The life of General U.S. Grant, his early life, military achievements, and history of his civil administration, his sickness and death, together with his tour around the world ...

Front matter

0^ o*f o

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Preface

In the preparation of this volume the editor has endeavored to present, in a concise and readable form, a faithful and accurate biography of the great chieftain whose military genius restored domestic peace and civil law throughout our land ; who, in his public and political career, while twice occupying the most exalted position of President of the United States, administered the government with moderation, generosity, wisdom and success, and solved with rare patriotism and intelligence the many complicated and difficult questions that confronted him. Triumphs, which conspired to make Ulysses S. Grant honored and revered by all Americans and the civilized nations of the world.

In these few pages will be found a delightful picture of grandeur and simplicity of character, — a man thoughtful, reserved and taciturn, of unprecedented magnanimity, undoubted patriotism, cool judgment, clear-sighted sagacity, singleness of purpose, subordination of all egotistical and selfish considerations to duty and the public good, impervious to flattery, modest in his bearing, never boasting of his deeds or selfishly obtruding himself before the public, — a man of tireless energy, of great breadth of comprehension, of the highest order of administrative genius. Such a character, when carefully studied, will teach the mass of mankind that high qualities and great abilities are consistent with the simplicity of taste, contempt for parade, and plain-

IV PREFACE.

ness of manners with which direct and earnest men have a strong and natural sympathy.

The editor of the San Francisco Ch>-onicle truly voices the sentiment of all Americans when he said : " It was but fitting that he should be crow'ned with such honors as have never been bestowed by foreign nations upon any citizen of the United vStates, and become the recipient of such tokens of confidisnce and enthusiastic affection as have never been exhibited by Americans to any citizen. For when this generation shall have passed away, when the fierce passions engendered by a bitter strife shall have been tranquilized, the voices of prejudice and calumny that have been so loud against his great name will be hushed forever, and the verdict of impartial history will be that, since the foundation of our government, no American, however bright the halo that time has cast around his memory, has deserved better of his country than Ulysses S. Grant."

The compiler has availed himself of all reliable sources of information, special care having been taken to verify statements of fact from official sources. He would acknowledge his indebtedness for the militar}' record of General Grant, to Head, ley's " Grant and His Campaigns," Greeley's "American Conflict," General Badeau's interesting " Military History of General Grant," and Abbott's " Life of Grant." The description of General Grant's tour around the world is largely drawn from two sources: The letters public and private of Jesse Grant to the New York //rv-rt-A/ and Chicago /'//c'r-Occa;?, and those of J. Russell Young to the New York Herald.

Chapter I

GEN. U. S. grant's BOYHOOD.

The Grant Family Motto — His Grandfather— His Father— His Father's Marmage — A Pious Mother — Birth of Hiram Ulysses — How His Name was Changed — Early Boyhood School Days — His Father's Limited Means — Incidents in His Early Life, - - 17

CHAPTER IL

AT WEST POINT.

Anxious for a Collegiate Education — Adopts the Profession of Arms — Appointed a Cadet at West Point — Improving Opportunities — Rank at Graduation — List of Classmates — Their Military Rank in 1861, 23

Chapter III. Enters The Army — The Mexican War

Breveted Second Lieutenant on the Frontier — Ordered to Texas — Annexation of Texas — Sam Houston — Bombardment of Fort Brown — Battle of Palo Alto — Battle of Resaca de la Palma — Battle of Monterey — Vera Cruz to Mexico — Garrison Life at Sacketts Harbor — His Marriage — On the Paciiic Coast — Resigns his Commission , — Farm Life near St. Louis — Removes to Galena, 111., - - 32

Chapter IV. The Civil War — Made A Brigadier

The First Shot — Raises a Company — Adjutant General of Illinois — His valuable Services — Appointed Colonel — Patriotic Letter to

Mr. Dent — New York Tribune Editorial Comments — ^Joins his Regiment — Ordered to Missouri — Made Brigadier General — Appointed to the Command of Cairo, 40

Chapter V. Belmont Fort Hemry — Fort Donelson

The Port of Cairo — Kentucky Neiitralitj — Occupation of Paducah . — Proclamation to the Citizens — Battle of Belmont — Capture of Fort Henrv — Commodore A. H. Foote — Fort Donelson — Co-operation of the Fleet — General Floyd — Escape of Floyd and Pillow — Unconditional Surrender — Its Importance to the Union Cause — Evacuation of Columbus and Bowling Green, - - - • » • - 45

