CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH
OF
ULYSSES S. GRANT
BY C. B. GALBREATH
CELEBRATION AT POINT PLEASANT, CLERMONT
COUNTY, OHIO
Of all citizens of the United States,
born in Ohio,
the most famous in his day and
generation, as Judge
Hugh L. Nichols has observed, was
General Ulysses S.
Grant. That he still holds that high
place among the
distinguished sons that Ohio has given
to the Republic
and the world was attested by the
outpouring of people
to celebrate the centennial anniversary
of his birth and
by the tributes that on three
successive days fell from
the lips of Ohio's most eminent
official representatives
who came from the nation's capitol to
speak on this oc-
casion.
The weather, which was cool and
threatening on the
morning of Thursday, April 27, 1922,
the first day of
the celebration, gradually settled and
the two succeed-
ing days were almost cloudless. The program care-
fully planned by Judge Nichols and his
associates on
the Centenary committee was
successfully carried out
without change except that occasioned
by the absence
of Governor Davis who was prevented by
illness from
attending. Among the distinguished persons present
was the widow of General Fred D. Grant,
who is the
mother of Major Ulysses S. Grant III
and the Countess
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Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 223
Cantacuzene. No direct descendant of the great gen-
eral was in attendance.
Cincinnati was the preliminary place of
assembly.
President Warren G. Harding, Mrs.
Harding and his
party arrived in the city at nine
o'clock Friday morning.
Among the guests who came with him from
Washing-
ton were Mrs. Fred D. Grant, Mrs. Henry
C. Corbin,
Attorney General of the United States
Harry M.
Daugherty, Private Secretary to the
President George
B. Christian, Jr., Congressman Nicholas
Longworth
and a number of other Ohio congressmen.
The President held a brief reception at
the Gibson
House, from which a little later at the
head of a military
escort and a procession of guests in
automobiles he
proceeded through flag-decked streets,
thronged by
applauding thousands, to the boat
landing at the foot of
Broadway Street.
It had been originally planned that the
President
and his party should go to Point
Pleasant on the steamer
Island Queen and return to Cincinnati on the Morning
Star. By request from Washington a change was or-
dered in this arrangement and the
President made the
trip to Point Pleasant and return on
the United States
Government steamer Cayuga. A
large crowd boarded
the vessels of the Coney Island
Steamship Company,
including the Island Queen and
the Morning Star, and
the pageant was imposing as the vessels
steamed up the
river.* At the villages on either shore and on all the
roads leading to the river people had
gathered to wit-
ness the procession and wave their
greetings. At New
* In order the vessels were: Cayuga,
Scioto, Miami, Island Queen,
Morning Star, America, East St.
Louis, Homer Smith.
224
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Richmond they had assembled in large
numbers to hail
the passing pageant.
Scarcely had the Island Queen passed
the village
when an accident occurred that was for
a brief time a
matter of serious concern. As seen from the topmost
deck of the vessel the third and fourth
decks sank for
a short distance, remained stationary
for a moment and
then went down with a terrific crash
that echoed across
the water. On the fourth deck, which followed the
third in its downward plunge, was the
military band
from Fort Benjamin Harrison. It had
commenced play-
ing a short time before the accident,
and true to its train-
ing for emergencies, continued to play
as the decks went
down, though some of the soldiers were
thrown from their
seats in the fall. Without doubt this
did much to allay
fears and prevent a panic among the
seventeen hundred
passengers of the boat. Fortunately
comparatively few
persons were under these decks when
they went down.
The cool morning air and a stiff breeze
down the river
had sent most of the passengers to the
salon and the
rear of the vessel. The brief check in
the downward
descent of the decks gave opportunity
for the pas-
sengers underneath to escape and a
comparatively few
were caught. One of the newspapers on the day fol-
lowing stated that forty-four persons
were injured, two
of them fatally. Many of the injuries,
however, were
slight and there were no fatalities,
though it was
thought for a time that two of the injured
could not
recover. The Manchester Boys' Band, which was
playling on the second deck, suffered
most from the fall
of the deck above, which caught a
number of the boys
before they could escape. This accident was the only
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 225
incident that marred the three days'
celebration and it
would have been much more serious had
it occurred
earlier in the trip when the front
decks of the vessel
were crowded with passengers.
A great crowd of people were waiting to
greet the
President and his party at Point
Pleasant, the birthplace
of Ulysses S. Grant. He proceeded promptly to the
site of the house in which the General
was born, a por-
tion of which is still standing
there. From this little
lean-to kitchen he emerged, proceeded
to the speakers'
stand close by and bowed to the
greetings of the great
multitude that had assembled. With him were Mrs.
Harding, Mrs. Fred D. Grant, Mrs.
Corbin, Attorney
General Daugherty and General J. Warren
Keifer, in
spite of his eighty-six years erect and
sturdy, the only
surviving major general of the Civil
War. The
speakers' stand was equipped with the
magnavox that
not only carried the President's voice
to the limits of the
surrounding multitude but to the
passengers who re-
mained on board the vessels in the
river below. By
special arrangement his voice was also
carried to distant
Cincinnati where thousands of people
assembled heard
him as distinctly as did those in his
immediate presence.
Even the chatters of the birds that
were flitting about
in the trees, evidently somewhat
disturbed by this un-
usual spectacle, were heard in
Cincinnati.
Following the invocation Judge Hugh L.
Nichols,
in the absence of Governor Davis,
delivered an appro-
priate impromptu introductory
address. There was
music by the band and a solo,
"Tenting on the Old Camp
Ground," by Miss Florence
Enneking. President
Harding then delivered the following
address:
Vol. XXXI-15.
226 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
"MY COUNTRYMEN: The military
hero of the Republic; a
commanding figure in the military history of the world;
the sur-
passing exemplar of magnanimity of all
times; the most striking
example of the possibilities in American
life; the confident and
relentless commander in war, and the
modest and sympathetic pe-
titioner for peace after victory!
"All of these may be said, most
befittingly, of the great Ameri-
ican whose hundredth birthday
anniversary we are met to com-
memorate, to whose undying fame we add
fresh tribute of mem-
ory today.
"In that inevitable contemplation
incident to the preparation
of an address for this occasion, I have
pondered again and again,
what distinction, or what attribute, or
better, what attributes and
achievement, of General Ulysses S. Grant
appeals to me most.
He looms majestic in the blend of them
all - his fame is secure.
"One must revere his military
genius, even though its de-
velopment was one of those miracles of
grim war itself. No one
would have picked him in youth or early
manhood, or in his early
career as a regular officer, for the
great commander. Responsi-
bility and necessity set ablaze the
latent genius. Donelson was
a flash of daring, Vicksburg his trophy
of courage and unalter-
able determination, Petersburg the
revelation of his genius. But
at Appomattox he was Grant the
Magnanimous, who spoke for
reunion as he had fought for union, and
turned from grim war-
rior to ambassador of peace. He could
neither hate nor humili-
ate, and in the very glow of surpassing
triumph he could not be
ungracious or inconsiderate.
"In that supreme moment of victory,
with union saved at un-
utterable cost, he seems to have
surveyed the many disappoint-
ments, the measureless sacrifices and
the indescribable sorrows.
He felt the assurance of the Nation
preserved, and yet the one
sweeping utterance from his great heart
was 'Let us have peace'.
"Undoubtedly the task of
reconstruction was lightened be-
cause of Grant's moderation. At the
height of the struggle he
would accept the capitulation of Fort
Donelson only on condi-
tions of "unconditional
surrender;" but when the fighting was
over, he changed from severity to
moderation and generosity.
In the conclusion of his report to the
Secretary of War some
months after Appomattox, he first paid
his tribute to the valor of
the armies he had commanded, and then
concluded with this
sentence:
" 'Let them hope for perpetual
peace and harmony with that enemy,
whose manhood, however mistaken the
cause, drew forth such herculean
deeds of valor.'
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 227
"I cannot but feel that there is
for us a lesson in the con-
cluding sentences of the note in which
he proposed to receive
the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. Those
sen-
tences read:
"'The armies, artillery, and public
property to be parked and
stacked, and turned over to the officer
appointed by me to receive them.
This will not embrace the side arms of
the officers, nor their private
horses or baggage. This done, each
officer and man will be allowed to
return to their homes, not to be
disturbed by United States authority so
long as they observe their paroles and
the laws in force where they may
reside.'
"To that he added the verbal
agreement with General Lee
that every man of the Confederate Army
who claimed to own a
horse or mule, should be permitted to
take the animal home.
General Lee observed that these
conditions would have a happy
effect upon his army. Within a few hours
after the capitulation
had been signed, largely by reason of
the generosity of its terms,
the men of the two armies were freely
fraternizing, and the cap-
tured supply trains of the Confederates
had been placed again at
their disposal, in order that the
half-famished soldiers might be
properly fed. Describing this incident
in his Memoirs, General
Grant wrote:
"'I said (in talking with General
Lee) I took it that most of the
men in the ranks were small farmers. The
whole country had been so
raided by the two armies that it was doubtful
whether they would be able
to put in a crop to carry themselves and
their families throughout the next
winter without the aid of the horses
they were then riding. The United
States did not want them, and I would,
therefore, instruct the officers that
I left behind, to receive the paroles of
his troops, to let every man of the
Confederate Army who claimed to own a
horse or mule take the animal
to his home. Lee remarked again that
this would have a happy effect.'
"In making such conditions, in thus
recognizing the vast
difficulties of consolidating the peace
won through years of suf-
fering and privation, there spoke the
great, true heart of the man
who could see into the future and
realize its problems.
"Many years later, when his life
was ebbing, and he strug-
gled to the end of his memoirs, all the
American people knew of
his brave fight, and the inevitable
outcome, and the man of mag-
nanimity found himself the recipient of
a genuinely nation-wide
sympathy. His acknowledgment in the
closing paragraph of his
exceptional book reveals the soul of a
great life. Concerning
these kindly expressions he wrote, at
the very conclusion of his
Memoirs:
"'I am not egotist enough to
suppose all this significance should be
be given because I was the object of it.
But the war between the States
228 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
was a very bloody and a very costly war.
One side or the other had to
yield principles they deemed dearer than
life before it could be brought to
an end. I commanded the whole of the
mighty host engaged on the vic-
torious side. I was, no matter whether
deservedly so or not, a representa-
tive of that side of the controversy. It
is a significant and gratifying fact
that Confederates should have joined heartily in this
spontaneous move.
I hope the good feeling inaugurated may
continue to the end.'
"He saw union follow disunion, but
it was not his to live to
see complete concord where discord had
flourished. I wish he
somehow might know that in the more than
a third of a century
since his one and only surrender, the
indissoluble ties of union
have been more firmly riveted, and in
the shared burdens and
triumphs of American progress we have
indeed continued at
peace at home. Geographical sectionalism
is only a memory now,
and Mason and Dixon's line remains only
a historical record,
where an ambiguity in the Federal
Constitution was wiped out,
and the Nation resumed the onward march
on its destined way.
"Seemingly, it was a long time in
which to re-establish a con-
cord so manifestly essential to the
Nation's greater achievements,
but the understanding of the magnificent
Lee was not universal
throughout the South, the magnanimity of
Grant was not mani-
fest throughout the North. Wounds had to
be healed, and par-
tisan politics temporarily profitted
more in irritation than in heal-
ing. But the war with Spain consecrated
North and South to a
common cause, and the sacrifice and
nation-wide service in the
World War revealed the common American
soul. Grant, the
great nationalist, who appraised union
and nationality above all
the frightful cost and suffering, would
rejoice to acclaim the
Republic of today.
"I do not mean to say that
everywhere in our land we are
all in complete accord about
fundamentals of government or the
basic principles upon which society is
founded. But the sec-
tionalism of Grant's and Lee's time has
been effaced, and the
geographical divisions which hindered
the formation of the
Union, and later threatened its
disruption, have given way to
the far less menacing divisions which
have challenged all civili-
zation, and which make the ferment out
of which all progress
comes. We are today incontestably one
people, with a common
purpose, universal pride, nation-wide
confidence, and one flag.
The contentions which beset us are not
ours alone, they are the
irritants to civilization throughout the
world. They are not to
be ignored, but they have never halted
the human procession,
and will not hinder the progress of this
firmly founded Republic.
"Grant was himself the supreme
example of American op-
portunity. Standing before his humble
birthplace, amid the sur-
roundings of his obscure boyhood life,
one doubts if three-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 229
quarters of a century ago anyone should
have sought here for
the military chieftain of a century. We have not a few,
even
today, who think small-town vision to be
pitifully circumscribed.
And yet this little Clermont County
furnished in Ulysses S. Grant
and Henry C. Corbin two of the thirteen
lieutenant generals who
have been commissioned in all our
history.
"Grant had even less of likelihood
to eminence than his un-
promising and unprophetic beginning.
There was the suggestion
of mediocrity in his development, and
even the steadfastness of
his early manhood was stamped with
failure. But there was the
inheritance of quality, and he dwelt and
grew rugged in the free-
dom of democracy.
"Even the beckoning opportunity of
war left him seemingly
unfavored by fate. Politically he was
out of accord with the
Master Martyr who became his commander
in chief. But he
believed in Union and the Nation
supreme. He brought to the
armed service preparedness to command,
sturdiness of purpose,
patience and forbearance, great
generosity of soul, and a confi-
dence never to be shaken. The seizure of
opportunity, more to
serve than to achieve, made him victor,
and the quiet man, garbed
in failure at Galena, marched to the
surpassing heights of mili-
tary glory. All conquering in command
and magnanimous in
his triumph, the world saw the soldier
and the man, the soldier
adored and the man beloved.
"Other military leaders hitherto
had mounted to lofty heights
in the annals of human history. It is
useless to compare, but it
is befitting to recall that General
Grant was not making con-
quest of territory or expanding empire.
