davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
PADlICAH.

The young commanders first military
achievement was the seizure of Paducah,
kentucky, which commanded the navigation
of both the Tennessee and the Ohio. Kentucky
had been hating on neutral ground, which
had not been recognized by the United States,
but which General Polk, the Confederate
commander in that region, was the first to
break. Polk seized Columbus and Hickman,
on the Mississippi, and threatened Paducah
within three days after Grant assumed his
new command. Grant heard of Folks adj
vance and at once notified the Kentucky lagis-
lature and teleglaphed Fremonta ut st. Louis
81 am getting ready to go TO Palucah; will
start at ESQ" Still later: 81 am now nearly
ready for Paducah should no telegram arrive
preventing the movement"
No reply reached him. and at 1880 that
night, the 9Th Of September, he started up
the river with two regiments, n light battery
and two gunboats Landing at Paducah at
$50 the next morning he seized tho city with
out gun having been fired. Brig. Gen.
1ilghman and his staff, of the Confederate
armv, hurried out of town toward the south
by the railroad while Grant was getting
ashore Sixteen miles away a force of :, 800
Confederates were stationed, and Confederate
fags and stores were numerous in the town.
Grants prompttude saved Paiucah and the
control OF the Ohio river. It also STRAIT htened
the backbone of neutral Kentucky, whose
legislature at once passed resolutions favor
able to the Union and spoke Of neutrality nc
more. a.
In this movement Grant defined the deter
mination which afterwards was so marked
and commented upon in his generalship. He
left Paducah in charge of a garrison at noon
the same day and returned to Cairo, where
he received Fremont's permission to take
Paducah 'if he felt strong enough
For two months afterwards he held the
country at the junction of the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi and disciplined his forces which by
November numbered nearly 10000 men.
Being subordinate to Fremont he was, al
lowed to make no movement of Importance
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10

Grant began the storming of Vicksburg
on the 10Th of May, gaining some ground,
and on the 22d a general assault began.
All day long columns OF men moved
against the enemy's stronghold, only to be
met by a staggering fire, under which
they recOiled to the shelter of the hill
sides, which We're thick with the dead and
dying The Confederates, behind their
parapets, suffered little in comparison
This assault is said to have been unparai-
leled i'll the history of modern times.
Three thousand Federal soldiers were
killed. The assault on Vicksburg having
failed Grant determined on siege. Then
begun those long days of bombardment,
when the hemmed in Confederates daily
saw their supplies diminish without hope
of replenishment, their spirits droop and
their strength fail. After the siege had
lasted more than forty days, when riding
around his lines one day Grant stopped ut
the house of a Confederate woman, who
still chung to her shattered walls, and ask
ed for water She asked him tauntingly
if he ever expected to get into NicksburE.
Certainly" he answered. But when -
81 cannot tell exactly when shall take
the town, but | mean to stay here till
do, if it takes me thirty years"
At last, on the Sd of July, Pemberton
asked Grants terms for the capitulatiOn
of the city, and the white flag lOated from
the headquarters of the besieged. Grants
answer was "The unconditional surren-
der of the city and garrison" The two
generals conferred but left the final deciS-
ion till later. Grant then returned To
headquarters, and for the first time in his
life held what might be called a council
of war. He finally permitted the Con
federates to march out on parole, and
these terms were accepted. On the Attn
of July the garrison of Vicksburg march
ed out of the lines they had 80 long and
bravely defended and stacked their arms
in front of their conquerors. This event
was really the blow which broke the back
bone of the rebellion. 1t struggled on
nearly two years longer, but it never re-
put into Grants hands the largest capture
of men and materials made in the war.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
WITHOUT SUPPLIES.

