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 .S635 
 Copy 2 
 
 Compilmcnts of 
 
 personal 
 Recollections 
 of General 
 isipsses 
 $. 6rant 
 
Personal Recollections of 
 
 General Ulysses S. Grant 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 U. S. Grant Post, No. 28, 
 G. A. R. 
 
 Department of Illinois, Grand Army of the Republic, U. S. A. 
 
 February 11, 1904. 
 
 ml 
 
 \i-^' 
 
 By Commander Comrade General John C. Smith. 
 
 Ex. -Lieut. Governor, Etc. 
 

ADDRESS. 
 
 Comrades of Ulysses S. Grant Post, No. 28, Ladies and Friends 
 
 of the Grand Army of the Republic: 
 
 In addressing you on the subject of my personal recollec- 
 tions of the great soldier whose honored name this Post bears, 
 or, in recounting his achievements, be they of the battle- 
 field or in diplomacy, is much like whispering to my wife the 
 tale of the love of our youth. It is an old, old story, but ever 
 pleasing and ever new. 
 
 This loved Commander, whose memory we revere and under 
 whom we all fought in that great war for the Union, has passed 
 to the better land. His name is engraved among the greatest 
 military chieftains upon the roll of fame, and future ages 
 will yet accord him the same position in statesmanship. 
 In my humble judgment, Ulysses S. Grant was the greatest 
 soldier the Anglo-Saxon race has yet produced — ever victori- 
 ous, never defeated. 
 
 In our estimate of military commanders, it is essential 
 that we take into consideration the intelligence of the soldier, 
 the number of men commanded, weapons used, area of field 
 of operation, and, above all, the skill, strategy, endurance 
 and bravery of the opposing forties. 
 
 Two million or more men were enlisted foi- ihn^e years in 
 the War of 1861-65, and the rank and file of no army in the 
 history of the world was ever composed of men of the high 
 intelligence which characterized those composing the armies 
 of the Union, or were ever so well armed. 
 
 Measured by the intellect of the men and the arms they 
 bore, the soldiers of the Federal armies were the ecjual of any 
 
 3 
 
ten millk)ii that could have been mustered one century ago. 
 while for bravery and endurance, the opposing Confederate 
 forces have never been surpassed. 
 
 The Union troops in the War of the Rebellion were organ- 
 ized into twenty-five infantry corps, to which were attached 
 the artillery and cavalry commands, and they into three 
 principal and six lesser armies. 
 
 Our great Captain, while in person with the larger of 
 these armies, known as the Army of the Potomac, directed 
 the movements of all the armies, covering in their operation 
 an empire in area of more than two thousand miles from East 
 to West and one thousand from North to South. 
 
 To such a command came General Grant, fresh from the 
 capture of Vicksburg and his splendid victories of Lookout 
 Mountain, Chattanooga and Mission Ridge. 
 
 For celerity of movement he was unsurpassed, as witness 
 his campaign to the rear of Vicksburg; while for tenacity of 
 purpose his three days' fighting in the Wilderness is unparal- 
 leled. No commander ever captured more prisoners or de- 
 stroyed more armies than did General Grant in his two years 
 from Vicksburg to Appomattox, the crowning victory of his 
 splendid career. 
 
 But of m}^ personal relations with (l(Mu>ral (Irant. and the 
 opportunities to know whereof 1 speak, it is only necessary to 
 say that of the members of his staff who served throughout 
 the war with him, Gens. John A. Rawlins, William R. Rowley 
 and Ely S. Parker were my personal friends, and the acquaint- 
 ance began with Capt. Ulysses .S. Grant in 1860 was continued 
 and grew until the General and ex-President was called from 
 eartli. 
 
 On becoming a resident of Galena in lSo4, my business 
 and social relations made me acquainted with Jesse R. Grant 
 and Simpson S. Grant, the father and l^rother of Capt. Ulysses 
 S. Grant, then in the old army. A younger brother, Orville 
 L.. came to Galena a few years later, and I soon became 
 intimate with him. 
 
 Prom the father, whom we affectionately called " Uncle" 
 
 4 
 
Jesse, and the two brothers, I came to know Captain Grant 
 before he removed to Galena, which was in the early spring 
 of 1860. 
 
 At that time "Uncle" Jesse and his two sons were engaged 
 in the harness and leather furnishing business, under the firm 
 name of Jesse R. Grant & Sons. 
 
 The Captain, w^ho had been living in and near St. Louis 
 since his resignation from the army in 1854, was asked by 
 his father to come to Galena and take an interest in the store, 
 the father intending to retire and give place to his son. The 
 political excitement of the time, however, the unsettled con- 
 dition of business, and the dl health of Simpson delayed the 
 transfer, and the Captain entered upon duty as a clerk in their 
 well-known store. During the summer and fall Captain Grant 
 was employed in the sale of goods and buying of hides, which 
 were shipped to Covington, Kentucky, where the father 
 resided, and thence to the tanneries, and when tanned, returned 
 to Galena. During the winter of 1860-61 the purchase and 
 shipment of cattle and hogs were added to the business of 
 the house, in all of which the Captain took an active part. 
 
