitude which 
 Americans so far from home should feel on this anniver 
 sary. But I must dissent from one remark of our consul, 
 to the effect that I saved the country during the recent 
 war. If our country could be saved or ruined by the 
 efforts of any one man we should not have a country, 
 and we should not now be celebrating our fourth of 
 July. There are many men who would have done far 
 better than I did, under the circumstances in which I 
 found myself during the war. If I had never held com 
 mand ; if I had fallen ; if all our generals had fallen, 
 there were ten thousand behind us who would have 
 done our work just as well, who would have followed 
 the contest to the end, and never surrendered the Union. 
 Therefore, it is a mistake and a reflection upon the 
 people to attribute to me, or to any number of us who 
 held high commands, the salvation of the Union. We 
 did our work as well as we could, and so did hundreds 
 of others. We deserve no credit for it; for we should 
 
3So FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 be unworthy of our country and of the American name 
 if we had not made every sacrifice to save the Union. 
 What saved the Union was the coming forward of the 
 young men of the nation. They came from their homes 
 and fields, as they did in the time of the Revolution, 
 giving everything to the country. To their devotion we 
 owe the salvation of the Union. The humblest soldier 
 who carried a musket is entitled to as much credit for 
 the results of the war as those who were in command. 
 So long as our young men are animated by this spirit, 
 there will be no fear for the Union." 
 
 General Grant visited Copenhagen, capital of Den 
 mark, then proceeded to Christiania, Norway, and on to 
 Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. In all these places 
 public receptions were accorded to the General, and all 
 along the way, from place to place, the people showed 
 that they had been apprised of the coming of the 
 American chieftain, by gathering at the stations in 
 enthusiastic crowds, and flinging banners to the breeze. 
 In several places triumphal arches were erected over 
 the track, bearing the inscription," WELCOME TO 
 GENERAL GRANT." 
 
 At Stockholm he took boat for St. Petersburg, across 
 the Baltic. Prince Gortschakoff called upon him for 
 the Emperor, and welcomed him to Russia. At an 
 appointed hour Grant drove to the palace, where the 
 Emperor received him warmly. When he left, the 
 Emperor conducted him to the door, and said, 
 
 "Pleasant relations have always existed between 
 Russia and the United States, and as long as I live 
 nothing shall be spared to continue this friendship." 
 
 "Although the two governments are different," an 
 swered Grant, " the American people are in sympathy 
 with Russia, and I trust they always will be." 
 
FLIGHT THROUGH OTHER COUNTRIES. 351 
 
 The Grand Duke Alexis called upon him, and showed 
 him marked attention. The Neva runs through the 
 city, and its banks are lined with fine churches and 
 palaces, and towers glittering with gold, and lovely 
 gardens. The Imperial Garden is on its banks, beauti 
 ful beyond description. Grant was captivated by the 
 Neva and the costly works of man on its banks. Here 
 was the church known as Lady of Kazan, whose nave 
 and cupola rest on fifty-six granite columns, with bronze 
 capitals. The Emperor s Winter Palace attracted his 
 special attention, the grandest palace in the whole 
 world. It is filled with the costliest works of art ; and 
 in the winter it is occupied by six thousand people who 
 belong to the Emperor s household. 
 
 The Emperor placed -his yacht at Grant s command, 
 and he made a trip to PeterhorT; also to the Russian 
 man-of-war Peter the Great, where he received a salute 
 of twenty-one guns, and the band played national airs. 
 He continued down the Neva to Cronstadt, and sailed 
 through the Russian fleet, each vessel saluting him by 
 running up the Stars and Stripes, while the sailors sent 
 up cheer on cheer. 
 
 He went to Moscow, interested to behold the city 
 which Napoleon captured and entered in 1812, with one 
 hundred and fifty thousand men, only to see it consumed 
 by a conflagration which the inhabitants kindled, and his 
 mighty army fade away, and the star of his destiny set. 
 In the centre still stands the world-renowned Kremlin, 
 which the flames did not consume. It is two miles in 
 circumference, a monster citadel. Within its walls are 
 palaces, churches, cathedrals, the treasury and arsenal, 
 monasteries, museums, and other public buildings. 
 Most wonderful of all is the Tower of Ivan Veliki, two 
 hundred and fifty feet high, with forty bells, the largest 
 
352 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of which weighs sixty tons. Originally it supported 
 only one bell, which weighed four hundred thousand 
 pounds. A fire burned away its supports, and it fell, 
 and now lies at the base, cracked, and is used for a 
 chapel, being twenty-five feet high and sixty-seven feet 
 in circumference. When it fell, it was buried in the 
 earth by its weight, and lay there a hundred years, 
 when it was raised and placed on a grand pedestal, 
 the largest bell ever cast. If Grant could have had such 
 a bell at Donelson, Vicksburg, Shiloh, Richmond, or 
 Appomattox, his "boys in blue" would have made it 
 heard over every battle-field ! 
 
 From St. Petersburg Grant went to Warsaw, Poland ; 
 thence to Vienna, where there were a series of imposing 
 receptions, dinners, and royal entertainments, consuming 
 four days. Here he saw St. Stephen s Cathedral, whose 
 bell was cast from one hundred and eighty cannon 
 taken from the Turks, and weighs forty thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 He visited the public library at Munich, one of the 
 largest in the world, containing eight hundred thousand 
 volumes, thirty-three thousand manuscripts, and three 
 hundred thousand engravings. 
 
 Again General Grant turned his face toward France, 
 going through Switzerland, chiefly to visit Ulm, where 
 Napoleon captured Mack s whole army. The reader 
 will recollect that General Halleck, in an order quoted 
 on a former page, compared Grant s Vicksburg cam 
 paign to that of Napoleon against Ulm. Perhaps there 
 was a connection between that order and Grant s visit. 
 
 When he reached Bordeaux, where the freedom of the 
 city was offered him, he found a letter from King Alfonso, 
 of Spain, inviting him thither. 
 
XXVII. 
 
 FROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT visited Spain and Portugal next, 
 though his stay was short. King Alfonso welcomed 
 him to Vittoria. He had decided previously upon the 
 rank and character in which Grant should be received, 
 that of captain-general of the Spanish army, next in 
 rank to king. 
 
 King Alfonso was a young man of only twenty years, 
 yet dignified and mature. 
 
 " General Grant," he said, " I am most happy to wel 
 come you to Spain. I feel myself highly honoured by 
 your visit. I have read all about you, both as a great 
 general and president, and have admired your career 
 and have been very anxious to see you." 
 
 " I thank your majesty with all my heart for this 
 cordial greeting," replied the General, " and I assure you 
 that the people of my country as well as myself desire 
 the prosperity of your government. You share our 
 deepest sympathy in the recent death of the Queen." 
 Alfonso had recently buried his wife. 
 
 " I have read kind words of sympathy in the Ameri 
 can journals, and they touched my heart," responded 
 the King. " Our marriage was one of love purely, and 
 we were engaged from the time we were fifteen years of 
 age. We were very happy together, and she helped 
 
 353 A A 
 
354 FROM THE TAN -YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 me much to bear the burdens of my office, which are 
 very irksome." 
 
 " I know how it is," remarked Grant ; " the eight 
 years of my Presidency were the most harassing and 
 weary ones of my whole life." 
 
 " While my wife lived," continued the King, " I found 
 in her a solace for all my cares ; but now she has gone, 
 my only comfort and relief is to be actively engaged in 
 labour the whole of the time." 
 
 In this familiar and pleasant way the conversation 
 continued for some time, the young King appearing to 
 be glad to find a man to whom he could unburden his 
 soul. 
 
 On this visit Grant learned that ex-President Castel- 
 lar was about starting for San Sebastian, and he sent 
 for him. Castellar came at once. 
 
 " I sent for you," said Grant on shaking his hand 
 cordially, " to thank you personally for your noble sym 
 pathy for the United States Government in the late civil 
 war. There is no man in Spain whom I desired so 
 much to see as yourself. Be assured that the defenders 
 of our Government appreciated your kindness, and were 
 glad that, while your presidency was short and stormy, 
 you maintained the integrity of the Spanish Govern 
 ment." 
 
 Castellar thanked the General for his complimentary 
 address, and spoke words of eulogy in return. 
 
 In Madrid Grant visited the royal palace, occupying, 
 with its gardens, eighty acres ; also, the Escurial Palace, 
 called " the eighth wonder of the world." 
 
 In Lisbon, Portugal, King Don Louis invited him to 
 a grand banquet at the palace, the ministers and leading 
 men of the court being present. This King s father, 
 Don Fernando, fell m love with a Boston lady, who 
 
FROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 355 
 
 came to that city to sing, and he married her. She is 
 called the Countess d Ella ; and she took great pleasure 
 in showing the General over the palace. 
 
 He called at Cadiz, the oldest city in Europe, founded 
 eleven hundred years before Christ. Thence he went 
 to Gibraltar, by invitation of Lord Napier, where he 
 spent three days in sumptuous dinners, royal fetes, and 
 review of troops. 
 
 He now turned his steps toward England, in order to 
 fulfil his promise to visit Ireland. At Pau, France, at 
 the foot of the Pyrenees, he stopped a short time, and 
 the Americans there gave him a banquet, at which Mr. 
 Douglas introduced him as "UNCONDITIONAL SUR 
 RENDER GRANT." The General replied, 
 
 " I never succeeded in making speeches, and think I 
 will not make the attempt now ; but will justify the 
 epithet of Mr. Douglas by making an unconditional 
 surrender." 
 
 This sally was received with great laughter and 
 cheers. 
 
 On reaching England, he prepared for a hurried visit 
 to Ireland, including Dublin, Belfast, Derry, and other 
 cities. It was January 3rd, 1879, when he reached 
 Dublin. He was welcomed, and the freedom of the city 
 was offered to him by Lord Mayor Barrington. He 
 was feted throughout the day, and, in the evening, at a 
 grand banquet, he made his longest speech. 
 
 General Grant returned to his daughter s home at 
 Southampton, England, where Mrs. Grant had remained 
 while he went to Ireland. He made immediate prepara 
 tions to visit India. The company was now somewhat 
 Changed, and consisted of the General and Mrs. Grant, 
 Col. Fred D. Grant, their son (in the place of Jesse), Mr 
 Borie, and Doctor Keating, of Philadelphia, with Mr, 
 
356 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Young, the Herald correspondent. They sailed on the 
 twenty-fourth day of January. 
 
 At Bombay he was welcomed to India by the Gov 
 ernor of the Presidency of Bombay, and the use of the 
 Government House at Malabar Point tendered to him. 
 Here he was lionized for a week, making two or three 
 brief speeches in reply to compliments paid him. 
 
 At Agra he visited the Taj, one of the most beautiful 
 buildings in the world. 
 
 On leaving Jeypoor, where honours were lavished 
 upon him, there was a great display at the public hall. 
 " An attendant entered, bearing a tray filled with wreaths 
 of the rose and jessamine. The Maharajah, taking two 
 of the wreaths, put them on the neck of the General. 
 He did the same to Mrs. Grant and all the members of 
 the party. Then taking a string and silken cord, he 
 placed that on Mrs. Grant as a special honour. The 
 General, who was instructed by the English Resident, 
 took four wreaths and put them on the neck of the Maha 
 rajah, who pressed his hands and bowed his thanks. 
 Another servant came, bearing a small cup of gold and 
 gems containing attar of roses. The Maharajah, putting 
 some of the perfume on his fingers, transferred it to 
 Mrs. Grant s handkerchief. With another portion he 
 passed his hands along the General s breast and 
 shoulders ; this was done to each of the party. The 
 General, then taking the perfume, passed his hand over 
 the Maharajah s shoulder, and so concluded the ceremony, 
 which, in all royal interviews in the East, is supposed 
 to mean a lasting friendship. Then the Prince, taking 
 the General s hand in his own, led him from the hall, 
 across the garden, and to the gateway of his palace, 
 holding his hand all the time." 
 
