MILITARY

AND

ESSAYS

RECOLLECTIONS.

RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL U. S. GRANT.

IN

1861-1863.

By AUGUSTUS L. CHETLAIN.

[Read December 2, 1885.]

N the spring of 1860, soon after my return from Europe to Galena, Illinois, where I had resided for over a quarter of a century, I met for the first time. ULYSSES S. GRANT, an ex-captain of the United States Army. He was then employed as salesman and collector by the firm of J. R. Grant and Company, wholesale and retail dealers in leather, his father being the senior member of the firm. This position he had recently taken in place of his brother, Simpson Grant, who had been incapacitated by sickness, and who died the year after. Captain Grant's family, consisting of his wife and four children, was brought with him from St. Louis, Mo., where he had resided some six years after leaving the regular army. He lived in an unpretentious but comfortable house, in a respectable though not central part of the town. His salary as clerk was small, and barely sufficed for the support of his family, practising, as it did, the strictest economy. He led a quiet life, and was little disposed to make the acquaintance of his fellowcitizens, but was highly esteemed by all who knew him.

With his family, he regularly attended services at the Methodist Episcopal Church. A ready and very interesting talker, he entertained his intimate friends and neighbors by the hour, in relating his personal experiences in the Mexican War, and when stationed for years after on the Pacific Coast. He was not an active politician, but took a deep interest in all the political issues before the country. Although a Whig in early life, he supported Mr. Buchanan for President, but became a Free-Soil Democrat before the end of his administration. He took little part in the exciting political campaign of 1860, but favored the election of Senator Stephen A. Douglas for President, and would have voted for him. had his time of residence in Illinois permitted.

On the evening of the 16th of April, 1861, — four days after the firing on Fort Sumter, a mass-meeting was held in the Court House at Galena to discuss the situation and the advisability of raising at once one or more companies of volunteers to aid in the suppression of the Rebellion, in response to the call of the President of the United States for seventy-five thousand volunteers for three months' service. The Court House was packed with excited citizens. Captain Grant was present, and took a deep interest in the proceedings. The Mayor of the city, a Democrat, was chosen to preside at the meeting. Upon taking the chair, in a brief speech he gave expression to anti-war sentiments, and favored compromise and peace. Indescribable confusion followed, and a motion was made that he vacate the chair. The chairman begged permission to be heard, and said in explanation that he had understood the meeting had been called to discuss the situation, and he had given expression to his own views and opinions; but as they were evidently not those of the meeting, he would leave the chair. After some discussion it was agreed that he continue to preside. The Hon. E. B. Washburne, Member of Congress from that district, who was present, and who was

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one of the leading spirits in this war movement, of fered the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted amid great excitement and cheering:

1. That we will support the Government of the United States in the performance of all its constitutional duties in this great crisis, and will assist it to maintain the integrity of the American flag whenever and wherever assailed.

2. That we recommend the immediate formation of two military companies in this city, to respond to any call that may be made by the Governor of the State.

3. That having lived under the Stars and Stripes, by the blessing of God we propose to die under them.

Spirited and patriotic addresses were made by the mover of the resolutions, and by John A. Rawlins, a Galena lawyer, who had been an elector on the Douglas ticket the year before, and who subsequently became a major-general of volunteers and Secretary of War; by B. B. Howard, a Breckenridge Democrat and postmaster, afterward a captain in the volunteer service; by the Hon. Charles S. Hempstead, and others. The meeting adjourned, with the wildest enthusiasm and hearty cheers for the Union. The above gives but a faint idea of the intense war feeling that pervaded the entire North at the beginning of the war.

The excitement after the meeting continued unabated; and on the evening of the 18th another meeting was. held at the same place, for the purpose of raising a military company. Captain Grant was chosen to preside; and on taking the chair, he briefly, and not without embarrassment, stated the object of the meeting.1

1 General Grant, in his "Memoirs" (vol. i. p. 230), alludes to a war meeting held in Galena in April, 1861, at which he presided. There were two meetings held, and he presided at the second. The remark afterward reported to him as having been made by Mr. Washburne on coming to the meeting after it had been organized, — namely, that he had expressed “a little surprise that Galena could not furnish a presiding officer for such an occasion without taking a stranger," has no foundation in fact. On the afternoon preceding the evening on which the second meeting was held,

Earnest and eloquent appeals to the patriotism of the audience were made by the Hon. E. B. Washburne, and by John A. Rawlins. I followed briefly, offering to enlist for the war. Volunteers were called for, and I was the first to respond and to sign the roll. This enlistment. proved to be the first in the Northwest, outside of the City of Chicago. Wallace Campbell, afterward a colonel of volunteers, and J. Bates Dickson, later in the war captain and assistant adjutant-general on General Rosecrans' staff, followed, with some twenty-five others. The next day Captain Grant, with Rawlins and Rowley (the last-named afterward aid and military secretary to General Grant), proceeded to the village of Hanover, fifteen miles south of Galena, and held an evening meeting, when Captain Grant made a brief but earnest address, followed by Rawlins. Captain Grant told the writer, some time afterward, that it was the first time he had ever attempted to make a speech. recruits were obtained at this meeting. Dickson went to Dunleith, twelve miles and recruited nearly as many more men. of the men who had enlisted the evening before, I canvassed the city and its vicinity. The next morning we found we had over eighty men, and proceeded to organize the company by the election of officers. The captaincy of the company was offered to Captain Grant, who declined it on the ground that having been a captain in the regular army he ought to have something better. I was then elected captain, and Campbell and Dickson. first and second lieutenants respectively. Recruiting continued, and by the evening of the next day the company was full.

Some twelve Campbell and west of Galena, With the aid

Mr. Washburne met me on the street and suggested the propriety of putting Captain Grant in the chair at the evening meeting, as he had served in the army. I agreed with him. Mr. Washburne was present when the meeting was organized, and it was on his motion that the Captain took the chair and presided.

The company, then called the "Jo Daviess Guards," was accepted by the Governor, and after consulting with him it was decided to uniform it at once. Two leading clothing houses of the city took the contract to furnish the company with uniforms in four days. Captain Grant kindly offered to superintend the work, to which he gave nearly all his time. While waiting for the uniforms, the company was not idle. It was divided into squads, and drilled daily in marching, facings, etc., the men using. pine laths for guns. Captain Grant volunteered to assist in drilling the company, and did so several times.

On the afternoon of the 25th, the company left Galena for Springfield, the place of rendezvous for all the troops raised and accepted by the State under President Lincoln's call. The excitement in the town and surrounding country was intense, and thousands of people assembled to witness our departure. Captain Grant modestly joined the company on its march through the narrow streets of the town to the railroad station, carrying in his hand a small carpet-bag, and accompanied us to Springfield. He had with him a letter from Mr. Washburne to Governor Yates, which stated that the bearer was a graduate of West Point, had served with distinction as a lieutenant in the Mexican War and afterward as a captain on the Pacific Coast, and recommending him for appointment to some position in the volunteer service where his military education and experience in the army would make him useful to the State and country. On his arrival at Springfield, Captain Grant, who was plainly if not poorly clad in citizen's clothes, presented his letter to the Governor, who after reading it looked at him critically, and with apparent indifference said that he did not know of anything he could give him then, but that the AdjutantGeneral (Colonel Mather) might have some employment for him in his office, and that he might call again. He called the next day, and was introduced to the AdjutantGeneral, who after some conversation said he knew of no