 From the time Captain Grant came to live in Galena until 
 the firing of the first gun of the Rebellion, he was known to 
 but iew, and they very largely the men who did business with 
 the house of Jesse R. Grant & Sons, or were on terms of friend- 
 ship with the members of the firm. 
 
 No one in that city bore a better character for upright- 
 ness and fair dealing in trade than Captain Grant, and no man 
 was better known for sobriety, industry and general intelli- 
 gence than he of whom I now speak. 
 
 All the stories attriljuting idleness, shiftlessness, or use of 
 intoxicants to Captain Grant while a resident of Galena are 
 infamous and malicious lies, and would not be referred to here 
 but for the recent article in a city newspaper retailing those 
 old and baseless slanders. 
 
 Educated at West Point, and with an observing mind 
 broadened by experience in the ^Mexican War, in which no one 
 of ecjual rank won more honor. Captain Grant came to Galena. 
 
Such was the Captain's reputation for general knowledge and 
 good judgment that in the debates of a local club and the 
 political discussions of 1860, vexed questions were referred 
 to him, and his opinion or decision was accepted. 
 
 In this way our future General became acquainted with 
 John A. Rawlins, a young and rising lawyer, who was the 
 Douglas Elector for that District, and who afterwards became 
 his Chief of Staff, a Major-General and Secretary of War of the 
 United States. 
 
 William R. Rqwley, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Jo Daviess 
 County, later a Brigadier-General and Provost ^larshal on the 
 General's staff. 
 
 Ely S. Parker, Superintendent of the construction of the 
 Galena Post Office and Marine Hospital buildings and the Post 
 Office and Custom House buildings at Dubuque, Iowa, a full- 
 blooded Indian of the Seneca tribe, and Chief of the Six Nations 
 of Northern New York, afterwards a Brigadier-General and 
 Military Secretary of the Old Commander, and the Commis- 
 sioner of Indian Affairs. 
 
 General Parker's Indian name was Do-ne-ho-ga-wa, which 
 signifies "The Keeper of the West Gate." He was the grand 
 nephew of Red Jacket, the famous Indian Chief and Orator of 
 the Six Nations of Northern New York, and the friend of Gen- 
 eral Washington. My relations were very close with General 
 Parker, having been his Assistant in the construction of the 
 U. S. Custom House and Post Office at Dubuque, Iowa, 1860-61. 
 
 John E. Smith, then a jeweler and Treasurer of Jo Daviess 
 County, who later became a Major-General and one of the 
 bravest Division Commanders of that Grand Old Army of the 
 Tennessee, to which the rebel stronghold, Mcksburg, finally 
 surrendered. 
 
 Jasper A. Maltby, a gunsmith, who had seen service in 
 Mexico, and who became a Brigadier in the war so soon to 
 follow. 
 
 All of these have answered the long roll, and are now 
 l)ivouacked on the other shore. Each person here named 
 was my personal and intimate friend to the day of his death, 
 • 6 
 
hence my knowledge of that which relates to each. There 
 remains one other to name, who also, from a private citizen 
 rose to the rank of Major-General, who is still spared to us, 
 and whom so many of you know. I refer to Gen. Augustus 
 L. Chetlain, now of this city. 
 
 Men of such probity, official and social standing in private 
 life, and who rose to such high military rank in that great 
 War of the Rebellion, were the associates of Captain Grant 
 in Galena in 1860-61. 
 
 Asked to accept the position of Orderly Sergeant of a 
 company of "Wide Awakes" by a committee of the most 
 influential citizens of Galena, the Captain quietly declined, 
 saying : 
 
 ."Gentlemen, I thank you for your kind offer, and while 
 I favor such organizations, believing them to be of benefit to 
 the young men, I cannot accept the position. My reason for 
 declining is that, having held a commission as Captain in the 
 Army of the United States, I do not think it becoming in me 
 now to serve a citizen body, though semi-military, as its 
 Orderly Sergeant." 
 
 This decision, however, did not deter the Captain from 
 occasionally meeting with the boys and drilling the company 
 in its facings and marchings, as his sympathies were with the 
 Republicans and he desired the election of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 You all remember how your blood boiled as the electric 
 wires flashed the news of the bombardment of Fort Sumter on 
 that 12th day of April, 1861, w^hen was fired that shot which 
 "was heard around the world," followed on the 15th by the 
 proclamation of the immortal Lincoln calling for 75,000 men 
 to save this Union, and how you sprang to arms. A meeting 
 was called in Galena, as meetings were called throughout the 
 loyal States, to sustain the President and enlist troops. Cap- 
 tain Grant presided at that meeting, and the principal speakers 
 were Hon. E. B. Washburne, Republican Member of Congress, 
 John A. Rawlins, Douglas Elector, and Bushrod B. Howard, 
 Breckenridge Postmaster, afterwards a Captain in the 19th 
 Illinois, who was killed in the service of his country. 
 
