Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-06-19
LIEUTENANr.aENERAL aRANr.
From The World, Apa II, 1865.

From The World, Apnl II, 1865.
Gen. Grants history should teach us to
discriminate better than we Americans are
apt to do between glitter and solid work.
Our proueness to run after demagogues and
spouters may find a wholesome corrective
in the study Of such a character as his. The
qualities by which great things are accom-
phshed are here seen to have no necessary
connection with SNOWY and superficial ac-
complishmeDts When the mass of men
look upon such a character, they may learn
a trner respect for themselves and each
other; they are taught By it that high qual
tiles aud great abilities are consistent with
the simplicity Of taste, contempt for parade,
and plainness OF manners with which direct
and earnest men have strong natural SYN
pathy. Ulysses Grant, the tanner, Ulysses
Grant, the unsuccessful applicant for the
post Of City Surveyor Of st. Louis, Ulysses
Grant, the driver into that city Of his two
horse team with a load Of wood to sell. had
within him every manly quality which will
cause the name Of Lieutenant General
Grant to live forever in history. His career
Is a lesson in practical democracy; 1t is a
quiet satire on the dandyism; the puppyism,
aud the shallow atfectaron of our fashiona-
bic exqulsites as well as upon the swagger
Of our plausible, glib-tongued demagogues
Not by any means that great qualities are
inconsistent with cultivated manners and a
fluent elocution; but that such superficial
accnTn plIshments are no measure Of worth
or ability.
Gen. Grant, last brilliant campaign sets
the Gnal seal upon his reputation Ii
Istamps him as the superior of his able an
/ -onlst as well as of all the commanders
/ sho have served with or under him IN the
/ reat campaigns Of the last year 1t is not
necessary TO sacrifice any part of their we'll
learned regulations TO his. Sherman and
sheridan deserve all that has ever been
sald in their praise; but there had never
lbeen a time, since Grant was made Lieu
Feuant General, when anybody but Sher-
uan, on our side, could have been classed
/ nth him. Since Sherman bold march
hrough Georgia, and his capture of Savan-
| ah and Charleston, there have been many
Tho, IN their strong admiration Of his great
! lhIeyements, inclined to rank him as the
/ Eeater general Of the two. That Judgment.
/ e take 1t Is now reversed by the court of
/ nal appeal; not by dwarfing the reputa-
4 lon OF Sherman, which suffers no Just
batement, but by the expansion into grand
/ r proportions Of that of Grant.
| Grant stands preeminent among all the
Generals who have led our armies in the late
Far, in that be has exhibited the utmost
trength of will of which the highest type
It manhood is capable, The defenses Of
II lcksburg and the defenses of Richmond
ere both deemed impregnabe, and we're
eiended with a proportionable confidence
nd obstlnacy; but they both yielded, at
/ ISL, TO Grant 5 matchleSs persistence and
nequaed strategy. And, in both cases,
e not only took the long contested posi-
/ ION, but compelled the surrender of the
/ hole force defending them Nothing
ould be more clean and complete even in
Imagination, than Gen. Grant masterly
eecutlon, He did not merely, in each
Csc, acquire position which was the KEY
{ a wide theater of operations: he did not
lereiy beat or disable the opposing force;
b left no fragment Of it ia existence cxcept
S prisoners OF war subject to bis disposal
II any body is so obtuse or so wrong
eaded as TO see nothing great in Gen.
frant beyond his marvellous tenancity of
ITIl let that doubter explain, if he can, how
has happened that, since Grant rose to
Ehgh command, this quality has always
Peen exerted ~ CONSPICUOUS energy precisely
Rt the point on which everything in his
Rhole sphere Of operations hinged There
pas been no display OF great qualities on
mail occasions; no expenditure Of herculeau
iiort TO accomplish objects not Of the first
magnitude. 1t Is only very clear-sighted
and very comprehensive mind that could
always thus have laid the whole emphasis
of an indomitable soul so precisely on the
emphatic place. How, if he be not
general Of the first order of intellect, as we'll
as Of the most heroic determination, does
i happen that in assigning great and bril-
liant parts to his subordinate commanders,
be has never, when the results of his strategy
were fully unfolded, appeared in the picture
except as the central figure? However it
may seem during the progress of one of his
great combined campaigns, it always turns
1ut at last, when it reaches that complete
ness and finish IN which he contriyes to
have his campaigns end, that sc see him
standing IN the foreground, and that the
grouping IS always such that the glory of the !
)ther generals, instead of eclipsing his own,
gives It additional luster. 1t is this sureDess !
judgement which sees precisely where lies |
he turning point; which sees precisely what |
ire the objects that Justify the utmost |
stretch OF persistence; it is this ability to
axe IA the whole field Of view in lust per-
ipectlve and due subordination of parts, I
idt - IAe marx OI superior nlnu. Ueh. /
Grant has taken out Of the hands of all |
.Tities thequestion whether it belongs to him /
de has won his greatest triumph over the /
most skllliul and accomplished General on |
lie other side; over General who foiled him /
cog enough to prove his great mastery of |
tie art of war: and the completeness of
w1ose defeat is testimony to Grants
pepius such as victory over any other Gen
er.i of that Confederacy, or even an earlier
vicsory over Lee himself, could not have
given, Apply to Gen. Grant what test
yoa viii; measure him by the magnitude of
ths obstacles he has surmounted by the
vaue of the positions he has gained, by the
fane ofthe antagonist over whom he has
by the achievements Of his
n5st illustrioHs co-workers, by the sureness
88h which he directs his indomitable energy
.othe vital point which is the key of vast
.