He was only seeking to
preserve. He did not fight to enslave;
he only battled to sustain
Lincoln, whom God inspired to bestow
freedom. He did not
seek to punish or destroy; he was
fighting to save and reunite.
In his heart were no drastic terms of
surrender; he craved the
blessings of peace restored.
"The other day I received a letter
from an old gentleman
now living at Annapolis, Maryland, Mr.
James W. Owens, who
at the age of eighty-two is still
practicing law in Maryland's
capital city. He related an incident in
his own career that was
so characteristic of General Grant that
it was worth repeating.
He told me that he was a soldier in
General Lee's army, sur-
rendered at Appomattox, and returned to
his home in Maryland.
There he was confronted with an order of
the Union general
commanding the Department of Maryland,
which required that
all paroled Confederates should take the
oath of allegiance. Mr.
Owens in his letter to me explained:
230 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
"'As Dick Taylor and Kirby Smith
were still fighting, I declined
and was put in prison, and released on
condition that I would leave the
State. I went with an exiled comrade to
see General Grant. We left a
note, explaining our banishment, and he
immediately issued an order say-
ing that in accepting the surrender of
General Lee he had made it a con-
dition that the paroled men should
return to their homes, and there remain
as long as they observed the conditions imposed. Not
designating a loyal
or disloyal State, General Grant
directed that the general in command in
Maryland should rescind his order. I
accordingly returned here, and here
I am yet, at the age of eighty-two. We
veterans of the Confederacy have
only a feeling of good will for his
memory.'
"I wonder sometimes if the
magnanimity of Grant, the
dogged, persistent, unalterable Grant in
warfare-the Uncon-
ditional surrender Grant-would not be
helpful in the world
today. The great world struggle, which
we might reasonably
designate the Civil War of western
civilization, and in which we
so creditably and helpfully
participated, left peoples and nations
prostrate, hardly knowing which way to
turn for restoration. I
can not help but believe that something
of the spirit with which
Grant welcomed victory, something of his
eagerness to return
to peaceful ways, would have speeded the
restoration and
hastened the return to prosperity and
happiness, without which
there can be no abiding peace. He
perpetuated no resentments
of war. Perhaps he felt his own wounds
which came of calumny,
recalled how he was humiliated through
misunderstanding, and
menaced by jealousy and hampered by
politics. But he clung
to his vision of union restored, and
believed the shortest route
to peace to be the surest way of lasting
triumph.
"Many an incident of the war, many
a revelation of his
sturdy character showed that his face
was set on the one supreme
achievement-union and the preserved ark
of the American
covenant of liberty. No hurting heart,
no rivalry, no triumph
of other commanders, no promotion of the
aspiring or deserving,
could remove his gaze from the great end
sought. He wrote
Sherman, in Grant-like simplicity and
sincerity, that he would
serve under him as willingly as over
him, to attain preserved
union. Out of such consecration, out of
such unchanging de-
votion, came his signal victory.
"It is not hard to understand
effective endeavor and inspir-
ing leadership where men are consecrated
to service. He was
not concerned about his individual
fortune, he was battling for
the Union. He was not seeking
self-promotion, he was fighting
for the Nation. Rivals sought his
removal and disgrace, but he
kept on fighting. Lincoln repulsed his
enemies. 'I can't spare
this man; he fights,' was all Lincoln
would say. He fought for
a preserved Union and restored Nation,
and succeeding genera-
tions are richer because of his example.
One may guarantee the
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232 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
security of this Republic so long as
leaders among men put the
country's good above personal and
political advantage.
"It is not to be said of Grant that
he sought to preserve a
political or social order, or even a
government, which had es-
pecially favored him. He was too little
favored by the existing
order. Nor can it be said that he sought
personal or political
popularity. These things were apart from
his early life.
"It is conceivable that men are
prejudiced in their attitude
toward great problems by their own experiences - more
by their
disappointments than their successes.
Grant's own experience in
life might have led a less deliberate
character to welcome an
upheaval, or disunion, or any reversal
to the government. But
this silent man did not appraise his
country by the scale of his
own misfortunes.
"He had seen much of the Republic.
In boyhood he drove
often to Cincinnati and saw the
developing city, much as he
saw St. Louis later on, in his early
married life. Between these
two periods of observation he had
graduated from West Point,
he had served creditably in the Mexican
War, and was stationed
as a military officer on the Pacific
coast.
"He saw the westward course of the
star of empire. He
saw two typical American cities grow
under the impulse of im-
migration and an expanding Republic. He
saw the foreigner
come to breathe deeply in the atmosphere
of American freedom
and stand erect amid the inspirations of
American citizenship.
He saw the schooling children,
rollicking in the laughter of
youth and freedom and equality, garbed
in essentially the same
raiment, no matter whence they came, and
walking in the light
of the same opportunity. He saw the
dreams of the founding
fathers more than made true. He
cherished the inheritance which
came of their heroism, and he chose to
hand that inheritance on
to his children and his children's
children.
"There must have come some such
appraisal to this ordinary
American boy when grown to manhood. He
had yearned for
no star, dreamed of no destiny. He
merely went the normal
way, face ever forward, ready to quicken
his step when oppor-
tunity called or responsibility
summoned. Like most men who
have left their names conspicuous on the
rolls of public service,
responsibility brought forth the
greatness of his heart and mind
and soul.
"He no more resented criticism than
he courted applause.
He made no outcry against failure, he
trusted his own convic-
tions and clung to them with a calm
fidelity which challenged
every crisis. His modesty was as notable
as his serenity was
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 233
reassuring. Surely in such a breast
there was an appraisal of
his country, which made consciousness of service the
compen-
sation for every denial, and a healing
salve to every hurt.
"We know he wished the Republic to
go on. His 20 years
of public and private life, following the war, give
proof enough.
Though he proclaimed the doctrine of
moral disarmament at
Appomattox, he believed in a nation
equipped for righteous de-
fense. But no aggression was in his
breast.
"We know his cherishment of peace,
intensified by his in-
timate knowledge of the horrors of war.
I can well believe he
would have approved all that the
Republic has so recently done
in joining other nations in lifting the
burdens of armament and
promoting understandings which make war
less likely. I know
he would have approved, because we
surrendered no independ-
ence, we gave up none of nationality for
which he fought, but
we have furthered the assurances of
peace, which was the su-
preme yearning of his great, brave
heart.
"It is fifty-seven years since
Grant garlanded victory with
magnanimity. It is thirty-seven years
since he laid down the
wearied autobiographer's pen and made
his one and only sur-
render. His fame is secure. The Republic
has not forgotten
and will not forget.
"What of the Republic itself? It
will not be unseemly to
say that American example and American
conception of justice
and liberty since then have influenced
the world little less sig-
nificantly than Grant's service to the
Union shaped the course of
our own land.
"A score of new republics have
unfurled their flags, and
democracy has opened new avenues of
liberty and made justice
more secure. Civilization meanwhile has
made such advances
that there has seemed a divinity
pointing the way. And yet
that very civilization, more advancing
than entrenched, was
threatened by the World War, and in
war's aftermath established
order has been assaulted and revolution
has threatened through-
out the world. In our own land the
enemies within have been
more threatening than those without.
Greed and anarchy have
menaced. But a calm survey gives every
reassurance. Twenty
centuries of modern civilization could
not have been builded on
foundations which are false. A century
and a half of gratifying
American achievement dates from the
sacrifices of the founding
fathers, and their firm structure was
preserved by the patriots
whom Grant commanded, and will be held
secure by the patriotic
citizenship of the Republic today and
the grateful Americans
of the morrow."
234
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
Much has been written about the cottage
in which
General Grant was born. To those who
attended the
Centenary at Point Pleasant, a lean-to
little kitchen in
the rear of a small two story building
on the grounds
formerly occupied by the Grant cottage
was pointed
out as a remaining portion of the
original cottage.
Local histories, however, carry the
information that
the lean-to kitchen was built after the
Grant family had
moved away.
Accounts of the building of the Grant
cottage and
its builders vary somewhat in
detail. A history of
Clermont and Brown Counties published
in 1913 is
authority for the statement that, on
June 24, 1821, Jesse
R. Grant who had earlier come from
Ravenna, Ohio,
married Hanna Simpson, of Clermont
County. Soon
afterward they took up their residence
in "a strong
frame house, covered with good full
inch Allegheny
pine, and containing two nice rooms
with a cellar, where
none of their simple needs were
stinted." Here Ulysses
S. Grant was born April 27, 1822. Jesse
R. Grant was
a tanner by trade, having followed this
occupation on
the Western Reserve, at one time with
John Brown "of
Osawatomie and Harper's Ferry
fame." He moved
with his young bride to Point Pleasant
to take charge of
a tannery that had been erected there.
The Grant cottage has sometimes been
represented
as a "log cabin" and as a
"log cabin weather-boarded."
In fact, as the building still clearly
shows, it was neither
but a substantial, small, one-story,
frame building of
two rooms. We learn that it was
provided with a well-
walled cellar, ample for the storage of
a goodly supply
of fruits and vegetables. Very humble
and unpreten-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth of Ulysses S. Grant 235 tious it seems today, but at the time when Grant was born it was one of the most comfortable dwellings in the little hamlet. The cottage has had a rather interesting career. After Grant became famous as warrior and President |
|
of the United States, the owner conceived the idea that a neat sum might be made by moving the cottage about to fairs and expositions and charging a small fee to see this historic relic. At the time of the Cincinnati Cen- tennial Exposition the cottage, minus the lean-to kitchen |
236
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
which was left in Point Pleasant, was
set up on the
banks of the canal outside of the
Exposition grounds
in the Queen City. Here a young school
teacher, thor-
oughly familiar with the history of the
cottage and the
distinguished man who was born in it,
gave brief talks
on both and invited visitors to pay the
fee and enter.
It was here that Henry T. Chittenden,
of Columbus,
saw the little cottage and the use to which
it was put.
He had been well acquainted with
General Grant who
died only a few years before, in 1885,
and as he listened
to the talk of the teacher and saw the
people coming and
going to this unattractive spot on the
bank of the canal,
this cheap exhibition of the cottage
seemed to him
little short of profanation. After he left Cincinnati
this thought remained with him and he
determined to
make an effort to rescue the cottage
and place it where
it would be carefully preserved for
future generations,
Ohioans especially, to whom it was sure
to be an object
of increasing interest through coming
years.
To effect a purchase of the building,
if possible, he
took with him to Cincinnati William F.
Burdell, then a
young banker of Columbus, and at
present an officer of
the State Savings Bank and Trust
Company in that city.
Mr. Burdell after spending some time
with the owner
finally negotiated the purchase for Mr.
Chittenden and
the cabin was brought from Cincinnati
and erected on
the Fair Grounds at Columbus, where it
was an object of
great interest during the Ohio
Centennial of 1888. In
1896 the cottage was enclosed in a
substantial building
of masonry and glass on the Ohio State
Fair Grounds,
where it is viewed every year by
thousands of visitors.
In the removal of the cabin from
Cincinnati to
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 237
Columbus the teacher who had charge of
it when he
first saw it was employed by Mr.
Chittenden. He aided
in the re-erection of the building on
the State Fair
Grounds and in its presentation to
visitors at the Cen-
tennial. The building enclosing the
Grant cottage was
completed in 1896 by the Ohio State
Board of Agri-
culture and at the fair in that year
was dedicated with
appropriate ceremonies, including an address
by Mr.
Chittenden. On other pages of this
issue will be found
the essential portions of that address
and an account of
the dedicatory ceremonies.
After the speech of President Harding
at Point
Pleasant, many of the visitors who came
on the boats
made use of the brief interval before
the return in a
hasty survey of the little village. In
spite of a rather
liberal use of the paint brush
preparatory to this occa-
sion, one could not help feeling that
Point Pleasant, like
Rip Van Winkle, was waking up from the
sleep of a
century and rather confusedly rubbing
its eyes. The
population is now perhaps not more than
it was one
hundred years ago and the industrial
enterprise of the
place when little Ulysses S. Grant
first opened his eyes
to the light was without doubt greater
than it is today.
Someone has said that in Europe a
village expects al-
ways to remain so; in America every
village expects to
become a city. It may seriously be doubted whether
this ambitious expectation is
entertained in Point Pleas-
ant today. There has sprung up
recently, however, if
we may credit report, an ambition to
establish a national
or state park in Clermont County on the
Ohio that will
include the historic and delightfully
situated village of
Point Pleasant.
238
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
One of the visitors on this occasion
saw a flag wav-
ing from a small building at the street
corner in which
a restaurant was established for the
day. This ap-
peared to be a service flag of the
World War. On it
were twenty-five stars, four of them
gold stars. He
stepped into the restaurant and asked
the significance of
the flag -adding that he presumed it
represented the
contribution of the village to the
World War.
"Does that flag indicate the
number of men who
went from Point Pleasant to the World War?" he
asked.
"I don't know," said the
woman at the counter.
"Have a cup of coffee?"
"Yes, please," said the
visitor, hoping still to elicit
some information. "Did four of the
soldier boys from
this place lose their lives in the
war?"
"I don't know," was the
response. "Have a sand-
wich ?"
As the sandwiches were not especially
inviting in
the rather gloomy little room the
visitor passed on. He
was kindly directed by a citizen of the
village to the
old tannery, still standing, which
Jesse Grant managed
while he was in Point Pleasant.
It appears that the father of General
Grant was very
successful in a business way during his
short stay at
Point Pleasant. He remained there but twenty-two
months and when he moved to Georgetown,
the county
seat of Brown County, he took with him
in addition to
his little family eleven hundred
dollars "of which one
thousand was in silver, which proves
that he was one in
a thousand."
After the conclusion of the program at
Point Pleas-
(239) |
240
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ant, the President's boat, followed in
order by the other
vessels, returned without incident of
note to the city of
Cincinnati, from which later the
President and his party
proceeded to Washington.
