Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 April 1885 — STORIES ABOUT GRANT. [ARTICLE]

STORIES ABOUT GRANT.

Anecdotes and Reminiscences of the Great Commander. WHEN GRANT YELLED LIKE AN Ilf- ' DIAN. •• Mm. Grant and the Boys—The Kind of Music the General Liked. An army officer, .now stationed in Boston, who was Inspector at tho headquarters of “ the armies operating; against Richmond,” says: ‘‘The only time I ever saw Gen. Grant show any exhilaration was when news was received of Sheridan's victory in Winchester Valley, a t Cedar Crook. He came out of his tent, threw bis hat up in tbe air, yelled like an Indian, and tben went hack into his tent. He knew that that was the beginning of the end. “Some people attribute hisjsueccss to luck, but all he ever earned was by hard work and carefully elaborated plans. He would frequently sit- all night by the telegraph Instrument at his City Point headquarters receiving and sending dispatches, and keeping two operators constantly employed. I have looked out of my tent, many a time, and seen him studying maps ot the fields of operations in the East and West with Gen. John S. Barnard, his chief engineer. Ho talked but little, but what he said was generally to the point. He always seemed to read the newspapers carefully, and never appeared to have any idle time. At the time articles appeared in the Northern papers charging him with drunkenness there was no liquor at his headquarters, to my certain knowledge; and if a man wanted a drink he bad to put down his tent-flops and take it secretly, knowing the General’s opposition to It. He always Eeemed preoccupied, and frequently seated himself in the sun on a dry goods box In front of my teht. While meditating he would keep his foot going liko a pendqlum, and thump the; box at every swing. I was writing out my reports one day, and being annoyed by tbe continued thumping, was about to yell ‘clear out of there, supposing the culprit was an orderly. Fortunately, 1 concluded to look out first, and much to my astonishment discovered that It was Gen. Grant. * r “I remember an incident that caused considerable comment at the expense of the sutlers about that time. There was quite a fleet of boats, laden with sutlers' supplies—they were principal'y schooners—lying right at the foot of the bluff, under Grant’s headquarters, waiting for a favorable time to take the stores to the front and there sell them. Operations were going on at the time which prevented wagons from being on the road. The sutlers improved their idle time by picking over their eggs and throwing the bad Cries into the river. The current threw many of them up on tho shore, breaking them against the rocks at the foot of the bluff, and assailing the Commander-In-Chief’s position with a stench quite equal to the ‘6tlnk-pots’ used iiWZhineso military operations. Gen. Grant took in the situation, and issued an order requiring the sutlers to go in boats and pick up all tho eggs floating on the water. This, as perhaps you can imagine, was anything but an agreeable task, the egps frequently breaking and atmost overwhelming the sutlers with their powerful odor. “Mrs. Grant visited the General in October,, 1864, I think,’ bringing two of the children with her. There was a flock of qual 1 living in the underbrush on the Appomattox side of the bluff, and every morning they marched up on the lawn in front of the tents. On tho occasion of Mrs. Grant's visit, some person in passing startled the birds, and they flew wildly in among Gen. Grant's tents. The Grant children tore after them, and the General, seizing his slouch hat, joined in the chase, rushing from tent to tent, upsetting tables and stools, and finally capturing one of the birds under his hat. “He had no ear lor music, and could not distinguish between ‘Hail Columbia’ and ‘Hail to the Chief.’ Occasionally a fine band would come down the Appomattox to serenade him at his headquarters, much to the delight of bis music-loving staff, but tho General, always busy, regarded tho music only as an interruption, and usually sent the band away alter it bad played one piece. The only satisl action left to the officers was the pleasure of listening to the music grow fainter and fainter as the little steamer carrying the band raovei slowly up the river, soon disappearing in the darkness. But there was one kind of music which, though primitive, seemed to afford the General great delight. There was an American am-bulance-drlvfer at headquarters named Sam, who played the banjo with great dexterity, and I had in my employ a colored toy whom everybody at headquarters dubbed ‘Cupid,’ who was remarkable for his ugly features and expert jig-dancing. When the General had any foreigner of distinction visiting him he would send his compliments to me and ask to borrow Cupid. Then he would get Sam to play the banjo and have Cupid dance Jig after jig in front of the camp-tire on the tail-board or an army wagon for the amusement of himself and guests. The General, convulsed with laughter at Cupid’s antics, would sit there by the hour, with a cigar in his mouth, apparently enjoying himself hugely. He was rarely seen without a cigar in his mouth.” —Boston Globe.

