The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-04-04

found he had spent s.. 900 more than he re-
ceived. This made him more cautious dur
ing his second term. and / believe when ne
left the White House he found that he had
saved a little bit. His trip around the
world was made by the Grant fund. col
Iected by his friends. This amounted to
something like S2co.00) or more. This he
used"
Tell me. Mr.. Dawson. did Mrs. Grant
realize what a great man Grant was before
he died? You know 1t is said that many
men are never great to their wives nor
their Wallets"
YES. she did, replied Mr. Dawson. 81
believe the general was always a great
man to her. She told me once. for instance.
how. during Lieutenant Grants courtship.
a party Of officers were calling at her Mis-
souri, home. a very warm political discus
sion was going on among them, but Gen.
eraI Grant sat quietly and said nothing.
When the discussion could come to no con-
clusion one of the men turned and appealed
TO Lieutenant Grant for his opinion. He
gave II in a few words, overthrOwing ev-
erything that had been said. and present.
ing the subject in an entirely new light,
which was so evidently the true one that
every one assented TO it. After the party
had left, Mrs. Grant says, her mother re-
marked about Mr.. Grant. saying, That lit
tie man has a great deal in him, and it will
be a surprise If he does not astonish the
world some day"
You must have had some interesting
conversations with Grant. Mr.. Dawson.
Tell me. did he ever speak of how he felt
In his great battles. He must have realized
the enormous responsibility which rested
upon him. did he nOt?"
General Grant seldom talked of him
self" replied Mr.. Dawson, but / asked
him questions about such things at times.
/ remember one day when we were talking
about the campaign of the Wilderness l
asked such a question. 1t was at this time,
you know. that he crossed the Rapidan to
engage with an army that had always
beaten his predecessors. 1 said to him:
General, l should a thought the re-
sponsibility of those days would have over
powered you. You knew where you were
going. and that the whole cause of the
Union rested upon your success or fail
ure?'
General Grant acted as though this
thought had never come 10 him before.
He smoked for several minutes. putting out
the smoke as he was wont to do when in
deep reflection. At last he said that he did
not know that the feeling of his response
bility rested very heavily upon him. Said
he: Had 1 asked for the place of COM
handing general the weight of my respon-
sibility might have been overpowering. But
when l entered the army 1 resolved never
to ask for promotion. but only TO do what
1 was ordered to do to the very best Of my
ability. L did not seek that command. 1t
had been imposed upon me, and all that l
had TO do was to do the very best | could.
L knew that / was liable TO fail. But did
not intend to fail if it was possible for me
TO succeed. In any event l felt that 1
should have the consciousness of knowing
that L had done my best"
LOSS OF LIFE IN BATTLE.
"Mr. Dawson, did General Grant ever
speak of his regrets at the terrible loss of
life which was caused by his campaigns?'
Yes, once" replied Mr.. Dawson. AT
this time he told me that the public misun-
derstood such things. and that the truth
was the more rapid the killing in battle the
more merciful was the result in the end.
He showed me how more men had died in
the late war through ckness caused by ex-
posture than by bullets, and that the sooner
the war could be ended, no matter at how
great cost. the fewer lives would be lost.
~ S0N0 NhaI NllC OdilDdlbhS NtIC III
ened out there was an enormous loss by
exposure and disease. You know the lives
lost in McClellan's campaigns were really
greater than those lost in Grants, when all
things are considered"
Did Grant ever say anything about the
accusations that he drank too much?' I
asked.
Yes" replied Grants secretary. 81
asked him about this when we were work
ing upon the chapter concerning Shiloh. He
told me that the stories published about
him at that time were all lies and that he
had never drank to excess. The subject
came up because / was a friend of Senator
Harlan, of Iowa, who had tried to have
Grant removed from the service for alleged
drunkenness on the field of battle at Shiloh.
1 asked Grant how the impression that he
was drunk then got out and he told me.
1t is an interesting story and has never
been published. a day or so before the bat
tie, late at night, when it was dark and
stormy, firing was heard along the picket
line. General Grant and his staff left their
tents and rode out To see what ii was, for
they feared it might be the enemy begin
ming an engagement. When they reached
the pickets they found it was only a party
of skirmishers and amounted to nothing.
They then started back to the generals
tent. 1t was very dark and the party be-
came separated. General Grant let the reins
drop on his horses neck and trusted him to
find the way back. The horse, however,
took the wrong turn, and in trying to climb
up a bank Slipped and fell on the general.
spraining his leg. The sprain was so bad
that General Grant did not get over il for
days. He had to be helped on and off his
horse. and this was the case at the battle
of Shiloh. The newspaper correspondents
who did not know of the sprain published
the story that he was drunk. and General
Grant was too proud to correct it. / don't
believe that General Grant ever drank to
excess. i have heard many men say that
he did drink and / nave tried TO trace such
reports TO their foundation, but / have yet
TO find the man who will say that he ever
saw General Grant under the influence of
intoxicating liquor"
FRANK G.. CARPENTER.
Diary of a Busy Kitten.
Gan EranpfScn Coll