CELEBRATION AT BETHEL, CLERMONT COUNTY,
OHIO
The morning dawn of April 28 was cloudy
and cold
but early in the forenoon the skies
cleared, the sun shone
brightly and the weather was ideal for
the second day
of the Grant Centenary at the historic
village of Bethel.
One coming from the humble hamlet of
Point Pleas-
ant for the first time to Bethel is
agreeably surprised on
his arrival. The village impresses him
at once with the
fact that here is a wide awake, modern,
progressive
community. What the ambitions of Bethel
are we did
not learn, but there is no reason why
the village should
not in due time become a prosperous
city. A fine
modern school building has recently
been erected. A
number of churches are in
evidence. The merchants
along the main thoroughfare seem to be
prosperous.
Manufacturing establishments have been
built up in
recent years. Comfortable residences
have been erected
along the well paved streets. What the
visitor sees on
either hand impresses him with the thought
that here
would certainly be a pleasant place to
live.
At Point Pleasant, as one looked over
the vast as-
sembly on the shore and the hillside he
naturally asked
himself whether these people all came
here to honor
a general and president who years ago
passed away, or
to welcome and applaud the president of
today who
came to deliver the principal address.
At Bethel and
on the following day at Georgetown, the
interest in the
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 241
event celebrated answered any mental
questions in re-
gard to what called forth the crowds of
people. Two
United States Senators, Willis and
Pomerene, spoke at
these two places. President Harding was not present.
Many of the persons assembled had heard
the United
States Senators before, and while the
presence of either
of them would call forth good sized
audiences in any
part of the state, the personalities of
the speakers at the
celebrations in Bethel and Georgetown
would not alone
account for the vast audiences. The correspondent of
the Cincinnati Enquirer estimated
the crowd that lis-
tened attentively to the address of
Senator Willis at
twelve thousand. The exercises were introduced by
an invocation, music and remarks by the
chairman of
the day. An eloquent address was
delivered by Con-
gressman Kearns who paid a glowing
tribute to "that
remnant of the grand army that followed
Grant."
Many veterans of the Civil War occupied
places of
honor on the speakers' stand. The following paper
written by Miss Louise Abbott, a school
teacher of Cov-
ington, Kentucky, but a resident of
Bethel, was read in
her absence by Honorable Charles A.
Brannock, an at-
torney of the village and former State
Representative:
"THE GRANTS IN BETHEL
"In 1840 there came to
the village of Bethel the family of the
man whom we meet today to honor. Jesse
R. Grant and Hannah
Simpson Grant with their family lived
first in the house on Plane
Street now occupied by Mr. George Clare.
Later they moved
into the residence afterward known as
the Allen House, and
finally Mr. Grant bought the property
across the street built by
Senator Morris, and here the Grant
family remained during their
residence in Bethel. The front portion
of this house, which stood
on this spot, was destroyed by fire many
years ago and the re-
maining part of the building was razed
recently.
"For the following information we
are indebted to Dr. W. E.
Vol. XXXI-16.
242 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Thompson, who remembers well the Grant
family and Ulysses
S. Grant as a cadet at West Point; to
Mrs. Ella Beck, who re-
members the family in Bethel, and to the late Ezekiel
South and
N. B. Morris, early residents of Bethel
who a number of years
ago gave the writer some very
interesting reminiscences of the
Grant family.
"It is a well know fact that
Ulysses had been appointed to
West Point before the family came to
Bethel from Georgetown,
so the earliest memories of him in this
town are as a cadet, when
he came home to visit his parents. The
story of his experience
with Harrison Scott has been told by the
great general himself
in his Memoirs and retold by
others so often that it is not neces-
sary to repeat it here. The sequel,
however, was omitted because
of the modesty of General Grant, and we
shall tell it later.
"Dr. Thompson gives us the
following description of the
parents of Ulysses S. Grant: Jesse R.
Grant was a man of rather
sedate manners, large, bony frame, dark
hair, high cheek bones,
and wore burnside whiskers. He was near
sighted and slightly
stooped. Mrs. Grant was a small, quiet,
good-looking woman.
"The names of the younger children
were Samuel, Clarissa,
Virginia, Orville and Mary. While their
elder brother was at
West Point, these were in school in the
old three-story brick
building in Bethel, which stood north of
the present school build-
ing.
"The tannery owned by Jesse R.
Grant was at the south-
west corner of Charity and Water
Streets. It was a large frame
building, part of which had been the old
Baptist Church. The
teams used to haul to Cincinnati the
great rolls of tanned hides
and bring back quantities of buffalo
skins for tanning. It took
about three years to complete the
tanning process. When the
time came to dry the skins, they were
hung on the fences. Dr.
Thompson tells us that he has seen them
on the fences on both
sides of the road from the corner of the
Floyd property down
the hill to the tannery, west on Water
Street to Union and south
on Union to the top of the hill. The
Jesse R. Grant tannery
must have been a big affair in those
days. The only sale for
leather in the village was to Moses
Warden, a saddler, so the
greater part of it was taken by wagon to
Cincinnati.
"When the village was incorporated,
Jesse R. Grant was
elected first Mayor and was twice
re-elected. There are some
few documents extant which bear his
signature as Mayor. One
of these, now in the possession of Mr.
A. H. Beck, is a deposition
by James Denham, son of the proprietor
of Bethel, in which he
tells of the widening of Plane Street by
consent of the property
owners. A number of tools used in the
tannery are now in the
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth of Ulysses S. Grant 243 possession of citizens of Bethel. Some years ago L. W. Pemberton bought the old work bench used in the tannery and made many canes, paper weights, etc. from it. These are to be found in a number of Bethel homes. "An incident related concerning a trial over which Jesse R. Grant presided, is as follows: Two men were brought before him for fighting. The trial was held in the currying room of the tannery. Some small boys had climbed upon a heap of rolls of tanned hides. During the proceedings, one of these boys rolled off and fell with his legs knee-deep in a tub of dubbing which |
|
was very close to the Mayor's chair. As this mixture consisted of fish-oil and tallow, the boy's predicament gave much amuse- ment to the crowd. "While Ulysses Grant was at home, he rode a beautiful bay horse named Agua Nova, which belonged to his father. He rode well and was often seen riding about with one of the Morris girls who was an accomplished horse-woman. During his service in the Mexican War, his father spoke with much pride of his con- duct in the war, and well he might, for the young man was already showing his great ability as a military man. Upon his return |
244
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
from the Mexican War, he brought with
him a little Mexican boy
who afforded much entertainment to the
Bethel people for a time
by lassoing children and playing pranks.
He proved a little too
much of a charge, however, and was sent
back home.
"The next lengthy stay of Ulysses
S. Grant in Bethel was
after his marriage to Miss Julia Dent,
of St. Louis. They made
this their home for some time and two of
their children, Nellie
and Ulysses, Jr., were born here. In
1854 Jesse Grant moved to
Covington, Ky., and the Bethel people
saw little of them until the
time of the Civil War; then some of the
boys from our town re-
newed their acquaintance with the great
general. In his Memoirs
General Grant speaks of his boyish pride
in his uniform and
how the jeers of a Cincinnati boy and
the teasing of Scott in
Bethel made him cease to wear it.
"A soldier from Bethel, who was
with the 59th O. V. I. at
Pittsburg Landing, says that in the
afternoon of the second day's
fight, he heard cheers at a distance
which came down the line as
there rode in front of the ranks a small
inconspicuous man
covered with mud. His horse was plunging
along throwing the
mud in every direction. The man was
General Ulysses S. Grant,
one of the most unassuming men in the
whole army.
"Now for the sequel of the story of
Harrison Scott. He was
about Grant's age and when the Civil War
began was one of the
first to enlist, going with the three
months' men. When his time
of service expired he re-enlisted and
was with the army of the
Cumberland in the campaign around
Chattanooga. In the fall
of 1863 after the battles of
Chickamauga, Mission Ridge and
Lookout Mountain, Harrison Scott became
afflicted with rheu-
matism. He was forced to walk with two
canes and was very
despondent. He was at this time 44 years
of age. One day, he
said to some of the boys, (we have this
from Mr. F. M. Frazier),
'I am going home.' Of course they
laughed and asked him how
he expected to get to go. He told them
to wait and see. He
then went to General Grant's
headquarters. The orderly told him
he could not see the General as he was busy. 'Will you
tell
him that Harrison Scott wants to see him?' The orderly
did so
and received instructions to admit
Scott. General Grant re-
ceived him cordially, asked about Bethel
friends and then before
the poor man could make a request for a
furlough, his commander
began to speak of his afflction and said he thought
Scott had
better go home. By order of General Grant himself,
Harrison
Scott was discharged for disability. He
came home, recovered
from the rheumatism and again enlisted.
He was discharged for
the last time in 1865, having the unusual record of
being honorably
discharged three times. This little
story goes to show the for-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 245
giving nature of General Grant, and also
that the rather annoying
conduct of Scott as a young man was
little more than a prank,
and not a matter for deep offense.
"The last visit of General Grant to
this neighborhood was in
the early eighties. The writer's father,
Dr. Julius D. Abbott, was
attending physician to Mr. Samuel
Simpson, an uncle of Gen.
Grant, who lived on the old Simpson farm
about four miles west
of Bethel. One morning he went down to
see the old gentleman
and found him very much excited and very
happy. He was to
have a birthday dinner, and a number of
his relatives were to
come, among them, his nephew, Ulysses.
As Dr. Abbott drove
away from the house he saw walking
across the fields from the
railroad station, the greatest military
man of our country, ex-
president of the United States, lately
returned from a tour of the
world in which he had been honored in
every land, now coming
to give a day's pleasure to his old
uncle who was in failing health.
"We shall close with a little bit
of local history which seems
to prove that Providence surely manages
the affairs of men.
"In the old cemetery in the
north-western part of our town
lies the body of Thomas Morris, the
first United States Senator
to speak in the Senate against slavery.
He was ahead of his
times, became very unpopular because of
his views, and finally
lost his seat in the Senate. However, he
felt that some time the
slave would be free, and hurled defiance
in vigorous language at
his opponents.
"Now see how strangely events come
about. While Thomas
Morris was a lawyer in Bethel, he aided
a young man named
Thomas L. Hamer to get legal training.
This young man became
quite distinguished, and was finally
elected to Congress. He ap-
pointed Ulysses S. Grant as a cadet to
West Point. Grant led
the forces that freed the slaves. Bethel
surely played a great part
in the cause of liberty.
"When the call to arms came such a
short time ago, the
youth of Bethel responded in a way that
showed that they had in
their hearts the same love for their
native land that inspired to
such a successful military career the
'son of a tanner'."
Judge Hugh L. Nichols in introducing
Senator Willis
praised Congressman Kearns and the
Senator for their
efficient work in helping to get
through Congress the bill
that made possible the raising of funds
for the Grant
Memorial Highway. He also praised in
generous terms
the achievements and home life of General
Grant.
246 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Senator Willis was accorded a cordial
greeting. In-
troductory to his address he stated
that the paper pre-
pared by Miss Abbott contained much
that he had in-
tended to say. He then delivered his address, which
was punctuated at a number of points by
hearty ap-
plause. He spoke in part as follows:
"FELLOW CITIZENS AND FRIENDS: It is a singular and in-
teresting coincidence that Bethel was
the home of the man who
did more in his day and place to
preserve the foundation of the
Union than was done by any other man of
his generation and at
the same time the home of the man who by
his effort was to make
possible the erection on that foundation
of an enduring structure
-an indissoluble union of indestructible
states.
"Here the lives of Thomas Morris,
the advocate and ex-
pounder, and Ulysses S. Grant, the
soldier and builder, were in-
extricably interwoven and here today a
grateful people in solemn
pride pay tribute to the memory of two
of their former citizens.
Yet these mighty men, the gift of Bethel
and Clermont county
to the Nation, are too great in
character and achievement to be
circumscribed in the narrow compass of
village, county or state.
Thomas Morris and Ulysses S. Grant
belong to the whole Nation,
whose freedom they had such a prominent
part in preserving.
"In yonder cemetery is a marble
shaft bearing an appropriate
inscription. Shortly after my arrival in
Bethel today I found my
way to that monument. No well beaten
path to it indicates that
this shrine is frequented by the
passerby; and yet I felt while
there that it was worth the journey from
our national capital to
stand on this consecrated spot. On
nearer approach I read:
THOMAS MORRIS
LATE
U. S. SENATOR
Was Born January 3rd, 1776
Died December 7th, 1844
Unawed by power and
uninfluenced by flattery
he was through life the
fearless advocate of human
Liberty.
"This inscription is an epitome of
the life of Thomas Morris.
His twenty years of service in the
General Assembly of Ohio
furnished constant exemplification of
his unfailing, courageous
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth of Ulysses S. Grant 247 devotion to free schools, free speech, free soil and free men. His elevation to the United States Senate in 1833 gave larger scope and fuller play to his powers. Unawed by threats, he battled on for the preservation of free government at a time when other great leaders were endeavoring to blow out the moral lights around them in a nation-wide effort to make slavery follow the flag. "The great triumvirate, Clay, Webster and Calhoun, were a unit in demanding that the constitutional right of petition should be overthrown to the end that the shackles of slavery should be forever riveted on the Republic. Calhoun and Clay, Wright and |
|
Preston, Buchanan and Leigh, all leaders of the Senate, united in thunderous demand that not only the limbs of slaves but the minds and consciences of men should be fettered and chained. Slavery was to be preserved and extended at any cost; its op- ponents, few in numbers and limited in influence, were denied the right of even having their petitions heard by Congress. "In this dark hour one voice rang out in the Senate clear as a bugle call. It summoned the discouraged friends of free- dom to battle and sounded uncompromising challenge to any and all who for mere political advantage would enter into a 'covenant with Death and an agreement with Hell.' The speech of Senator Thomas Morris of Ohio, delivered in the Senate on February 9, |
248 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
1839, has never been excelled in that
body in point of courage,
logic or far-reaching effect. It awakened a lethargic
nation from
the stupor of slavery; it saved the
foundation on which Grant and
his soldiers fought and won.