 7 
 
I well remember going to that meeting with John A. 
 Rawlins, William R. Rowley, John C. Spare and Jasper A. 
 Maltby, and I never shall forget the answer John A. Rawlins 
 made to some political associate as we entered the court house. 
 This man had urged him not to go upstairs to the court room, 
 saying: "John, you don't want to go up there and talk to 
 
 that crowd; it is a Black Republican meeting." 
 
 Turning to the speaker, his face aglow with the intense fire 
 of patriotism, Rawlins replied: "I am going up to the court 
 room, and I intend to make a speech. We are going to have 
 a great war, and in time of war there are no Democrats or 
 Republicans; there can be but two parties now, one of patriots 
 and the other of traitors." 
 
 He did go into that meeting, and his soul-stirring speech 
 did more than that of any other man toward filling the first 
 company of volunteers which Galena sent to the war, and of 
 which General Chetlain was the first Captain. 
 
 Of Captain Grant's efforts to get into the service of his 
 country, the tender of the same by letter to Col. L. Thomas, 
 then Adjutant-General, U. S. A., which was never answered; 
 his visit to Cincinnati to see General McClellan, who gave him 
 no audience, and his return, discouraged, to Galena, I need not 
 now speak, but of his going to Springfield and appointment 
 by Gov. Richard Yates, our great War Governor, to the 
 Colonelcy of the 21st Regiment, Illinois Infantry Volunteers, 
 I may tell you. 
 
 To our late comrade, Gen. John E. Smith, General Grant 
 was indebted for the presentation of his name to Governor 
 Yates, and his subsequent assignment to duty in the office of 
 Adjutant-General Thomas :Mather at Springfield, Illinois, 
 Comrade Smith, then County Treasurer of Jo Daviess County, 
 afterwards Colonel of the 45th Regiment, Illinois Infantry 
 Volunteers, and Major-General, U. S. A., was then on the staff 
 of Gov. Richard Yates. He was called to Springfield to 
 assist in the organization of the ninety-day troops, called for 
 in the President's proclamation, and as he was leaving Galena, 
 he met Captain Grant, who repeated to him what he had so 
 
 8 
 
often said before: "I would like to secure a position in the 
 service. The Government gave me a military education, and 
 in the event of war I want to re-enter the army and serve my 
 country, I w^ould be pleased, if the opportunity presents 
 itself, that you would say this to Governor Yates." Colonel 
 Smith assured Captain Grant that he would, and they parted. 
 
 Reaching Springfield, the Colonel was soon at work in the 
 Adjutant-General's office, assisting in the enrollment of troops 
 then gathering at "Camp Dick Yates." A few days later 
 Governor Yates came into the office in a bad humor. Every- 
 thing in camp was in confusion, the men lawless and insub- 
 ordinate, and, upon the Governor being asked the cause of the 
 trouble, he replied : 
 
 "This trouble grows out of the effort to assign companies 
 daily reporting for organization into what they call regiments, 
 and there is no one in camp or anywhere else that I know who 
 has any idea as to what a regiment is or how organized." 
 Addressing Colonel Smith, Governor Yates asked: "Do you 
 know anything about organizing a regiment?" The Colonel 
 promptly answered: "No, Governor, I never saw a full 
 regiment in my life." 
 
 This was true of almost every man in civil life in 1861, 
 and also true of many of the officers of the old army at that 
 time. Our military establishment had been so small for forty 
 or more years that, with the exception of the Mexican War, 
 no regiment had been together at any post in our country. 
 
 Again addressing the Colonel, Governor Yates asked: "Do 
 you know of any one who does?" to which the Colonel promptly 
 answered: "Yes, Governor, I do; Captain Grant, who lives 
 in Galena, is a graduate of West Point, was a Captain in the 
 regular army, and saw service in Mexico. He knows the 
 organization of a regiment, and has frequently told me that in 
 the event of a war he would like to re-enter the service, as it 
 was his duty to serve the Government which had given him 
 a military education. He also requested me, as I was leaving 
 home, to say so to you, if the opportunity presented itself, and 
 I am glad you have asked me this question." 
 
 9 
 
This conversation resulted in Governor Yates directing 
 Colonel Smith to write to Captain Grant, and request that he 
 come immediately to Springfield. Grant did so, going there 
 with Captain Chetlain's company from Galena. It was dur- 
 ing the time that Captain Grant was assisting Adjutant-General 
 Mather that Governor Yates received urgent requests for 
 troops to be sent to iMissouri, which, for lack of transportation, 
 he was unable to do. One day, in consultation with Jesse K. 
 Dubois, a man of sterling worth and Auditor of Public Accounts 
 of Illinois, the Governor spoke of the urgent need of troops in 
 Missouri and the difficulty in obtaining transportation, con- 
 cluding by asking the advice of "Uncle" Jesse. 
 
