, 1885-04-15
GRANT UNDER FIRE.
EMrNENTLY, AND ABOVE ALL THINGS,
A COOL MAN.
At The Front. Under Fire. In the Reaf
of VcksburE - What n Soldier
Thought of His Commander
The Key to Success


while l was standing by the poDtoon
bridge, near Fort Gibson says he watch
ing the boys cross the bayou, / heard sons
body cheering, and, looking round, saw an
officer On horseback I'm a major generals
uniform. He dismounted and came over to
the very spot where 1 was standing. l did
not know his face, but something told me it
was G~rant-Ulysses Grant, at that moment
the hero OF the western army. Solid he
stood-erect, about five feet eight, with
square features, thin closed lips, brown hair,
brown beard, both cut short and neat This
was the first time that l saw Grant think
/ still possess some OF the feeling that over
came me ut that moment, as ] stood so near
to one who held our lives, and possibly our
country's, in his hands. / heard him speak:
Men, push right along; close up fast, and
hurry over Two or three men mounted on
mules attempted TO wedge past the soldiers
on the bridge. Grant noticed it, and quietly
said, lieutenant, send those men to the rear.
Every soldier a ssing turned to gaze on him.
but there was no further recognition. There
was no Bonaparte posturing for effect; no
pointing 10 the pyramids, no calling the
centuries to witness. There was no nonsense.
no sentiment; only a plain business man of
the republic, there for the one single pur-
pose Of getting that command across tho
river in the shortest time possible. On
a horse near by, and among the stall
mounted staff, sat the generals son, a
bright-looking lad Of about IL years. Fast
ened to his little waist by tho broad yellow
belt was his fathers sword-thAt sword on
whose clear steel was soon TO be engraved
Vicksburg. Spottsylvania, the Wilderness
and Richmond.
al next saw Grant on May 18, 1868, and
this time at the battle Of Champion Hills. In
rear OF Vicksburg. He had crossed the Mis-
sissipDi river at Grand Gulf. and swung Off
east and north, had fought the battles OF
Port Gibson, Raymond and Jackson, and
here o~vertaking Pemberton's army hasten
ing to the walls OF Vicksburg. II was a very
hot day and we had marched hard, slept
little and rested none. Among tho mag
nolias on Champion Hills, the enemy, 40, 900
TO $1,000 strong turned ON us. Sherman's
corps was already engaged far on the right
as we approached the field in that overpow-
ering Mississippi sun. Our brigade WIS
soon In line, on the edge Of a meadow, or
open field sloplng toward the woods
where the enemy were concealed and
in the most trying position OF SOL
diers, for regulars even, being fired
on without permission to return tbs
shots. We were standing two files deep,
bearing as patiently as we could not a heavy
but a steady fire from infantry, while an oc-
casional cannon-ball tore up the turf In front
or behind us. A good many men were fall
ing, and the wounded were being borne to
the rear OF the brigade, close TO an old we'll.
whose wooden curb seemed to offer the only
protection from bullets on the exposed line.
@'Colonel, move your men a little by the
loft flank, said a quiet, though command
ing voice. On looking round, I saw imme-
diately behind us Grant, the c~ommander-in-
chief, mounted on u beautiful bay mare,
and followed by perhaps half a dozen Of his
staff. For some reason he dismounted, and
most OF his officers were sent off, bearing
orders, probably, to other quarters of this
field. Il was Grant under fire. The rafting
musketry increased on our front, and grew
louder, too, ON tho left flank. Grant had
led his horse to the left, and thus kept near
the COMPANY to which l belonged. He now
stood leaning complacently against his
favorite steed. smoking-as seemed habitual
with him-the stump Of a cigar. His was
the only horse near the line, and must,
naturally, have attracted some Of the
enemy's fire. What IL he should DO killed, |
thought to myself, and the army be left
without its commander In front of MS
was an enemy; behind us. and about US,
and liable to overcome and crush US, were
his reinforcements. For days we had been
away from our base Of supplies, and march
ing luAiuo Tue enemy nncS- nnhL II bfhnL
should be killed and we be defeated here
in such n place and at such a timel l I'M
sure every ono who recognized him wished
him away; but there he ~stood-clear,
calm and immovable. was close
enough to see his features. Earnest
they were. but sign of inward movement
there was none. 1t was the same cool, cal
culating face l had seen before atthe bridge,
the snme careful, h~alf-cynical face l after
ward saw busted with affairs OF state.
Whatever there may have been in his feel
ings, there was no effort to conceal, there
was no pretence, no trick; whatever that
face was it was natural.
"Men nave often asked II Grant were per-
sonally brave In battle. Bravery, like many
other human qualities, is comparative. That
Grant was fearless in battle would be hard
TO say. II he possessed true bravery, he also
possessed fear. Brave men are not fearless
men He was eminently and above all
things a cool man, and that, l take II, was,
In the exciting times In which he lived. the
the first great key to his success. He was
called q born soldier, but was, in fact, moth
OF the kind. He was simply a man of cor
rect methods and n fixed will"