CHAPTER VI. PITTSBURG, SHILOH, lUKA AND CORINTH

The Confederates at Corinth — Crumps Landing — Johnston's Proclamation — Battle of Pittsburg Landing and Shiloli — Rally of the Union Forces — The Confederate Defeat — Pursuit — Sherman's Reminiscences — Rebel Retreat to Corinth — Siege of Corinth — Retreat of the Enemy — Other Movements — Battle of luka — Rebel Attack on Corinth, 55

Chapter VII. The Advance To Vicksburg

The Advance upon Vicksburg — Repeated Failures of Movements to the Northward of Vicksburg — Running the Batteries — March to New Carthage — Admiral Porter — Bombardment of Grand Gulf — Crossing the Mississippi at Bruinsburg — Advance upon Port Gibson — Union Success — Evacuation of Grand Gulf — On the Big Black — Grant's Strategy — Battle of Jackson — Champion's Hill — Big Black River Bridge — Pemberton's Flight to Vicksburg, - - - 67

Chapter VIII. The Siege Of Vicksburg

The Investment of Vicksburg — Magnitude of the Achievement

CONTENTS. »J

— The Assault and Repvilse — Progress of the Siege — Distress of the Besieged — Famine — Bombardment of tlie City — Explosion of the Mine — The Capitulation— Joy Th oughout the North — The President's Letter of Congratulation — Grant ordered North, • - 78

Chapter IX. The Preparations At Chattanooga

Made a Major General — Rosecrans' Defeat at Chickamauga — The Peril of the Army — Grant Appointed to the Command — His Wonderful Energy — Brilliant Relief of the Army — Opening Communications — Reorganization — A Grand Army — Sherman Arrives — Burnside's Peril — Assuming the Offensive, - - - 87

Chapter X. The Battles Of Missionary Ridge And Lookout Mountain

Hooker's Advance — The Battle above the Clouds — Retreat of the Confederates — Movements of Sherman — Thomas's Gallant Charge — The Grand Victory — Sheridan's Pursuit — Sherman Sent to the Relief of Burnside at Knoxville — The Siege of Knoxville Raised — The Retreat of Johnston, ....... icjo

Chapter XVI. The Final Victory

Sherman's March Through the Carolinas— Grant's Superior Generalship — Lee's Plan of Escape — Flight of the Confederates — Surrender of Lee at Appomattox — Surrender of Johnston — Overthrow of the Rebellion— Grant's Farewell Address. • - - 169

Chapter XVII. The Works Of Peace

The Disbandment of the Army — Total Force Mustered Out- Sale of Horses and Mules — Barracks and Hospitals — Railroad Equipments—Total Enlisted Men— Total Bounties Paid— Cost of the War — The Sanitary and Christian Commissions — Ad-Interim Secretary of War. i?|

Chapter XVIII. Grant The Statesman

Nomination for the Presidency— Great Popularity— Unprecedented Popular Vote — Events of His Administration — The Panic — The Chicago and Boston Fires— The Indian Wars— The Centennial Exposition—Corruption and Official Jobbery— "Let No Guilty Man Escape " — Return to Private Life. . - . . - 191

Chapter XIX. Off For Europe

Departure from Philadelphia — Rousing Demonstration — On the Ocean — Arrival at Queenstown — Liverpool — Grand Reception — A Round of Pleasure — At the Docks — Mayor's Reception and Ball. 205

CHAPTER XX. GENERAL GRANT IN LONnON

His Arrival — Prince of Wales — Grand Banquet — Duke of Wellington — Waterloo Chamber — At Westminster Abbey — Reception at the American Legation— ;Grand Ball — Buckingham Palace — Freedom of the city of London — Magnificent Reception — Its Significance — Gold Casket — Distinguished Guests — Marquis of Lome. 215

Chapter XXI. Grant In England

A Letter to D. W. Childs — Dining with the Prince of Wales— At Minister Pierrepont's — Royal Opera House— Banquet by Trinity House — Speech by the Prince of Wales — Address by Earl Carnaervon — General Grant's Reply — Reception by Queen Victoria — State Dinner — Ladies' Toilets— State Concert — Grand Banquet Tendered by the City of Liverpool— Addresses — General Badeau — United Service Club — American Legation. ^i'

Chapter XXII. On The Continent

At Brussels — Reception and Dinner by King Leopold — At Co lO CONTENTS.

logne — Visiting Churches and the Cathedral — At Frankfort — Great Reception — A Grand Ball — At Hamburg — At Lucerne — Berne — Geneva — Laying a Corner Stone — At Pallanza — At Copenhagen — Ulysses — A Happy Speech. 246

CHAPTER XXHL

RETURN TO GREAT BRITAIN.

