Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1869-02-25
t,ENERAL4GRakaT.

dfess tnan he MaS wearing q 6n q ptac&1 Wnlcl
isa gentleman,s only steadfast hue, and with it a
stiff dress hat, the latter improving his height.
His manners are nnchaagipg, and his associations
here are only Of the most trusted and worthy char
acter. q. ..1Il.,ta,, -. t ~, j.. ~. -
=" A. gentleman was relsting TO me- some days ego
Gen. Hilyers "reminiscences Of Grant, and there Is
one that applies to the President elect Hillyer
had been . staff officer, With the ,Genaral, and he
resigned after the fall Of Vicksburg, ReioiIniing
Grant again for a yisit after be came East, Billy
accompanied him to Culpepper, where the General
assumed command Of al the srmies. 3 -
"Hi1lyer," said Grant 81 think T should have
failed in this position if had come to It IN the be-
ginning, because shonh not have had confidence
enough. You see Ilhass come Through all the
service, Captain, Colonel Brissdes Diviasn; 0mps,
Army, sndI am confident in myself NOV. ~ Nc
glenan's misfortune, Ialxys believed, I1as In his
clearing all the grades at once and feeling aEaft
Of confidence in this great and absolute responsi-
hity." ie.,.; rsf 80 Stja fu 4
This aneedote, whether true or not, very eharae-
|terstic of Grant simple retrospecaions, gixss Us
comfort in the higher end popular psomotion be
has just received, for, since Culpepper, he has
made General and Secretary ofWr; ), his expert
ence has inclined toward civil, administrative and
political duties, from grade TO grade; eonqueEing
them as he advanced in the army. And this nre
advantage he has had, thathis promotion has been
rapid as well as experimental 30 that ha knows all
the active men and minds Of the present genera,
tioa only-not like Buchanan, living in two or
three dead generations Of statesmen and very itde
in the present. but all his life is of this incoming
time, and he knows the materials Of it probably
better than any living American. r.,
Some days after hearing this suecdote, I met
Gen. Hllyer by accident, and Grant being always
a problem to me, I asked bis former staff officers
solution Of some points .,.'l,@ ,'%
HiIlyer lived in St. Louis when Grant left his
little farm, near by, to enter the firm Of s'Boggs
& Grant, Real Estate Agents, Houses to- Rent"
In those days he had q desk, believe, in H1lyers
law Office. ;'.'' @..'
'sWas the General silent then as now?''
"No We considered him more than common
ly talkative. So he is now but he won't talk for
effect, nor before strangers freely. This reticenee
of Grant, so much made Of, is partly discrimina-
ton, and partly the form Of N old bashfdlness he
had when boy. Anybody whom he knows can
hear him speak at any time. a.s
In St Louis I liked Grant He was entertain
ing, and I was attracted toward him by what
hardly knew at that time. Afterward I knew it
to be manhood, the same that he developed in bat
tie so we'll I was in New York when heard of
his appointment, and soon after came a telegraph
ic message to join his staff was at the Planters
House, in st. Louis, on business, soon afterward,
and wishingto see Grant, he rode up during the
day with some of his staff officers, and they had
one empty horse. ~
Here, Hillyer,' said Grant, shere's your horse.
The boat has been waiting for me three qusrtes Of
an hour. Stir yourself &..'-'
I am not going, Grant, I never entertained
the notion minute in earnest "aiy
Come along Ican'tlistsn to that Time pres
ses.' ", 9-J@ @a..@ ..sa - a. is:.@
But / have not written to my wife. '.'
We'll, that you had better do. After this nazt
action am going into you can oeme home-f
you don't get your head knocked off frst-an fix
up your business -
In brief Hillyer found himself going down the
river in ten minutes, wondering greatly whether he
could stand up in action. Perhaps, IN this way
Grant Will impress into his Cabinet some unwilling
talent, ifthere be any talent unwilling to go into
the Cabinet. have not seen any Of this latter
sort .aj
Ibid you notice any strong traits Of character
in Grant afterwardT'
"His courage and soldierly vanity in action first
struck me- and his entire willingness TO tight He
never talked before action as if he had any person
al forebodings but grew more cheerful and concen-
trated as the time for battle approached. His m
disposition to leave any position he had taken was
often uncomfortable. I remember at Pittsburg
Landing that he, Rawlings, myself and some other
staff officers, were in apace where The artillery OF
the enemy was concentrated. Their fire was terri
bic, and every instant expected to have my head
shot of. Grant sat on horseback, straight and
cheerful, as you have sometimes seen q man ola
hot day go ont to be rained on, rather enjoying it.
he kept us all in hslfagony. One officer said to
me: '-.......' s-.....
Go tell the Old Man to leave here, for Gods
sakeP ......---- .....-...... ....
No! Tell him yourself He'll think me afraid,
and so am, but he shan't think 80. IN.
There We sat, the fire crossing upon us. Atlast
one of the green members of. the staff rode up to
Grant, saying: -. -...
General, we must leave this place. It isn't
necessary tostay right here If we do, we shall
all be dead in FIVE minutes. 80.
T guess that's SOL said Grant, and he rode
away to our relief 49,. sn
Gas to fear" continued Hllyer, ''Grant used
to say that he had seen men who said they never
knew what it was, but he had never seen anybody
who said it of them. Another thing that struck
me with Grant was his own attempt frequently to
supercede bis own good luck At Donelson ne
went to Commodore Foote and begged him to run
past the rebel guns with gunboat or two. Foote
replied, saying he would be shot to pieces. Grant
maintained that he would suffer no more than IN
an ordinary bombardment This took place before
Farragut made practical demonstration Of Grants 8
theory. Now, If Foote had done this, the rebels
would have evacuated Fort Donelson, and the bat
tie and capture which made Grant historic would
never have happened. ;.a ,@
Grant developed wonderfully in the war, and
though I as a Democrat opposed his election,
had no doubt that he was the safe, strong man,
vorthiest to head the army. There is needed no
better instance or proof to this effect than the fol
lowing: was at City Point in 1885, and sitting
close by Grant saw him break the seal Of letter
Then be smiled, good naturedly. f.r.
Whats that, Gen. Grant,? f., r. -.,s.iiss
a letter from Sherman. Read it, II ;rtsl
IL l.It,. III - so;d {hof Sb o,~o n, ,.o,,1I