_Wherein Captain Galligasken follows the illustrious Soldier
to Washington, where, after enduring many Hardships, he is
commissioned Lieutenant General in the Army of the United States._
Grant was not ignorant of the occasion of his summons to Washington.
While he had been busily engaged with the duties of his department,
the people had been heaping honors upon him. Associations of all
kinds, learned and philanthropic, made him an honorary member of their
bodies. Ohio and New York voted him thanks in their legislatures.
Gifts of every description poured in upon him--cigars and cigar cases,
revolvers, books, canes, and other articles, sufficient in number to
enable him to establish a private museum, if he had had any taste for
"the show business." None of these articles gave him so much pleasure
as a brier-wood cigar case, cut out with a pocket knife by a poor
soldier, and modestly sent to him as a token of the maker's veneration
and regard. A great many babies were named after him at this time,
though in this respect it is doubtful whether he ever rivalled his
immediate associate on the presidential ticket, the Hon. Schuyler
Colfax, who has probably had more babies named after him than any other
living man.
It was not safe to speak ill of Grant, so warmly was his name nestled
in the hearts of the people; and no one desired to do so except the
immediate friends of a few disappointed aspirants for fame on the
battle-field. The leather dealer of Galena had actually become the most
famous man in America. Only a short time before he went to Washington,
he had been honored in the highest degree in St. Louis by the very
men to whose back doors he had hauled wood only four years before!
The city that "respectfully declined" his petition to be appointed an
engineer was eager to give him a public reception, and did yield him
all the honors within its power. In three years, by the might of his
brilliant genius, he had lifted himself from obscurity to a position
which challenged the gaze of the whole nation. But his had not been the
struggle of ambition--only the promptings of patriotic duty. A score of
more ambitious generals, fighting for a name among men, had risen and
fallen during this time.
While this tempest of applause was sounding through the land, Grant
was devoting all his energies to the work he had in hand, claiming
no honors, asking for no preferments. But a grateful people were
not satisfied. Grant was no higher in rank than others; he was in
no way distinguished on the roll of the army from those whom he had
outrivalled in the career of arms. Just before he had been called
to Washington, the bill reviving the grade of lieutenant general in
the army had passed both houses of Congress, and had been approved
by the president. It was then the highest rank known in our country.
The office had been created for Washington, and had been filled by
him for the year preceding his death. It was then discontinued, and
only conferred by brevet upon Scott in 1855. As Grant rose far above
any other general in the lustre of his achievements, it was eminently
proper that the distinction should be conferred upon him. He did not
ask it, he did not even suggest it or hint at it.
Just before he started for Washington, he sent particular instructions
to Sherman, who was then returning from his Meridian expedition,
directing him to have his army in readiness for a movement upon Atlanta
in the spring, which he expected to conduct in person. With these
orders he sent a private letter to his devoted friend, which is too
perfect an exponent of the man to be omitted:--
* * * * *
"DEAR SHERMAN: The bill reviving the grade of lieutenant general
in the army has become a law, and my name has been sent to the
Senate for the place. I now receive orders to report at Washington
immediately, _in person_, which indicates a confirmation, or a
likelihood of confirmation. I start in the morning to comply with
the order.
"Whilst I have been eminently successful in this war, in at least
gaining the confidence of the public, no one feels more than I how
much of this success is due to the energy, skill, and harmonious
putting forth of that energy and skill, of those whom it has been
my good fortune to have occupying subordinate positions under me.
"There are many officers to whom these remarks are applicable in a
greater or less degree, proportionate to their ability as soldiers;
but what I want is, to express my thanks to you and McPherson, as
the men to whom, above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I
have had of success.
"How far your advice and assistance have been of help to me, you
know. How far your execution of whatever has been given to you to
do entitles you to the reward I am receiving, you cannot know as
well as I.
"I feel all the gratitude this letter would express, giving it the
most flattering construction.
"The word _you_ I use in the plural, intending it for McPherson
also. I should write to him, and will some day; but, starting in
the morning, I do not know that I shall find time just now.
Your friend,
U.S. GRANT, _Major General_."
I doubt whether a brighter illustration of pure magnanimity can be
found in the annals of great men throughout all time and all nations
than the spirit manifested by Grant in this letter. I regard him as
more truly great in this exhibition of an excellent tone of mind than
in even the glorious victories he won; for the most brilliant conquest
in the field, without a noble spirit in the hero, only confers partial
greatness. I have before said, in speaking of Grant as we saw him at
West Point, that he was careful of the rights of others--the sublimest
interpretation of the golden rule of Jesus Christ. At the moment when
we find the illustrious soldier called to the capital to receive the
real laurel he had nobly earned, he seems to pause and ask himself if
he is not going to take the reward which in part belongs to others. On
the night before he starts, he writes this splendid acknowledgment of
his indebtedness to the two veterans who had so devotedly sustained him
in his trying campaigns and in the actual shock of battle.
