New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-04
A MONUMENT TO GRANT.
THE CITY OF GALENA DOES HONOR TO her
GREAT HERO.
cu.uScEY NJ. pEPEw's MEMORABLE ADDRESS
AT THE UNvEILING-A NOTABLE


AssEMBLAGE PRESENT.
c.,.r. Ill June "A bronze statue TO Grant was
,s,lrd here to-day and new park bearing his name,
a., ,he centre Of the city, was opened The statue Is
~. oft OF H. H. Kohlsaat, Of Chicago. 1t is eight
,.et in height and stands upon granite pedestal ton
,.et high II represents the commander standing,
hare-hesded and with his military coat unbuttoned
and thrown back The inscription the base reads;
aGrant our Citizen" Among those present were
Cnaunoey NJ Depew, orator Of the day Governor
Joseph W. rfer of Illinois Ex-Governor d. NJ Hoard
Of wisconsin; General Nelson A. Miles. Judge waiter
O Gresham, Johann Gelet, the sculptor; H. H.
Kohsaat the donor Of the statue senators Ahsoh anu
CulIom, Congressman Henderson, OF Iowa. ana Judge
IL W. Blodgett of the Federal Court. Ex-Governor
Hoard presented the the city on behalf OF the
donor 1t accepted by Park Commissioner NC
Clelland on behalf of the city. He was followed by
Chaunoey NJ Depew Addresses were also maze oy
Governor Fifer and Judge Crabtree Mr.. Depew spoke
a. follows
thirty vears AGO YOUR city Of Galena numbered among
III citizens man so modest that he was little known III
HE community merchant SO humble that MS acu'isdo'
uerr moi felt in your business. Three years later Ills
fame ilumned the EARTH and the calculations on every
commercial venture and OF every constructive eNV0i
prise in the country based upon the suooeSs VI
failure Of his plans He then supporting his family
on thousand dollars year. and before the uhliu ANN
vexarx OF his departure your city he was spending
four millions day for the preservation OF the omoh
One of the patriotic meetings, common at ihat Perlou
all over the North, held here TO sustain freSiucnV
Lincoln in his call for seventy-hve thousand men "
suppress the Rebellion. The ardor ana eioquehce VI
John A. Rawllns impressed an auditor whom none VI
the Congressmen and prominent citizens on the platform
had ever met that he subsequently made the orator MS
Chief OF staff and Secretary Of War some one dscoNeou
that Captain Grant, graduate OF west foint anu
vetern OF the Mexican War, lived in TINS cy anu 0 was
invited 70 preside at the formation OF military COM
haapl
sentences but In that short address was CONDENSED
eli tho eoouence and logic the time. You know tne
b,ect for which we are assembled Men are needed 10
nressrve the Union. What is your pleasuref lie VI
eantyed and drilled that company, and led II 10 he
Governor at Springfield BY that march Ualens ioS'
citizen and the Republic found it's savior
While Others were enisting for brief periods ne De-
songbt the AdjutanGeneral to assign him TO duty Tor
the war but the War Department had forgotten MN.
He struggled days to work through the brilliant stan
into the presence Of General Mcclellan but the young
dandies scornfuy and successfully barred his way
II was soon seen that the obscure military clerk IN inc
office Of the Governor of Illinois was capable whee al
,he rest were ignorant and that under his firm ana
confident hand order evolved out OF chaos ana raw
recruits disciplined into soldiers Though ne was UNI
known and unnamed to the public, the Executive recog
nzed in him the organizing brain of the military forces
~ the state To reluctant President and hostile
secretary the Illinois delegation said, where most OF
the amendments are experiments, try Captain Grant
as one Of your brgadier generals" Thus the common
ab which had so hotly pressed Lincoln for the Chief
Magistracy of the Republic. assumed the responsibility
for Grant as Commander of the Army.
These marvellous men were the products OF thso
Characteristic intuition of the West which quickly
dscers merit and then confidently procaims It's flth
Fducation and experience make old and crowded com
mun,ties avere to leadership unless II mas Deeh ueu
and tested They accept nothing outside te recoiu'
The fact TINT the conditions and the emergency
boOIS have
roasons for selecting only the who have approx
n,atey demonstrated their ability FOR all the oiuln"TS
emergencies of life the rule is excellent But IL some
times happens that the captain who mas successfully
weathered hundred gales is saved from shpwlecR III
n hurricane by the genius of subordinate IL Is not
that the uneducated unframed can. by any natural
endowment be fitted for command Lincoln as a saes-
man had studied politics the stump and IN OonsIess
and Grant as a soldier had learned war al "es' foiV
cd an Mexico The opportunity had not come 10
either 10 stand before the country Win Se"au ouo4
"a chase or with Scott, Halleck and Mcclellan. The
rast following the traditions and practice OF he
centuries presented tried and famous statesmen al te
CHICAGO convention and saw the Army OF the foloind0
,ed DO defeat and disaster for years by admiaoe oces
who were UNEQUAL to the supreme perls of the handing
Of gigantic forces upon vast arena The west gave
~ ,be country for President the ralleptter of the
Ohio and TO lead its forces in the field Grant, sher-
man and Sheridan
A MILITARY GENIUS.
GRANTS career will be the paradox OF history
Parallels cannot be drsSn for him with the great
cantans NJ the world Historians by common con-
sent Mace Alexander the Great. Hannibal julius
Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte in the front rank
But each of them had learned the art of war by con
bnuous service and unequalled opportunities, and dis
PLAYED the most brilliant qualities at every period OF
their achievements. Hannibal and Caesar mad won
universal fame in the thrties Alexander died at
thirtythree grieving because he had no more worlds
IN oonouer and Napoleon, at thirty seven, was mas
ter of Europe But Grant at forty was an obscure
leather merchant in Galena. AS cadet al west
Point he had risen only just above the middle OF MS
class As subaltem the frontier and in Mexico
be 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
soientious care and industry. He not afraid TO
DO the work of the farm himself ashamed to ride
into St Louis upon the load Of wood which he was 10
cell or to pile II up for his customer, and yet almost
any farmer in Missouri more successful. Clients
failed to retain him q surveyor, his real-estate
Office had 10 be closed, and he was not factor IN
the tanners firm.
But the moment that the greatest possibilities
were thrust upon him, and the fate Of his country
rested upon his shoulders this indifferent farmer,
business man, merchant, became the foremost figure
of the century. The powers of dominant
intellect which ordinary affairs could not came
into action. mighty mind which God had kept for
the hour OF supreme danger TO the Republic, grasped
the scattered elements of strength, sodifed them
into resistless 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 confidence in himself
more serene as his power increased He could lead
the assault at Donelson the forOrn hope of Shiloh,
or manoeuvre his forces with exquisite skill and rare
originality Of resources at NickSburg, as the best OF
brigade or corps commanders or before Richmond
calmly conduct a campaign covering continent, aud
many armies with consummate generslship. At the
critical hour during the battle Of Sedan, when the
German Emperor and Bismarck were anxiously wait
ing the result and watching their silent General, an
officer rode up and announced that two corps OF the
German Army marching from opposite directions had
met at a certain hour. The movement closed in the
Fronch and ended the war. Won MOltke simply said