Stories of Later American History

But in spite of this bitter opposition in the South, Congress passed the high-tariff law in 1828, and another in 1832.

The people of South Carolina were indignant. So, under the guidance of Calhoun, some of the leading men there met in convention and declared: “We here and now nullify the tariff laws.” By these words they meant that the laws should not be carried out in South Carolina. Then they added: “If the United States Government tries to enforce these laws on our soil, South Carolina will go out of the Union and form a separate nation.”

Andrew Jackson was at that time President of the United States. Although he himself did not favor a high tariff, he was firm in his purpose that whatever law Congress might pass should be enforced in every State in the Union. When the news came to him of what South Carolina had done, he was quietly smoking his corn-cob pipe. In a flash of anger he declared: “The Union! It must and shall be preserved! Send for General Scott!” General Scott was commander of the United States army, and “Old Hickory,” as President Jackson was proudly called by many of his admirers, was ready to use the army and the navy, if necessary, to force any State to obey the law.

In this bitter controversy Daniel Webster, then senator from Massachusetts, had taken a bold stand for the Union. He said: “Congress passed the tariff law for the whole country. If the Supreme Court decides that Congress has the power, according to the Constitution, to pass such a law, that settles the matter. South Carolina and every other State must submit to this and every other law which Congress sees fit to make.”

This shows clearly that Daniel Webster’s belief was that the Union stood first and the State second. His deep love for the Union breathes all through his masterly speeches, the most famous of which is his “Reply to Hayne.” Hayne, a senator from South Carolina, was on the side of the South and set forth its views in a public debate. He had declared that the State was first and the Union second, and so powerful seemed his arguments that many doubted whether even Daniel Webster could answer them.

But he did answer them. In a remarkable speech of four hours he held his listeners spellbound, while he argued, with wonderful eloquence and power, that the Union was supreme over the States.

Again the great peacemaker, Henry Clay, brought forward a plan of settling the trouble between the two sections. By this compromise the duties were to be gradually lowered. This plan was adopted by Congress (1833), and again there was peace for a time.

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

The next dangerous outbreak between the North and the South came at the end of the Mexican War. Then arose the burning question: “Shall the territory we have acquired from Mexico be free or open to slavery?” Of course, the North wanted it to be free; the South wanted it to be open to slavery.

Henry Clay tried again, as he had tried twice before—in 1820 and in 1833—to pour oil upon the troubled waters. Although he was now an old man of seventy-two and in poor health, he spoke seventy times in his powerful, persuasive way, to bring about the Compromise of 1850, which he hoped would establish harmony between the North and the South and save the Union.

On one occasion when he was to speak he had to enter the Capitol leaning upon the arm of a friend, because he was too weak to climb the steps alone. After entering the Senate Chamber that day, the great speech he made was so long that his friends, fearing fatal results, urged him to stop. But he refused. Later he said that he did not dare to stop for fear he should never be able to begin again.

Calhoun was no less ready to do all he could. Early in March, 1850, the white-haired man, now in his sixty-eighth year and, like Clay, struggling with illness, went to the Senate Chamber, swathed in flannels, to make his last appeal in behalf of the slaveholders. The powerful speech he made, which was intended as a warning to the North, expressed the deep and sincere conviction of the aged statesman that the break-up of the Union was at hand. He made a strong plea that the agitation against slavery should stop, and that the South, which, he said, was the weaker section, should be treated fairly by her stronger antagonist, the North.

Having made this last supreme effort in defense of the section which he loved as he loved his own life, the pro-slavery veteran, supported by two of his friends, passed out of the Senate Chamber.

But in spite of Calhoun’s opposition, the Compromise of 1850 passed. “Let California come in as a free State,” it said. This pleased the North. “Let the people in all the rest of the territory which we got from Mexico decide for themselves whether they shall have slavery or freedom.” This pleased the South. It also adopted the Fugitive Slave Law, which said: “When slaves run away from the South into the Northern States, they shall be returned to their masters; and when Northern people are called upon to help to capture them, they shall do so.”