 The Auditor made several suggestions, excellent, but of 
 no avail, when he finally said: "Governor, there is a Cap- 
 tain Grant in General Mather's office who has been a soldier 
 and I like his style. I would suggest that you send for him 
 and ask his advice." 
 
 To this the Governor agreed. Captain Grant was sent 
 for, the situation explained to him, and he was asked what 
 was best to be done. The Captain reflected a moment, and 
 then quietly said: 
 
 "The situation is perplexing. Governor, but if I was com- 
 manding one of those regiments, I would take it to ^Missouri." 
 "How?" asked the Governor, laying before the Captain several 
 telegrams from the Illinois Central and Chicago & Alton rail- 
 road companies, in which they assured the Governor of their 
 inal^ility to furnish any more trains for want of cars or engines, 
 "Hf)w, in the face of those dispatches, could you take a regi- 
 ment to Missouri?" Captain Grant was again asked. 
 
 "I would march it there," replied that quiet, unassuming 
 man. 
 
 Such an idea as soldiers marching through the State of 
 Illinois to Missouri, or to any other State, had never been 
 thought of by Governor Yates, or any one else, at that time, as 
 all troops had been moved by rail into the Border States, but 
 it caused the Governor to reflect. 
 
 Captain Grant and Colonel Smith returned home for a brief 
 
 10 
 
time, the one soon to be summoned to accept the Colonelcy of 
 the 21st Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and the other 
 to follow with the 45th, known as the '' Washburne Lead Mine" 
 Regiment. 
 
 Colonel Grant did march his regiment to the Illinois River, 
 where he was halted to meet a steamer, but the steamer fail- 
 ing to arrive, the regiment was then taken across the State by 
 rail, to Missouri, where it did duty for a time on the Hannibal 
 & St. Joe railroad. 
 
 To you, my old comrades, who followed the great Commander 
 from his first battle at Belmont, Missouri, November 7, 1861, 
 to Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga and through 
 the Wilderness, to his crowning victory at Appomattox Court 
 House, Virginia, April 9, 1865, it is unnecessary to rehearse his 
 battles, for you were a part of them. You know that no Com- 
 mander ever more readily assumed to himself the l^lame for 
 any failure of his plans, or more cheerfully accorded to his 
 soldiers all the honor for his success than did Gen. Ulysses S. 
 Grant. 
 
 Devoted to his army, and with the most implicit confidence 
 in the rank and file, that silent man kept his own counsel, and 
 steadily pursued the enemy until, by the superior intelligence 
 of you men, your bravery and skill in arms, victory crowned 
 his efforts, the enemy was defeated and our Union preserved. 
 
 You all remember how, after Grant's glorious victory at 
 Donelson, the General was relieved from duty, but you may 
 not know the reason. Grant was commanding an army 
 operating west of the Cumberland River, and Buell one on the 
 east. Their department lines were not established when Fort 
 Donelson surrendered, and Nashville was exposed. Grant 
 ordered troops to occupy that city and proceeded there him- 
 self. He thus, unknowingly, entered territory claimed by 
 Buell, upon whose complaint to Halleck, and Halleck's to 
 General .McClellan, then commanding all the armies of the 
 United States, the arrest of General Grant was authorized and 
 he was relieved of his command, which he only regained at 
 Pittsburg Landing through the illness of Gen. C. F. Smith. 
 
 11 
 
Had Grant then been in command of both armies and not bound 
 by undefined lines, he would have marched his victorious army 
 to Nashville, thrown detached commands to Chattanooga, 
 Knoxville, Atlanta and Memphis— for there was no organized 
 force in his front— there established rallying points for the Union 
 men of those States, and recruited at least one-fourth of the 
 men afterwards, driven by force of public sentiment or con- 
 scription into the rebel army. 
 
 To keep Grant, after Donelson fell, from occupying Nash- 
 ville was as absurd as to have said to 8t. Peter, who hoUls the 
 keys to the gates of Heaven: "Thou shalt not enter therein." 
 But such was McClellan's decision and Grant, like the true 
 soldier he was, c^uietly acquiesced. 
 