Sherman's letter in reply contains a tried soldier's estimate of
Grant. His language is carefully guarded from exaggeration, and I have
no hesitation in declaring that he might have made it even stronger,
without doing violence to the truth, even in the era of Chattanooga.
While I feel that my humble office as a chronicler of the events of a
sublime life is overshadowed when such a man as Sherman speaks, justice
to the reader compels me to insert the veteran's letter in my work, for
his words carry an influence even beyond the inherent truth he utters.
* * * * *
"DEAR GENERAL: I have your more than kind and characteristic letter
of the 4th instant. I will send a copy to General McPherson at
once. You do yourself injustice in assigning to us too large a
share of the merits which have led to your high advancement. I know
you approve the friendship I have ever professed to you, and will
permit me to continue, as heretofore, to manifest it on all proper
occasions.
"You are now Washington's legitimate successor, and occupy a
position of almost dangerous elevation; but if you can continue, as
heretofore, to be yourself,--simple, honest, and unpretending,--you
will enjoy through life the respect and love of friends, and the
homage of millions of human beings, that will award you a large
share in securing to them and their descendants a government of law
and stability.
"I repeat, you do General McPherson and myself too much honor.
At Belmont you manifested your traits, neither of us being near.
At Donelson, also, you illustrated your whole character. I was
not near, and General McPherson in too subordinate a capacity to
influence you.
"Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost cowed by the
terrible array of anarchical elements that presented themselves at
every point; but that admitted a ray of light I have followed since.
"I believe you are as brave, patriotic, and just, as the great
prototype, Washington; as unselfish, kind-hearted, and honest as
man should be. But the chief characteristic is the simple faith in
success you have always manifested, which I can liken to nothing
else than the faith a Christian has in his Savior.
"This faith gave you victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also, when
you have completed your preparations, you go into battle without
hesitation, as at Chattanooga--no doubts, no reserves; and I tell
you it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew, wherever
I was, that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place, you
would help me, if alive.
"My only point of doubt was in your knowledge of grand strategy,
and of books of science and history; but I confess your common
sense seems to have supplied all these.
"Now as to the future. Do not stay in Washington; come west; take
to yourself the whole Mississippi Valley. Let us make it dead
sure, and I tell you the Atlantic slopes and the Pacific shores
will follow its destiny, as sure as the limbs of a tree live and
die with the main trunk. We have done much, but still much remains.
Time and time's influence are with us. We could almost afford to
sit still and let these influences work.
"Here lies the seat of the coming empire; and from the West,
when our task is done, we will make short work of Charleston and
Richmond, and the impoverished coast of the Atlantic.
Your sincere friend,
W.T. SHERMAN.
With no trumpet blast to herald his coming, Grant went on his way to
Washington, travelling in haste, and mostly by special trains. He
courted and sought privacy; but when it was discovered at the railroad
stations that he was on the train, the people lustily cheered him, and
crowded forward to obtain a sight of the great man of whom all had
heard, but whom few had seen. He had never made a "progress" after any
of his victories. Even the president had never seen him. He was well
known to the soldiers, hardly at all to the civilians.
On his journey he received a telegram from General Halleck,
so magnanimous in its tone as to leave not a doubt that the
general-in-chief had been born into a new life. Grant was to displace
him, but Halleck behaved handsomely; and in his generous appreciation
of the illustrious soldier, I shall forever forget that he had ever
snubbed and disgraced a greater than himself. The despatch was as
follows: "The secretary of war directs me to say that your commission
as lieutenant general is signed, and will be delivered to you on your
arrival at the War Department. I sincerely congratulate you on this
recognition of your distinguished and meritorious services."
On his arrival at the capital of the nation, where he had never spent
more than a single day before, he proceeded quietly to Willard's with
his son, who accompanied him on the journey. Singular as it may seem,
he was not discovered. A vainer man than he would have been disgusted;
but Grant so far sympathized with the rebels that he only wished to
be "let alone." Without parade or ostentation, he went to the public
table to dinner. Here, unfortunately for him, but to the great delight
of the guests of the hotel, the secret came out. A member of Congress
who was at the table recognized him, and, rising, he announced, to
the dismay of Grant, we may well believe, "Gentlemen, the hero of
Vicksburg is among us!" The congressman proposed his health, and this
was the signal for the most enthusiastic cheering that ever greeted
a laurelled hero coming home from the conquest. Grant rose from his
chair, and merely bowed his acknowledgments, resuming his seat at the
earliest practicable moment; for such a situation was as much worse
than the bull-dog guns of Vicksburg as anything he could imagine. He
was really a modest man; his conduct was not a Uriah Heep's affectation
of humility. He was not insensible to the good opinion of the people,
but the extravagant manifestation of it which obtains with our
over-demonstrative countrymen was painfully embarrassing to him.