ON GRANT’S STAFF. The Two Civilians Who Enjoyed the Commander’s Confidence—An Order Against Smoking. “I was in Company A, Twenty-first Massachusetts Volunteers, Sergeant Plunkett’s regiment,” said Col. B. D. Wiley, of this city, formerly on Grant’s staff. “We left Worcester in Juno, ’6l, and I was mustered into the United States service the following July. I served with McClellan on the Peninsula, and under Burnside, Hooker, and others at different Army of the Potomac stations. When Grant was ordered from the West to take command of ‘the armies operating against Richmond,' tho Army of the Potomac, under Meade, was lying In the vicinity of Culpeper, Va. “I first met Grant at Alexandria, Va. I went there, from Culpeper, in company with Gen. Ingalls and others of Grant’s staff, and we accompanied him back to Culpeper on a special train. Gen. Ingalls, late Quartermaster General, now retired, was one of bis classmates. Grant was then, seemingly, a very quiet, uncommunicative nan, and in general appearance hardly such a man as 1 had Imagined the hero of Vicksburg. He was in fatigue dress when I first saw him, and wore no insigna of rank. He was accompanied by Gen. Rawlins, his Chiet-of-Staff, afterward Secretary ot' War, and Col. T. S. Bowers, Adjutant General. These two officers were members of the Twentyfirst Illinois, the regiment Grant was made Colonel of when he entered the volunteer service. At the time of the breaking out of the war Gen. Rawlins was a lawyer, and was made Adjutant and First Lieutenant of the Twenty-first Illinois at the same time Grant was made Colonel of it. Though he had never had any military training, Grant, recognizing his wonderful executive ability, kept him os his chief adviser during the war, and, as you know, made him a Cabinet officer when he became President. Prior to the breaking out of the war Col. T. 8. Bowers was a clerk in a country store and entered the Twenty-first Illinois as a private. Ho was afterward promoted to Sergeant-Major and assigned to duty at the headquarters of the regiment, where he attracted Grant’s attention, and was made Adjutant General at tbe same time Grant was made Colonel. He served in that capacity during the entire war, and was accidentally killed at West Point while attending the commencement exercises at the Mill-; tary Academy with Gen. Grant. He was very small in stature, but es a genial, pleasant disposition. While serving with Grant in front of Vicksburg volunteers were called for to carry dispatches by tbe rebel batteries by river, and without Grant’s knowledge Bowers, -aooompanied by only one man, successfully made,the trip. It was an extremely hazardous undertaking, for tbe slightest splash of an oar washable to result in capture or death. “Grant was"extremely fond of him—more so. I should say, than of any other member of bis staff. He often told of Bowers’ bravery with-much pride. He and Gen. Rawlins became part of his personal staff, and were retained in hie military family daring the en-

tire war. It seemed strange that Grant, a graduate of a military academy, with hosts of military friends, should select two civilians,! for hi* constant compan'ons and advisers. other members of his military family, at the time he arrived from the West, were his'brother-in-law, Gen. F. T. Dent, Col. Parker, a full-blooded Genesee Indian, his Corresponding Secretary (afterward In charge of the Indian Bureau), and Maj: Dunn, aid-de-camp, now with Geh. Pope in tbe Department of tbe Pacific. “Yes, I have seen Grant under Are •at Spottsylvania Court House, in Virginia, one or our most disastrous defeats in the Wilderness. Gen. Gfant and Gen. Meade were in consultation under a tree, near a deserted house, surrounded by their staff officers,whcn a solid shot from one of the enemy’s batteries passed through the tree, cutting off severer, branehos. and causing no little consternation auppng tho staff and escort. The two General*'sat there, however, without indication of alafm, and continued their'consultation as if uothlng had occurred. “I saw him most frequently at City Point, Va., whenuhe was directing operations around Petersburg; indeed, being a member of his staff, I was near him much of the time. I was in charge of all the supplies for both armies, and had a colored guard on the wharf and apound the storehouses for the protection of the stores. On Aug. 9, ’B4, the ordnance department, located in the immodiate .vicinity of the supply department, exploded, destroying the storehouses and a large amount of ,Government property. • Among other precautions taken in consequence, the colored guard received orders to allow no smoking around tbe storehouses. Gen. Grant appeared on the wharf one day, unaccompanied by any of his staff, and puffing vigorously at a fragrant Havana which he had just lighted. He was soon stopped by one of the colored guard, who, not knowing the General, said: “Here, boss, you'se- got to frow away dat cigar.’ The General good-naturedly pitched the cigar into tho James, and smilingly passed the sentinel without saying a word. That shows the character of the man; lie was walking around quietly and taking a look at things." —Boston Globe.

