Evening star., 1896-11-07
GRANT IN WAR TIME.
Personal Appearance of the COM
mander of the Army.


mander of the Army.
Gen Horace Porter in the Century.
A description of Gen. Grants personal
appearance al this important period Of his
care.r may not be out of place here, par
ttcularly as W to that time the public
had received such erroneous Impressions OF
him. There We're then few correct portraits
Of him in circulation. Some Of the earliest
pictures purportlns to be photographs OF
him had been manufactured when he was
at the distant front, never stopping in one
place long enough to be focused" Moth
ing daunted, the practicers of that are
which is the chief .solace of the vain had
photographed a burly beef contractor, and
spread the pictures broadcast as represent
Ing the determined, but rather robust, feat
of the coming hero, and it was some
time before the real photographs which
followed were believed to be genuine.
False Impressions of him were derived,
too, from the fact that he had come forth
from country leather store. and was
famous chiefly for striking Sledge-hamner
blows in the field and conducting relentless
pursuits of his foes through the swamps
of the southwest. He was pictured in the
popular mind as striding about in the most
approved swashbuckler style of melo-
drama. Many of us were not a little sur
prised to find IN him a man of slim fig
ure, slightly stopped, five feet eight inches
In height, weighing only a hundred ard
thirty-tve pounds and of a modesty of
mien and gertleness of manner which
seemed to fit him more for the court than
for the camp. His eyes We're dark gray,
and were the most expressive of his feat
ures. Like nearly all men who speak lit
tie, he was a good listener but his face
gave little indication of his thoughts, and
II was the expression of his eyes which
furnished about the only response to the
xx-{fh
he was about to say anything amusing,
there was always d perceptible twinkle
In his eyes before he began to speak, and
he often laughed heartily at witty re-
mark humorous incident.
His mouth, like Washingtons, was of the
lCtter-bCx shape. the contact of the lips
forming nearly horizontal line. This fea-
ture was Of pattern in striking contrast
with that Of Napoleon, who had bow
mouth, which looked If it had been
modelled after a front view of his cooked
hat. The firmness with which the generals
square-shaped jaws were set when his
features were in repoSe was highly
presssive of his force of character and the
strength of his will power. His hair and
beard were Of chestnut brown color. The
beard was worn full, no part of the face
being shaved, but, like the hair, was al
ways kept closely and neatly trimmed
Like Cromwell, Lincoln and several other
great men in history, he had a wart on his
cheek In his case it was small, and To-
Gated on the right side just above the line
Of the beard His face was not perfectly
symmetrical, the left eye being a very little
low er than the right His brow was high,
broad and rather square, and was creased
with several horizontal wrinkles, which
helped to emphasize the serious and some-
what careworn look which was never alb
sent from his countenance. This express
sion however, was in no wise an indica-
ton of his nature, which was always
buoyant, cheerful and hopeful. His voice
was exceedingly musical, and one Of the
clearest in sound and most distinct in ut
terance that I have ever heard. 1t had
singular power OF penetration, and SEN
tences spoken by him in an ordinary tone
in camp could be heard at a distance which
was surprising.
His gait in walking might have been
called decidedly unmilitary. He never car
ried his body erect, and having ear for
music of rhythm, he never kept step to the
airs played by the bands, no matter how
vigorously tn bass drums emphasized the
accent. When walking in company there
as no attempt to keep step with Others
In conversing he usually employed only
two gestures; one was the stroking of his
chin beard with his left hand; the other
was the raising and lowering of his right
hand, and resting it at intervals upon his
knee or a table, the hand being held with
the fingers close together and the knuckles
bent, SO that the back of the hand and
fingers formed a right angle. When not
pressed by any matter of Importance he
was often slow in his movements, but when
reused to activity he was quick in every
motion, and worked with marvellous rapid
ity. He was civil to all who came in con-
tact with him, and never attempted to snub
any one or treat anybody with less con-
sideration on account of his inferiority in
rank. With him there was none of the
puppyism so often bred by power, and
none Of the dogmatism which Samuel John
son characterized as puppyism grown to
maturity. y -