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Show Grant and Army of Potomac His Plan as Commanding General Was to Teach That Body of Fighters Fight-ers to Overcome Its Fear of R. E. Lee. "History tells fully of the manner in which President Lincoln and father met for the first time, when father went to Washington to ' be commissioned commis-sioned by the president the commanding command-ing general of the Union army," said Gen. Fred D. Grant to me recently, "but it doesn't tell of the initial purpose pur-pose that father had in mind as regards re-gards the Army of the Potomac when he went east. "You know, father was never east from the time he entered the Union army as a colonel of an Illinois regiment regi-ment until after the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaigns, in the fall of 18G3. But he had studied pretty closely close-ly the movements and characteristics of the Army of the Potomac in its three great campaigns up to that time, and he tiad pretty well made up his mind, even before he knew that he was to command the Union armies, as to what was the matter with the army that protected Washington. "After ft had become known that father was to be general and that he Would take personal command of the Army of the Potomac, a event n,o persons with whom he was acquainted and some with whom he was intimate' said io him at one time or another before be-fore he started east! 'General Grant what ate you going (o do with the Army of the Potomac? What kind of a campaign against Genera Lee are you going to make? Have you formed any plans whatever for offensive operations?' oper-ations?' "Of course, none of these questions father would answer. But I have always al-ways thought that he at last became convinced that it would be a good plan to tell some of his friends In a general way what he would do Immediately J after he had assumed command of the Army of the Potomac. So it happened one day that when a friend said to him: 'General Grant, what are you going to do after you begin operations in the east?' he replied: 'The first thing I shall do will be to teach the Army of the Potomac not to be frightened fright-ened out of its wits at every mention of Bobby Lee's men.' "Again, when another friend would ask father a similar question, he would reply: 'I am going to train the Army of the Potomac so that it will conquer con-quer its fear of Bobby Lee.' And yet again, when some one else had put the same question to him, his answer would be: The first enemy that we have to conquer Is the fear that takes hold of the Army of the Potomac whenever General Lee's name Is mentioned.' men-tioned.' "Now, father said this in no disparagement dispar-agement whatever of General Lee. He liad the highest admiration of Lee's qualities as a soldier and of the purity of his character. But he had become satisfied from his study of the career of the Army of the Potmac that an unreasonable fear had seized it, due to the very high repute of General Lee as a soldier. In addition, he believed be-lieved that the Army of the Potomac had no more reason to fear General Lee than the armies of the west had reason to stand in dread of the great commanders who led the Confederate forces in that section of the country so that borore he had left the west to become lieutenant general his initial plan for the Army of the Potomac was o teach It no longer to fear Bobby Lee. And you will observe that father never told anyone what his plan of op-eratlon op-eratlon for that army was until after ne had taught It not to shiver every that the name of the great Con-!l- lte commander was mentioned in us presence." '(-'pyrislit, 1910, by E. J. Edwards.) |