Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-07-30
SKETCH.

&HlNlUnlUhh DAnlVH
THESE. Grant sightsenth President OF
T,;,.5 ststss was born at Point Pleas
~ clermont county, o., April q, lsz<
a, ancestors were Scotch In lszs ms
..-.nts removed to Georgetown, BroEn
bounty, O., where his boyheod was pAsss
E5e entered West Point Military academy ~
$50 appointed by the Hon. Thomas L.
u.rsr member of Congress. his nanas
= H,r;,;n.lly was Hiram Ulysses; but the ep-
,,;ntnsat was blunderingly made ocS
TT,v,sss g.. and so it hsd to remain.
3The study in which he showed most
,rosciepcy during his course at tns
s,.dsmv was mathematics. He graduated
In ls4s. ranking twenty-first ID ciass ..
5thirty nine, and was made brevet secone
lieutenant of infantry and attached Is
%sunernumerary lieutenant to the FoErrn
@-ee;uent which was stationed on the MIS-
sonri frontier. In the summer Of 1S45 the i
regiment was ordered to Texas to join the
army of General Taylor. On September %
Grant was commissioned as full lieutenant |
1 He frst saw bloodshed at Pslo Alto May : |
ls46. and took part also in the battles OF Ressca
/ de Ia Palma and Monterey, and the siege Of
I Vera Cruz. In April, 1s47, he was made
& ouartermaster of his regiment, and still par
4 ticipated in all active operations, and after
4 the battle of Molino del Rey, September 6
4 ss<7. be was appointed on the field first
lieutenant for his gallantry. In his
L.&f af Hhor
1 September 1s, ls47, Colonel Garland,
commanding the First brigade, ssid:
1.-THE rear of the enemy had made stand
behind q breastwork, from which they were
driven by detachment of the Second srtil-
lery under Captain Brooks, and the Fourth
infantry under Lieutenant Grant, supported
by other regiments of the division, after
short but sharp conflict. must not omit
10 call
Attention to Lieutenant Grant.
Fourth infantry, who acquitted himself
most nobly upon several occasions, under my
own observations" Grant was breveted cap
tain for his conduct at Chspultepec, to date
from battle After the capture of the City OF
Mexico he returned with his regiment, and
HkS eLdLlOucQ AAEcS al OCdO1tt anu bAACn -
Sockets Harbor. In 1s4s he married Mss
Julia T. Dent of st. Louis, sister of one OF
his classmates. In 1852 he accompanied his
regiment to California and Oregon, and while
at Fort Vancouver, August 5, 1858, was
commissioned full captain. On July 81
1854, he resigned, and removed to st Louis,
cultivating farm near that city and engag-
ing in business as a real estate agent. In
1859 he was employed by his father in the
leather trade at Galena, Ill. When the civil
war broke out he was chosen to command
company of volunteers, with which he
marched to Springfield. There he was re-
tanned as an aid to Governor Yates. and
acted as mastering officer of Illinois volun-
seers until he became colonel of the Twenty
frst regiment, his commission dating from |
JRne IL, 1851. He
Joined His Regiment at Mattoon,
organized and drilled it at Caseyville, and then
crossed into Missouri, where it formed partof !
the guard Of the Hannibal and Hudson rail-
road. On July 81 he was placed in command
OF the troopsat Mexico, forming partof Cen
eral Pope's force. On August % he was pro-
NOTED to brigadier general of volunteers,
the commission being dated back to May IL
and assumed command of the troops at
Cairo, which soon increased by the addition
of General McClernand's brigade. He
seized Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennes-
see on September 6, and Smithland, at the
mouth of the Cumberland on the 25th.
In az proclamation to the citizens of
Paducah, he said: Il have nothing to do
with opinions, and shall deal only with
armed rebellion and its aiders and abettors"
On October Is he sent out detachment un-
der Colonel PlumIner to check the advance
of the Confederate forces under General
JEFF. Thompson, which was accomplished by
a battle at Fredericktown, No., on the 21st.
General Halleck, on assuming command of
the department of Missouri, gave General
Grant the
Command of the District of Cairo
December q, which was so extended as TO
form one of the largest military di-
visions in the country including the
southern part of Illinois. that portion
of Kentucky west of the Cumberland river,
and the southern counties of Missouri. After
reconnaissance in force toward Columbus
in January, 1852, Grant started off February
3from Pauucah, with force of Is 600 men,
aided by Commodore Foote with fleet of
gunboats, for the capture of Forts Henry
and Donelson, the former of which COM
manded the Tennessee river, and the latter
the Cumberland, near the dividing line be-
tween Kentucky and Tennessee.
Fort Henry commanded blythe Confederate
General Telghmsn, surrendered on February
6, and Fort Donelson, commanded by General
Buckner, on the 18TH The reduction of Fort
Henry was mainly the work of the gunboats;
Fort Donels0n was only captured after
severe battle on February Is, in which the
federal forces which had been increased to
5000 or more, sustained loss of 300. In
answer TO Buckner's proposal that commits
sloners be appointed to arrange the terms of
capitulation, Grant wrote:
ssNo Terms other Than an Unconditional
and Immediate Surrender Can be Ac-
eepted.
I propose to move Immediately upon your
works" The capture of Fort Donelson, with
all its defenders except General Floyd,s brig
ade, with its brilliant and substantial vic
tory had crowned the federal arms. To
the qualification at so great a mil
admiration of the terse and soldier
ly declaration in which the surrender
had been demanded; and the hero of
the affair sprang at once into national
celebrity. He was Immediately commits
stoned major general of volunteers, to date
from February Is. General C. f. Smith had
been directed by General Halleck TO make an
expedition up the Tennessee with about 40
0OO men, but he died soon after It started,
and the command devolyed upon General
Grant. A large PORTION of the force, after
lying three weeks at Pittsburg Landing, in
preparation for attack ON Corinth, was
surprised at daybreak on April by an over
whelming Confederate force under General
A. 3. Johnston, driven from its camps and
routed with heavy loss.
General Grant arrived on the field of battle
at q. m. and reformed the lines. Heavy
reinforcemenis under General Buell. having
arrived in the night, the battle was renewed
The 9Th and daftafad uuitb
drew TO Corinth. The loss ON each side was
about 1900. General Grant was slightly
wounded. General Halleck, arriving at the
front two or three days afterward, began
siege operations against CoriLth; but the
Confederatrs evacuated the place on the
last days of May. Halleck was called to
Washington on July IL and Grant became
commander of the Department of West Ten
nessee, with headquarters at Corinth. The
most serious problem that demanded his
immediate attention was the disposal
of guerrillas, spies and traitors,
who were crossing the lines on