A month after his speech on this compromise Calhoun died. The last twenty years of his life had been largely devoted to trying to secure what he regarded as the rights of the slaveholders and of the whole South. He was honest in his views. He was also sincere in his convictions that the South was not receiving fair treatment from the North.

Henry Clay also died in 1852. Some of the qualities that gave him his rare power over men were his magical voice, which was so deep and melodious that many people of his time said it was the finest musical instrument they had ever heard; his cheerful nature, which made him keenly enjoy life and delight to see others enjoy it; and above all else his never-swerving sincerity and honesty, which commanded the respect and confidence of all who knew him. Men believed that Henry Clay was a true man. His popularity grew in strength as he grew in years. His many followers proudly called him “Gallant Harry of the West.”

Webster’s power as an orator was still more remarkable. His voice was wonderful, his style was forceful, and his language was simple and direct. But after all, it was his striking personal appearance which made the deepest impression upon the men and women who heard him speak. It is told that one day when he was walking through a street of Liverpool, a navvy said of him: “That must be a king!” On another occasion Sydney Smith exclaimed: “Good heavens, he is a small cathedral by himself!” He was nearly six feet tall. He had a massive head, a broad, deep brow, and great, coal-black eyes, which once seen could never be forgotten.

He, too, was faithful in his devotion to his country. To the day of his death he showed his deep affection for the flag, the emblem of that Union which had inspired his noblest efforts. During the last two weeks of his life he was troubled much with sleeplessness. While through his open window he gazed at the starlit sky, his eyes would sometimes fall upon a small boat belonging to him, which floated near the shore not far away. By his direction a ship lantern had been so placed that its light would fall upon the stars and stripes flying there. At six in the evening the flag was raised and was kept flying until six in the morning up to the day of Webster’s death.

He died in September, 1852, only a few weeks after his great compeer, Henry Clay. His was a master spirit, and the sorrow of his passing was well expressed by the stranger who said, when he looked at the face of the dead: “Daniel Webster, the world without you will be lonesome.”

Some Things to Think About

1. What can you tell about the early life of John C. Calhoun? Of Henry Clay? Of Daniel Webster?

2. Why was Clay called “the Great Peacemaker”?

3. Why were the people of South Carolina opposed to the high tariff laws of 1828 and 1832?

4. What was Webster’s idea of the Union, and in what way did it differ from Hayne’s?

5. What was the Missouri Compromise? What was the Compromise of 1850?

6. What do you admire about each of the three great statesmen?

7. Are you making frequent use of your maps?

CHAPTER XVI

THE CIVIL WAR

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN

It was thought by many that the Compromise of 1850 would put an end to the bitter and violent feeling over the spread of slavery, but it did not. For in the North the opposition to its extension into new States became so powerful that in five years there had grown up a great political party—the Republican party—whose main purpose was to oppose the spread of slavery.

One of its ablest and most inspiring leaders was Abraham Lincoln. He was born in a rough cabin in Kentucky, February 12, 1809. When he was seven years old, the family moved to Indiana, and settled about eighteen miles north of the Ohio River. The journey to their new home was very tedious and lonely, for in some places they had to cut a roadway through the forest. It took them three days to travel the last eighteen miles.

Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously to work to provide a shelter against the winter. The seven-year old boy was healthy, rugged, and active, and from early morning till late evening he worked with his father, chopping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their “camp,” the rude shelter in which they were to live until spring.

This “camp” was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square and open on one side. It was built of poles lying one upon another and had a thatched roof of boughs and leaves. As there was no chimney, there could be no fire within the enclosure, and it was necessary to keep one burning all the time just in front of the open side.

During this first winter in the wild woods of Indiana the little boy must have lived a very busy life. There was much to do in building the cabin which was to take the place of the “camp,” and in cutting down trees and making a clearing for the corn-planting of the coming spring.

