The Riverside Biographical Series

NUMBER 7

ULYSSES S. GRANT

BY

WALTER ALLEN

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The Riverside Biographical Series

ANDREW JACKSON, by W. G. BROWNJAMES B. EADS, by LOUIS HOWBENJAMIN FRANKLIN, by PAUL E. MOREPETER COOPER, by R. W. RAYMONDTHOMAS JEFFERSON, by H. C. MERWINWILLIAM PENN, by GEORGE HODGESGENERAL GRANT, by WALTER ALLEN. MERIWETHER LEWIS AND WILLIAMCLARK, by WILLIAM R. LIGHTON. JOHN MARSHALL, by JAMES B. THAYER. 

Each about 100 pages, 16mo, with photogravure portrait, 75 cents;_School Edition_, 50 cents, _net_

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

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[Illustration: U. S. Grant]

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ULYSSES S. GRANT

BY

WALTER ALLEN

[Illustration: Publisher's logo]

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

The Riverside Press, Cambridge

1901

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COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY WALTER ALLEN

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

 I. OUR NATIONAL MILITARY HERO 1

 II. HIS ANCESTRY 5

 III. THE PERIOD OF YOUTH 11

 IV. HIS LIFEWORK APPOINTED 18

 V. LOVE AND WAR 26

 VI. YEARS OF DORMANT POWER 34

 VII. THE SUMMONS OF PATRIOTISM 42

 VIII. FROM SPRINGFIELD TO FORT DONELSON 46

 IX. SHILOH, CORINTH, IUKA 57

 X. VICKSBURG 65

 XI. NEW RESPONSIBILITIES--CHATTANOOGA 77

 XII. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL, COMMANDER OF ALL THE ARMIES 85

 XIII. THE WILDERNESS AND SPOTTSYLVANIA 95

 XIV. FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO RICHMOND 104

 XV. IN WASHINGTON AMONG POLITICIANS 114

 XVI. HIS FIRST ADMINISTRATION 123

 XVII. HIS SECOND ADMINISTRATION 133

XVIII. THE TOUR OF THE WORLD 144

 XIX. REVERSES OF FORTUNE--ILL HEALTH--HIS LAST VICTORY--THE END 149

ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT

CHAPTER I

OUR NATIONAL MILITARY HERO

Since the end of the civil war in the United States, whoever hasoccasion to name the three most distinguished representatives of ournational greatness is apt to name Washington, Lincoln, and Grant. General Grant is now our national military hero. Of Washington it hasoften been said that he was "first in war, first in peace, and first inthe hearts of his countrymen. " When this eulogy was wholly just thenation had been engaged in no war on a grander scale than the war forindependence. That war, in the numbers engaged, in the multitude andrenown of its battles, in the territory over which its campaigns wereextended, in its destruction of life and waste of property, in themagnitude of the interests at stake (but not in the vital importance ofthe issue), was far inferior to the civil war. It happens quitenaturally, as in so many other affairs in this world, that thecomparative physical magnitude of the conflicts has much influence inmoulding the popular estimate of the rank of the victorious commanders. 

Those who think that in our civil war there were other officers in botharmies who were Grant's superiors in some points of generalship willhardly dispute that, taking all in all, he was supreme among thegenerals on the side of the Union. He whom Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Meade saw promoted to be their commander, not only without envy, butwith high gratification, under whom they all served with cordialconfidence and enthusiasm, cannot have been esteemed by them unfit forthe distinction. If these great soldiers then and always acclaimed himworthy to be their leader, it is unbecoming for others, and especiallyfor men who are not soldiers, to contradict their judgment. 

Whether he was a greater soldier than General Robert E. Lee, thecommander-in-chief of the army of the Confederate States, is a questionon which there may always be two opinions. As time passes, and thepassions of the war expire, it may be that wise students of militaryhistory, weighing the achievements of each under the conditions imposed, will decide that in some respects Lee was Grant's superior in mastery ofthe art of war. Whether or not this comes about, Lee can never supplantGrant as our national military hero. He fought to destroy the Union, notto save it, and in the end he was beaten by General Grant. However muchmen may praise the personal virtues and the desperate achievements ofthe great warrior of the revolt against the Union, they cannot concealthat he was the defeated leader of a lost cause, a cause which, in thechastened judgment of coming time, will appear to all men, as even nowit does to most dispassionate patriots, well and fortunately lost. 

In the story of Grant's life some things must be told that are not atall heroic. Much as it might be wished that he had been what Carlylesays a hero should be, a hero at all points, he was not a worshipfulhero. Like ourselves all, he was a combination of qualities good and notgood. The lesson and encouragement of his life are that in spite ofweaknesses which at one time seemed to have doomed him to failure andoblivion, he so mastered himself upon opportune occasion that he wasable to prove his power to command great and intelligent armies fightingin a right cause, to obtain the confidence of Lincoln and of his loyalcountrymen, and to secure a fame as noble and enduring as any that hasbeen won with the sword. 

CHAPTER II

HIS ANCESTRY

This hero of ours was of an excellent ancestry. Until lately, mostAmericans have been careless of preserving their family records. Thatthey were Americans and of a respectable line, if not a distinguishedone, for two or three generations back, was as much of family history asinterested them, and all they really knew. This was especially true offamilies which had emigrated from place to place as pioneers in thesettlement of the country. Family records were left behind, and in thehard desperate work of life in a new country, where everything dependedon individual qualities, and forefathers counted for little in theesteem of men as poor, as independent, and as aspiring as themselves, memories faded and traditions were forgotten. It was esteemed acondition of the equality which was the national boast that no oneshould take credit to himself on account of distant ancestry. Not untilAbraham Lincoln had honored his name by his own nobility did anybodythink it worth while to inquire whether his blood was of the strain ofthe New England Lincolns. 

All that was known of the Grants in Ohio was that Jesse, the father ofUlysses, came from Pennsylvania. Jesse himself knew that his father, whodied when he was a boy, was Noah Grant, Jr. , who came into Pennsylvaniafrom Connecticut, and he had made some further exploration of hisgenealogical line. But this was more than his neighbors knew or cared toknow about the family, until a son demonstrated possession ofextraordinary qualities, which set the believers in heredity upon makinginvestigation. The Grants are traced back through Pennsylvania toConnecticut, and from Connecticut to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, whereMatthew Grant lived in 1630. He is believed to have come from Scotland, where the Grant clan has been distinguished for centuries on account ofits sturdy indomitable traits and its prowess in war. The chiefs of theclan had armorial crests of which the conspicuous emblem was commonly aburning mountain, and the motto some expression of unyielding firmness. In one case it was, "Stand Fast, Craig Ellarchie!" in another, simply"Stand Fast;" in another, "Stand Sure. " Sometimes Latin equivalents wereused, as "Stabit" and "Immobile. " It is said that, as late as the Sepoyrebellion in India, there was a squadron of British troops, composedalmost entirely of Scotch Grants, who carried a banner with the motto:"Stand Fast, Craig Ellarchie!"

If it be true that our General Grant came from such stock, his mostnotable characteristics are no mystery. It was in his blood to be whathe was. Ancestral traits reappeared in him with a vigor never excelled. But they had not been quite dormant during the intermediate period. Hisgreat-grandfather, Captain Noah Grant, of Windsor (now Tolland), Conn. , commanded a company of colonial militia in the French and Indian war, and was killed in the battle of White Plains in 1776. His grandfatherNoah was a lieutenant in a company of the Connecticut militia whichmarched to the succor of Massachusetts in the beginning of theRevolution. He served, off and on, through the war. 

Regarding the circumstances of the removal to Pennsylvania little isknown. The home was in Westmoreland County, where Jesse R. Grant wasborn. Soon afterwards the family went to Ohio. When Jesse was sixteen hewas sent to Maysville, Ky. , and apprenticed to the tanner's trade, whichhe learned thoroughly, and made the chief occupation of his life. Soonafter he reached his majority he started in business for himself inRavenna, Portage County, Ohio. In a short time he removed to PointPleasant, on the Ohio side of the Ohio River, about twenty miles aboveCincinnati. Here he lived and prospered for many years, marrying, in1821, Hannah Simpson, daughter of a farmer of the place in goodcircumstances. The Simpsons were also of Scotch ancestry, and of stout, self-reliant, industrious, respectable character, like the Grants. Thusin the parents of General Grant were united strains of one of the strongraces of the world, --sound in body, mind, and soul, and having in aremarkable degree vital energy, the spirit of independence, and thestaying power which enables its possessors to work without tiring, toendure hardships with fortitude, and to accumulate a competence bypatient thrift. This last ability General Grant lacked. 

These parents, like those of the majority of Americans of the old stock, thought it no dishonor to toil for livelihood, cultivating their souls'health by performance of daily duty in fidelity to God, their country, and their home. Jesse R. Grant had slight opportunities of schooling, but he had no contempt for knowledge. Throughout his life he was adiligent reader of books and newspapers, and was rated a man of uncommonintelligence and of sound judgment in business. He was an entertainingtalker, and a newspaper writer and public speaker of local celebrity. Through his early manhood, while he lived in Ohio, he was a farmer, atrader, a contractor for buildings and roads, as well as a tanner. Whenhe reached the age of sixty, having secured a comfortable competence, heretired from active business. In his declining years he removed toCovington, Ky. , near Cincinnati. Mrs. Grant was a true helpmate, a womanof refinement of nature, of controlling religious faith, being from heryouth an active member of the Methodist Church, of strong wifely andmaternal instincts. Her life was centred in her home and family. Boththese parents lived to rejoice in the high achievement and station oftheir son Ulysses. 

CHAPTER III

THE PERIOD OF YOUTH

Of such ancestry General Grant was born April 27, 1822, in PointPleasant, Ohio, and was named Hiram Ulysses Grant. A picture of thehouse in which he was born shows it to have been a small frame dwellingof primitive character. Its roof, sloping to the road in front, inclosedthe two or three rooms that may have been above the ground floor. Theprincipal door was in the middle of the front, and there was one smallwindow on each side of it. Apparently there was a low extension in therear. This manner of house immediately succeeded the primal log cabinsof the Western States, and such houses have sufficed for the happyshelter of large families of strong boys and blooming girls, as sound inbody and soul, if not so refined and variously accomplished, as arereared in mansions of more pretension. Love, virtue, industry, andmutual helpfulness made true homes and bred useful citizens. 

In the next year his parents removed to the village of Georgetown, Ohio, in Brown County, where the father continued his business of tanner. There young Grant lived until he became a cadet in the Military Academyat West Point. His life was that of other boys of like condition, withfew uncommon incidents. Being the eldest of an increasing family, itnaturally happened that he was required to perform a share of work forits support, and to bear responsibilities. In his early youth hisemployment was in the farm work, and this he always preferred. He had anative liking for the open air, and enjoyed the smell of furrows andpastures and woods more than that of reeking hides in their vats. He wasfond of all animals, and especially delighted in horses, earlydemonstrating a surprising power in managing them. He was locally notedfor his success in breaking colts, and as a trainer of horses to bepacers, those having this gait being esteemed more desirable for riding, at a time when a large part of all traveling was done on horseback. AsGeneral Grant became famous at a comparatively early age, a large cropof stories of his early feats in the subjection and use of horses wascultivated by persons who knew him as a boy. Many of these, doubtless, are entirely credible; few of them are so extraordinary that they mightnot be true of any clever boy who loved horses and studied theirdisposition and powers. 

He was a lad of self-reliance, fertile in resources, and of goodjudgment within certain limitations. Before he was fairly in his teenshis father intrusted to him domestic and business affairs which requiredhim to go to the city of Cincinnati alone, a two-days' trip. His ownaccount of this period of his life is: "When I was seven or eight yearsof age I began hauling [driving the team] all the wood used in the houseand shops. . . . When about eleven years old, I was strong enough to hold aplow. From that age until seventeen, I did all the work done withhorses. . . . While still young, I had visited Cincinnati, forty-fivemiles away, several times alone; also Maysville, Ky. , often, and onceLouisville. . . . I did not like to work; but I did as much of it whileyoung as grown men can be hired to do in these days, and attended schoolat the same time. . . . The rod was freely used there, and I was not exemptfrom its influence. "

But his knowledge of horses, of timber, and of land was better than hisknowledge of men. He had no precocious "smartness, " as the Yankees namethe quality which enables one person to outwit another. His credulitywas simple and unsuspecting, at least in some directions. This isillustrated by a story which he has told himself, one which he was neverallowed to forget:--

"There was a Mr. Ralston, who owned a colt which I very much wanted. Myfather had offered twenty dollars for it, but Ralston wantedtwenty-five. I was so anxious to have the colt that . . . My fatheryielded, but said twenty dollars was all the horse was worth, and toldme to offer that price. If it was not accepted, I was to offertwenty-two and a half, and if that would not get him, to give thetwenty-five. I at once mounted a horse and went for the colt. When I gotto Mr. Ralston's house, I said to him: 'Papa says I may offer you twentydollars for the colt, but, if you won't take that, I am to offertwenty-two and a half, and if you won't take that, to give youtwenty-five. '" This naïve bargaining was done when he was eight yearsold. Some persons have thought it betokens a defect in business acumenwhich was never fully cured. 

He learned his school tasks without great effort. His parents were aliveto the advantages of education, and required him to attend all thesubscription schools kept in the town. There were no free schools thereduring his youth. He was twice sent away from home to attend higherschools. It is not recorded that he especially liked study or dislikedit. Probably he took it as a part of life, something that had to bedone, and did it. He was most apt in mathematics. When he arrived atWest Point he was able to pass the not very severe entrance examinationwithout trouble. He seems to have had good native powers of perception, reasoning, and memory. What he learned he kept, but he was never anardent scholar. He had no enthusiasm for knowledge, nor, indeed, so faras appears, for anything else except horses. He used to fishoccasionally, but never hunted. The sportsman's tastes were not his, norwere his social tastes demonstrative. Possibly they may have beenrestrained in some measure by his mother's strictness of religiousprinciples. He was neither morose nor brooding, --not a dreamer ofdestiny. He yearned for no star. No instinct of his future achievementsmade him peculiar among his companions or caused him to hold himselfaloof. He exhibited nothing of the young Napoleon's distemper of gnawingpride. He was just an ordinary American boy, with rather less boyishnessand rather more sobriety than most, disposed to listen to the talk ofhis elders instead of that of persons of his own age, and fond ofvisiting strange places and riding and driving about the country. Hiswork had made him acquainted with the subjects in which grown men wereinterested. The family life was serious but not severe. Obedience andother domestic virtues were inculcated with fidelity; but he said thathe was never scolded or punished at home. 

