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Show H General Grant ALMOST every week comes an announcement of a new life of some general of the Civil M war, in which new attributes are given M them, new accomplishments in arms, new splen- H dors of character. M In nearly all these books, too, written of M Southern generals, there is praise of officers m against whom they fought, either included m through real admiration or to give their especial M hero increased honors by comparison But hard- H ly ever do we find the name of Grant, and the M wonder is why this is so. M Is it because Grant had left the army and be- H came a clerk in order to take care of his family? M General Sherman had likewise left the army, M Jiad tried business and failed, and was teaching M in a military academy. There was not much H prospect of either fortune or fa'me in the army B those days. It was but the skeleton of an army H at best, and was mostly distributed on the fron- H After the Mexican war, we were at peace, H without any prospect of war for a long time. Even H after Sumpter was fired upon the belief was that H the troubles would be settled within sixty days. H When Sherman declared that 200,000 soldiers H would bo needed by the government, he was de- H clared crazy. H As one looks back upon those days, two sol- H diers first appear out of the mass. The first was H General Lyon in Missouri. He acted from the first H day as though he thought it (meant war, and H pressed on in that belief until his heroic death at H Wilson Creek. M The next was Grant. His first appearance H was in front of Fort Henry and it went down be- M fore him, his second before Fort Donnelson with H the same result; he was surprised and beaten back H the first day at Shiloh, but he recovered all that H had been lost the second day. Then the clamor M of paper warriors nearly took from him his com- H mand, and then he showed his inherent greatness Hj and patriotism when asked what he would do if his M enemies finally prevailed against him. His re- M ply was instantaneous: "There is plenty of room H in the ranks." M Then came Vicksburg. Ho failed twice; he M 1 won in 'his third essay; won when the brilliant H I officers around him while giving him loyal sup- H t port, believed the task was too great, thatVicks- H burg was impregnable. M Right hero it is in order to ask, what soldier m on either side, or in the world, could have taken fl that stronghold? 1 What siege of history compares with it? To M do it he had not only tie garrison within the H city to throttle, but an army nearly as large as H his own under a really great commander, to stand M off. There was nothing to compare with it on I land in the war, nothing at sea except the taking T of Mobile by Admiral Farragut. fJA Then came Chattanooga and then he was H called east. There ho fastened upon the army of j Virginia as ho had on five armies in the Missis- B sipl valley, and as every time before he nevt H relinquished his hold until the remnant of that H army surrendered. HJ Other generals, plenty of them, McDonell, Mc- Kjt Clellan, Burnside, Hooker, Pope, Meade, and all H had recoiled or failed to follow up an advantage, Grant repeatedly fought to a standstill, moved by the left flank next morning, finally closed in upon his foe and never relinquished his hold until un-til resistance against him was impossible. Then in dictating the final terms he revealed more generosity, more courtesy and a clearer comprehension of what was needed in that crisis than can be found in all the annalB of all the cjvil wars that have rent nations and racke'd"th,e world. Who will write Grant's history and give a clear idea of the soldier he was and the man he was, and finish with that closing scene when racked by pain he made deith wait at the door until un-til he finished somethin that would give his family support? |