The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-17
"REMINISCENCES OF GRANT.
Personal RecOllectiOns of an Intimate
Friend and Companion in Arms.
The Old Commanders Tastes and Manners
His Dauntless Courage, High Character
and Absolute Truthfulness
Gen. Horace Porter. in Harper for september.


| When his great victories were heralded his
enemies tried to degrade him with the stigma of
| butcher" Then came partisan attacks, insep
arabic from public life, and gross caricatures ex
hibited him as slovenly in dress and stolid in
feature. Those, for time, had their effect in
| giving many people total misconception of the
! true personal character of the man. He was
educated at an institution of learning which,
whatever its faults, has never been charged with
being lacking in its requirements as to scholar
| ship. In general standing he was graduated
about the middle Of a class composed of many
| gifted minds In the exact sciences he stood
particularly we'll In the year in which the
| principal mathematics were taught he was tenth
| in class of fifty two members. In landscape
| painting in water colors, which occupied In his
| day place in the West Point course, he stood
above the middle of the class and throughout
his life he always exhibited taste for paintings
and other works Of art.
| He had no particular aptitude for languages.
| While in Mexico during our war with that coun-
| try, he acquired some knowledge of Spanish,
| and when cadet he learned French, but never
had an opportunity of continuing the study or
practice of that language, and in later years had
| lost all familiarity with it,
The General was fond of the drama and was
| diligent reader of current literature He de-
| rived great enjoyment from the society of Guilt
waited men. but made no pretensions to any
| knowledge which he did not possess He seemed
| to feel with Addison that ''pendantry in learn
| ing is like hypocrisy in religion-a form of
| knowledge without the power of it," His &C
| quantance with the classics was but slight, and
| was acquired from the limited knowledge he
| gained in the public schools before entering
| West Point. The appreciation Of music was to
him lost sense: the musicians score was
sealed book He used to say he knew only two
| tunes; one was Yankee Doodle and the other
| wasn't In the days when he was received on
| all occasions to the music of brass bands he
| would say with mock pride that he really be-
lieved he had added third tune ohis repertoire
-"Hail to the Chief
In the company Of ladies the General was
| studlOusly polite in manner, at times even court
| ly. When reclining upon a sofa to catch little
wellearned rest after the fatigues of the day, in
| the White House or in his own home. if lady
| entered the room, even though she were an init
| mate friend or relative, he Invariably
| arose and sat in deferential attitude. This and
| other exhibitions of courtesy, which seemed in
| HIM instructive could not fail to be noticed in
| his own home as instances of those little acts of
| weight in stamping the true character of the
| gentleman than the more pretenti0us acts of
civiity displayed in public.
| No one ever heard irritable word or dis
| agreeable expression addressed to any member
of his household. and affectionate family.
| from the oldest to the youngest, never dwelt
| under one roof
| General Grant was essentially a man of peace.
| No one reioiced more when hOstiliies came to
an end. A Quaker in Philadelphia once met
Mr.. Borie, afterward Secretary of the Navy, and
said:
Friend Adolph, am going to vote for thy
| friend Ulysses Grant for President"
I'm glad to hear you say that" said Mr..
| Borie; "but how happens it that Quaker is
| going to vote for a soldier7'
"Oh." said the Quaker, that is exactly why I
vote for him. believe war to be such curse
| that no sensible man can witness its evils with
| out becoming a confirmed of peace and
| feel that Grant, with his experience will never
let get into war while he is President y n
The statement that he was reckless of human
| life hurt his feelings more than any charge made
| against him, perhaps because it was the most
| unjust, and SO at variance with his nature. His
| heart was intensely sensitive to every form of
| human suffering This trait was often the sub
! ject of remark by those who were with him
| under the varied circumstances Of his life and
it is curious fact his sens;biites in this respect
| never became blunted during all the memorable
| scenes of carnage through which he passed. At
the outset Of his career in his earliest battles he
| never failed to give minute instructions before
| hand regarding the care of the wounded. At Shi-
oh after the fatigues OF the day. he sought shelter
| in hut TO catch a few hours of much needed
| sleep. The surgeons had taken possession of
| the place and soon began their horrid work of
amputating the limbs of the wounded The
| General found the sight so painful that he said
| it more uncomfortable than the fire of the
enemy" He soon left this only place of shelter,
| preferring to brave the storm which was raging
outside and passed the rest of the night sitting
under a tree with torrents of rain pouring down
upon him.
The General was always ready to rough it in
the field like the commonest soldier in the ranks.
| He generally wore light blue cavalry overcoat,
| such as is issued to private soldiers He would
ride hard all day, and often lie down to sleep at
| night on the ground. in the most uncomfortable
| places, without any covering. In such cases
| some one would watch him till he got to sleep,
| and then spread a cloak or blanket over him.
The General ate less than any man in the
| army. Sometimes the amount of food taken did
| not seem enough to keep bird alive. His mess.
| consisting OF himself and staff, was frugal
enough in its fare to suit the taste of anchor
| te A bottle of wine was scarcely ever seen on
| the table, and cold water was the habitual
| beverage He usually spent but a few minutes
| at meals, and often took little more than cup
| of coffee, some hard bread, and a sliced GU
| cumber, or little fruit when any could be
| found
| His smoking has become historical This
| habit in the field has not been exaggerated
| During the second day of the battle Of the
| Wilderness he smoked twenty four strong cigars.
| The number of cigars generally bore some re-
lation to the magnitude of the occasion, and
when his pockets were loaded up with an extra
supply in starting out in the morning. it usually
| meant that the enemy was going to have as
| much work on hand that day as he could con-
venienty attend to.
Being capital rider he sat his horse with
such ease that he seemed to come into camp at
| night as fresh when he started out in the
| morning His health was nearly perfect, and
his spirit was never depressed by bodily or
mental fatigue. He could drop to sleep at will,
and always tried to get eight hours repose out
of the twenty four Of this was often
| made up of snatches of sleep of few hours in
| length when in active service. n
| General Grant was possessed Of rare and
! conspicuous courage, which, seen under all Cir
| cumstances, appeared never to vary. 1t was