The New York herald., 1922-04-16
Farmer, Clerk, Twice Pres
ident, but Always a
Soldier First.
BORN IN OHIO IN 1922
Gen. Wilson Writes Inter-
's. esting of Grants Life
ss and Career.
HE FAILED IN BUSINESS
Bankruptcy Drove Him to
! Write Personal Memoirs
s, Of U. s. Grant, q
HE FAILED IN BUSINESS
By GEN. JAMES II. WILSON.


proper place in our national history
should be definitely fixed.
He was born April ~. 1922. at Point
Pleasant. Ohio: was graduated from
West Point in 1s43 at the age of 21,
being twenty first in class Of thirty
nine, in which the leading men were
William b. Franklin, Joseph j. Rey-
nolds, James A. Hardie. Frederick
Steele and Rufus ingalls,. He served
with the Fourth Infantry in the Mexi-
can War from 1s46 to 1S4S, winning
the brevet of Captain. He spent two
years in garrison duty in the States
and then went with his regiment by
way of Panama to the Pacific coast.
where he served till July, 1854, when,
on account of misdemeanor, he found
it necessary to resign. Rejoining his
family at st. Louis, he became a
xarmer and later a clerk in the family
leather store at Galena.
While living at Galena he became
acquainted with~John A. Rawlins and
T.. B. Washburne. and at the outbreak
of the war these three became fast
friends.
2U. S. Grant Heard the
Union Speech of RawlinS
Rawlins had been the Douglas Dem
ocratic candidate for Presi iential Elec-
tor, and on the first night after the
surrender of Sumter a large and en-
thusiastic nom partisan public meet
C,I. l1n t<riv1 lI
Democrats had not yet committed
themselves, but depended upon Raw
Inns to make a partisan reply to the
speech which it was almost certain Z.
b.. Washburne, Republican member Of
Congress, would deliver at this meet
ing. AS it turned out. this speech was
strongly for the Union, and when 1t
was finished loud call broke out from
the audience for Rawiins, who slowly
made his way from the ground to the
platform and with deliberation made
formal reply in which he recited the
history of the Democratic party from
the date OF it's organization till the
rebels of South Carolina fired upon
and captured the national fort in the
harbor of Charleston. After a solemn
pause he broke forth in words which
should never be forgotten: II have
been a Democrat all my life, but this
Is no longer question of party poll
tics: it is simply question OF union
or disunion, country or no country.
have favored an honorable compro-
mise, but the day for compromise IS
past. Only one course is left for US
we will stand by he flag of our coun-
try and appeal to the god, d,of battles"
Decided to Offer His
: Services to the Union
The old Democrats were over
whelmed by Rawlins's speech and the
meeting broke up shouting loudly for
the Union. 1t so happened that
Ulysses S. Grant. the ex-army officer,
was at the meeting. and on his way
Rome declared to -Eis brothers for
whom he was clerking that he was
for the Union and intended to offer
his services to the War Department
at Washington. A few days later he
visited Springfield with the first COM
pany raised at Galena in compliance
WITH the Presidents call for the three
InO0t1S koAok1y oatSA
this Grant went to Covington to call
upon his family and incidentally also
upon Gen. Mcclellan, who had already
been assigned to command Ohio
troops at Cincinnati. For a reason
never satisfactorily explained Nc
aClellan could not be found, although
Grant, his old companion in the Mexi-
can war. called twice at his Eeadquar-
tiers: but failing to find him or to get
an audience he went back to SPRING
field and thence to his old home in st.
Louis. This trip kept him eight or ten
deys, at the end of which time he re-
turned to Springfield and took a clerk
ship in the Governors office. For.u-
nately, his knowledge of the State gov
ernment's requirements at this juno
ture made him very useful in organ
izing and equipping the forthcoming
regiments.
appointment of Grant as
rs Colonel of 7Ist Illinois Infantry
In due time the Twenty-first Illi-
rois infantry turned up with an
incompetent commander. whereupon
between the Adjutant- General and the
Governor OF Illinois Grant was ap-
pointed Colonel OF that regiment and
sent to command 1t in camp. In a
short while he was ordered, with the
new regiment, to the Mississippi River
and at once asked permission TO
march II in that direction on the
.-rc.aration that this would soon give
him the confidence OF the regimental
officers and men. This was granted.
and by the time the regiment had
reached the Mississippi Grant was
master OF II. In a short while there
after ne met several other regiments
and among them one commanded
by General Prentiss. also of Illinois,
~who thought himself senior, but as
Grants original rank OF captain in
-thc Mexican war gave him prior rank
over all other generals OF the same
verade he took comand for several
weeks in central and western Mis-
eouri.
And now comes another change in
Grants fortunes. The three months
men had soon worked out their term