Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1914-05-27

grew chilly. At this juncture. when things
seemed about as hopeless as they could be-
Grants father offered him job Of clerk in his 4
leather and saddlery store at Galena. the wages
to be $50 q month. He was glad to, accept 1t.
The year 1860 found Grant keeping the books
in the saddlery store. Everybody looked upon
him failure in life, and 1t Is likely that he
himself shared this opinion. But soon afterward,
when the war broke out, he was led to hope that
1t might offer him some opportunity His first
effort in this direction was to urge relative to-
furnish the small amount Of money necessary for
starting q business Of selling bread to the mill
tary camp near st. Louis. Meeting with a re-:
fusal he went to Springfield, ILL.,, and asked Gov
ernor Yates to give him employment in some
capacity. it mattered not what The governor
did not look upon his application with much
favor but finally directed that he be hired at SO
a day to do odd jobs at Camp Yates. 4i}t,
& n Little as he could have imagined 1t however,
Isl new day was about to dawn upon the fortunes
OF Captain Grant, as he was then called. There
was in camp at Nation very unruly regiment
2of volunteers the Twenty first Illinois infantry,
which seemed likely to be disbanded because tof
its unwilingness to submit to discipline. Grant,
after ALL was West Pointer, and any real knowl
edge Of military matters was just then alta high:
premium. He was asked II he cared tosunder-i
take the Sob Of commanding the regiment in ques-
tion and promptly accepted the Offer becoming
4 Its colonel. N srs & 5s $a III 81
s5tI It did not take him long to- get the regiment
into shape. Il Anybody who attempted to dispute
his authority soon sorry for It. In July he
had orders to transfer his command to Alton.
The regiment refused to ride on the freight cars
provided flor its transportation and he made the
men march all the way. He would not even al
low them to get aboard q freight train when one:
came along. SS $s RI. ~ $z3s rs s%F
II Modesty was always q marked trait Of this
military commander he When, some time before
the events Just narrated q friend urged him to
apply for the colonelcy} OF regiment, he safd:i
Few men are able to command 1000 soldiers,
. and i am sure am not one OF those" And yet
the day was to arrive before very long when he
would command a million men When asked,
/ three years later, What sort OF man Is
Grant II Abraham Lincoln replied: HE is the
4quetest1 little fellow you ever saw. He makes
athe least fuss Of any man you ever knew ] be-
Heve two or three times. he has been in this
room quite a while before i knew he was here
It's about so all around The only evidence you
have that he's in any place is that he makes
things git! Wherever he lis he makes things
move" S. $jf VII .y 5ss%
In later years, particularly after he became
president, Grant careful about his attire, but
during the Civil war he preserved that indiher-
ence to costume which had marked him while at
West Point. In the Vicksburg campaign he wore.
in place Of the usual military hat and gold cord,
an old battered "stovepipe," such as the average
private soldier in his army would not have picked
up in the street. In his mouth was always
black cigar, and he seemed to be perpetually
smoking. A friend OF his, In excuse said: Such
stovepipe as Grants should be allowed to
smoke" u .# e@.,$ s@%s:5.a t z
+ j. R. $Ringwalt, author Of the Anecdotes OF
General Grant" says that he was never wounded,
though he constantly and even reckle ssly exposed
himself. He was not merely brave, but insenst-
Bile to danger. OF his war horse Cincinnatus, he
was devotedly fond. On one occasion. while. rid
ing through piece of woods in Virginia during
a brisk engagement, he and Colonel Dent We're
obliged to cross a brook at q place where the
fire Of the enemy was concentrated and muir
derous "A piece OF telegraph wire had got twist