 Next, the General visited Lucknow, memorable for 
 
FROM SPAIN TO ClftXA. 357 
 
 the mutiny of 58 and 59, and for ever associated with 
 the name of the brave Havelock. Thence he went to 
 Benares, a city of alleys, not streets ; so narrow that 
 sedan-chairs, mounted on poles, and carried by four men, 
 are the only mode of conveyance about the city. Extra 
 chairs, ornamented with gold, were provided for Grant 
 and his party ; but the General did not fancy this mode 
 of conveyance, and so he walked. In their perambula 
 tions they entered a temple where sacred animals were 
 kept for worship. Mrs. Grant had a wreath of flowers 
 on her neck, which a flower-girl had placed there as she 
 entered. A sacred cow beheld the tempting flowers, 
 and made a sudden dash for them, tearing them from 
 her neck ; and, but for the timely interposition of the 
 police, the result might have been serious. 
 
 General Grant proceeded from Calcutta to Rangoon, 
 Burmah. 
 
 At Singapore, General Grant received an invitation 
 from the King of Siam to visit his kingdom. This was 
 an unexpected invitation to Grant, and he gladly 
 accepted it. He sailed for Bangkok, and was met by a 
 messenger from the King thirty miles from the city, 
 accompanied by the American consul, and bearing the 
 following from the King : 
 
 "THE GRAND PALACE, BANGKOK, April 11, 1879. 
 
 " Sir, I have very great pleasure in welcoming you 
 to Siam. It is, I am informed, your pleasure that your 
 reception should be a private one ; but you must permit 
 me to show, as far as I can, the high esteem in which I 
 hold THE MOST EMINENT CITIZEN of that great nation 
 which has been so friendly to Siam, and so kind and 
 just in all its intercourse with the nations of the far 
 East. 
 
358 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " That you may be near me during your stay, I 
 have commanded my brother, His Royal Highness the 
 Celestial Prince Bhanusangsi Swangwongse, to prepare 
 rooms for you and your party in the Saranrow Palace, 
 close to my palace; and I most cordially invite you, 
 Mrs. Grant, and your party, at once to take up residence 
 there, and my brother will represent me as your host 
 
 " Your friend, 
 
 " CHULAHLONG KORN, R. S. 
 " His Excellency, General Grant, 
 
 Late President of the United States." 
 
 This was giving the General full swing. And now com 
 menced a series of honours which astonished the General 
 beyond measure ; coming, as they did, from the people 
 of an almost unknown kingdom hitherto. 
 
 On the next day he was conveyed to another palace, 
 to meet a king of a higher grade, the REGENT, who 
 waited, in decorations of gold, the General s coming. 
 The Regent advanced, and, taking his hand in his, con 
 ducted his guest into the gorgeous audience-room of the 
 palace, where a file of soldiers presented arms, and the 
 band played " The Star Spangled Banner." Then the 
 Regent made a speech, praising Grant and his country, to 
 which Grant replied, praising the Regent and his country, 
 so that they were even now. 
 
 But it turned out that Grant had not yet seen the real, 
 bona-fide King of Siam. He was conducted to him on 
 the I4th of April, in state-carriages, with pomp and 
 ceremony. He lived in still another palace ; and on 
 approaching it, troops with gay uniforms, and aides of 
 the King in royal apparel, waited to conduct him into 
 the presence of His Royal Highness, while the band 
 played "Hail, Columbia." 
 
FROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 359 
 
 The King gave a state-dinner in honour of Grant, at 
 which all the dignitaries of his kingdom appeared in 
 their royal trappings. Everything about the banquet 
 was regal in its splendour. 
 
 Grant returned to Singapore, where he took the 
 steamer Ashuelot for Canton, China. Before he left the 
 United States, the Viceroy had issued the following 
 placard : 
 
 " We have just heard that the King of America, being 
 on friendly terms with China, will leave America early 
 in the third month, bringing with him a suite of officers, 
 etc., all complete on board the ship. It is said that he 
 is bringing a large number of rare presents with him, 
 and that he will be here in Canton about the 6th or Qth 
 of May." 
 
 His arrival in Canton caused such commotion as that 
 city never witnessed before. Of course such a proclama 
 tion from the Viceroy as the above put the people on 
 tip-toe to see the " King of America." Never was a 
 people more disappointed in the world. They expected 
 to see a large, portly man, covered with gold badges to 
 denote his high position, and attended by a retinue of 
 officers in splendid uniforms. What was their surprise 
 when a plain man in travelling apparel, without a single 
 badge or decoration, attended by companions equally 
 plain in dress, disembarked and appeared in their 
 streets ! 
 
 Grant went to Hong Kong, Swatow, Shanghai, and 
 Amoy, where public receptions were tendered. At 
 Shanghai the display was imposing. A hundred thou 
 sand people crowded the landing ; the ships in the 
 harbour were decorated with bunting and flags from 
 stem to stern ; and salutes of cannon and strains of 
 martial music added enchantment to the scene. 
 
360 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 At Pekin, the great city of the eastern world, the 
 demonstration was equally imposing. The Prince Regent 
 sent an escort to meet him at the village of Tung Chow, 
 ten or fifteen miles away, and from that point his march 
 into Pekin was that of a crowned head. Grant was 
 carried in an imperial chair by eight bearers, and he 
 was the first guest of the country ever permitted to 
 occupy an imperial chair. The people understood that 
 such a thing would happen, and they turned out en masse 
 to see the foreigner who was great and good enough to 
 be carried in the chair of the Emperor. 
 
 General Grant was determined to make his visit to 
 China of real value, politically, to both nations and to all 
 nations. For this purpose he sought two personal inter 
 views with Prince Kung, of two hours each ; also an 
 interview with the Viceroy at Tien-tsin. The Prince 
 appeared to be as anxious as Grant that his visit should 
 prove a benefit to China politically. We should be glad 
 to insert the whole conversation, but our space is limited. 
 One suggestion of Grant seemed to surprise the Prince : 
 
 "I think that progress in China should come from 
 inside, from her own people," said Grant. "If her own 
 people cannot do it, it will never be done." 
 
 This appeared to be a revelation to the Prince, but he 
 acceded to it. 
 
 " For that reason, I know of nothing better than to 
 send your young men to our schools. We have as good 
 schools as there are in the world, where young men can 
 learn every branch of science and art. These schools 
 will enable your young men to compare the youngest 
 with the oldest civilization, and I can assure them of 
 the kindest treatment, not only from our teachers, but 
 from our people." 
 
 The conversation branched off to political questions 
 
FROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 361 
 
 and, at the second interview, the government, policy, 
 resources, and martial progress of China, as compared 
 with the United States, were discussed. At the time 
 war with Japan was imminent, on account of her usurpa 
 tion in Loochoo, and the Prince importuned Grant to 
 intercede with the Japanese Government, so as to bring 
 about a settlement. Grant canvassed the whole subject 
 with him, and promised to do all he could to prevent 
 war ; and it is believed that his interposition and 
 counsels did prevent a war. 
 
 So anxious were the Chinese authorities to make 
 Grant understand that they regarded him as the greatest 
 man their country had ever seen, that the Viceroy even 
 gave a farewell dinner to Mrs. Grant a woman some 
 thing never tolerated in the land before ; a step in 
 modern civilization wholly unexpected in China ! 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 JAPAN AND HOME. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT had arranged for a trip to the " Great 
 Wall of China," but, finding that he would pass the end 
 of the wall on the sea-coast, on his way to Japan, and 
 could anchor and go on shore to examine it, he resolved 
 upon this course. 
 
 He found the wall a monument of human energy and 
 enterprise. Though built two thousand years ago, to 
 stop the invasions of the Tartars, it is in a tolerable 
 state of preservation. It is twelve hundred and fifty 
 miles long, with an average width of about twenty-five 
 feet at the top, and twice that or more at the bottom. 
 General Grant said, 
 
 "The late Mr. Seward thought that the labour ex 
 pended upon this wall would have built the Pacific 
 railways ; but I think he underrated its extent. I 
 believe that the labour expended on this wall could 
 have built every railway in the United States, every 
 canal and highway, and most if not all of our cities. 
 
 On the 2 ist of June the Richmond, placed by the 
 United States at General Grant s service, steamed into 
 the fine harbour of Nagasaki, where an enthusiastic 
 public welcome awaited the " American Mikado," as 
 the people called General Grant. The wharves were 
 crowded with people, and the vessels in the harbour 
 
JAPAN AND HOME. 363 
 
 were decked in gala-day attire. The Richmond ran up 
 the Japanese flag, and fired twenty-one guns in honour 
 of Japan. The forts answered the salute. Then the 
 forts and the Japanese gunboats ran up the American 
 flag, and fired twenty-one guns in honour of General 
 Grant. 
 
 It was a half-mile from the landing to General Grant s 
 head-quarters, and his way was covered with red cloth, 
 while, on both sides of the streets, thousands of American 
 and Japanese flags were intertwined ; and numerous 
 arches of evergreen and flowers, bearing mottoes in 
 honour of Grant, spanned the streets in fairy-like love 
 liness. Then followed the formal presentation of high 
 officials, and a long complimentary address by foreign 
 residents of all nationalities, to which Grant replied in 
 one of his longest and best speeches. 
 
 The merchants of the city gave General Grant an 
 elaborate dinner of twenty courses. After the first 
 course a very complimentary address to Grant was 
 read by one of the leading merchants, to which he 
 briefly replied. Then came the second course ; after 
 which the company went out of the temple in which 
 the dinner was given, to behold the bay under the re 
 flection of the sun setting behind the enfolding hills. 
 In a few minutes they returned to the table for the 
 third course, after which several girls in blue silk came 
 in and played the harpsichord, followed by three more 
 who sang. Then followed the fourth course, after which 
 the company left the tables to behold the illumination 
 of the city and the magnificent fireworks, with bonfires 
 on the hill-tops. The scene was indescribable. On 
 returning to the table, candles had been brought into 
 the temple and placed on costly pedestals, while the 
 walls were draped with the costliest blue silk, richly 
 
364 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 embroidered with gold and silver, presenting a gorgeous 
 scene under the flashing lights. 
 
 Thus the courses proceeded ; some sort of entertain 
 ment being furnished between, until eight hours had 
 been consumed by the dinner such a dinner as had 
 never been given before to any man ; not even to a 
 crowned head. 
 
 At Tokio a still grander reception was tendered to 
 him. The General was conducted, in great pomp, to 
 the Emperor s palace, where high officials introduced 
 him and his party to their chief. The Emperor ad 
 vanced and shook hands with him, which was an honour 
 never before bestowed upon a man, however great. The 
 Emperor only bowed slightly to others of the party, as 
 they were presented. Then the Emperor made a signal 
 to one of his noblemen, who advanced, and, with bowed 
 head, was instructed to read to General Grant the follow 
 ing address : 
 
 " Your name has been known to us for a long time, 
 and we are gratified to see you. While holding the 
 high office of President of the United States, you ex 
 tended toward our countrymen especial kindness and 
 courtesy. When our ambassador, Iwakura, visited the 
 United States, he received the greatest kindness from 
 you. The kindness thus shown by you has always been 
 remembered by us. In your travels around the world 
 you have reached this country, and our people of all 
 classes feel gratified and happy to receive you. We 
 trust that during your sojourn in our country, you may 
 find much to enjoy. It gives me sincere pleasure to 
 receive you ; and we are especially gratified that we 
 have been able to do so on the anniversary of American 
 independence." 
 
 General Grant replied : 
 
JAPAN AND HOME. 365 
 
 w Your Majesty : I am very grateful for the welcome 
 you accord me here to-day, and for the great kindness 
 with which I have been received ever since I came 
 to Japan, by your Government and your people. I 
 recognise in this a feeling of friendship toward my 
 country. I can assure you that this feeling is recipro 
 cated by the United States ; that our people, without 
 regard to party, take the deepest interest in all that 
 concerns Japan, and have the warmest wishes for her 
 welfare. I am happy to be able to express that senti 
 ment. America is your next neighbour, and will always 
 give Japan sympathy and support in her efforts to ad 
 vance. I again thank your Majesty for your hospitality, 
 and wish you a long and a happy reign, and for your 
 people prosperity and independence." 
 
 The Emperor proposed to give a breakfast to General 
 Grant at Shila Palace on the 7th of July, and devote the 
 day to his honour. A grand military review was arranged 
 for that day, both the Emperor and American General 
 to be present. A review of the troops by the Emperor 
 was always an occasion of great interest ; and now to 
 have a review by the Emperor and General Grant to 
 gether, created an unprecedented interest. We have no 
 space for a description of the military scene ; but it 
 excelled anything of the kind Japan had ever witnessed. 
 And the breakfast was sumptuous and royal throughout, 
 such as only kings can serve. 
 