"The Senate and the whole country
were startled by the
deliberate boldness of that speech which
he concluded with these
ringing and prophetic declarations:
"'Though our national sins are many
and grievous, yet repentance,
like that of ancient Nineveh, may yet divert from us
that impending dan-
ger which seems to hang over our heads
as by a single hair. That all
may be safe, I conclude that
the negro wilt yet be free.'
"Ulysses S. Grant and Thomas Morris
were brought together
in another relationship even more
intimate and interesting. Sen-
ator Morris was a great lawyer. There
came to his law office an
awkward country lad seeking an
opportunity to study law. Judge
Morris took this man into his office and
his home. This con-
fidence was not misplaced-the lad became
lawyer, Congressman,
General-the Honorable Thomas Hamer, long
a resident of
Bethel, who gave up his life in the
Nation's service at Monterey
in 1846.
"Thomas L. Hamer and Jesse R.
Grant, the father of
Ulysses, had been warm friends and
belonged to the same debat-
ing society. They were of opposite
political parties; Hamer was
a Democrat and Jesse R. Grant was a
Whig. Political questions
at this time were the chief topics of
discussion and these two men
were usually pitted against each other
in debate. As General
Grant relates in his Memoirs,
"'They had a warm discussion which
finally became angry-over
some act of President Jackson, the
removal of the deposit of public
monies, I think-after which they never
spoke until after my appoint-
ment. I know both of them felt badly
over this estrangement, and would
have been glad at any time to come to a
reconciliation, but neither would
make the advance.'
"Near the close of the term of
Thomas Morris in the United
States Senate, Jesse R. Grant applied to
him for the appointment
of his son to a cadetship at West Point.
He was informed by the
Senator that he had no further
appointments to his credit but that
Congressman Hamer could probably comply
with his request.
The father of Grant stated that under
the circumstances he could
not ask any favor from Hamer.
Thereupon Senator Morris
made a personal request of the
congressman that young Grant
be given the appointment. Hamer readily
assented and, in the
language of General Grant, 'This healed
the breach between the
two, never after reopened.' The intimate
friendship of Senator
Morris and Jesse R. Grant was the chief
influence that opened
(249) |
250 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
the way for the son of the latter to
West Point and his subsequent
illustrious career.
"A short time after the appointment
of young Grant to the
cadetship the term of office of Thomas
Morris as United States
Senator expired and he went home
politically an outcast, re-
pudiated by his own political associates
because he had been the
uncompromising foe of slavery. The
pioneer reformer blazes the
way. He is in advance of his time and
makes sacrifices for his
cause. It is worthy of note in this
connection that some of the
men who were prominent in reading Senator Morris out of
his
party and retiring him to private life,
in after years espoused his
principles and rendered valiant service
for a more perfect Union
and universal liberty in America. Todd
and Brough, both after-
wards war governors of Ohio, joined in
opposing Morris and
preventing his re-election to the United
States Senate. In a course
which they then condemned in him, a
quarter of a century later
they found the way to enduring fame.
"Thomas Morris made the good fight.
He saved the founda-
tions of constitutional liberty, and
although he did not live to
know it, he provided the leader who was
to build on that founda-
tion.
"Grant began where Morris left off.
The afterglow of great-
ness casts a strange light on life and
character and tends to ob-
scure their perfectly human qualities
and to ascribe to them a
meaning and significance as unwarranted
as they are fantastic.
Grant was a typical American boy, reared
in a good Christian home;
he knew how to work and did work on the
farm and in the
tannery, but it does not seem probable
that he pleaded any harder
with his father for opportunity to begin
work early in the morn-
ing than most American boys would do
under similar circum-
stances or that he had to be cautioned
by his parents against
overwork. The fact is that throughout
his life Grant was in-
clined to be sluggish-he worked best
under pressure-he was a
ponderous machine that functioned in
direct ratio to the size of
the task to be done. The first
thirty-eight years of his life were
not strikingly successful; his first
eleven years in the Army would
have been forgotten but for his later
achievements. In 1860, he
was a clerk in a tannery at Galena,
Illinois, at the munificent
salary of $600 a year; eight years later
he was elected President.
A crisis had come big enough to call out
all his latent powers.
"General Grant has left a record
that indicates clearly his
early respect for parental authority. In
the winter of 1838-9
when he had returned to his home in
Georgetown to spend the
Christmas holidays he was informed by
his father that he was
going to receive an appointment. In
answer to his surprised in-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 251
quiry his father told him that it was an
appointment to West
Point. The son at once declared that he
would not go. He tells us
what followed in these words: 'He said
he thought I would, and
I thought so too, if he did.' This indicates that he had early ac-
quired the virtue of obedience, perhaps
more common in pioneer
days than at present. In these times of
a lack of respect for law
and properly constituted authority the
question may well be raised
whether as a people our condition might
not be vastly improved
by a more general inculcation of the
ancient and homely virtue
of obedience, beginning in the home.
Young Grant thought so too,
if his father did, and he certainly had
abundant reason in after
years to thank this parent for his
interest in his education and the
future that it assured.
"From Donelson to Mt. McGregor the
life of Ulysses S.
Grant is history-he was part of the
nation's life, and for a con-
siderable period a very dominant part.
"Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga,
Richmond, Appoomattox
were the steps by which he mounted the
heights of military fame
to take place along side Hannibal and
Napoleon as one of the
greatest captains in history. He was a
common-sense commander
-he relied more upon action than he did
upon Jomini; his theory
of warfare he summarized as follows:
'The art of war is simple
enough. Find out where your enemy is.
Get at him as soon as
you can. Strike at him as hard as you
can, and keep moving on.'
"Grant maintained from the hour he
came to the notice of
President Lincoln the unbroken
confidence of that great leader.
Had it not been for the stoic firmness
of the President in sustain-
ing Grant in the Vicksburg campaign, the
outcome would have
been doubtful. The President said of
him, 'I can't spare this man,
he fights.' Again he said, 'I rather
like this man Grant, I think
we will try him a little olnger.' To
Carpenter, Lincoln said, 'The
great thing about Grant is his perfect
coolness and persistency of
purpose. He is not easily excited and he
has the grit of the bull
dog; once let him get his teeth in and
nothing can shake him off.'
"The great captain was always
confident of himself; though
modest and quiet, he did not underestimate his own
powers. When
one of his generals in alarm reported,
'General, Lee is on our
flank,' General Grant cooly replied:
'Very well then, we are on
General Lee's flank.' In the darkest
days of 1864 Grant said, 'I
feel as certain of capturing Richmond as
I do of dying.'
"His terse expressions as a leader
are illustrative of his
character. His reply to General Buckner
at Fort Donelson was:
'An immediate and unconditional
surrender; I propose to move
immediately on your works.' Again, after
a great disaster in the
advance on Richmond, 'I propose to fight
it out on this line if it
252 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
takes all summer.' But while he was oak
and rock in battle, he
was generous as a woman and tender as a
child. After General
Buckner surrendered at Fort Donelson,
General Grant remem-
bered the friendly help given him by
Buckner when he had been
left penniless in New York. In General
Buckner's own words,
describing the surrender, he says:
'General Grant left the officers
of his own army and followed me with
that modest manner
peculiar to himself into the shadows,
and there tendered me his
purse. In the modesty of his nature he
was afraid the light would
witness this act of generosity and
sought to hide it from the
world.'
"The credit for the final success
of the great campaigns in
the East for the capture of Richmond must be adjudged
by im-
partial history to belong to General
Grant. That Mr. Lincoln
sought to interfere as little as
possible with the military affairs
after General Grant took charge of the
army will be shown by the
following letter:
"'WASHINGTON, April 30, 1864.
"'Lieutenant-General Grant: Not
expecting to see you before the
spring campaign opens, I wish to express
in this way my entire satisfac-
tion with what you have done up to this
time, so far as I understand it.
The particulars of your plan I neither
know nor seek to know. You are
vigilant and self-reliant, and [I put
no] restraints or constraints upon
you. While I am very anxious that any
great disaster or capture of any
of our men in great numbers shall be
avoided, I know that these points
are less likely to escape your attention
than they would be mine. If there
be anything wanting which is within my
power to give, do not fail to let
me know it. And now with a brave army
and a just cause, may God
sustain you !
" 'Yours very truly,
"'A. LINCOLN,'
"And then when the last shot had
been fired and the last drop
of blood shed the great leader was
magnanimous, kind and gener-
ous. His treatment of General Lee and
his army at Appomattox
did more than any other one thing to
make the South realize
that after all we were all citizens of
the common country with a
common hope and a single flag. Happily
now, North and South
are united, each proud of the heroism of
the other and rejoicing
in the achievements of the heroes in
blue and gray-all Americans.
"Loncoln's prophecy had been
realized-
"'Though passion may have strained
it must not break our bonds of
affection. The mystic cords of memory,
stretching from every battlefield
and patriot grave to every living heart
and hearth-stone all over this broad
land, will yet again swell the chorus of
the Union when touched, as surely
they will be, by the better angels of our natures.'
"The conquering hero said, 'Let us
have peace.' The memory
of this patient, silent, courageous,
typical American is one of the
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant253
mightiest forces making for union and
the maintenance of our
institutions.
"General Grant never sought
political preferment. He was
elevated to the presidency in response
to the people's demands.
As President he was as courageous as he
had been as General.
When, following the financial
difficulties oof 1873, his own party
lost its sense of proportion and passed
the inflation bill to author-
ize an increase in the greenbacks to four hundred
millions, he
bravely vetoed the action of the Congress, believing it
to be a
departure from the true principles of
sound finance.
"Grant stood by his friends even to
his own hurt. Some of
them sought to use their connection with
the old hero for their
own personal profit. General Grant was
loth to believe that any
human being could entertain a motive so
foreign to his own
thought. When criticised because he
stood by a friend who was
under fire, Grant said: 'The true test
of friendship, after all,
isn't to stand by a man when he is in
the right; anyone can do
that; the true test is to stand by him
when he is in the wrong.'
"As he stood by his friends, so he
remembered his enemies
in a thoroughly human way, and sometimes
he castigated them
mercilessly. It will be recalled that
when it was brought to his
attention that a certain prominent
leader did not believe in the
Bible, Grant said, 'Certainly not, he
does not believe in it because
he did not write it himself.'
"His San Domingo policy was
criticised bitterly at the time
it was announced. Yet subsequent events
have shown that Grant
was not far from right in this matter.
"While educated for war, he was
devoted to peace; the treaty
of Washington and the settlement of the
Alabama claims was the
first long step forward in the direction
of arbitration and world
peace.
"The Washington Conference of 1921 was in no
small degree
an outgrowth of Grant's policy of peace
and international good-
will. American ships now sail unimpeded
through the Panama
Canal--Grant foresaw and planned it. His
statesmanship was as
far sighted as his generalship.
Modestly, quietly, patiently, he
planned and executed.
"Great in war and official station,
he was majestic in private
life. Imposed upon by trusted friends,
the meager savings of a
life-time were lost in an hour and the
old hero had to begin over
again to earn support for wife and
family. Already fatal disease
had laid its palsying hand upon him.
Toiling at Mt. McGregor
to finish his memoirs he looked death in
the face without a tremor,
He stoically worked on that he might pay
his creditors and pro-
vide for those dependent upon him. He
won his last fight and
254
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
when the spirit fled a sorrowing world
cherished the memory of
this mighty oak whose falling 'left a
lonesome place against the
sky.'
"So lived and toiled and struggled
and achieved this sturdy,
upright, patient, modest, typical
American, whose life is an in-
spiration and whose memory is a
benediction to us all."
Senator Willis' tribute to former
United States Sen-
ator Thomas Morris was delivered with
earnestness
and evident sympathy for this distinguished
Ohio
pioneer statesman and early advocate of
emancipa-
tion when his was the only voice that
was heard in favor
of the freedom of the slave in the
United States Senate.
Thomas Morris had an interesting career
that is identi-
fied with the early history of
Ohio. His life, written
by his son, B. F. Morris, was published
in a volume of
408 pages in 1856. The dates of the
birth and death of
this good citizen and courageous
statesman are indi-
cated on his monument in the old burying
ground on the
outskirts of Bethel. Dr. W. E. Thompson, a physician
of Bethel still in active practice at
the age of eighty-six,
when he was a child, frequently saw
Senator Morris
and has a very distinct recollection of
his personal ap-
pearance, which by the way is not
referred to in the life
of Morris by his son. Dr. Thompson is doubtless the
only man living who from memory could
give a por-
traiture of the Senator.
To Morris, more perhaps than to any
other man of
the time, was due the appointment of
Grant to the cadet-
ship at West Point. He had been almost a father to
Honorable Thomas L. Hamer who made this
appoint-
ment. Hamer was under many obligations
to him and
in large measure because of this
acceded to the sugges-
tion of Senator Morris. General Grant in his Memoirs
(255) |
256 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
relates that the vacancy which he was
appointed to fill
was not generally known to exist at the
time. Bartlett
Bailey, a son of Dr. Bailey, next door
neighbor to the
Grant family, had been given the
appointment, but his
failure to meet the entrance
requirements at West Point
left a vacancy. General Grant thus describes the situa-
tion at that time:
"There were no telegraphs in those
days to disseminate news
rapidly, no railroads west of the
Alleghenies, and but few east;
and above all, there were no reporters
prying into the people's
private affairs. Consequently it did
not become generally known
that there was a vacancy at West Point
from our district until
I was appointed. I presume Mrs. Bailey
confided to my mother
the fact that Bartlett had been
dismissed, and that the doctor
had forbidden his son's return
home."