 Silent as was our great Commander when tiie conversation 
 was light and of no interest, he was the most terse yet fluent 
 conversationalist I ever knew when interested. Walking 
 with General Grant from my own home in Galena to his 
 residence on the east side of the river, soon after his return from 
 that famous tour around the world, in the short space of 
 fifteen or twenty minutes he related to me all the salient points 
 of interest in that triumphal journey through other lands, which 
 served me well in my own tour around the globe a few years 
 later. Seated one day in the Cabinet-room at the White House 
 with our old Commander when President, he detained me 
 several hours to inquire about Galena and old friends. After 
 telling of the many who had removed and the friends who 
 had died, the President said: "Why, General Smith, if these 
 changes continue, Galena, I fear, will soon lose its identity and 
 become like the barrel belonging to a family in Vermont that 
 Senator Luke Poland likes to tell about. Apples were ripe 
 and the season for hard cider was on, when a barrel was brought 
 out to sec if it was still sound enough to be filled with cider, 
 and which it was claimcMl had l)cen in the Whitcomb family 
 from the landing of the Pilgrim Fatliers. The older members of 
 the family cherished the barrel while the younger cared noth- 
 ing for it, and a new stave being necessary, a council was called 
 to ascertain how much of the original remained. One old 
 
 12 
 
uncle told of a new stave here and there, a grandmother of new 
 hoops, while a venerable great-grandfather told of new heads, 
 and so it went on until summing up the evidence it was decided 
 that all which remained of the Mayflower barrel was the bung 
 hole," and the President smiled as he told me the story. I was 
 amused and quietly remarked: "Mr. President, should I ever 
 wish to leave Galena, and desire a Federal appointment 
 elsewhere, I trust you will not think Galena has reached the 
 condition of Senator Poland's barrel and I be all that remains 
 of it." 
 
 The President had a hearty laugh over the story and my 
 suggestion. That my request would have been granted I 
 have evidence in the fact that on the President being informed 
 at a later day, by Mr. L. S. Felt of Galena, of my illness, and 
 suggesting that a territorial appointment to a warmer climate 
 might benefit me, my name was sent to the United States Senate 
 and I was confirmed the same day, March 20, 1874, as Register of 
 a new land office at La Mesilla, New Mexico. The first informa- 
 tion I had of this appointment was an order from Willis Drum- 
 mond, Commissioner, to file a bond of $10,000 and proceed to 
 that far distant post and assume the duties of the office. 
 
 As I had not sought the office, I thanked the President for 
 his remembrance of me and declined, saying: ''Though in ill 
 health, should I accept, it was possible I might gain strength 
 on the 'mutton and garlic' of the Rio Grande Valley, but it 
 was doubtful if I was young enough to live until civilization 
 reached me and the Territory became a State." The latter 
 objection seems to hold good to this day. Having declined 
 this appointment the President soon after offered me a special 
 mission to Mexico, but not wishing to leave Illinois this was 
 also declined. 
 
 It was at this same sitting in the Cabinet-room that I 
 soon discovered the President was holding me to freeze out the 
 many importuning him for office, and I was forcibly reminded 
 of .his memory of persons and appointments, A Member of 
 Congress from Virginia came in and charging the President with 
 appointment of "carpet-baggers" to the Federal offices in his 
 
 13 
 
district, demanded their removal and other appointments. 
 To this the President replied, naming the Federal Judges, 
 Collector of Port, Collector of Internal Revenue, Naval Officer, 
 U. S. Marshal and others, sajdng: "If you will tell me which 
 one of these officers is not a native Virginian, or has not resided 
 in the State long enough to be accepted as one, I will find a 
 place for those you recommend." The M. C. was silent and 
 the interview ended. 
 
 Silent as the Sphinx, when necessary, and modest as a 
 maiden, our Old Commander was communicative when occa- 
 sion required. He was possessed of a quiet humor and could 
 severely rebuke for an improper remark. Msiting a gentle- 
 man's estate when in Great Britain, he was invited out on the 
 links to witness a game of golf. Induced to enter the game 
 and being given a club by the caddy, the General looked 
 earnestly at the ball, then at his club, and having measured 
 the distance carefully made a strike, his club going six inches 
 above the ball. Disappointed at this failure, a more careful 
 estimate was made of length of club and distance to ball and 
 another swing was made, the club striking the ground one foot 
 before reaching the bhll. Without change of countenance, 
 the General made several other efforts to hit the ball, but 
 without success. Returning the club to the caddy, General 
 Grant remarked to the gentleman beside him, "I have always 
 understood the game of golf was good outdoor exercise and 
 especially for the arms. I fail, however, to see what use there 
 is for a ball in the game." 
 
 Of his modesty. General Rawlins told me of the staff' being 
 seated one evening around a bivouac fire engaged in talking 
 of the events of the day. with now and then a story to enliven 
 the spirits, for the fighting had been heavy. An officer visiting 
 the staff started to tell a story, when, catching the General's 
 eye, which seemed to warn him from being too free, he looked 
 around as if to find some one, and not seeing any one lightly 
 remarked, "There are no ladies present." "No," quietly re- 
 marked General Grant, "but there are gentlemen present." 
 No further rebuke was necessary. 
 