Presented with the PVeedom of Edinburgh — Enthusiastic Reception — Lord Provost's Speech — Grant's Reply — Tay Bridge — Its Description—City of Wick — At Glasgow — The Finest and Most Enthusiastic Reception — Speech of Mr. Anderson — Grant's Long Speech — Remarkable Reception at Newcastle — At Northumberland — Gateshead — At Sheffield — At Birmingham — Speeches. - - - 351

Chapter XXIV. General Grant In Paris

Adieu to England — Boulogne — At Paris — Enthusiastic Reception — Palace de Elysee — Grand Banquet by Resident Americans — Reception by Minister Noyes — Menu — Brilliant Assemblage — Banquet at Marshal McMahon's — Address — Grant's Reply — A Comparison — Mrs. Mackay's Reception — Extravagance of Display — Dinner at Mrs. Sickles' — At Mr. Harjes. 266

Chapter XXV. Through France — Italy

At Lyons — Marseilles — Genoa — Reception on Board the Vandalia — At Naples — Mt. Vesuvius — "House of Refuge" — Ruins of Pompeii — Special Excavation— Interesting Relics — Royal Palace— At Palermo — Christmas Dinner — Menu — How He Traveled — Land of Many Civilizations — Brigandage —At Malta — Duke of Edinburgh — Palace San Antonio — Adieu - - 281

Chapter XXVI. In Egypt And The Lotus Land

A Severe Storm — At Alexandria — Oriental Etiquette — The Pasha —Reception — Brilliant Entertainment at Vice-Consul Salvage —

CONTENTS. II

Henry M. Stanley — The Khedive Calls on General Grant — A Host's Thoughtfulness— At Siout— The Donkey Ride— Inspecting the Town — Speech of the Pasha's Son — At Girgel to Ruined City of Abydos — God Osiris — Excavations — At Thebes — City of a Hundred Gates — Its Magnificent Ruins— The Great Temple of Karnak — At Keneh —At Assowan— Philic— The First Cataract — The Return— At Memphis — Sacred Bulls at Kaser-el-Nousa 28S

Chapter XXVII. Turkey And The Holy Land

At Jaffa — Ruins of Gezer — David and Goliah — At Jerusalem — Bishops and Patriarchs — Stroll on the Via Dolorosa — Ruins and Relics — Dives — Calvary — Brook Kedron — Valley of Jehosaphat — Mount of Olives — Bethany — At Damascus — At Athens — Grand Entertainment by the King at Naples — At Rome — His Clerical Visitor — At Turin — Return to the French Capital — At the Exposition — A Game of Polo — Ball at Mr. Healy's — At the Hague — Great Demonstration at Rotterdam — At Amsterdam — Enthusiastic Welcome — The Dutch Excited 306

Chapter XXVIII. Grant In Germany, Norway, Sweden, Russia And Austria

General Grant at Berlin— An Evening Stroll — Prince Bismarck — Great Peace Congress — Attempt to Assassinate the Emperor — Bismarck Calls on Mrs. Grant — Reception at Minister Taylor's — Crown Prince — Military Manoeuvers — Dining with Bismarck— Bottle of Schnapps— At Gothenburg — Immense Crowd — At Christiana — King Oscar II — Turning out en masse at Stockholm — Grand Banquet—At St. Peter sburgh— Prince Gortschakoff— With the Czar— At the Versailles of St. Petersburgh— Grand Duke Alexis— At Moscow — At Warsaw — Vienna — Grand Reception— At Zurich - - 315

Chapter XXIX. General Grant In Spain And Portugal

Again at Paris — Reception bv Minister Noyes In Spain — Spanish Life and Character— Alfonso XII.— San Sebastian— Grand Annual Military Review at Victoria— Palace of Ayuntamiento—M