Jesse R. Grant, learning of this
vacancy, promptly
requested the assistance of his friend,
Senator Morris,
to secure, if possible, the appointment
for his son as
already related. The appointment was
made while the
Grant family was still living in
Georgetown, the county
seat of Brown County. The father of General
Grant
always manifested a deep interest in
the welfare of his
children and gave them the best
possible education with-
in his limited means. He was especially
eager that his
eldest son should start in life with
the advantages of the
course at West Point and to this
interest in no small
degree was due young Grant's
opportunity to enter upon
the path to success and distinction.
While Grant was at West Point his
father moved
from Georgetown to Bethel. That he was
a man of
influence in the community is attested
by the fact that
he was elected the first mayor of the
village when it was
incorporated.* The docket which he kept
in his own
* Jesse R. Grant had previously been
mayor of Georgetown.
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 257
handwriting was on exhibition on the
occasion of the
Centenary. It is an interesting document and it is to
the credit of those who own it that it
has been thus
carefully preserved to the present
time. We learn from
its pages that the first case tried
before Mayor Grant
was an "action for shooting a pet
deer, damage $10."
This case was tried July 18, 1851. The
plaintiff, C. R.
Crumm, by decision of the mayor received
$4.00. The
costs in the case amounted to $5.93.
The next case was
tried February 4 to February 6,
1852. The record of
the case is as follows:
STATE OF OHIO
V. S. PEACE WARRANT
WM. & JAMES HARP
BETHEL, Feb 4th, 1852.
On complaints of J. A. I. Ross warrant
issued directed to
A. Senteny Marshall of Bethel. Warrant
returned served and
"I have the Defts. present Feb. 4th,
1852."
A. Senteny Marshall.
Subpeona issued for five witnesses.
"Returned served. A. Senteny
Marshall."
Feb. 5th Subpeona isued for 10 witness
for the Deft. Re-
turned "Served. A. Senteny
Marshall."
Feb. 5th John Patten sworn and examined,
when on motion
of the Deft. the further consideration
of the subject is post-
poned until tomorrow evening.
Feb. 6th on application of Deft.
subpeona issued for two
witnesses.
Returned "Served.
A Senteny Marshall."
The parties met at the school house at
early candlelight,
with Counsel. Defts. Counsel moved to
quash the proceedings
for informality. Motion overruled.
Whereupon he filed the
following exception:
"STATE OF OHIO
V. S.
WILLIAM & JOHN HARP
The Defts. excepts the opinion of the
Mayor, in this that
the Deft. moved to quash the
proceedings, in this that there is
Vol. XXXI-17.
258
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
a variance between affidavit and the
warrant in this that the
matter set forth in the affidavit varies
from the warrant."
On motion of Defts. Counsel the Defts.
were ordered tried
separately. Whereupon James Harp was put upon his
trial.
Subpeona issued for Hester Ann Noble.
Returned "Served. A. Senteny
Marshall."
Harrison Coulter, William Beck, John
Holmes, J. A. I.
Ross, Jr., John Irwin and Hester Ann
Noble, were sworn and
examined when Defts. Counsil moved to
discharge the Prisoner
on the grounds that the state has failed
to prove the time and
place when the alleged offense had been
committed, also that the
testimony was insufficient to make out
the case. The first objec-
tion being overruled, the parties
proceeded to argue the merits
of the case. Whereupon it is considered
by me that the testimony
is insufficient to bind Deft. to keep
the peace and that therefore
the Deft. James Harp be discharged, and
that judgment be
rendered against J. A. I. Ross the
complaining witness for his
costs therein expended; and that James
Harp pay the costs he
made; which is one dollar seventy cents
besides his witnesses
who were not called on to testify.
J. R. GRANT, Mayor.
Litigation in the court of Mayor Grant
seems to
have been rather infrequent as only two
other cases are
recorded, one an "action of
trespass" and the other
"assault and battery."
Jesse R. Grant and Senator Thomas
Morris were
very close friends, as may be inferred
from what has
already been related. Just what was the basis of this
intimate friendship has not been fully
stated. Possibly
agreement on the slavery question had
something to do
with it. General Grant prior to the
Civil War was not
in sympathy with the abolition
movement. In the presi-
dential election of 1856 he voted for
James Buchanan
for president of the United States. His
father, however,
was strangely opposed to slavery. Possibly his con-
tact with the anti-slavery sentiment of
the Western
Reserve before he came to Clermont had
something to
do with his opinion on this subject and
it is reasonable
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth of Ulysses S. Grant 259 |
260 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications |
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 261
to surmise that this had something to
do with the inti-
mate relations of Morris and the father
of Grant near
the close of the career of the former
in the United
States Senate.
After Grant had finished his course at
West Point he
returned to Ohio and spent some time at
the home of
his father in Bethel. Still later, after he had married,
his family lived in Bethel. Two of his
children, Nelly
and Ulysses S., Jr., were born
here. The latter now
lives in San Diego, California, where
he owns the hotel
which he has named in honor of his
distinguished
father.
It is needless to say that Bethel
abounds in legends
and secondhand reminiscences of General
Grant. Much
of this is interesting and a goodly
portion of it doubt-
less authentic, but space will not
permit its inclusion
here.
It is rather remarkable that Thomas Morris
should have been defeated in a race for
Congress by
Thomas L. Hamer,* the youth whom he had
befriended
and taken into his family, that Morris
should have been
elected 'within two months after his
defeat' to the
United States Senate, that he and Hamer
served the
same length of time in Congress, that
the latter was suc-
ceeded by the son of the former,
Jonathan D. Morris,
who remained firm in his allegiance to
the Democratic
party after his father had been read
out of it and had
died in the service of the Liberty
party. Jonathan D.
Morris delivered a eulogy on Hamer in
the House of
Representatives and served two terms as
his successor.
*The vote in this election was as
follows: Hamer, 2,171; Fish-
back, 2,069; Morris, 2,028; Russell,
403. Fishback was the Whig candi-
date.
262
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
Assuredly Bethel figured conspicuously
in the early
political history of Ohio.
CELEBRATION AT GEORGETOWN, BROWN COUNTY
Fine weather greeted the thousands who
flocked to
Georgetown Saturday, April 29, 1922, to
do honor to the
memory of General Grant and hear the
scholarly and
eloquent address of Senator Atlee
Pomerene.
Following chronologically the years of
Grant's life
in Ohio, the celebration at Georgetown
should have
preceded that at Bethel. When Grant was about
eighteen months old, in the fall of
1823, his father
moved with his family to the former
village, the county
seat of Brown County. Here young Grant made his
home until he was seventeen years old,
in 1839, when
he went to West Point. Here he attended
school in the
little brick building that is still
standing. Here his
father built a tannery and a
substantial brick residence,
probably at the time the best dwelling
in Brown County.
All these buildings have been carefully
preserved and
are pointed out with pride by citizens
to visitors. In
recent years the residence of Jesse R.
Grant has been
somewhat improved by the addition of a
comfortable
veranda, but the main walls stand as
they were almost
a century ago. It is a two story
building and must still
be numbered among the substantial and
attractive
homes of Georgetown, aside from its
historical im-
portance.
Here Thomas L. Hamer lived at the
zenith of his
career and to this village his remains
were brought after
his death near Monterey in the Mexican
War. In that
conflict he had attained the rank of
brigadier general.
(263) |
264
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
At the time of his death he had been
elected again to
Congress. He was succeeded, as already noted, by
Jonathan D. Morris, the son of Senator
Thomas Mor-
ris, who in 1844 had died in the
service of the anti-
slavery cause.
There are many interesting biographical
sketches of
Thomas L. Hamer and an extended review
of his life
would be superfluous here. After
teaching school for a
time he was admitted to the practice of
the law. He
was an eminent orator at a time when
orators in Ohio,
especially in the southern counties,
were comparatively
more numerous than they are today. His forensic
training he received in the rural
debating societies,
which were then maintained in every
school district.
Politics furnished the absorbing topics
of discussion in
those days. Hamer, the Democratic
orator of the time,
rivaled, and his friends claimed even
surpassed the
oratory of famous Tom Corwin. While the
latter was
fulminating against the Mexican War and
declaring
that if he were a Mexican he would
welcome the invad-
ing soldiers from the United States
with "bloody hands
to hospitable graves," Hamer was
vigorously support-
ing that war and backing his eloquent
words in the uni-
form of a brigadier general on the
field of battle. It
has sometimes been said that Hamer's
service to his dis-
trict was forgotten and that not even a
headstone had
been erected at his grave.
The old cemetery in Georgetown today
presents a
rather desolate appearance. Tombstones,
some of them
humble and some of them large and
artistically wrought,
are strewn about somewhat
promiscuously. Not a few
of them have broken in the fall. Most
of them, how-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 265
ever, are still erect, but the grounds
for the most part
are overgrown with tall grass, weeds,
trailing vines and
vigorous shrubs that run riot over the
graves. In one
part of the burying ground a
substantial enclosure
marks the final resting place of Thomas
L. Hamer and
his wife. No tombstone or monument is erected to
him here, but the flat stone over the
grave of Mrs.
Hamer bears testimony to the fact that
she was an
exemplary Christian mother, devoted to
her husband
and children.
The citizens of Georgetown and Brown
County,
however, have appropriately honored the
memory of
Hamer by erecting in the Court House
yard of the vil-
lage a substantial granite
monument. This was un-
veiled with appropriate ceremonies in
1917. A number
of the descendants of Hamer were
present on that occa-
sion.
The speaking on the afternoon of April
29 was
from a platform in front of the large
grandstand on
the Fair Grounds. Every available seat
was occupied
and a large crowd listened standing.
After invocation
there was music and introductory
addresses by Con-
gressman Kearns and Judge Hugh L.
Nichols. A very
interesting feature of the preliminary
exercises were
some songs of Civil War time in which a
few of the
veterans, led by comrade John Hank,
heartily joined.
Mr. Hank attended all three of the
celebrations and at
Bethel as at Georgetown he was heard by
throngs of
people who listened to the songs of the
sixties that he
sang in excellent voice despite his
seventy-seven years.
Hank is a man of commanding presence,
tall and as
266 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
straight as when he marched in the Union
Army sixty
years ago.
Judge Nichols in well chosen words
introduced Sen-
ator Pomerene who spoke as follows:
"Mr. Chairman, Judge Nichols,
members of the Grand Army
of the Republic, ladies and gentlemen,
we come to Georgetown
today to do homage to the great captain
of the Civil War. I
understand with what pardonable pride
the citizens of this good
community recite the boyhood deeds of
him who rose from com-
parative obscurity in a few short years
to become the great com-
mander of our great armies in
suppressing the rebellion.
"General Grant's boyhood days in
Georgetown did not differ
materially from the youthful days of
many Americans in every
community in the country. All who knew
him or the history of
his generation will recognize in him a
boy clear of head, pure of
heart, and clean of hand. His parents
did not permit him to in-
dulge in idleness. He did not fritter
away his days. He always
was occupied either at school or in his
father's tannery or with his
team. He was never idle.
"His father must have been a very
positive character-am-
bitious for his son's advancement, as
any father should be. Full
of hope, aye, of confidence, in his
future, he determined that his
son should have every advantage which
his limited means would
permit him to give.
"Grant, the boy, does not seem at
first to have been ambitious
for a military career. In his personal
memoirs he tells us that
his father had received a letter from
Hon. Thomas Morris,
United States Senator from Ohio, and
after reading it, he said:
" 'Ulysses, I believe you are going
to receive the appointment.'
'What appointment ?' I inquired. 'To
West Point; I have applied
for it.' 'But I won't go,' I said. He
said, 'He thought I would,'
and then General Grant adds, quaintly,
'I thought so, too, if he
did.'
"Again he tells us that a military
life 'had no charms' for
him, and he did not 'have the faintest
idea of staying in the Army
even if I should be graduated.'
"He received his education at the
National Military Academy,
but his career at West Point can hardly
be regarded as a brilliant
success if we are to rate him according
to prevailing standards.
He had an unusually retentive memory. He
tells us he 'rarely ever
read over a lesson the second time
during my entire cadetship.'
He devoted more time to the books in the
library than he did
to those relating to his course of
study. As a result, as he puts
|
(267) |
268 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
it, 'I never succeeded in getting
squarely at either end of my
class in any one study during the four
years.'
"He thought of obtaining a
permanent position as a college
professor, but he tells us
'circumstances always did shape my
course different from my plans.'
"He left the academy 'with a good
average record as a stu-
dent and a very high record as a man.'
It was said of him, 'He
betrayed no trust, falsified no word, violated
no rights, manifested
no tyranny, sought no personal
aggrandizement, complained of
no hardships, displayed no jealousy,
oppressed no subordinate,
and was ever known for his humanity,
sagacity, courage, and
honor.' High praise this for any man.
"His first military service was in
the Mexican War. He was
then a very young man. He occupied minor
positions of respon-
sibility. There is nothing extraordinary
in his experience in
Mexico, but a careful scrutiny of the
history of the Mexican War
shows that even in his minor position of
lieutenant he always was
ready to do and did do his duty.
"On one occasion his colonel called
for volunteers to get word
to General Twiggs, division commander,
calling for ammunition
and reinforcements. 'It is a dangerous
job,' said Colonel Gar-
land, 'and I do not like to order any
man to do it. Who will
volunteer?' 'I will,' said Quartermaster
Grant promptly, 'I have
got a horse.' 'You are just the man to
do it,' said the colonel.
'Keep in the side streets and ride
hard.' Needless to say, the
message was delivered.
