Evening journal., 1911-04-18
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Talkative Grant That
His Old Friends Knew
By "H0lland."

One Of the thousands of men who
enlisted in the Union Army few days
after the publication Of President Lin
coins proclamation calling for $4,000
volunteers was A. G. Chetlain, who
rose to the rank of brigadier-g general
In the war. The company in which
General Chetlain enlisted was made up
of citizens of Galena. Ill, and Of that
company General chetlsin was chosen
captain. II was the company which
Captain Ulysses S. Grant, then a clerk
in leather store in Galena. drilled be-
fore the company departed for Spring
field, ILL.,, 10 be mustered into military
service. Captain Grant journeyed with
the company 10 Springfield, hoping
that at the State capital he might re-
ceive a commission as colonel of an IL
| linois regiment. He was an intimate
friend of General Chetlain and the two
men roomed together at a hotel in
Springfield.
"One OF the comments made about
General Grant after he became famous
! was that he was a man of unusual
taciturnity," General Chetlain said to
me in 1895. "and / suppose that every
one except those who knew Grant inti-
mately believed that he was properly
called the silent man But those Of us
who knew Grant when he was Captain
Grant and some Of us who came to
know him well after his term as
| President expired, have occasionally
smiled when il has been said that
Grant was the most taciturn man
connected with either army and that,
to save his life, he couldn't make a
speech. AS a matter Of fact, General
Grant was naturally very loquacious
man. When l knew him at Galena be-
fore the war he was an incessant talk
er But, unlike many men who talk a
/ great deal, he was an instructive and
entertaining conversationalist.
"One evening, about two weeks be-
fore Lincoln was inaugurated as Pres
ident for the first time, dropped into
the Grant leather store for a friendly
chat There I found Captain Grant, as
we were in the habit of calling him,
seated upon a counter, and grouped
about him were three or four other
merchants of the town, all listening
intently 10 what the Captain had to
say. took a seat and listened also,
talked TO us almost without a break
for half an hour, and perhaps longer.
AT that time most Of us in Galena
we're of the opinion that the trouble
with the South would blow over; GER
tainly none of us expected that there
would be a resort to arms to settle the
differences between the two sections
Of our country. But Captain Grant took
a different view Of the matter, and that
evening in his fathers leather store he
told us earnestly that he was con-
vinced that We were wrong In our
viewpoint The politicians Of the South,
he argued, were unswervingly deter
mined 10 establish an independent
government, and he gave It as his be-
lief that they had been leading the
people OF their section to that goal for
some years. He also declared that we
underestimate the resources of the
South; he told us that at any time we
might hear of overt acts on the part
Of the South. and he rather looked for
a speedy demonstration Of the South's
purpose to resort TO arms somewhere
along the Mississippi river.
II never shall forget the clearness
and force with which Captain Grant
explained TO us the strategic value of
the Mississippi. He declared that it
would be impossible 10 overthrow the
Confederate Government, in case war
began, until the North had secured un-
interrupted control of the Mississippi
from its source to its mouth, And |
can recall as vividly that in his lengthy
exposition he did not hesitate for a
word or a phrase; he talked as easily
as many polished orator that have
heard, and with good deal of grace
THAT was not the only time | and
other old residents OF Galena heard
Captain Grant talk at length before
war came. So, when after the war had
begun, there came reports that Grant
was a silent man, we smiled to our
selves, for we knew better. And we had
no doubt what the meaning of his
taciturnity was He had adopted that
trait as part of his military methods.
He knew that the soldier who talked
TO much was in danger Of talking him
self into danger. He was silent during
the days of the war simply because he
regarded silence as the expedient pol
icy and not because he could not talk.
When with few friends he was really
one OF the most brilliant and instruc-
tive Of conversationalists.'
Copyright, 1911. by H. J. Edwards. All
rights reserved,
Tomorrow MIR. Edwards will tell Of
i