Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-04-28

years ana tnat preparations shp
| commensurate with its formidaple pro,
portions. He wrote "a letter from the
! field to the Hon. T.. b. Wasnpurne' n -, -
| which he said: .It became patent 10 NY
| mind early in the rebellion tn,t ~.
! North and South could never nNe
peace with each other except as one ~.
ton, and that without slavery. AZ hnA
ious as ! am to see peace estapiislleo
would not, therefore, be Wllliis " 80
any settlement until this question y 10
ever settled Before any battieS h,,,' az,
been fought he said to n staff oilicer;
believe that Virginia will be the priilci-
pal field of military operations III .nis
rebellion that the cavalry VIII pay ~
important part in that sectlon ol 'iie
country and that the decisive battie OF
the war will occur there" rms preaic
ton was verified in every particular.
When II was represented that Kentucky
would remain neutral. Grant declareu
that no state could remain neutrai ~ Il
national war if such magnitude ana ttlsit
IL would be taken possession o. py ttie
troops of one side or the other, ana ne
without awaiting orders. promptly Threw
his command into Kentucky TO gam the
vantage grounds and hold that important
territory. In his proclamation ISSUED at
the time he spoke with the true piuiit-
ness of the soldier. saying, nave noun,
ing to do with opinions. and snali deai
only with armed rebellion and its aiders
and abettors. When the enemy came
out of Fort Donelson to attack MN no
one could define the object of the move
ment. He promptly ordered the h;iVer-
sacks of the dead to be examined ana
finding that they were well filed, said,
men defending n fort don't carry thfee
days rations when making n charge uil-
less they are trying to get away, ana
after driving them back sent IN word.
II propose to move Immediately upon
your works AS early as the capture OF
Nicksburg he expressed entire confidence
in the belief that 1t was not military
necessity to deal harshly with the enemy
and that all possible lenency should be
shown 10 the Southern people, as they
would soon again become our 1cloW-
countrymen. He. therefore, treated the
prisoners with every consideration, pa
rolled the officers and men, ana issued
this characteristic order: The garrison
VIII march out tomorrow. Instruct your
commands to be quiet and orderly as the
prisoners pass by and to make no Of
fenSiVe remarks.
He early foresaw that to overcome the
rebellion it was not only necessary to
maintain large armies in the neld. but to
have vigorous support of the war IN the
northern states. over million loyal
voters Were absent at the front, and thus
deprived the right of suffrage and pre-
vented from offsetting by their votes the
votes of the disloyal element in the
north and he wrote n remarkable let
ter to the secretary of war. setting torih
plan in great detail, providing meth
cd which would enable the soldiers To
vote in the field The plan. accompanied
as il was by such checks and safeguards
that the votes would be entirely free and
untrammelled. so strongly commended
itself To the authorities that II was car
ricd out ana proved a complete success.
At AppomattoN il was a nice question of
judgment as to what terms to accord
to the opposing army. civil warfare IL
always the most bitter. the worst feel
ings have been engendered. the war had
claimed a sacrifice the best blood OF
the country, the land was filled with
mourning: the excitement was at fever
heat. and there was in many quarters
vindictiveness which prompted the
harshest treatment permissible in civ
ilzed warfare. General Grant. without
hesitation. took the responsibility of ac-
cording lenient treatment and avoiding
all unnecessary offense He did not de-
mand Lees sword. and allowed the men
to take their horses home ito work their
little farms" and when the Union bat
teries began to fire triumphal salutes.
he sent out an order saying: THE war
is over. the rebels are our countrymen
again. and the best way to rejoice after
the victory will be 10 abstain from all
demonstrations in the field" With mis-
uncommon range of mental vision. he
ioresaw that the granting of those con-
ditions would induce other armies
throughout the South to accept the same
terms. and thus prevent a guerrilla war
fare from being carried on for an indeii-
mite period in the interior, and would in
iuce such influential men as Lee and
other confederate army commanders to
use their influence in aiding in the rehab-
ilitation of the Southern states. He was
quicker than anyone else To see that re-
construction would be Il task almost as
formida BILE as the suppression of armed
rebellion. He refrained from entering
the captured capital, did not even step
within the enemys lines. and shrank
from every act which might make him
appear to pose as a condueror. When
President Johnson. soon after the war,
iuaugurated his campaign for making
treason odious and when indictments
were brought in the Federal courts
against Lee and other eX-Confederate
officers, Grant foresaw that if such
course were pursued, ii would be inter
preted as Il gross breach of faith and Il
violation of the terms given in the pa
roles: that it would lead to exciting
trials which would last for years he q
constant source of irritation, and prob
ably compel the government to hold the
Southern states for a long time as con-
quered territories while he believed that
every effort should be made to bring
them back into the Federal Union. His
Judgment was so clear upon this sub
icct that he declared his intention to re-
sign his commission in the army if his
prisoners We're not protected. The result
was the quashing of the indictments and
the creation of a disposition on the part
of the South to accept the results of the
war.
AS President he showed in his first in
augural that he foresaw the financial er-
rors which were likely some day to be
advocated when he wrote: "To protect
the national honor every dollar of gov
orument Indebtedness should be Da ID in