After spending the winter in the “camp,” the Lincoln family, in the following spring, moved into the newly built log cabin. This had no windows, and no floor except the bare earth. There was an opening on one side, which was used as a doorway, but there was no door, nor was there so much as an animal’s skin to keep out the rain or the snow or to protect the family from the cold wind.

In this rough abode the rude and simple furniture was very much like what we have already seen in the cabins of the Tennessee settlers. For chairs there was the same kind of three-legged stools, made by smoothing the flat side of a split log and putting sticks into auger holes underneath. The tables were as simply made, except that they stood on four legs instead of three. The crude bedsteads in the corners of the cabin were made by sticking poles in between the logs at right angles to the wall, the outside corner where the poles met being supported by a crotched stick driven into the ground. Ropes were then stretched from side to side, making a framework upon which shucks and leaves were heaped for bedding, and over all were thrown the skins of wild animals for a covering. Pegs driven into the wall served as a stairway to the loft, where there was another bed of leaves. Here little Abe slept.

Abraham Lincoln’s schooling was brief—not more than a year in all, and the schools he attended were like those we became acquainted with in the early settlements of Kentucky and Tennessee. During his last school-days he had to go daily a distance of four and one-half miles from his home, with probably no roadway except the deer path through the forest. His midday lunch was a corn dodger, which he carried in his pocket.

In spite of this meagre schooling however, the boy, by his self-reliance, resolute purpose, and good reading habits, acquired the very best sort of training for his future life. He had no books at his home, and, of course, there were but few to be had in that wild country from other homes. But among those he read over and over again, while a boy, were the Bible, “Æsop’s Fables,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “Pilgrim’s Progress,” “A History of the United States,” and Weems’s “Life of Washington,” all books of the right kind.

His stepmother said of him: “He read everything he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage that struck him, he would write it down on boards, if he had no paper, and keep it before him until he could get paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to memory, and repeat it.”

When night came he would find a seat in the corner by the fireside, or stretch out at length on the floor in front of it, and by the firelight write, or work sums in arithmetic, on a wooden shovel, using a charred stick for a pencil. After covering the shovel, he would shave it off and use the surface over again.

The way in which he came to own a “Life of Washington” is interesting. Having borrowed the book, he took it to bed with him in the loft and read until his candle gave out. Then, before going to sleep, he tucked the book into a crevice of the logs in order that he might have it at hand as soon as daylight would permit him to read the next morning. But during the night a storm came up, and the rain beat in upon the book, wetting it through and through. With heavy heart Lincoln took it back to its owner, who gave it to him on condition that he would work three days to pay for it. Eagerly agreeing to do this, the boy carried his new possession home in triumph. This book had a marked influence over his future.

But his time for reading was limited, for until he was twenty his father hired him out to do all sorts of work, at which he sometimes earned six dollars a month and sometimes thirty-one cents a day. Money was always sorely needed in that household, the poor farm yielding only a small return for much hard work. For this reason, just before Abraham Lincoln came of age, his family, with all their possessions packed in a cart drawn by four oxen, moved again toward the West. For two weeks they travelled across the country into Illinois, and finally made a new home on the banks of the Sangamon River.

On reaching the end of the journey (in the spring of 1830), Abraham helped to build a log cabin and to clear ten acres of land for planting. This was the last work he did for his father, as he was now some months over twenty-one and was quite ready to go out into the world and work for himself. When he left his father’s house he had nothing, not even a good suit of clothes, and one of the first things he did was to split rails for enough brown jeans to make him a pair of trousers. As he was six feet four inches tall, three and one-half yards were needed! For these he split 1400 rails.

At times throughout life he was subject to deep depression, which made his face unspeakably sad. But as a rule he was cheerful and merry, and on account of his good stories, which he told with rare skill, he was in great demand in social gatherings and at the crossroads grocery store. He was a giant in strength and a skilful wrestler. This helped to make him popular.

For some months after leaving his father’s home Lincoln worked in the neighborhood, most of the time as a farmhand and rail-splitter. But he desired something different. From time to time he had watched the boats carrying freight up and down the river and had wondered where the vessels were going. Eager to learn about the life outside his narrow world, he determined to become a boatman. As soon as he could, therefore, he found employment on a flatboat that carried corn, hogs, hay, and other farm produce down to New Orleans.