"While Grant was acting as
quartermaster he was always at
the front during the fighting. General
Longstreet, who served
with Grant in Mexico, said of him, 'You
could not keep Grant
out of battle.' Again he said, 'Grant
was everywhere on the
field. He was always cool, swift, and
unhurried in battle. He
was as unconcerned as if it were a
hailstorm instead of a storm
of bullets. I had occasion to observe
his superb courage under
fire-so remarkable was his bravery that
mention was made of it
in the official report, and I heard his
colonel say, 'There goes a
man of fire.'
"Shortly after the close of the
Mexican War Grant was sent
to the Pacific slope with his regiment.
He was separated from
family and friends. His record in the
far West his most en-
thusiastic friends can hardly claim to
have been creditable. On
April 11, 1854, he resigned his position
as captain in the United
States Army, and apparently his military
career had closed. He
returned to the East.
"Later he located on a small farm
which had been given to
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 269
him by his father-in-law. It was almost
entirely, if not quite,
virgin soil, covered by a virgin forest.
"To use a homely expression, Grant
was all but down and
out. Almost any other man would have
become discouraged and
quit. Not so Grant. His clearness of
vision and his high resolve
enabled him to see his duty to himself,
his family, and his country.
He cleared the forest. He built his log
hut. He plowed and
sowed and reaped. He cut firewood and
hauled it to St. Louis.
He did teaming for his neighbors.
Nothing that he found to do
was left undone. In this way for a time
he maintained himself,
his wife, and his growing family.
"Later he engaged in the real
estate business in St. Louis.
He was not fitted for this work. He was
not successful in it,
and he resigned his position.
"Still later, in April, 1860, he
went to Galena, Illinois, entered
his father's leather store, and joined
his brothers as salesman.
"While in private life he was
devotion itself to his wife and
children. During all this period he was
a great reader, a close
student and observer of the passing
events which were rapidly
drawing the peoples of the North and
South into the maelstrom
of fratricidal war. He seemed to have a
premonition that the
fateful struggle was coming.
"Hard this life may have seemed to
him and his family, as
well as to those who knew him, but these
experiences were not in
vain. They were the crucible in which
were melted, purified, and
fused together the elements of his
manhood. It made him master
of himself, and having mastered himself
he was fitted to become,
and did become, the master and the
leader of men. In no period
of his life did he develop more than in
the time between his
resignation and the date when he
tendered his services again to
his country in the darkest hour of her
history.
"On May 24, 1861, while at Galena,
Grant wrote to the
Adjutant General of the Army at
Washington, tendering his
services until the close of the war 'in
such capacity as may be
offered.' So little was thought of this
man that his letter was not
even acknowledged.
"With that clearness of vision
which always characterized
Grant, whether in peace or in war,
whether in camp or battle,
or at the council table, he foresaw the
conflict coming. In his
judgment it was to decide two questions:
First. Has a State the right to secede
from the Union ?
Second.
Shall we tolerate slavery under the Stars and
Stripes ?
"Grant believed, as Webster believed,
that the Union was
'one and inseparable.' Grant believed
with the advancing progress
270 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
of civilization no human being ought to
be held in bondage. In
both these beliefs he was
right-eternally right, and though we
accord to those who held different
beliefs, honesty of conviction,
if these same questions were to be
presented now to the people,
North or South, for decision at the
ballot box they would be
decided overwhelmingly in the negative.
"Grant, in discussing the question
of secession, says, in his
Memoirs:
"'Doubtless the founders of our
Government, the majority of them
at least, regarded the confederation of
the Colonies as an experiment.
Each colony considered itself a separate
government; that the confedera-
tion was for mutual protection against a
foreign foe and the prevention
of strife and war among themselves. If
there had been a desire on the
part of any single State to withdraw
from the compact at any time while
the number of states was limited to the
original 13 I do not suppose
there would have been any to contest the
right, no matter how much the
determination might have been regretted.
The problem changed on the
ratification of the Constitution by all
the Colonies; it changed still more
when amendments were added; and if the
right of any one State to with-
draw continued to exist at all after the
ratification of the Constitution, it
certainly ceased on the formation of new
States, at least so far as the
new States themselves were concerned.'
"Secession, says Grant, 'was
illogical as well as impractic-
able. It was revolution.' He believed
that as man has the in-
herent right of self-defense, so has a
government the right to
protect itself against revolution.
"But it is purely academic to
discuss such problems now.
They were settled by the arbitrament of
the sword, and out of
the Civil War our Union of States was
cemented together more
closely than ever before.
"I have often indulged the thought
that if the people of the
South before the Civil War had known the
people of the North
as they know them now, and if the people
of the North before
the Civil War had known the people of
the South as they know
them now, there would have been no war.
And of this, too, I am
perfectly clear; if there had been more
Grants in the North and
more Lees in the South these questions
would have been settled
without the shedding of a single drop of
blood.
"A few days after the firing upon
Fort Sumter a meeting of
the loyal citizens of Galena was held
and Captain Grant was
made chairman of the meeting. He did not
devote his time
to grandiloquent talk. He was even then
the soldier, the com-
mander. Calling the meeting to order, he
said in substance:
"'Fellow citizens, this meeting is
called to organize a company of
volunteers to serve the State of
Illinois. * * * Before calling upon
you to become volunteers, I wish to state just what will be required of
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 271
you. First of all, unquestioning
obedience to your superior officers. The
Army is not a picnicking party, nor is
it an excursion. You will have
hard fare. You may be obliged to sleep
on the ground after long marches
in the rain and snow. Many of the orders
of your superiors will seem to
you unjust, and yet they must be borne.
If an injustice is really done you,
however, there are courts-martial where
your wrongs can be investigated
and offenders punished. If you put your
name down here it should be in
full understanding of what the act
means. In conclusion, let me say that
so far as I can I will aid the company,
and I intend to re-enlist in the
service myself.'
"This was the Grant whom the
country later learned to know
and love. His direct and straightforward
statements as chair-
man of the Galena meeting were
characteristic of his every
thought and act during the entire period
of the war.
"The enlisted soldiers offered to
make Grant captain of the
company. He refused, stating that he
thought he could serve
the state better at Springfield. He tendered his
services to Gov.
Richard Yates, but the governor could
find nothing for him to do.
After some days he determined to go
home. Governor Yates,
learning of his intention, asked him to
remain overnight and call
at his office in the morning. Grant was
assigned to a desk in the
adjutant general's department doing
clerical work. Grant was
hoping for a command. He returned to
Galena almost in despair
because he did not receive suitable
recognition of his military ex-
perience.
"Mr. Houghton, the editor of a
local paper, wrote concerning
him:
"'We are now in want of just such
soldiers as he is, and we hope
the Government will invite him to higher
command. He is the very soul
of honor, and no man breathes who has a
more patriotic heart. We want
among our young soldiers the influence
of the rare leadership of men like
Captain Grant.'
"Grant was a newcomer in Illinois.
Public men did not know
him. Other men unfitted by training or
experience were given
positions in the organization of the
state troops, but there seemed
to be no place for Grant, the West Point
cadet.
"He went to Cincinnati and tendered
his services to Gen.
George B. McClellan, then in command of
the military district.
He met his old comrade, Carr B. White,
in Georgetown, a member
of the Ohio Legislature, and to him he
related the circumstances
and his ambition to serve in the Army.
Mr. White replied that
there ought to be a command for him, and
said, 'I am going to
Columbus and I will see what I can do.'
In a few days he re-
turned with a commission for Grant as
colonel of the Twelfth
Ohio, but meanwhile Governor Yates had
wired him, asking him
272 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
to accept the command of the Seventh
District Regiment. This
position he accepted, and it gave him his opportunity.
"His regiment lacked in discipline
and was said to ba a 'little
unruly.' When asked if he could manage
them, his quiet reply
was, 'I think I can.' When presented to
his regiment by Colonel
Goode, he said, after returning the
salute of the adjutant: 'A
soldier's first duty is to learn to obey
his commander. I shall
expect my orders to be obeyed as exactly
and instantly as if we
were on the field of battle.'
"A little later, while at St.
Louis, Grant received a telegram
from his friend, Washburne, advising him
that the President had
appointed him as brigadier general of volunteers.
"In the brief space of time
allotted to me it is, of course, im-
possible to go into all the details of
this wonderful commander's
activities.
"Grant was the one man above every
other commanding
officer in the West who seemed to have
the military genius to bring
order out of chaos, to convert raw
recruits into trained veterans,
and to inspire them with the bravery of
spirit and love of country
which was necessary to suppress the
rebellion and preserve the
Union.
"Shortly after he had assumed
command he found that the
Confederates were marching onto the city
of Paducah. On
September 6, 1861, he issued this
proclamation to its citizens:
"'I have come among you, not as an
enemy but as your friend and
fellow citizen, not to injure or annoy
you but to respect the rights and
defend and enforce the rights of all
loyal citizens. An enemy in rebellion
against our common Government has taken
possession of and planted its
guns upon the soil of Kentucky and fired
upon our flag. Hickman and
Columbus are in his hands; he is moving
upon our city. I am here to
defend you against this enemy, and to
assert and maintain the authority
and sovereignty of your Government and
mine. I have nothing to do
with opinions. I deal only with armed
rebellion and its aiders and abettors.
You can pursue your usual vocations
without fear or hindrance. The
strong arm of the Government is here to
protect its friends and to punish
only its enemies. Whenever it is manifest
that you are able to defend
yourselves, to maintain the authority of
your Government and protect the
rights of all its loyal citizens, I
shall withdraw the forces under my com-
mand from your city.'
"Lincoln, later seeing this
address, said, 'The man who can
write like that is fitted to command in
the West.'
"He took Belmont. The Confederates
held Columbus. In
the midst of the fighting one of the
Union officers shouted, 'My
God, we are surrounded.' Grant replied,
Grant-like, 'We cut our
way in and we can cut our way out.'
"He moved with vigor and precision.
On February 5 he ad-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 273
vanced against Fort Henry. On the day
following it fell, and
he telegraphed Halleck, 'Fort Henry is ours,' and
added, 'I shall
take and destroy Fort Donelson on the 8th and return to
Fort
Henry.'
"Weather and other conditions,
however, prevented his taking
Fort Donelson as quickly as he thought,
but he moved on to his
objective with that persistence and
determination which always
carried him through every obstacle that
came in his way. Gen-
erals Floyd, Pillow, and Buckner were in
charge for the Con-
federates. Floyd and Pillow fled.
General Buckner thought it
useless to continue further fighting. He
sent word to Grant,
asking for terms of capitulation. Grant
replied, 'No terms except
immediate and unconditional surrender
can be accepted. I pro-
pose to move immediately upon your
works.'
"Victory was now in the air. The
North began to find it-
self. They had a general who could fight
and win. He was little
known either to the people of the North
or the East. The whole
Nation began to inquire, 'Who is this
man Grant, who fights
battles and wins them?'
"After Shiloh great pressure was
begun to have the President
remove Grant from his command in the
West. But Lincoln, after
full investigation, replied, 'I can't
spare Grant; he fights.'
"Shiloh was one of the most
terrific battles in the West. An
eminent writer, after reviewing this
battle, says:
"'The Battle of Shiloh showed
Ulysses Grant to be a commander of
a new type. His personal habits in
conflict were now apparent to all his
staff. He did not shout, vituperate, or
rush aimlessly to and fro. He
had no vindictiveness. While other
officers in the heat of battle swore
and uttered ferocious cries, Grant
voiced all his commands in plain Anglo-
Saxon speech, without oaths or
abridgment. His anxiety and intensity of
mental action never passed beyond his
perfect control. He fought best
and thought best when pushed hard.
"'A man of singular gentleness, he
had displayed the faculty which
enables a man to consider soldiers en
masse, to look over and beyond the
destruction of human life in battle to
the end for which the battle is
fought. Unwilling to harm any living
thing himself, he had the resolution
to send columns of men into battle
calmly and without hesitation. With-
out this constitution of mind no great commander can
succeed.'
"Perhaps his next greatest
achievement was the capture of
Vicksburg. He laid seige to the city in
the spring of 1863. It
was a giant's task. The public began to
lose faith in the hero
of Donelson and Shiloh. Lincoln
declared, 'Even Washburne
has deserted Grant.' Charles A. Dana was
sent to the front by
the Secretary of War to report on the
conditions of the Army.
Later Gen. Lorenzo Thomas was sent with
an order relieving
Grant, if he should find it necessary.
Commodore Porter told
Vo.l XXXI-18.
274 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
General Thomas that 'if the news got out
the boys would tar
and feather him.' The order was never
delivered. The siege
continued. He assumed all
responsibility. He knew if he failed
his reputation would be lost; if he won,
it would greatly cripple
and discourage the South and
correspondingly encourage the
North. The siege and the fighting
continued. At last, on July 3,
a white flag appeared on the Confederate
works. The com-
manding general asked for commissioners
to arrange terms of
surrender; and again Grant replied, 'I
have no terms other than
unconditional surrender.'
"After some little negotiation
terms were concluded. They
were so liberal that they were
criticised in the North; but at 10
o'clock on July 4 the besieged 'marched
out of their entrench-
ments. With sad faces the men of each
regiment stacked their
arms, threw down upon them knapsacks,
belts, cartridges, and
cap pouches, and then tenderly crowned
the piles with their faded
and riddled colors.'
"Thus ended the siege of Vicksburg.
"Then followed Chattanooga and
Missionary Ridge. As
Grant rode along the lines he was
recognized by the soldiers, and
they cried, 'Now we know we have a
general.'
"The Assistant Secretary of War
sent this message to Wash-
ington: 'Glory to God, the day is
decisively ours. Our men are
frantic with joy and enthusiasm, and
received Grant as he rode
along the lines after the victory with
tumultuous shouts.'
"The next day was Thanksgiving Day
and all over the Nation
grateful millions of people blessed the
name of Grant.