Madrid — Attempt on Alfonso's Life— The Shot Seen by General Grant— Escape — Congratulations — At Lisbon — Dining with King Luis — A Cordial Reception— At Seville— Duke de Montpensier— At Cadiz— Enthusiastic Reception— At Gibraltar— Old Friends— Lord Napier — Grand Review— At Pau — Return to Paris - ■ 333

Chapter XXX. General Grant In Ireland

Irish Interest— A Citizen of Dublin— Grand Ovation — Long Speech from General Grant— Good Times Coming — Trinity College —Insult from Cork — Grant's Friendship Toward Catholics— Unparalleled Reception at Derry — Denouncing the Insult of Corkonians — Curiositiesof Ulster— Old Soldiers— At Belfast— Imposing and Extraordinary Reception— Stopping the Linen Mills— At the Ship Yards— At Kingston— The Irish Welcome Compared to Others 344

Chapter XXXI. General Grant In India

Again in London — Paris — Marseilles— Delightful Trip Through the Mediterranean— Description of Trip — At Alexandria — A Railroad Ride in Egypt — At Suez— On the Red Sea— At Aden— Bombay — Enthusiastic Reception — Holy Place of the Hindoos— A Parsee Merchant— The Byculla Club — Flagship Eurydius— Elephanta Caves — Reception at the Government House — Singular Custom — Caste — Hatred of Races— A Farewell— At Tatulpur— At Allahabad— Agra — The Maharajah of Jeypore — At Amber— A Native City under Native Rule— Gas in India— Elephant Ride— The Temple— A Kid Sacrificed at the Palace—Nautch Dancing Girls— Playing Billiards —A Royal Photograph • - 3^3

Chapter XXXII. Still In India

At Burtpoor — A Princely Reception — Tuttehpoor Sikva — Akbar —Interesting Ruins — At Benares — Sacred City — At the Ganges "Holy Kasi ' — A City of Priests — Fourteen Hundred and Fifty Temples — A Sacred Ri.lcr— Burning the Body— At Delhi— Military Reception— lis Splendor— The Palace of the Grand Mogul— The

Kutah Tower — At Calcutta — Lord Lytton's Speech — Continuous Round of Enjoyment — At Rangoon, Burmah — The Philadelphia of Burmah — Commercial Advantages — Opening for American Merchants - 39°

Chapter XXXIII. General Grant In Siam

At Singapore — Interesting Letter from the King of Siam — Bangkok — Another Letter — Embarking — Reception at the King's Palace — The ex-Regent — An Aged Statesman — Mr. Borie and the King — Royal Proclamation — A Second King — His Income — A Political Influence — First King of Siam — Grand Palace — Elegant Furnishing — An Audience with the King — The King Returns the Visit — An Interesting Conversaiion — Correspondence Promised — A State Dinner — Who Were There — The Surroundings — King's Speech — General Grant's Reply — A Delightful Week .... ^©8

Chapter XXXIV. . General Grant In China

At Saigon — The Government House — Hong Kong — At Canton — Its Situation — The Viceroy — Special Honors — Bulletin— Chairs of Rank — Two Hundred Thousand People — Members of Court — The Entertainment — Dinner at Consul-General Lincoln's — Greatest Demonstration of Trip— At Macao— The Grotto of Camoens — Reception at Hong Kong— An Address — General Grant's Reply- Parting Salutes— At Swatow — Chinese Governor— Amoy — A Stroll Through the Town — Letters from the King of Siam and King of the Sandwich Islands and the Viceroy of Canton — General Grant's Replies — At Shanghai — Unexpected Greetings — An Address— Reply — At Tientsin — The Viceroy — Extraordinary Conversation at Pekin — Reception by the Prince Imperial — Confidential Proposition — Flattering Reception — Unusual Demonstration by the Prince— Return to Tientsin— The Viceroy's Friendly Visits — Pleasure of General Grant — Farewell to China 4^8

Chapter XXXV. General Grant In Japan

At Nagasaki— Banqueted by Citizens— The Herald's Graphic De-

>cription — Address of Merchants — Fish and Soup — Arrival at Tokio — Palace of Enriokwan — Its Gardens — The Bazaars — A Native Dance — Reception at the College of Engineering — At Yokahama — Grand Reception — Address of Welcome — Feast of Lanterns— A Brilliant Spectacle— Reception by the Emperor — His Palace— Japanese Etiquette — Address of the Emperor and Empress — In the Mountains — At the Old Capital — Interesting tete a iete with the Emperor — Farewell to Japan — Sailing of the Tokio .... 468

CHAPEER XXXVI.

