Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-07-31
ULYSSES s. GRANT.

ages. Its territory reached from the
Potomac to the Rio Grande; its people
were apparently united by a firm
bond its armies, flushed with VIC
tories, with the capture of Sumter,
the easy fall of Norfolk, the battle Of
Bull Run, hung threateningly upon
the border; and the people of the
North, dIsheartened and divided,
entered doubtfully upon the war Of
freedom. Europe opened its ports
and its dockyards to the pirates of
the South, and European statesmen
declared that the Union was forever
broken. How" they exclaimed to
the Government at Washington, ''ean
you hope to subdue a country of
immense extent, filed with a hostile
population, your superiors in military
and political energy and science?
Which of your beaten commanders
can approach Johnston or a Lee?n
He who was to confound the Jealous
hopes Of the English oligarchy and of
the despot of France, to dissipate for
ever the dull dreams of ehivalry and
tyranny, was General Grant. By a
series of mighty blows our Northern
champion crushed to atoms the vast
empires of slavery, and saved, for the
countless generations of the future,
the last refuge Of freedom. Born
among the people, Grant was edueat-
ed at West Point, became conspicuous
in the Mexican war, and at the
opening of the rebellion was engaged
in commercial pursuits. He az once
offered his services to his country.
While others faltered and held back
irresolute, his policy was always to
strike unsparing blows at the naughty
rebellion. He seized Paducah, and
terrified Kentucky into submission.
He attacked the enemy at Belmont,
and saved Missouri. He planned
daring invasion of Tennessee, and cut
at Donnelson, that vast line of de-
fenses which had seemed to offer an
impenetrable barrier to the Union
forces. He pressed on, and in defiance
of the doubts and terrors of his supe-
nors defeated Beauregard at Shiloh,
and planned the seige of VIcksburg.
Two years had passed since the
opening of the war, and still, in the
spring of 1868, the rebellion seemed
unshaken in its central strongholds. i
The Union armies had fled, beaten,
decimated, behind the defenses of
Washington, and the rebel COM
manders promised their soldiers the
plunder of the rich citiesof the North;
once more England and France ex-
ulted over the fall of republieanism,
and the opposition press in every
Northern State urged the people to
rebellion. or seoffed az the misfOrtunes
of the nation. Yet, Grant, far away
in the enemy's country, never lost
his grasp on VicksbuTg. At the
head of thirty thousand soldiers,
taken from the workshops and the
farms Of the West, he pierced the
rich fields of Mississippi, and drove
before him the best leaders Of the
South. Discouraged by his superiors,
decried by rivals, he elung to his
purpose Vicksburg fell on memoir
able Fourth of July; the Mississippi
was forever conseerated to freedom
never again would the slave gangs
float down its mighty tide, or chivalry I
and tyranny bar its pathway to the
sea. The nation at once recognized
its preserver, and Grant was placed !
in command of all the armies Of the
West.
He, at least, knew that the vigorous
intellects and hardy frames of the
workingmen of the North were more
than a match for the feeble ehivalry
of the decsying South, and under his
careful discipline grew up an army
that was never beaten. Yet its
powers were to be tested in achieve
ments scarcely equaled in history. A
great Union army was defeated at |
Chickamauga, and shut up in Chatta- |
nooga. The enemy looked down with |
secure confidence from Missionary
Ridge and Lookout Mountain upon |
the starving Unionists. One man /
alone could save the beleagured forces.
Grant, enfeebled by a recent accident, |
threw himself into Chattanooga.
Soon his brilliant leaders gathered /
around him. Hooker and Sherman,
Thomas and Sheridan, served in his
army; and on bright November day
the thick masses Of the Union forces
Lookout Mountain. swept
in wonderful charge up Missionary
Ridge, and drove the best soldiers of
the South from their almost impreg-
nable position. Grant, next, at the
call of the nation, assumed the COM
mand Of all the national forces, and
the dreadful drama grew in epic
interest as the two chiefs of the rival
armies approached each other before
the lines of Richmond, prepared for
the final struggle. With the same
bold strategy with which he had
swept through Tennessee, or pierced
the heart of Mississippi, Grant struck
Lee a succession Of blows such as that
brilliant leader had never felt before,
crossed the James River, and beselged
the rebel capital. Months rolled away
IS he slowly sapptd the defenses Of
The dying rebellion. The opposition
party at the North foretold disasters.
Horace Greeley, discouraged and dis
mayed, essayed to negotiate a peace;
but the people sustained their resOlute
leader, and resolved TO have no peace
until slavery and the COnfede racy
had been forever destroyed. At
length the contest ended as Grant |
and the people had foreseen. The
perished in the flames Of
Every slave was set free
rom the Potomac to the Rio Grande.
The workingmen of Europe and of
every land rejo:eed as they saw the
downfall of that horrible system of
government which had been founded ,
IN human bondage, and which had /.
Itriven to establish in free America
he principles and the practices of
Congo or Dahoney.
1t was thus successfully that Grant
performed the high yet ever-painful
iuty imposed upon him. He fought /.
n the cause of industry, education,
morals, religion, and. aided by honest :
statesmen and heroic soldiers, by q
nation that lavished all its resources
n the struggle for life, he conquered. :
Nor is it possible to estimate too
highly the benign effect Of that vic =
ory upon the general welfare of man
lind. But for the success of the
Union arms, Mr.. Bancroft assures US
With historic accuracy, the unity of |;
Germany would never have been
perfected. Nor would the Southern
states have ever been laid open to the
pTead of education and a progressive Il
utilization. In 1858, by the general o
'oiee of the people, General Grant a
Fas elected to the Presidential chair. 81
as he was by wise and t
atriotic statesmen, he had yet before b
i'm task of singular difficulty. He n
ueeeeded to an Administration no b
corrupt. Peculation and dis C.
onesty prevailed widely in many of b
be departments of government o
meials were often uDtrustworthy p
be resources of the impoverished n
alton were wasted in carelessness or
an oppressive taxation