Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1868-09-11

| Lieutenant General Grant to live forever
| in history. His career Is "a lesson in pr'tc-
teal democracy; 1t Is Il quiet satire on the
dandy ism, the puppyism. aud the shallow
! affcctation of our fashionable exqulsitcs
/ as well as upon the swagger of our p!aus-
lille. elib-toligued de,nag"gues. Not by
any means that great qualities are lncc H.
sistent with cultivated manners and fiu-
cut clocu;ion; but that such superficial ac-
complishments are no measure OF worth OF
ability.
Gen. Grants last brilliant campaign sets
the final seal upon his reputation. 1t
stamps him as the superior OF his able an
! taconis: as well as of all the commanders
who have served with or under him III the
GREAT campaigns of the last year. Ii Is not
necessary to sacrifice any part OF their well
earned regulations to his. Sherman ana
! Sheridan deserve all that has ever Dcch
said in their praise ;but there has never peen
a time. since Grant was made Lieutenant
General, when anybody but Sherman, on
our side. could have been classed with nm
Since Sherman's bold marh thro ugh
| Georgia. and his capture OF Savannah ana
Charleston. there have been many VINO. III
their strong admiration of his great schlev-
mepts. Inclined to rank him as the greater
oeneral o: the two. That Judgment, we
fake it. is now reversed " the court OF IL
nal appeal: not by dwariing the reputation
| Of Sherman which suffers no just aoate-
meut. but by the expansion INTO grahuer
uroporiiou>. of that of Grants.
Grant stands preemincnt among all the
generals who have led our armies IN The
| late war. In that he has exhibited the ut
most strength of will Of which the highest
type of manhoou is capable. The defenscs
of yicksburg and the detenses OF Rich
mond were deemed imprcrnable, and
were defended with a propotionable conn
dence and Ubtinancy; but they BON Yield
cd at last. to Grants IN tchleSs persistence
and unequaled strategy. And. IN both
eases he not only took the long contested
poiIions. but compelled the surrender of
the whole force defending them. Moth
inu could be more clean and complete,
even in imagination, than Gen. Grants
masterly execution. lie did not merely.
in each case, acquire position which was
the kew of a wide theatre of operations; he
did not merely beat or disable the oppos-
in" force; he left no fragmen. of t IN cN-
istencc except as prisoners OF war subject
to his disposal
If ANYBODY is so obtuse or so wrong
headed. Is to see nothing great in Gen.
Grant beyond his marvellous tenacty of
will, let that doubter explain. If he can.
how it has happened that, since Grant rose
ia hig, command, this quality has always
been e1crtcd in conspicuous energy pre-
cisaly ut tn point on which everything Ill
his whole sphere of operations hinged
There has bcea no display OF great qualities
on small occasions no expenditure of her
culeaa effort to accomplish objects not of
the first magnitude. 1t Is only II very clear
ehted and Il very comprehens ive mind
that could always thus have laid the Wnolc
emphasis OF an ildonitable soul 50 precisely
OH the emphatic place. How. If he be not
Il GENERAL of the first order OF intellect. as
of the most heroic determination. Goes 1t
happen that in assigning great ana Drill
liant parts to his subordinate commanders,
he has never. when the results of his STRAIT
cry were fully unfoldcd, appeared IN the
picture except as the central ii%ure:-
However it may seem during the progress
of one Of his great combined campaigns, II
always turns out ut last. when II reaches
that completeness and finish i'll which lie
contiiye. to have his campaigns end, that
we see Ian, standing in the foreground,
and that the grouping is always such that
tue glory OF the Other generals lhstead OF
eclipsing his own gives it an additional lls
ter 1t is this surcnesS of judgment which
secs precisely where lies the turning point !;
which sees precisely what are the Objects
that justify the utmost stretch OF persis-
lance; il is this ability to take III the whole
field of view in just perspective and the
due subordination OF parts, that is the
mark of IL superior mind. Gen Grant has
taken ont of the hands of all critic: the
question whether it belongs TO him. He
has won his greatest triumph over the
IN pst skillful and accomplished General OIL
the other side over General who follcd
him long enough to show his great mas
terry of the art Of war; and the complete
ness of whose defeat is n testimony to
Grants genius such us victory over amy
other General of the Confcdcracy, or even
an earlier victory over Lee himself. could
not have given. Apply to Gen. Grant
what test You will; measure him by the
ma gpitudc of the Obstacles he has sur
mounted, by the value of the positions ht
has gained by the fame of the antagonist
over whom he has triunphed, by the
achievements of his iliustrious co-workcrs
by the sureness with which he redirccts hi'
iiniomitable energy to the vital point which
is the key of a vast field of operations, o.
BY hat supreme test ofconsummate ability
the absolute completeness of hi, results
and he viudicatcs his claim to stand mex
after Napoleon and Wellington. anon:
the great soldiers of this century, If not oil
| a level with the latter.