On tho 18th Of November Grant seized La
Grange and Grand Junction. On the 14th
his cavalry entered Holly Springs, and drove
tho enemy south Of tho Tallahatchie. On the
Goth the enemy's cavalry dashed into Holly
Springs, 80 miles in Grants rear, and cap
tured the garrison, with all its stores. A Con-
federate raider cut the railroad to Columbus
at several points, severing Grants only line
of communication with the north and with
parts of his own command. Holly Springs
was captured while the troops were in their
beds, for which the commanding officer of the
post was dismissed the service. For over a
week Grant had no communication with the
north, and for two weeks no supplies. Then
was learned the secret of how an army may
live without supplies, useful afterwards to
Grant when in the rear of Vicksburg and to
Sherman in his marches through Georgia and
tho Carolinas. When the citizens, mostly
women, came to his headquarters to see how
he bore the loss of Holly Springs, and asked
him exultngly what he would do now that
his soldiers had nothing to eat, he calmly in
formed them that his soldiers would find
plenty in their barns and storehouseS.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10

The secretary of war at once recommended
Grant for a major generally of volunteers,
and the president nominated him the same
day. In letter made public Stanton said
What, Under the blessing Of Providence,
conceive 10 be the tue organization of vic
tory and military combination to end this
war was declared In few words in Gen.
Grants MESA &c to Gen. Buckner: L propose
10 move Immediately On your woTlls.'n From
tho moment Fort Donclson surrendered Gen.
Grant had national fame lie was assigned
% tho new military district Of West Tennes-
sec, with ''imits not definel," On the 10Th Of
February, and Sherman 20 the district of
Cairo They had been ut West Point to-
gether, but Sherman had graduated three
wears earlier. and thew had not. uD to that
time, been Intimate. Inc s1ego OF Fort Don
elson brought about their first official inter
course, Sherman forwarding Grant troops
and supplies. An exchange of letters after
the surrender of the fort was the beginning
of q warm friendship between them which
neither time Nor change has diminished.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10

Gibraltar Of America. Nature as well as
art had made the Confederate Notifications
there well-nigh impregnable. Grants
plan was to move his army below Vicks
burg, even cutting Oft his own communi-
misunderstanding everything in the GER
tain hope of victory Defeat meant total
humiliation. On the night of April 10
three steamers and ten barges loaded
with ratlons and forage, were run past the
batteries, conveyed by seven of Admiral
Porter's iron-clads The steamers were
manned by volunteer crews from the
ranks. Porter led the way on the Benton
and Grant remained on one of the trans
ports, where he could watch the opera
tons, though shot and shell fell all around
him. 10 dispel the favoring darkness the
Confederates fired the houses along both
sides of the shore until the Mississippi
was as light as day. Every transport was
struck, the Henry Clay was burned to the
minutes the fleets were under fire. But at
last all were out of range and darkness
settled down On fleets and city.
Grants march through the wilderness
about Nicksburg is historic, and his sue
cesses therein were due to his conclusion
that rules of strategy laid down in books
should be violated when common sense
dictated. In 20 days he had marched
more than 200 miles, beaten two armies
in five battles, captured q heavy cannon
and 81 pieces of field artillery, taken over
1000 prisoners and killed and wounded as
many more. He had, says Badeau, forced
the evacuation of Grand Gulf, seized the
capital of the state, destroyed the rail
roads at Jackson for 80 miles and invest
ed the principal stronghold of the Confed-
crates on the Mississippi. 1t has been
compared with the campaign of Napoleon
at Clm and to the first fifteen days of Ma
poleon in Italy in 1896.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10