A REMINISCENCE. How a Fault-Finding Woman Was Rebuked for Her Abuse of Grant. When Gen. Grant was in command at Fort Donelson, in 1863, a number of Northern women went down there to assist as nurses In the hospitals. Among them was the wife of a certain Western Senator who distinguished himself lor his hostility to the great commander when the latter was under a cloud. ThqSvoman in question was unwilling to put up with things as she found them for the good of the old flag, but insisted upon having matters revolutionized according to her ewn ideas of propriety. The hospital locations wanted changing; the physicians in attendance were lncompeient; she would like to have a carriage at her command; rtie called for an orderly to do this and an orderly to do that; the officers were remiss in their attention to her—in short, nothing went right with her, but everything was wrong, and “abominably so” at that. Grant kne,w this woman, well, having been frequently pestered by her complaints and demands, and on one occasion, when patieneewith him had ceased to be a virtue, ho told her plainly that he “was not sent to Donelson to obey the behests of petticoats, but to command the army.” She flirted from his presence in a rage, and ere long went back to her home. To reach the latter place she took passage aboard of a Mississippi steamboat, commanded by a Galena man, an old river captain and a personal friend and great admirer of Gen. Grant. The first night out thSkklpper was making himself agreeable to his passengers in the cabin, especially the women, when he chanced to remark to one of the latter, in the presence of the hereinbeforementioned female, that he was a resident of Galena, and had lived thero many years. “You say you live at Galena?” interposed the Senator's wile. “That is where that dirty, drunken Grant came from, isn’t it?” she continued. Turning to the intermeddler tho Captain glared at her a moment, and at last, in a voice trembling with passion, he said-: “Madam, I don't know who you are, but this I do know: that if -you were a man instead of an apology for a woman I’d “knock every tooth down your throat if you didn’t take back the lie you just uttered against Geri. Grant; and, by tho’Lord Harry, 1 have half a notion to bank you, night though it is, for the slander.” There was great excitement inthe cabin for the moment, the passengers heartily siding with the captain, and manifesting their approbation of the severe reprimand administered by him to the Senator's wife. As for the latter, with red mantling her cheeks, she slunk away to the rear of the cabin without deigning to reply, and from that time until she reached the end of heJ* trip she was not at all troubled with company. Chicago Tribune. " i When Grant Was Mad. I never heard the General swear, says a writer in the Washington Capital , but I certainly saw him mad enough to make things blue if he had broken out. In the spring of 1874 a delegation came here from a taxpayers’ convention in South Carolina to expostulate against the intolerable extravagance, folly, and fraud in their State Government. Frank Moses, “the young* native Governor,” as he had been dubbed by those who thought carpet-baggers the sum of ail evil, jwbo.had shown them that the finger of Moses was heavier than the loins of Scott, was nearing tho close of his term. To prepare lor a desperate effort to redeem the State, a non-partisan tax-payers’ convention was called, and the result was “an appeal to Caesar.” A delegation of twenty of the'most distinguished men of the State came here; Gen. James Chestnut, who died recently, was at Its head. I went with tnem, by appointment, to tbe White House to present the bill of grievances. As we were passing up the stairway to the President’s receptionroom, Senator John J. Patterson, the carpet-bag representative of the Falmetto State, passed down. He had a grin on his somewhat sardonic face which was indicative of disaster to those he grinned at. Gen. M. C. Butler, now Senator, certainly construed it as a danger signal, for he said to me: “Now, 1 wonder what Patterson has been up to?” Tbe delegation was not long in finding out. When they filed into the re-oeption-room Grant was standing to receive them, one clinched hand resting on the table, an angry flush upon his face, and an expression of the eye fitter for the battlefield than for the