Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1868-07-31
What Senator Yates says of Gen.
Grant.

of Grants military career early in the
war, with the following result:
Grant" said the Governor, "came'to
Springfield dressed in common working
clothes. He looked very much as he does
now, ordinary, taciturn, unpretentious.
When he presented himself to me he
said
Governor, the United States educated
me. want to be of use to her now that
she is in danger
Yates asked him what he wished to
have.
Any place where can be useful, said
Grant; it don't matter much
The system at that time was to COM
mission only officers who had raised COM
panies. Yates, hurried and overrun, told
Grant to look in again. After a few days
Grant, whose money had nearly run out
paying hotel board, dropped in again hat
in hand and asked Yates if anything had
turned up.
Can you write military ordersY asked
the Governor.
sYesp
We'll, I'll give you desk in my Office,
and you'll find plenty to do.
There said Yates, Grant worked
away satisfactorily, though my hands
were full, and every thing was more or
less disorganized. had no time to OBJ
serve him, and he was never forward to
speak. Afterward put him in the Ad-
jutant Generals office, and although we
did not know it particularly at the time,
we have found since that he laid the foun-
dation there of what is now, probably, the
best Adiutant Generals office in the Unit
ed States. Before the war it was moth
ing. During all this time Grant was sell
dom in my mind. had too much to do
to keep personal watch over every officer
in the State, and did not look out partic-
ularly for the coming man. But Grant
made no mistakes, and l saw that his
West Point knowledge was useful to us.
Near by Springfield there was a large
camp, termed Camp Yates, containing
twenty thousand, perhaps. 1t was
source of annoyance to me. | could not
find anybody to keep the men subject and
see that they were made clean, properly
fed and taught the germs of organization.
sent Grant out there, and pretty soon
complaint ceased. Then | sent him on a
tour to various camps through the State,
but still l had no command to give him
under the arbitrary system of giving only
those places who had raised organiza-
tions. He went away, at last, to visit
| Covington, Kentucky, where his father
| lived. I did not like to see our Illinois
boys enter the service of another Com
monwealth and found a chance directly
to displace colnoel, or rather TO send
j him TO different command, and then |
telegraphed to Grant
-'Will you take command Of the-th
regiment? Answer.
RICHARD YATES"
Grant replied:
| 81 will Start Immediately!
u. S. GRANT"
He arrived promptly and took the po-
sition Still, had no exalted expeeta-
tions Of him. He was not brisk, ner-
vous, attractive mau His face and fig
uro were not SO striking that anybody
could pick him out Of troop, like Saul,
and he did not say enough to interest me.
Out of 2S3 colonels that commissioned
thought it as probable that 2S1 Of them
would become famous as Grant.
He did one thing, however, which |
have since thought was significant of his
future good sense and enterprise. His
regiment was the most demoralized one
in Illinois. 1t had become insubordnate
and been allowed to go to seed. Grant
started the pAocess of breaking it in by
compelling it to march across the State
of Missouri, and he was the first of our
colonies who had economy and pluck
enongh to save us the delay and expense
of railway transportation in this manner.
In this march he stopped struggling and
orchard robbing by device original,
good-humored, and effective. He made
every straggler carry fence rail in line,
and, as the march itself was tolerably la
borious, the fence rail did its work. He
made fine fighting regiment of these
men.
: After speaking on many other trivial
matters, Governor Yates said, in conclu-
: sion
: Hero worsbippers will be disappoint
\ ed in Grant / don't take it to be any
stolidiness of mine that failed to perceive
genius in him. Nobody else did. Hi
: genius is not ostentatious nor dramatic
| 1t is the genius of accomplishment that
he has. When his work is done, there il
Il is, done; and there is the man, except