 General Grant desired to have a familiar conversation 
 with the Emperor on public affairs, including national 
 troubles with China ; and such a conference was secured. 
 It lasted two or three hours ; and the dispute about the 
 sovereignty of Loochoo was particularly canvassed, with 
 the most favourable results. 
 
 " I know of nothing," said Grant, " that would give 
 
366 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 me greater pleasure than to be able to leave Japan, as I 
 shall in a short time, feeling that between China and 
 Japan there is entire friendship." 
 
 A resident American facetiously remarked that "every 
 thing had been brought in to honour Grant except an 
 earthquake." Earthquakes are common in that country, 
 but not the slightest shock of one had been experienced 
 for more than two months, when the above remark was 
 made. But, finally, an earthquake honoured Grant. At 
 one of the last dinners, a shock swayed the chandelier, 
 shook the table, and made the building tremble. That 
 was a characteristic feature of the country, which could 
 not have been omitted without leaving the knowledge 
 of it incomplete. 
 
 Grant resolved to leave the East and turn his steps 
 homeward. But he must pay his respects to the Em 
 peror, and bid him farewell, according to the custom. 
 Preparations were made, therefore, for him to take leave 
 of the head of the nation ; and it was on a grand scale 
 too. A cavalcade of titled dignitaries escorted him to 
 the palace. The Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Princes 
 of the Imperial Family, foreign ministers, and other 
 royal personages, waited to receive him at the door. 
 He was ushered into the presence of the Emperor, his 
 party following ; and now the Emperor stepped forward 
 and shook hands with both the General and Mrs. Grant ; 
 and the Empress did the same. 
 
 General Grant s addresses had been wholly extem 
 poraneous hitherto ; but, on this occasion, he desired to 
 be more particular, and do greater honour to the Emperor, 
 so he carefully wrote his address, and read it. It was as 
 follows : 
 
 "Your Majesty: I come to take my leave and to 
 thank you, the officers of your Government, and the 
 
JAPAN AND HOME. 3 6 7 
 
 people of Japan, for the great hospitality and kindness 
 I have received at the hands of all during my most 
 pleasant visit to this country. I have now been two 
 months in Tokio and the surrounding neighbourhood, 
 and two previous weeks in the more southerly part of the 
 country. It affords me great satisfaction to say that 
 during all this stay and all my visiting, I have not 
 witnessed one discourtesy toward myself, nor a single 
 unpleasant sight. Everywhere there seems to be the 
 greatest contentment among the people ; and while no 
 signs of great individual wealth exist, no absolute 
 poverty is visible. This is in striking and pleasing con 
 trast with almost every other country I have visited. I 
 leave Japan greatly impressed with the possibilities and 
 probabilities of her future. wShe has a fertile soil, one- 
 half of it not yet cultivated to man s use, great undeve 
 loped mineral resources, numerous and fine harbours, an 
 extensive seacoast abounding in fish of an almost endless 
 variety, and, above all, an industrious, ingenious, con 
 tented, and frugal population. With all these nothing 
 is wanted to insure great progress except wise direction 
 by the Government, peace at home and abroad, and 
 non-interference in the internal and domestic affairs of 
 the country by the outside nations. It is the sincere desire 
 of your guest to see Japan realize all possible strength 
 and greatness, to see her as independent of foreign rule 
 or dictation as any Western nation now is, and to see 
 affairs so directed by her as to command the respect of 
 the civilized world. In saying this, I believe that I reflect 
 the sentiments of the great majority of my countrymen. 
 I now take my leave without expectation of ever again 
 having the opportunity of visiting Japan, but with the 
 assurance that pleasant recollections of my present visit 
 will not vanish while life lasts. That your Majesty may 
 
368 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 long reign over a prosperous and contented people, and 
 enjoy every blessing, is my sincere prayer." 
 
 The Emperor replied by reading his own address, 
 which was as great a departure from the imperial cus 
 tom as shaking hands with his guest. His address was 
 as follows : 
 
 " Your visit has given us so much satisfaction and 
 pleasure, that we can only lament that the time of your 
 departure has come. We regret, also, that the heat of 
 the season and the presence of the epidemic [cholera] 
 have prevented several of your proposed visits to different 
 places. In the meantime, however, we have greatly 
 enjoyed the pleasure of frequent interviews with you, 
 and the cordial expressions which you have just ad 
 dressed to us in taking your leave have given us great 
 additional satisfaction. America and Japan, being near 
 neighbours, separated by an ocean only, will become 
 more and more closely connected with each other as 
 time goes on. It is gratifying to feel assured that your 
 visit to our empire, which enabled us to form very 
 pleasant personal acquaintance with each other, will 
 facilitate and strengthen the friendly relations that have 
 heretofore happily existed between the two countries. 
 And now we cordially wish you a safe and pleasant 
 voyage home, and that you will on your return home 
 find your nation in peace and prosperity, and that you 
 and your family may enjoy long life and happiness." 
 
 Great preparations were made to receive General 
 Grant at San Francisco, Cal. The people of that State 
 were determined to make it the grandest reception ever 
 given to an American in that country. Time and money 
 were lavished upon the arrangements, as if the managers 
 had resolved to eclipse all demonstrations of honour in 
 the East. 
 
JAPAN AND HOME. 369 
 
 About three o clock p.m. on the twentieth day of 
 September the bell on the Merchants Exchange rang 
 out the glad tidings. As if by magic the whole city was 
 astir at once, and from every direction the multitude 
 surged toward the harbour. 
 
 It was nearly dark when the General landed at the 
 foot of Market Street, where the Mayor of the city 
 welcomed him in a brief address, to which Grant re 
 plied. Then the procession started, which was signalled 
 by another boom of cannon, ringing of bells, and 
 screaming of steam-whistles. Market and Montgomery 
 Streets, through which it passed, were converted into 
 one long, magnificent archway of flowers, banners, 
 festoons, flags, and draperies, more beautiful than any 
 oriental display which the illustrious guest had seen. 
 The city was illuminated, and bonfires blazed on sur 
 rounding hills and even at the corners of streets, while 
 Roman candles, electric lights, rockets, and other fire 
 works poured the light of day upon the host of people 
 in the streets. 
 
 A week was given to receptions, dinners, and other 
 public demonstrations in honour of Grant. 
 
 On the 25th, Oakland received him. Sixty thousand 
 people were added to her population of forty thousand 
 on that day. 
 
 After dinner at Tubb s Hotel, the General addressed 
 the multitude in a brief but fitting speech. On his return 
 to the wharf the crowd followed him. A bright little 
 girl, who pleaded to be lifted up that she might see the 
 General, was passed along from one to another, over the 
 heads of the throng, to Grant, who took her in his arms, 
 kissed her, and passed her back, creating the wildest 
 applause possible. 
 
 On the 29th TWENTY THOUSAND children of the public 
 
 B B 
 
370 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 schools welcomed him at Woodward Gardens. It was a 
 memorable day. 
 
 On his way from the West to the East the whole 
 population seemed to be waiting to do him honour. At 
 Chicago the reception was on a grand scale. The 
 Mayor s address of welcome and Grant s reply elicited 
 hearty applause. 
 
 At Philadelphia, whose citizens hoped that he might 
 make the " Quaker City " his home, and to that end 
 had presented him with a fine house, his welcome was 
 not inferior to that of San Francisco. The procession 
 which escorted him was four hours passing a given 
 point. 
 
 Among the demonstrations were, a grand dinner given 
 by George W. Childs, Esq.; a reception at Independence 
 Hall ; a camp-fire reception by the Grand Army of the 
 Republic ; another reception by the Chamber of Com 
 merce ; and a farewell reception ball and banquet, the 
 latter of which, it is claimed, surpassed in brilliancy 
 anything of the kind ever given in America. All 
 of them were worthy of the occasion that of honour 
 ing the most renowned general and statesman in the 
 world ! 
 
 At nearly eveiy dinner and public demonstration, from 
 the time Grant reached San Francisco until he left Phila 
 delphia, he addressed the assemblies. Some of these 
 speeches were his longest and best ; all of them were 
 worthy of the man and the occasions. Our limited space 
 has compelled us to omit most of them. 
 
 Very appropriately, the General left Philadelphia to 
 pay a visit to his aged mother in New Jersey. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 
 
 GENERAL GRANT did not sit down in idleness after his 
 tour round the world. He was too active a man by 
 nature to waste time with " nothing to do," and too 
 much of a patriot to be indifferent to the welfare of his 
 country. All public matters connected with reconstruc 
 tion, the relations of the United States Government 
 to foreign powers, the commercial intercourse of our 
 country with the West Indies, Mexico, and other nations, 
 these and kindred questions enlisted his undivided 
 attention. 
 
 The construction of railroads in the interest of Amer 
 ican traffic was a subject upon which he bestowed much 
 attention ; and he was offered the presidency of one of 
 the largest railroad enterprises of the day to establish 
 better commercial relations between our country and the 
 republic of Mexico. He visited Mexico twice, for the 
 sole purpose of enlarging the fraternal and commercial 
 relations of the two countries. It was universally con 
 ceded that his great influence did turn the attention of 
 the two countries to each other, and that here is found 
 the secret of the promise which now invests that repub 
 lic, especially in respect to its future intercourse with the 
 United States. 
 
 General Grant took up his residence in New York 
 
 371 
 
372 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 after his return from abroad. He was a poor man then. 
 The few thousands he had saved from his salary as 
 General and President, were spent in his trip around 
 the world. The great attentions shown him largely in 
 creased his expenses. The railroad trains and hotels, 
 provided for him often by the governments he visited, 
 only served to increase his obligations to be more gen 
 erous in other directions. Had he paid his railroad 
 fares and hotel bills, as other travellers do, he would 
 have been in a better pecuniary condition at the close 
 of his tour. 
 
 But General Grant was too much honoured and be 
 loved to remain a poor man. It was said that the 
 railroad presidency which was offered to him, would 
 have brought him a salary of fifty thousand dollars 
 annually. But wealthy friends thought a wider field 
 of usefulness awaited him. Some of them were then 
 hoping to see him elected President of the United 
 States for the third time in 1880. The work of recon 
 structing the South had not progressed as rapidly and 
 successfully as they desired ; and they saw an early 
 solution of difficult problems in a third term of the 
 presidency by General Grant. Hence, they were op 
 posed to his undertaking railroad enterprises, or any 
 other, however important they might be for the public 
 welfare. Besides, they were willing, in common with 
 many others, to give the General all the money he 
 wanted. Wealthy men were glad to guarantee a fund 
 which would enable him to live as a great general and 
 statesman should, the remainder of his days. The 
 result was that a fund of two hundred and fifty thou 
 sand dollars was raised and invested in trust, the income 
 of fifteen thousand dollars annually to be paid to him. 
 
 The National Republican Convention of June, 1880, 
 
MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 373 
 
 to nominate a candidate for President, was commanding 
 public attention. General Grant was put forward for 
 a third term by his friends. There was widespread 
 opposition to the measure, on the ground that a third 
 term was a radical departure from the custom that 
 even Washington declined the nomination for a third 
 term, and considered it as impolitic. Chiefly this reason, 
 and not lack of confidence in General Grant, induced 
 many leading Republicans, and many of the most 
 prominent journals, to oppose his nomination. And 
 yet, in the convention, he developed unexpected strength. 
 On the first ballot he received more votes than any 
 other candidate THREE HUNDRED AND six. His op 
 ponents saw that only a union of hostile elements could 
 defeat him in the convention. The friends of other 
 candidates must sacrifice their choices, and unite on the 
 best man available, in order to prevent the nomination 
 of Grant. James A. Garfield had made a very favour 
 able impression upon the delegates by his eloquent 
 appeal for John Sherman, as candidate for President. 
 Moreover, he was known to the convention as one of the 
 ablest generals in the late war, in whom Grant himself 
 reposed great confidence ; and, in addition, had been 
 one of the foremost men in Congress for nearly twenty 
 years, and was already looked upon by many as a future 
 President. To him the friends of other candidates 
 turned as their only hope of success against Grant ; and 
 in this they were not disappointed. 
 
 Grant did not want the office. The country could 
 not add to his honours by another term of the presi 
 dency. He consented to leave himself in the hands of 
 his friends, for nomination or otherwise, only upon the 
 ground which they claimed, that he could be of greater 
 service than any other man in completing the work of 
 
374 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 reconstruction, and cementing peaceful relations with 
 foreign powers. 
 
