The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1865-04-19

have been classed with him. Since Sher-
mans bold march through Georgia, and
his capture of Savannah and Charleston,
there have been many who in their
strong admiration of his achievements,
are inclined TO rank him the greater gen
cral Of the two. That judgment, we
take it, is now reversed by the court of e.
nal appeal not by dwarfing the rcputa-
ton OF Sherman. which suffers no just
abatement, but Ivy the expansion into
grander proportions of that Of Grant.
Grant stands prc-emincnt among all
the generals who have served in this war
in tie completeness Of lis fadi results. lie
has Owed nothing to accident and, both
in the West and the East, he has accom-
plished the most arluous things that were
TO be done. The great thing in the
West, without which the rebel power
could never have been broken in that
vast region, was the re-opening of the
Mi,sisssippii the great thing in the East,
the taking Of the rebel capitol Rich
mond was the right leg Of the rebellion,
and tie Mississippi river its left Both
were contested by the rebels with a full
appreciation Of their value. The resist
ancd was, i'll both cases. powerful and OBJ
stlnae enough to put the most heroic te-
nacity Of the most indomitablo mind to a
proof sufficient to test its quality. Grant
has exhibited the utmost strength of will
of which the highest type of manhood is
capable. The deicnses OF Nicksburg and
the defcnses Of Richmond were both
deemed impregnablc, and were defended
with proportionablc confidence and OBJ
stinacY; but they both yielded, at last,
10 Grants matchless persistence and un-
equaled strategy. And, in both cases,
he not only took the long-contested posi-
tions, but compelled the surrender Of the
whole force defending them. Nolhing
could be more clean and complete, even
in Imagination, than Gen. Grants mas
terly execution. lie did not in each
case, acquire II position was the key Of a
wide theater Of operations; he did not
merely beat or disable the opposing force
lc left no fragment Of it in existence ex-
cept as prisoners Of war subject to his dis
posal.
Ii anybody is 50 obtusc or so wrong
headed as to see nothing great in General
GRANT beyond his marvellous tenacity OF
will, let that doubter explain, if he can,
how it has happened that since GRANT
rose to high command, this quality has
always been exerted in conspicuous energy
precisely at the point on which everything
in his whole sphere OF operations hinged
There has been no display of great quail
tiles on smAll occasions: no expenditure
of herculean effort to accomplish objects
not Of the first magnitude. 1t is only a
very cear-sighted and IA very comprehen-
sivc mind that could always thus have
laid the whole emphasis of IN indomitable
soul 50 precisely on the emphatic place.
How, If he be not general Of the first
order Of intellect rs wellsas of the most
heroic determination, does it happen that
IN assigning great and brilliant parts to
his subordinate commanders, he has never
when the results OF his strategy were fully
uniolded, appeared in the picture except
rs the central figure However it may
seem during the progress of one of HI.
great combined campaigns,i it always turn;
out ut last, when it reaches that complete.
ness and finish in which he contrivcs tc
have his campaigns end, that we see lin
standing in the FOREGROUND, and that the
grou ping is always such that the glory o.
;he other generals instead of cclpsng hi.
own gives it additional lustcr. 1t is thi
surene's of judgment which sees precisely
what are the objects that justify the ut.
most stretch Of persistence; it is thi.
ability TO take in the whole field of view
in just perspective and due subordinatior
of parts, that is the mark of a superior
mind. Gen. Grant has taken out of the
hands Of all critics the question whether
it belongs to him. lie has won his great.
est triumph over the most skilllul aud nc.
compllsled general on the other side
over Il general who foilcd him long
enough 10 prove his great mastery of the
art Of war; and the completeness Of
whose defeat is testimony to Grant,
genius such aS Il victory over any other
general Of the confederacy, or even an
earlier victory over Lee himself, could
not have given. Apply to General Grant
what test you will measure him by the
magnitude Of the obstacles he has sur
mounted, 10y the value of the positions he
has gained, by the fame of the antagonist
over whom he has triumphed, by the
achievements of his most illustrious CO.
workers, by the sureness with which he
directs his indomilable energy to the vital
point which is the key of IA vast field of
operations, Or by that supreme test of
consummatc ability, the absolute com
pleteness of his results, and he vindicates
his claim to stand next after Napoleon
and Wellington, among the great soldiers
of this century, if not on level with the
latter.