Show n WAS IN I T11KEK WAKS OliN VAN VLEBT PBLATC3 SOMU RBMINISCRNCBS Silly 1ne ten lie tlkrt III t talk Uo > tllh trout soil IMIifW at Writ Iolnt ltiend tor Ihoeso s1 UnMAN > rein i MAN WHO 13 I halo and hearty at t I SO la always an Interesting i In-teresting flfinrelml II has 1T j f I when n man JJ reached that age QI after a life pnncO v g In his rountos 5 entire when In 3 5 him src preferred the traditions and realities of three great war hla personality Is doubly Inleretllni The other afternoon the writer was driven from tho railway ta lion nt lied Hank N J several mile along the nepte shaded country road and up to the broad porch of n charmIng charm-Ing country house which stood In the middle of wellkept grounds On thc N era tula was n ruddyfaced old gentleman gentle-man Mated l In an old fashioned rocker built solely for comfort General Stewart Van Vleet nllvnnC < l < Ito I-to greet the reporter with n step almost na martial as when over half a century ago he marched at tho head of the cadet corps at West Point And yet only n month ago ho celebrated tho eightieth annUrrar of his birth It was In 183G when young Van Vleet left his homo at rishklll I N Y and entered tho military academy nnd of tho class of 42 which was graduated tUlyfho years ago last Juno only General Gen-eral Ucorgo Jolty of WoshlnRlon nnd ho survive Stewart Van Vleet was rs j tired from tho nrmy twelve genre ago after ho had reached the ago of sixty olght with thin rank of brigadier eral her forty yearn his life was filled with adventures Ho passed safely through five wars was repeatedly honored hon-ored by his country was n companion of Sherman Grant and Thomas was oleo greatly esteemed by Lincoln aol Is now highly valued ns n friend uy I President Clcxlaml I I You want to know some fads of my mltllary experience asked General Van Vleet Well Its a dry subject lit the best but I am always ready to oblige my friends the newspaper men I only I dont want you to make what Inv I-nv too nersonal I was born ho began In Addison county VI on July 21 1815 When I was n boy my father removed to 1Ith Kill N Y and at the ago of twenty oneIn 1838I entered West Point leneral Ul > sies 8 Grunt entered tho school three years afterward ho continued and for n year he aa well as General Gcorgo It Thomas and General Gen-eral W T Sherman were comrades of mine I was successively first corporal lint icrgcant and during tho year with Grant Hot captain of the cadet corp I Years afterward rroilclcnl Grant used to say to ma General during my cadet day I didnt know which was tho greatest great-est man Napoleon Wellington or old Van Vleet Tho renernl Icatud 1m kIn k-In his char and laughed heartily nt the recollection At tie end of the Bemlnolo war I was stationed nt Savannah but when the Mexican war began my com pa ID was ordered to Monterey where Gen I i Taylor was In command I was In company com-pany II Third artillery Captain Vln ton commanding We were In tho final I assault on the fortifications We then Joined General Scott nt Vera Crun and fought for twelvo da1 before tbe oil VII surrendered At Vera Crui poor Vlnton WM killed Wo wcra In command ot a mor t fna r tar battery which placed at an angle I I of fortyflvo degree was firing I ten r orrrl Inch shells Into I the city I Wo wore only a few hundred yards from tho I Mexican formications So near were we In fact that wo could hear our shells force their way through the roofs 1 and floors of tho houses and explode In i the cellars The Mexicans had flfcen I I Inch mortars and while Vlnton and I I I were talking separated by a distance of only a few feet one of these fltttia t lit 0th shells passed between its but did I not explode Inton fell lo the Rested deed the concussion had killed hint I bad the shell transported to Newport where It still rets on the top of Capt Vlntoas grave When the shell was opened no musket balls were found In It After my strvlee In Meileo I was made qaartermasler with headquarter at Denver Time has paiwed sheet then and all of my old comrades hare goo ten Jelly and I are the only ones left of that class of 41 and we too mutt toon answer the roll sail with themWho Who was the greatest grnen ot the wart asked I the reporter I would not dare my nnmered the old soldier There were many great men Mrrlellan was one of the great eat of our generals but he had to suffer became he was required to take a die mcmbered an I disheartened body of raw undisciplined men and turn them Into trained troops Hut IM was sue ccMful In this and gave over to the United Stat one of the finest armies In the world l every man In It n iMned veteran Grant waa a great man Ho had an Indomitable will unflinching courage and an unyielding determination determina-tion He was also n muster tactltlan Sherman and Thomas were two others of our greeted leader S 1 1 P 1 1 t OlN STIWHT VAN 1mT |