Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1868-07-29
"reminiscences of Grant.

I bIdHI, ne says Is ABOUT Hfe IteG ten
/ inches in height, and will weigh one
/ hundred and forty or forty-fve pounds
/ He has a countenance Indicative of
/ reserve, and an indomitable will and
/ persistent purpose.
| In dress he is indifferent and care
! less, making no pretensions to style
or fashionable military display. Had
! he continued Colonel till now, | think
/ his uniform would have lasted till this
/ day for he never used it except on
dress parade, and seemed to regard it
d good deal as David did Sauls's ar
NOR.
- His body is vial of intense ex-
! istence :" and vet when a stranger
would see him in a crowd he would
never think of asking. his name. He
is no dissembler. He is sincere,
| thinking, real man.
He is always cheerful. No toll
cold, heat, hunger, fatigue or want Of
money depressed him. He does his
work at the time, and he requires all
under his command to be equally
prompt. ! was walking over the
CdlII Will uiIu dittI bItdhl is -
1t was usual for each company to call
the roll at given hour. 1t was now
probably half an hour after the time
for that duty. The Colonel was qui-
etly smoking his old meerschaum, and
talking and walking along, when he
noticed a company drawn up IN line
aud the roll being called. He in
stantly drew his pipe from his mouth
and exclaimed: Captain, this is no
time for calling the roll Order your
men to their quarters Immediately"
The command was instantly obeved.
and the Colonel resumed his smoking
and walked on conversing as quietly
as If nothing had happened. For
this violation Of discipline those men
went without rations that day, ex-
cept what they gathered up privately
from among their friends of other
companies. Such breach OF order
was never witnessed III the regiment
afterward viii e he was Colonel. This
promptness is one Of Grants charac-
teristics, and it is one Of the secrets
of his success.
On one Of our marches, when pass
ing through one Of these small towns
where the grocery is the principal
establishment. some of the lovers filled
their canteens with whisky, and were
soon reeling and ungovernable under
its influence. While apparently stop
ping the regiment for rest, Grant
passed quietly along, and wherever
he detected the fatal odor, emptied
the liquor on the ground with as
much nonchalance as he would empty
his pipe. and had the offenders tied
behind the baggage wagons till they
had sobered into soldierly propr'ety.
On this point his orders were imper-
ative no whisky or Intoxicating
beverages were allowed in his camp.
In the afternoon of very hot day
in July, 1861, while the regiment was
stationed in the town Of Mexico, Mo,
| had gone to the cars as they were
passing and procured the daily papers,
and seated myself in the shadow Of
my tent to read the news In the
telegraph column l soon came to the
announcement that Grant with sew
eral others, was made Brigadier Gen
eral. In a few minutes he came
walking that way, and | called to
him.
:. Colonel I have some news here
that Will interest you.
" hat have YOU. chaplain ?'
g see that you are made Brigadier
General"
He seated himself by my side and
remarked:
We'll, sir, l had no suspicion of
T it. 1t never came from any request
Of mine. That's some of Washburn' ;
work. l knew Washburn in Galena.
He was a strong Republican, and /
was a Democrat, and | thought from
that he never liked me very we'll.
Hence we never had more than a
[ business or street cquaintance.-
/ But when the war broke out / found
4 he had induced Governor Yates to
appoint me mastering officer of the
/ Illinois volunteers, and after that had
something to do in having me com
missioned Colonel of the 2lst regi-
ment and l suppose this is some Of
/ his work"
And he very leisurely rose up and
+ pulled his black felt hat little near
/ er his ewes, and made few extra
passes a | his whiSkers, and walked
away with as much apparent uncon-
Germ as if some one had merely told
him that his new suit of clothes was
finished.
Grant belongs TO no church, yet he
entertains and expresses the highest
esteem for all the enterprises that
tend to promote religion. When al
home he generally attended the Meth,
odist Episcopal Church v lille he
was Colonel of the 2Ist regiment ht
gave every encouragement and facll
itv for securing prompt and uniform
observance of religious services, and
was usually found in the audience
listening to preaching.
Shortly after I came into the reg
: iment our mess were one day takln:
their usual seats around the Dime
; table. when he remarked:
" Chaplain, when I was at home
and ministers were stopping at n.