"These victories, like the finger
of fate, pointed to Grant as
the one man in America who ought to
command the forces in the
East against Lee.
"Washburne offered a bill reviving
the grade of lieutenant
general. In speaking of Grant he said:
"'He has fought more battles and
won more victories than any man
living. He has captured more prisoners
and taken more guns than any
general of modern times.'
"The President signed the bill and
nominated General Grant
to be lieutenant general of the armies
of the United States.
This announcement was received with
universal acclaim. The
modest Grant on March 4, 1864, wrote to
General Sherman, and
spoke of the success which had met his
efforts, and his place in
the public confidence, but he did not
take all the credit to him-
self. With his characteristic generosity of soul, he
said:
"'No one feels more than I how much
of this success is due to the
skill and energy and the harmonious putting forth of
that energy and skill
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 275
of those whom it has been my good
fortune to have occupying a sub-
ordinate position under me.
"'There are many officers to whom
these remarks are applicable to
a greater or less degree, proportionate
to their ability as soldiers; but
what I want is to express my thanks to
you and McPherson as the men
to whom, above all others, I feel
indebted for whatever I have had of
success. * * * I feel all the gratitude
this letter can express, giving it
the most flattering construction.'
"To this letter General Sherman
replied, in part:
"'You do yourself injustice and us
too much honor in assigning to
us too large a share of the merits which
have led to your high advance-
ment. You are Washington's legitimate
successor and occupy a place of
almost dangerous elevation; but if you
can continue, as heretofore, to be
yourself, simple, honest, and
unpretending, you will enjoy through life
the respect and love of friends and the
homage of millions of human
beings that will award you a large share
in securing them and their
descendants a government of law and
stability. * * *
"'I believe you are as brave,
patriotic, and just as the great pro-
totype Washington, as unselfish,
kind-hearted, and honest as a man should
be; but your chief characteristic is the
simple faith in success you have
always manifested, which I can liken to
nothing else than the faith a
Christian has in a Savior. This faith gave
you victory at Shiloh and
Vicksburg. Also, when you have completed
your last preparations, you
go into battle without hesitation, as at
Chattanooga-no doubts, no re-
serves - and I tell you it was this that
made us act with confidence.'
"No one doubts the great and
commanding genius and patriot-
ism of General Sherman. His devotion to
General Grant, his
commanding officer, is almost
unparalleled in the history of
warfare.
"Sherman advised him not to stay in
Washington. True, it
was the Capital of the Nation, but it
seemed to be full of in-
trigue and political connivance which
since the outbreak of
the war had had its effect upon every
commanding general who
preceded Grant and often jeopardized the
movements of the
troops in the field.
"After Grant had assumed control
and had gone West to
close up his work there and have a
conference with General Sher-
man and other generals, he returned to
the East, and pitched his
tent in the fields with his armies. He was not given to osten-
tation and display. He went straight to his headquarters at
Culpeper. He announced, 'There will be
no grand review and
no show business.'
"Grant had work to do. He was
commander of all of the
forces of the North. 'The far-flung' battle line of the north-
ern forces was more than 1,000 miles in
length. The Army
was, to use Sherman's words, 'a unit now
in action.' He kept
his own counsel. The Army of the Potomac
was moved with
the same untiring vigor and energy, with
the same clear intel-
276 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ligence and precision with which he
commanded the forces in
the West and brought victory to our
colors. He was pitted
against the greatest military genius in the Southern
Confederacy.
Neither Grant nor Lee underestimated one
another. Greek had
met Greek. But Grant was fighting a
winning cause-Lee a
losing cause.
"The Army of the Potomac was well
trained, but it had not
been well led. Grant removed some
officers. He placed others.
Lincoln had implicit confidence in him.
He did not interfere
with Grant's action in the field.
"At this time a correspondent
writes of him:
"'Grant is not intoxicated with
flattery. * * * I never met with
a man of so much simplicity, shyness,
and decision. He has lost nothing
of his freshness of mind. He avoids
Washington and its corrupting
allurements. He is essentially a soldier
of the camp and field. All his
predecessors were ruined by Washington
influences. He has established
his headquarters 10 miles nearer the
enemy than Meade. His tents are
almost among the soldiers. That is a
western and not a Potomac Army
custom. He travels with the simplicity
of a second lieutenant, with a
small trunk, which he often forgets and
goes off without. If Grant fails,
then a curse is on this Army. He is a
soldier to the core, a genuine
commoner, commander of a democratic army
from a democratic people.
* * * From what I learn of him, he is no
more afraid to take the
responsibility of a million men than of
a single company.'
"Up until Grant became lieutenant
general and took charge
of the armies in the field our forces,
whether east or west,
seemed to act without system, without
unity of purpose. The
officers in the field were partly
responsible for this condition.
But the Congress and the War Department
at Washington must
bear their share of the responsibility.
Grant demanded of Presi-
dent Lincoln the assurance that the War
Department would
cease to command in the field.
"On arriving in Washington he made
up his mind to say to
Lincoln: 'I will accept the command of
the Armies of the United
States, provided I can be free from the
interference of the War
Department; otherwise I shall be obliged
to decline the honor.'
But this was not necessary. Lincoln knew
all too well the defects
in his fighting machine.
"The President in presenting him
with his commission as
lieutenant general, said:
"'The Nation's appreciation of what
you have done and its reliance
upon you for what remains to be done in
the existing great struggle are
now presented with this commission
constituting you lieutenant general in
the Army of the United States. With this
high honor devolves upon you,
also a corresponding responsibility. As
the country herein trusts you, so,
under God, it will sustain you. I
scarcely need to add that with what I
here speak goes my own hearty
concurrence.'
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 277
"General Grant replied:
"'I accept the commission with
gratitude for the high honor con-
ferred. With the aid of the noble armies
that have fought in so many
fields for our common country, it will
be my earnest endeavor not to dis-
appoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of
the responsibilities
now devolving upon me, and I know that
if they are met it will be due to
those armies and, above all, to the
favor of that Providence which leads
both nations and men.'
"Other great generals had preceded
him in commanding the
Army of the Potomac. Many of them were
men of great ability,
brave in action, brilliant in
achievement, but none of them had
to their credit as many or as great
victories as Grant had won
in the West.
"Reserved of manner, plain of
dress, and soft of speech, he
was not at home in the social whirl of
Washington. His place
was in the camp or on the battle field.
There he was master of
men and of measures-quick to conceive
and quick to act. Entire
battlefields were spread before him like
a panorama. He knew
what to do and when to do it. To think
was to execute. His
great brain worked like a Corliss
engine.
"After Grant's appointment as lieutenant
general he returned
to Nashville for a conference with
Sherman, promising to return
to Washington within nine days from the
date of his leaving.
"Upon his return Lincoln said to
him:
"'I have never professed to be a
military man, nor to know how
campaigns should be conducted, and never
wanted to interfere in them.
But procrastination on the part of
generals and the pressure of the people
at the North, and of Congress, which is
always with me, have forced me
into issuing a series of military orders.
I don't know but they were all
wrong, and I'm pretty certain some of
them were. All I want or ever
wanted is some one to take the
responsibility and act-and call on me for
all assistance needed. I pledge myself
to use all the power of government
in rendering such assistance.'
"Grant replied:
"'I will do the best I can, Mr.
President, with the means at hand.'
"Later Lincoln said in reply to a
question:
"'I don't know General Grant's
plans, and I don't want to know
them. Thank God, I've got a general at
last.'
"From the hour Grant assumed
command of the Army of the
Potomac a new spirit had been breathed
into it. They knew
they had a leader, and they knew that
proper leadership was
the one essential for complete victory.
"The South, too, began to realize
that a new man was at the
helm. A Southern editor gave this
warning:
278 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
"'Grant is a determined man, and
has a tremendous force under his
hand, and we may rest assured that when
he is beaten it will be only when
the last capacity for fight has been taken out of him
and his army. Until
this is done our generals, army, and government should
brace every nerve,
stretch every sinew, force nature, and yield nothing to
fatigue.'
"The South began its preparations
for the last and final
struggle. All men between 17 and 50 were
called. Grant, in
referring to this call, said the South
was 'robbing the cradle and
the grave.'
"Grant was confident of final
victory, but he knew the
bravery and the spirit of his foe, and
he did not underestimate
either. In the great Battle of the
Wilderness the two armies met
in deathlike struggle. It was a long, a
bloody battle. No man
who survived it on either side, whether
officer or private, ever
lost his admiration for the courage of
his foe.
"Grant had supreme confidence in
his men as well as his
generals. To illustrate: During this terrific battle an excited
orderly cried out, 'They have broken
through. Hancock has
given way.' Grant replied, 'I do not
believe it.' He knew
Hancock.
"For days the tide of battle ebbed
and flowed. Lee had
failed to break the line or check the
advance. At one time he was
told Grant was retreating. 'You are
mistaken,' Lee replied
'quite mistaken. Grant is not a
retreating man.'
"After three days of fighting,
Grant wrote: 'The results ot
the three days' fighting are in our
favor. I shall take no back-
ward steps.' And later he wrote to
General Halleck, 'I pro-
pose to fight it out on this line if it
takes all summer.'
"The spirit of the men was equaled
only by that of the com-
manding general. A historian tells us
that at a critical period
in the battle a part of the Union forces
began to feel that they
were again whipped by Lee. They feared
another retreat would
be sounded. But the orders were given.
The march was for-
ward. The men broke out with this
refrain:
"'Ulysses leads the van!
For we will dare
To follow where
Ulysses leads the van.'
"After Grant established his
headquarters at Culpeper, Vir-
ginia became the great battlefield of
the war. The struggle was
gigantic. Not one, but many battles were
fought. The slaughter
was unparalleled in the history of our
warfare. The world
shuddered at the fratricidal contest.
Union and the freedom of
the race were in the balance. Grant knew
that the cause must be
won or lost in Virginia. Fair-minded men
can not say whether
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 279
the soldiers of the North or of the
South fought with the greater
valor or under the more brilliant
leadership. Determination to
win characterized both armies. For a
time only the god of battles
knew where success would lie. But
Lincoln and Grant, their
generals and their soldiers, aye, the
entire North kept up their
courage and did not falter. The superior
strength and resources
of the North were destined to win.
"As I read the history of this struggle,
no one battle decided
the contest. It was a succession of
battles, characterized by
masterly generalship and a courageous
soldiery. Who, whether
he be of the North or of the South, does
not recall with pride
the heroism in the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania, at
Cold Harbor,
at Petersburg, at Appomattox, or in many
another battle of per-
haps less importance, but fought with
the same spirit of heroism?
"Grant's genius for command seemed
to grow as the occasion
demanded. True, he did not escape criticism, aye, virulent
abuse; but what great man who served his
country ever has?
The greater his victories and the more
battles he won, the more
shafts of slander were hurled at him. He
must have been stung
to the quick, for he was a very
sensitive man. But criticism, cruel
and unjust as it was, never swerved him
from his path of duty.
He saw beyond the smoke of battle the
glory of the country re-
united and human slavery forever wiped
out.
"As this terrific contest
progressed, the critics became more
severe in denunciation. They called him
'butcher'; and it must
be admitted that blood flowed freely on
both sides of the battle
line. But great battles were never won
without bloodshed.
Carping critics never fought a battle,
much less won a war. Of
course they do not shed blood, because
they do not fight battles
with the sword. They never assault the
enemy. They fight their
friends from behind, and they fight them
from afar off. Their
swords are their pens and their tongues.
Occasionally some of
them are wounded, but they are not
wounded in the front while
facing and advancing upon the enemy.
Their wounds are in
their backs while running from danger.
"During the fighting in Virginia he
said in reply to his
critics:
"'I am commanding an army. The
business of an army is to fight.
This is war. I am determined to whip out the rebellion.
There is no
other way. I am pursuing the same policy
which I began at Belmont. It
is my intention to fight.'
"Again, after he had been twice
unanimously nominated for
the Presidency by his party, and after
he had been twice elected
by overwhelming majorities, during his
second inaugural address
280 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
he referred with dignity to the abuse
which had been heaped upon
him in these words:
"'I did not ask for place or
position, and was entirely without influ-
ence or the acquaintance of persons of
influence. But I was resolved to
perform my part in a struggle threatening the very
existence of the Union.
I performed a conscientious duty without
asking promotion or command.
Notwithstanding this, throughout the war
and from my candidacy for my
present position in 1868, I have been
the subject of abuse and slander
scarcely ever equaled in political
history, which yet today I feel I can
afford to disregard in view of your
verdict, which I gratefully accept as
my vindication.'
"No man among our dead, save
Washington and Lincoln, has
been more greatly vilified than Grant,
but like Washington and
Lincoln, Grant will live long after his
traducers shall have faded
from the memory of man.
"Grant, like many people of the North,
did not believe the
war would last long. Neither did the
people of the South. Be-
fore the actual fighting began Grant
thought with Seward the
rebellion would be suppressed in 90
days. This must have been
the thought of Lincoln himself, because
his first call for troops
was for 90 days.
"The people in the North did not
think the South would
fight.
"The people of the South were
certain the North would not
fight. Orators in the South spoke of the
northerners as cowards
-claimed that one southern man was equal
to five northern men
in battle, and if the South would stand
up for its rights the North
would back down.
"Jefferson Davis said in a speech,
'He would agree to drink
all of the blood spilled south of the Mason
and Dixon line if
there should be a war.' Too bad they did
not know one another
better. Neither side appreciated the
valor, the spirit, the worth
of the other.
"What a tribute the history of the
Civil War is to the fine
courage of the people of both North and
South! The people
of both sections were sprung from the
same loins. They were
all all-American.
"Many who knew Grant in his youth
and early manhood be-
fore and even during the Civil War had
little confidence in his
ability or fitness for high command.
Some who knew him inti-
mately referred to him as a mere
'accident.' Such criticisms hurt,
but they did not unmake the man.
