The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-08-29
Grants Military Ability.

binary matters he was an ordinary
man d; in momentous affairs he be-
came giant.
when performing the routine du-
ties OF frontier camp there was no
act 10 make him conspicuous above
his fellow-Officers. but when he WELD
ed corps and armies the great quail
ties OF the commander flashed forth
and his masterstrokes of genius placed
him at once in the front rank of the
worlds great captains.
When he hauled wood from his lit
=. iI fafm and sold il in St. Louis, with
all HIS industry he did not drive as
advantageous bargains or make as
good living as most of the farmers
about him but when he came to cope
with the trained dipIOmati5ts of Eu-
rope in conducting the intricate ne
gotiations which resulted in forcing
satisfactory settlement of the ALu-
6dad claims, he put forth abilities
which showed from the start that the
matter was in the hands of a master.
When conducting the business of his
store in Gaena his financiering was
hardly equal to that of the average
country merchant, but when a mes
sage was to be sent to Congress that
would puncture the fallacies of the
inflationists and throttle by veto
the attempt of unwise men to cripple
The finances Of the nation, State pa
per was produced which commanded
the admiration of every believer in
a sound currency. He could collect
for the nation fifteen millions from
Great Britain; he could not protect
his own personal savings from the
miscreants who lately robbed him in
New York.
His methods in warfare all bore the
stamp of originality and ingenuity.
His success depended upon his pow
ers of invention rather than adapta-
ton. The fact that he has been COM
pared at times to nearly all the great
commanders of history is the best
proof that he was like none of them,
He saw that the art of war as prac.
ticed in Europe, with its open coun-
try, macadamized highways, and
dS,Seiy- populated states, would not
answer. for America, with it's dense
forests, inpenetrable sWaInps, diff
cult rivers, mud roads. and sparse
population. He found the! necessity
of devising an American system of
warfare applicable to the conditions
surrounding him, and while it had
been part of his education to study
the instructive lessons derived from
the great European campaign, yet he
never wasted time in trying to fit a
European square peg into an Aneri-
can round hole.
The importance of celerity in ac-
ton was always uppermOst in his
mind. There was spur in the heel
of every order he sent. No one could
"feed fight" more rapidly, that is,
rush fresh troops promptly to the spot
where they were needed. Every
point gained was tenaciOuSly held,
and the enemy never recaptured an
important position which had once
been wrested from him.
The combinations and movements
of the several great armies of the
Union during the last year of the war
were on scale never before or since
attempted. Over half a million OF
men were in the field in commands
separated by more than thousand
miles, and all moving under the guild
ing hand of their chief: Meade ma.
neuYering around Petersburg, Ord
hanging on to Richmond, Sheridan
gaIloping through the Valley of Vir
ginia, Sherman cutting the Confede'
racy in two, Candy seizing the strong
holds on the Gulf, Thomas crushing
Hood In Tennessee, armies defending
the Mississippi and resisting raids il
| Missouri. When communication wa!
open, daily reports came in to thu
chief, who sat in his little hut quietly
smoking his cigar, studying the map'
and sending out instructions to al
points of the. compass. His selfreli
ance in the field was perhaps hi
most characteristic trait. He neveI
convened formall councils Of war
though he always consulted and ad
vised with his officers, whose opinions
never failed to have with him th'
weight to which they were entitled
He manifested no pride of opinion
but in campaign he felt that the per
son who had to shoulder the respon
possibility ought to decide the move
ment. One of his objections to
council of war was that there woult
naturally be some officer who woul'
oppose his plans. and in urging tbei
| ohiAptionS and finding argument