CHAPTER IV

HIS LIFEWORK APPOINTED

When the boy was about seventeen years old he had made up his mind uponone matter, --he would not be a tanner for life. He told his father, possibly in response to some suggestion that it was time for him to quithis aimless occupations and begin his lifework, that he would work inthe shop, if he must, until he was twenty-one, but not a day longer. Hisdesire then was to be a farmer, or a trader, or to get an education; buthe seems to have had no definite inclination except to escape from thedisagreeable tannery. His father treated the matter judiciously, notbeing disposed to force the boy to learn a business that he would notfollow. He was unable to set him up in farming. He had not much respectfor the river traders, and may have had little confidence in the boy'sability to thrive in competitions of enterprise and greed. 

Without consulting his son, he wrote to one of the United StatesSenators from Ohio, Hon. Thomas Morris, telling him that there was avacancy in the district's representation in West Point, and asking thatUlysses might be appointed. He would not write to the congressman fromthe district, because, although neighbors and old friends, they belongedto different parties and had had a falling out. But the Senator turnedthe letter over to the Congressman, who procured the appointment, thushealing a breach of which both were ashamed. General Grant gives anaccount of what happened when this door to an education and a lifeservice was opened before him. His father said to him one day:"'Ulysses, I believe you are going to receive the appointment. ' 'Whatappointment?' I inquired. 'To West Point. I have applied for it. ' 'But Iwon't go, ' I said. He said he thought I would, _and I thought so too, ifhe did_. " The italics are the general's. They make it plain that he didnot think it prudent to make further objection when his father hadreached a decision. 

Little did Congressman Thomas L. Hamer imagine that in doing this favorfor his friend, Jesse Grant, he was doing the one thing that wouldsecure remembrance of his name by coming generations. It did notcontribute to his immediate popularity among his constituents, for thegeneral opinion was that many brighter and more deserving boys lived inthe district, and one of them should have been preferred. Neighbors didnot hesitate to shake their heads and express the opinion that theappointment was unwise. Not one of them had discerned any particularpromise in the boy. Nor were they unreasonable. He was without otherdistinctions than of being a strong toiler, good-natured, and having aknack with horses. He had no aspiration for the career of a soldier, infact never intended to stick to it. Even after entering West Point hishope, he has said, was to be able, by reason of his education, to get "apermanent position in some respectable college, "--to become ProfessorGrant, not General Grant. 

In the course of making his appointment, his name by an accident waspermanently changed. When Congressman Hamer was asked for the full nameof his protégé to be inserted in the warrant, he knew that his name wasUlysses, and was sure there was more of it. He knew that the maiden nameof his friend's wife was Simpson. At a venture, he gave the boy's nameas Ulysses Simpson Grant. Grant found it so recorded when he reached theschool, and as he had no special fondness for the name Hiram, which wasbestowed to gratify an aged relative, he thought it not worth while togo through a long red-tape process to correct the error. There wasanother Cadet Grant, and their comrades distinguished this one by sundrynicknames, of which "Uncle Sam" was one and "Useless" another. 

When he arrived at West Point, in July, 1839, he was not a prepossessingfigure of a young gentleman. The rusticity of his previous occupationand breeding was upon him. Seventeen years old, hardly more than fivefeet tall, but solid and muscular, with no particular charm of face ormanner, no special dignity of carriage, he was only a common sort ofpleb, modest, good-natured, respectful, companionable but sober-minded, observant but undemonstrative, willing but not ardent, trusty butwithout high ambitions, --the kind of boy who might achieve commendablesuccess in the academy, or might prove unequal to its requirements, without giving cause of surprise to his associates. 

He had no difficulty in passing the examination at the end of his sixmonths' probationary period, which enabled him to be enrolled in thearmy, and he was never really in danger of dismissal for deficientscholarship. He seems to have made no effort for superior excellence inscholarship, and in some studies his rank was low. Mathematics gave himno trouble, and he says that he rarely read over any of his lessons morethan once, which is evidence that he had unusual power of concentratinghis attention, the secret of quick work in study. This power and afaithful memory will enable any one to achieve high distinction if he iswilling to toil for it. Grant was not willing to toil for it. He gavetime to other things, not in the routine prescribed. He pursued agenerous course of reading in modern English fiction, including all theworks then published of Scott, Bulwer, Marryat, Lever, Cooper, andWashington Irving, and much besides. 

The thing for which he was especially distinguished was, as may besurmised, horsemanship. He was esteemed one of the best horsemen of histime at the academy. But this, too, was easy for him. He appears to havebeen on good terms with his fellows and well liked, but he was not aleader among them. He has said that while at home he did not like towork. It must be judged that his mind was affected by a certainindolence, that he was capable enough when he addressed himself to anyparticular task, but not self-disposed to exertion. He felt no constant, pricking incitement to do his best; but was content to do fairly well, as well as was necessary for the immediate occasion. One of his comradesin the academy said in later years that he remembered him as "a veryuncle-like sort of a youth. . . . He exhibited but little enthusiasm inanything. "

He was graduated in 1843, at the age of 21 years, ranking 21 in a classof 39, a little below the middle station. He had grown 6 inches tallerwhile at the academy, standing 5 feet 7 inches, but weighed no more thanwhen he entered, 117 pounds. His physical condition had been somewhatreduced at the end of his term by the wearing effect of a threateningcough. It cannot be said that any one then expected him to do greatthings. The characteristics of his early youth that have been set forthwere persistent. He was older, wiser, more accomplished, betterbalanced, but in fundamental traits he was still the Ulysses Grant ofthe farm--hardly changed at all. No more at school than at home was hislife vitiated by vices. He was neither profane nor filthy. Histemperament was cool and wholesome. He tried to learn to smoke, but wasthen unable. It is remembered that during the vacation in the middle ofhis course, spent at home, he steadily declined all invitations topartake of intoxicants, the reason assigned being that he with othershad pledged themselves not to drink at all, for the sake of example andhelp to one of their number whose good resolutions needed such propping. At his graduation he was a man and a soldier. Life, with all itsattractions and opportunities, was before. Phlegmatic as he may havebeen, it cannot be supposed that the future was without beckoning voicesand the rosy glamour of hope. 

CHAPTER V

LOVE AND WAR

He had applied for an appointment in the dragoons, the designation ofthe one regiment of cavalry then a part of our army. His alternativeselection was the Fourth Infantry. To this he was attached as a brevetsecond lieutenant, and after the expiration of the usual leave spent athome, he joined his regiment at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. Dutieswere not severe, and the officers entertained much company at thebarracks and gave much time to society in the neighborhood. Grant hadhis saddle-horse, a gift of his father, and took his full share in thesocial life. A few miles away was the home of his classmate and chumduring his last year at the academy, F. T. Dent. One of Dent's sisterswas a young lady of seventeen, educated at a St. Louis boarding school. After she returned to her home in the late winter young Grant found theDent homestead more attractive than ever. 

This was the time of the agitation regarding the annexation of Texas, apolicy to which young Grant was strongly hostile. About May 1 of thenext year, 1844, some of the troops at the barracks were ordered to NewOrleans. Grant, thinking his own regiment might go soon, got atwenty-days leave to visit his home. He had hardly arrived when by aletter from a fellow officer he learned that the Fourth had started tofollow the Third, and that his belongings had been forwarded. It wasthen that he became conscious of the real nature of his feeling forJulia Dent. His leave required him to report to Jefferson Barracks, andalthough he knew his regiment had gone, he construed the ordersliterally and returned there, staying only long enough to declare hislove and learn that it was reciprocated. The secret was not made knownto the parents of the young lady until the next year, when he returnedon a furlough to see her. For three years longer they were separated, while he was winning honor and promotion. After peace was declared, andthe regiment had returned to the States, they were married. She sharedall his vicissitudes of fortune until his death. Their life together wasone in which wifely faith and duty failed not, nor did he fail to honorand esteem her above all women. Whatever his weaknesses, infidelity indomestic affection was not one of them. In all relations of a personalcharacter he reciprocated trust with the whole tenacity of his nature. 

In Louisiana the regiment encamped on high ground near the Sabine River, not far from the old town of Natchitoches. The camp was named CampSalubrity. In Grant's case, certainly, the name was justified. There hegot rid of the cough that had fastened upon him at West Point and hadcaused fears that he would early fall a victim to consumption. InLouisiana he was restored to perfect, lusty health, fit for any exertionor privation. He was regarded as a modest and amiable lieutenant of nogreat promise. The regiment was moved to Corpus Christi, a trading andsmuggling port. There the army of occupation (of Texas) was slowlycollected, consisting of about three thousand men, commanded by GeneralZachary Taylor. Mexico still claimed this part of Texas, and it wasexpected that our forces would be attacked. But they were not, and, asthe real purpose was to provoke attack, the army was moved to a pointopposite Matamoras on the Rio Grande, where a new camp was establishedand fortified. Previous to leaving Corpus Christi, Grant had beenpromoted, September 30, 1845, from brevet second lieutenant to fullsecond lieutenant. The advance was made in March, 1846. On the 8th ofMay the battle of Palo Alto was fought, on the hither side of the RioGrande, in which Grant had an active part, acquitting himself withcredit. On the next day was the battle of Resaca de la Palma, in whichhe was acting adjutant in place of the officer killed. One consequenceof these victories was the evacuation of Matamoras. War with Mexicohaving been declared, General Taylor's army became an army of invasion. 

Volunteers for the war now began coming from the States. In August themovement on Monterey began, and on the 19th of September, Taylor's armywas encamped before the city. The battle of Monterey was begun on the21st, and the desperately defended city was surrendered and evacuated onthe 24th. Grant, although then doing quartermaster's duty, having hisstation with the baggage train, went to the front on the first day, andwas a participant in the assault, incurring all its perils, andvolunteering for the extremely hazardous duty of a messenger betweendifferent parts of the force. 

When General Scott arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande, Grant'sregiment was detached from Taylor's army and joined Scott's. He waspresent and participated in the siege of Vera Cruz, the battle of CerroGordo, the assault on Churubusco, the storming of Chapultepec, for whichhe volunteered with a part of his company, and the battle of Molino delRey. Colonel Garland, commander of the brigade, in his report of thestorming of Chapultepec, said: "Lieutenant Grant, 4th Infantry, acquitted himself most nobly upon several occasions under my ownobservation. " After the battle of Molino del Rey he was appointed on thefield a first lieutenant for his gallantry. For his conduct atChapultepec he was later brevetted a captain, to date from that battle, September 13, 1847. He entered the city of Mexico a first lieutenant, after having been, as he says, in all the engagements of the warpossible for any one man, in a regiment that lost more officers duringthe war than it ever had present in a single engagement. 

Perhaps his most notable exploit was during the assault on the gate ofSan Cosme, under command of General Worth. While reconnoitring forposition, Grant observed a church not far away, having a belfry. Withanother officer and a howitzer, and men to work it, he reached thechurch, and, by dismounting the gun, carried it to the belfry, where itwas mounted again but a few hundred yards from San Cosme, and didexcellent service. General Worth sent Lieutenant Pemberton (the samewho in the civil war defended Vicksburg) to bring Grant to him. Thegeneral complimented Lieutenant Grant on the execution his gun wasdoing, and ordered a captain of voltigeurs to report to him with anothergun. "I could not tell the general, " says Grant, "that there was notroom enough in the steeple for another gun, because he probably wouldhave looked upon such a statement as a contradiction from a secondlieutenant. I took the captain with me, but did not use his gun. "

The American army entered the city of Mexico, September 14, 1847, andthis was his station until June, 1848, when the American army waswithdrawn from Mexico, peace being established. There was no morefighting. Grant was occupied with his duties as quartermaster, and inmaking excursions about the country, in which and its people heconceived a warm interest that never changed. Upon returning to his owncountry he left his regiment on a furlough of four months. His firstbusiness was to go to St. Louis and execute his promise to marry MissDent. The remainder of this honeymoon vacation was spent with his familyand friends in Ohio. 

CHAPTER VI

YEARS OF DORMANT POWER

Although he had done excellent service, demonstrating his courage, hisgood judgment, his resourcefulness, his ability in command, and in thestaff duties of quartermaster and commissary, his experience did notkindle in him any new love for his profession, nor any ardor of militaryglory. He had not revealed the possession of extraordinary talent, norany spark of genius. He accounted the period of great value to him inhis later life, but his heart was never enlisted in the cause for whichthe war was made. His letters home declared this. When he came to writehis memoirs, speaking of the annexation of Texas, he said: "For myself Iwas bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the warwhich resulted as one of the most unjust ever waged by a strongeragainst a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following thebad example of European monarchies in not considering justice in theirdesire to acquire additional territory. . . . The Southern rebellion waslargely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. . . . We got our punishment inthe most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times. "

But the Mexican war changed Grant's plan of life. While he was atJefferson Barracks he had applied for a place as instructor ofmathematics at West Point, and had received such encouragement that hedevoted much time to reviewing his studies and extending them, givingmore attention to history than ever before. After the war the notion ofbecoming a college professor appears to have left him. He regardedhimself as bound to the service for the rest of his days. It was not somuch his choice as his lot, and he accepted it, not because he relishedit, but because he discovered no way out of it. This illustrates anegative trait of his character remarked throughout his career. He wasnever a pushing man. He had no self-seeking energy. The work that wasassigned to him he did as well as he could; but he had little art torecommend himself in immodest ways. He had not the vanity to presumethat he would certainly succeed in strange enterprises. He shrank fromthe personal hostilities of ambition. 

Then followed a long period of uneventful routine service in garrisonsat Detroit and at Sackett's Harbor, until in the summer of 1852 hisregiment was sent to the Pacific coast via the Panama route. Thecrossing of the isthmus was a terrible experience, owing to the lack ofproper provision for it and to an epidemic of cholera. The delay was ofseven weeks' duration, and about one seventh of all who sailed on thesteamer from New York died on the isthmus of disease or of hardships. Lieutenant Grant, however, had no illness, and exhibited a humanedevotion to the necessities of the unfortunate, civilians as well assoldiers. His company was destined to Fort Vancouver, in OregonTerritory, where he remained nearly a year, until, in order, hereceived promotion to a captaincy in a company stationed at Humboldt Bayin California. Here he remained until 1854, when he resigned from thearmy, because, as he says, he saw no prospect of being able to supporthis family on his pay, if he brought them--there were then twochildren--from St. Louis, where Mrs. Grant had remained with her familysince he left New York. His resignation took effect, following a leaveof absence, July 31, 1854. 

There was another cause, as told in army circles, for his resignation. He had become so addicted to drink that his resignation was required byhis commanders, who held it for a time to afford him an opportunity toretrieve his good fame if he would; but he was unable. Through whattemptation he fell into such disgrace is not clearly known. But garrisonposts are given to indulgences which have proved too much for many anofficer, no worse than his fellows, but constitutionally unable to keeppace with men of different temperament. It might be thought that Grantwas one unlikely to be easily affected; but the testimony of hisassociates is that he was always a poor drinker, a small quantity ofliquor overcoming him. 

