Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-10-15
ANECDorEs or GRANT.

SSA11Sl 1s.S<a '. -
/. ANECDorEs OF GRANT. ,
'.GraHt and, ansaiiss systs rrsat
friends, y tits Otcgea siafasn1n con-'
ss'ss i'ssss s.s sss k, ssrss = y:'s s:ss
iisnds % MS day. DSHpg AIis FAr.
whDe 4gals Fas the quaf,pfps sster
Eensra ~ lie AYpS ga ape 1ro;omac.
fe ard 4raus Nete 4ithp iorelhcr one
uixht about y eA) 1p-iiss- When Grant
ssid q nSAilss :Refa3 q - soing to
make you commahdcr OF The Army OF
tic Potomac. q Bdtu Iig gzalIs objected.
He had avery nice place In his quarter
mastership, with hundreds of men IN
der him. and he did not want to make
the change. Grant persisted, but after
d long talk he finally 'acceded to In
GALL wishes, and did not appoint him.
Had ingalls,, accepted the position he
might have been one of the great gen.
erals of the United States, aud perhaps
the lieutenant general. Instead, he is
a retired officer. i doubt not he re-
grets what must have been the great
mistake of his life. Grant had a high
opinion of Ingalls,. While he was in
Europe on his tour round the world he
wrote to general of the army that he
regarded Ingalls, as one Of the very
best men to have commanded the Army
of the Potomac. and in saying this he
did not intend disparagerhent to any
other officer W. H5HsI 's1!1L2"iAt&h .
In an old magazine of the valuable
collection in the Congressional libraryI
findSthe following story. Fhe aStors in
partdead, Ana TIE sNchief 4s~how dying
at Mount McGregor, The story is told,
Ishould say, by the editor of the maga-
zine.i and it may be that its republica-
ton will develop the proof Of its truth
or falsehood. Andrew johnson, says
this man, became very anxious during
the latter part of his term to get Grant
out of the country He saw that he
could mot manipulate him to suit his
desires, and thought that If he was out
of the way and Sherman was at the head
of the army he would be more likely to
control matters as events might occur.
He got it into his head that he would
send Grant on Il diplomatic mission to
Mexico. With this in view he called
the general to the white house, and
there told him he wanted him to 60 to
Mexico. Gen. Grant at once saw
through the scheme, and declined to
go. johnson insisted, but Grant con-
tinued to decline, and finally sent q
declination to the president id writing.
Shortly aftef this, thestory goes. Grant
was summoned to a cabinet meeting.
When he arrived his INSTRUCTIONS as
AMBASSADOR to Mexico swere shown
him. They were printed, and were
read aloud by the secretary of the state
as though he had accepted instead of
declined the mission. Grant at once,
and in the presence of the entire cabi-
net, declared his unwillingness to go
on such an errand. At this President
johnson became angry, and asked the
attorney general if there was any rea-
son why Grant should not obey the Or
dersl of the president, his superior Off
Ger. 1t was his, opinion, he SAID, that
an officer of the army could be en-
ployed in the diplomatic service. At
this Gen. Grant started to his feet and
exclaimed: ''Mr, President, I can an
swer that question without appealing
to the attorney general. am an
American citizen, and have been guilty
of no treason or crime, and am eli
gible to any office to which any other
American citizen is eligible. But this
is purely q civil duty to which you
would assign me, and cannot be COM
PEELED to undertake, it. Any legal
military order you imayj jgiye me L will
obey, but this is civil, not military,
and decline the duty. No power on
earth can force me to i?HA So saving
he left the room and the cabinet meet
ing.
Grants old body servant is employed
in the departments here. His name is
William Barnes and he was with
Grant from 1862 until the second year
of his presidential term. William is Il
good-lookingcolored man, who, though
he must be more than As years old,
does not look over 25. He is very
proud of his service with Grant, and
delights to talk OF the "reminiscences of
the time. He says Grant was the
kindest of masters, always the same in
temper, and never getting excited or
angry, whatever the, provocation. It
was William Barnes who probably
saved Grant from being ,assassinated
! on the night that Lincoln was killed.
Grant arrived in Washington that day
and it was Mrs. Grants intention to
go with the general to the theater that
night. She had ordered that their
baggage geru-be~p,takens~te, to the hotel but
William misunderstood her order and
had it transferred to the Baltimore IN q
Ohio depot. This was not discovered
until tooslate to goto the Vtheater and
then Mrs. Grant de- sided that8 tncy
would 30 on to New Jetsey and lat
the theateresgo. Had Williams not
made the mistake Grant would ,laye
been one Of that party in LincolnJ
box that night. As it was he had
hardly gotten out of the city before
the news arrivedsthat PresidentLin-
coin was shot and he had to return
Washington Letter. 7toTthe Cleveland
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