 14 
 
Going to Washington, in the interest of Mr. Huntington, 
 the Postmaster of Galena, on the re-election of President Grant, 
 I accompanied ^Ir. Burchard, the Member from that district, 
 and the Illinois delegation, to the White House to urge his 
 reappointment, they fearing if a change was made in this 
 case there would be others in their own districts. After all 
 had recommended and urged, the President quietly replied: 
 "Gentlemen, the people believe that I make all these appoint- 
 ments and hold me responsible for the conduct of these officers, 
 while, in fact, you gentlemen make them. I think it hard if 
 I cannot have the appointment of the Postmaster of my own 
 city. It is my intention to appoint Mr. Houghton," and he did. 
 
 General Grant was upright in all his dealings and a lover 
 of justice to all men. Having the courage of his convictions 
 he dared to " change front" and reverse his rulings and opinions 
 on sulDsequent evidence being presented. A most nota]>le 
 instance of this kind was in the Gen. Fitz John Porter case, 
 where he believed from the evidence given before the military 
 commission that General Porter was guilty of disobedience of 
 orders at Groveton. In this case General Grant had, when 
 President, refused Porter a rehearing and yet, after his term 
 expired recommended the rehearing to his successor, and to 
 no one more than General Grant was Fitz John Porter indebted 
 for his restoration to the army. Meeting General Grant on 
 Broadway, near Wall Street, New York City, shortly after the 
 General's recommendation, my wife and myself were invited 
 to his office near by. We accepted and I there had a long talk 
 with the General on the Fitz John Porter case, he ably present- 
 ing his views, to which I replied: ''General, I only recall my 
 feelings at the time of tlie battle of Groveton and the finding 
 of the court martial. I then thought him guilty. I think so 
 still, though I have read 'The Army under Pope,' by John C. 
 Rope." Taking up a book from his desk and handing it to 
 me. General Grant said: "I, too, have been reading the 
 same book and here is a copy. Mr. Rope began his investi- 
 gation of this subject, believing General Porter guilty of dis- 
 obedience of General Pope's and McDowell's orders, and ended 
 
 15 
 
satisfied that Porter was right or justified in his disobedience 
 and that he should be restored to the army." To this I said: 
 "General Grant, I would not assume to put my judgment 
 against yours, but I will say this: Gen. Fitz John Porter was 
 informed that his line of march led him to the enemy's right 
 flank, and he was ordered to attack on that flank, and if possible 
 the enemy's rear. Porter learned from his advanced post that 
 Longstreet's command was passing Thoroughfare Gap, closing 
 upon Stonewall Jackson, and still he did not attack. I want 
 to ask you if that be true, if it was not doubly imperative 
 upon General Porter to attack the enemy?" To this General 
 Grant replied: "General Smith, I do not understand the 
 situation as you do." Then I said: "General, I would have 
 been very sorry to have commanded a division under the same 
 circumstances with orders from you to fight and not have 
 obeyed the order." To which Grant smiled, and I then said: 
 "General, I see we cannot agree; I bow to your superior judg- 
 ment and will say this, on which I think we can agree. General 
 Porter and some other officers of the Army of the Potomac 
 were not loyal to their commander. Gen. John Pope." To 
 this General Grant assented with a firm "Yes. We will 
 agree that he was not loyal to his commander." And there the 
 subject ended. Meeting General Pope subsequent to this 
 and telling him of my conversation with General Grant, which 
 pleased him very much, he asked me if I would not write him 
 a letter giving the subject as I related, which I did and he 
 thanked me for it. 
 
 For quiet, terse and unanswerable responses to (juestions 
 and subjects presented to him. General Grant was unexcelled. 
 There was nothing more to be said after the General spoke. 
 Witness the following: During the President's advocacy of 
 the Santo Domingo Annexation in 1871, when the feeling for 
 and against the measure was intense in the United States 
 Senate, a member of that body discussing the question with the 
 President expressed his surprise that one whom it was thought 
 should be in favor of the treaty was violently and unfairly 
 opposing it, and regretting as he did this action he was more 
 
 16 
 
than surprised and pained to learn that the member spoken of 
 was an infidel and did not believe in the Bible. ''Are you not 
 surprised to learn this?" asked his visitor. "No," replied the 
 President. "Why, Mr. President?" asked the Senator. "Be- 
 cause he didn't write it," quietly answered Grant. 
 
 When being asked if he did not think he had^nade a mistake 
 in forcing his campaign to Richmond, through the Wilderness, 
 and that he should have taken McClellan's plan and gone up 
 the James River to Richmond, our Old Commander said: 
 "Perhaps I should. I have often thought of the subject and 
 it may be I ought to have taken the James River, but after all 
 conclude that I was right, as I got Richmond and McClellan 
 didn't." And there the subject ended. Such was the quiet, 
 inoffensive and yet conclusive answer to all such questions put 
 to the General, many more of which might be related, but time 
 will not permit and I fear your patience has already been over- 
 taxed. A few more minutes and I am done. 
 