But tiring at length of the long journeys, he became clerk in a village store at New Salem, Illinois. Many stories are told of Lincoln’s honesty in his dealings with the people in this village store. It is said that on one occasion a woman, in making change, overpaid him the trifling sum of six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake he walked three miles and back that night to give the woman her money.

In less than a year the closing of this village store left him without employment, and after this he had a varied experience, first in a grocery store of his own, next as postmaster in New Salem, and then as a surveyor.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND SLAVERY

After many trials at various occupations, he decided at last to become a lawyer, and after being admitted to the bar, he opened an office at Springfield, Illinois. He succeeded well in his chosen profession, and also took a keen interest in the larger affairs of his community and State.

In this wider field of action certain qualities of mind and heart greatly aided him. For, in spite of scant learning, he was a good public speaker and skilful debater, because he thought clearly and convinced those who heard him of his honesty and high purpose. Such a man is certain to win his way in the world. In due time he was elected to Congress, where his interest in various public questions, especially that of slavery, became much quickened.

On this question his clear head and warm heart united in forming strong convictions that had great weight with the people. He continued to grow in political favor and, in 1858, received the nomination of the Republican party for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas, known as the “Little Giant,” on account of his short stature and powerful eloquence as an orator.

The debates between the two men, preceding the election, were followed with keen interest all over the country. Lincoln argued with great power against the spread of slavery into the new States, and although he lost the election, he won such favorable notice that two years later a greater honor came to him. In 1860, the Republican National Convention, which met at Chicago, nominated him as its candidate for President, and a few months later he was elected to that office.

The agitation over slavery was growing more and more bitter, and when Lincoln was elected some of the Southern States threatened to go out of the Union. They claimed that it was their right to decide for themselves whether they should secede. On the other hand, the North declared that no State could secede without the consent of the other States.

Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern States had carried out their threat to secede, calling themselves the Confederate States of America.^** Jefferson Davis was chosen president and Alexander H. Stephens vice-president. The seven cotton States hoped that they would be joined by the other eight slave States, but only four of these eight seceded. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained loyal to the Union. The excitement everywhere was intense. Many people regretted that a man of larger experience than Lincoln had not been chosen to be at the head of the government. They were anxious lest this plain man of the people, this awkward backwoodsman, should not be able to lead the nation in those dark and troubled days. But, little as they trusted him, he was well fitted for the work that lay before him.

His inauguration was but a few weeks over when the Civil War began. We cannot here pause for full accounts of all Lincoln’s trials and difficulties in this fearful struggle. During those four fateful years, 1861-1865, his burdens were almost overwhelming. But, like Washington, he believed that “right makes might” and must prevail, and this belief sustained him.

Although his whole nature revolted against slavery, he had no power to do away with it in the States where it existed, for by his office he was sworn to defend the Constitution. “My great purpose,” he said, “is to save the Union, and not to destroy slavery.”

But as the war went on he became certain that the slaves, by remaining on the plantations and producing food for the Southern soldiers, were aiding the Southern cause. He therefore determined to set the slaves free in all the territory where people were fighting to break up the Union, just as far as it was conquered by Union troops. “As commander-in-chief of the Union armies,” he reasoned, “I have a right to do this as a war measure.” The famous state paper in which Lincoln declared that such slaves were free was called the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863).

This freeing of a part of the slaves not only hastened the end of the war but led, after its close, to the final emancipation of all the slaves. We should remember that the man who did most to bring about this result was Abraham Lincoln, whose name has gone down in history as the great emancipator.

Passing over the events of the war, which we shall consider later in connection with its great generals, let us look ahead two years.

On April 9, 1865, General Lee, as we shall see a little later, surrendered his army to General Grant at Appomattox Court House. By this act the war was brought to a close, and there was great rejoicing everywhere.

