Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1913-02-28
h.WAR
HfHa1Nl!s(el9Z5ss
FIRST SIGHT OF GEN. GRANT
Streets of CulpepPer Lined WIKI VIC"
Eager to Catch Glimpse OF
Famous Commander

General Grant is on the next tra1n-
Retser take a position on the sidewalk
whore von can get a good look at
him." III,
took the advice of the natty lieu
tenant Of the Red Legs" as the Four
teenth Brooklyn were called l 'ooh
a position block from the puogy IT.
tie station at Culpepper court mousse,
Va. Word seemed TO have passed
around a good many corners tnas
Grant is on the next train" for the
walks on either side OF the slreee
were lined with men eager TO eaten
GLIMPSE of the great general, inc
Moses who had been sent from the
west tn lead the army OF the Potomac
through the wilderness and emu ehe
war
General Grants headquarters were
In a brick house eight or ten piochs
from the station. Himself and a num-
Der OF the staff had gone to Wasnlns
ton the Saturday before to meet rres-
ident Lincoln, General HallecK ana
Secretary Stanton.
pepper street on that balmy March
forenoon OF forty-seven years ago, the
first time I saw General Grant, come
back to me. / can hear the snrlH
whistle Of the engine, see the Two
weather-beaten passenger coaches anu
freight car as they stopped. Pretty
soon dozen or more trim-built, fine-
" uniformed staff officers alighted,
writes Lieut.. Col. j. A Watrous, U. >.
A., in the Milwaukee Sentinel. Among
these recall Grants strong right
arm. General Rawlins, Colonel Bareau,
Colonel Parker, the Indian, Majors
Rowley and Bowers. The driver or
the ambulance was apparently told
that the general would walk TO head
quarters, for he drove away without
a passenger. Half of the staff was on
either side Of the street, about ten
feet from the sidewalk | looked
sharply for the lieutenant general III
this party, but none of them resem-
bled the pictures of the new man.
'There he comes'" passed along the
spectator brigade. Surely our necks
were craned and heels raised that our
eyes might behold the mighty man
from the west who was to command
in the next campaign.
Go along! That isn't him"
"Bet you my canteen-I know It's
Grant"
That little, sandy-bearded, stoop-
shouIdered, slow-walking fellow-that
one-you say that's General Grant,"
That's who &c Is"
And it was
This conversation was carried on
by New Yorker and Vermonter at
my right, while General Grant was
slowly, very slowly, walking from the
left to the right of his respectfully
posted staff. When he reached the
right, the staff right and left faced.
| caught step with the general very
hard one to keep because it was so
slow--and without uttering a word the
small but distinguished procession
passed along the street to hea6quar-
tiers, the most Of us moving along the
sidewalk closely watching the general.
If ! had not kept informed touch
| ing the great deeds of our new COM
mandsr, that first sight of him would
have made an unfavorable impression,
| but as 1t was, his personal appearance
there was not member Of the staff
who was not better looking, better
| dressed and more soldierly In his
| bearing-his dusty SLOUGH hat, unbut-
! toned undercoat and overcoat, unpoI-
/ ished boots, half-smoked cigar. hands
| folded behind him and the slcw stem.
were sized weighed and measured
and called Just right.
Greater Joy never came to- the army
Of the Potomac than accompanied the
report that Grant--Grant OF Fort
Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh yicks-
burg, Mission Ridge-was coming TO
help US run down Bobby Lee and his
fighters All of the army wanted to
grasp his hand and bid him welcome
Much as thousand of us, on that
short, silent march of the >"OId Com
mander" wanted to greet him. can
not imagine what would have induced
us to attempt it.
| Such was the welcome extended to
this giant of the west by eyery man
| in that army, which for nearly three
years had pounded and been pounded
from Manassas to the peninsula, from
Cedar mountain to Antietam. from
| Fredericksburg to Charlottesville fror,
Gettysburg to Mine Run; and stiu
there We sat on the banks of tbo
Rapioan and looked across into tho
faces OF Lees dauntless army Of
northern Virginia, leader and mon
VINO were as ready for battle as ever.
as hopeful. seemingly, as If they bad
not left 100000 of their brave breth.
rem on fields where the two armiss
| clashed. A''ioa