recruits, fought furlously without flnclhng.
They drove the Confederates to the river
hank, took several hundred prisoners, cap
tured all the artillery and broke up the
camp. Victory, however, was too much for
the Federal troops. They became disor-
ganized, and instead of following up the
enemy as lie covered on the river bank, the
soldiers SGT about plundering, while their Of
flcers, untaught in the proprieties Of military
life, made patriotic stump speeches. To
stop tho plundering Grant ordered his staff
officers to SGT the camp on fire. The men re-
turned to the ranks and the march to the
transports began. Meanwhile Confederate
re-enforcements arrived, and, combining with
the defeated. cut Grant OF from his trans
ports. eve are surrounded" said an Off
Ger of his staff, riding up, somewhat agl-
tated. "Well," said Grant, "if that is 50,
we must cut our way out as we cut our
way in'-one of the condensed speeches
of wisdom and determination for which he
afterward grew famous. He charged and
dispersed the enemy, meeting with but
slight resistance.
The danger Of this, his first fight, was
not yet over, however. He pushed on to
the landing, got most of his force
aboard, seeing to everything in per
son, his officers being too inexperi-
enced to execute his orders without
special directions. "A force OF men had DeeH
sent to gather up the WOUNDED, and when the
main body was nearly embarked he role
back to withdraw the rear guards, which
were to have covered the men bringing i'll
the wounded. They, being unsophisticated
in military observanccs, had thought fit to
retire, and had returned to the transports.
Grant found himself outside Of his own
troops with the enemy advancing upon him
and firing on his transports. He saw that
the men in search of the wounded could not
DO saved and rode slowly back to the trans
1 ports. As he wore a private's overcoat be
was not recognized as an officer Getting
near the transports he galloped swiftly to the
river, his horse sliding down the bank on its
hainchus: n blank was put out for him. over
which he t"ottel his horse aboard through a
rain of muskosry. His convoy Of gtlnboata
then opened on the Confederates with great
destruction, and small loss themselves, and
by 8 o'clock the transports were out of range.
This battle confirmed Grant in his policy of
mo delay" on which he always afterward
acted. This engagement strengthened tn
confidence of his soldiers AMI made them
courageous for the future. Long afterwards
the belmont men" were among the sturdiest
soldiers in the army Of tie lenlcssoe.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
MlSTREATED BY HALLECK.

Immediately following the battle Of Shiloh
rumors flooded tho country prejudicial to
Grant, and in all operations in the theater Of
var he was ignored for the next two months.
lis situation was regarded by the army as
one of disgrace, and was doubtless the most
d5agreeable period in his entire career. Ha
tells the story in the following words:
Shorty after tho battle OF Shiloh had been fought
g n. Hailcct moved his headquarters to Pttsburs
Landing and assumed com mand of the troops In thu
field Although next to him In rank, and nominai,y
in command of my own district and army, was Is
norcd as much as IL had been at the most distant
point OF territory within my ju~ sdiction and al
though was In command OF all the troops at Shiloh
Twas not permitted to OF the reports OF Gen
Buell. his subordinatss iii that battle until they
wore published by tine war department long aftei
the event. In consequence never myself made
full report OF the engagement
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10

He wanted to take Columbus, an impor-
tant point on the river twenty miles below
Cairo, but not until the 9th of November was
he ordered to move down the river. He had
S,1OO men on transports, conveyed by two
gunboats. A section of artillery, two
squadrons of cavalry and five regiments
constituted his force. Some of his men had
only been in possession Of their arms few
days. and were as raw as children and as I'M
disciplined as cowboys. McClernand was
the only general officer in his command and
he had never heard the ping of an unfriendly
bullet Logan, now SO well known, was
with him as colonel On the 7th he landed
at Hunters Point, on the Missouri side, and
marched on Belmont. near which the Con-
federates had pitched their camp. By 9
o'clock his entire command, except one
battalion guarding the transports, was in a
warm engagement, the gunboats being en-,
gagged with the batteries at Columbus The
fight lasted four hours, Grant with
the skirmish line, His horse was
shot under him. McClernand lost three
horses. and every colonel. a. well as the raw
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
THE BATTLE OF SHILOH.

