Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-31

campaigns of great military leaders;
that his memory was retentive and his
interest in the science was great But
he had sufficient common sense, he had
a sufficient real grasp of military prob
lens, he had sufficient understanding
of the conditions under which previoUss
campaigns had been fought and those
which he had to fight, to exercise orig
| inal free thought and to free himself
| from the bonds of military precedent.
| Grant was a man of such sensitive ma
| ture that he could not even bear to see
| animals subjected to pain. And yet
| his conception OF war and its necessi-
| ties was so clear that the dreadful
losses sustained by him in the Wilder
| ness. at Spottsylvania and at Cold Har-
| Dor and in the other campaigns against
Lee did not turn him from his purpose
or lead him to change his plan which
he had deliberately formed of wearing
| Lee out and by constant hammering of
ending the army of Northern Virginia.
| His purpose was at the cost of losses
which the northern army was able to
stand. to inf1ict losses upon the southern
| army, which in the end meant its de-
| struction. A calculation of the losses
| which the Army of the Potomac sus-
| tained during the first three years of
| the war shows them to have been far
| greater IIldn InOSe SUSTAINED ny 0Tdht
| during his campaigns of "a and '65
against Lee, and it is certainly not too
| much to say that had Grants military
| career begun in the east as it did in
| the west the war would not have been
| heightened to a full four years. The
| tenacity with which Grant conducted a
campaign, the speed with which he
| followed up victory the promptness
| with which he was on hand the next
morning with force ready TO fight after
a drawn battle. if put into practice in
| the Army of the Potomac during the
| first three years of the war would cer-
| tainly have brought about an earlier
| termination.
Grants Idea of War
| "Grant's idea of war was to fight.
of winning victories was that the side
which was first ready the morning af-
| ter a battle to resume it would win in
the end.
1.-The greatness of the man was seen
| in his Willingness TO assume response
bility and his power of standing the
strain when defeat and disaster seemed
| to threaten the success of his plans
| and to indicate their weakness. 1t
was then having determined on what
his plan should be he stuck to it and
pushed it through in the face of all
| opposition and vindicated his judge
| ment by ultimate success.
"He was entirely willing to receive
| advice. but his decision was his own.
| Another quality he had as great
military commander was the power to
| select competent subordinates and of
| instiling into them confidence in him
and his purposes. which almost insured
| success The men he especially Sc
Pherson, Rawlns and Logan and how
well they justified his choice.
when he came east he suffered from
an absence of that mutual understand
ing between commander-in-chief and
subordinate commanders that had been
of such value to him in his earlier
campaigns
THE history of Grants relations to
those of his subordnates to whom he
gave confidence and whom he had him
self selected. is fascinating one. The
relations which existed between him
and Sherman, it is pleasant to dwell
upon. The utter absence Of jealousy
between them and the pleasure which
each took in the successes of the other
are as delightful as they are rare.
Gould anything be more unique
than the story of Sherman's writing a
| long protest to the war department
east of Vicksburg, which easily is the
greatest strategic success of the war,
and Grants pigeonholing and return
| ing to Sherman the protest after tile
| campaign was won. Then Sherman 8
! letter to Grant when Grant was ap-
pointed TO command of the army, his
| expressions of admiration and conf
dence, all make us think more of our
| humankind because we encounter so
| TIo iao hat
| the great which sometimes are per-
mitted to interfere with the success
| full progress of events in the crisis of
our national life.
Grants Love for Sheridan
"The love that existed between Grant
and Sheridan is another ennoblng re-
| lation that it is pleasant to contem-
| plate. The mutual confidence which
| each reposed in the other and was so
! abundantly justified, furnishes another
! instance of the course of true friend
| ship between the great in which no
| yellow spot of jealousy touches the eye.
"One characteristic of Grant is shown
| in a letter which Lincoln wrote con-
cerning him, in which he says with re-
| spect to previous generals, his expe-
rence had been such that he always
| expected after a general hal been ap-
pOlilltu W iltdI lIolll MN lIldt IL great
many things were needed in the army
which he knew that Lincoln was not
| able to give him, and that this was
| followed by the statement that if he
had these things he could win the vic
tory. He said Grant differed from the
other generals in this respect. that he
| took what he had and went ahead and
with those things he did what he could
and what was to be done. He gave an
instance He said he had $4,000 cavalry
men at Harper's Ferry without horses.
He had attempted to get horses and
could not secure them. Previous
generals had said to him that if they
could have that $4,000 cavalry horses
they could accomplish great things and
win a victory. What Grant said was:
With your authority I will arm these
| men and make them infantry men,
or I will send them home
"The magnificent mauseleum on the
grand site upon the beautiful river
furnishes such a hero a fitting resting
place. May it forever remain to in
spire his countrymen to patriotic
thought and efforts"