Salt Lake Herald | 1897-12-12 | Page 17 | One of Grant's Old Schoolmates

I One of Grants Schoolmates William Franklin Armstrong of this city was at one time a schoolmate of Ulysses S Grant the general and president pres-ident and when they were boys together to-gether in wrestling matches he frequently fre-quently sent the future president sprawling on his back When the civil war broke out Mr Armstrong volunteered volun-teered and was almost through the process of being mustered in when an officer noticed a limp in his gait caused caus-ed by a slight deformity and rejected him While the siege of Vicksburg was in progress he wrote Grant saying that if hecould be of service to him he would come In reply the general turned the paper and wrote across the back If you can fight as well as you can wrestle I would like to have you U S GRANT L