The record-union., 1895-02-26
CLOSING QUOTATIONS.
LINCOLN AND GRANT.
Opposition to the Grade of Lieutenant
General.

| Noah Brooks was one of the best k nown
newspaper men IN Washington during
war times, and he was admitted to I'M
usual intimacy with Lincoln. MIR. Brooks
has been contributing series OF personal
| recollections of Lincoln and of the mem
! bers of his Cabinet to the Century. In
| the February number of the magazine he
says:
! 1t is interesting to call to mind some of
the forces which made Grant the General
! ln-Chief of the armies of the United
| States, aud some of the incidents that at
! tended the contamination of that historic
| work. 1t was by no means grateful
| TASK Tor the congressman OF that time to
lend hand in creating the grade of
| Northumberland in the army, al
| though there was no question as to the
! man on whom that distinction should be
! conferred. | question very much if the
bill to revive the grade of Lieutenant
General would have gone through Con-
! gress then if 1t had not been for the very
| general dissatisfaction with General Hal-
! leck, who was acting as General-in- Chief
| with headquarters at Washington. This
| dissatisfaction was constantly increasi ng,
| and, although the country at large did not
seem TO be very keenly alive to Halleck' s
| Inadequacy to the situation, Washin gton,
and especially the cham bers of Congress,
| resOunded with complaints of his slug
glshness, his unwllIingnesS to take re-
! sponslDllltles, and his supposed incapac-
/ ity to grasp the whole military situation.
doubt If the most outspoken and malig-
nant Copperhead in Congress was so dis
| liked, SO rallied against, and so reviled by
| the more radical mem bers as this untor-
| tunate General-in Chief.
The belief that some new man, no mat
| ter who he might be, could vigorously
prosecute the war and bring a speedy
peace If he were in Halleck's place, made
possible the passage of the bill reviving
| the rank of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the
army. Oddly enough, men who COM
| planned that the President chung tena-
ciously to General Halleck as his military
| adviser, never doubted for moment that
| Mr.. Lincoln was more than willing that
| the rank should be revived with the
| distinct understanding that Grant should
! be the Wearer of the title, and by virtue
thereof become at once the Generalissimo
OF all the military forces of the United
! States.
| That the President did cling to Halleck,
IN spite Of the very general popular dis
| favor with which the General was re-
garded, is well known. When l ventured,
! one day, to say to the President that
Halleck was disliked because many peo-
! pie supposed that he was too tilnid and
! hesltatlng IN his military conduct, Mr..
| Llncoln's face at once wore sober, al
most severe. expression as he said that he
was Halleck's friend because nobody else
! WAS. Other men had received from the
| President a somewhat similar impress
! sion; and, whatever may have been
| thought of the very remote possibility
! that any other man than General Grant
! would ne called to the head of the armie4
! congressman who were clamorous for a.
! more vigorous prosecution of the war
were eagerly turning to the Lieutenant
! General BILL" as it was called, as the
] a of Hol-
leck's alleged slowness.
If there was any doubt as to the
| popularity OF Grant in Washington (and
he was disposed to regard that city as a
| place OF snares), the arrival of the newly
| created Lieutenant-General effectually
dissipated it. He had been called to the
Capitol, and had arrived there late in the
afternoon Of March s. 1864.
! That evening, as it CHANGED, was the Oc-
casion of the usual weekly reception at
the White House, and thither General
Grant went by special invitation. Thither
| too went throngs of people when it was
! known that he would be on view with
the President. So great was the crowd.
and SO Wild the rush to get near the GEN
| eral, that he was at last obliged to mount
a sofa where he could be seen, and where
| he was secure, at least for a time, from
| the madness of the multitude. Women
| were caught up and whirled in the tor
rent which swept through the great East
| Room. Ladies suffered dire disaster in
the crush and confusion; their laces were
torn and crinolines mashed; and people
! got upon sofas, chairs and tables to be out
| OF harms way or to get TO better view
of the spectacle.
1t was the only real mob 1 ever saw in
| the White House. 1t was an indescri ba BILE
scene Of curiosity, Joy and pleasure For
| once at least the President of the United
| States was not the chief feature in the
picture. The little. scared-looking man
! who stood on a crimson-covered sofa was
the idol of the hour He remained on
! view for a short time; then he was
! quietly smuggled out by friendly hands.
and next day he departed from the city,
which he then appeared to dread SO
much, to begin the last and mightiest
chapter in his military career.