 A year or more later, one of his sons entered into 
 business with Ferdinand Ward, whose reputation in 
 financial circles was high. The General put in a large 
 amount of money, and thereby became a special partner. 
 James D. Fish, the president of the Marine Bank, and a 
 man of excellent reputation, became a special partner 
 also. The business was managed by Ward, on account 
 of his superior business qualities and unusual experience 
 for one of his age. General Grant knew little or nothing 
 about the business ; indeed, it was not legitimate that 
 he should know about its details. Neither did his son 
 feel competent to manage it, while one of so much 
 larger ability and experience was not only willing to 
 manage it, but claimed the right to do it for the reasons 
 suggested. The result was, that Grant and Ward went 
 down in one of the most disastrous crashes ever known 
 in the financial circles of this country. General Grant, 
 and other persons who put money into the firm, lost 
 every dollar. 
 
 On the day before the crash, Ward told his partner 
 that they must raise one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars more to tide them over the next day ; and he 
 went to the General to ask if he could not raise it for 
 them. " It will be returned in two days," said Ward. 
 General Grant obtained the money of Vanderbilt, and 
 gave his note for it ; not even cherishing the shadow of 
 a suspicion that anything was wrong. The next day 
 the firm failed, and Grant was a poor man. 
 
 "Ward was arrested. The true character of the 
 government contracts was exposed. They were en 
 tirely and absolutely without foundation were mythical 
 in character, and the profits a lie. New loans had 
 
MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 375 
 
 constantly to be made to pay dividends on sums pre 
 viously borrowed, or placed in Ward s hands for in 
 vestment ; and it is clear that each new sum must be 
 greater in amount than that preceding." 
 
 The crash of the firm was stunning to Grant. It 
 came near crushing him, as he was suffering at the time 
 from a serious cancerous trouble at the root of the 
 tongue. The fear that his world-wide reputation for 
 uprightness might suffer, more than the loss of all his 
 property, overwhelmed him. But his mighty will-power, 
 commanding every faculty of his soul, which made him 
 invincible in war, now came to his relief; and he sat 
 down, with his noble wife at his side, to convey, legally, 
 their home and all their personal property, to the last 
 dollar, to Mr. Vanderbilt, to secure him against loss. 
 Poverty was a welcome boon to him, and to his devoted 
 companion, could they but repay a friend who kindly 
 loaned the General one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 The sympathies of friends in every part of the 
 country, and in other lands, too, were enlisted for 
 General Grant and his family. It was proposed to 
 raise a second fund for his benefit ; and the project 
 would have been readily consummated, but the General 
 signified that it would not be agreeable to him ; so it 
 was abandoned. 
 
 As soon as General Grant found himself embarrassed,, 
 he turned his attention to literary work. Conductors 
 of magazines were ready to pay him an extravagant 
 price for articles on the late war ; and book-publishers 
 were eager to secure his memoirs for publication. Ke 
 applied himself to the production of both, magazine 
 articles and his memoirs. 
 
 He felt that his disease would prove fatal sooner or 
 
376 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 later ; and he desired to leave his family in comfortable 
 circumstances. A publishing house offered him a large 
 sum for his autobiography. Although he knew that the 
 grateful people of his country would see that his wife 
 and family were provided with both the necessaries and 
 luxuries of life, he preferred that his own personal 
 efforts should make them independent. 
 
 Here is another illustration of his tremendous will 
 power. That he was able to rise above the depression 
 occasioned by the loss of his property and the inroads 
 of a fatal disease, and devote himself to literary work, 
 is a marvel. Few men ever lived who could master 
 circumstances like that. Probably he could never have 
 done it, but for his terrible discipline in the late war. 
 
 History affords few parallels to the case of General 
 Grant. He stood upon the top of worldly success. 
 There was nothing more of honour, wealth, confidence, 
 fame, that a nation could add, to exalt his earthly lot. 
 Suddenly he was plunged down, down, by misfortune 
 and disease, to an experience more appalling because 
 of the height to which he had attained. History 
 furnishes no parallel to it. 
 
 He was now seriously ill. The people of the United 
 States and the world had just learned of the dreadful 
 malady that was so sure to result in death cancer in 
 the throat. For months it had been progressing, though 
 jie kept it a secret from his family. But the Grant 
 and Ward troubles aggravated the disease, and soon it 
 assumed the most alarming aspect. The tidings spread 
 over the land, that General Grant was seriously ill. 
 This was followed immediately by more definite news 
 that cancer in the throat was his trouble, and that his 
 death must be near. 
 
 From the Atlantic to the Pacific, the honest grief and 
 
MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 377 
 
 lamentation were unprecedented. South, as well as 
 North, there was a profound feeling of sadness, that he, 
 to whom the nation owed its life, in an important 
 sense, was thus stricken. State legislators in session, 
 secular and Christian conventions, Grand Army Posts, 
 Ministerial Associations, Boards of Trade, and all sorts 
 of assemblages bore testimony of their sorrow in reso 
 lutions of grief and sympathy adopted. The press of 
 the country, secular and religious, joined in the universal 
 expression of sadness, and filled their columns with a 
 rehearsal of his deeds, both in war and peace. Op 
 ponents forgot their hostility in recalling the indebted 
 ness of the country to the heroic sufferer. The living 
 comrades of the Union army felt a personal affliction 
 in the sudden and unexpected prostration of their old 
 commander. It was taking away one for whom many 
 of them would willingly die. The nation was ready to 
 wear the deepest mourning when its great leader should 
 pass away. 
 
 Seldom have a people waited upon the mails and 
 telegraphs more eagerly and tearfully, from day to day, 
 than they did to catch the last report from General 
 Grant s sick-room. The slightest news of more favour 
 able symptoms was hailed with unmingled joy. News 
 of declining strength awakened corresponding sorrow. 
 Night and day the street in front of his residence was 
 besieged with interested parties waiting for the last 
 tidings from the sick man. Neither physician nor 
 friend could come out of the house without being beset 
 by eager inquirers about the General s condition. Such 
 a demand was made upon the press, for the latest news 
 from Grant, that a room was rented close to his resi 
 dence, where the reporters gathered and waited for 
 reports from his physicians and nurses. 
 
378 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Soon after the public were made acquainted with the 
 General s malady, his old friend, George W. Childs, 
 Esq., of Philadelphia, called upon him. Mr. Childs, 
 speaking of the interview, said, 
 
 " He realized that his life was drawing to a close, but 
 seemed to regard the approach of death calmly and 
 without the slightest fear." 
 
 The reader will recall the General s reply to the 
 inquiry how he could keep so cool, and be so self- 
 possessed in war, when its fortunes seemed to turn 
 against him, " When I have done the very best I can, 
 I leave it." Here, as elsewhere, we discover the man of 
 few words committing his cause to Providence. Under 
 the strongest conviction that his cause was right, he 
 believed that Providence would finally vindicate it. All 
 through his war life this element of strength appears. 
 And here it predominates in the presence of his last 
 enemy Death. 
 
 Mr. Childs inquired about the progress he had made 
 on his book. 
 
 " I hope that I shall be able to complete it before I die." 
 
 " Your friends, in Congress and out, are deeply con 
 cerned to have you placed upon the retired-list," sug 
 gested Mr. Childs. 
 
 " Yes ; and I feel very grateful to them for their 
 efforts," replied the General. "The newspapers, too, 
 speak very kindly of the measure." 
 
 " Why ; it is half-past eleven o clock," said Mr. Childs 
 with surprise, as he looked up to the clock. 
 
 "Yes; and I suppose the Senate is about adjourning 
 now," added the General. 
 
 Just then a telegram was brought in to Mr. Childs, 
 from Mr. Drexel, stating that Congress had placed 
 General Grant on the retired list. 
 
MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 379 
 
 " There, General, read that," said Mr. Childs, passing 
 the telegram to him. 
 
 The General read it, and a smile of satisfaction lit up 
 his countenance, while his emotions were too deep to 
 admit of speech. 
 
 Mrs. Grant came into the room, when Mr. Childs told 
 her of the action of Congress. With a countenance 
 beaming with delight, she exclaimed, " They have 
 brought us back our old commander." 
 
 Mr. Childs says of the interview, 
 
 "The scene was very affecting. The General could 
 hardly express the delight he felt at the compliment 
 which had been paid to him. He bore not the slightest 
 ill-will toward those who had opposed the bill, for he is 
 the most magnanimous man I ever knew. The greatest 
 soldier that ever lived, he is as kind and gentle as a 
 woman. He frequently told me how much it pained 
 him to be accused of butchery. He said he was always 
 overcome by a feeling of sadness before a battle, at the 
 thought that many a poor fellow would never return 
 from the field. He is the most wonderful man in com 
 bating disease I ever heard of. He walks about the 
 room unaided, notwithstanding his extremely weak con 
 dition. A short time ago he walked into an adjoining 
 room and affixed his autograph to four pictures. The 
 strokes of his pen were as bold and firm as they were 
 when the General was in health." 
 
 During these days of intense anxiety, the crowd began 
 to gather at daylight in the street in front of the Grant 
 residence. All day long, day after day, continuing until 
 midnight, the people waited in the streets to hear from 
 the sufferer. The stoops of the houses were filled ; and 
 not a few people went into the houses opposite and 
 watched from the windows. Every person who came 
 
38o FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 out of the General s house, night or day, was beset with 
 earnest, honest inquirers. They must know what hope 
 was left. 
 
 When the second severe attack threatened the General s 
 life at once, Mrs. Grant said, 
 
 " Send for Drs. Sands and Shrady immediately." 
 
 The General was cool and collected as ever, and he 
 said to Dr. Douglas, who was rendering every possible 
 attention, 
 
 " It can do no good to send for them ; you are 
 enough." 
 
 But his son, Col. Fred Grant, hastily wrote two notes, 
 and sent them by messengers to Dr. Sands and Dr. 
 Shrady. 
 
 Mrs. Sartoris, his daughter, came into the room after 
 the severest struggle was through, and the General 
 looked up and smiled, at the same time extending his 
 hand. She took his hand between both of hers and sat 
 down by him, holding it until he fell asleep. When he 
 awoke, in a few minutes, liquid food was brought to 
 him, of which he partook sparingly, and pushed it aside 
 
 " You have not taken enough to do you any good," 
 said Dr. Shrady. " Take more." 
 
 "Very well, doctor, just as you say," the General 
 replied ; and then drank freely of the nourishment. He 
 had not forgotten how to obey a superior officer. 
 
 The little daughter of Colonel Grant came into the 
 room, ready for a walk. With a face full of sunshine 
 and joy, she ran up to the chair of the General and said, 
 " Good-bye, grandpa, I m going out to the park." The 
 General patted the golden-haired girl upon the head, his 
 eyes glistening with tears, and said, in a voice full of 
 emotion, <; Good-bye, my child ; good-bye." As Mrs. 
 Sartoris raised the child to kiss his forehead, the General 
 
MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 381 
 
 smoothed away the ringlets from her brow, took a long 
 look at her face, and then turned his head away and 
 closed his eyes, while his lips faintly uttered the words, 
 " Bless you, my child ; bless you." 
 
 Colonel Grant repaired to the library, and reported 
 the views of the doctors to his mother. Although 
 expecting to hear the worst at any moment, she was 
 quite overcome by these unfavourable tidings ; but, 
 speedily rallying from her paroxysm of grief, she 
 said, 
 
 "Well, let us take courage, and look to God for 
 strength." 
 
 "Now, I would like to see Dr. Newman," said the 
 General, after he had become quiet and the doctors had 
 retired to the library. A messenger was sent to his 
 house, and Dr. Newman came immediately. 
 
 " I am very glad to see you, Dr. Newman," said the 
 General, in a strong voice, at the same time extending 
 his hand. 
 
 " How are you feeling now ? " inquired Dr. Newman. 
 
 " Very tired and weak. This long struggle has worn 
 me out." 
 
 Conversation followed upon his physical and spiritual 
 condition, when Dr. Newman remarked : 
 
 " You have friends everywhere who are remembering 
 you in their prayers in your sufferings, General ; and 
 in fact, it seems as if every one was your friend at pre 
 sent." 
 