This celebrated battle was fought on Sum-
day AMI Monday, the 9TH and 7th of April,
1862. 1t took its name from littlo log
church, known as Shiloh church. The scene
of the engagement is thickly wooded
though broken, country, reaching back from
the bluffs at PittSburg Landing from two to
three miles. Grant and his staff were break
fasting at Savannah when he first heard the
fire of the enemy's attack. Grants horse
having slipped and fallen on his masters leg
on the 4th, at the time of the battle and for
some days after Grant was unable to walk
without the aid of crutches. His boot had
been cut from his foot. Hearing the firing
he boarded a transport and started for the
front, arriving there at 8 o'clock. The his
toric battle was already on. Sherman, Prem
tiss, McClernand, Hurlburt and w. H. Wal
lace, with 3S, 900 men, were there. The Con-
federate force, according to Badeau, was q
little over 4O,O There was hard fighting,
small panics, retreating and other signs Of
dismay among the Federal troops, and re-
newed vigor on the part of the enemy. Nelson
and Lewis Wallace were coming with re-en-
forcements, but the battle was going awry.
Grant was everywhere on tho field, constantly
under fire. In his own account OF it he says:
Three of the five divisions engaged the first day at
Shiloh were entirely raw, and many OF them had
only received their arms the W ay from their
states to the fell. Many OF them had arrived but a
day or two before, and were hardly able to load
their muskets according to the manual Their of
ncers were equally ignorant OF their duties. Under
these circumstance 1t Is not astonishing that many
OF the regiments broke at the first fire. Ii two
cases. as now remember, the colonies led their
regiments from tho field on first hearing the whistle
OF the enemy S bullets In these cases the colonies
were constitutional towards. unfit for any military
position But the Officers and N led out OF
danger by them. Better troops never went upon u
battlefield than many Of these Officers and men
afterward proved themselves to be- who fed
panic stricken, at the irst whistle OF bullets and
shell at Shiloh.
General Albert Sidney Johnston, Con
federate commander, was killed on the first
day OF Shiloh's battle. Jefferson Davis had
early said of him that he regarded his SER
vice to the Confederacy as worth more than
the accession of an army of 10000 men.
Night fell and found the fight unfinished.
The gunboats continued to fling shells into
tho Confederate lines, the woods caught fire,
and only a merciful rain saved the wounded
from being burned alive. Buell. -and Gen
Lew Wallace arrived and the old lines were
reformed. Grant visited each division COM
nandar after dark. directing their positions
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10

troops that had not been engaged to make
an Immediate assault. The assauting
column was led by C.. f. Smith. Up, up
the steep hill, under the fierce fire of the
enemy, went the Federal column, inside
the intrenchments while McClearnand and
Wallace supported Smith. An hour and
a hall more of daylight would have given
Grant the victory, but darkness overlook
him. The next morning Buckner sent &c
ask his terms, while Floyd and Pillow es-
capped across the river with as many troops
as two steamers could carry. deserving the
remainder of their troops, Grant replied :
mo terms except unconditional and i'm
mediate surrender can be accepted. Ipro-
pose to move Immediately upon your
works" The terms were complied with,
and the Stars and Stripes soon fluttered
over Fort Donelson,
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
MISSIONARY RIDGE,

After the memorable campaign Of Chicka-
manga, and the suffering OF the army of thu
Cumberland it involved, came the battles OF
Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge and Lookou
Mountain" Hooker's fight Above tho
Clouds" On the 23d of November, the fog
having lifted, the Confederate pickets on Mis-
sionary Ridge looked down on the plain and
saw a moving army, with its bayonets glano-
ing in the sun. This was Gen. Thomas
battalions. So exact were their movements
that the enemy mistook it for q parade, till
the skrmishers sent rain of bullets ON tho
Confederate pickets, and the heavy guns
began to wake the echoes. The cannon on
Missionary Ridge and the artillery of Fort
Wood shook the earth until nightfall, and
then the two armies slept among
tho hills. The next day the battle
that won Lookout Mountain from
the enemy was fought in clouds of smoke and
fog, with rattle of musketry and flashing OF
fire never to be forgotten, while Sherman
planted the flag on the end Of Missionary
Ridge. On the morning of the 18th Grants
main line occupied Orchard Knoll, which he
had wrung from the enemy the day before;
Hooker was marching down Lookout; Bragg,
the Confederate leader, was on Missionary
Ridge, and all were looking down into the
valley where the contest was to be decided.
Sherman renewed his attack ON Missionary
Ridge, and under Grants orders other forces
moved after him, and the men steadily
moved up the hillside under the enemy's fire
till they gained possession, chasing whole
regiments of the enemy down the slope and
turning his guns upon himself. The battle OF
Chattanooga is considered the grandsss
fought west Of the Alleghanies. 1t covered
thirteen miles, and Grants men numbered
$1,000, the Confederate forces 5000, with
every advantage of position.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
MISUNDERSTANDING GRANT.