GENERAL grant's RETURN.

Embarking from Tokio — Date of Arrival — Review of Tour — Preparation for His Reception — The Great Excursion — Not Flattering to the American People — Out of the Presidential Race — Admiral Ammen — Hon. E. B. Washburn — Murat Halstead — His Positive Acceptance of the Presidency of the Nicaraugua Ship Canal Company — Letter to Admiral Ammen — Reception Programme at San Francisco — On the Watch — Magnificent Ovation Expected — The "Sand Lot" Braggart — Threat to Hang Grant in EtBgy -—Intense Excitement — Probable Result - - .... J12

Chapter XXXVII. Arrival At San Francisco

Preparations for His Reception — His Arrival — The Reception Committee — Immense Crowds Assembled — The Mas or's Address — The Procession — Line of March — At the California Theater — Poem by the Poet-Scout — Absence of Personal Vanity — Grant Compared to Napoleon — Character as a Military Man — The High Pitch of Enthusiasm — Comments of the Press ..... ^32

Chapter Xxxviii. Return To His Home

Formal Presentation of General and Mrs. Grant to the Citizens of California — At the Produce Exchange — The Baldwin Theater — Visit to Oakland — The Press Banquet — The Carnival at Mechanic's Pavilion — Visit to San Jose — Return to San Francisco — Children's Reception at Woodward's Gardens — In the Yosemite Valley — Off for Oregon — Homeward Journey and Receptions en Route — Welcome at Galena — Unparalleled Receptions at Chicago — Speeches at the Receptions of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee — Col. Vilas, of Wisconsin — Mark Twain — Banquet — The Calumet Club — Return to Galena, *--5S5

Chapter XXXIX. Politics And Business

Grant's Galena Residence — In Retirement — The Politicians and Monev-makers — Their Schemes — The Nicaraugua Scheme — Mexican Railroads — Grant's Sincerity — Influence of Friends — Na'iional Republican Convention of 1880 — The Candidates and Political Managers — Conkling's Nomination of Grant — The Old Guard — Nomination of Garfield — Grant's Calm Dignity under Defeat— Support of Garfield— Grant's Visit to Blaine in the Fall of 1884 — Sublime Loyalty to Republicanism — Removal to New York — Fund of $250,000 raised — A Special Partner in Firm of Grant & Ward — The Marine Bank Failure — Borrowing $150,000 from W. H. Vanderbilt — Failure of Grant & Ward — Complete Financial Ruin of General Grant and His Sons — Personal Property Presented to the United States— The Grant Retirement Bill, - - - - 668

Chapter XL. Painful Accident, Distressing Sickness, Heroic Death

General Grant's General Health During the War — During his Civil Administration — Exposures, and Irregularities of Travel — Painful Accident Christmas Eve, 1883 — Condolence of the Nation — Primary Causes of Present Illness — Early Stages — Senator Hill's Case — Alarming Symptoms — Expressions of Deep Sympathy North and South — The Bulletins — Sweet Joys of a Happy Family — Cancer Unlike Ordinary Disease — History Furnishes no Parallel Case — Prometheus, the Greek— Words of Sympathy from Public Bodies and Prominent Persons — Funeral Obsequies — Comments of Press, 6S4

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Portrait of General U. S. Grant (on