He was now thirty-two years old, a husband and father, discharged fromthe service for which he had been educated, and without means oflivelihood. His wife fortunately owned a small farm near St. Louis, butit was without a dwelling house. He had no means to stock it. He built ahumble house there by his own hard labor. He cut wood and drew it to St. Louis for a market. In this way he lived for four years, when he wasincapacitated for such work by an attack of fever and ague lastingnearly a year. There is no doubt that the veteran and his familyexperienced the rigors of want in these years; no question that neitherhis necessities nor his duties saved him from being sometimes overcomeby his baneful habit. 

In the fall of 1858 the farm was sold. Grant embarked in the real estateagency business in St. Louis, and made sundry unsuccessful efforts toget a salaried place under the city government. But his fortunes didnot improve. Finally in desperation he went in 1860 to his father forassistance. His father had established two younger sons in a hide andleather business in Galena, Ill. Upon consultation they agreed to employUlysses as a clerk and helper, with the understanding that he should notdraw more than $800 a year. But he had debts in St. Louis, and to cancelthese almost as much more had to be supplied to him the first year. Hisfather has told that the advance was repaid as soon as he began earningmoney in the civil war. 

In Galena he was known to but few. Ambition for acquaintance seemed tohave died in him. He was the victim of a great humiliation and wassilent. He avoided publicity. He was destitute of presumption. Whatbrighter hopes he cherished were due to his father's purpose to make hima partner with his brothers. He heard Lincoln and Douglas when theycanvassed the State, and approved of the argument of the former ratherthan of the other. He had voted for Buchanan in 1856, his only vote fora President before the war. In 1860 he had not acquired a right to votein Illinois. 

These thirteen quiet years of Grant's life are not of account in hispublic career, but they are a phase of experience that left its deeptraces in the character of the man. He was changed, and ever afterwardsthere was a tinge of melancholy and a haunting shadow of dark days inhis life that could not be escaped. Nor in the pride and power of hisafter success did he completely conquer the besetting weakness of hisflesh. The years from twenty-six to thirty-nine in the lives of most menwho ever amount to anything are years of steady development andacquisition, of high endeavor, of zealous, well-ordered upward progress, of growth in self-mastery and outward influence, of firm consolidationof character. These conditions are not obvious in the case of GeneralGrant. Had he died before the summer of 1861, being nearly forty yearsof age, he would have filled an obscure grave, and those to whom he wasdearest could not have esteemed his life successful, even in its humblescope. He had not yet found his opportunity: he had not yet foundhimself. 

CHAPTER VII

THE SUMMONS OF PATRIOTISM

The tide of patriotism that surged through the North after the fall ofFort Sumter in April, 1861, lifted many strong but discouraged men outof their plight of hard conditions and floated them on to betterfortune. Grant was one of these. At last he found reason to be glad thathe had the education and experience of a soldier. 

On Monday, April 15, 1861, Galena learned that Sumter had fallen. Thenext day there was a town meeting, where indignation and devotion foundutterance. Over that meeting Captain Grant was called to preside, although few knew him. Elihu B. Washburn, the representative of thedistrict in Congress, and John A. Rawlins, a rude, self-educated lawyer, who had been a farmer and a charcoal burner, made passionate, fieryspeeches on the duty of every man to stand by the flag. At the close ofthat meeting Grant told his brothers that he felt that he must join thearmy, and he did no more work in the shop. How clearly he perceived themeaning of the conflict was shown in a letter to his father-in-law, wherein he wrote: "In all this I can see but the doom of slavery. "

He was offered the captaincy of the company formed in Galena, anddeclined it, although he aided in organizing and drilling the men, andaccompanied them to the state capital, Springfield. As he was aboutstarting for home, he was asked by Governor Richard Yates to assist inthe adjutant-general's office, and soon he was given charge of musteringin ten regiments that had been recruited in excess of the quota of theState, under the President's first call, in preparation for possibleadditional calls. His knowledge of army forms and methods was of greatservice to the inexperienced state officers. 

Later, but without wholly severing his connection with the office, hereturned home, and wrote a letter to the adjutant-general of theregular army, at Washington, briefly setting forth his former service, and very respectfully tendering his service "until the close of the warin such capacity as may be offered, " adding, that with his experience hefelt that he was "competent to command a regiment, if the Presidentshould see fit to intrust one to him. " The letter brought no reply. Hewent to Cincinnati and tried, unsuccessfully, to see General McClellan, whom he had known at West Point and in Mexico, hoping that he might beoffered a place on his staff. While he was absent Governor Yatesappointed him colonel of the Twenty-First Regiment of Illinois Infantry, then in camp near Springfield, his commission dating from June 15. Itwas a thirty-day regiment, but almost every member reënlisted for threeyears, under the President's second call. Thus, two months after thebreaking out of the war, he was again a soldier with a much highercommission than he had ever held, higher than would have come to him inregular order had he remained in the army. 

At Springfield he was in the centre of a great activity and a greatenthusiasm. He met for the first time many leading men of the State, andbecame known to them. Their personality did not overwhelm him, famousand influential as many of them were, nor did he solicit from them anyfavor for himself. His desire was to be restored to the regular armyrather than to take command of volunteers. When the sought-foropportunity did not appear, he accepted the place that was offered, aplace in which he was needed; for the first colonel, selected by theregiment itself, had already by his conduct lost their confidence. Theyexchanged him for Grant with high satisfaction. 

CHAPTER VIII

FROM SPRINGFIELD TO FORT DONELSON

The regiment remained at the camp, near Springfield, until the 3d ofJuly, being then in a good state of discipline, and officers and menhaving become acquainted with company drill. It was then ordered toQuincy, on the Mississippi River, and Colonel Grant, for reasons ofinstruction, decided to march his regiment instead of going by therailroad. So began his advance, which ended less than four years laterat Appomattox, when he was the captain of all the victorious Unionarmies, --holding a military rank none had held since Washington, --and asure fame with the great captains of the world's history. The details ofthis wonderful progress can only be sketched in this little volume. Itwas not without its periods of gloom, and doubt, and check; but, on thewhole, it was steadily on and up. 

His orders were changed at different times, until finally he wasdirected to proceed with all dispatch to the relief of an Illinoisregiment, reported to be surrounded by rebels near Palmyra, Mo. Beforethe place was reached, the imperiled regiment had delivered itself byretreating. He next expected to give battle at a place near the littletown of Florida, in Missouri. As the regiment toiled over the hillbeyond which the enemy was supposed to be waiting for him, he "wouldhave given anything to be back in Illinois. " Never having had theresponsibility of command in a fight, he really distrusted his untriedability. When the top of the hill was reached, only a deserted campappeared in front. "It occurred to me at once that Harris had been asmuch afraid of me as I had been of him. . . . From that event to the closeof the war, " he says in his book, "I never experienced trepidation uponconfronting an enemy, though I always felt more or less anxiety. I neverforgot that he had as much reason to fear my forces as I had [to fear]his. "

On August 7 he was appointed by the President a brigadier-general ofvolunteers, upon the unanimous recommendation of the congressmen fromIllinois, most of whom were unknown to him. He had not won promotion byany fighting; but generals were at that time made with haste to meetexigent requirement, a proportional number being selected from eachloyal State. Among those whom General Grant appointed on his staff wasJohn A. Rawlins, the Galena lawyer, who was made adjutant-general, withthe rank of captain, and who as long as he lived continued near Grant insome capacity, dying while serving as Secretary of War in the first termof Grant's presidency. He was an officer of high ability and personalloyalty. He alone had the audacity to interpose a resolute no, when hischief was disposed to over-indulgence in liquor. He did not alwaysprevent him, but it is doubtful whether Grant would not have fallen bythe way without the constant, imperative watchfulness of his faithfulfriend. There were times when both army and people were impatient withhim, not wholly without reason. Nothing saved him then but PresidentLincoln's confidence and charity. The reply to all complaints was: "Thisman fights; he cannot be spared. "

In the last days of August, having been occupied, meantime, in reducingto order distracted and disaffected communities in Missouri, he wasassigned to command of a military district embracing all southwesternMissouri and southern Illinois. He established his headquarters atCairo, early in September, and from there he promptly led an expeditionthat forestalled the hostile intention of seizing Paducah, a strategicalpoint at the mouth of the Tennessee River. This was his first importantmilitary movement, and it was begun upon his own initiative. His firstbattle was fought at Belmont, Mo. , opposite Columbus, Ky. , on theMississippi River, on November 7, 1861. Grant, in command of a force ofabout 3000 men, was demonstrating against Columbus, held by the enemy. Learning that a force had been sent across the river to Belmont, hedisembarked his troops from their transports and attacked. The men wereunder fire for the first time, but they drove the enemy and captured thecamp. They came near being cut off, however, through the inexperienceand silly recklessness of subordinate officers. By dint of hard work andgreat personal risk on the part of their commander, they were got safelyaway. It was an all-day struggle, during which General Grant had a horseshot under him, and made several narrow escapes, being the last man toreëmbark. The Union losses were 485 killed, wounded, and missing. Theloss of the enemy was officially reported as 632. This battle wascriticised at the time as unnecessary; but General Grant always assertedthe contrary. The enemy was prevented from detaching troops fromColumbus, and the national forces acquired a confidence in themselvesthat was of great value ever afterwards. Grant's governing maxim was, tostrike the enemy whenever possible, and keep doing it. 

From the battle of Belmont until February, 1862, there was no fightingby Grant's army. Troops were concentrated at Cairo for futureoperations--not yet decided upon. Major-General H. W. Halleck supersededGeneral Fremont in command of the department of Missouri. Halleck was anable man, having a high reputation as theoretical master of the art ofwar, one of those who put a large part of all their energy into thebusiness of preparing to do some great task, only to find frequently, when they are completely ready, that the occasion has gone by. When hewas first approached with a proposition to capture Forts Henry andDonelson, the first on the Tennessee River, the other on the CumberlandRiver, where the rivers are only a few miles apart near the southernborder of Kentucky, he thought that it would require an army of "notless than 60, 000 effective men, " which could not be collected at Cairo"before the middle or last of February. "

Early in January General Grant went to St. Louis to explain his ideas ofa campaign against these forts to Halleck, who told him his scheme was"preposterous. " On the 28th he ventured again to suggest to Halleck bytelegraph that, if permitted, he could take and hold Fort Henry on theTennessee. His application was seconded by flag officer Foote of thenavy, who then had command of several gunboats at Cairo. On February 1, he received instructions to go ahead, and the expedition, allpreparations having been made beforehand, started the next day, thegunboats and about 9000 men on transports going up the Ohio and theTennessee to a point a few miles below Fort Henry. After the troops weredisembarked the transports went back to Paducah for the remainder of theforce of 17, 000 constituting the expeditionary army. The attack was madeon the 6th, but the garrison had evacuated, going toward Fort Donelson, to escape the fire of the gunboats. General Tilghman, commanding thefort, his staff, and about 120 men were captured, with many guns and alarge quantity of stores. The principal loss on the Union side was thescalding of 29 men on the gunboat Essex by the explosion of her boiler, pierced by a shell from the fort. 

Grant had no instructions to attack Fort Donelson, but he had noneforbidding him to do it. He straightway moved nearly his whole forceover the eleven miles of dreadful roads, and on the 12th began investingthe stronghold, an earthwork inclosing about 100 acres, with outworks onthe land and water sides, and defended by more than 20, 000 men commandedby General Floyd, who had been President Buchanan's Secretary of War. The investing force had its right near the river above the fort. Theweather was alternately wet and freezing cold. The troops had noshelter, and suffered greatly. On the 14th, without serious opposition, the investment was completed. At three o'clock in the afternoon of the14th, flag officer Foote began the attack, the fleet of gunboatssteaming up the river and firing as rapidly as possible; but severalwere disabled by the enemy's fire, and all had to fall back beforenightfall. The enemy telegraphed to Richmond that a great victory hadbeen achieved. 

On the next day, Grant, riding several miles to the river, met Foote onhis gunboat, to which he was confined by a wound received the daybefore. Returning, he found that a large force from the fort had made asortie upon a part of his line, but had been driven back after a severecontest. It was found that the haversacks of the Confederates left onthe field contained three days' rations. Instantly, Grant reasoned thatthe intention was not so much to drive him away as to break through hisline and escape. He ordered a division that had not been engaged toadvance at once, and before night it had established a position withinthe outer lines of defense. Surrender or capture the next day was thefate of the Confederates. 

During the night General Floyd and General Pillow, next in command, andGeneral Forest made their escape with about 4000 men. Before light thenext morning, General Grant received a note from General S. B. Buckner, who was left in command of the fort, suggesting the appointment ofcommissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation, and meanwhile anarmistice until noon. To this note General Grant sent the curt reply:"No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can beaccepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works. " GeneralBuckner sent back word that he was compelled by circumstances "to acceptthe ungenerous and unchivalrous terms" which had been proposed. 

This victory electrified the whole North, then greatly in need of cheer. General Grant became the hero of the hour. His name was honored and hisexploit lauded from one end of the country to the other. It was not yeta year since he had been an obscure citizen of an obscure town. Alreadymany regarded him as the nation's hope. A phrase from his note toGeneral Buckner was fitted to his initials, and he was everywhere hailedas "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. 

In this campaign he first revealed the peculiar traits of his militarygenius, clear discernment of possibilities, comprehension of therequirements of the situation, strategical instinct, accurate estimateof the enemy's motive and plan, sagacious promptness of action inexigencies, staunch resolution, inspiring energy, invincible poise. Forhis achievement he was promoted to be a major-general of volunteers. Hehad found himself now. 

CHAPTER IX

SHILOH, CORINTH, IUKA

On the 4th of March, sixteen days after his victory, he was in disgrace. General Halleck ordered him to turn over the command of the army toGeneral C. F. Smith and to remain himself at Fort Henry. This action ofHalleck was the consequence partly of accidents which had preventedcommunication between them and caused Halleck to think himinsubordinate, partly of false reports to Halleck that Grant wasdrinking to excess, partly of Halleck's dislike of Grant, --atemperamental incapacity of appreciation. After Donelson he issued ageneral order of congratulation of Grant and Foote for the victory, buthe sent no personal congratulations, and reported to Washington that thevictory was due to General Smith, whose promotion, not Grant's, herecommended. As to the reports of Grant's drinking, they weredecisively contradicted by Rawlins, to whom the authorities inWashington applied for information. He asserted that Grant had drunk noliquor during the campaign except a little, by the surgeon'sprescription, on one occasion when attacked by ague. The fault offailing to report his movements and to answer inquiries was later foundto be due to a telegraph operator hostile to the Union cause, who didnot forward Grant's reports to Halleck nor Halleck's orders to Grant. 

