The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1866-06-14
An Hour with orant-Hl. views on Va

rtous MattsrS.
The editor Of the Lewiston Falls
Journal, now in Washington, recently |
spent an hour in the study of the
Maine artist Simmons, in converse
tion with General Grant, and gives an
statement Of the opinions
expressed by the leading man of the
country upon men and measures. =
We make few extracts:
The General, who was dressed in
plain black civilian suit, had hardly
removed his hat from his head before
he took cigar from his pocket, light.
cd It, and began to puff out wreaths of
smoke. 81 am breaking off from smo-
king" remarked Grant. "When was
in the field smoked eighteen or twen-
ty cigars day. but now smoke only
nine or ten r.
The conversation turned to the Vir-
ginia campaigns of 1864 and 1865. 81
notice" remarked Gen. Grant, "that
Mr., Swinton has published history
of the campaigns in the Old Dominion,
in which he takes the ground that |
gained nothing, but on the contrary
lost many valuable lives uselessly, by
moving my army from the Rapidan
direct toward Richmond, ra her than
by taking it around by water as Nc
Clcllan did. This" observed the Gen
eral, sis revival of the exploded the
ory (referring to the Mcclellan policy
of subduing the rebellion by peace
measures. A half a million troops
might have been kept within sight Of
Washington till doomsday, and the
rebellion would have fourished more
and more vigorously day by day
Fighting, hard knocks only, could have
accomplished the work. Tho rebel
lion must be overcome, if overcome at
all, by force; its resources destroyed; its
fighting material obliterated, before
peace could be obtained.
"There were but two failures in the
Virginia campaign of 1864 which
ought 10 have been success, said Grant,
and those were the failure TO capture
Petersburg when we crossed the James,
and afterwards at the mine explosion.
But" added Grant, sit was all for the
best that we failed in those instances,
for had we succeeded at either time
Lee would have at once been obliged
TO abandon Richmond, and would
have been able to secure safe retreat
into the interior of the south whore he
would have prolonged the contest tor
years. Our failures then and the de-
termination of the rebels to hold on to
their capital gave us time to extend
our left southward, to bring up Sher
man from Georgia, and thereby made
it impossible for Lee to escape,
In reply to question as to whether
he was not surprised as TO the sudden
ness OF the collapse of tho rebellion,
Grant said that he was, although he
had always supposed that when it did
break down it would 90 all at once -
II thought, however" he remarked,
"that it would hold out another sea-
son, and am not sure,' he added, "but
that it would have been better for the
country if it had. There were some
parts of the country where our armies
had never trod, particularly Texas,
which needed to feel the blighting ef-
fects of war to bring their people 10 a
realizing sense of the enormity of their
crimc and the necessity OF thorough
repentance. | find" said he, "that
those parts oil the South which have
not felt the war, and particularly those
which have been within our lines and
therefore escaped the rebel conscrip.
ton and taxes, are much less disposed
to accept tho situation in good faith,
than those portions which have been
literally ovorrun with fire and sword :"
Referring to the temper of the
Southern people, he remarked that
they are much less disposed now to
bring themselves to the proper frame
of mind than they were ono year since.
"A year ago" said he, "they were will
ling to do anything; now they regard
themselves as masters of the situation,
Some of the robel Generals, he added,
"are behaving nobly and doing all
they can TO induce the people to throw
aside their old prejudices and TO cou-
form thoir course to the changed con-
dition Of things. Johnston and Dick
Taylor, particularly, are exercising q
good influence; but" he added, Lee is
behaving badly. lie is conducting
himself very differently from what l
had reason, for what he said at the
time of tho surrender, to suppose he
would. No man at the South is capa-
Bile Of exercising tenth part of the
influence for good that ho is, but in.
stead of using it he is setting an ex.
ample of forced acquiescence so grudg.
ing and pernicious in its effects as to
DO hardly realized"
"Thc mon who were in tho rebel ar
miles, said Grant, "acquiosoe in the
result much better than those who
staid at home. The women arc par.
ticularly bitter against the Union and
Union mon. OF course" he added,
"thero is some bitterness of feeling
among all classes, but | am satisfied it
would soon dio out if thoir leading m en-
had not somehow got tho idea that
treason after all was not very bad, and
that the Southern cause, rs thcy
phrase it, will yet triumph, not in war,
but in politics. In my Judgment, the
tone of certain men and certain pa.
pers at tho North is such as to do in.
calculable mischief in making the late
rebels bcliovo that they are just as