The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1872-04-05
GEN. GRANT, AND WHAT HE HAS
...t DONE.

GEN. GRANT, AND WHAT HE HAl
.t DONE.
The following is an extract from
the speech of Hon. Henry Wilson
at Great Falls, Connecticut, during
the late campaign in that State:
I At the breaking out of the rebel
lion Ulysses s. Grant went down tC
Springfield and served there. fol
some weeks, helping to enroll and
organize the regiments they were
raising in Illinois, Finally, they
gave him . regiment. He had not
money enough to buy . sword with
which to fight the battles Of his
countryy nor . horse to ride. You
did not know anything about him
the nation knew nothing about him
few had heard of him. He had
served in the Mexican war when a
y0ung man, fresh from West Point,
aud won two brevets for gallant
conduct, but nobody knew anything
OF this humble man. He took his
regiment and marched away. He
never asked anything of the Gov
ernment; he never disobeyed an
order; he never made complaint.
He went straight forward and did
his duty, n quiet, silent, modest
man. ---.
About the first thing we heard of
MIN was that he took about twenty
five thousand men up the Tennessee
river, moved on the enemy's works,
attacked an army of twenty thous-
and rebels, and captured fifteen
thousand of them. You next heard
of him coming on the field of Shi-
lob when It was nearly lost, and
when asked If he had prepared for
q retreat he said that one boat would
take all that would retreat. He de-
feated the rebel army that had been
nearly victorious. Then he went
down the Mississippi river, passed
Vicksburg, made q movement in
the country, attacked the rebel
armies, captured Vicksburg; then
you find him at Chattanooga to re-
store lost battle. You heard of
the magnificent victory be won on
Mission Ridge and Lookout Noun
tain.
He was then brought to Washing
ton, and took command of the ar
mics of the country, led the army
Of the Potomac through the Wilder
ness, fighting every day in the
his army before Richmond, and
when the hour came, moved upon
the doomed city, and received the
surrender of the rebel army at APP
pomattox. Nineteen battles behind
him, and all victoriOusl He did
not march his army to make par
ade through the rebel capital, but
started of alone, with his carpet
bag in his hand, for Washington,
to stop the raising of troops and the
manufacture OF munitions, to make
preparations to disband the army
and save expense, and to save what
he regarded, and what we all re-
garded as o very important thing,
general bankruptcy in the country.
We Republicans turned to this
man when Andrew johnson failed
us, and asked him to be President.
He did not seek the Presidency; he
felt and said that his place At the
head of the army was the post for
him. We made him President, and
It was his strength and command
ing influence that carried the Four
teenth amendment. The same pO-
tent influence carried the Fifteenth
Amendment, and gave the black
men the right to vote in all the
States. When q wall of distress
came up from the South, when poor
black men prayed for protection
from the murderous blows of the
midnight assassins Of the Ku-Klux
dens, Congress hesitated, faltered,
divided. Then It was that he came
forth with the brief message that
rallied our scattered ranks like q
battle order. Clothed with author
ity he has striven to protect the
weak against the cruelties of the
strong. Many hundred members
OF the KuKlux Khan have been ar
rested, several have been convicted,
or have confessed their guilt, and
thirty Of those chivalric assassins
are in the penitentiaries. The men
who stood by the cause of anti
slavery and the protection of the
black man have found in General
Grant q man who has stood brave.
", steadily, and consistently on the
; side Of freedom and the equal
. |
General Grant has now beer
President three years. He has com
mitted some errors, made some mis-
} tskes in his appointments. But hii
!, foreign and domestic policy, the
!, leading measures of his administra
ton, have been and are IN the inter
1 ests of the country. The masses o
the people, who have no persona
[ grievances, who only want goot
government, see it, feel it, realize il
= With all its faults, they believe w
= have the most reformatory, progress
sive, and best administration tn
country has seen for forty years
and they are right in their conviC
tions. But he is followed by oblo
guy and reprOach. Again he
passing through the Wilderness
It is darkened not W<3Ae The smok
It of battle, but the storms of insiI
., uation and accusation, dotractio
and denunciation. But he will nc
call retreat. The spirit that uttel
'e ed, when the flame OF battle oppo
= ed the march to the rebel capiti
l. the inspiring words, 81 will fight
a out on this line If Il takes ell sun
mer," Is yet unbroksn, and eKnl
ant foes may yet find that anoth'
'f Appomsttox lies before hir
e. [Laughter.l sfrf