Grant's mortification was intense. Since the fall of Donelson he hadbeen full of activities. The enemy had fallen back, his first line beingbroken, and Grant was scheming to follow up his advantage by pushing onthrough Tennessee, driving the discouraged Confederate forces beforehim. He had visited Nashville to confer with General Buell, who hadreached that city, and it was on his return that he received Halleck'sdispatch of removal. For several days he was in dreadful distress ofmind, and contemplated resigning his commission. It seemed as if Fatehad cut off his career just as it had gloriously begun. But he made nopublic complaint. He obeyed orders and waited at Fort Henry. To some ofhis friends he said that he would never wear a sword again. But on the13th he was restored to command. Halleck became aware of the facts, andmade a report vindicating Grant's conduct, of which he sent him a copy. It was not until after the war that Grant learned that Halleck'sprevious reports had caused his degradation. 

His first battle after restoration to command was an unfortunate one inthe beginning, but was turned into a victory. He was advancing onCorinth, Miss. , a railroad centre of the Southwest, where a largeConfederate army under General Albert Sidney Johnston was collecting. All the available Union forces in the West were gathering to meet it. Grant had selected Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River, twentymiles from Corinth, as the place for landing his forces, and HamburgLanding, four miles up the river, as the starting point for Buell'sarmy in marching on Corinth. Buell was hastening to the rendezvous, coming through Tennessee with a large force. On the 4th of April Grant'shorse fell while he was reconnoitring at night, and the general's legwas badly bruised but not broken. 

Expecting to make an offensive campaign and meet the enemy at Corinth, he had not enjoined intrenchment of the temporary camp. So great was theconfidence that Johnston would await attack that the enemy's proximityin force was discovered too late. Johnston led his whole army out ofCorinth, and early on the morning of the 6th of April surprisedSherman's division encamped at Shiloh, three miles from PittsburgLanding, attacking with a largely superior force. The battle raged allday, with heavy losses on both sides, the Union army being graduallyforced back to Pittsburg Landing. Five divisions were engaged, three ofthem composed of raw troops, and many regiments were in a demoralizedcondition at night. 

On the next day the Union army, reinforced by Buell's 20, 000 men, advanced, attacking the enemy early in the morning, with furiousdetermination. The Confederate forces, although weakened, weredetermined not to lose the advantage gained, and fought with desperatestubbornness. But it was in vain. A necessity of vindicating theircourage was felt by officers and men of the Union Army. They had fullyrecovered from the effects of the surprise, and pressed forward withzealous assurance. Before the day was done Grant had won the field andcompelled a disorderly retreat. In this battle the commander of theConfederate army, General Albert Sidney Johnston, was killed in thefirst day's fighting, the command devolving on General G. T. Beauregard. On the first day the Union forces on the field numbered about 33, 000against the enemy's above 40, 000. On the second day the Union forceswere superior. The Union losses in the two days were 1754 killed, 8408wounded, and 2885 missing; total 13, 047. Beauregard reported a totalloss of 10, 694, of whom 1723 were killed. General Grant says that theUnion army buried more of the enemy's dead than is here reported infront of Sherman's and McClernand's divisions alone, and that the totalnumber buried was estimated at 4000. 

The battles of Shiloh and Pittsburg Landing together constitute one ofthe critical conflicts of the long war. Had the Confederate success ofthe first day been repeated and completed on the second day, it wouldhave been difficult, if not impossible, to prevent the enemy frompossessing Tennessee and a large part of Kentucky. 

After this battle General Halleck came to Pittsburg Landing and tookcommand of all the armies in that department. Although General Grant wassecond in command, he was not in General Halleck's confidence, and wascontemptuously disregarded in the direction of affairs. Halleckproceeded to make a safe campaign against Corinth by road-building andparallel intrenchments. He got there and captured it, indeed, havingbeen a month on the way, but the rebel army, with all its equipments, guns, and stores, had escaped beforehand. Grant's position was soembarrassing that during Halleck's advance he made several earnestapplications to be relieved. Halleck would not let him go, apparentlythinking that he needed to be instructed by an opportunity of observinghow a great soldier made war. What Grant really learned was how not tomake war. 

After the fall of Corinth he was permitted to make his headquarters atMemphis, while Halleck proceeded to construct defensive works on animmense scale. But in July Halleck was appointed commander-in-chief ofall the armies, with his headquarters in Washington, and Grant returnedto Corinth. He was the ranking officer in the department, but was notformally assigned to the command until October. The intermediate timewas spent, for the most part, in defensive operations in the enemy'scountry, the great army that entered Corinth having been scattered east, north, and west to various points. Two important battles were fought, byone of which an attempt to retake Corinth was defeated. The other wasat Iuka, in Mississippi, where a considerable Confederate force wasdefeated. 

In this period the energy and resourcefulness of General Grant wereconspicuous, although nothing that occurred added largely to hisreputation. He was, however, gathering stores of useful experience whileoperating in the heart of the enemy's country, where every inhabitant, except the negroes, was hostile. Both of the battles mentioned abovewere nearly lost by failure of his subordinates to render expectedservice according to orders; but he suffered no defeat. The service waswearing, but he was equal to all demands made upon him. 

CHAPTER X

VICKSBURG

Vicksburg had long been the hard military problem of the Southwest. Thecity, which had been made a fortress, was at the summit of a range ofhigh bluffs, two hundred and fifty feet above the east bank of theMississippi River, near the mouth of the Yazoo. It was provided withbatteries along the river front and on the bank of the Yazoo to Haines'sBluff. A continuous line of fortifications surrounded the city on thecrest of the hill. This hill, the slopes of which were cut by deepravines, was difficult of ascent in any part in the face of hostiledefenders. The back country was swampy bottom land, covered with a rankgrowth of timber, intersected with lagoons and almost impassable exceptby a few rude roads. The opposite side of the river was an extensivewooded morass. 

In May, 1862, flag officer Farragut, coming up the Mississippi from NewOrleans, had demanded the surrender of the city and been refused. In thelatter part of June he returned with flag officer Porter's mortarflotilla and bombarded the city for four weeks without gaining his end. In November, 1862, General Grant started with an army from GrandJunction, intending to approach Vicksburg by the way of the Yazoo Riverand attack it in the rear. But General Van Dorn captured Holly Springs, his depot of supplies, and the project was abandoned. 

The narration, with any approach to completeness, of the story of thecampaign against Vicksburg would require a volume. It was a protracted, baffling, desperate undertaking to obtain possession of thefortifications that commanded the Mississippi River at that point. Grantwas not unaware of the magnitude of the work, nor was he eager toattempt it under the conditions existing. He believed that, in order totheir greatest efficiency, all the armies operating between theAlleghanies and the Mississippi should be subject to one commander, andhe made this suggestion to the War Department, at the same timetestifying his disinterestedness by declining in advance to take thesupreme command himself. His suggestion was not immediately adopted. Onthe 22d of December, 1862, General Grant, whose headquarters were thenat Holly Springs, reorganized his army into four corps, the 13th, 15th, 16th, and 17th, commanded respectively by Major-Generals John A. McClernand, William T. Sherman, S. A. Hurlbut, and J. B. McPherson. Soonafterwards he established his headquarters at Memphis, and in Januarybegan the move on Vicksburg, which, after immense labors and variousfailures of plans, resulted in the surrender of that fortress on July 4, 1863. 

He first sent Sherman, in whose enterprise and ability to take care ofhimself he had full confidence, giving him only general instructions. Sherman landed his army on the east side of the river, above Vicksburg, and made a direct assault, which proved unsuccessful, and he wascompelled to reëmbark his defeated troops. The impracticability ofsuccessful assault on the north side was then accepted. GeneralMcClernand's corps on the 11th of January, aided by the navy underAdmiral Porter, captured Arkansas Post on the White River, taking 6000prisoners, 17 guns, and a large amount of military stores. 

On the 17th, Grant went to the front and had a conference with Sherman, McClernand, and Porter, the upshot of which was a direction torendezvous on the west bank in the vicinity of Vicksburg. McClernand wasdisaffected, having sought at Washington the command of an expeditionagainst Vicksburg and been led to expect it. He wrote a letter to Grantso insolent that the latter was advised to relieve him of all commandand send him to the rear. Instead of doing so, he gave him everypossible favor and opportunity; but months afterwards, in front ofVicksburg, McClernand was guilty of a breach of discipline which couldnot be overlooked, and he was deprived of his command. 

Throughout the war Grant was notably considerate and charitable inrespect of the mistakes and the temper of subordinates if he thoughtthem to be patriotic and capable. His rapid rise excited the jealousyand personal hostility of many ambitious generals. Of this he wasconscious, but he did not suffer himself to be affected by it so long asthere was no failure in duty. The reply he made to those who asked himto remove McClernand revealed the principle of his action: "No. I cannotafford to quarrel with a man whom I have to command. "

The Union army, having embarked at Memphis, was landed on the west bankof the Mississippi River, and the first work undertaken was the diggingof a canal across a peninsula that would allow passage of the transportsto the Mississippi below Vicksburg, where they could be used to ferrythe army across the river, there being higher ground south of the cityfrom which it could be approached more easily than from any other point. After weeks of labor, the scheme had to be abandoned as impracticable. Then various devices for opening and connecting bayous were tried, noneof them proving useful. The army not engaged in digging or in cuttingthrough obstructing timbers was encamped along the narrow levee, theonly dry land available in the season of flood. Thus three months wereseemingly wasted without result. The aspect of affairs was gloomy anddesperate. 

The North became impatient and began grumbling against the general, doubting his ability, even clamoring for his removal. He made no reply, nor suffered his friends to defend him. He simply worked on in silence. Stories of his incapacity on account of drinking were rife, and it mayhave been the case that under the dreary circumstances and intensestrain he did sometimes yield to this temptation. But he never yieldedhis aim, never relaxed his grim purpose. Vicksburg must fall. As soon asone plan failed of success another was put in operation. When everyscheme of getting the vessels through the by-ways failed, one thingremained, --to send the gunboats and transports past Vicksburg by theriver, defying the frowning batteries and whatever impediments might bemet. Six gunboats and several steamers ran by the batteries on the nightof April 16th, under a tremendous fire, the river being lighted up byburning houses on the shore. Barges and flatboats followed on othernights. Then Grant's way to reach Vicksburg was found; but it was not aneasy one, nor unopposed. A place of landing on the east side was to besought. The navy failed to silence the Confederate batteries at GrandGulf, twenty miles below Vicksburg, so that a landing could be effectedthere, and the fleet ran past it, as it had run by Vicksburg. Ten milesfarther down the river a landing place was found at Bruinsburg. Bydaylight, on the 1st of May, McClernand's corps and part of McPherson'shad been ferried across, leaving behind all impedimenta, even theofficers' horses, and fighting had already begun in rear of Port Gibson, about eight miles from the landing. The enemy made a desperate stand, but was defeated with heavy loss. Grand Gulf was evacuated that night, and the place became thenceforth a base of operations. Grant haddefeated the enemy's calculation by the celerity with which he hadtransferred a large force. He slept on the ground with his soldiers, without a tent or even an overcoat for covering. 

General Joseph E. Johnston had superseded General Beauregard in commandof all the Confederate forces of the Southwest. His business was tosuccor General Pemberton and drive Grant back into the river. Shermanwith his corps joined Grant on the 8th. Jackson, the capital ofMississippi, a Confederate railroad centre and depot of supplies, wascaptured on the 14th, the defense being made by Johnston himself. ThenPemberton's whole army from Vicksburg, 25, 000 men, was encountered, defeated, and forced to retire into the fortress, after losing nearly5000 men and 18 guns. On the 18th of May Grant's army reached Vicksburgand the actual siege began. 

Since May 1, Grant had won five hard battles, killed and wounded 5200 ofthe enemy, captured 40 field guns, nearly 5000 prisoners, and afortified city, compelled the abandonment of Grand Gulf and Haines'sBluff, with their 20 heavy guns, destroyed all the railroads and bridgesavailable by the enemy, separated their armies, which altogethernumbered 60, 000 men, while his own numbered but 45, 000, and hadcompletely invested Vicksburg. It was an astonishing exhibition ofcourage, energy, and military genius, calculated to confound his criticsand reëstablish him in the confidence of the people. It has been saidthat there is nothing in history since Hannibal invaded Italy that iscomparable with it. 

The incidents of the siege, abounding in difficult and heroic action, including an early unsuccessful assault, must be passed over. Preparations had been made and directions given for a general assault onthe works on the morning of July 5. But on the 3d General Pemberton sentout a flag of truce asking, as Buckner did at Donelson, for theappointment of commissioners to arrange terms of capitulation. Grantdeclined to appoint commissioners or to accept any terms butunconditional surrender, with humane treatment of all prisoners of war. He, however, offered to meet Pemberton himself, who had been at WestPoint and in Mexico with him, and confer regarding details. This meetingwas held, and on the 4th of July Grant took possession of the city. TheConfederates surrendered about 30, 000 men, 172 cannon, and 50, 000 smallarms, besides military stores; but there was little food left. Grant'slosses during the whole campaign were 1415 killed, 7395 wounded, 453missing. When the paroled prisoners were ready to march out, Grantordered the Union soldiers "to be orderly and quiet as these prisonerspass, " and "to make no offensive remarks. "

This great victory was coincident with the repulse of Lee at Gettysburg, and the effect of the two events was a wonderfully inspiriting influenceupon the country. President Lincoln wrote to General Grant acharacteristic letter "as a grateful acknowledgment of the almostinestimable service you have done the country. " In it he said: "I neverhad any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I, thatthe Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could succeed. When you got belowand took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should godown the river and join General Banks [besieging Port Hudson]; and whenyou turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make a personal acknowledgment that you were right and Iwas wrong. "

Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks, to whom Grant sentreinforcements as soon as Vicksburg fell, on the 8th of July, with10, 000 more prisoners and 50 guns. This put the Union forces inpossession of the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf. 

Grant now appeared to the nation as the foremost hero of the war. Thedisparagements and personal scandals so rife a few months before weresilenced and forgotten. He was believed to be invincible. That he neverboasted, never publicly resented criticism, never courted applause, never quarreled with his superiors, but endured, toiled, and fought incalm fidelity, consulting chiefly with himself, never wholly baffled, and always triumphant in the end, had shown the nation a man of a kindthe people had longed for and in whom they proudly rejoiced. The hopesto which Donelson had given birth were confirmed in the hero ofVicksburg, who was straightway made a major-general in the regular army, from which, when a first lieutenant, he had resigned nine years before. 