But suddenly the universal joy was changed into universal sorrow, for a shocking thing happened. Five days after Lee’s surrender, Lincoln went with his wife and friends to see a play at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington. In the midst of the play, a Southern actor, John Wilkes Booth, who was familiar with the theatre, entered the President’s box, shot him in the back of the head, jumped to the stage, and rushed through the wings to the street. There he mounted a horse in waiting for him and escaped, soon, however, to be hunted down and killed in a barn where he lay in hiding.

The martyr President lingered during the long hours of the sad night, tenderly watched by his family and a few friends. When, on the following morning, he breathed his last, Secretary Stanton said with truth: “Now he belongs to the ages.”

The people deeply mourned the loss of him who had wisely and bravely led them through four years of heavy trial and anxiety. We are all richer because of the life of Abraham Lincoln, our countryman, our teacher, our guide, and our friend. And the loss to the South was even greater than to the North. For he was not only just but also kind and sympathetic; and only he could have saved the South from its calamities for years afterward.

ROBERT E. LEE

Having followed a few of the leading events in the remarkable career of our martyr President, let us turn our thoughts to the Civil War, through which it was Lincoln’s great work to guide us, as a nation. It was a struggle that tested the manhood, quite as much as the resources, of the warring sections, and each side might well be proud of the bravery and skill of its officers and soldiers. Certainly each side had among its generals some of the greatest military leaders of all time.

One of the ablest generals commanding the Confederate troops was Robert E. Lee. He was born in Virginia, January 19, 1807, his father being the Revolutionary general known as “Light-Horse Harry.” Although the records of his boyhood days are scanty, we know that when little Robert was about four years old the Lees removed from Stratford to Alexandria, in order to educate their children. Here the boy was prepared for West Point Academy, which he entered when he was eighteen. At this military school he made such a good record as a student that he was graduated second in his class.

Two years later he married Miss Custis, who was a great-granddaughter of Mrs. George Washington, and through this marriage he shared with his wife the control of large property, which included plantations and a number of slaves.

Immediately after leaving West Point, he entered the army as an engineer, and during the Mexican War distinguished himself for his skill and bravery. A few years later (1852), he was appointed superintendent of West Point Academy, where he remained three years.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he was so highly esteemed as an officer in the United States army, that he would have been appointed commander of the Union armies if he had been willing to accept the position. He loved the Union, and was opposed to secession, but when Virginia, his native State, seceded he felt that it was his duty to go with her.

His struggle in making the decision was a painful one, as was made plain in a letter he wrote to a sister, then living in Baltimore. “With all my devotion to the Union,” he said, “and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought right.”

Soon after he decided that he must go with Virginia in the great struggle which was to follow, he accepted the command of the Virginia State forces, and within a year from that time became military adviser of Jefferson Davis, who was President of the Confederacy.

In 1862, the second year of the war, Lee took command of the leading Confederate army in Virginia. General McClellan, who commanded a large Union army, had been trying to capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederate States. After fighting a series of battles, he approached so close to Richmond that his soldiers could see the spires of the churches. But as the city was strongly fortified he retreated to the James River. During this retreat, which lasted a week, were fought what were known as the “Seven Days’ Battles.”

Having thus saved Richmond from capture, Lee marched north into Maryland, expecting the people to rise and join his forces. But they were loyal to the Union and refused. The terrible battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg was fought (September, 1862), and Lee was obliged to retreat to Virginia.

A few months later (December, 1862), Lee repulsed an attack of the Union army at Fredericksburg with fearful slaughter, and in the following May he won a victory at Chancellorsville.

“STONEWALL” JACKSON

In all these battles Lee’s most effective helper was General Thomas J. Jackson, “Stonewall” Jackson, as he was called. Jackson won his nickname at the battle of Bull Run. One of the Confederate generals, who was trying to hearten his retreating men, cried out to them: “See, there is Jackson, standing like a stone wall! Rally round the Virginians!” From that hour of heroism he was known as Stonewall Jackson, and for his bravery in this battle he was made a major-general. He was such a stubborn fighter, and so furious in his enthusiasm that “his soldiers marched to death when he bade them. What was even harder, they marched at the double-quick through Virginia mud, without shoes, without food, without sleep.” They cheerfully did his bidding because they loved him. The sight of his old uniform and scrawny sorrel horse always stirred the hearts of his followers.

