The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-06-11

J J
of his departure from your city he was
spending 81 900, 900 day for the pre-
servation of the Union. One of the
patriotic meetings, common at that
period all over the North. was held
here to sustain President Lincoln in
! his call for 70, 900 men to supp ess the
rebellion. The ardor and elOuuence
of John A. Rawins so impressed an
auditor whom none of the congress.
: men and prominent citizens on the
platform had ever met, that he subse-
, quently made the orator his chief of
staff and secretary of war. Some one
discovered that Capt. Grant, grad
: uate OF West Point and veteran of
the Mexican war. lived in this city,
and he was invited to preside at the
formation of military company. He
was 80 diffident that few heard his
speech Of three sentences, but in that
short address was condensed all the
eloquence and logic of the time "You
know the object for which we are as
sembled. Men are needed to preserve
the union, What is your pleasure2"
He organized and drilled that com
pany aud led it to the governor at
Springfield. By that march Galena
lost citizen and the republic found
its savior.
Grants career will be the paradox of
history. Parallels cannot be drawn
for him with the great captains of the
world Historians, by common con-
sent, place Alexander the Great Han.
nibal, Julius Caesar and Napoleon
Bonaparte in the front rank. But
each OF them had learned the art of
war by continuous service and I'M
equalled opportunities and displayed
the most brilliant qualities at every
period OF their achievements. Hanni-
bal and Caesar had won universal
fame in the thirties Alexander died
at thlrty-three, grieving because he
had no more worlds to conquer, and
Napoleon, at thirty-seven. was master
OF Europe. But Grant, at forty, was
an obscure leather merchant in Ga
lena. AS cadet at West Point he
had risen only just above
the middle of his class. AS a sub
altern on the frontier and in
Mexico, he had done no more than
perform his duty with the courage and
capacity of the average West Pointer.
He had pursued agriculture with his
customary conscientious care and in
I'dustry. He was not afraid to do the
work of the farm himself nor ashamed
to ride into st. Louis upon the load of
wood which he was to sell, or to pile it
up for his customer, and yet almost
any farmer in Missouri was more sue
cessful Clients failed to retain him as
a surveyor, his real estate office had to
be closed, and he was not factor in
the tanners firm.
But the moment that the greatest
responsibilities were thrust upon him,
and the fate of his country rested up
on his shoulders, this Indifferent
farmer business man, merchant,
became the foremost figure
of the century. The re-
serve powers of dominant
intellect, which ordinary affairs could
not move, came into action A mighty
mind which God had kept for the hour
of supreme danger to the republic
grasped the scattered elements of
strength. solidified them into a resist
less force and organized victory. He
OWNED the purposes of the enemy as
well as he knew his own plans. His
brain became clearer, his strategy
more perfect and his contiden nee in
himself more serene as his power in
creased. The western armies never
knew their resistless power until they
felt the hand of this master No better
or drawer body of soldiers ever
marched or fought than the Army of
the Potomac 1t lost battles through
bad generalship, and generals by
camp jealouses and capitol intrigues.
Thousands of its heroes fell in fruit
less fights, but it never wavered in
its superb confidence and cour-
age. At last it found leader worthy
OF itself, and after scores of bloody vic
tories ended the rebellion under
Grant. We are not yet far enough
from the passions of the civil strife to
do full justice to the genius Of the
general who commanded the rebel
army highlands greatest living gen.
eral, Lord Wellesley, who served with
him, assigns him a foremost place
among the commanders of modern
times. He possessed + eyond most
leaders, the loyal and ent husiastic de-
votion OF bis people, and he was the
idol OF his army. In estimating the re-
suits and awarding the credit of I'll .
last campaign of the war we must re-
iu0uUeT llldU Oou. Lee Qau Q6IeaUoQ
Or baffled every opponent for three
years, and that after contest unpar-
allied in desperate valor, frightful
carnage and matchless strategy he
surrendered his sword to Grant.
The number of men who have led
their generation and whose fame will
grow with time is very few in any ma.
ton. Their approachable position
has been reached because no one else,
could have done their work. They
appear only in those crises when the
life or future of their country is at
stake. The United States are sur
prisingly rich in having possessed
three such exalted intelligences in
their first century-Washington, Lin
coin and Grant. The father OF his
country stands alone among the
founders of states and defenders of
the liberties of the people, as pre-
eminently the chief in both war
and peace. 1t is the judg-
ment of his contemporaries and of
posterity, that none other of the sold.
iers or statesmen of the revolution