CHAPTER XI

NEW RESPONSIBILITIES--CHATTANOOGA

Halleck, issuing orders from Washington, proceeded to disperse Grant'sarmy hither and yon as he thought fractions of it to be needed. Grantwanted to move on Mobile from Lake Pontchartrain, but was not permittedto do it. Having gone to New Orleans in obedience to a necessity ofconference with General Banks, he suffered a severe injury by the fallof a fractious horse, as he was returning from a review of Banks's army. For a long time he was unconscious. As soon as he could be moved he wastaken on a bed to a steamer. For several days after reaching Vicksburghe was unable to leave his bed. Meantime he was repeatedly called uponto send reinforcements to Rosecrans, in Chattanooga, to which place thelatter had retreated after the repulse of his army at Chickamauga, September 19 and 20. On October 3, Grant was directed to go to Cairo andreport by telegraph to the Secretary of War as soon as he was able totake the field. He started on the same day, ill as he still was. Onarriving in Cairo he was ordered to proceed to Louisville. He was met atIndianapolis by Secretary Stanton, whom he had never before seen, andthey proceeded together. 

On the train Secretary Stanton handed him two orders, telling him totake his choice of them. Both created the military division of theMississippi, including all the territory between the Alleghanies and theMississippi River, north of General Banks's department, and assigningcommand of it to Grant. One order left the commanders of the threedepartments, the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee, as they were, the other relieved General Rosecrans, commanding the Army of theCumberland, and assigned Gen. George H. Thomas to his place. GeneralGrant accepted the latter. This consolidation was a late compliancewith his earnest, unselfish counsel given before the Vicksburg campaign. Its wisdom had become apparent. 

The centre of interest and anxiety now was Chattanooga, in EastTennessee, near the border of Georgia. The Confederates had beenstriving to retrieve the ground lost, since the fall of Fort Henry, bypushing northward in this direction. Halleck's dispersion of forces hadsent Buell to this section, and Buell had been superseded by Rosecrans, a zealous and patriotic but unfortunate commander. The repulse atChickamauga might have proved disastrous to his army but for thesplendid behavior of the division under General Thomas, an officer notunlike Grant in the mould of his military talent, who there earned thesobriquet, "The Rock of Chickamauga. "

The army of Rosecrans had been gathered again at Chattanooga, where itwas confronted by Bragg, whose force surrounded it in an irregularsemicircle from the Tennessee River to the river again, occupyingMissionary Ridge on one flank and Lookout Mountain on the other, withits centre where these two ridges come nearly together. Chattanooga wasin the valley between, near the centre of which, behind the town, was anelevation, Orchard Knob, held by the enemy. Bragg commanded the riverand the railroads. The route for supplies was circuitous, inadequate, and insecure, over mountain roads that had become horrible. Horses andmules had perished by thousands. The soldiers were on half rations. Wordcame to Grant in Louisville, that Rosecrans was contemplating a retreat. He at once issued an order assuming his new command, notified Rosecransthat he was relieved, and instructed Thomas to hold the place at allhazards until he reached the front. 

Still so lame that he could not walk without crutches, and had to becarried in arms over places where it was not safe to go on horseback, heleft Louisville on the 21st of October, and reached Chattanooga on theevening of the 23d. Then began a work of masterly activity andpreparation, in which his genius again asserted its supreme quality. Sherman with his army was ordered to join Grant. In five days the riverroad to Bridgeport was opened, the enemy being driven from the banks, two bridges were built, and Hooker's army added to his force. The enemy, having a much superior force, and assuming the surrender of the Army ofthe Cumberland to be only a question of time and famine, sent Longstreetwith 15, 000 men to reinforce the army of Johnston, holding Burnside inKnoxville, to the relief of whom the enemy supposed Sherman to bemarching. Grant waited for Sherman, who was coming on between Longstreetand Bragg. All general orders for the battle were prepared in advance, except their dates. Sherman reached Chattanooga on the evening of the15th, and with Grant inspected the field on the 16th. Sherman's army, holding the left, was to cross to the south side of the river and assailMissionary Ridge. Hooker, on the right, was to press through fromLookout valley into Chattanooga valley. Thomas, in the centre, was topress forward through the valley and strike the enemy's centre whilehis wings were thus fully engaged, or as soon as Hooker's support wasavailable. 

The battle began on the afternoon of October 23. Orchard Knob, in thecentre of the great amphitheatre, was attacked and captured, and becamethe Union headquarters. On the 24th Sherman crossed the river andestablished his army, on the north end of Missionary Ridge. On themorning of the same day Hooker assailed Lookout Mountain, and after along climbing fight, lasting far into the night, secured his position;and the enemy, who had occupied the mountain, retreated across thevalley at its upper end to Missionary Ridge. Grant's forces were now intouch from right to left. Everything so far had gone well. 

Early on the next morning Sherman opened the attack. The ridge in hisfront was exceedingly favorable for defense, and during the whole nightthe enemy had been at work strengthening the position. Sherman's firstassault failed, but he continued pressing the enemy with resolution, although making little progress. From Grant's place on Orchard Knob hewatched the struggle. At three o'clock he saw Sherman's right repulsed. Then he gave to Thomas, standing at his side, the order to advance. Sixguns were fired as a signal, and the Army of the Cumberland movedforward in splendid array to avenge Chickamauga. The immediate purposewas to carry the rebel rifle pits at the foot of the Ridge. This done, the soldiers were subjected to a galling fire from the line 800 feetabove them. As by inspiration, they rushed on, climbing as they could, by aid of rocks and bushes, and using their guns as staves. They reachedthe crest and swept it in a mighty fury. It was the decisive action. Allthe columns now converged on the distracted foe who fled before them. Grant galloped to the front with all speed, urging on the pursuit andexposing himself to every hazard of the fight. 

So Chattanooga was added to Grant's lengthening score of brilliantvictories; and again, as at Donelson and at Vicksburg, he had been theinstrument of relieving a tense oppression of anxiety that had settledupon the nation. Sherman, with two corps, was at once sent to the reliefof Knoxville; but Longstreet, having heard of Bragg's defeat, made anunsuccessful assault and retreated into Virginia. By the administrationin Washington, and by the people of the North, General Grant'spreëminence was conceded. His star shone brightest of all. Congressvoted a gold medal for him. 

CHAPTER XII

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL, COMMANDER OF ALL THE ARMIES

During the winter, after the Chattanooga victory, General Grant made hisheadquarters at Nashville, and devoted himself to acquiring an intimateknowledge of the condition of the large region now under his command, tothe reorganization of his own lines of transportation, and thedestruction of those of the enemy. He made a perilous journey toKnoxville in the dead of winter, and a brief trip to St. Louis, onaccount of the dangerous illness of his son there. On this trip he worecitizen's clothes, traveled as quietly as possible, declined all publichonors, and made no delays. The whole route might have been a continuousenthusiastic ovation; but he would not have it so. His work was notdone, and he sternly discountenanced all premature glorification. Toomany generals had fallen from a high estate in the popular judgment, forhim to court a similar fate. The promotions that gave him greateropportunity of service he accepted; but he preferred to keep his capitalof popularity, whatever it might be, on deposit and accumulating whilehe stuck to his unaccomplished task, instead of drawing upon it as hewent along for purposes of vanity and display. Of vulgar vanity he hadas little as any soldier in the army. 

Nashville was the base of supplies for all the operations in hismilitary division. Its lines of transportation had been worn out andbroken down, largely through incompetent management. He put them incharge of new men, who reconstructed and equipped them. While engaged inthis necessary work he dispatched Sherman on an expedition throughMississippi, which he hoped would reach Mobile; but it terminated atMeriden, through failure of a cavalry force to join it. But it did awork in destruction of railroads and railroad property, that inflictedimmense damage on the Confederacy. Throughout the winter Grant workedas if his reputation was yet to be made, and to be made in that militarydivision. 

Meanwhile Congress and the country were pondering his deserts, and hisability for still greater responsibilities. The result of thisdeliberation was the passage of the act, approved March 1, 1864, reëstablishing the grade of lieutenant-general in the regular army. Thenext day President Lincoln nominated General Grant to the rank, and thenomination was promptly confirmed. He was ordered to Washington toreceive the supreme commission. It was his first visit to the nationalcapital; his first personal introduction to the President, although hehad heard him make a speech many years before; his first meeting withthe leading men in civil official life, who were sustaining the armiesand guiding the nation in its imperiled way. He came crowned with theglory of victories second in magnitude and significance to none, sinceWellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Everybody desired to see him, and to honor him. 

Yet he journeyed to Washington as simply and quietly as possible, avoiding demonstration. He arrived on the 8th of March, and going to ahotel waited, unrecognized, until the throng of travelers hadregistered, and then wrote, simply, "U. S. Grant and son, Galena. " Thenext day, at 1 o'clock, he was received by President Lincoln in thecabinet-room of the White House. There were present, by the President'sinvitation, the members of the cabinet, General Halleck, and a few otherdistinguished men. After introductions the President addressed him asfollows:--

"GENERAL GRANT, --The expression of the nation's approbation of what youhave already done, and its reliance on you for what remains to be donein the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant-general in the army of the United States. With the high honor, devolves on you an additional responsibility. Asthe country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. Iscarcely need to add, that with what I here speak for the nation goesmy own hearty personal concurrence. "

General Grant made the following reply:--

"MR. PRESIDENT, --I accept the commission with gratitude for the highhonor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on somany battlefields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavornot to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of theresponsibilities now devolving upon me; and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies; and, above all, to the favor of thatProvidence which leads both nations and men. "

The next day he was assigned to the command of all the armies, withheadquarters in the field. He made a hurried trip to Culpeper CourtHouse for a conference with General Meade, commanding the Army of thePotomac; but would not linger in Washington to be praised and fêted. Hehastened back to Nashville, where, on the 17th, he issued an orderassuming command of the armies of the United States, announcing thatuntil further notice, his headquarters would be with the Army of thePotomac. General Halleck was relieved from duty as general-in-chief; butwas assigned by Grant to duty in Washington, as chief-of-staff of thearmy. Sherman was assigned to command the military division of theMississippi, which was enlarged, and McPherson took Sherman's place ascommander of the Army of the Tennessee; Thomas remaining in command ofthe Army of the Cumberland. On the 23d Grant was again in Washington, accompanied by his family and his personal staff. On the next day hetook actual command, and immediately reorganized the Army of the Potomacin three corps, --the Second, Fifth, and Sixth, --commanded byMajor-Generals Hancock, Warren, and Sedgwick; Major-General Meaderetaining the supreme command. The cavalry was consolidated into a corpsunder Sheridan. Burnside commanded the Ninth Corps, which for a brieftime acted independently. 

This crisis of Grant's life should not be passed over without allusionto the remarkable letters that passed between Grant and Sherman beforehe left Nashville to receive his new commission. Grant wrote to Shermanas follows:--

"Whilst I have been eminently successful in this war, in at leastgaining the confidence of the public, no one feels more than I do howmuch of this success is due to the energy, skill, and the harmoniousputting forth of that energy and skill, of those whom it has been mygood fortune to have occupying subordinate positions under me. There aremany officers to whom these remarks are applicable to a greater or lessdegree, proportionate to their ability as soldiers; but what I want isto express my thanks to you and McPherson as the men to whom, above allothers, I feel indebted for whatever I have had of success. How far youradvice and assistance have been of help to me, you know; how far yourexecution of whatever has been given you to do entitles you to thereward I am receiving you cannot know as well as I. I feel all thegratitude this letter would express, giving it the most flatteringconstruction. "

Grant's modesty, generosity, and magnanimity shine in thisacknowledgment. If there were no other record illustrating thesequalities, this alone would be an irrefragable testimony to hispossession of them. There can be no appeal from its transparent, cordialsincerity. 

Sherman's reply is too long to be quoted fully, but the parts of it thatreveal his estimate of Grant's qualities and his confidence in him areimportant with reference to the purpose of this sketch:--

"You do yourself injustice and us too much honor in assigning to us toolarge a share of the merits which have led to your high advancement. . . . You are now Washington's legitimate successor, and occupy a position ofalmost dangerous elevation; but if you can continue, as heretofore, tobe yourself, simple, honest, and unpretending, you will enjoy throughlife the respect and love of friends, and the homage of millions ofhuman beings that will award you a large share in securing to them andtheir descendants a government of law and stability. . . . I believe youare as brave, patriotic, and just as the great prototype, Washington, asunselfish, kind-hearted, and honest as a man should be; but the chiefcharacteristic is the simple faith in success you have alwaysmanifested, which I can liken to nothing else than the faith theChristian has in his Saviour. This faith gave you victory at Shiloh andVicksburg. Also, when you have completed your preparations, you go intobattle without hesitation, as at Chattanooga, --no doubts, noanswers, --and I tell you it was this that made us act with confidence. Iknew, wherever I was, that you thought of me; and if I got in a tightplace you would help me out if alive. "

He besought Grant not to stay in Washington, but to come back to theMississippi Valley, "the seat of coming empire, and from the West where[when?] our task is done, we will make short work of Charleston andRichmond and the impoverished coast of the Atlantic. " But Grant waswiser. He felt that the duty to which his new commission called him wasto try conclusions with General Lee, the most illustrious and successfulof the Confederate commanders, whom he had not yet encountered andvanquished. His new rank gave him an authority and prestige which wouldenable him, he trusted, to overcome the discouragements and discontentsof the noble Army of the Potomac, and wield its unified force withvictorious might. He knew, moreover, that the government and the peopletrusted him and would sustain him, as they trusted and would sustain noother, in a fresh and final attempt to destroy the Army of NorthernVirginia, upon which the hopes of the Confederacy were staked. Not somuch ambition as duty determined him to make his headquarters with theArmy of the Potomac. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE WILDERNESS AND SPOTTSYLVANIA

Wherever Grant had control in the West, and in all his counsels, hisdistinct purpose was to mass the Union forces and not scatter them, andto get at the enemy. With what ideas and intention he began the new taskhe set forth definitely in his report made in July, 1865. 

"From an early period in the rebellion, I had been impressed with theidea that the active and continuous operations of all the troops thatcould be brought into the field, regardless of season and weather, werenecessary to a speedy termination of the war. . . . I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest number of troops practicable against thearmed force of the enemy, preventing him from using the same force atdifferent seasons against first one and then another of our armies, andthe possibility of repose for refitting and producing necessarysupplies for carrying on resistance; second, to hammer continuouslyagainst the armed force of the enemy and his resources, until by mereattrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him butan equal submission with the loyal sections of our common country to theConstitution and laws of the land. "

Grant instructed General Butler, who had a large army at FortressMonroe, to make Richmond his objective point. He instructed GeneralMeade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, that Lee's army "would be hisobjective point, and wherever Lee went he would go also. " He hoped todefeat and capture Lee, or to drive him back on Richmond, followingclose and establishing a connection with Butler's army there, if Butlerhad succeeded in advancing so far. Sherman was to move againstJohnston's army, and Sigel, with a strong force, was to protect WestVirginia and Pennsylvania from incursions. This, with plans for keepingall the other armies of the Confederacy so occupied that Lee could notdraw from them, constituted the grand strategy of the campaign. 