Jackson was a deeply religious man. In spirit he was so much of a Puritan that it caused him great regret to march or to fight on a Sunday.

He was devoted to Lee and placed the greatest confidence in him. “He is the only man I would follow blindfold,” he said, and on his death-bed he exclaimed: “Better that ten Jacksons should fall than one Lee!”

Stonewall Jackson was shot at the battle of Chancellorsville, but not by the enemy. He and his escort had ridden out beyond his line of battle, when, being mistaken for the enemy, they were fired upon by some of their own soldiers, and Jackson was mortally wounded. His death was a great loss to the Southern army.

J.E.B. STUART

Another of General Lee’s very able helpers was General Stuart. He wrote his name J.E.B. Stuart. So his admirers called him “Jeb.”

He was absolutely fearless. “He would attack anything anywhere,” and he inspired his men with the same zeal. He was noted for falling into dangerous situations and then cleverly getting himself out. His men were used to this. They trusted him completely and without question. They loved him, too, for his good comradeship. For although he preserved the strictest discipline, he frolicked with his officers like a boy, playing at snowballs, or marbles, or whatever they chose, and enjoying it all heartily.

He was so fond of gay, martial music that he kept his banjo-player, Sweeney, always with him, and worked in his tent to the cheerful accompaniment of his favorite songs, now and then leaning back to laugh and join in the choruses.

His gay spirit found expression also in the clothes he wore. Listen to this description of him: “His fighting jacket shone with dazzling buttons and was covered with gold braid; his hat was looped up with a golden star and decorated with a black ostrich plume; his fine buff gauntlets reached to the elbow; around his waist was tied a splendid yellow sash, and his spurs were pure gold.” These spurs, of which he was immensely proud, were a gift from Baltimore women. His battle-flag was a gorgeous red one, which he insisted upon keeping with him, although it often drew the enemy’s fire.

Stuart was very proud of his men and their pluck. He knew by name every man in the first brigade.

It was his strong desire that he might meet his death while leading a cavalry charge, and he had his wish. For he was struck down near Richmond, in 1864, while he was leading an attack against Sheridan.

He died when he was only thirty-one, deeply mourned by all his men.

GETTYSBURG

But to return to General Lee. After winning the two important battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, he decided that he would again invade the North (1863). He believed that a great victory north of the Potomac River might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and Washington and thus end the war.

Having marched boldly into Pennsylvania, he met the Union army, under General Meade, at the little town of Gettysburg, not far from the southern border of the State. There for three days the most terrible battle of the war, and in its results, one of the greatest battles of all history, took place. After three days of fighting, in which the loss on both sides was fearful, Lee was defeated and forced to retreat to Virginia.

The defeat of Lee’s army at Gettysburg was a crushing blow to the hopes of the South. Lee himself felt this to be true. And, grieving over the heavy loss of his men in the famous Pickett’s Charge, he said to one of his generals: “All this has been my fault. It is I that have lost this fight, and you must help me out of it the best you can.”

But even in the face of this defeat his officers and soldiers still trusted their commander. They said: “Uncle Robert will get us into Washington yet.”

But the surrender of another division of the army, fighting far away on the Mississippi River, added defeat to defeat. For the day following the battle of Gettysburg, General Grant captured Vicksburg, the greatest Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. The South could no longer hope for victory.

ULYSSES S. GRANT

Before going on with the story of the war, let us pause for a little in order to catch a glimpse of Ulysses S. Grant, the remarkable man who was the greatest general that the North produced throughout the war.

He was born in a humble dwelling at Point Pleasant, Ohio, in April, 1822. The year following his birth the family removed to Georgetown, Ohio, where they lived many years.