 "Yes," replied the General, "I have many friends 
 here ; and I have also many friends on the other side 
 who have crossed the river before me." 
 
 "Yes, General, that is so," said Dr. Newman; "they 
 have taken the journey before you, and now they stand 
 waiting to receive you." 
 
382 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " It is my wish that they may not have long to wait 
 for me, and that the end will soon come." 
 
 His chair was drawn up to the window so that he 
 could look into the street. In that position he fell 
 asleep ; and people on the opposite side could distinctly 
 see his pale, death-stricken face ; and many of them 
 were seen to wipe unbidden tears from their eyes, as if 
 experiencing a personal sorrow. 
 
 The following day, although the General was more 
 comfortable in some respects, Dr. Shrady said, 
 
 "The General s condition indicates that he is sinking 
 rapidly; and, so far as I am able to judge from appear 
 ances, he is liable to go at any moment." 
 
 Dr. Douglas said, 
 
 " There is little doubt that the end is near. I don t 
 think that stimulants will be used to a great extent ; 
 for, though we may tide over the night possibly, the 
 end is close at hand, and is looked for at any moment." 
 
 These opinions show that General Grant lay at death s 
 door for several days ; and yet his wonderful recupera 
 tive power asserted itsdf, and he rallied ; but only tem 
 porarily, as it was supposed. On the I2th or I3th of 
 April, Dr. Newman called, and, after an interview, said 
 to a reporter, 
 
 " His mind is perfectly calm. He knows that the 
 end is coming, and calmly sits, awaiting death. He has 
 no fear, and looks upon death as a mere change that 
 happens as ordained by the Creator, as a part of the 
 grand scheme of creation. I have attended many cases 
 of sickness, and generally the patients have some hope 
 and expect to recover as long as they are possessed of 
 their reason, but in General Grant s case, there is no 
 hope." 
 
 Telegrams and letters of sympathy had been pouring 
 
MISFORTUNE AND SICKNESS AT LAST. 383 
 
 into the Grant home, by the hundred, for many days. 
 They came from every part of the country, and even 
 from foreign lands. Among them was a kind, loving 
 message to Mrs. Grant from Queen Victoria. 
 
 One day eight hundred unopened letters of this kind 
 were in the General s home. And one who has been 
 much in the family says, that " these many tokens of 
 confidence and true sympathy touched the General s 
 heart, and often moved him to tears. They aided much 
 to remove the depression with which he brooded over 
 the Grant and Ward failure, as they showed him that 
 he still commands the hearts of the people." 
 
 One day a poor old man in seedy garments, who said 
 he travelled on foot from Galena, 111., and had known 
 and fought under the General, paused in front of the 
 house at 6.36 a.m., and doffing his weather-beaten hat, 
 prayed loud and fervently for his recovery. When he 
 turned to go the tears were coursing each other down 
 the old man s cheeks. He refused assistance offered 
 him by those present, and would not give his name. 
 
 General Grant was very much affected when this in 
 cident was related to him. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, General Grant rallied, so 
 that when his sixty-third birthday occurred, on the 2/th 
 of April, he was in a very comfortable condition ; and 
 the occasion was celebrated in many parts of our land. 
 In some places it was made a holiday. In some schools 
 special exercises were arranged in honour of Grant. 
 Messages from individuals and societies were forwarded 
 to him, and resolutions adopted by public bodies on 
 that day. Many tokens of friendship, prompted by 
 sincere affection, were also sent. And he was very 
 much affected by these expressions of tender regard for 
 him. 
 
384 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The General was soon able to attend to his literary 
 work ; and, though his medical attendants could not 
 express the slightest hope of his recovery, yet he de 
 voted himself to the preparation of his autobiography 
 with as much singleness of purpose and enthusiasm as 
 he could display if sure of living twenty years longer. 
 This is one of the remarkable things about the General 
 an element of character which made him equal to 
 any emergency during the war, so that he never pro 
 vided for defeat. 
 
XXX. 
 
 HIS LAST JOURNEY. 
 
 THE memory of that last journey of the lamented Gar- 
 field from Washington to the sea, is still fresh, the last 
 hope of relief to the great sufferer, in conveying him to 
 Francklyn Cottage, Long Branch, where the bracing sea- 
 air afforded another possible chance of life. But the 
 ocean only joined the nation in bemoaning his expiring 
 life, and soon sung a doleful requiem over his death. 
 
 In like manner, General Grant took his last journey, 
 not to the sea, but from New York city to the mountains. 
 His departure was hastened on account of a sudden and 
 unexpected change for the worse. The symptoms were 
 so alarming that his medical attendants feared speedy 
 death, unless immediate removal to Mount McGregor 
 should extend his furlough. 
 
 Mount McGregor is situated thirty miles from Saratoga 
 Springs, and is reached from the latter place by a narrow- 
 gauge railway, which winds around it until the ascent is 
 accomplished. The owner of the now famous Drexei 
 Cottage, Mr. Drexei, tendered the use of it to the Gen 
 eral as soon as it became apparent that he might survive 
 to breathe the country air of summer. The location is 
 beautiful, and the air pure, crisp, and invigorating. 
 
 At half-past nine o clock, on the morning of June 16, 
 
 385 C C 
 
386 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 1885, the General left New York city, in a private car, 
 accompanied by his family and Doctor Douglas. When 
 passing Stony Point, Colonel Grant, the General s son, 
 spoke so as to be heard above the clatter of the train, 
 
 "When Anthony Wayne stormed Stony Point, my 
 great-grandfather, Captain Dent, was commander of the 
 forlorn hope, and when they reached the walls he had 
 his men stand on each other s shoulders, and then the 
 Captain scaled the rampart over their backs, and stood 
 on the wall and pulled his men up one by one over the 
 human ladder. They then descended and opened the 
 gates of the fortress and let in Wayne s men." 
 
 General Grant smiled assent to the statement, and the 
 son added, 
 
 " And up here at Ticonderoga, father s great-grand 
 father and his brother were killed in the French and 
 English war, about the year 1754." 
 
 The General nodded assent. 
 
 Passing West Point, the scene of his cadetship, the 
 General smiled and nodded to his wife to look across 
 the river to that military home of his youth ; and he 
 continued to take in the view until it was swept out 
 of his sight. 
 
 Reaching his destination before night, the General 
 was found to have borne the journey quite as well as 
 his friends expected. 
 
 The next morning Colonel Grant said : " Father had 
 considerable rest last night. When I went to his room 
 a little while ago he whispered, very faintly, that he found 
 his voice a little stronger to-day, but that he should not 
 try to use it ; hoping that with caution it would grow 
 strong enough so he could talk again. But the failure 
 of his voice is owing to debility, and he is growing 
 weaker all the while." 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 3 7 
 
 Yet, on that day, June i;th, with the assistance of 
 Harrison, his faithful attendant, he walked to the 
 brow of the mountain, a hundred yards away, and re 
 turned, with so little exhaustion as to surprise Doctor 
 Douglas. 
 
 Near the cottage a little white tent was pitched, with 
 small flags fluttering over it ; and the tent was occupied 
 by an old soldier in uniform, S. W. Willet. He was 
 employed to protect the General from intrusion by 
 strangers. 
 
 On the evening of the eighteenth, after the arrival of 
 his son Jesse, with Doctor Newman, he wrote: "It is just 
 a week to-day since I have spoken. My suffering is 
 continuous. The doctors, Sands and Douglas, say my 
 ailment is improving." 
 
 Within three or four days he was able to perform some 
 labour on his book, though with the utmost care. On 
 the twenty-fourth he received two telegrams, which 
 afforded him much pleasure. The first was from the 
 State Teachers Association of Missouri, representing 
 thirty thousand teachers, tendering their heartfelt sym 
 pathies to him in his affliction. The other was from the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, assembled at Portland 
 Me., for their nineteenth national encampment, convey 
 ing renewed expressions of love and sympathy for their 
 old commander. The General read these telegrams with 
 evident satisfaction, and returned his thanks over his 
 own signature. 
 
 He wrote, on June 29th, to comfort his wife, "Do as 
 I do take it quietly. I give myself not the least con 
 cern. If I knew that the end was to be to-morrow, I 
 would try and get rest in the meantime. As long as 
 there s no progress, there s hope." 
 
 On the thirtieth, Doctor Douglas said, "General 
 
388 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Grant s life has been prolonged by the invigorating air 
 here. The disease has progressed in the natural way. 
 As I have said before, his condition is one of increasing 
 debility. His present weakness is the natural result of 
 the disease. He is each day less strong; and though the 
 step from day to day is scarcely perceptible, the aggregate 
 of fourteen days becomes noticeable." 
 
 On the following day Doctor Newman, who spent 
 much time with him, inquired, " General, are you sensible 
 of increasing weakness ? " 
 
 He wrote in reply : " I do not know as there is any 
 special weakness. I worked a good four hours to-day, 
 and wrote a short chapter for my book. I scarcely use 
 my cane in going about my room. Often when I go out 
 I have to look about for it to find it." 
 
 Before leaving, Doctor Newman, at the General s 
 request, read the eighth and ninth chapters of Matthew, 
 and offered prayer. 
 
 For some time thereafter he seemed to renew his 
 strength ; yet, he was not able to converse even in a 
 whisper. On July 8th a visitor called upon him, when 
 the General motioned him to a seat. 
 
 " I am a Catholic clergyman from Baltimore," he said. 
 " We are all praying for you." 
 
 " The General wrote : " I regret very much that I am 
 not able to converse, riot even in a whisper." 
 
 The caller repeated his kind message. 
 
 " Yes, I know," continued the General in writing, 
 "and I feel very grateful to the Christian people of the 
 land for their prayers in my behalf. There is no sect or 
 religion, as shown in the Old or the New Testaments, 
 to which this does not apply. Catholics, Protestants, 
 and Jews, and all the good people of the nation, of 
 all politics as well as of religions, and of all nation- 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 389 
 
 alities, seem to have united in wishing or praying for 
 improvement. I am a great sufferer all the time, but 
 facts I have related are compensation for much of it. 
 All that I can do is to pray that the prayers of all these 
 good people may be answered so far as to have us all 
 meet in another and a better world. I cannot speak 
 even in a whisper. 
 
 "JulyS, 1885. (Signed) U. S. GRANT." 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, twenty editors of 
 the Mexican Associated Press called upon him, and, one 
 by one, were introduced to him. Then, Senor Augustin 
 Arroyo de Anda addressed him as follows : 
 
 " In the name of the Visiting Committee of Mexican 
 journalists who are visiting this country, I desire to say 
 that they could not pass so near to a great friend of 
 Mexico without coming to pay their respects to the hero 
 of Richmond, he who broke the chains of slavery in 
 order that the iron of the chains around the slaves might 
 be made into rails for the progress of the country, and 
 thus unite the two republics by bonds of steel, he who 
 did so much to make the two republics one." 
 
 In response General Grant wrote : 
 
 " My great interest in Mexico dates back to the war 
 between the United States and that country. My interest 
 was increased when four European monarchies attempted 
 to set up their institutions on this continent, selecting 
 Mexico, a territory adjoining. It was an outrage on 
 human rights for a foreign nation to attempt to transfer 
 her institutions and her rulers to the territory of a civil 
 ized people without their consent. They were fearfully 
 punished for their crime. I hope Mexico may soon 
 begin an upward and a prosperous departure. She has 
 all the conditions, she has the people, she has the soil, 
 
390 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 she has the climate, and she has the minerals. The con 
 quest of Mexico will not be an easy task in the future." 
 
 Notwithstanding the unusual strain of this day upon 
 his strength, he was full as comfortable on the next day, 
 and conversed, by writing, with a caller, for some minutes. 
 Among other things he wrote this : 
 
 " I am glad to say that while there is much unblushing 
 wickedness in this world, yet there is a compensating 
 generosity and grandeur of soul. In my case I have 
 not found that republics are ungrateful, nor are the 
 people." 
 
 After this his strength seemed to increase, and on 
 Sunday, the I2th, he startled his daughter, as she re 
 turned from religious service, by asking audibly, " Nellie, 
 did you have a good sermon to-day ? " 
 
 Three days later, the following resolution, adopted by 
 a Democratic convention in Vicksburg, Miss., was tele 
 graphed to the General : 
 
 " Resolved, That all join in the nation s grief for 
 the sad affliction which has befallen Gen. U. S. Grant, 
 America s most illustrious citizen, who was as magnani 
 mous in peace as he was great in war." 
 