steel) Frontispiece

Birthplace of U. S. Grant i6

View of West Point 24

Portrait of General Houston 3J

Route of the Army from Vera Cruz

to Mexico 3S

Portrait of General WinfieUl Scott . 36

Scott's Army Entering- Mexico. ... 38

Fort Sumter in iS6i 41

The Interior of Fort Henry 48

Portrait of Coirunodore A. II. Foote 50

Portrait of Albert Sydney Johnston 53

Portrait of P. G. T. Beauregard. .. 56

Portrait of Don Carlos Buell . (^

Portrait of John C. Breckinridge.. 61

Portrait of William S. Rosecrans.. 64

Portrait of Earl Van Dorn 65

Portrait of Admiral Farragut 68

The Passage of the Big Black River 76

The Caves near Vicksburg. 81

Union Monument at Vicksburg. ... 86

Portrait of Nathaniel P. Banks 87

View of I^ookout Mountain and

Valley 89

Portrait of George H. Thomas. 91

Portrait of Commodore Porter 92

Portrait of Jefferson Davis 94

Portrait of Joseph Hooker 95

Portrait of Ambrose E. Burnside.. lOO

The Battle of Lookout Mountain.. 107

Portrait of James I^ongstreet 112

Portrait of U. S. Grant, 1S64 115

Portrait of George G. Meade 130

Portrait of Rol)ert E. Lee 13J

Court House, Spottsylvania, Va.. .. 133

Battle of Spottsylvania CourtHouse 135

Portrait of Wiufield S. Hancock 140

Portrait of Geo. B. McClellan 14a

Portrait of Benjamin F. Butler 143

Portrait of Philip H.Sheridan 144

General Grant in the F'ield 147

Portrait of William T. Sherman... 161

Portrait of W. J. Hardee 163

Portrait of J. B. Hood 165

View of Nashville from the State

Housq. 170

401 403 44« 447 475

The Confederate Flag ig|

The House where Lee Surrendered, jm

The Capitol at Richmond ly^

The Surrender of General Lee to

General Grant |>g

Map of General Grant's Tour ^^

General Grant Entertained by

Queen Victoria jjy

View of Edinburg jjj

A Street Scene in Alexandria 489

Down the Nile 299

The Prime Ministers of Europe 317

Sackville Street, Dublin 351

Nautch Girls Dancing before General Grant. . .

Governor-General's Palace, Calcutta

Lord Lytton and Staff, India. . .

Grant's Arrival at Shanghai

The Tea Gardens of Shanghai.

Japanese Shops

Group of Japanese Women and

Children 469

The City of Tokio 504

Portrait of General Grant, taken in

San Francisco 533

Reception by Militia and Citizens,

San Francisco Jg4

The Decorations and Arches, San

Francisco jfy

Grant's Rooms and Decorations,

Palace Hotel 573

Popular Ovation, San Francisco. .. 583

Down in a Nevada Mine 593

The \Velcome at Galena, III 617

On the Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. 641 General Grant's Residence, Galena,

Fac-simile of Commission on the

Retired List tti

General Grant's Sickness, A Life

Sketch.. 6S$

General Grant's Residence, N. Y. 685

Cottage at Mount .N acGregOr 716

r( inib at Riverside 734

Chapter I

U. S. GRANT S EARLY DAYS.

No military man of modern times has accomplished as much, with so little ostentation, as he of whom this narrative is written. From his earliest history until the present time, his deeds, and not his words, have spoken in "trumpet tones" for him. On the eve of any important movement or action it has been his custom to assemble his trusted aids — ask for and listen to their counsels, and, if good, adopt their plans — never forgetting to give credit if successful, and assuming the blame if failure ensued. He was never guilty of petty oppressions to those holding inferior rank, nor did he ever find it necessary or politic to push himself into notoriety, and yet there is no one living who possesses more fame and celebrity, or has received more marked attention from the world at large.

Ulysses Simpson Grant was born April 27, 1822, at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, a small town on the Ohio River, twenty-five miles above Cincinnati. The Grants are of Scotch descent, and the motto of their clan in Aberdeenshire was, " Stand fast, stand firm, stand sure." Grant inherits from many of his ancestors a love for freedom and a determination to fight for its cause. In 1799, his grandfather, a Pennsylvania farmer, joined the great tide of emigration movmg to the Northwest Territory.

His great grandfather. Captain Noah Grant, of Windsor, Connecticut, and his brother. Lieutenant Solomon 3 (17)

Grant, were soldiers 5n the old French war, and were both killed in battle in 1756.

His grandfather, also Noah Grant, of \^'indsor, hurried from his fields at the first conflict of the Revolution, and appeared as a lieutenant on Lexington Common on the morning of the memorable 19th of April, when the embattled farmers "fired the shot heard round the world."

His father, Jesse R. Grant, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1794. Was apprenticed to the tanner's trade at the early age of eleven years. Removed to Mayville, Kentucky, thence to Point Pleasant, Ohio, where he followed the business of a tanner. In 1869 he was appointed postmaster at Covington, Kentucky, by President Grant, and died in 1874.

General Grant's father married in June, 1821, at Point Pleasant, Ohio, Miss Hannah Simpson. She was the daughter of John Simpson, and was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, but removed with her family in 1818 to Clermont County. Ten months after marriage their first child Ulysses was born.

