The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-28
FIVE MEMORABLE SENTENCES.

FIVE SENTENCES.
Fitting and eloquent tributes were paid
to the character and services of General
Grant yesterday. Americans everywhere
will read them with interest. and in the
years 10 come, long after those who have
seen the great leaders face and form shall
have passed away, his name and fame
viii grow brighter. 1t is no disparage-
ment of the tributes of the eloquent men
who spoke of Grant yesterday to say that
a few Of his terse sentences will be longer
than their rounded periods.
mo terms other than unconditional and
immediate surrender can be accepted; L
propose to move Immediately upon your
works" was an expression that eiectri-
fed the North. Ten months had passed
in failure. ~inaction and a few defeats. The
capture Of Donelson was the first signal
victory on the Union side; but the cap
ture OF a strategic point and Of 1853 men
did not so much encourage the North as
the words quoted from General Grants
reply to General Buckner's proposition
for the appointment of commissions to
arrange terms of capitulation. At last a
man had been found who could win vic
tories. and a leader had appeared who
looked to the ending of the war.
mo terms but unconditional surrender"
is another terse phrase of General Grant.
which. in July, 1868, did as much to revive
the failing courage of the North as the
battle of Gettysburg. After a mastery
campaign of tactics and strategy COM
bined, the Confederate army was shut
up to starvation in vicksburg. Pember-
ton suggested capitulation, but the sug-
gestion was met by the brief sentence:
mo terms but unconditional surrender
1t was sufficient. since $1,000 men laid
DOWN their arms and became prisoners
OF war. Once more the leader that was
to find victory in after days appeared 10
the people. as much in his brief. ~resolute
words as in his unparalleled achievement.
II propose TO fight it out on this line
IL it takes all summer was the message
sent by General Grant in a letter to Presi-
dent Lincoln on the morning Of May II.
1864, after the appalling losses in the
jungles of the Wilderness and the first
days of Spottsylvania. ii had been sug-
gested by many dubious advisers that it
might be well to abandon the campaign.
The suggestion reached General Grant,
but he again restored confidence by the
declaration that the campaign would be
ended on that line, meaning the policy of
destroying Lees army, if it took all sum-
mer. 1t took more than all summer, but
The - Noe from that hour until Anna
mattcx, fought on hat line.
They have robbed the cradle and the
grave equally to get their present force"
Is a sentence in a remarkable letter writ
ten from City Point. Va, Aug. IS, 1864. TO
Representative Washburn. With less than
COS words General Grant showed the hope
lessness of the Confederate cause and de-
clared that their only hope was 'fn a coun-
ter revolution, the election of the peace
candidate for President. In that letter
General Grant a%stounded the country by
the apparent accuracy of his knowledge
of the condition OF the South. In 1t was
the statement that the Confederates were
| losing a thousand men a day by desertion
and other causes, and they could not be
replaced. He urged an immediate draft
o. 100000 men. This letter. when made
public, attracted the attention of the coun-
try and gave new confidence to loyal peo-
pie who could not see the effect of the
| summers battles upon the rebels as Cen
eral Grant could see it. Followed as was
this letter by the successful campaign
in the Shenandoah valley. 1t was the pre-
| lrde to the emphatic reelection of Lincoln
In November.
let us have peace" the brief sentence
with which General Grant closed his letter
| accepting the Republican nomination to
the presidency in 1868, not only showed
his sentiments in regard TO the South.
but as a great leader his sentiment be-
! came the sentiment of the larger part of
his party. If his advice had been ac-
cepted peace would have come sooner
than it did.
The five short sentences here quoted as
matters OF history have their value to-
day. but. when delivered. they had an
effect on the people of the North that
no other utterance had at the time or could
have had. In connection with his deeds
these sentences inspired courage and ac-
ton. II people caught them up as truths
and repeated them throughout the land.
| SYoken as they were and by the man VINO
expressed them. they were worth many
regiments to the Union cause. Measured
BY effect. the sentences quoted are among
the most effective ever spoken.
INDIANAPOLIS A PROSPEROUS CITY.
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