 This message was very grateful to him, coming, as it 
 did, from those whom he fought and conquered. 
 
 On Sunday, the iQth, Doctor Douglas consented that 
 the General should be drawn in his bath-chair to a 
 locality on the mountain, where he might once more 
 take in the magnificent view. 
 
 " Not on Sunday," said the General. 
 
 So the trip was deferred until Monday, when it was 
 accomplished with unexpected exhaustion. It was only 
 a short distance, but it proved too much for him. He 
 did not rally from it. At five o clock, on the morning 
 of the 22nd, Doctor Douglas said, 
 
HIS LAS7 JOURNEY. 391 
 
 " He cannot possibly survive over twenty-four hours." 
 
 He was fully conscious of the approach of death, and 
 remarked in the afternoon, 
 
 " I cannot hold out much longer." 
 
 At nine o clock in the evening his pulse only fluttered, 
 and the family gathered about him. Dr. Newman, who 
 arrived in the afternoon, knelt beside him and offered 
 prayer amid the solemn stillness. But his pulse rallied 
 again, and an hour afterward, he signified to his daughter 
 that he wanted to write a message. She brought his 
 pad, and he wrote a private message to the family. 
 Colonel Grant read it, and replied, 
 
 " Father, I have attended to that already." 
 
 An hour later he looked up to Dr. Douglas and whis 
 pered, 
 
 " Tell them all to go to bed ; there is no reason why 
 they should sit up longer." 
 
 He knew full well that they were sitting up in momen 
 tary expectation of his death ; and, evidently, he thought 
 he might live through the night. And he did. 
 
 At eight o clock, on the morning of the 23rd of July, 
 however, the family were hurriedly summoned to his 
 bedside to see him die. He had relapsed into a state of 
 unconsciousness as they gathered ; and he quietly and 
 peacefully passed away. The scene was impressive and 
 overwhelming at the moment the devoted wife and chil 
 dren realized that the husband and father was no more. 
 It was equally impressive to the millions of people whose 
 hearts were in sympathy with the afflicted family around 
 the great man s bed. The tidings flashed over the wires, 
 " General Grant is dead ! " and the land was rilled with 
 mourning. Symbols of the honest grief that pervaded the 
 land, from Plymouth Rock to the Golden Gate, began 
 to appear, within a single hour, in town and city. Flags 
 
392 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 drooped at half-mast, bells tolled, public buildings were 
 draped, badges of crape appeared on banners and the 
 arms of veteran soldiers. Everywhere the habiliments 
 of grief told the touching story of the nation s loss. The 
 mourners went about the streets, saying to each other, 
 as of old, " Know ye not that there is a prince and gieat 
 man fallen this day in Israel ? " 
 
 The President issued the following proclamation : 
 " The President of the United States has just received 
 the sad tidings of the death of that illustrious citizen 
 and ex-President of the United States, Gen. Ulysses S. 
 Grant, at Mount McGregor, in the State of New York, 
 to which place he had lately been removed in the 
 endeavour to prolong his life. In making this announce 
 ment to the people of the United States the President 
 is impressed with the magnitude of the public loss of 
 a great military leader who was in the hour of victory 
 magnanimous ; amid disaster serene and self-sustained ; 
 who in every station, whether as a soldier or as a chief 
 magistrate, twice called to power by his fellow-country 
 men, trod unswervingly the pathway of duty, undeterred 
 by doubts, single-minded, and straightforward. The 
 entire country has witnessed with deep emotion his pro 
 longed and patient struggle with painful disease, and 
 has watched by his couch of suffering with tearful sym 
 pathy. The destined end has come at last, and his spirit 
 has returned to the Creator who sent- it forth. The 
 great heart of the nation that, followed him when living 
 with love and pride, bows now in sorrow above him 
 dead, tenderly mindful of his virtues, his great patriotic 
 services, and of the loss occasioned by his death. In 
 testimony of respect to the memory of General Grant, 
 it is ordered that the Executive Mansion and the several 
 Departments at Washington be draped in mourning for 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 393 
 
 a period of thirty days, and that all public business shall 
 on the day of the funeral be suspended, and the Sec 
 retaries of War and of the Navy will cause orders to be 
 issued for appropriate military and naval honours to be 
 rendered on that day. 
 
 " In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and 
 caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 " Done at the city of Washington this twenty-third 
 day of July, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 
 five, and the Independence of the United States the one 
 hundred and tenth. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 " By the President. 
 "T. F. BAYARD, Secretary of State." 
 
 State governments and city governments throughout 
 the country joined in the universal expression of sorrow. 
 Public bodies, secular and religious, courts of justice, 
 political organizations, commercial, philanthropic, and 
 religious societies, adopted glowing tributes of respect 
 to his memory. 
 
 Victoria, the Queen of England, sent a message by 
 the British Minister : 
 
 "WASHINGTON, D.C., July 24, 1885. 
 " Mrs. U. S. Grant, Her Majesty the Queen requests 
 me to convey to yourself and family her sincere condo 
 lence on the death of General Grant. 
 
 "(Signed) BRITISH MINISTER." 
 
 The Prince and Princess of Wales sent a message of 
 condolence : 
 
 "LONDON, July 24, 1885. 
 
 " To Mrs U. S. Grant, Accept our deepest sympathy 
 in the loss of your distinguished husband. We shall 
 
394 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 always look back with gratification at having had the 
 
 advantage of knowing him personally. 
 
 "THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES." 
 
 Among others was the following : 
 
 "Toiao, JAPAN, July 24, 1885. 
 
 " Mme. General Grant, I learned with much sorrow 
 of the death of your husband. I tender you my sincere 
 condolence and deep sympathy. 
 
 11 PRINCE TOWPITO." 
 
 The death of no other living man could perhaps have 
 touched so many hearts as that of Grant. Surviving 
 war- veterans mourn for him as children mourn for a 
 dead father, and in their families his name is a house 
 hold word. And loyal citizens everywhere feel that the 
 country was saved by his great generalship, and their 
 gratitude is surpassed only by their grief over his death. 
 Even the South, over which the great General bore his 
 victorious banner, join in the universal lamentation. 
 They recall his unparalleled magnanimity in the hour of 
 triumph towards them, and they weep that one so gen 
 erous and noble has fallen. He is the nation s dead 
 the world s lamented benefactor ! 
 
 Doctor Douglas has made public the following com 
 munication, written by General Grant on the second 
 day of July, with the understanding that it should be 
 withheld from his family until after his death : 
 
 " I know that I gain strength some days, but when I 
 do go back it is beyond where I started to improve. I 
 think the chances are very decidedly in favour of your 
 being able to keep me alive until the change of weather 
 toward winter. Of course there are contingencies that 
 might arise at any time, that would carry me off very 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 395 
 
 suddenly. The most probable of these is choking. 
 Under the circumstances, life is not worth the living. 
 I am very thankful [for thankful, glad was written, but 
 scratched out and thankful substituted] to have been 
 spared thus long, because it has enabled me to prac 
 tically complete the work in which I take so much in 
 terest. I cannot stir up strength enough to review it 
 and make additions and subtractions that would suggest 
 themselves to me and are not likely to suggest them 
 selves to any one else. Under the above circumstances, 
 I will be the happiest the most pain I can avoid. If 
 there is to be any extraordinary cure, such as some 
 people believe there is to be, it will develop itself. I 
 would say, therefore, to you and your colleagues, to 
 make me as comfortable as you can. If it is within 
 God s providence that I should go now, I am ready to 
 obey His call without a murmur. I should prefer going 
 now to enduring my present suffering for a single day 
 without hope of recovery. As I have stated, I am 
 thankful for the providential extension of my time to 
 enable me to continue my work. I am further thankful, 
 and in a much greater degree thankful, because it has 
 enabled me to see for myself the happy harmony which 
 so suddenly sprung up between those engaged but a few 
 short years ago in deadly conflict It has been an in 
 evitable blessing to me to hear the kind expressions 
 toward me in person from all parts of our country, from 
 people of all nationalities, of all religions and of no 
 religion, of Confederate and of national troops alike, 
 of soldiers organizations, of mechanical, scientific, reli 
 gious, and other societies, embracing almost every citizen 
 in the land. They have brought joy to my heart, if they 
 have not effected a cure. So to you and your colleagues 
 I acknowledge my indebtedness for having brought me 
 
396 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 through the valley of the shadow of death, to enable me 
 to witness these things. 
 
 " (Signed) U. S. GRANT." 
 
 Doctor Tiffany was General Grant s pastor in Wash 
 ington, at one time ; and, in some reminiscences, since 
 the General s decease, he said, 
 
 " On one occasion a friend whom I wished to hear 
 was to preach for me on a Sunday night. I called upon 
 the President to inform him of this fact, and said that I 
 had done so because I had observed that he attended 
 service only once on a Sunday, and thought that if he 
 knew of this arrangement for the pulpit he might prefer 
 to attend the evening service. He said to me : * I am 
 glad of an opportunity to explain this matter to you. 
 Secretary Fish and some others have an absurd notion 
 that I ought not to walk about the streets of Wash 
 ington at night, and consequently I never get to the 
 evening service, though I should be glad to do so. And 
 perhaps you think that I might have the carriage and 
 ride to service ; but, Doctor, when I was a poor man, 
 long before I ever thought that I should have a servant, 
 I made up my mind that if ever I did have one, he 
 should have his hours of Sunday for worship ; and no 
 servants or horses are ever called into use by me upon 
 that day for my own personal convenience. 
 
 " He was a man of religious habit and thoroughly 
 honest and earnest in his belief in a Superintending 
 Providence, regarding certain facts in history as inex 
 plicable without this, and admiring the firm faith of a 
 devoted sister, and reverencing with a sacredness that 
 was beautiful in its exhibition the piety of his parents. 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 397 
 
 He made a visit of a week to Martha s Vineyard, which 
 was then as now my summer home. I preached a 
 sermon on the victory of faith, from the text : They 
 overcame him by the blood of the Lamb/ He was 
 more moved than I had ever seen him under a discourse, 
 and, at the close of the sermon, at his suggestion, we 
 wandered away from the crowd and engaged in earnest 
 and serious conversation. He said : Why is there so 
 much stress laid upon the blood in your preaching and 
 in the New Testament ? I explained to him in the 
 simplest terms the doctrine of atonement, and he seemed 
 fully to comprehend it. The giving up of life as a test 
 of love was an incontrovertible argument to a man 
 who had led thousands through death to victory, and 
 I have always had a strong confidence that on that day 
 the General had a personal realization of the truth as 
 it is in Jesus." 
 
 The President requested, in behalf of the nation, that 
 after the bereaved family had paid their last tribute of 
 affection to the dead, they should commit the remains 
 to the Government representatives for national obsequies. 
 This request being granted, plans were at once adopted 
 for the most imposing military funeral on record, and 
 General Hancock was appointed by the President to 
 conduct it. The funeral was arranged to begin with the 
 family s private obsequies, in the Drexel cottage on Mt. 
 McGregor, on the fourth of August, and to close with 
 the national rites in New York city on the eighth day of 
 August, and preparations were thus made on the most 
 elaborate scale. 
 
 In the afternoon of the last Sabbath the remains were 
 at Mount McGregor, Mrs. Grant summoned Doctor 
 Newman to the cottage, that he might lead the family in 
 their devotions, as they gathered about the remains in 
 
398 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the parlour. The General had been embalmed, and was 
 lying in a rich casket made of polished oak, lined with 
 copper, covered with dark purple velvet ; strengthened 
 by solid silver bars the whole length, on either side, 
 and ornamented with solid silver handles, and a solid 
 gold plate. When the family was seated around the 
 catafalque, Mrs. Grant passed her husband s Bible to 
 Doctor Newman ; and it opened, as she passed it, at the 
 eleventh chapter of Job, which the Doctor read ; and, 
 after a pause, re-read the sixteenth and seventeenth verses 
 " Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember 
 it as waters that pass away : and thine age shall be 
 clearer than the noonday ; thou shalt shine forth, thou 
 shalt be as the morning." A brief pause followed, when 
 the man of God knelt down with the family, amidst a 
 silence that was as impressive as that of the dear husband 
 and father in the casket. He then thanked God for the 
 beautiful life that was ended, and the Divine comforts 
 vouchsafed to the sorrowing household ; pleading that 
 the father s mantle might fall upon the sons, and the 
 blessing of the widow s God attend the solitary one 
 whose walk must henceforth be alone ; and closing with 
 a pledge of renewed consecration to Him who " doth not 
 afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." 
 