"The God of battles does not choose
great commanders of
great armies by accident. Accidents are
not placed in the niches
of the temple of fame. Maybe that
occasionally, by some fortui-
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 281
tous combination of circumstances, an
inferior man may win
where a superior man may lose. Accident
may win a battle. It
never won a magnificent series of
battles. It never won a war.
Ulysses Simpson Grant did both.
"Accident did not win commendation
from his superior
officers for bravery on the battlefields
of Mexico or for ability
as quartermaster.
"Accident was not in the saddle at
Belmont, or Fort Thomas,
or Fort Donelson, or Shiloh, or Vicksburg, or
Chattanooga in
the West.
"Accident did not make Grant
commander-in-chief of the
armies of the field. It did not win in
the Wilderness or at
Spottsylvania or at Petersburg or at
Appomattox.
"Had he been an accident he could
not have had the sustained
confidence and the continued loyal
devotion of the Shermans,
the Sheridans, the McPhersons, and the
Meades. Accident did
not tie his faithful soldiery to him by
hooks of steel.
"Accident did not win for him two
nominations and two elec-
tions to the Presidency of the Republic.
"No; Grant was not an accident. He
was the one man born
from the womb of time to lead our armies
to victory and to re-
store the Union, never again to be
dissolved. Like Minerva, he
sprung full fledged from the head of
Jove. He was born to com-
mand. Lincoln discovered him. He won
where others failed.
"Great as Grant was on the battle
field, he was greater at
the peace table. Determined and
tenacious in conflict, he was
magnanimous in victory. Nothing finer
appears in all history
that his treatment of Lee and his armies
at Appomattox. He
required all arms, artillery, and public
property to be parked
and stacked and turned over to the
officer appointed by him to
receive them. This did not embrace
either the side arms of the
officers or their private horses or
baggage. This done, each officer
and man was allowed to return to his
home, 'not to be disturbed
by the United States authorities so long
as they observe their
parole and the laws in force where they
reside.'
"Lee was surprised at the
generosity of Grant's proposal, and
added, 'this will have a most happy
effect upon my army.'
"What a temptation it would have
been to many a general to
have demanded terms both exacting and
humiliating! Not so
with Grant. Now that the war had been
won, his one thought
was to win the peace.
"Later on came Lincoln's
assassination and Andrew John-
son's succession to the Presidency. He
proposed 'to make treason
odious.' He thought to have Lee and
other leading southerners
indicted for treason. General Lee
appealed to Grant, saying he
282 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
had learned that he was to be indicted
for treason by the grand
jury at Norfolk. He adds:
"'I had supposed that the officers
and men of the Army of Northern
Virginia were by the terms of the
surrender protected by the United States
Government from molestation so long as
they conformed to its condi-
tions. * * *'
"Grant wrote to the Secretary of
War with firmness and
magnanimity:
"'In my opinion the officers and
men paroled at Appomattox Court-
house, and since upon the same terms
given to Lee, can not be tried for
treason so long as they observe the
terms of their parole. This is my
understanding. Good faith as well as
true policy dictates that we should
observe the conditions of that
convention. Bad faith on the part of the
Government or a construction of that
convention subjecting the officers to
trial for treason would produce a
feeling of insecurity in the minds of all
paroled officers and men. * * *'
"He wrote to Lee:
"'I have forwarded your application
for amnesty and pardon to the
President with the following
indorsement: "Respectfully forwarded,
through the Secretary of War, to the
President, with the earnest recom-
mendation that this application of Gen.
R. E. Lee for amnesty and pardon
be granted him."'
"General Grant was not content with
a mere protest. He
said to the President, 'The people of
the North do not wish to
inflict torture upon the people of the
South.'
"President Johnson answered, 'I will
make treason odious.
When can these men be tried?'
"Grant replied, 'Never, never;
unless they violate their
parole.'
"Grant was determined that the
Government should keep the
faith, and he finally won. From this
time on his every thought
and every act looked to the healing of
the wounds of war. He
wanted the sections reunited in fact and
in spirit as well as in
name.
"When, after his first nomination
as a candidate for the
Presidency he wrote his letter of
acceptance, this same thought
was uppermost in his mind, and after his
letter had been com-
pleted he added these four words:
" "Let us have peace.'
"It was not in his heart after
victory to trample the people of
the South under the iron heel of war.
Rather he looked upon
them as wayward brothers, whom he wanted
to bring back to
the protecting folds of our glorious
flag.
"How well he succeeded the
reestablished Union proclaims
to the world for all time. Peace to the
ashes of Ohio's greatest
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 283
son. May we honor ourselves by writing
his name large upon
the tablets of our memories.
Vice-President Coolidge in a recent
address at
Columbus, Ohio, complimented the state
on having as
its representatives in the United
States Senate two able
and patriotic senators. This seemed to please the
audience who heard the Vice-President
and a similar
sentiment seemed to prevail, regardless
of party, among
the thousands who heard Senators Willis
and Pomerene
at Bethel and Georgetown. Senator
Pomerene was
heard with the closest attention and
heartily applauded.
General Grant in his Memoirs comments
rather
freely on the southern sentiment
prevailing in Brown
County at the opening of the Civil War.
"There was
probably," he writes, "no
time during the Rebellion
when, if the opportunity could have
been afforded, it
(Georgetown) would not have voted for
Jefferson Davis
for President of the United States,
over Mr. Lincoln,
or any other representative of his
party. * * *
The line between the rebel and union
element in George-
town was so marked that it led to
divisions even in the
churches. There were churches in that part of Ohio
where treason was preached regularly,
and where, to
secure membership, hostility to the
government, to the
war and to the liberation of the
slaves, was far more
essential than a belief in the
authenticity and credibility
of the Bible."
The southern counties of Ohio bordering
on the
river were settled largely from the
South and sym-
pathy with that section in the sixties
was natural. It
must be remembered, however, that among
these settlers
from Kentucky, Virginia and other
southern states
284
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
were many eminent opponents of slavery.
Conspicuous
among these were Alexander Campbell,
state legislator
and United States Senator, and John
Rankin, of Ripley,
Brown County, whose name ranks with
those of Gar-
rison, Lundy and Birney. With them were
numerous
other anti-slavery advocates in
Clermont and Brown
Counties. The conspicuous service of
Thomas Morris
in the cause has already been told.
Whatever may have been the attitude of
the citizens
of Georgetown in Civil War times, there
was evidence
on every hand throughout the Centenary
celebration of
patriotic pride in the life and
services of the great gen-
eral who spent the formative period of
his early life
in the village. In the Civil War and all subsequent
wars Brown County has given to the
Republic a number
of brilliant military leaders, out of
proportion to her
population, of whom any county in the
state might well
be proud.
The exercises at Georgetown closed the
series of
celebrations in honor of the one
hundredth anniversary
of the birth of General Ulysses S.
Grant. These cele-
brations had been carefully planned and
the program
was most successfully carried out in
every detail. Much
praise is due all the members of the
Centenary com-
mittee but everyone will accord first
honor for these in-
spiring educational and patriotic
celebrations to the
chairman of the committee, Judge Hugh
L. Nichols,
who for the past year has devoted
practically all of his
time to afford the opportunity for this
series of events
which gratified the thousands in
attendance.
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 285
HOME LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT
General Grant figured so conspicuously
in his public
career that not much has been written
of his home life.
That his youth in spite of the arduous
physical labor
that was expected of boys in pioneer
days was spent in
the midst of home influences in many
respects ideal is
attested by the General himself who
wrote in his
Memoirs:
"There was never any scolding or
punishing by my parents.
No objection to rational enjoyments,
such as fishing, going to
the creek a mile away to swim in summer,
taking a horse and
visiting my grandparents in the
adjoining county, fifteen miles
off, skating on the ice in winter, or
taking a horse and sleigh
when there was snow on the ground."
The recollection of the attitude of his
parents toward
him doubtless had great influence with
him as husband
and father. His son, Ulysses S. Grant,
Jr., who was
born in Bethel, Ohio, and now lives in
San Diego, Cali-
fornia, and owns a large hotel which he
has named in
honor of his father, gives an
interesting account of life
in the home of the General, which is
here quoted in part
from the Columbus Citizen of
April 27, 1922:
"His unfailing calmness, his
ability to think out every act
before making it, and his remarkable
memory, are the traits which
stand out most clearly in my memory as I
look back on the life
of my father.
"He was a splendid family man. We
all loved him, but with
that affection was a respect, almost an
awe, that nobody else has
ever commanded from me.
"Although we were reared in the
days of 'spare the rod and
spoil the child,' he never laid the
weight of his hand on one of
us. He didn't need to. His slightest
rebuke held a greater sting
than the whip.
"I remember one day when we were
living in Washington.
We were preparing to go for a drive. The
carriage was crowded
and I was sitting on the box with the coachman.
Without think-
286 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
ing of the consequences, I cracked the
whip and only the good
horsemanship of the coachman saved us
from a runaway.
"'That was thoughtless,' was all my
father said to me, and
yet the rebuke has burned in my memory
ever since.
"I like to recall the love and
loyalty between my father and
my mother. Mother loved to tell us of
father during the days of
his courting, when he was a second
lieutenant fresh from West
Point, and she was the daughter of a
southern planter. 'A
beautiful young man,' she called him.
"She always said Grandmother Dent
predicted, even in the
days of his young lieutenancy, that he
would be president of the
United States.
"'Julia,' mother said grandmother
told her, 'that young man
can explain politics so clearly I can
understand the situation
perfectly. I know he will be president
of the United States.'
"Like all the Grants, father cared
very little for music. He
used to say all music was divided to him
into two selections,
'Hail! the Conquering Hero Comes,' which
he had heard so often
he couldn't forget it, and the 'other
piece.'
"He was fond of reading and could
consume an inordinate
amount of reading matter. Throughout all
his life he retained
his intense love for horses, which is
the outstanding trait of his
boyhood. He was always a little
disappointed that his three sons
didn't share his enthusiasm for good
horseflesh.
" 'Fred,' he would say, 'knows very
little about horses; Buck
(which was my nickname) knows nothing,
and Jesse less than
that.'
"Father had a remarkable memory for
names and dates.
"My brother Fred and I usually read
him the proof sheets
of his Memoirs as they came from
the printers. He often would
stop us while he gave a word or a
statement the most thorough
study. He disliked a misstatement and
always lost confidence in
the person who made one.
"During that last sad year of his
life as he held death at bay
while he struggled under almost
insurmountable difficulties to
finish his book, he showed the same
courage, the same patience
and consideration for others that was
always a part of him.
"'Son,' he would say to me, 'no
Grant is afraid to die.'
"He never let mother know that he
knew he was afflicted
with cancer and death was inevitable.
Before her he was always
cheerful, concealing his pain."
The General's concern for the welfare
of his chil-
dren is shown in his last request to
his wife which was
Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 287
published in the character sketch by
Judge Hugh L.
Nichols in the April QUARTERLY.
POETIC TRIBUTES
ON THE OCCASION OF THE GRANT CENTENARY
Though General Grant, as his son has
stated, cared
little for music and, as other writers
have told us, was
not fond of poetry, the centennial
celebration of his
birth called forth poetic
tributes. The following ap-
peared in the papers of Georgetown, the
first two on
April 28 and the last on May 11:
U. S. GRANT
BY BERTYE Y. WILLIAMS
On the banks of the Ohio,
In a humble little cot,
He was born -our nation's
hero;
But the busy world recked not.
None came by to do him honor,
Only April breezes sweet
From the peach and apple orchards
Scattered petals at his feet.
There the little new-born baby
Grew and stretched each sturdy limb;
And the beautiful Ohio
Sang a cradle-song for him.
On the fair banks of the Hudson,
In a tomb of stately grace,
They have laid our nation's hero.
They have given him a place
Where the world goes by in pageant,
Where the city's full tide swells;
And the great of earth, in passing,
Place their wreathes of immortelles.
There the weary warrior resteth
From the stress of conflicts grim;
And the blue and shining Hudson
Sings a requiem for him.
-From
the Georgetown News Democrat.
288 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
U. S. GRANT
ONE OF OUR BOYS
BY BERTYE Y. WILLIAMS
One of our boys! In the long ago
He trudged along through the winters'
snow
To the old school-house that you see
there still.
Oft' he went with grist to the White Oak
mill
When the days of summer were long and
fair,
Met the other boys, and went swimming
there.
0, he knew these woods and hills and
streams,
And 'twas here he dreamed his boyhood
dreams,
One of our boys,
Just one of our boys!
One of our boys! When the crisis came,
And our land was scorched by the
battle's flame,
When the small faith died, and the weak
heart quailed,
And the cause of the Union almost
failed,
There was one whose hand held the foe at
bay;
One whose courage grim saved the losing
day;
One who, loving peace, faltered not in
war
Till our flag was saved with its every
star.
One of our boys,
Just one of our boys!
- From
the Georgetown Gazette.
AT GRANT'S TOMB AFTER THE CENTENARY
BY ADDA HIGGINS TATMAN
The pomp and pageantry are o'er,
The music and the shouting stilled;
The voice of orator no more
With eulogy and praise is filled.
No longer wave the stripes and stars,
The flowers, wreaths and bunting gay
From arches, masts and steamboat spars
Along the great triumphal way.
So quiet now each little town,
Each little corner of the earth
That claims a share in your renown,
Your homes, and humble place of birth.
Back to its desk, its plough, its mill
Has turned a busy world again;
But your brave spirit moves us still,
O rarest, truest, best of men.
Not all the praise, the blame, the
power,
That came to you in your sad day,
Could swerve you even for an hour
From the firm purpose of your way.
O hero! though no lesson new
Is blazoned in your modest story
To conscience and to country true,
You found the way to fame and glory.
-From the Georgetown News Democrat.