At Vicksburg Grant personally superintended the placing in position
of a number of heavy guns. While the soldiers were digging out the
embrasure, he stood on the top of the works, smoking his cigar, and
coolly whittling a stick--the general inherits the pure tendencies of
a New England Yankee from his ancestors. In this situation he was a
conspicuous mark for rebel sharp-shooters, but he staid there till the
guns were placed to his satisfaction, to the intense admiration of the
men, who delight in exhibitions of pluck. I am of the opinion, if Grant
had been whittling a stick when he was discovered and applauded at
Willard's, he would have cut his fingers; for he is never intimidated
except under the fire of a popular demonstration. I declare, upon my
honor as a soldier and an historian, that Grant is not indifferent to
the praise or blame of his fellow-citizens. I know that he is as keenly
sensitive as any man living, though his will enables him to control
his emotions. I have myself seen him under a fire of compliments,
and studied the expression of his face. He is simply modest, even to
diffidence. I never saw another man just like him in this respect.
There is nothing awkward or repulsive in his manner.
For my own part, I do not see how any man, whatever big thing he
has done, can stand still and take the most extravagant compliments
as a matter of course; and of all the great men I ever knew in
public life,--and I have known many,--I have been better satisfied
with Grant's conduct, in the hour of his triumph, than with that
of any other. I cannot describe his mien or manner, because it is
indescribable. Kind words move him, and I have seen the glow upon his
face, hardly perceptible, it is true, but still there, indicating true
greatness of soul, in that he was not "puffed up," or, even worse, was
not insensible.
Grant was beset with admirers; but when I consider the quality of a
large portion of the crowd which gathers in any public place within
the limits of the national capital,--the parasites and sycophants who
strive to sun themselves in the smile of a great man,--I cannot wonder
that Grant did not open his mouth to speak, even to thank the multitude
for their kind appreciation. They beset him behind and before; and a
man who could not make a speech on such an occasion was a miracle.
"Silence was golden." With great difficulty could he make his way
to his private room, where he sought shelter from the onslaught of
admirers.
In the evening he went to the White House, to attend President
Lincoln's levee. The enthusiasm of the people was tremendous. Poor
Grant was never in such a strait in his life. His particular horror
seems to have been completely realized on this occasion, and though
it was, doubtless, one of the proudest moments of his life, it was
at the same time one of the most harassing and discouraging; for the
unfortunate general was actually lifted from his feet, and compelled
to stand upon a sofa, where all in the room could see him. Cheer after
cheer shook the walls of the house, in which President Lincoln heartily
joined, standing by the side of the hero, and magnanimously sustaining
him in the hour of his greatest trial, as he had at Vicksburg and
Chattanooga. In the course of the evening, Grant escorted Mrs. Lincoln
around the East Room, and afterwards remarked that "this was his
warmest campaign during the whole war."
I heartily sympathize with the sorely-pestered conqueror in what to
other men would have been the realization of the acme of human bliss.
He blushed and struggled against the awful storm of applause, but he
did not do a single ridiculous thing. It was a time when almost any
man could have been forgiven for making a fool of himself; but Grant
had no vanity to triumph over him in the hour of temptation, and he
came out of it as clean and bright as he went in. What is true of him
on this specific occasion is equally true of him in all his career. He
was no more spoiled by prosperity than by adversity; and the former is
infinitely more destructive to public men than the latter. As my late
friend A. Ward said of G. Washington, U.S. Grant "never slopped over."
"I hope to get away from Washington soon, for I am tired of the show
business already," said the persecuted hero to a friend, as they
returned from the levee.
The show business! Shades of the over-flattered heroes of all time,
could it be possible that this man had reached an elevation so sublime
as to call the sweet savor of approbation by such a name! Others have
toiled and struggled for a lifetime to win such a recognition of their
greatness, but Grant wished to avoid it! The Rebellion was not yet
conquered. On the morrow he was to receive his commission as lieutenant
general, and all the armies of the United States were to be placed
under his command. He was an earnest man, and his whole being was
filled with a sense of the responsibility he was to assume. The destiny
of a nation seemed to be placed upon his shoulders; and what wonder was
it that he regarded mere applause as distasteful?
I almost tremble as I approach a scene which only the pencil of the
artist can fitly describe. In the chamber of the cabinet were gathered,
on the 9th of March, the president, the members of the cabinet, and
General Halleck, representing the government. General Grant, attended
by two members of his staff and his oldest son, was formally received
by the president, who addressed the illustrious soldier as follows:--
"General Grant: The nation's appreciation of what you have done, and
its reliance upon you for what remains in the existing great struggle,
are now presented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant
general in the army of the United States. With this high honor devolves
upon you, also, a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein
trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add,
that with what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty personal
concurrence."
Lieutenant General Grant accepted the commission, and then read his
written reply:--
"Mr. President: I accept the commission with gratitude for the honor
conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought in so
many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor
not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the
responsibilities now devolving on me; and I know that if they are met,
it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of the
Providence which leads both nations and men."
At last the army of the United States, now numbering eight hundred
thousand men, had found its true leader, and Grant had found his true
position.