Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-10-15
1t is hardly necessary on this occasion to
nter upon any minute account of the life


1t is hardly necessary on this occasion to
enter upon any minute account of the life
and deeds of the man
>~ to whose memory this
N beautiful statue has
A been erected They
u II are part of the history
- Nm NJ of our country, and in
3N the minds of the peo-
In yH pie are as familiar
kGIIsN III househ o d w DIS.
H4&IAsNY Wherever its history
tsYH is read, in whatever
IT, <LIA nook and corner of
| AS>S-/N> the habitabIe globe.
>GzSAT ~there exists an intelli-
| gent interest in the
| 49, strength and pepetui-
| ty of our Institutions,
| ~ the name and fame of
~ the illustrous soldier,
- who was at once
| Waiter O. Gresham their product and
their preserver, have preceded aught that
| may now be said of him. In this
| audience, at the metropolis of the state
| in whose borders the war found him poor
| and obscure, and gave him an opportunity
| for a career, are many who knew him init
| mate,y and there are few incidents OF his
public or private life that are unknown to
nately on the mass of biographical details.
there are some of them which are entitled to
our special attention and viii bear frequent
repetition, because they serve to illustrate
personal characteristics which made him. in
| many respects, an ideal citizen of our dem
coratic republic, and are worthy of our con-
| slant emulation.
| Even a critic so captous and exacting as
| the late Matthew Arnold discovered much in
| Grants modest suppression of his own par
ticipancy in the historical events OF which
| he gives an account in his official reports of
them, and in his autobiography. He was re-
markabIy free from that vanity and cOnceit
which have been the weakness of many
great minds and which seem TO be the
peculiar vice of men who have risen, like
him, from humble antecedents to a lofty
eminence.
In the flush and heat of victory, after
long and desperate struggle for it, when che
blood is up and the nerves are tense, the
equilibrium OF the calmest and steadiest
men is apt to be disturbed, and ebullitions
of their extreme satisfaction with them
selves are not severely censurable. But the
triumphS of Grant from Belmont to APP
pomattox never destroyed his balance, or
affected the habitual moderation of his ut
terance or demeanOr.
There is nothing Of the braggart in any of
his official reports or dispatches, there is II o
AFRO Iance, no regard for dramatic effect,
no parade of himself. They are plain and
simple statements of fact without any waste
of words or rhetorical display, and might
have been prepared by any competent and
unimpassioned onIooker The obv ious and
uniform purpose of all of them is to give the
| authorities at Washington a faithful and ac-
curate account of the situation at the front,
and nothing more. Even with the cOnfcd-
eracy at his feet, as final testimony of his
skill and prowesS as Il military chieftain, he
was not betrayed into anything like exuIta-
ton, and stopped the jubilant firing OF Il sa-
lutte in his command as soon as the sound of
the cannon reached his ears.
In that supreme moment lie ceased to be
| the leader of the Union army only, and
ened craftsmanship and patriotism for the
whole reunited country. He thought of the
feelings and senSbilities of the vanquished.
and of making the road toward patriotic
citizenship easy for them. he thought OF
the waste lands and impoverished com
munities of tine south, which were again
under the old flag, and qufckened a return
ing sense of obliPation to it. by restoring to
every confederate soldier the horse mule
which had belonged to him. and might be
used again in making and garnering the
crops on which he and his family would de-
pend for sustenance.
The great confederate general was shown
the respect that generous natures always
accord to misfortune bravely borne. and
proved by his conduct and bearing the truth
of the remark that the greatest reverSeS are
most easily sustained by a an, disnnsy that f be
under him, with unsurpassed courage, were
touched by the victor's delicate considera-
ton for their feelings and welfare.
Grants magnanimous nature was incapa-
BILE of anything else. In the struggle that
ended in final capitalization. he was never
actuated by the spirit of revenge or hate, or
by aught else than ii high sense of patriotic
duty, Wrong as they We're. and as they win
ever be rated by impartial history, he did
not question the sincerity of the great mass
of those who were opposed to u.s." II
ten" he also said such history will do
full credit to the courage. endurance and
Soldierly ability of the American citizen. no
matter what section of the country he halls
from, or in what ranks he fought"
The suppression or placement of ones
self is not always, and invariably, highly
meritorious- \ modest estimate of ones
powers may be quite justified by the facts
An underestimate of ones powers may be a
fault. Grant had extraordinary abilities.
and while he never dwelt upon, or thought
about their greatness, or measured or com
pared them with the abilities of others, he
knew just what they were, their extent and
limitations. what might be accomplished by
them, and what was beyond their reach.
He was never misled by rating himself too
high too low. The tmid dstrust with
which he entered upon the engagement at
Belmont, rapidly disappeared as his powers
were tested in subsequent campaigns and
battles
As he became conscious of his powers he
relied with mistaken confidence upon his
own judgment, He held few if any councils
of war He succeeded in great emergencies
by his native strength of will and intellect,
and his resolute persistence where men of
more learning and better versed in military
science, but with less natural capacity,
would have failed. What they are obliged
to learn he seemed to know intutiveIy He
disregarded elementary maximS of war.
without hesitation, when they were plainly
the outgrowth of conditions radically diff
ferent from those which confronted him.
He was equal to any command or emer-
gencv.
Obstacles which seemed insurmountable
to others only served to inspire him with
determination 20 overcome them. Peril
strengthened his resolution and frightened
his intellect" He saw facts and situations
they really were, and acted with refer
ence to them realities. Napoleons
6riliiant, but if he had been en-
dowed with Judgment as strong and
unerring he would never have ven
tured upon til e disastrous Russian campai gn.
He never lost the fruits of victory through
inactivity. The final movement on Vicks-
burg was begun at time when many patri-
otto people in the north were losing conf
dence in the ability of the government to
suppress the rebellion by arms, and some of
them were ready to terminate tue flow of
blood, and the lavish expenditure OF money.
by compromise. voluntary enlistments had
nearly ceased. Delay was never more dan
gerous. and he realized that speedy cap
tpre of the strongly fortified city and
the opening of the MISSISSIPPI river
frnm
were essential to federal success. He
boldly placed the great river behind him
while it was in possession of the enemy
both above and below him, and with yigor
by the great soldiers of any aye or country,
he threw his army against the divided forces
of Pemberton, confusing and defeating them
at all points, and ended with the investment
and capture of the enemy's stronghold. The
campaign was begun and prosecuted amid
the yirulent censure OF himself, popular
clamOr for his removal, the jealousy OF mar
tinets, and the doubts and misgIyings OF
some of his faithful and trustworthy subor-
dinates; but it went steadily on until 1t
reached triumphant conclusion. Its end
sealed the fate of the confetlcracy,
restored confidence in the efficiency
of our armies throughout the north,
and all but the quiet and undemnn-
strative soldier, who had brought it about
and for whom it was personal triumph, as
well Union victory, gave way to the de-
lirium of joy and exultation. No success
ever turned his head. The dangers which
threatened the country, and his duty to-
mind so completely as to leave no room for
any thought Of himself. He vigorously sub
ings to the good of the cause that lie served.
He was incapable of envy or jealousy, and
he never appropriated credit that was due
to others
Although educated at West Point, he was
not a professional soldier Instead of lik-
ing war. he abhorred 1t as the greatest of
4,