The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1869-02-12
Good s,orie. About Cen. Grant.
Irrom the Chicago Tribune

lYrom the Chicago Tribune
Ge,er,l Hillyer lived In st. Louis when Gran
,eff bis little farm near by to enter the hrm o
Rocc, & Grant, real estate agents, houses d
ont In'those days he had desk, | believe
In IIillyer's law Office.
.Was the General silent then rs nowi'
.No We considered him more than com
manly laxative. 50 he is now; but he won
TAIN lar effect, nor before strnngersfreely. Thi
r.,;ccnce of Grant, 30 much made Of, is partl,
determination, and partly the form OF an OLE
hash6,lnes. he had when boy. Anybody
whoS, no knows can hear him speak at an,
time.
! ,,;r;nc and / was attrae.cd toward him BY
What hardly knew ut that time. Afterwar
tnew II to be Manhood, the same that he de
yelopci in battle 50 well, l was In New Yorl
when heard Of his appointment, and soon Of
Ter came telegraph message to join his staff
7 was at the Planters House in 81. Louis, OF
business afterward, and, wishing to see Grant
be rode up during the day with some OF hi
stafi officers, and they had one empty horse.
.IIcre, Hillycr,' said Grant. Here Is your
horse. The boat has been waiting for me three
quarters Of an hour. Stir yourself" ~,
Il am not going, Grant, never entertained
the notion minute In earnest.
.Come along can't listen to that Time
presses. ,,r...
well that you had better do. After thi.
ne,t action nm going into, you can come home
If YOU don't get your head knocked of first
and fix up your business %
Tn brief. Hillyer found himself going down
tho river, In ten minutes, to his own bewildcr.
mcnt. wondering greatly whether he could stand
nm In action. Perhaps in this way Grant will
impress into his Cabinet some unwilling talent
n there be any talent unwilling to 60 into the
Cabinet, have not seen any Of this latter
.Dii you notice any strong traits Of character
In Grant soon afterward y
Ellis courage and soldierly bearing In action
first struck me, and his entire willingness tc
6,ht. He never talked before action, rs II he
lr,d any personal forebodings, but grew mort
cheerful and concentrated rs the time ~ the
hattie approached. His indisposition to leave
anv position he had taken was often uncom'
fortable. | remember Mt Pittsburg Landing
that he, Rawlings, myself, and some other stat
officers. were in place where the artillery Of
,ho enemy was concentrated. Their fire was
terrible. and every instant expected to have
INV head shot off. Grant sat on horseback
STRAIGHT and cheerful, as you have sometimes
seen a man of hot day 90 ont 10 be rained on
rather ENJOYING Il. lie kept us oil in half-ago-
nv. One officer said to me: % 70 H. .
$50 tell the Old Man to leave here, for Gods
sake =
.No! Tell him yourself. He'll think mt
afraid, and SO am, but he shan't think So
There We sat, the fire crossing upon US. AZ
last ono Of the green members Of the staff rode
up to Grant, saying:
General, we must leave this place. IL Is no,
necessary to stay right here. II we do, we shall
all be dead in five minutes.
Il guess that's sol said Grant, and Inc rode
away, to our relief.
AS to fear.' continued Hillyer,, Grant used
to say that he had seen men who said they new
er knew what il was, but he Ind never seen
anybody who said II Of them. Another thing
that struck me with Grant was his own attempt
frequently to supercede his own good luck. al
Donelson he went to Commodore Footc and beg
gel him to run past the rebel guns with gun.
ybost or two. Foote replied, saying that he
would be shot TO pieces. Grant maintained thai
he would suffer no moro than in the ordinary
bombariment. This took place before Farra-
gut made practical demonstration Of Grants
theory. Now, If Footc had done this, the rebels
would have evacuated Fort Donelson, and the
battle and capture there which made Grant his
tore would never have happened. -, -
Grant developed wonderfully in the war
and though as Democrat opposed his cleo
ton, I had no doubt that he was the safe, strong
man, worthiest to head the army. There II
needed no better instance or proof to this eticc'
than the following was at City Point in 1860
and sitting close by Grant saw him break the
seal Of letter. Then he smiled goOd-naturcdly
what's that, General Grantr
"A letter from Sherman. Read it.
Il read the letter, and it said that Sherman
could no longer hold Atlanta, his line being toe
long. lie asked permission to destroy the town
and move to the sea, subssting upon the coun-
try. and turning by to fight Hood whenever the
latter pursued him too closely. All this scemcd
brilliant and soldierly to INC. and l asked Gran
what in II made him laugh
s"Why," he said, 81 was wondering wha
Hood could find to subsist upon II he followed
In the rear Of Sherman r..
thus was the General supplying an error Of
genius. Sherman supposed that Hood would
follow him. Grant knew that Hood could moi
eat OF the barren and devastated country. 81
he sent this word to Sherman: 'You have my
permission to destroy Atlanta and march to the
sea AFTER you detach Schoiield and-to go L
Tennessee. Hood will not follow you he vii
march upon Nashville Now, zee ! Had Sher'
man carried of his whole force seward, mis-
taking tho effect of his movement upon Hood
Nashville would have fallen, Ohio and Indians
been invaded, and the Southern Confederacy
been an accomplished fact
Grant said Hillyer, is stern as Jupiter
There Is no finer story Of two stern men thar
Grant and George ii. Thomas before the battle
of Nashville. Thomas has a dislike Of being
whipped, and he is cautious and sedate to thu
last degree till the time for decision has come
Grant sent word TO Thomas to move out Of hi
works and attack Hood. Thomas was moi
ready, and he went on deliberately with hi
preparations. Grant teegaphed again: 'Th'
country is excited. Attack ? Thomas was no
yet quito ready. Then Grant sent John A. Lo;
gan to Louisville to be ready to take command
and tclcgraphcd again: III you do not attach
Hood before - date, I shall be under III,
painful necessity Of relieving YOU Just d
the time Thomas was ready, not by necessity
but the completion Of his affairs, and the happy
collision Of events made the battle Of Nashville
IN honor to both. I'D. ..
The National life Insurance Company.