reception-room. He went through the ceremony of introduction coigly, and then said: VWhat can Ido for yoli?” W. D. Porter, charleston s most famous lawyer, presented the resolutions of the convention and the protest of the taxpayers of South Carolina against the continued existence of the State government. Mr. Leathers unrolled three long proof-sheets of an individual protest, which he would have proceeded to read had tfot Grant, with air impatient gesture, interrupted him. “Gentlemen,” laid he, “that all you have to say concerning the present government of South Carolina is true Ido not admit or deny. The administration of affairs in that State is in the hands of those who were elected by a large majority of the people to represent them; you must find your remqdy at the ballot-box; but even if I bad it in my power to prevent the evils of which you complain, I do not think I am' bound to do so. Wby should I help those who shamefully abuse me? The convention which sent you here even dragged the name of my wife into its debates, and made her the subject of false and scandalous accusation?.” The delegation was dumfonnded. The members had not expected any very warm sympathy, but this turning of the tables was too Budden to find them prepared. Those who had noticed the exit of “ Hones Patterson” were, however, not so much surprised at Grant's famil arlty with the proceedings of the .convention. That sly politician had primed Grant for the reception, and on the table close to Grant’s hand was a newspaper clipping—the report of Gen. Mart Gary's speech in the convention. Gen. Gary, as Chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, had opposed an appeal to Grant. Ho denounced hkn as a drunken tyrant, no tetter than his fellow-radicals in Fouth Carolina. “While Moses and his fel-low-thieves,” said be, "are robbing the people of South Carolina, Grant and hie fellow-

thieves are robbing the whole people Of the United States. While negro harkits are peddling legislative pay,certificates in the streets of Columbia, the wife of Gen. Grant is selling the secrets of the Treasury to the gamblers of Wall street. ” So the tax-payers' delegation went away sorrowful. Grant’s Freedom from Profanity. In a conversation with a Washington correspondent,; Mr. Markland, who was tho head of the mail service of Grant’s army, said:, “Gon. Grant never swore, and in my long connection with him I have never heard hijh utter a profane word. I have been with him on many occasions in which perhaps the use ot profanity would have been pardonable. I have heard him tell stories in which oaths baye always been used, but in;i«telling them be would rot quote the' oaths. He was freer from using unkind expressions toward his fellow-man than any ono I have ever known. And the chief misfortunes of his life have arisen from his mieplaiced confidence in bis fellow-man. Speaking of his profanity, 1 remember two occasions on which Grant should have sworn and I think would have sworn if he could. One was While we were at Young's Point, with headquarters on the steamboat Magnolia. Two of the staff officers had been sent north under orders, leaving their rooms on tho boat vacant. Gen. Grant invited two officers on board one night for consultation. During the consultation a violent raki-storm came up, and Gen. Grant asked these officers to remain on board over night, saying that he had two rooms, and that it would be more pleasant for them to stay there than to go to their camp in the storm. The time for retiring arrived, and the officers were shown to their rooms. When the doors were opened, however, it was found that the beds were occupied by the colored servants of the officers who were absent. Gen. Grant was very angry, but his indignation did not find vent in oaths; he merely ordered these tervants out on shore interthe rain, and in a short time, his indignation having cooled, ho sent an orderly to teil them they could come back upon tho beat. “At another time, after having performed his morning ablutions, he left his lalso teeth in the wash-basin. His servant, in putting the room to rights, emptied the contents into the river, and for the time being Gon. Grant was toothless. But his amiability developed itself even here. He said to she servant: ‘You have put me in a very embarrassing position, but you did not intend tq do,it,’ and that was all.”

