Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-05-05


| never demoralized or discouraged Though
decimated by disease, and their ranks thinned
by useless slaughter, they never murmured or
despaired They had enlisted to save the
union. and when at last they had a commander
! capable of directing their energies and plan
ming their movements; a general whose COM
prehensive mind grasped the situation over the
whole country, and whose clear Judgment dis
cerned the weak points of he enemy. and the
places where his own strength should be con-
centrated they. at fearful sacrifice, but with
unfailing faith did save the union.
The intellect which tired of the routine of a
soldiers life in times of peace: which could not
be reused to the successful management of a
farm a surveyors office; which indlff erently
comprehended the duties of clerk or Junior in
a merchants firm, was clarified by grave perils
and expanded under great responsibilities
Grant ar forty unknown and unimport-
ant citizen in a Western town and at forty two
he was the hope of the army, and the hero of
the popular imagination. Saf-conhdence is
the attribute of great men and Of fools. By it the
first illustrate their ability and the others dem
onstrate their folly. The average mind needs
and seeks both advice and assistance. Grant
was the most independent of generals, and tine
result placed him in the front rank of the great
CAP aims of the world. He rarely held councils
of war and never adopted their conclusions
He sometimes acted directly against the unani
nous Judgment of the assemblage. Gen
Sherman once remarked: L lie awake all night
dCeSn I care where they are or what they are
doing" This was because having once prepared
his plans with reference to every known con-
tingency. he had so completely calculated the
Resources of his adversaries and his own.
that he could not contemplate disaster and
never knew defeat. After the capture
of Fort Henry. Halleck. then
mander in chief. advised him to fortify his po-
sitjon. AMI picks. shovels and intre2ciliag tools
you'd be sent him. Instead. he marched upon
Donelson. When all his officers were of opinion
that sally in force from the fort to be
guarded against. he made up his mind from the
full haver SACKS found on the confederate dead
that the enemy intended TO retreat. and by
derIng an immediate assault captured DonalsOn
and gained his first real victory. When Gen.
Buell. and other commanders demonstrated
with him for moving from Pittsburgh Landing,
because there Were not boats enough 10 carry
over the river one third OF his force in case
he was defeated There are more than
Of it. was the grim answer, and he
marched to the victory OF Shiloh When
Gen. Sherman and all the able officers
about him protested against the perlous move
ment TO get below Eicksburg, and attack the
city from the other side, because his army
would lie cut off from its base of supplies
The N;.rth viii cut off our supplies he said.
unless g-e succeed" and the Fourth of July
1853. be.-sIne one of the glorious days in the
mails of the war. For thirty days he led the army
.
ing against the intrenched positions of the
enemy by day. and moving it by night TO assault
fresh defenseS in the morning. The cout Try
shuddered with horror at the carnage and
called for his removal: his officers af
fected by the universal distrust of his move
mants: the mangled columns of troops. recoil
ing from the shot and shell which plOwed
through their ranks from inpregnabe fortifi
cations. sometimes refused to attack again.
But the response of the confident and imper-
turbable commander to his soldiers the
ever recurring order. BY the left flank for
ward" and to his countrynen Il will fight it
out on this line if it takes all summer" Crit
icisiny CO. -inets. hostile congressman, doubling
generals. and distrustful people, all surren-
dered with Lee at Appomattox.
No man can be truly great, unless he is also
magnanmous. Grant was the most self-sacri
ffcing of friends. and the most generous of
foes. The underlying forces which stirred his
feelings and prompted his actions We're pro-
found sense of justice, and ardent patriotism.
The triumphant march from Atlanta to the sea
had aroused the enthusiasm and captured the
Imagination of thu people who had been con-
templating with sullen anger the losses III
the Wilderness. and the bloody but Intellectual
battles about Richmond. They demanded that
Sherman be placed supreme command.
Sherman. with that beautiful loyalty which he
always showed to the chief. 10 IDLY protested
and refused, but Grant calmly wrote: No
would be mora pleased at your advance
InenI tNlH L. WOEll Eldhe tue same eAcTliO
to support you. that yOu have done to support
me. and l would do all II my power to make
our cause win. In the rapid reversaIS
common to revolutions. after few weeks
Richmond had fallen AID Grant was the popu-
lar hero. the terms offered TO Gen. .JOa Johnston
by Sherman. had been contemptuously counter
manded by the secretary of war, and Grant
had been sent to relieve sherman and receive
the submission of the last confederate army.
But Grant remained outside the camp. his visit
Tod
the modified terms from Washington TO John
ston and received his sword Not until years
afterward did he Gen. SherrnanJ know that he
had been superseded.
Unconditional surrender l move immedi-
atey on your works were the conditions Grant
offered Buckner at Donelson but in the dark
ness of the night he entered the prisoners tent
and sail: ''Buckner. you must have lost every
thing: take my purse He hal been for months
making toilsome efforts to break through the
confederate lines but after the surrender of
their defenders he refused to go Within them.
The failure to capture the confederate capital
had exhausted the resources and impaired
the reputation Of all the generals who had
preceded him, but when it lay pros
trate at his feet he sternly declined
the triumph of an entry at the head
of his victorious army like temptation had
not been resisted by any conqueror OF ancient
or modern times. But Gen Grant SAID:
These people now and will DE hereafter
not be Inundated.
1t difficult to win his confidence but
once gained his heart. his efforts and his for
tune at command. Neither secret nor
open enemies: neither direct charges nor anon
yYnous revelations could disturb his friend
snip for anyone he haG once trusted.
On that subject his mind was closed.
In selecting commanders for armies
or expeditions he seldom made error
Of Judgment. To Sherman and Sheridan he
gaze unstinted praise. Both in public and pr-
vata be declared them to be the greatest gen
erals of modern times. He so entirely free
from envy or jealousy. enthusiastic III bis
admiration Of these lieutanaItS- that he
awarded to them the larger share of credit for
the ultimate triumph of the union cause But
these qualities. 50 crcGltable to ms 13yen-
uoIzs AMI generous nature, became the chief
sources Of his mistakes and troubles,
when ne was treadng with unframed steps
amid the quicksands of political and business
life Though he commanded forces more nu-
rnerous and Unanswered them over territory
more extensive than any general II wars among
civ.iized nations: though his campaign resulted
IN thu capture OF all the armies opposed TO him,
and the submission of all the hostile states and
people. yet some foreign military writer's of
eminence have assigned the higher rank among
great captains to Lee. But their Judgment is
iia ed. $ with Wellesley. by service his
staff, or by eumity to the great republic
1t Is the fate of the defeated eide IN civil wars
that one leader represents the lost cause, and
all others are buried i'll oblivion the world
reckons little. and remembers less, those who
represent dead issues or disastrous reyolts.
The civil side OF the confederacy viii fill small
space in history. bat the record OF its military
achievements viii c,ver many pages. Its rep
resentatives Will be. not JEFF rsOn Davis but
Gen Lee. No indefensibe ever had
good a defender this conscientious and
capable header, ana few battles for