, 1890-05-15
THE GREAT CArTAIS.
Reflections Suggested by Grants esth
Birthday.

| morrow ne WOulu nave b',h
Year. of age. His painful, but,
pathetic and heroic, death removed
him while hundreds of thousands
who had followed him, or been COM
manded by him, still survived I?
mourn his loss. To-day there VIII
be, here and there, a celebration OF
his OSth birthday. A quarter OF IA
century hence II will he observed as
that OF Was hington II at picsen
There ARE usually those who say
of any great man that he was the
product of combination Of circum-
stances, and that there are many
Others who would have done us well
| If they had had the same oppor-
tunity. Strangely enough, no one
ever SAYS that of General Grant.
Others had opportunities rs good,
and even better, and did notachleve
his measure of success. When the
war began there was but one
major general Scotp who, had
held the position for alfnost
twenty years, and was soon retired
on account of old age. During the
ii rst year of the war there were three
new major generals of the regular
army appolnted-McClellan, Ere
mont and IIalleck, all of whom
made their marks. Only one was
appointed in ls62, and that was
General Wool, then 73 years of age,
and promoted mainly because he
had been in the service SO many
years that he could not be passed
over
There were five major generals OF
volunteers appointed In 1851, but
Grant was not one of them. The
/ first was John \. Dix, of New York,
who, like General Wool, had been
born In the eighteenth century In
lIpsl, and who made a national rep
utation In "a moment, when, n sec
rctury of the treasury, he tele-
graphed to the lieutenant Of the
revenuc cutter In New Orleans: "if
any one attempts to pull down the
| American flag shoot him ON the
spot.h The second was y. l.. Banks
ana the third Benjamin +. Butler
both of Massachusetts, The fourth
was David Hunter, and the fith
Edwin ID. Morgan, of New York,
General Hunter being the only
trained solder among them, He
was brlgadier In the regular army (;
the Others were from civil life. In
February, 1862, the sixth major
general of volunteers was APP
pointed-Ethan A. Hitchcock, OF
Missouri, also from civil life. Thus
nearly year had passed away
since the opening of the war; four
major generals of the regular army
and six major generals OF volunteers
had been appointed, and Grants
name was In neither list. II was
not until the 10Th of February, 1852,
that he was made "a major general
of volunteers.
Tie had been u brigader-general
Of volunteers since May J E, 1851. hut
he was otitranked there by eighteen
Others who had been commissioned
before him. Thirteen of these, how
ever, We're promoted from the regu-
lar army, while five were from civil
life. The former included William
II. sherman, and the latter fur
nlshed two gallant and intrepid sol
dlers, Phil Kearney, who lost his
life at chantilly, and "Fighting
joe Hooker, like Grant, n graduate
of West Point, and like him a civil.
ian M the end OF the war.
Nineteenth In the list of the briga.
dicr generals, Grant, in the course
of time. became seventh in the list
of major generals of volunteers. For
nearly seventeen months after Oh.
talning this position he was out
ranked 10y Dix, Banks, Butler, Hun.
ter and Hitchcock, Morgan having
resigned In January, 1858, to enter
the United states senate. His COM
mission was a somew hat nominal
one, given him as governor OF New
York.
Then merit began to tell. From
the seventh place among the major
generals of volunteers he was pro-
NOTED TO the fifth place In the list
of major generals In the regular
army, Mcclellan, Fremont, Hnl-
leck and Wool outranlling him
there. And even this position was
not attained until the fth OF July,
1868, when the war was more than
hall over. And what record OF
I failures those two years had made
There had been some splendid
fighting, some cheering victories,
much ''mnstcrly inactivity" on
the part Of the officers in charge
Of divisions, corps and armies,
Meantime, in February, 1862, Brig.
adler General Grant had fought a,
Fort Donelson and proved his skill
and in April, 1863, he had, az majoI
general of volunteers, fought The
battle of shiloh, as, nearly six
months later, Mcclellan had fought
that of Antietan. The siege OF
Nicksburg and its triumphan,
ending on the Fourth of July,
1868, settled forever the question oI
precedence, and Grant became n
major general In the regular army,
his nearest successor In the line be.
ing sherman, who, with Mcpherson
KILLED at Atlanta later ON, helped
him open the Mississippi.
Ihe rest OF the story IL familiar
one. The nation had found the
man for whom 1t had been looking.
He had won his position by win.
ming splendid victories, and not by
the intercession of friends or by no
litical management. His promotion
was the beginning of the end, but
that end was many months away.
Slowly, tirelessly, persistently, with
IA steady purpose and comprehen.
slve plan, he followed up the strup.
gle until at last he won, as he had
won erything before, by military
power and skill.
As the record Is read, no one can
fail to sec that, with fewer oppor.
tunities than most of his predeces-
sors In command of tho different
parts of the army. he had yynn
| greater victories than any of them