 The morning of August 4th dawned auspiciously, and 
 sunrise was heralded by thirteen guns, the original num 
 ber of States, followed by one gun each half hour, and 
 thirty-eight at sundown, the present number of States in 
 the Union. Before the time of the family s funeral 
 service in the cottage arrived, more than a thousand 
 people assembled, including the military escort, to listen 
 to Doctor Newman s discourse. At ten o clock Bishop 
 Harris read the nineteenth Psalm, and offered an im 
 pressive prayer. " My faith looks up to Thee " was 
 
&2S LAST JOURNEY. 399 
 
 then sung by the audience, with many eyes bedimmed 
 with tears. 
 
 Doctor Newman s sermon followed, from Matthew 
 xxv. 21 : "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; 
 enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 "And what were the elements of that character, so 
 unique, symmetrical, and now immortal ? God had en 
 dowed him with an extraordinary intellect. For forty 
 years he was hidden in comparative obscurity, giving no 
 indication of his wondrous capacity ; but in those four 
 decades he was maturing, and at the appointed time God 
 lifted the veil of obscurity, called upon him to save a 
 nation and give a new direction to the civilization of 
 the world. 
 
 * * # * 
 
 " He had this double advantage over all this world s 
 heroes he possessed the solid virtues of true greatness 
 in a larger degree than other men of renown, and 
 possessed them in greater harmony of proportions. 
 Temperate without austerity, cautious without fear, 
 brave without rashness, serious without melancholy, he 
 was cheerful without frivolity. His constancy was not 
 obstinacy ; his adaptation was not fickleness ; his hopeful 
 ness was not Utopian. His love of justice was equalled 
 only by his delight in compassion. 
 
 * # # * 
 
 " In private life, he bore many of the fruits of the Spirit. 
 Of all men known in a pastoral experience of thirty 
 years, he displayed the spirit of forgiveness more than 
 any other man. He caught the spirit of the Saviour s 
 prayer : Father, forgive them ; they know not what they 
 do. There is one high in official position in our nation 
 who had traduced him at the point of honour whereat a 
 
400 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 great soldier is most sensitive, and the wrong done was 
 made public, to the mortification of all. Grieved at 
 what he had done, and confined to his sick-room, he 
 who had offended was nigh unto death. But himself 
 a man of proud and sensitive spirit, he sighed for re 
 conciliation. Would the President forgive the offence 
 and call on the sick ? anxiously asked interesting 
 friends. A suggestion from me that it would be a 
 Christian act to call was sufficient. The call was made ; 
 the sick man revived, and old friendship was restored. 
 And rising to a magnanimity worthy a saint, he would 
 not withhold an honour due, even from those who had 
 done him a wrong. Who does not regret the death of 
 such a man ? Heaven may be richer, but earth is poorer. 
 
 * * * # 
 
 " How tender was that scene, in the early dawn of that 
 April day, when all thought the long-expected end had 
 come. He gave his watch to his wife, and tenderly 
 caressed her hand. And the dying hero whispered, I 
 did not have you wait upon me, because I knew it would 
 distress you ; but now the end draws nigh. And out 
 from the swellings of Jordan he rushed back to the 
 shore of life, to write this tender message to his son : 
 Wherever I am buried, promise me that your mother 
 shall be buried by my side. It is all a wife could ask ; 
 it is all a husband could wish. 
 
 " And how tender was his care ! He thought not of 
 himself, but of her. To his son he said, I hope mother 
 will bear up bravely. To quiet her anxiety he wrote, 
 Do as I do ; take it quietly. I give myself not the 
 least concern. If I knew the end was to be to-morrow, 
 I would try just as hard to get rest in the meantime. 
 Would she keep holy vigils through the livelong night ? 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 4:1 
 
 He wrote her : Go to sleep and feel happy ; that is 
 what I want to do, and am going to try for. I am 
 happy when out of pain. Consider how happy you 
 ought to be. Good-night 
 
 " And such was the tenderness of his love and solici 
 tude for her and hers, he surprised her by a letter found 
 after his death. It came as a message to her from him 
 after he had gone. When his spirit had returned to 
 the God who gave it, there -was found secreted in his 
 robe his last letter to her, enveloped, sealed, and ad 
 dressed. He had written it betimes ; written it secretly 
 and carried the sacred missive day after day during 
 fourteen days, knowing that she would find it at last. 
 In it he poured forth his soul in love for her and solici 
 tude for their children : 
 
 " Look after our dear children and direct them in 
 the paths of rectitude. It would distress me far more 
 to think that one of them could depart from an honour 
 able, upright, and virtuous life than it would to know 
 that they were prostrated on a bed of sickness from 
 which they were never to arise alive. They have never 
 given us any cause for alarm on their account, and I 
 earnestly pray they never will. With these few injunc 
 tions and the knowledge I have of your love and affec 
 tion, and of the dutiful affection of all our children, I 
 bid you a final farewell until we meet in another and, I 
 trust, a better world. You will find this on my person 
 after my demise. Mt. McGregor, July 9, 1885. 
 
 " Honour thy father and thy mother, was in per 
 petual obedience in that home. What reverence for 
 that honoured father shown by those devoted sons and 
 that precious daughter ! What blissful love they mani- 
 
 D D 
 
402 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 fest for that dear mother, to-day a widow ! What pure 
 delight in each other s company ; what mutual pride in 
 each other s future welfare ! Such a home is worthy to 
 be called an American home. Give us such homes of 
 purity, love, and joy, and our republic shall live for ever." 
 
 At the close of Dr. Newman s sermon, " Nearer, my 
 God, to Thee," was sung with tearful interest. 
 
 The funeral cortege started immediately for New 
 York, the train consisting of several cars, being deeply 
 draped from locomotive throughout. Every city, vil- 
 bge, and hamlet on the way wore mourning emblems 
 in profusion ; and the people turned out en masse, and 
 stood, with uncovered heads, in solemn silence as the 
 train swept by. At Albany the dead lay in state at the 
 capitol, where a stream of people continued to view the 
 remains through the night until ten o clock on the fol 
 lowing day. Seventy thousand persons filed past the 
 catafalque. 
 
 The funeral-train from Albany to New York consisted 
 of eleven heavily draped coaches ; and the body was 
 borne to it on a mounted catafalque drawn by six black 
 horses, wearing funeral trappings. The whole distance 
 was marked by symbols of sorrow. 
 
 At five o clock p.m. the sombre train reached New 
 York, which was arrayed in mournful emblems so 
 elaborate that the market of black fabrics was ex 
 hausted. Nothing like it was ever witnessed in that 
 city. The expense of the funeral to the city was not 
 less than a million dollars. 
 
 From the time the remains were deposited in the 
 City Hall of New York, on Wednesday night, until the 
 lid of the casket was closed at one o clock on Saturday 
 morning, there was one unbroken column of people 
 mournfully passing through the gates to view the face 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 43 
 
 of the illustrious dead. Thirty-four thousand, by actual 
 count, availed themselves of this privilege during the 
 first four hours the body lay in state. At this rate, 
 several hundred thousand people must have viewed the 
 remains. 
 
 The floral tributes were elaborate and numerous. 
 The simplest and least expensive, however, was the 
 most conspicuous on account of its history. It was a 
 wreath of oak leaves furnished by little Julia Grant, 
 daughter of the Colonel. After the death of her grand 
 father, Julia, accompanied by Josie Douglas, daughter of 
 the physician, wandered out into the woods on Mt 
 McGregor, where they gathered the oak leaves and 
 wrought them into a wreath. Julia carried them to her 
 father, and said, 
 
 " Josie and I have made this for grandpa, and won t 
 you please give it to him ? " 
 
 Its value was in its history ; and that value was so 
 great, that, of all the floral tributes in City Hall, this 
 alone was carried with the casket to the tomb. 
 
 City Hall was fragrant with the perfume of flowers, 
 so profuse and remarkable was the floral exhibition. 
 The large piece " The Gates Ajar " was placed at 
 the head of the casket, and it completely filled the 
 space between two pillars. Its beauty will linger long 
 in the memory of all who viewed the dead. There 
 were many crosses and crowns, wreaths and pillows 
 and columns, made of the rarest flowers and laid about 
 in tasteful display. There were horseshoes of red and 
 yellow rosebuds scattered around here and there, add 
 ing novelty as well as beauty to the scene. A tall clock 
 of flowers, presented by the " Women s Relief Corps 
 of the Grand Army," was as appropriate in its design 
 as it was beautiful in workmanship. An elaborate piece 
 
4 04 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. . 
 
 from Galena, General Grant s old home, attracted much 
 attention. It was a large, oblong panel of white flowers, 
 edged with green leaves, and bearing across the middle 
 the word " GALENA " wrought in purple flowers. Ris 
 ing above it was the costly floral device presented by 
 the City Council of New York, consisting of the city 
 coat-of-arms, a liberty-cap, crossed flags, and other de 
 signs. All these floral offerings together constituted a 
 scene so marvellously attractive that a journey across 
 the continent to see them could well be made. 
 
 Saturday, the day of the national obsequies, was a 
 memorable day in the annals of our country. New York 
 never placed on record such a day before. For two 
 weeks the most laboured preparation had been made for 
 the mournful occasion. The best part of the city was 
 densely draped ; and every variety of honest tribute, 
 which a sorrowing people could pay to the dead, appeared. 
 Indeed, this was true of the whole country, even through 
 out the South. Funeral services were observed in towns 
 and cities of every State and Territory of the Union, 
 amidst a display of mourning emblems unparalleled; and 
 none more sincere and tender than those of the conquered 
 South. 
 
 The route of the procession to the tomb was nine miles 
 long, and the whole distance was so profusely hung with 
 funeral symbols as to present a scene of solemn grandeur. 
 The whole way, too, was densely packed with people, 
 eager to see the sable cortege on its way to the silent 
 house. Not only the side-walks, but the doorways, 
 balconies, and windows of houses and stores, the vesti 
 bules and porches of churches, the trees, lamp-posts, 
 fences, and roofs of low buildings, all were occupied by 
 people who were willing to forego one day of food and 
 rest for the sake of paying their respect to the departed 
 
II1S LAST JOURNEY. 405 
 
 hero. It was estimated that three million persons saw 
 the funeral procession on its nine miles of march to the 
 grave. 
 
 When the time for the cortege to move arrived, the 
 funeral car, drawn by twenty-four black horses, each one 
 led by a coloured servant, and each covered with sable 
 trappings that swept the street, drew up to the City Hall. 
 The arrival of General Hancock in full uniform, with his 
 staff, and the movements of the battalions of the army 
 and navy, announced that the time was at hand for the 
 procession to form and move. 
 
 Thirty thousand military men, with their officers, fell 
 into line. Minute-guns from the war vessels in the 
 harbour sounded ; fire and church bells throughout the 
 city, and in the suburbs, tolled ; the numerous bands 
 played solemn dirges ; the great bugler, Krouse, blew 
 the marching signal, and the imposing cortege moved. 
 
 The military pageant, led by General Hancock and 
 his staff, preceded the funeral car ; and the head of it 
 reached the tomb three hours and a half before the 
 funeral car arrived, a fact that conveys to the reader 
 some idea of the magnitude of the procession. The war 
 veterans occupied a conspicuous position in the military 
 display, bearing aloft their tattered ensigns on which 
 victory perched under their victorious leader. Their 
 whole appearance indicated that an honest sentiment of 
 grief controlled their hearts, and that they paid their 
 last tribute of respect to the memory of their old com 
 mander with unfeigned sorrow. 
 
 The pall-bearers, preceding the funeral car, were Gen. 
 William T. Sherman and ex-Confederate Gen. Joseph 
 E. Johnson ; Gen. Philip H. Sheridan and Gen. Simon 
 B. Buckner, who surrendered to General Grant at Fort 
 Donelson ; Admiral Porter and Vice-Admiral S. C. 
 