The father of Ulysses was a farmer and manufacturer of leather. The boy did not like the leather business, but he did like work on the farm. When only seven years old, he hauled all the wood which was needed in the home and at the leather factory from the forest, a mile from the village.

From the age of eleven to seventeen, according to his own story as told in his “Personal Memoirs,” he ploughed the soil, cultivated the growing corn and potatoes, sawed fire-wood, and did any other work a farmer boy might be expected to do. He had his good times also, fishing, swimming in the creek not far from his home, driving about the country, and skating with other boys.

He liked horses, and early became a skilful rider. A story is told of him which indicates not only that he was a good horseman, but that he had “bulldog grit” as well. One day when he was at a circus, the manager offered a silver dollar to any one who could ride a certain mule around the ring. Several persons, one after the other, mounted the animal, only to be thrown over its head. Young Ulysses was among those who offered to ride, but, like the others, he failed. Then, pulling off his coat, he got on the animal again. Putting his legs firmly around the mule’s body and seizing it by the tail, Ulysses rode in triumph around the ring amid the cheers of the crowd.

Although he cared little for study, his father wished to give him all the advantages of a good education and secured for him an appointment to West Point. After graduating, he wished to leave the army and become an instructor in mathematics at his alma mater. But, as the Mexican War broke out about that time, he entered active service. Soon he gave striking evidence of that fearless bravery for which he was later to become noted on the battle-fields of the Civil War.

At the close of the Mexican War, Grant resigned from the army and engaged in farming and business until the outbreak of the Civil War.

With the news that the Southern troops had fired on the flag at Fort Sumter, Grant’s patriotism was aroused. Without delay he rejoined the army and at once took an active part in getting ready for the war. First as colonel, and then as brigadier-general, he led his troops, and his powers as a leader quickly developed.

The first of his achievements was the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, in Tennessee, the centre of a strong Confederate line of defense. At Fort Donelson he received the surrender of nearly fifteen thousand prisoners, and by his great victory compelled the Confederates to abandon two of their important strongholds, Columbus and Nashville.

After the loss of Fort Donelson the Confederates fell back to a second line of defense and took position at Corinth. General Grant’s army was at Pittsburg Landing, eighteen miles away; not far off was the village of Shiloh, from which the battle is now generally named. Here, early on Sunday morning (April 6, 1862), Grant was attacked by Johnston, and his men were driven back a mile and a half toward the river.

It was a fearful battle, lasting until nearly dark. Not until after midnight was Grant able to rest, and then, sitting in the rain, with his back against the foot of a tree, he slept a few hours before the renewal of battle on Monday morning. With reinforcements he was able on the second day to drive the enemy off the field and win a signal victory.

By this battle Grant broke the Confederates’ second line of defense. Although they fought bravely and well to prevent the Union troops from getting control of the Mississippi River, by the close of 1862 the South had lost every stronghold on the river except Port Hudson and Vicksburg.

Vicksburg was so strongly defended that the Confederates believed that it could not be taken. A resolute effort to capture it was made by General Grant in 1863. After a brilliant campaign of strategy, by which he got around the defenses, he laid siege to the city itself. For seven weeks the Confederate army held out. During that time the people of Vicksburg sought refuge from the enemy’s shells in caves and cellars, their only food at times consisting of rats and mule flesh. But on July 4, 1863, the day after General Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg, Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. Four days later Port Hudson, some distance below, was captured, and thus the last stronghold of the Mississippi came under control of the North.

General Grant had become the hero of the Northern army. His success was in no small measure due to his dogged perseverance. While his army was laying siege to Vicksburg, a Confederate woman, at whose door he stopped to ask for a drink of water, inquired whether he expected ever to capture Vicksburg. “Certainly,” he replied. “But when?” was the next question. Quickly came the answer: “I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town, but I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me thirty years.”

General Grant having by his capture of Vicksburg won the confidence of the people, President Lincoln, in 1864, put him in command of all the Union armies of the East and the West. In presenting the new commission, Lincoln addressed him in these words: “As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you.”

WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN

In the spring of that year the Confederates had two large armies in the field. One of them, under General Lee, was defending Richmond. The other, under General Joseph E. Johnston, was in Tennessee, defending the Confederate cause in that region. General Grant’s plan was to send General Sherman, in whom he had great confidence, against General Johnston, with orders to capture Atlanta, which was now the workshop and storehouse of the Confederacy. Grant himself was to march against Lee and capture Richmond. The two great watchwords were: “On to Atlanta!” and “On to Richmond!”

Early in May both Grant and Sherman began their campaigns. Starting from Chattanooga, in Tennessee, Sherman began to crowd Johnston toward Atlanta. In order to keep his line of supplies open from Nashville Sherman kept his army close to the railroad, and to hinder him as much as possible, the Confederates sent back bodies of troops to the rear of the Union army to tear up the railroads. But so quickly were they rebuilt by Sherman’s men that the Confederates used to say: “Sherman must carry a railroad on his back.” His advance was slow but steady, and on September 2 he captured Atlanta.

A little later Sherman started on his famous march “From Atlanta to the Sea,” with the purpose of weakening the Confederate armies by destroying their supplies and their railroads in Southern Georgia. His army marched in four columns, covering a belt of territory sixty miles wide. Four days before Christmas he captured Savannah and sent to President Lincoln the famous telegram: “I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition; also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton.” Sherman’s “March to the Sea” was a wonderful achievement.

Let us make the acquaintance of this remarkable man. He was at this time forty-four. Standing six feet high, with muscles of iron and a military bearing, he gave the impression of having great physical endurance. And no matter whether he was exposed to drenching rain, bitter cold, or burning heat, he never gave signs of fatigue. Many nights he slept only three or four hours, but he was able to fall asleep easily almost anywhere he happened to be, whether lying upon the wet ground or on a hard floor, or even amid the din and roar of muskets and cannon.

In battle he could not sit calmly smoking and looking on, like General Grant. He was too much excited to sit still, and his face reflected his thoughts. Yet his mind was clear and his decisions were rapid.

His soldiers admired him and gave him their unbounded confidence. One of his staff said of him while they were on the “March to the Sea”: “The army has such an abiding faith in its leader that it will go wherever he leads.” At Savannah the soldiers would proudly remark as their general rode by: “There goes the old man. All’s right.”

During the trying experience of this famous march, Sherman’s face grew anxious and care-worn. But behind the care-worn face there were kind and tender feelings, especially for the young. Little children would show their trust in him by clasping him about his knees or by nestling in his arms. While he was in Savannah, large groups of children made a playground of the general’s headquarters and private room, the doors of which were never closed to them.

While General Sherman, in Georgia, was pushing his army “On to Atlanta” and “On to the Sea,” Grant was trying to defeat Lee and capture Richmond. With these aims in view, Grant crossed the Rapidan River and entered the wilderness in direct line for Richmond. Here fighting was stern business. The woods were so gloomy and the underbrush was so thick that the men could not see one another twenty feet away.

Lee’s army furiously contested every foot of the advance. In the terrible battles that followed Grant lost heavily, but he pressed doggedly on, writing to President Lincoln his stubborn resolve: “I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.”

It did take all summer and longer. Moreover, Grant found that he could not possibly capture Richmond from the north. So he crossed the James River and attacked the city from the south. Yet when autumn ended Lee was still holding out, and Grant’s army settled down for the winter.

PHILIP H. SHERIDAN

At this time one of Grant’s most skilful generals and ablest helpers was Philip H. Sheridan, who was a brilliant cavalry leader. As a boy he had a strong liking for books, and especially those which told of war and the lives of daring men. When he read of their brave deeds perhaps he dreamed of the days when he might be a great soldier.

At the time when he came into most prominent notice—in the summer and autumn of 1864—he was only thirty-three years old. He was short, and as he weighed but one hundred and fifteen pounds, he was not at all impressive in appearance, except in the heat of battle, when his personality was commanding and inspiring.