Like other great men, Grant had an excellent mother — a pious woman, cheerful, unambitious of worldly display, watchful of her children, and " looking well to the ways of her household." Her husband pays her the highest tribute which can be paid to any wife and mother in saying, " Her steadiness, firmness and strength of character have been the stay of the family through life."

Love of their children has ever been a marked trait in the Grant family.

He was originally christened Hiram Ulysses, his grandfather giving the name of Hiram ; his grandmother, who was a great student of history, giving the name of Ulysses, whose character had strongly attracted her admiration.

LIFE AND SERVICES.

T9

The member of Congress who appointed Grant to his cadetship at West Point when a boy of seventeen, by accident changed his name, in filHng his appointment, to U. S. Grant, Grant repeatedly endeavored to have the mistake corrected at West Point, and at the war department at Washington, but this was one of the few things in which he failed; his applications were never complied with. As if fate foresaw the patriotic duty, the filial love, the transcendant services he was one day to render his country, the government seemed to insist, when adopting him among her military children, on renaming him, and giving to him her own initials, "U. S.," which he has ever since borne.

As a child, Grant was robust, strong and cool, as he has since shown himself. He was neither a precocious nor a stupid child; he was a well-behaved, dutiful boy. Heattended the public school in the village during the winter months; he learned well, but was no prodigy.

He never liked his father's business of tanning. It was disagreeable; and he early determined not to follow it. He wanted an education. He said he would be a farmer, or trade down the river; but a tanner he would not be.

His father, with limited means, did not feel that, in justice to himself and his other children, he could afford the money to send Ulysses to college.

The father of General Grant, in an account of his childhood published in the New York Ledger^ gives the following interesting narrative.

"The leading passion of Ulysses, almost from the time he could go alone, was for horses. The first time he ever drove a horse alone, he was about seven and a half years old. I had gone away from home, to Ripley, twelve miles oft'. I went in the monaing, and did not get back until night. I owned, at the time, a three-year old colt, which had been ridden under the saddle to carry the mail, but had never had a collar on. While I was gone, Ulysses got the colt and put a collar and the harness on him, and hitched him up to a sled. Then he put a single line on to him, and drove off, and loaded up the sled with brush, and came back again. He kept at it, hauling successive loads, all day ; and, when I came home at night, he had a pile of brush as big as a cabin.

"At about ten years of age he used to drive a pair of horses alone, from Georgetown, where we lived, forty miles, to Cincinnati, and bring back a load of passengers.

" When Ulysses was a boy, if a circus or any show came along, in which there was a call for somebody to come forwaixl and ride a pony, he was always the one to present himself, and whatever he undertook to ride he rode. This practice he kept up until he got to be so large that he was ashamed to ride a pony.

"Once, when he was a boy, a show came along in which there was a mischievous pony, trained to go round the ring like lightning, and he was expected to throw any boy that attemjDted to ride him.

"'Will any boy come forward and ride this pony?' shouted the ring master.

"Ulysses stepped forward, and mounted the pony. The performance began. Round and round and round the ring went the pony, faster and faster, making the greatest effort to dismount the rider, but Ulysses sat as steady as if he had grown to the pony's back. Presently out came a large monkey, and sprang up behind Ulysses. The people set up a great shout of laughter, and on the pony ran; but it all produced no effect on the rider. Then the ring-master made the monkey jump up on to Ulysses'

shoulders, standing with his feet on his shoulders, and with his hands holding on to his hair. At this there was another and a still louder shout, but not a muscle of Ulysses' face moved. There was not a tremor of his nerves. A few more rounds, and the ring-master gave it up; he had come across a boy that the pony and the monkey both could not dismount."

It appears that when he was twelve years of age, his father sent him to a neighboring farmer, a Mr. Ralston, to close the bargain for a horse which he was wishing to purchase. Before Ulysses started, his father said to him, —

"You can tell Mr. Ralston that I have sent you to buy the horse, and that I will give him fifty dollars for it. If he will not take that, you may oflfer him fifty-five; and I should be willing to go as high as sixty, rather than not get the horse."

This is essentially an old story, probably having a mere foundation in fact; but the peculiarity in this case was, that when Ralston asked Ulysses directly, "How much did your father say you might give for the horse?" he did not know how to prevaricate, but replied, honestly and emphatically, —