The theatre of operations of the Army of the Potomac was a region ofcountry lying west of a nearly north-and-south line passing throughRichmond and Washington. It was about 120 miles long, from the Potomacon the north to the James on the south, and from 30 to 60 miles wide, intersected by several rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay. Theheadquarters of the Union army were at Culpeper Court House, about 70miles southwest of Washington, with which it was connected by railroad. This was the starting point. Lee's army was about fifteen miles away, with the Rapidan, a river difficult of passage, in front of it, thefoothills of the Blue Ridge on its left, and on its right a denselywooded tract of scrub pines and various low growths, almost pathless, known as "the Wilderness. "

Two courses were open to Grant, --to march by the right, cross the upperfords, and attack Lee on his left flank, or march by the left, crossingthe lower fords, and making into the Wilderness. Grant chose the latterway, as, on the whole, most favorable to keeping open communications. For General Grant, as commander of all the armies, was bound to avoidbeing shut up or leaving Washington imperiled. And it may properly besaid here that his plan contemplated leaving General Meade free in histactics, giving him only general directions regarding what he desired tohave accomplished, the actual fighting to be done under Meade's orders. 

The official reports to the Adjutant-General's office in Washington showthat on the 20th of April the Army of the Potomac numbered 81, 864 menpresent and fit for duty. Burnside's corps, which joined in theWilderness, added to this force 19, 250 men, making a total of 101, 114men. After the Wilderness, a division numbering 7000 or 8000 men underGeneral Tyler joined it. When the Chickahominy was reached, a junctionwith Butler's army, 25, 000 strong, was made. Lee had on the 20th ofApril present for duty, armed and equipped, 53, 891. A few days later hewas reinforced by Longstreet's corps, which on the date given numbered18, 387, making a total of 72, 278. Grant's army outnumbered Lee's, but hewas to make an offensive campaign in the enemy's country, operating onexterior lines, and keeping long lines of communication open. DefendingRichmond and Petersburg there were other Confederate forces, underBeauregard, Hill, and Hoke, estimated to amount to nearly 30, 000 men, and Breckenridge commanded still another army in the Shenandoah Valley. In Grant's command, but not of the Army of the Potomac, were thegarrison of Washington and the force in West Virginia. 

On the 3d of May the order to move was given, and at midnight the startwas made. The advance guard crossed the river before four in the morningof the 4th, and on the morning of the 5th Grant's army, nearly a hundredthousand strong, was disposed in the Wilderness. Lee had discovered themovement promptly, and had moved his whole army to the right, determined to fall upon Grant in that unfavorable place. As soon as theUnion army began a movement in the morning, it encountered the enemy, who attacked with tremendous and confident vigor. The fighting continuedall day, with indecisive results. Early the next morning the battle wasrenewed, and continued with varying fortunes, at one time one army, andat another time the opposing army, having the advantage. There was, infact, a series of desperate battles between different portions of thetwo armies which did not end until the night was far advanced. Theadvantage, on the whole, was with the Union army. It had not been forcedback over the Rapidan. It stood fast. But it had inflicted no suchdefeat on the enemy as Grant had hoped to do in the first encounter. Thelosses of both sides had been very large, those of the Union Army being3288 killed, 19, 278 wounded, 6784 missing. 

The next morning it was discovered that the Confederates had retired totheir intrenchments, and were not seeking battle. Then Grant gave theorder that was decisive, and revealed to the Army of the Potomac that ithad a new spirit over it. The order was, "Forward to Spottsylvania!" Nomore turning back, no more resting on a doubtful result. "Forward!" tothe finish. But Lee, controlling shorter lines, was at Spottsylvaniabeforehand, and had seized the roads and fortified himself. Here againwas bloody fighting of a most determined character, lasting severaldays. Here Hancock, by a daring assault, captured an angle of theenemy's works, with a large number of guns and prisoners; and it washeld, despite the repeated endeavors of the enemy to recapture it. HereGeneral Sedgwick was killed. Here Upton made a famous assault on theenemy's line and broke through it, want of timely and vigorous supportpreventing this exploit from making an end of Lee's army then and there. But the Union losses at Spottsylvania, while not so large as in theWilderness, were very heavy, and made a painful impression upon thepeople of the North. 

Undoubtedly Grant was disappointed by the failure to vanquish hisopponent. Undoubtedly Lee was disappointed by his failure to repulse theUnion army in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania as he had doneformerly at Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, when it had come intothe same territory. Each had underestimated the other's quality. FromSpottsylvania, on the 11th of May, after six days of continuousfighting, with an advance of scarcely a dozen miles, and an experienceof checks and losses that would have disheartened any one but the heroof Vicksburg, he sent this bulletin to the War Department: "We have nowended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result to this time ismuch in our favor. But our losses have been heavy, as well as those ofthe enemy. We have lost to this time 11 general officers killed, wounded, and missing, and probably 20, 000 men. . . . I am now sending backto Belle Plain all my wagons for a fresh supply of provisions andammunition, and propose to fight it out on this line if it takes allsummer. "

The indomitable spirit of the last sentence electrified the country. Itdid take all summer, and all winter, too, --eleven full months from thedate of this dispatch, and more, before General Lee, driven intoRichmond, forced to evacuate the doomed city, his escape into the Southcut off, his soldiers exhausted, ragged, starving, reinforcements out ofthe question, surrendered at Appomattox the Army of Northern Virginia, the reliance of the Confederacy, to the general whom he expected todefeat by his furious assault in the Wilderness. 

CHAPTER XIV

FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO RICHMOND

The story of this campaign is too long to be narrated in particular. Onboth sides it is a record of magnificent valor, endurance, andresolution, to which the world affords no parallel, when it isremembered that the armies were recruited from the free citizenship ofthe nation. As the weeks and months wore on, General's Grant's visage, it is said, settled into an unrelaxing expression of grim resolve. Hecarried the nation on his shoulders in those days. If he had wearied oryielded, hope might have vanished. He did not yield nor faint. Heplanned and toiled and fought, keeping his own counsel, bearingpatiently the disappointment, the misunderstanding, the doubt, thecriticism, the woe of millions who had no other hope but in his successand were often on the verge of despair. He beheld his plans defeated bythe incompetence or errors of subordinates whom he trusted, and let theblame be laid upon himself without protest or murmuring. He knew betterthan any one else the terrible cost of life which his unrelentingpurpose demanded; but he knew also that the price of relenting, involving the discouragement of failure, the cost of another campaignafter the enemy had got breath and new equipment, the possible refusalof the North to try again, was far greater and more humiliating. Littlewonder that he was oppressed and silent and moody. Yet he ruled his ownspirit in accordance with the habit of his life. No folly ordisappointment provoked him to utter an oath. General Horace Porter, ofhis staff, a member of his intimate military family, says that thestrongest expression of vexation that ever escaped his lips was:"Confound it!" He alone had the genius to be master of the situation atall times, and the "simple faith in success" that would not let him beswerved from his aim. 

So he pressed on from the Wilderness to Spottsylvania, to North Anna, to South Anna, to the Pamunky, to Cold Harbor, to the Chickahominy, fighting and flanking all the way, until at the end of the month he hadpressed Lee back to the immediate vicinity of Richmond. The bloodiest ofall these battles was the ill-judged attack, for which Grant has beenmuch criticised, on the strongly intrenched rebel lines at Cold Harbor. If he could have dislodged Lee here he could have compelled him toretreat into the immediate fortifications of Richmond. But Lee'sposition was impregnable: the assault failed. In less than an hour Grantlost 13, 000 men killed, wounded, and missing, and gained nothingsubstantial. 

General Butler had signally failed to accomplish the work given him todo. Instead of taking Petersburg, destroying the railroads connectingRichmond with the south, and laying siege to that city, he had, aftersome ineffectual manoeuvring, got his army hemmed in, "bottled up, "Grant called it, at Bermuda Hundred, where he was almost completely outof the offensive movement for months. Sigel had been worsted in theNorth, and had been relieved by Hunter, who had won measurable successin the Shenandoah Valley. 

Grant, checked on the east and north of Richmond, crossed theChickahominy and the James with his whole army by a series of masterlymanoeuvres, regarding the meaning of which his opponent was brilliantlydeceived. Then followed the unsuccessful attempt to capture Petersburgbefore it could be reinforced, unsuccessful by reason of the want ofpersistence on the part of the general intrusted with the duty. Thisfailure involved a long siege of that place, which the Confederates madeimpregnable to assault. A breach in the defences was made by theexplosion of a mine constructed with vast labor, but there was failureto follow up the advantage with sufficient promptness. Here the Army ofthe Potomac passed the winter, except the part of the army that wasdetached to protect Washington from threatened attack, and with whichSheridan made his great fame in the Shenandoah Valley. MeanwhileSherman, in the West, had taken Atlanta, and leaving Hood's army to betaken care of by Thomas, who defeated it at Nashville, had marchedacross Georgia, and was making his way through the Carolinas northwardtoward Richmond, an army under Johnston disputing his way by annoyance, impediment, and occasional battle. Another incident of the winter wasthe two attempts on Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina, --thefirst, under General Butler, a failure; the second, under General Terry, a brilliant success. All these movements were in execution of plans anddirections given by the lieutenant-general. 

It was the 29th of March when, all preparations having been made, Grantbegan the final movement. He threw a large part of his army into theregion west of Petersburg and south of Richmond, and at Five Forks, fourdays later, Sheridan fought a brilliant and decisive battle, whichcompelled Lee to abandon both Petersburg and Richmond, and to attempt tosave his army by running away and joining Johnston. All his movementswere baffled by the eager Union generals, flushed with the consciousnessthat the end was near. 

On the 7th of April Grant wrote to Lee: "I regard it as my duty to shiftfrom myself responsibility for any further effusion of human blood byasking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate Statesarmy, known as the Army of Northern Virginia. " Lee replied at once, asking the terms that would be offered on condition of surrender. Hisletter reached Grant on the 8th, who replied: "_Peace_ being my greatdesire, there is but one condition I would insist upon, namely: that themen and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up armsagain against the government of the United States until properlyexchanged. " He offered to meet Lee or any officers deputed by him forarranging definite terms. Lee replied the same evening somewhatevasively, setting forth that he desired to treat for peace, and thatthe surrender of his army would be considered as a means to that end. 

To this Grant responded on the 9th, having set his army in motion toAppomattox Court House, that he had no authority to treat for peace; butadded some plain words to the effect that the shortest road to peacewould be surrender. Lee immediately asked for an interview. Grantreceived this communication while on the road, and returned word that hewould push on and meet him wherever he might designate. When Grantarrived at the village of Appomattox Court House he was directed to asmall house where Lee awaited him. Within a short time the conditionswere drafted by Grant and accepted by Lee, who was grateful that theofficers were permitted to keep their side-arms, and officers and men toretain the horses which they owned and their private baggage. 

The number of men surrendered at Appomattox was 27, 416. During the tendays' previous fighting 22, 079 of Lee's army had been captured, andabout 12, 000 killed and wounded. It is estimated that as many as 12, 000deserted on the road to Appomattox. From May 1, 1864, to April 9, 1865, the Armies of the Potomac and the James took 66, 512 prisoners andcaptured 245 flags, 251 guns, and 22, 633 stands of small arms. Theirlosses from the Wilderness to Appomattox were 12, 561 killed, 64, 452wounded, and 26, 988 missing, an aggregate of 104, 001. 

It would be idle adulation to say that in all points during this longconflict with Lee General Grant always did the best thing, making nomistakes. The essential point is, and it suffices to establish, hismilitary fame on secure foundations, that he made no fatal mistake, thatprogress toward the great result in view was constant, slower than heexpected, slower than the country expected, but finally everywherevictorious, substantially on the lines contemplated in the beginning. After Lee's experience in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania he seldomassumed the offensive against Grant. He became prudent, adopted adefensive policy, fought behind intrenchments or just in front offortifications to which he could retire for safety, and waited to beattacked. Watchful and alert as he was, he was deceived by Grantoftener than he deceived him, and except that he managed to postpone theend by skillful tactics, he did not challenge the military superiorityof his foe. He made Grant's victory costly and difficult, but he did notprevent it. He retreated with desperate reluctance, but he was forcedback. He could not protect his capital; he could not save his army. WhenLee measured powers with Grant, his cause was lost. 

There are incidents of the campaign that mitigate its stern and in somesense savage features. When the imperturbable soldier learned of thedeath of his dear friend McPherson, who fell in one of Sherman'sbattles, he retired to his tent and wept bitterly. When Lincoln, visiting Grant at City Point, before the general departed on what wasexpected to be the last stage of the campaign, said to him that he hadexpected he would order Sherman's army to reinforce the Army of thePotomac for the final struggle, the reply was that the Army of thePotomac had fought the Army of Virginia through four long years, and itwould not be just to require it to share the honors of victory with anyother army. It was observed that when he bade good-by to his wife atthis departure his adieus, always affectionate, were especially tenderand lingering, as if presentiment of a crisis in his life oppressed him. Lincoln accompanied him to the train. "The President, " said Grant, afterthey had parted, "is one of the few who have not attempted to extractfrom me a knowledge of my movements, although he is the only one who hasa right to know them. " Long before, Lincoln had written to him: "Theparticulars of your campaign I neither know nor seek to know. I wish notto intrude any restraints or constraints upon you. " Grant's reply tothis confidence was: "Should my success be less than I desire or expect, the least I can say is, the fault is not yours. " These two understoodeach other by a magnanimous sympathy that had no need of particularconfidences. That Lincoln respected Grant as one whom it was notbecoming for him to presume to question is in itself impressive evidenceof Grant's greatness. 

CHAPTER XV

IN WASHINGTON AMONG POLITICIANS

Within a few weeks after the surrender of Lee, every army and fragmentof an army opposed to the Union was dissolved. But meantime Lincoln hadbeen assassinated, and the executive administration of the nation haddevolved upon Andrew Johnson. This wrought an immense change in theaspect of national affairs. Lincoln was a strong, wise, conservative, magnanimous soul. Johnson was arrogant, vain, narrow, and contentious. Grant soon established his headquarters at the War Department, anddevoted himself with characteristic energy to the work of dischargingfrom the military service the great armies of volunteers no longerneeded. Their work as soldiers was gloriously complete. Within a fewmonths they were once more simple citizens of the Republic, followingthe ways of industry and peace. The suddenness of the transformation bywhich at the outbreak of hostilities hundreds of thousands of citizensleft their homes and their occupations of peace to become willingsoldiers of the Union and liberty, was paralleled by the alacrity oftheir return, the moment the danger was passed, to the stations and themanner of life they had abandoned. 