 When Grant became President in 1869, and there was a 
 vacancy in the head of the army, we all looked for the pro- 
 motion of Sherman from Lieutenant-General to General; but 
 who was to be made Lieutenant-General was the question with 
 the old soldiers. 
 
 Grant and Sherman having come from the Army of the 
 Tennessee, the position was conceded to the Potomac or 
 Cumberland armies. The soldiers of the Potomac named 
 Gen. George G. Meade, while those of the Cumberland presented 
 Gen. George H. Thomas, "the Rock of Chickamauga." Judge 
 of the surprise of all when the President named Gen. Philip H. 
 Sheridan. Upon being asked why he did so, the President 
 replied : 
 
 "I would like to have appointed General Meade because 
 he had earned it. I would like to have appointed General 
 Thomas because he deserved it, but there was but one Lieuten- 
 ant-General to commission and there was but one Sheridan." 
 
 General Grant had a high opinion of the military skill of 
 Sheridan and an affection for him which was warmly returned, 
 and yet each had such a sense of justice as would not permit a 
 
 17 
 
wrong to he clone another though it were their own gain. 
 Grant had recommended Generals Meade and Sheridan for 
 promotion to rank of Major-General of the regular army — 
 Meade for his splendid handling of the Army of the Potomac, 
 on the march and in battle, and Sheridan for his glorious 
 victories in th§ Shenandoah. Under the great pressure of 
 those strenuous days the President was unable for some time to 
 take up Grant's recommendations, and when he did Sheridan 
 was appointed a Major-General, U. S. A., November 14, 1864, 
 to rank as such from November 8, 1864, and General Grant was 
 so informed. This was a surprise to the Lieutenant-General, 
 as he had intended to have Meade rank Sheridan. "Little 
 Phil " was sent for, the wishes of Grant made known, and the 
 situation explained. Meade ranked Sheridan as a Brigadier 
 more than one year, was the able commander of the largest 
 army in the field, and General Grant could not permit an act 
 of such injustice to be done him though it were for one so 
 deserving as Sheridan. 
 
 Our gallant "Little Phil" with an equal desire to do right 
 and have justice done a comrade, magnanimously said: "Gen- 
 eral Grant, say nothing of this to General Meade. I will waive 
 rank and serve under him until you can have this matter 
 righted." 
 
 General Grant advised President Lincoln of the situation 
 and again made his recommendation, which resulted in the 
 appointment, November 26, 1864, of George G. Meade as a 
 ^Lajor-General, U. S. A., to rank from August 18, 1864. Can you 
 conceive a more unselfish or honorable act than that of Grant 
 and Slieridan, and do you wonder that when a new promotion 
 was open in which seniority was not a factor that Sheridan was 
 selected? 
 
 The United States Senate afterwards confirmed these ranks 
 and of the dates named: General Sheridan's, January 13, 1865. 
 to rank from November S, 1864, and General Meade's, February 
 1, 1865, to rank from August 18, 1864. 
 
 That our Old Commander, whose honored name this Grand 
 Army Post bears, loved his country is attested by his services 
 
 18 
 
in behalf of the Union and universal freedom. That he loved 
 its starry flag under which he had fought upon a hundred and 
 more battle-fields in the war with Mexico, and the great Rebel- 
 lion, is illustrated in the following incident. In the political 
 campaign of 1868, 1 was in command of the Republican organ- 
 ization of "Tanners" in Galena, and having purchased a 
 forty-foot garrison flag had it swung from my office across 
 Main Street, with a piece of muslin a yard or more wide sewed 
 to the lower end, upon which was painted "Grant and Colfax." 
 I was pleased with it. General Grant was at home, and walk- 
 ing up the street with him one bright day I called his attention 
 to the flag, eulogizing its beautiful stripes and bright stars, 
 when, halting and pointing to our starry banner. General 
 Grant said: "General Smith, I wish you would have that 
 flag taken down, or those names taken off ; there is no name so 
 great that it should be placed upon the flag of our country." 
 The strip of muslin bearing the honored names of Grant 
 and Colfax was taken off, the flag again thrown to the breeze 
 unmarked and in all its pristine beauty. 
 
 Who of you, my comrades, but remembers the long and 
 painful illness of our Old Commander and his soldierly resigna- 
 tion as death approached. 
 
 The Christian world prayed that he be spared yet awhile 
 and all the people of the earth mourned his departure. Not- 
 withstanding his great suffering, his thoughts were of his 
 country; of you, my comrades, and of the vanquished whom 
 through your valor he had conquered; of his family and the 
 dear daughter so far away. The anxiety of our Chieftain 
 to see his loved Nellie is beautifully portrayed in sweet verse 
 by our own poet, Eugene Field. 
 
 God spared his life to see the dear daughter once more, 
 she returning just previous to July 23, ISSo, when his spirit 
 winged its flight to that haven where wars shall be known no 
 more. 
 