In july I[allack was assigned to the COM
maId CT 81 The armies, supersedng McClel-
Ian lie went to Washington, aud Grant was
lett in command of the army of the Tennes-
see, a lit.-e more Independent than when Hal
leck had been present in the field. He di-
rscted tho movements in tho battles of Iuka
and Col1nth until the troops arrived In the
presence OF tie enemy, though he was eight
miles from the fight at 1uka and nearly forty
from Coi1nth
Merit, when unaccompanied by outward
display, is always slow to be recognized, and
Grant in his military career was no exception
to this universal stupidity. His simple man
ners and direct speech were mistaken for the
expression Of a commonplace mind by Off
GERS above and below him His successes
his Judgment nor ability was even
guessed at. Gen. Badeau, in his
Life of Grant" says: 1T is i'm
possible to understand the early history of
the war without taking it into account that
neither tho government nor its important
commanders gave Grant credit for intellec-
tual ability or military genius. His other
qualities were also ratedslow. Because he
was patient some thought it impossible to
provoke him, and because Of his calmness it
was supposed that he was stolid. In battle
or in campai gning he did not seem to care or
consider so much what the enemy were do
ing as what he himself meant to do; and this
trait, to enthusiastic and even brilliant sol
diers, appeared inexplicable. If he possessed
requirements he appeared unconscious of
them; he made no allusion to the schools, and
never hesitated to transgress their rules
when the occasion seemed to him to demand
it, So he neither won mems hearts by bland
ishments nor affected their imaginations by
brilliancy Of behavior; nor did he seem pro-
found to those who are impressed only by a
display of learning"
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
COLONEL AND BROADER GENERAL

Grant remained at Springfield and helped
to organize the volunteer troops of tho state
After five weeks OF this work, which his mil
itary education had specially fitted him for,
Gov Yates offered hiIn the Twcnty-f1r;t regi-
ment of Illinois infantry. Before receiving
his commission as colonel he went to Cincin
natl to see Maj.-Gcn. Mcclellan, then in com
mand Of Ohio volunteers. He had known
Mcclellan in the old army, and hoped he
might offer him place on his staff. Twice
he went to headquarters without finding Nc
Clellan, and then returned to Illinois without
having mentioned his crrand to any one. He
took command Of his regiment early in June
and marched to Missouri. Reportingto Brig
Gen. Pope he was stationed at Mexico, about
80 miles north of TIE Missouri river The
president commissioned him brigadior general
of volunteers in August, a promotion he first
heard of through the newspapers. At this
time Mai. Gen, Fremont was in command of
the states and territories known as the West
ern Department. He transferred Grant to
Ironton, then to jefferson CITY and then to
the command of the district of Southeast Mis-
souri,, with headquarters at Caro.
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
ORGANIZING VOLUNTEERS.

On the 18th of April, 1861, Fort Sumter
fell. On the 18th Presidentlincolnm made his
call for truops, ED on the lJtn Grant was
drilling a company of volunteers in Galena.
Four days later Le took it to Springfield.
From there he wrote tho odjutant general of
the army, Offering Lis services to the govern
mcnt in any capacity in which it cared to
make use Of him. This letter, which would
now be a valuable historic document, called
forth no reply and was not considered impor-
tant enough to preserve. This neglect in the
words of an Armandale peasant much quoted
by Carlylr, could nae hinder him of Gods
DrOyidpncen
Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-04-10
had cast but one vote for preside and knew

had cast but one vote for preside and knew
no politicians. Army officers and western
traders comprised his whole acquaintance
Even the congressman of his own district,
who had been nine successive years in con-
gress, was unknown to him, though he after
wards became one of Grant, warmest
friends.
At this time Grant was 80 years old, the
father of four children, the eldest of whom
was II. He lived in a little house on one
of Galena's many hills, and devoted his
time to leather. Thus did the war and his
destiny find him. Few of his cOuntrymen
even knew of his existence. For him the
future held fame and honor in unstinted
measure wrapped in its impenetrahle
folds. But none saw the light of his star
before it rose none read the riddle of his
romantic destiny, soon to reveal itself in
events that were to shake the world. He
himself saw not the signs that augured
his future. He carved out his career blind
ly, as all do.