Grant and the Reporter. While Garfield lay dead at Elberon and Mrs. Garfield was beginning to realize the sorrow that had come upon her, there went down from Jersey City, with a distinguished party, Chester A. Arthur, become the President; Police Commissioner French, Col. George Blies, and Gen. Grant and his son Fred. When the special train rolled back to Jersey City, the gentlemen en the inside waited patiently until they might get into their carriages to cross the ferry and rattle away up town. One personage in fine attire also waited with tho party, standing for the time on a rear platform. This watcher's manner was haughty, and tho lofty poise of his head seemed to imply that he felt very much at ease with this world. A New York newspaper reporter, assigned to meet the train, approached this gentleman with a casual inquiry and was most pronouncedly snubbed. “We don’t propose to fee bothered by a lot of buzzard reporters,” quoth tho gentleman, with an extraordinary emphasis on the “we.” Alter disposing of this nice little sentiment the gentleman's haughtiness Increased visibly. He wasn’t quite satisfied with the gentlemanly exhibition he had already made of himself, but broke out again with, “ We don’t want you around here, anyway. Skip!” Just at this moment tho car door was thrown open, a compact figure stepped out on the platform on bis way to tbe ferryboat. He beard the agreeable remarks of the austere gentleman, and he turned around half in surprise, half in shame, and tben, as be recognized the reporter, he gcniaHy extended his hand toward him and called ou*, “Come along with me, my boy, and I’U tell you all about it.” This friend in need was Ulyssos 3. Grant: the distinguished gentleman bn the rear platform was a private secretary on trlaL —New York Times. Company Grant, As is nearly always the case in eduoatlonal institutions, the new pupils at the West Point Academy were made the subjects of the sports and jest of those who had passed through tbe same ordeal and had been ad vanced to higher classes. Ulysses, es course, was subjected to his share of the torment, but after forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, he determined to take sueh a deoislvo stand that he would no longer be a victim of their practical jokes. His conrptray on one occasion being out on mock parade, a repetition of one of these jokes was attempted, when, stepping out from the ranks the provoked youth requested the captain to forget his rank for a few moments, and stand up fair and square to,see whioh was the better man of the twe. The captain accepted the offer, and in a few moments discovered that in a pugilistic encounter he was no match for Ulysses. The victor then turned to the lieutenant, and asked him to revenge the captain, but, after a short eontost, he, too, was compelled to suocumb to hte opponent’s skill and strength. “Who's next?” said young Grant. “I wish peace, and, if necessary, will tight the entire company, one by one, to gain it. I have no ill-feeling against any one, but I will have peace in the future.” No one was willing to be punished, and one and all rushed forward and took him by the hand. From that time he was known as “Company Grant.” - ———- Thonght He Wonld Do It. It is said that during the dreary days of the siege of Vicksburg, a knot of men collected in a druggist’s shop in Cincinnati were discussing the probabilities of Ms success in taking Vicksburg. An aged countryman, who had been a silent listener, was at last appealed to for his opinion. “I rather think he'll do it,” said the stranger, in a tone of certainty. “What makes you think so?” said the company, “Well, I don't know; but our Ulysses always did do whatever he said he would. You see, Ulysses is my boy,” added the old man; and tbe event justified bis confidence. Never was an enterprise hedged in with difficulties more gigantic; but against these Grant placed the silent, inflexible fierce of V will whioh no length of time oeufei weary, no obstacles discourage, and the combinations of a brain which seemed equally capable of attending to the vastest plans and most trivial minutae. It is recalled In Washington society that the steamer Baltic, on which Mrs. Nellie Grant-Sartoris lately returned from Europe to see her slowly dying father, is the same on whioh she went with her husband on their wedding t,our across the Atlantic a few days after their bailliant wedding in the White House, May 23, ‘IBT4. She Inb always been her father’s special pet among his children, and while her mother maintained her composure in telling her good-by when she was leaving after ber marriage, her father broke down completely. Ggtt. Wright, with his-staff, was one day passing Gen. Grant's headquarters, and stopped to pay his respects. During the conversation Gen. Wright asked bow long before they would enter Richmond. Gen. Grant replied:—“l did intend to get in hy the ftrnrth of July, but I have just got a letter from a friend in California who has been betting on an earlier date, and we shall have to hurry up a little.” Richmond did not toss for nearly a year. The Medical Record says: Five per cent, of all cancers are situated upon the tongue. The average duration of life in cancer of the tongue is, without operation, ton end onehalf months; with operation, sixteen months. In some cases, after operations, the patients have lived for from two to five years, or even ten years. Heaven never gets much nearer to a mao than the adjoining eeaajf, while the other place is often in fife same township. ; ,