The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-11-06
GRANT UNDER FIRE.
How The General Appeared 10 His Men
Two Personal Sketches.

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While I was standing by the pontoon
bridge watching the boys cross the
bayou, / heard somebody cheering, and,
looking round, saw an officer on horse
back in a major generals uniform. He
dismounted and came over to the very
spot where l was standing. 1 did not
know his face, hut something told me
1t was Grant-Ulysses Grant, at that
moment the hero Of the western army.
Solid he stood-erect; about five feet
eight, with square features, thin, closed
lips, brown hair, brown beard, both cut
short and neat. "He must weigh N
hundred and fifty pounds; looks just
like the soldier he is. / think he is
larger than Napoleon, but not much
he is not so dumpy; looks like a mar in
good earnest, and the rebels think he
is" And this was the first time l saw
Grant. 1 think l still possess some of
the feeling that overcame me at that
moment as I stood so near to one who
held our lives and, possibly, IL
try's in his hands. 1 heard him speak:
"Men, push right along; close up fast,
and hurry over.n Two or three men
mounted on mules attempted to wedge
past the soldiers on the bridge. Grant
noticed it, and quietly said, "Lieuten-
ant, send those men to the rear"
Every soldier passing turned to gaze on
him hnFt thnra tpna m fttrfbnr
recognition. There was no Mcclellan,
begging the boys..to allow him to light
his cigar by theirs, or inquiring to
what regiment that exceedingly fine
marching company belonged. There
WIS no Pope, bullying the men for not
marching faster, or officers for some
trivial detail remembered only by
martinets. There was no Bonaparte,
~posturing for effect; no pointing to the
Pyramids, no calling the centuries to
witness. There was no nonsense, no
sentiment; only n plain business man
Of the Republic, there for the single
purpose of getting that command across
the river in the shortest time possible.
On a horse near by, and among the
still mounted staff, sat the generals
son, q bright-looking lad of about
eleven years. Fastened to his little
waist by the broad yellow belt was his
fathers sword-that sword on whose
clear steel was soo to be engraved
Vicksburg, Sp~ottsylvania, the Wilder
ness and Richmond. The boy talked
and TESTED with the bronzed soldiers
near him, who laughingly inquired
where we should camp; to which the
young field marshal replied: covert the
river" Over the river! All! that
night we slept with our guns in our
hands; and another night, and another,
saw more than IL of our division
camped beyond and over the river-in
that last tenting-ground where the
reveille was heard no more forever.
next saw Grant on May IS, 1863,
and this time at the battle of ''Cham-
pion Hills" and in rear. of Vicksburg.
We had crossed the Mississippi river at
Grand Gulf and swung off east and
north; had fought the battles of Port
Gibson, Raymond and Jackson, and
were overtaking Pemberton's army
Fastening to the walls of Vicksburg.
1t was a hot day, and we had marched
hard, slept little, and rested one.
Among the magnolias on Champion
Hills the enemy, forty to fifty thousand
strong, turned on us. Sherman's corps
was already engaged far on the right
as we approached the field in that over
towering Mississippi sun Our brigade
was soon in line, on the edge of a
meadow, or open field sloping toward
cealed and steadily firing on us. We
were in that most trying position of
soldiers, for regulars even-being fired
OF without permission to return the
shots. We were standing two files
deep, bearing as patiently as we could
not a heavy, but 4 steady fire from in
fantry, while an occasional cannon-ball
tore up the turf in front or behind us.
A good many men were falling, and the
wounded were being borne to the real
Of the brigade, close to an old well,
whose wooden curb seemed to offer the
only protection from bullets on the
exposed line. Colonel move your men
a little by the left flank" said a quiet,
though commanding voice. On looking
round, / saw Immediately behind us
Grant, the commander-in-chief mount
ed on a beautiful bay mare, and fol-
lowed by perhaps half a dozen of his
staff. For some reason he dismounted
and most of his officers were sent Off,
bearing orders, probably, to other quar-
tiers of the field. 1t was Grant under
fire. The rattle of musketry increased
on u front, and grew louder, too, on
the left flank. Grant had led his horse
to the left and thus kept zeal the COM
pany to which / belonged. He now
stood leaning complacently against his
favorite steed. smoking-as seemed
hohifpo1 u,tth him +la