Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1885-08-27
Grants Military Ability.

General Grant was created for great emer-
geneies. II was the magnitude of the task
tha. called forth the powers by which he
mastered it. In ordinary matters he was
an ordinary man; in momentous affairs he
became giant.
| When performing the routine duties of
| frontier camp there was no act to make him
| conspicuous above bis fellow Officers, but
when he welded corps and armies the
| great qualities of the commander flashed
| forth, and his master-strokes of genius
| placed him at once in the front rank Of the
worlds great captains.
| When he naulsd wood from his little farm
and sold it in ST. Louis, with all his indus
| try he did not drive as advantageous bar
gains or make as good a living as most OF
| the farmers about him ; but when he came
| to cope with the trained diplomatists of
| Europe in conducting the intricate negotia-
tons which resulted in forcing satisfacto-
! ~ settlement of the iidbdmd claims, he put
| forth abilities which showed from the start
that the matter was in the hands of mas
I ter, When conducting the business Of his
store in Galena his tinancierng was hardly
/ equal to that of the average country mer-
chant. but when message was 10 be sent TO
/ Congress that would puncture the fallacies
of the innationists and throttle by a veto the
attempts of unwlse men 10 cripple the fnan-
ces Of the nation, State paper was pro-
duced which commanded the admiration of
every believer in sound currency. He
could collect for the nation fifteen millions
| from Great Britain; he could not protect
his own personal savings from the mlscIe-
ants who lately robbed him in New YORK.
His methods in warfare all bore the stamp
Of originality and ingenuity. His success
depended upon his power. Of invention
rather than adaptation. The fact that he
has been compared at times to nearly all the
great commanders of history is the best
proof that he was like none Of them. lie
saw that the art Of war as practlced in Eu-
rope with lis open country, macadamlzed
highways, and densely populated states.
would not answer for America, with It's dense
forests, impenetrable swamps. difficult riy-
ers, mud roads, and sparse population. lie
found the necessity of devIsing All Amerl-
can system Of warfare applicable 10 the con
dltions surrounding him, and while 1t had
been part of his education 70 study the in
structve lessons derived from the great
European campaigns, vet he never wasted
time in trying to fit European square peg
/ into an Anne eTlCan round mole.
The importance of ceIerity in action was
always uppermost in hls 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 vas tenaciousiy held, and the enemy
never recapturcd an important position
which had once been wrestsd from him.
The combinations and movements OF the
several grea; armies Of the Union during the
last year of the war were on scale never
before or since attempted. Over half
million Of men were IN the field in com
manis separated by more than Thousand
miles and all moving under the guiding
hand Of their chief: Meade manruyrlng
around Petersburg, Ord hanging on to
Richmond, Sheridan eaI.opiug through the
Valley OF Virginia, Sherman cutting tie
Confederacy in Two, Candy seizing the
-tronghoid- on the Gulf Thomas crushing
Hood in Tennessee, armies defending the
| Mississippi and resisting RAIDS IN Missouri
| When communication was open, daily re
| ports came in to the chief who -, IN his
hut quietly smoking his cigar. STUDYING the
maps and sending out instructions to all
point, ui the compass. His self-relance N
the field perhaps his most Characteristic
trait. He never convened forma. councils
oi war, though he ALWAYS consulted and ad-
Z yl-ed With hi~ officers whose opinions nev-
or failed to have with him the weight TO
1 which tha, we're entitled. llr manifested
10 pride If opinion. but in campaign be
/ felt tha, the person vino had To shoulder the
responsibility ought to decide the move
rn.nt tlu, AZ Et. tF5srfi,rs 'tt a gteunrl4 If