Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-05-23
MIsGEE|EiA|EANlEeUs 3 9 !. ! y 3
Anecdotes of Grant.
SOME INTERESTING PHASES OF HIS
CHARACTER.

Owing to his lack of purely per.
sOnal ambition, not because nc
doubted his ability, writes Thoma,
+. Robb in the ArgOndm, Genera
Grant opposed his own promotion tc
each and all of the different grade,
OF rank that he was advanced to
and when delegation after dclega
tion from the North came to head.
quarters and urged him to permit
the use of his name for the Presi.
dency, he would say, Gentlemen,
| am not politician, i have no 30.
litical friends, and haye never
made a public speech in my life.
No, no; there is plenty of good ma
terial in the North to maze n Presi-
dent of-men trained i'm the science
of government and political life.
am neither. and am content with
my army"
And yet this man, this soldier of
soldiers, had Il strong antipathy to
war in all its respects. He wanted
to be Il professor in a college, and
came very near being swallowed up
in that limpid pool of polite seclu-
sion some time during the forties.
He hated wars of invasion as well as
internecine conflicts, and did not
War as an unholy one, inspired by
greed for the acquisition of new pos
sessions. And he saw clearly that
the same result which was finally ac-
cOmplished in the treaty of Guada-
lupe Hidalgo, and the purchase by
the United States of additional ter
ritory for far more than it was worth
to Mexico, might have been arrived
at without shedding a single drop of
blood.
His ambition did not extend be-
yond the pressing needs of his cOun-
try. The sister States having been
forced back into the Union, he was
ready and glad to sheathe his sword,
and retire with his family to his cot
tage at Galena.
One day, while the army was rest
ing at Grand Junction, Tenn, q
party of gentlemen were seated in
his tent, and the topic Of conversa-
tion happened to be the vaulting
ambition of certain men, when
Grant quietly remarked, "Well,
the only ambition | ever had was to
become Mayor of Galena for just
one term" All present looked at
the placid face Of the great General,
who sat serenely smoking his cigar,
his thoughts seemingly wandering
far away to the lead mines of his
adopted home, and to his modest
cottage on the hill. AT length some
one made the query, "Why, Gen
eral. do you wish to be Mayor OF
Galena ?" and the reply was, " To
enable me to build sidewalk from
nv house to our store"
The war brought forth many an
interesting discussion "a to the qall'
ties which entered into the makeup
of q good soldier and Of his antlthe'
sis, "the poltroon :" and the terms
{" moral courage" "recklessness, "
and cOwardicP," were much ana
vaguely used in this connection.
II NAV be worth while to record
General Grants view of the matter
II was at Vicksburg that some OH
GERS were holding an animated con
versatiOn relative to these very lueS'
tjops, i'm the rear and within earsho'
of General Grants headquarters
some were decidedly modest III
their expressions, while others
boasted that they never experience"
the slightest sense Of fear upon en-
tering a battle. This was not los'
unon General Grant, who Thought
fully remarked: When near
man say that he never mas th'
slightest fear upon entering batt'e'
T Invariably put him down as cithei
a Iiar or coward.n He then cited
number Of instances of men Who'
he had known to be brave, ana o'
nthers who had shown the "hit'
feather when put to real ieaI' a'':'
speaking for himself, SAID tha' - -
bis entire army experience he dio
not remember a single engagement
,hat he had not gone into with Ger
tain feeling Of trepidation, "hich
however. quickly left him AFTER ln'
hattIe and its excitement had Deguh
s,nnosed to be connected VIII
,his 1restion of personal bravery Il
the practice of dueling, ana an ,'o, u
, dent % of the so-callcd &" held o o
honor" related in his memoirs nn,
,hrnws ] an interesting side light up"I
The character and di7posillo,' 70 - y
pros;dent % Grant. In the year i2to '
,vhen he had just arrived in Ne" ~
Ws When ,o from Camp Salubrity, NJ
happened to be awake one "o'"'''