General Grant was the central figure in the national rejoicing andpride. The desire to do him honor was universal. But he bore himselfthrough all with dignity and modesty, avoiding as much as he could, without seeming inappreciation and disdain, the lavish popular applausethat greeted him on every possible occasion. In July, 1866, Congresscreated the grade of general, to which he was at once promoted, thusattaining a rank never before granted to a soldier of the United States. His great lieutenant, Sherman, succeeded him in this office, which wasthen permitted to lapse, though it was revived later as a special honorfor General Sheridan. In further token of gratitude, some of thewealthier citizens purchased and presented to Grant a house inWashington. Resolutions of gratitude, honorary degrees, presents ofvalue and significance, came to him in abundance. Through it all, hemaintained his reputation as a man of few words, devoid of ostentation, and with no ambition to court public favor by any act of demagoguism. 

But a great and bitter trial confronted him. He had never been apolitician. Now he was caught in a maelstrom of ungenerous and malignantpolitics. All his influence and effort had been addressed to promote thecalming of the passions of the war, and a reunion in fact as well as inform. The President, professing an intention of carrying out the policyof his predecessor, began a method of reconstructing civil governmentsin the States that had seceded which produced great dissatisfaction. Upon his own initiative, without authority of Congress, he proceeded toencourage and abet those who were lately in arms against the Union tomake new constitutions for their States, and institute civilgovernments therein, as if they alone were to be considered. Thefreedmen, who had been of so great service to our armies, whom by everyrequirement of honor and gratitude we were bound to protect, were leftto the hardly restricted guardianship of their former masters, who, having no faith in their manhood or their development, devised for thema condition with few rights or hopes, and little removed from theslavery out of which they had been delivered. 

This policy found little favor with those in the North who had borne theheat and burden of the war. In the elections of 1866 the peoplerepudiated President Johnson's policy by emphatic majorities. When thehostile Congress met, the governments Johnson had instituted weredeclared to be provisional only, and it set about the work ofreconstruction in its own way, imbedding the changed conditions, thefruits of the war, in proposed amendments of the Constitution of theUnited States, which were ultimately ratified by a sufficient number ofStates to make them part of the organic frame of government of theRepublic. 

In these days of storm and stress, General Grant took neither side as apartisan. He stuck to his professional work until he was forced to be aparticipator in a political war, strange to his knowledge and hishabits. Congress directed the Southern States to be divided into fivemilitary districts, with a military commander of each, and allsubordinate to the general of the army, who was charged with keeping thepeace, until civil governments in the States should be established bythe legislative department of national authority. 

Congress, before adjourning in 1866, passed a tenure-of-officeact, --overriding in this, as in other legislation, the President's veto. The motive was to prevent the President from using the patronage tostrengthen his policy. This act required the President to make report tothe Senate of all removals during the recess, with his reasons therefor. All appointments to vacancies so created were to be _ad interim_appointments. If the Senate disapproved of the removals, the officersuspended at once became again the incumbent. Severe penalties wereprovided for infraction of the law. During the recess the Presidentremoved Stanton, and appointed General Grant to be Secretary of War. Grant did not desire the office, but under advice accepted it, lest aworse thing for the country might happen. 

Johnson hoped to win Grant to his side, and in any event to use him inhis strife with Congress to defeat the purpose of the law. While theSenate had Stanton's case under consideration in January, 1867, Grantwas called into a cabinet meeting and questioned regarding what he woulddo. He said that he was not familiar with the law, but would examine itand notify the President. The next day he notified him that he wouldobey the law. Therefore, when the Senate disapproved of the reasonsassigned for the removal of Stanton, Grant at once vacated the office, to the intense mortification and anger of the President, who made apublic accusation that Grant had promised to stay in office and opposeStanton's resumption of it. 

The charge made a great scandal, but it did not seriously impairGrant's good repute. Johnson was not believed, and the testimony of themembers of his cabinet, regarding what happened, was so conflicting thatit failed to convince anybody who did not seek to be convinced. 

There is reason to believe that Johnson never contemplated retainingGrant in the office, except to use his name and fame to break down thetenure-of-office act. General Grant's plain common sense delivered himfrom the snare spread for him by wily and desperate politicians. OnFebruary 3, he closed an unsatisfactory correspondence with PresidentJohnson, with these severe words: "I can but regard this whole business, from the beginning to the end, as an attempt to involve me in theresistance of law, for which you hesitated to assume the responsibilityin orders, and thus to destroy my character before the country. I am, ina measure, confirmed in this conclusion by your recent order, directingme to disobey orders from the Secretary of War, my superior and yoursubordinate, without having countermanded his authority to issue theorders I am to disobey. "

When Johnson was impeached by the House of representatives, GeneralGrant might, if he had chosen to do so, have contributed much toembarrass the President; but he held aloof, discharging his duties asgeneral-in-chief with constant devotion. He was instrumental ininstituting many economies and improvements of army management. Hegreatly advanced the work of reconstruction, and civil governments werefirmly established on the congressional plan in a majority of theSouthern States before he became the chosen leader of the Republicanparty. 

Grant had not yet distinctly committed himself as between the Democraticand the Republican parties, although from the time of his break withJohnson, he was more drawn to the Republicans. So far as he had anypolitics he might have been classed as a War Democrat. Had he definitelyproclaimed himself a Democrat, no doubt he could have had that party'snomination for the presidency. He was the first citizen of the nation inpopularity, of which he had marked tokens, and of which both partieswere anxious to avail themselves. It is little wonder that he came tothink that the presidency was an honor to which he might fitly aspire, and an office in which he could further serve his country, by promotinggood feeling between the sections. In May, 1868, he was placed innomination, first by a convention of Union soldiers and sailors, andafterwards by the Republican party, in both instances by acclamation. His Democratic opponent was Horatio Seymour, of New York. In theelection he had a popular majority of 305, 456. He received 214 electoralvotes, and Seymour received 80. Three of the Southern States, not beingfully restored to the Union, had no voice in the election. 

CHAPTER XVI

HIS FIRST ADMINISTRATION

Immediately after General Grant's inauguration as President, an incidentoccurred which revealed his inexperience in statesmanship. Among thenames sent to the Senate as members of the cabinet was that of AlexanderT. Stewart, of New York, the leading merchant of the country, forSecretary of the Treasury. Grant was unaware of the existence of hisdisqualification by a statute passed in 1789, on account of beingengaged in trade and commerce. His ignorance is hardly surprising inview of the fact that the Senate confirmed the nomination withoutdiscovering its illegality. The point was soon made, however, and thereasonableness of the law was apparent to all except the President, whosent a message to the Senate suggesting that Mr. Stewart be exemptedfrom its application to him by a joint resolution of Congress. Thisbreaking down of a sound principle of government for the pleasure of thePresident was not favored, and George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts wassubstituted, Mr. Stewart having declined, in order to relieve thePresident of embarrassment. 

For the rest, the cabinet was a peculiar one. It appeared to be made upwithout consultation or political sagacity, in accordance with thepersonal reasons by which a general selects his staff. Elihu B. Washburn, of Illinois, his firm congressional friend during the war, wasSecretary of State; General Jacob D. Cox, of Ohio, Secretary of theInterior; Adolph E. Boise, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Navy;General John M. Schofield, of Illinois, Secretary of War; John A. J. Cresswell, of Maryland, Postmaster-General; and E. Rockwood Hoar, ofMassachusetts, Attorney-General. It did not long endure in this form. Mr. Washburn was soon appointed Minister to France, and was succeeded byHamilton Fish, of New York, in the State Department. General Schofieldwas succeeded in the War Department by General John A. Rawlins, who diedin September, and was succeeded by General William W. Belknap, of Iowa. Mr. Boise gave way in June to George M. Robeson, of New Jersey. In July, 1870, Mr. Hoar was succeeded by A. T. Akerman, of Georgia, and he, inDecember, 1871, by George H. Williams, of Oregon. General Cox resignedin November, 1870, and was succeeded by Columbus Delano. Some of thesechanges, like that of Washburn to Fish, were good ones, and many of themwere exceedingly bad ones, --men of high character and ability, likeJudge Hoar and General Cox, conscientious and faithful even to the pointof remonstrance with their headstrong chief, being succeeded bycompliant men of a distinctly lower strain. Fish and Boutwell achievedhigh reputation by their conduct of their offices. The death of Rawlinsdeprived the President of a wise and staunch personal friend at a timewhen he was never more in need of his controlling influence. 

Early in 1871 the work of reconstruction was completed, so far as theestablishment of State governments and representation in Congress wasconcerned. But later in the year, the outrages upon the coloredpopulation in certain States were so general and cruel that Congresspassed what became known as the "Ku-Klux Act, " which was followed by apresidential proclamation exhorting to obedience of the law. On October17, the outrages continuing, suspension of the writ of habeas corpus wasproclaimed in certain counties of South Carolina, and many offenderswere convicted in the United States courts. This severe proceeding had adeterring influence throughout the South, which understood quite wellthat General Grant was not a person to be defied with impunity. 

In 1870 he sent to the Senate a treaty that the administration hadnegotiated with President Baez for the annexation of Santo Domingo as aterritory of the United States, and also one for leasing to the UnitedStates the peninsula and bay of Samana. These treaties, it was said, had already been ratified by a popular vote early in 1870. The schemeprecipitated a conflict that divided the Republican party intoadministration and anti-administration factions, the latter being led byCharles Sumner and Carl Schurz. Sumner had long been chairman of theSenate committee on foreign relations, but he was degraded through theinfluence of the President's friends in the Senate. Bitter personalanimosities were aroused in this contest which never were healed. It wasalleged that the sentiment of the people of Santo Domingo had not beenfairly taken, and that they were in fact opposed to annexation. Acommission composed of B. F. Wade, of Ohio, Andrew D. White, of NewYork, and Samuel G. Howe, of Massachusetts, was sent on a naval vesselto investigate the actual conditions. This committee reported in favorof annexation; but the hostile sentiment in Congress and among thepeople was so strong that the treaties were never ratified. By many itwas considered a wrong to the colored race to so extinguish theexperiment of negro self-government. Others were opposed to annexingsuch a population, thinking this country already had race troublesenough. Others regarded the whole business as a speculation of jobbers, and the stain of jobbery then pervading government circles was sonotorious that the presumption was not without warrant. The annexationscheme brought to a head and gave occasion for an outbreak of indignanthostile criticism of the President and the administration. 

In this term Grant appointed the first board of civil servicecommissioners, with George William Curtis at its head. The commissionerswere to inquire into the condition of the civil service and devise ascheme to increase its efficiency. This they did; but later thePresident himself balked at the enforcement of their rules, and, in1873, Mr. Curtis resigned. 

The most conspicuous achievement of General Grant's first term was thesettlement of the controversy with Great Britain growing out of thedestruction of American commerce by Confederate States cruisers duringthe war. A joint high commission of five British and five Americanmembers met in Washington, February 17, 1871, and on May 8 a treaty wascompleted and signed, providing peaceable means for a settlement of theseveral questions arising out of the coast fisheries, the northwesternboundary line, and the "Alabama Claims. " The last and most importantsubject was referred to an international court of arbitration, which metat Geneva, Switzerland, and on September 14, 1872, awarded to the UnitedStates a gross sum of $15, 500, 000, which was paid by Great Britain. Thiswas the most important international issue that had ever been settled byvoluntary submission to arbitration. It was long regarded as theharbinger of peace between nations. 

Other important things done were the establishment of the first weatherbureau; the honorable settlement of the outrage of Spain in the case ofthe Virginius, an alleged filibustering vessel which Spain seized, executing a large part of its crew in Cuba; and the settlement of thenorthwest boundary question. It should be said also that the Presidentmade a firm stand in behalf of national financial integrity. 

But during the four years there was a steady deterioration in the toneof official life, and a steady growth of corruption and abuses in theadministration of government. The President exhibited a strange lack ofmoral perception and stamina in the sphere of politics. Unprincipledflatterers, adventurers, and speculators gained a surprising influencewith him. His native obstinacy showed itself especially in insistenceupon his personal, ill-instructed will. He became intractable tocounsels of wisdom, and seemed to be a radically different man from thesincere, modest soldier of the civil war. He affected the society of therich, whom he never before had opportunity of knowing. He accepted withan indiscreet eagerness presents and particular favors from persons ofwhose motives he should have been suspicious. Jay Gould and James Fiskused him in preparing the conditions for the corner of the gold marketthat culminated in "Black Friday. " He provided fat offices for hisrelatives with a liberal hand, and prostituted the civil service toaccomplish his aims and reward his supporters. 

In consequence of these things there was great disaffection in theRepublican party, which culminated in open revolt. Yet he was supportedby the majority. The Democratic party, meantime, making a virtue ofnecessity, proclaimed a purpose to accept the results of the war, including the constitutional amendments, as accomplished facts not to bedisturbed or further opposed. This made an opportunity for a union ofall elements opposed to the reëlection of Grant, leading Democratshaving given assurance of support to a candidate to be nominated by whathad come to be called the "Liberal Reform" party. That party held itsconvention in Cincinnati early in May, and named Horace Greeley as itscandidate, a nomination which wrecked whatever chance the party hadseemed to have. Grant was renominated by acclamation in the Republicanconvention. The Democratic convention nominated Greeley on theCincinnati convention platform, but without enthusiasm. General Grantwas elected by a popular majority of more than three quarters of amillion, and a vote in the electoral college of 286 to 63 for allothers, the opposing vote being scattered on account of the death of Mr. Greeley in November, soon after his mortifying defeat. 

CHAPTER XVII

HIS SECOND ADMINISTRATION

The storm of criticism and calumny through which President Grant passedduring the election canvass of 1872 had no effect to change his generalcourse or open his eyes to the true sentiment of the nation. Instead ofrealizing that he was reëlected, not because his administration wasapproved, but because circumstances prevented an effective combinationof the various elements of sincere opposition, he and his friendsaccepted the result as popular approbation of their past conduct andwarrant for its continuance. Things went from bad to worse with apell-mell rapidity that made good men shudder. 

In the four years there were but two exhibitions of conspicuouslycourageous and honorable statesmanship. One was the passage of theResumption Act of January 14, 1875, which promised the resumption ofspecie payments on January 1, 1879, and gave the Secretary of theTreasury adequate power to make the performance of the promise possible. This was one result of the collapse in 1873 of the enormous speculationpromoted by a fluctuating currency and fictitious values. The demand fora currency of stable value enabled the conservative statesmen inCongress to take this action. Grant's approval of this act and his vetoin the previous year of the "inflation bill" must always be regarded ashighly commendable public services. 