 The poem is entitled: 
 
 19 
 
GRANT. 
 
 His listening soul hears no echo of battle, 
 
 No paeon of triumph nor welcome of fame, 
 But down through the years comes a little one's prattle, 
 
 And softly he murmurs her idolized name; 
 And it seems as if now at his heart she were clinging 
 
 As she clung, in those dear distant years, to his knee; 
 He sees her fair face and he hears her sweet singing— 
 
 And Nellie is coming from over the sea. 
 
 AVhile patriot hope stays the fullness of sorrow, 
 
 While our eyes are bedimmed and our voices are low, 
 He dreams of the daughter who comes with the morrow 
 
 Like an angel come back from the dear long ago. 
 Ah! What to him now is a nation's emotion — 
 
 And what for our love or our grief caret h he, 
 A. swift-speeding ship is asail on the ocean, 
 
 .•\nd Nellie is coming from over the sea. 
 
 2f) 
 
ULYSSES S. GRANT POST, No. 28, G. A. R. 
 
 The foregoing address was delivered in the Post Room, 
 Memorial Hall, at the reception given to Gen. Frederick Dent 
 ■Grant, the eldest son of the " (31d Commander," after whom 
 the Post was named. There were six hundred and more guests 
 present to enjoy the occasion. The press had the following 
 and many other kind notices of the reception of General Grant, 
 who has recently been assigned to command this division of the 
 Army of the United States: 
 
 GENERAL GRANT IS HONORED 
 
 Reception Tendered Him in Memorial Hall by 
 G. A. R. Post 
 
 Gen. Frederick Dent Grant, commanding the Department 
 of the Lakes, was tendered a reception last evening at Memorial 
 Hall by the Ulysses S. Grant Post, No. 28, Department of 
 Illinois, Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 Those who received the long line of persons attending 
 the reception were: 
 
 Past Commander of Post W. L. Smith, Rev. Thomas E. 
 Sherman, Gen. Fred D. Grant, Gen. John C. Smith, Mmes. 
 Fred D. Grant and John C. Smith. 
 
 St. Peter's Episcopal Church Choir of fifty voices furnished 
 the music of the evening, under the direction of Prof. Kilner 
 Fox Thomas. 
 
 "Personal Recollections of General Ulysses S. Grant" 
 was the subject of an address by Gen. John C. Smith, Com- 
 mander of the Post, after which General Smith ]iresented Gen. 
 
 21 
 
Fred I). Grant, who told the boys of his doino;s. when but 
 twelve and thirteen years of age, in the movement to the rear 
 of Vicksburg; how "me and General Logan drove the enemy 
 across tiie Big Black," and thanked the comrades of the Post 
 for their splendid reception to himself and Mrs. Grant, and 
 General Smith, the old friend of his father, for the many kind 
 things said of his father. 
 
 An address was also given l)y Rev. Father Sherman, who 
 reminded the comrades that he himself had seen service 
 around Vicksburg, though not yet in his teens. He also spoke of 
 the love and confidence of his father and General Grant for each 
 other and assured the comrades that the affection of the 
 sons of those two great soldiers was as sincere and lasting for 
 eacli otluM- as that of their fathers. The Reverend blather, who 
 had served as Chaplain on the Staff of Gen. Fred D. Grant, 
 in the Philippines, captured the old soldiers, when he humor- 
 ously told of how he had informed a rebel spy near Vicksburg 
 of the strength of the forces then surrounding that Confederate 
 stronghold, and how his father had said he would have to have 
 him shot for giving information to the enemy. 
 
 Clusters of lovely roses were presented Mrs. Fred 1). Grant 
 and Mrs. John C. Smith, as were beautiful bouciuets to Father 
 Sherman and Prof. Kiliier Vox Tliomas. 
 
 The following was the program of the evening: 
 
 22 
 
ULYSSES S. GRANT POST, No. 28 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF ILLINOIS, G. A. R. 
 RECEPTION TO 
 
 General Frederick Dent Grant, U. S. A., Com- 
 manding Department of the Lakes 
 
 Music and singing by St. Peter's Episcopal Church Choir of 
 fifty voices, under the direction of Prof. Kilner Fox 
 Thomas, accompanist John G. Seely. 
 
 Song— "Hail, Columbia" St. Peter's Choir 
 
 Address— " Personal Recollections of General Ulysses S. Grant 
 John C. Smith, Commander 
 
 Song— "Soldiers' Chorus" Faust 
 
 Presentation of General Frederick D. Grant 
 
 Song— "Marching through Georgia" St. Peter's Choir 
 
 Presentation of Father Thomas E. Sherman 
 
 Closing— "America" St. Peter's Choir and Audience 
 
 memorial hall, CHICAGO 
 FEBRUARY 11 , 1904. 
 
 2.3 
 
1 
 
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