The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1907-05-16

camp, he said his heart went high
er and higher in his throat and he
would have given anything to be
back in Illinois. He had seen
service IN the field, and would not
have cared had some other officer
been in command, but the respon-
sibility of heading the attack
weighed on him. When the hill
was cleared and he found that
Harris had been even more fright
ened and had fed--then Grant
found himself The surrender of
Fort Donelson. the action at Shiloh,
the siege and capture of Vicksburg,
following his first triumph of mill
tary diplomacy over Gen. Leonidas
Polk in western Kentucky-these
things brought the eyes of the
world to center on Gen. Grant and
Lincoln and congress placed him
in command as lieutenant general.
After the terrific fighting in the
Wilderness, where Grant gained
no signal advantage, Lee and his
generals were in council. They
expected Grant to retreat upon
Washington, as the federal gener-
ais had done before, under like cir
cumstances. An aide-de camp
came up and reported: THE
enemy is moving by his left flank
toward Richmond" Gen. Lee
exclaimed: ITO your posts. The
order is to move by our right
flank. The union army has at
last found a general" Grant was
then writing his famous message
to Washington, ending with: Il
propose to fight it out on this line
if it takes ali summer
When it had all come to an end
and Grant had brought Lee to
position where he could do moth
ing but give up the struggle, the
federal commander was exultant
when he received Lees letter ask
ing for a conference. But when
he came to Appomattox and the
two men talked for a long time
over days in the old army before
the war, Grant was sad and de-
pressed. He says of that famous
interview: Il felt like anything,
rather than rejoicing al the down
fall of a foe who had fought so long
and valiantly, and who had suffer
ed so much for cause"
1t was at this interview at APP
pomattox that Grant was to COM
plete his victory over the south by
capturing the hearts of the people.
When he put in the terms of sur
render the provision which per-
mitted the officers to retain their
sidearms and horses, and when,
at Lees suggestion, he permitted
the soldiers to take their horses
home to do the spring blowing
he did more in ten minutes to heal
the wounds of the torn and bleed
country than all the parliaments
of the world could have done by
statute in a century. This victory
of peace he followed up by prevent
ing President Johnson and Secre-
tary Stanton from arresting Lee
and other confederate generals on
the charge of treason.
Grant was playing billiards one
night in the old Willard hotel in
Washington. A man came in and
told him that Lee and Longstreet
and others were to be arrested and
tried for treason. "I'll be blamed
if they are" he exclaimed, put on
his SLOUGH hat, and walked out in
the darkness towards white house.
1t is known that he threatened to
resign as the head Of the army if
the administration proceeded with
its intention of violating the parole
which he had given when he ac-
cepted the surrender. The inhu-
ence of Grant was far greater than
that of the administration, and
there were no trials for treason.
Before the war Grant had taken
little interest in politics. He had
voted in the presidential election
o,,I I