The Washington herald., 1914-03-10
THE WAR DAY BY DAY
Fifty Years Ago.
TO- s64Gan Whose Rank Of eutenan General Bestowed he
Day Before Placed Him the Head Of the Armies Of he United Stte
Paid His Fist vsi 10 the Army Of the Potomac
cwritten expressly for The Herald,

Meade any purpose of relieving hfm q
command. nor did Gen Meade walt for
him to open the subject
Wishing to save the new commander
of the Federal armies Embarrassment.
/ Gen. Meade at once suggested that the
lieutenant general might want an off,
Ger to command the Army Of the Poto
mac who had served with him in the
West He declared his willingness to
retired from the command and suggested
| that Gen. Sherman would be the proper
officer to name as his successor.
"He urged" wrote Gen. Grant in his
Memoirs. that the work before US was
of such vast importance to the whole
nation that the feelings or wishes of nc
one person should stand in the way of
selecting the right men for all positions
, For himself. he would serve to the best
Of his ability wherever placed"
This unselfish and patriotic stand taken
by Gen. Meade impressed Gen. Grant
in his favor.
This incident gave me a more favor
able opinion of Meade than did his great
victory at Gettysburg. the July before"
wrote Grant. He concluded the para
graph with the axiom that 1T Is men
who wait to be selected and not those
who seek from whom We may always
expect the most efficient service"
Grant remained over night at Gen.
Meade's headquarters. returning next
morning to Washington. He was not
yet ready to join the Army Of the Pc
tomac for the spring campaign.
After Grants visit to him, Gen Meade
wrote his wife that Gen Grant had
been very civil and had said nothing
about superseding him \ little later.
he wrote Mrs Meade as follows: Il
was much pleased with Grant and most
aGreeably disappointed in his evidence
Of mind and character You may rest
assured he is not an ordinary man.
Tired of "show Business.o
During Grants brief visit to the Army
Of the Potomac the press and the public
at the National Capital discussed hardly
any other topic than the personality and
supposed plans Of the new lieutenant
general
Wizards Hotel was besieged with per-
sons led thither either by curiosity or
sclf-interest to seek Grant. Cards were
left for him by the hundred. Tele-
grams Of congratulation poured in from
al; Sections Of the North. The press
vas unanimous in lauding him and the
Washington correspondents made partic-
ular notice Of the energy with which he
seized the reins Of power. Members Of
Congress were pleasantly surprised to
learn that he was not going 10 hire
the administration found comfort in tha
reflection thet at last a general had an
Feared who would not attempt to manage
armies from an arm chair at the Ma
tional Capital
While Grant was spending a rainy
evening at Brandy Station in confer
ence with Meade. a great crowd gath
cred at one OF the Washington theaters.
expecting to see the new hero of the
hour When he did not appear the
audience was much disappointed.
When Grant returned to Washington
the next day he found that a dinner
psrty had been arranged by the Presi-
dent in his honor for the evening Of
March T. Gen Meade also had been
invited and at some inconvenience to
himself was coming up to Washington
to attend the dinner Grant begged to
be excused, on the plea that he must
return Immediately to Nashville to set
tie affairs there
subjected in Washington was very dis
tasteful to him. II have become very
tired of this show business" he said
on the venng OF March II Grant,
therefore. set out for Nashville by way
Of Cincinnati.
On March Il an official order was is-
sued at Washington placing Grant in
command of all the armies OF the United
States.
Tomorrow-Red River Campaign.
tCopyrtght. IaIil