New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-08-23
ANECDOTES OF GRANT.
Ex.pOSTMASTER-GENE TYNERS RECol'-
LECTIONS.

(Oopvrqht. 1851
NJ acouaintance with General Grant began III
1851. while he was in command oil the Union iorco'
- Cairo. I'LL l was thcn special agent OF the
post,ofIce Department. Paducah. KY, had recent
~ bsen captured from the Confederates, and there
was messing mood Of additional mail facilities 70
and from that city, The military had enough TO DO
In watching the enemy, who swarmed in that regloh
and were strongly intrenched at Columbus N.Y.
no as TO command the junction OF the ono "nu
Mississippi rivers, and the officers in command w0,o
w,lling that all postal matters should DO Solely
n,apaced nv the civil authorities This WISH Seeniou
to have been commune ,ted to Montgomery Dia'r'
the Postmaster General, who detaiiea 'no
establish the post Office at Paducan' soi'o' p1o
master and arrange for tho mail supply i'o.n o""o
mon consultation with and the approval Oh General
60. To- oda;tion TO his own instructions the
1,t.sto, General also sent me letter OF intro
.,,oto, co,nmeuding me to the Generals conhdehco'
calling Mt his headquarters / learned that '"o
Cene-al was absent. The subordinates In cnaieeo y,
aud the sentinels guarding his office had the uSui
air of Importance characteristic OF raw troops IN 'no
hac;npine of the war; and 1t was evident that tnos
,,ar. all hp,or men than old Grant" OF whon'
.oroarninc his whereabouts, / could then learn
nothinq The little steamer under the coh'roi y.
the military plying between the TWO ci'ios wa"
signalne its, departure for Paducah anu no
tyeptv -four hours was known to me. so. trusting
to-the Generals approval Of my action, determihou
IN loave without seeing him, and If advissDe COLI
snlt him by telegraph after / arrived Ihat "as'
. bowever unnecessary, for found that uehera, n.
I Smith in charge of the military FORCES anu al .,
bia command. and tho entire population wore
.nv;oro 70 have the mails received and dispatched
Regularly. and very SOON had post once opene'
and trustworthy person in charge thereon
Unon tina return trip went directly from the
steamer to General Grants headquarters 81 C"'lo,
found him alone in bis Office. ann reportoa "n''
had done. 1t was then approaching 10 O'CLOCK al
INT and as soon as he had expressed his approval
of NV actions arose to depart. "Where are you
rcingV bs incurred "To tho hotel,' answered,
To sesp until the train shall leave for the North at
,1o in the morning. do you usually so 10 oeu
40 early ~ he responded, and without waiting ior
n reply he added a don't retire until the Tram
from the North, which brlngs my mail, arrives ana
II IA due here thirty minutes before yours departs
Why not talk with me until the train comest an
lonely of nights" l readily consented. In lact'
was anxious to talk with an oficer In cohniah"
40 near thu front and the thought came Into my
mind. 1 will get some army secrets tonight IL
had known General Grant then as have since
known him and been acquainted with his habit OF
concealing his important secrets-whlch naoi'
markell his public career thereafter and formed ono
of the prominent elements OF his success-very
likely l should have sought tho rest 80 much
needed instead Of remaining TO pump general Oh
the army In the tace of the onemy and the personal
friendship that afterwsrd marked our intercourse
and which ripencd into real affection on my part,
would not have dated FROM that night II indeed IL
would ever have existed st all
As soon as | siguied my willingness to remain
with him. he Inouirei DO you slnokei Do you
Voc
20 n closet he quickly returned with two pipes
we'll filled and handing one to me. with merry
twinkle In his eye said There now, seat yourself
and tell ms all you know about the war-t ICON {
take you loaL" Hc, was right; it did not take me
long to impart...my knowledge; but found III
very different thing to extract from him al nc
knew. But in the confidence inspired by the quiet
of the night he did tell me how outsiders" had
planned a campaign for dslodglng the rooeis al
Columbus and opening up the navigation OF the
Upper Mississippi" adding cautiously that we
have given very little Thought TO this SUBJECT
ureferrine to strike our blows at tho right time
hack in the interior while the enemy thinks he Is
crushing our commerce by choking up the river =
and among tho various plans which he SAID had
been presented was an impraoticable one urged
by politicians and Others. or sending "a Dody OIL
troops IN boats down tho river to DO landed above
the town on the opposite bank, to surprise the
enemy with night attack in front, while the main
body under command Of General Smith should
march overland from Paducah to Columbus, and
make simultaneous attack IN the rear" at first
thought that the politicians" and the outsiders
who had given the most thought to this plan was
Gonsral Grant himself, but mis- pointed criticism OF
It's inpracticability, Of the danger of making
attacks from opposite directions In tho night by
troops whose movements could not be regulated By
telegraph aud the certain defeat that wond folio"
the inability Of either to unite IN tho attack, ds
armed my suspicious and led me to suppose that Tn
plan under discussion had not been seriously con
s;dsred. A fow days afterwarl. however. the disss
tor at Belmont revived my recollection OF thu
interview for tho defeat there came of the failure
which the General seemed to anticipate.
In our freo and easy discussion OF the war tina
night including the causes which led tO,it, tn
efforts that had been made to avert IL, the bunder'
already committed In its management, and 1T
probable termination, the General did not express
an. uukind feeling toward our 'erring brothers,
nor.cye utterance to o vengefal thought. He spok
freely about the frltcrual blood which had already
drenchel the soil, and the unnatural estrangemen
of the sections. He regretted the necessity G
rosorting to arms to defend the Union, bub comb
IDENTIFY declared that tho speodest way 10 end th
strife was to wage war and not TO " play war
sWe must take the whole matter out OF polite
and prune it with tho sword and dissect it in ii
blazs of tho cannon" he said which, in his judi
ment, would hasten peace. When expressed Il
opinion that the South could not prolong the Wi
beyond the winter or the following spring
responded with evident sadness 81 fear thu
neither ono nor two years will see 1t ended, al
shat the bloodshed will be- frghtful, for we a
people of one origin and of undoubted pluck. al
thousands of lives will DO lost in attesting tia
fact"
This was my first interview with General Gran
held before the terrible responsibility Of comnan
al baI foli