The only immediate change in the cabinet was the appointment of WilliamA. Richardson to succeed George S. Boutwell as Secretary of theTreasury. Mr. Richardson had some qualifications of experience for theplace, but wanted the essential traits of firmness and high motive. Inthe next year after taking office he was forced to resign, on account ofa report of the committee of ways and means condemning him for his partin making a contract, while acting Secretary of the Treasury, with oneSanborn, for collecting for the Treasury, on shares, taxes which it wasthe business of regular officers of the government to collect. Immensepower was given by the contract, and the resources of the TreasuryDepartment were put at the service of a crew of irresponsibleinquisitors before whom the business community trembled. They extortedimmense sums in dishonorable ways which aroused popular resentment. ThePresident saw no wrong, and accepted Secretary Richardson's resignationunwillingly, at once nominating him to be Chief Justice of the Court ofClaims, a reward for malfeasance which amazed the country, although theadministration supporters in the Senate confirmed it. 

General Benjamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, became Secretary of theTreasury, a man of superior ability, aggressive honesty, and moralfirmness. He quickly uncovered a mass of various wrongdoing, --thesafe-burglary frauds of the corrupt ring governing Washington, theseal-lock frauds, the subsidy frauds, and, most formidable of all, thefrauds of the powerful whiskey ring having headquarters in St. Louis. The administration of the Treasury Department, especially the InternalRevenue Bureau, was permeated with corruption. The worst feature of itall was that officers who desired to be upright found themselvespowerless against the intrigues and the potent political influence ofthe rascals at the headquarters of executive authority. When theevidence of wrongdoing accumulated by the new Secretary of the Treasurywas laid before the President he was dumfounded by its wickedness andextent, but showed himself resolute and vigorous in supporting his ableand resourceful Secretary. The trap was sprung in May, 1875. Indictmentswere found against 150 private citizens and 86 government officers, among the latter the chief clerk in the Treasury Department, and thePresident's private secretary, General O. E. Babcock. All the principaldefendants were convicted except Babcock, and he was dismissed by thePresident. 

During all these proceedings, in spite of the President's professions, the Treasury Department was beset by subtle hostile influences andimpediments. The politicians who had the President's ear made himbelieve that it was the ruin of himself and his household that theinvestigators sought. Only the enthusiastic popular approval ofSecretary Bristow's brave course prevented yielding to the politicalbackers of the corruption. When in the spring of 1876 Bristow initiateda similar campaign against the corruptions rife on the Pacific coast, the Secretary was overruled and the government prosecutors wererecalled. Whereupon the Secretary resigned, and no less than seven highTreasury officials, who had been active in the crusade of reform, leftthe department at the same time. Mr. Bristow was succeeded by anhonorable man, --the President had to appoint a man known to bepure, --Lot M. Morrill, of Maine; but he was infirm, and all aggressivereform work ceased. 

In the War Department, Secretary Belknap, sustained by the President, stripped General Sherman of the rights and duties properly pertaining tohis rank, of which Grant himself, in the same place during Johnson'sadministration, had protested against being deprived. Sherman wassubjected to such humiliations by his old commander, turned politician, that he abandoned Washington and retired to St. Louis. Congress was asubservient participator in this shame, repealing the law that requiredall orders to the army to go through its general. But in February, 1876, it was discovered that Belknap had been enriching himself by corruptpartnership with contractors in his department, and he hurriedlyresigned, the President strangely accepting the resignation beforeCongress could act. He was impeached, notwithstanding. He set up thedefense that being no longer an official, he could not be impeached, andthis being overruled, he was tried, but was not convicted. Of his guiltthe country had no doubt. Then Alphonso Taft, an Ohio judge, was madeSecretary of War. He was soon transferred to the Attorney-General'soffice, and was succeeded by Don Cameron, already his father'slieutenant in control of the Republican party of Pennsylvania. 

Columbus Delano, Secretary of the Interior, had so mismanaged affairs, especially in the Indian Bureau, which teemed with flagrant abuses, thatpublic opinion turned against him with great force, and in 1875 he hadto abandon the office, in which he was succeeded by Zachariah Chandler, against whom no scandalous charge was made, although he was a rankpartisan of the President. 

Marshall Jewell, of Connecticut, became Postmaster-General in 1874. Hewas a successful business man, and on taking the office he declared hispurpose to conduct it on business principles. He attacked effectively asystem long in vogue known as "straw-bids" for mail-carrying contracts. He introduced the railway post-office system, that has been of so muchuse in facilitating promptness of transmitting correspondence. But healso insisted on conducting his office with respect of its personnel asa business man would, that is, by making appointments and promotions formerit rather than for political influence. This was intolerable to thespoilsmen in politics; and within two years he was summarily dismissedin a manner as graceless and cruel as any President, no matter howunfortunately bred, was ever guilty of. Jewell was succeeded by James N. Tyner, an entirely complaisant official. In 1875 Congress neglected tomake any appropriation for the civil service reform commission, and itswork was suspended. 

During this time affairs in the Southern States were, as a rule, growingworse and worse. The unreasonable arrogance and oppressive extravaganceof the freedmen where they were in control, under the leadership ofreckless carpet-baggers, and still more reckless and malicious whitenatives, had produced a revulsion in the minds of all at the North whoregarded justice, honor, and honesty as essentials of good government. There were exceptions, like oases in the desert of ignorance and vice. The administration of Governor Chamberlain in South Carolina was aninstance of an earnest and partially successful endeavor to educe goodgovernment from desperate conditions. The colored race abused itsprivilege of the ballot with suicidal persistency. The experiment ofmaintaining bad State governments by the presence and activity offederal troops did not tend to social pacification. Reconstruction inits earlier fruits was an obvious failure; and again, if the apparentparadox can be understood, lawless violence began asserting itself asthe only hopeful means of preserving property, civil rights, andcivilization itself. 

During the second term the report was persistently circulated that Grantand those who followed his star were scheming for another term, in orderto give him in civil office, as in military rank, a distinction higherthan Washington or any American had obtained. The proposal shocked thepublic sense of propriety; but its treatment by those who alone couldrepudiate it became ominous. The Republican State Convention of 1875 inPennsylvania boldly declared unalterable opposition to the third-termidea. Grant then spoke. In a letter to the convention's chairman hesaid: "Now, for the third term, I do not want it any more than I did thefirst. " After calling attention to the fact that the Constitution didnot forbid a third term, and that an occasion might arise when a thirdterm might be wisely given, he said that he was not a candidate for athird nomination, and "would not accept it, if tendered, unless undersuch circumstances as to make it an imperative duty--circumstances notlikely to arise. "

This was justly regarded as a politician's letter, and increased alarminstead of allaying it. The national House of Representatives (which theelections of 1874 had made a Democratic body), by a vote of 234 to 18, passed the following resolution: "That in the opinion of this House theprecedent, established by Washington and other Presidents of the UnitedStates after their second term, has become, by universal consent, apart of our republican system of government, and that any departure fromthis time-honored custom would be unwise, unpatriotic, and fraught withperil to our free institutions. " As 70 Republicans voted for thisresolution, it was practically the voice of both parties, and itdispelled the spectre of "Cæsarism, " as the third-term idea was called. There is reason to believe that if it had caused less alarm it wouldhave assumed a more substantial aspect. 

During the excited and perilous four months after the election of 1876, when civil war and anarchy were imminent on account of the disputedresult of the people's suffrage, the conduct of the President wasadmirable. He let it be understood that violence would be suppressed, without hesitation, at any cost. He preserved the _status quo_, andcompelled peaceful patience. The condition was one which summoned intoaction his genius of supreme command, and it shone with its formersplendor of authority. On the 4th of March, 1877, he became a privatecitizen. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE TOUR OF THE WORLD

Upon leaving the presidency General Grant retained the distinction offirst citizen of the nation. There was no fame of living man that couldvie with his. His old form of modesty and simplicity was resumed. Assoon as he stepped down from the pedestal of power the criticism of dutyand the criticism of malice both ceased. A generous people was glad toforget his errors and remember only his patriotism and his transcendentsuccesses in arms. Even those who had most deprecated his mistakes as acivil magistrate were hardly sorry that he had been repeatedly rewardedfor his great services by the highest honor popular suffrage couldbestow. They were ready to believe, as, indeed, was true, that in mostof the things deserving reprobation he was the victim of his innocenceof selfish politics and his unwary friendships, of which baser men hadtaken foul advantage. They were glad for his sake, as much as for theirown, that he was no longer President Grant, but again General Grant, atitle purely reminiscent and complimentary, for he was no longer anofficer of the army. With all his honors about him, he stood on thecommon level of citizenship, as when he was a farmer in Missouri or atanner's clerk in Galena. 

There came to him then the desire to see other lands and peoples and tomeet the renowned commanders in other wars, the actors in otherstatesmanship. It was determined that he should have all theopportunities and advantages which the national prestige could commandfor its foremost unofficial representative. No other American had goneabroad whose achievements bespoke for him so respectful a welcome amongthe great. Every aid was availed of to make it apparent that our nationexpected him to be entertained as its beloved hero. He sailed fromPhiladelphia on May 17, 1877, and, returning, he landed in SanFrancisco September 20, 1879, having made the circuit of the globe. 

Of such another progress there is no record. He visited nearly everycountry of Europe, the Holy Land, Egypt, Syria, India, Burmah, China, Siam, and Japan, being everywhere received as the guest of their rulers, and welcomed by the chief representatives of their statesmanship, theirlearning, and their social life. He was received with high courtesies byQueen Victoria of England, President McMahon and President Grévy ofFrance, the emperors of Germany, Russia, and Austria, the kings ofBelgium, Italy, Holland, Sweden, and Spain, Pope Leo XIII. , the Sultanof Turkey, the Khedive of Egypt, the Duke of Wellington, PrinceBismarck, M. Gambetta, Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India, King Thebau ofBurmah, Prince Kung of China, the Emperor of Siam, the Mikado of Japan, and many others only less famous. With few exceptions he met under themost favorable circumstances all persons of note in all the lands hevisited. Extraordinary pains were taken to promote the comfort of hisparty, and to enable its members to see whatever was most worth seeing. 

The recipient of all this flattering attention bore himself with asimple dignity that won the respect of the high and the low alike. Hewas neither awed nor abashed among the great, nor was he haughty orpresuming among the common people. The nation at home followed hisprogress with pride and gratification. When he landed in San Francisco, he was welcomed as a favorite who had achieved new distinction forhimself and his land, and his leisurely way across the continent wasmarked by a series of ovations all the way to New York. To complete hisitinerary, he soon made a tour of the West Indies and of Mexico, visiting the scenes where he had won his first laurels, as LieutenantGrant, thirty years before. He was honored as the warrior whosevictories, besides uniting and exalting his native land, had deliveredMexico from the imposition of an alien imperialism. 

Unfortunately, this revived popularity of General Grant was takenadvantage of by a faction of the Republican party to urge again hisreëlection to the presidency. New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois werecommitted to his support by the influence of their powerful Republicanleaders; but not unanimously. The movement is supposed to have beenundertaken without consultation with Grant; but he did nothing todiscourage it, and to this extent he consented to it. The attemptfailed. Prudent people had no mind to have their hero's good name againmade opprobrious by fresh scandals, which they could not but dread. 

CHAPTER XIX

REVERSES OF FORTUNE--ILL HEALTH--HIS LAST VICTORY--THE END

General Grant now made his home in the city of New York. He was notwealthy, and he desired to be. The only persons he seemed to envy, andparticularly to court, were those who had great possessions. He coveteda fortune that should place his family beyond any chance of poverty. This weakness was his undoing. He became the private partner of anunscrupulous schemer and robber, and intrusted to him all that he had, and more, to be adventured in speculation. His name was dishonored inWall Street by association with a scoundrel whom prudent financiersdistrusted and shunned. He was warned, but would not heed the warnings. The charitable view is that he was deceived by repayments which he wastold were profits. On May 6, 1884, a crisis came and Grant was ruined. 

He gave up everything he possessed in the struggle to redeem his honor, even the presents and trophies which had been lavishly bestowed uponhim. This savior of his country and recipient of its gratefulgenerosity, who was but lately the guest of the princes of the earth, became dependent upon pitying friends for shelter and bread, untilenterprising editors of magazines began competing for contributions fromhis pen. 

And, as if his misfortunes were not yet sufficiently desperate, illnesscame. A malignant, incurable cancer appeared in his mouth. He stood faceto face with the last enemy, the always victorious one, and realizedthat the rest of life was but a few months of increasing torture. Thenthe magnificent courage of his soul asserted itself in fortitudeunequaled at Donelson, or Vicksburg, or Chattanooga, or the Wilderness. No eye saw him quail; no ear heard him complain. 

It was suggested that if he would write a book, an autobiographicalmemoir, the profit of it, doubtless, would place his family above want. Nothing can be imagined more unacceptable to General Grant's nativedisposition than the narration for the public of his own life story. Butin his circumstances, the question was not one of sentiment, but only ofduty to those who were dependent upon him. The task was undertakenresolutely, and, in spite of physical weakness and suffering, wascarried on with as high and faithful energy as he had shown in anycampaign of the war. On March 3, 1885, he was restored to the army withthe rank of general on the retired list with full pay. He was glad; butin his feebleness joy was as hard to bear as grief. He began failingmore rapidly. 

In June he was taken to the sweet tonic air of a cottage on MountMcGregor, near Saratoga. Here, in pleasant weather, he could sit in theopen air and enjoy the agreeable prospect. But whether indoors or out, he toiled at the book in every possible moment, writing with a pencil ontablets while he had strength, then dictating in almost inaudiblewhispers, little by little, to an amanuensis. So, toilsomely, throughintense suffering, sustained by indomitable will, this legacy to hisfamily and the world was completed to the end of the war. His lastbattle was won. Four days after the victory, he died, July 23, 1885. Thebook had a success beyond all sanguine expectations, and accomplishedthe purpose of its author. To his countrymen it was a revelation of theheart of the man, Ulysses Grant, in its nobility, its simplicity, andits charity, that has endeared him beyond any knowledge afforded by theoutward manifestations of his life. 

His conversations in his last days, as reported by visitors to MountMcGregor (among these was General Buckner, who surrendered FortDonelson), show a soul serene and cheerful, devoted to his country, tohumanity, and to peace. No experiences of malevolence and injury hadshaken his trust in the goodness of the great majority of mankind. 

When the great soldier died he owned no uniform in which he could besuitably attired for the grave, no sword to be laid on his coffin. Hisbody lies in the magnificent tomb, erected by the voluntarycontributions of admiring citizens, the commanding attraction of abeautiful park overlooking the broad Hudson as it sweeps past thenation's chief city. Already this resting place has become a veritableshrine of patriotism. Military and naval pageants make it their propergoal, as when, after Santiago, the returning battleships moved instately procession up the Hudson to the tomb of our national militaryhero, there to thunder forth the triumphant salute, like a summons tohis spirit to bestow an approval. 

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The Riverside Press

_Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. Cambridge, Mass. , U. S. A. _

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