Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1892-06-18
ULYSSES s. GRANT AND HIS MEN.


saved the nation in the war of 81.
Few statesmen ut that day understood
the full import OF what was meant by
tho terms, State Sovereignty, Nulliti-
cation and Secession, so familiar to
those ambitious men who formed tho
Southern Confederacy. An empire
embracing one-third OF the United
States and Mexico, whose corner stone
rested on the so called patriarchal
system OF American Slavery was n
sublime dream never to be realized
But mad these brave, determined war
riors mot with the aid expected from
the Northern States and Great Britain,
the Southern Confederacy might have
reared it's gigantic proportions among
the nations of the earth. AS it was
the great shock of the rebellion shook
the Union from the center to the cir
cumference. When South Carolina
broke the legal bonds that held the
States together and other states were
following in quick succession, no one
COulu tcll MhCIC OkiC
between freedom and slavery would be
drawn But the Goddess of Liberty
standing on the rocky mountains of
West Virginia said to the spirit of
rebellion thus far shalt thou come and
no farther and here shall thy proud
waves be staid, and with n blazing
torch lit the fires of liberty on every
mountain, plain and hillside through
out the West and North and awoke
the spirit of patriotism in the bosom of
every man, woman and child. But the
! demon of slavery died hard and with
a lingering ghost to disturb the quiet
of the nation. 1t took all the resources.
wisdom and valor,of the North to meet
the emergency. The old veterans,
Scott, Mcdowell, Mcclellan, Pope,
Burnside, Hooker, with the aid of
such counselors as Lincoln, Seward and
Stanton could make but little headway
pit.cd against such determined foes as
Davis, Lee, jackson, johnson and
Longstreet, supported by the myrmi-
dons of slavery who had sworn to
establish the Southern Confederacy or
die in the last ditch.
The first and second defeat at Bull
Run, the slaughter ut Balls Bluff and
Fredericksburg, the drawn battles at
Antietam, charlottesville and Shiloh
proved that the preservation of the
Union would require tho concentration
of all our forces, pluck, skill and time.
At this junction these noted men, Lin
coin, the rail-splitter, Grant, the
tanner, and Stanton, the lawyer. met
in council, and made the tanner n die
tator invested with unlimited power to
put down the rebellion with the use of
such means, time and place as he
might think best. The first move
ment the dictator made was in u most
desperate assault, to drive Lee out of
the wilderness into Richmond, then to
take headquarters at City Point.
When he gave out that order so char.
acteristic of the man-We will fight il
out on this line il it takes all summer
Having put the army of the Potomac
in front of Gettysburg between Lee and
the base of his supplies and placed the
army of the Cumberland under Thoma:
at Nashville TO meet Hood and SEN
Sherman on the grand march to the
sea to take care of Johnson in North
Carolina, this great captain, who
out-rivalled Napoleon the first, il
rategy and pluck, sat cody down il
his headquarters at City Point
smoked his indomitable cigar ant
awaited events. Thomas, who hat
elrned his laurels at Chicamauga, sool
shattered Hoods forces at Franklin il
a bloody engagement and Sherman
WIS holding Johnson's forces at bay
when Grant cut off Lees supplies b.
the Weldon railroad and forced hin
to leave his strong hold at Richmont
ard submit to terms OF surrender n
Appomattox Court House. This stroli,
OF policy which terminated the South
ern Colfedcracy placed Ulysses S.Gran
ou ah uo iCouS
which but few Generals ever reached
Bat the greatness of Gen. Grant
character was exhibited by the mannc
in which he treated the fallen foe
He received Lee, with his officers ant
men as brothers however much the
might have erred in acts OF treaso
and rebellion: restored them to citizen
ship as peers in glorious republi
which his genius and valor had saved
The only stain upon the great Captain
n,me was the veto of an act passed b
Congress to compensate the rank an
file of his army for the loss they SUI
fered by the depreciation of tho Gun
rency. The men, who stood by hir
= at Fort Donaldson, Shiloh, in the Wilder
4