New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-17
As Major General Commanding in the
West
r.t7ys,es 8 Grant,. Houghton. MiTiin CO..

west
r.t7vs,es 8 Grant,. Houghton. MiTlin co..
but after that evaded it, Grant was the
most successful military leader on the
Northern side in the Civil War. lie
achieved great fame as soldier and
deserved il. Yet in the ordinary sense
he was hardly a soldier at all. He had
a profound distaste for the profession
of arms. He never sought military
glory. He took no interest in the sci
ence Of war. never read works OF
strategy, knew little Of tactics, except
what he learned as a cadet at West
Point
lie was not soldier in the sense in
which Jackson end Lee or Sherman and
Mcpherson were soldiers. Yet he had
a quality which carried him TO the
front and kept him there. What was
il? II was a moral quality. The most
intelligent critic who ever had chance
70 observe Grant closely in the field
Charles A. Dana wrote of him after
the VicksburG campaign: The most
modest. the most DISTINGUISHED and the
most honest man ever knew. with
temper that nothing could disturb ana
n judgment that was judicial IN ITS
comprehensiveness and wisdom. Not q
qredt mGn. erceDt morally" .,
That partly explains Grant. lie hau
an extraordinarily penetrating common
sense. lie learned in the first sklrmlsh
of the war what most OF the Union
generals never learned at all. lie was
sent to disperse band of gueriilaS ana
felt some trepidation about the result:
But on reaching what he thought would
be the scene Of action he found that the
Confederate guerilla chieftain had de-
camped. He says: 1T occurred TO me
at once that Harris had been as much
afraid of me as had been of him. That
was a view Of the question ] had never
taken before. but it was one ! never
forgot afterward. never forgot that
he 1.-The enemy had as much reason TO
fear my forces as | had TO rear MS
Grant was clear-sighted enough TO
realize that. in the Western territory at
least-the North had more and better
troops and better equipment than the
South had lie never hesitated, there
fore. about fighting and he knew that
the war could be won only by fighting
by destroying the enemy. He fought
confidently and serenely, and President
Lincoln soon began TO value him, be-
cause he was always willing and eager
to fight.
Here was the secret OF his moral
superiority. II was civic virtue as
much as military one. But merely
having unfolding confidence and cour-
age does not invest a man devoid OF
professional military aptitudes and
I tastes with extraordinary military
ability. Mr.. Coolidge accepts the obvl-
ous theory of Grants military great
ness-that stated by Dana and also
stated more fully by General William
/ r. Sherman. But how does that eX
plain the technically hawless cam
paicns Of Nicksburg and Chatta
/ nooga? 1t doesn't.
/ II is much the same with Grants
} civil career. How can its manifest
contradictions be harmonized? Grant
was the soul OF personal honesty. lie
; loathed corruption and meanness. lie
had in him a heroic strain Of disin-
terestedness and integrity. But in the
Presidency he fell into political asso-
citation with all the disreputable ele-
ments in the Republican party-with
. the spolsmen and the corruptionists
He was the first President to appre-
ciate the necessity of divorcing Office
holding for partisan activities. lie
was an original civil service reformel
and sincere friend Of efficient gov
eminent. Yet his second administra
ton sank steadily deeper and deeper
into the mire of ineficiency and sean.
dal He seemed powerless to cast of
associations which were clouding anC
bespattering his fame.
With his keen common sense and his
upright instincts, whence came the
feebleness which made him insensit.v'
20 these many betrayals, tolerant o.