406 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Rowan ; George S. Boutwell, ex- Secretary of the 
 Treasury, and Gen. John A. Logan ; George W. Childs 
 and George Jones ; Oliver Hoyt and A. J. Drexel. The 
 three attending physicians, with Doctor Newman and a 
 representative clergyman from each denomination, in 
 cluding the Catholic and Jewish, followed. 
 
 The family, relatives, and friends joined the procession 
 immediately behind the sable hearse, followed by Gen 
 eral Grant s Staff and Cabinets. Next, the President of 
 the United States, accompanied by Secretary Bayard in 
 a barouche drawn by six bay horses, took his place, with 
 his Cabinet behind him. Then followed two ex-Presi 
 dents of the United States, with their Cabinets ; the 
 Supreme Judges of the United States, various com 
 missioners, and ex-ministers, together with the repre 
 sentatives of foreign Governments at Washington. 
 Committees of the national Senate and House of 
 Representatives, diplomatic and consular officers, the 
 Governors of some fifteen States, with their staffs, the 
 Mayors and Aldermen of many cities, with other officials 
 of rank from nearly every State in the Union, were next 
 in order. 
 
 Without delaying to describe the organization of the 
 cortege, it is sufficient to say, that over ten thousand 
 public men, from the President down to the humblest 
 officer, rode in carriages in the remarkable procession. 
 
 Fifty thousand persons joined in the solemn and 
 imposing march to the grave. It was such a demon 
 stration as never was accorded to departed greatness in 
 any nation before. In some respects it was like the 
 tribute which England paid to Lord Wellington, though 
 more elaborate and grand. The London papers agreed 
 that the demonstration was " something wonderful." The 
 Times highly commended the American people for 
 
IUS LAS7 JOURNEY. 407 
 
 honouring the memory of Grant so sincerely and grandly; 
 and it pronounced the funeral "a spontaneous outburst 
 of national admiration and gratitude, which, although it 
 can do nothing for its actual object, is not, therefore, the 
 less to be commended." 
 
 An observer wrote : " Many a touching scene was 
 observed, for veterans of the war and others, whose 
 memories carried them back to those days when their 
 own households were bereft by the fate of battle, could 
 not restrain their emotion. As the lofty, crape-covered 
 vehicle bearing the coffin turned into Broadway, and 
 proceeded slowly along its way, the demeanour of the 
 crowd was that of silent reverence. The car stood for a 
 time near Chambers Street, and a white-haired coloured 
 man who had come to the city from the South too late 
 to see the General s face, obtained permission to approach 
 the vehicle, and gazed long at the coffin. As he turned 
 away, his head was bowed, and the tears could be seen 
 rolling down his cheeks. Many of the women, as they 
 heard the solemn music of the band, and witnessed the 
 slow approach of the funeral car, felt their eyes moisten 
 and hid their faces in their handkerchiefs, and not a few 
 stalwart men wept. The poorer people who were unable 
 to obtain vantage ground from which to view the whole 
 procession, and who were compelled to catch glimpses of 
 the car from the crowded streets, were observed to be 
 more moved to expressions of grief than the richer or 
 more influential occupants of the windows along the 
 route. It was interesting to observe faces which had 
 been hardened by lines of anxiety, become softened for 
 the moment as they paid the last tribute of respect to 
 the man whose name for twenty-two years had been so 
 frequently heard and spoken by them." 
 
408 FROM THE TAN- YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The site chosen for General Grant s tomb is at River 
 side Park, on a promontory overlooking the Hudson 
 River, the highest point in Manhattanville. The sum 
 mit is a level plateau of about twenty acres, which can 
 be converted into one of the most charming spots in 
 the country. 
 
 It was past four o clock in the afternoon when the 
 " Chariot of Death," as one called it, reached the tomb. 
 The casket was placed in its cedar case at the door of 
 the tomb, when the family, clergy, and war veterans 
 closed around it, and the ritual of the Grand Army and 
 the burial service of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 were read. 
 
 Chaplain Wright prayed : " God of battles, Father of 
 all! amidst this mournful assemblage we seek Thee, 
 with whom there is no death. Open every eye to be 
 hold Him who changed the night of death into morning. 
 In the depths of our hearts we would hear the celestial 
 word, * I am the resurrection and the life ; he that be- 
 lieveth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. 
 As comrade after comrade departs, and we march on, 
 with ranks broken, help us to be faithful unto Thee and 
 to each other. We beseech Thee, look in mercy on the 
 widows and children of deceased comrades, and with 
 Thine own tenderness console and comfort those be 
 reaved by this event which calls us here. Give them 
 * the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for 
 the spirit of heaviness/ Heavenly Father ! bless and 
 save our country with the freedom and peace of 
 righteousness, and, through Thy great mercy, a Saviour s 
 grace, and Thy Holy Spirit s favour, may we all meet 
 at last in joy before Thy throne in heaven, and to Thy 
 great name shall be praise for ever and ever." 
 
HIS LAST JOURNEY. 409 
 
 The comrades said " Amen ! " and the band played a 
 dirge. 
 
 Post Commander Alexander Reed : " One by one, as 
 the years roll on, we are called together to fulfil the last 
 sad rites of respect to our comrades of the war. The 
 present, full of the cares and pleasures of civil life, fades 
 away, and we look back to the time when, shoulder to 
 shoulder, on many battlefields, or around the guns of 
 our men-of-war, we fought for our dear old flag. We 
 may indulge the hope that the spirit with which, on 
 land and sea, hardship, privation, and danger were 
 encountered by our dead heroes, may never be blotted 
 out from the history or memories of the generations to 
 come, a spirit uncomplaining, obedient to the behest 
 of duty, whereby to-day our national honour is secure, 
 and our loved ones rest in peace under the protection 
 of the old flag. May the illustrious life of him 
 whom we lay in the tomb to-day prove a glorious in 
 centive to the youth, who, in the ages to come, may be 
 called upon to uphold the destinies of our country. As 
 the years roll on, we, too, shall have fought our battles 
 through, and be laid to rest ; our souls following the long 
 column to the realms above, as grim death, hour by hov-r, 
 shall mark its victims. Let us so live that when that 
 time shall come, those we leave behind may say above 
 our graves, Here lies the body of a true-hearted, brave, 
 and earnest defender of the republic. " 
 
 Senior Vice-Commander Lewis W. Moore (laying a 
 wreath of evergreen upon the coffin) : "In behalf of the 
 post I give this tribute, a symbol of undying love for 
 comrades of the war." 
 
 Junior Vice-Commander John A. Wiedersheim (laying 
 a rose or flower upon the coffin) : " Symbol of purity 
 
410 FROM THE TAN-YARD TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 we offer at this sepulchre a rose. May future genera- 
 ations emulate the unselfish devotion of even the lowliest 
 of our heroes." 
 
 Past Post Commander A. J. Sellers (laying a laurel 
 wreath upon the coffin) : " Last token of affection from 
 comrades-in-arms, we crown these remains with a symbol 
 of victory." 
 
 Rev. J. W. Sayers (Chaplain-in-Chief, Department of 
 Pennsylvania, G. A. R.) : " The march of another com 
 rade is over, and he lies down after it in the house ap 
 pointed for all the living. Thus summoned, this open 
 tomb reminds us of the frailty of human life and the 
 tenure by which we hold our own. * In such an hour 
 as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. 
 
 " It seems well we should leave our comrade to rest 
 where over him will bend the arching sky, as it did in 
 great love when he pitched his tent, or lay down weary 
 by the way, or on the battlefield, for an hour s sleep. 
 As he was then, so he is still, in the hands of the 
 Heavenly Father. God giveth His beloved sleep. 
 
 " As we lay our comrade down here to rest, let us 
 cherish his virtues and strive to emulate his example. 
 Reminded forcibly by the vacant place so lately filled 
 by our deceased brother, that our ranks are thinning, let 
 each one be so loyal to every virtue, so true to every 
 friendship, so faithful in our remaining march, that we 
 shall be ready to fall out here to take our places at 
 the great review, not with doubt, but in faith ; the merci 
 ful Captain of our salvation will then call us to that 
 fraternity which, on earth and in heaven, may remain 
 unbroken. (A pause for a moment.) Jesus saith : 
 Thy brother shall rise again. I am the resurrection 
 and the life. (The body is deposited in the tomb.) 
 Behold, the silver cord having been loosed, the golden 
 
UIS LAS T JO URNE Y. 411 
 
 bowl broken, we commit the body to the grave, where 
 dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit 
 to God who gave it. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, 
 dust to dust, looking for the resurrection and the life to 
 come through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Prayer by Rev. H. Clay Trumbull, Post Chaplain 
 followed, when the bugler sounded taps, lights out, 
 and the beautiful and impressive service of the military 
 orders was brought to a x:lose. 
 
 Bishop Harris, surrounded by the clergy of different 
 denominations, then read the burial service of the 
 Methodist Church, and Dr. Newman added the commit 
 ment, " Dust to dust," and pronounced the benediction 
 Three volleys of musketry and a national salute by 
 Fessenden s United States Battery added weird so 
 lemnity to the closing scenes. Again Bugler Krouse 
 sounded " Rest " ; and the bugle-notes echoed over land 
 and water, announcing to the tearful multitude that the 
 solemn rites were ended. 
 
 " The stars on our banner grow suddenly dim, 
 Let us weep, in our darkness, but weep not for him ! 
 Not for him, who, departing, leaves millions in tears ! 
 Not for him, who has died full of honour and years ! 
 Not for him, who ascended Fame s ladder so high, 
 From the round at the top he has stepped to the sky ! 
 It is blessed to go, when so ready to die." 
 
 Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Priming: Works, Frorae, and London. 
 
By the Author of "From the Tanyard to the White House." 
 I. 
 
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 ports. 
 SMITH, K, M. Orphan Lottie ; or, Honesty brings 
 
 its own Reward. 
 
 TANDY, Mrs. The Harleys of Chelsea Place. 
 
 POPULAR SHILLING STORIES. 
 
 ABBOTT, JACOB. Hubert. 
 
 Juno and Georgie. 
 
 Mary Osborne. 
 Cockerill the Conjuror. 
 DAY, HESTER. A Snowflower. 
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 Girl; and "The Light of the World." Two Stories. 
 
 NIERITZ, GUSTAV. Busy Hands and Patient Hearts ; 
 or, The Blind Boy of Dresden and His Friends. 
 
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 The History of Susan Gray, 
 The Babes in the Basket. 
 The Basket of Flowers. 
 The Mistress of the House : A Story of Christian 
 
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 THAYER, W. M. From Log Cabin to White House. 
 
 The Story of President Garfield s Life. 
 
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 Price One Shilling each. 
 
 BRENT, Mrs. Tales from the Holly Tree Farm. 
 
 Lindsay Lee and His Friends. A Story for the 
 
 Times. 
 
Mary Brunton and Her One Talent. 
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 McCuNxocK, L. The Cottagers of Glencarron. 
 M. H. Quiet Talks with my Young Friends. 
 
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 Watch, Wait. 
 
 VEITCH, AGNES. Frank Fielding; or, Debts and 
 
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 Anna ; or, The Little Runaways. 
 
 Price Ninepence each. 
 M. H. The Story of a Red Velvet Bible. 
 
 Richard Blake and His Green Velvet Bible. 
 
 The Sangreal. 
 
 Jottings from the Diary of the Sun. 
 
 Mary Mansfield. 
 
 Nothing to Do. 
 
 Henry Morgan. 
 
 The Golden Chain. 
 
 MONCRIEFF, R. H. Arthur Fortescue. 
 
 Witless Willie ; the Idiot Boy. 
 
 KIPPEN, JANE M. Bessie Brown. 
 
 BOWMAN, HETTY. Mary s Work, and other Tales. 
 
 New Sixpenny Series. 
 
 COOPER, L. O. Then and Now ; or, Abe s Tempta 
 tion. 
 
 The Cathedral Cave; or, The Gate 
 of Heaven. 
 
 MEADE, L. T. Ellie and Esther; or, The Two 
 
 Sisters. 
 
 Scarlet Anemones. 
 REANEY, Mrs. Chippings. 
 
 Unspoken Addresses. 
 
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 LIBRARY USE 
 
 FEB 2 11959 
 
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 fcEC D U5 
 
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 91 1959 
 
 9 1995 
 
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 CIR 
 
 ULATlOW DEPT. 
 
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 LD 21A-50m-9, 58 
 (6889slO)476B 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley 
 
M3160G7 
 
 U. C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES