The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-05-09
Buell. and Grant.

Among the casualties Of the recent war,
Lieutenant General Grant must be reckon
ed as the most remarkable accident. That
man without any marked ability, with
out fortune, without influence, should start
a subaltein officer, and. at the end of the
struggle, stand the leader Of our armies
and the most conspicuous person in the ma
ton, is fact SO near akin to fable as to
shock all the probabilities of reason. The
philosophic historian will be puzzled to ex-
plain the phenomenon.
Hardly less singular is the circumstance
that a man OF the great abilities and rare
accomplishments OF General BuelL favored
too with every adyentitions advantage.
should utterly fail to win the prize so firm
ly g1asped by his less worthy competitor.
Here is q soldier of genious and skill and
every moral quality requisite 10 the char
acter Of a great captain, without fame and
without position, after an opportunity tile
most propitious to the display of his extra
ordinary energies.
1t is not pretended General Buell. betray-
ed any inconlpeteney in the command Of
armies. On the contrary, the campaigns
he conducted were distinguished as signal
illustrations of the art of war; and partic-
ularly by his mastery maneuvers was the
Mississippi valley reclaimed from the donlin-
ions of the Confederacy.
At Perryville, and again at Shiloh, where
he rescued Grant from the destruction
which an unaccountable stupidity had
provoked, he exhibited the hcreisin and
genius OF D cansummate commander. Yet
General Buell. langalishes in obseurity,
while Grant is the idol Of the nation.
1t is not so difficult, however, to explain
the i'll fortune of the one as to understand
the success of the other The spirit of POI
litical intrigue, which was so near axtin-
gushing the fame of Napoleon in its ear
Hest lustre, and which long before had ar
rested Marlborough in the career of Veto
ry, was the evil genius that married the
fortunes of Gen.. Buell. At time when
popular passion clamored for the desolation
of the South, this man persisted with "a
trmness rarer and more admirable even
than he exhibited in the crisis Of battle, in
conducting the war on the principles OF
humanity; and by this noble moderation
he incurred the displeasnre Of the faction
that controlled the Government. The Rad
icals waged q war OF determination but
he proposed, with the sagacity Of a states
man, to conciliate the good will of the
South, while he oyerca,ne its resistance by
an exertion Of physical, force His system
was too refined for the comprehension, and
too liberal for the yindictiye temper of the
dominant party, and he was forced to re-
| linquish the command of the superb army
he had organized, and to resign commits
sion which he would have illustrated by
the most splendid achievements. But the
injustice ofwhich he was the victim has
not impaired the confidence and esteem Of
his countrynen All appreciate his abili.
ties; even his enemies respect the dignity
with which he asserts his superior charac-
| ter.
The vanity Of an ignoble ambition may
be gratifed by the gaze Of the mob but
to our mind, General Buell. alone, ulaadorn.
ed, is a more admirable spectacle than the
Lieutenant General, decked with the trap.
pings of rank, and followed by the huzzas
of the croWd.-GN. Y News