The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-08-14

lie. All these services have from time to
time received from Gen. Grant the
highest recognition 1t was IN his power to
give.
You have seen nations tenderness;
search the fields, the forests, the founts,
the lagoons of the South and the rivers
even, for the whitened bones of every
darling who fell In her defence, then
gather them all together and lay them
away in the sacred urns that adorn our
country's halls. You have seen gener-
GUS compensation made for every strick-
en- soldier who survived the war, lest q
country should seem to live at the ex-
pense of unhealing wounds. You have
seen stately structures rise al over the
land, welcome homes for you, with pill
lows for every head. You may enter
them in your declining years, when you
have no other home and no other pillow
on which to die, and from their marble
threshholds, when time is over, you may
embark on your final voyage. All of
these tributes TO You have received the
generous aid of General Grant in private
and public station. Yes, he was your
friend. You followed him ut Shilo,
Vicksburg, and through the Wilderness,
whose slaughter crimson ned every leaf
with Autumn tints, and up to the sum
init of his earthly triumph.
He has left you now, but he did not
close the door behind him; he left it
standing ajar for you. Follow him then
over the ocean that has no returning
sail, and join him in the grand review
under the pearly battlements of the sky.
The programme closed with the audi
ence Singing America" accompanied
by the band. Company +. fired three
vOlley's in honor Of the dead, and the
crowd dispersed, feeling that it was q
tribute we'll and worthily bestowed.
Hon. NJ. ID. l.. Collester, of Mankato,
delivered the address at st. Peter, and
through the courtesy of the Tribune
editor, who kindly loaned us the use of
his type, We are enabled to present the
ton TO the readers ofTHE FREE PRESS. 1t
is as follows:
OF all the Union generals there was
probably not one so devoid of personal
ambition as was Gen. Grant. A gradu-
ate of West Point he conceived his best
duty to be to stand by the government
that had educated him. He was vol
unteer not from love of glory but love
of country. Often without his sword or
insignia of his rank, his uniform musty
and threadbare from the time he assum-
ed his first command till Appomattox
closed the scene. Through all the in.
tervening victories he achieved, start
ling and brilliant us they were, no word
of self applause, ever yet escaped his
lips, and the only thing he ever request.
ed in his own behalf in reply to frequent
opportunities of u grateful people was
that sidewalk might be built in front
of his home in Galena. The next day
he received a dispatch, "your sidewalk
is built"
have not time to record in detail the
history of the various campaigns which
he conducted. The most notable were
probably the seiges of Vicksburg anG
Richmond. Both bear testimony to hi
great capacity as a general, especially
the former, which was one Of the finest
specimens of military strategy the worlt
has ever seen. 1t was SO great an un
dertaking that no general except Gran
would attempt it. All the Union gener
ais, the president and cabinet, Gen
Halleck and hosts of others thought i
an impossibility, the Confederate au
thorities ridiculed the idea and slept il
contemptuous disregard of all such at
tempts. Little did the president ant
cabinet and many others know the ma
terial Gen. Grant was made Of Having
| rnlar h.o Of thn hao
fighting armies that ever has been mus
tered into service on this continent o.
any other, they having the creates
confidence in their leader, and witness
ing his determination to take the posi-
ton or perish in the attempt, ever,
man was as willing to fight as the gen
eral was to have him. And when tn,
advantage was gained, though long be
fore the seige was over, there was not
soldier who was not aware of it as sOoi
as Grant. He and his valiant men car
ried the seige. After it was over Presi
dent Lincoln wrote him, "you wer,
right and was wrong"
Gen. Grant was more criticised in hi
conduct of the seige of Richmond thar
in all of his other campaigns together
It is easy enough to tell how thiny
| MIGHT haua hoo~ 5~oo ~ste. - 70 ONO.
done, but more difficult to tell how t,
do it in the first place. After nearl,
four years of total and abject failure il
the attempt, whether it were the faul
of the generals in command or the au
thorities at Washington makes but littl,
difference. The loyal masses O
the north are most interested il
knowing, and grateful in recog
nizing, that Gen. Grant took Rich
mond at last. They had more in
terest in having it effectually taken thar
they did in settling disputes between
Secretary Stanton and the Generals il
command. The American people die
not stop to inquire why Gen. Grant wa.
great, it was enough for them to know
that he was great. That he did for then
what he said he would do, that when hi
said he would take Richmond il it tool
him thirty years, it was only another
way OF saying that Gen: Grant was il
command. He went down and met
Gen Lee and his army before Richmond
and he staid with him until he wore his
own uniform and that of the confederate
army into rags. Had he been one-hali
of the time at the front and the other
half on dress parade at Washington we
might have had different results
1t is remarkable that nearly all oil
Gen. Grants critics are civilians, many
of whom never saw a battle. All the
great union generals, with scarcely an
exception, Generals Lee and Beaure-
gard and other confederate generals and
numerous confederate civilians recog-
nize and admit his great military ability.
The theory of successful warfare and
the practical manipulation of armies in
the field are widely different things.
Not soldier who was at Bull Run and
who threw away his musket and started
for home will be found to be critic of
Gen. Grant, or deny the need of ut least
average ability to successfully conduct
battle, but place man in charge of a
million of men, organizing her entire
campaign at once, and SO managing
every department and detail of the SER
vice that the greatest confidence shall
be secured in the ultimate success of
their arms, and finally browning every
movement with victory, and you have
some idea of the great military ability of
Gen. Grant.
Alexander the Great was great gen
eral but he killed his own friends, Chas.
XII was n great rular Int he ruined hia