Rosecrans' column. The rebel General Martin is said to be killed."

Grant issued, on the 7th of October, 1862, a congratulatory order to his troops, wherein, after returning his heartfelt thanks, for the victories vouchsafed the Republic on the 3d, 4th, and 5th instant, he says:

"The enemy chose his own time and place of attack, and knowing the troops of the West as he does, and with great facilities for knowing their numbers, never would have made the attempt except with a superior force numerically. But for the undaunted bravery of officers and soldiers, who have yet to learn defeat, the efforts of the enemy must have proven successful.

"While one division of the army, under Major-General Rosecrans, was resisting and repelling the onslaught of the rebel hosts at Corinth, another, from Bolivar, under MajorGeneral Hurlbut, was marching upon the enemy's rear, driving in their pickets and cavalry, and attracting the attention of a large force of infantry and artillery. On the following day, under Major-General Ord, these forces advanced with unsurpassed gallantry, driving the enemy back. across the Hatchie, over ground where it is almost incredible that a superior force should be driven by an inferior, capturing two of the batteries (eight guns), many hundred small arms, and several hundred prisoners.

"As in all great battles, so in this, it becomes our fate to mourn the loss of many brave and faithful officers and soldiers, who have given up their lives as a sacrifice for a great principle. The nation mourns for them."

President Lincoln, when he had received the intelligence from General Grant announcing the victories at Corinth and on the Hatchie, dispatched to him the following congratulations and inquiries:

"I congratulate you and all concerned in your recent battles and victories. How does it all sum up? I especially regret the death of General Hackleman, and am very anxious to know the condition of General Oglesby, who is an intimate personal friend. A. LINCOLN."

The disasters in the East were in part retrieved by these brilliant victories of General Grant in the West, but, as on former occasions, his enemies robbed him of the credit justly due him, and the honors were conferred on others. He did not complain, however, but was happy in the reflection of having done his duty, as a soldier, and been able to contribute something to the welfare of the Republic.

CHAPTER VII.

CHARACTER OF GRANT-HALLECK AND GRANT COMPARED OPENING OF THE
MISSISSIPPI-ADVANCE TO GRAND JUNCTION
JUNCTION-COLONEL LEE'S RAID-
GRANT'S ADMINISTRATIVE ABILITY-HE ESTABLISHES CONTRABAND CAMPS
-SEVERITY OF HIS DISCIPLINE-THE COTTON TRADE-ANECDOTE OF
GRANT GRANT AND THE JEWS-HE REDUCES THE BAGGAGE OF HIS
ARMY-ADVANCE ON VICKSBURG-SURRENDER OF HOLLY SPRINGS-
GRANT FALLS BACK-ORGANIZATION OF HIS ARMY-SHERMAN'S EXPEDI-
TION AGAINST VICKSBURG-REPULSE OF SHERMAN-FULL ACCOUNT OF
THE FIRST ATTACK ON VICKSBURG-CAPTURE OF ARKANSAS POST-GRANT
DETERMINED TO CAPTURE VICKSBURG-HIS TELEGRAM TO HALLECK.

THERE perhaps never was a person so little appreciated. and more misunderstood than General Grant. Notwithstanding he has displayed talents second to no man since the days of Washington, yet there are hundreds of people who know him personally, and tens of thousands that know him by reputation, who do not believe that Grant is really a great man. It was so in the army, and Badeau has given us some little insight to the character of this truly remarkable soldier and citizen. "Grant's extreme simplicity of behavior and directness of expression imposed on various officers above and below him. They thought him a good, plain man, who had blundered into one or two successes, and who, therefore, could not be immediately removed; but they deemed it unnecessary to regard his judgment or count upon his ability. His superiors made their plans, invariably, without consulting him, and his subordinates sometimes sought to carry out their own campaigns in opposition

or indifference to his orders, not doubting that, with their superior intelligence, they could conceive and execute triumphs which would excuse or even vindicate their cause. It is impossible to understand the early history of the war without taking into account that neither the Government nor its important commanders gave Grant credit for intellectual ability or military genius."

"His other qualities were rated low also. Because he was patient, some thought it impossible to provoke him, and because of his calmness it was supposed that he was stolid. In battle or in campaigning he did not seem to care or consider so much what the enemy was doing, as what he himself meant to do; and this trait to enthusiastic, and even brilliant, soldiers appeared inexplicable. A great commander, it was imagined, should be nervous, excitable, inspiring This men and captivating his officers; calling private soldiers by their names; making eloquent addresses in the field, and waving his drawn sword in the battle. Great commanders had done all these things and won, and many men who could do all these things fancied themselves, therefore, great commanders. Others imagined wisdom to consist in science alone; they sought success in learned and elaborate plans, requiring months to develop; and when the enemy was immediately before them, they maneuvered when it was time to fight; they intrenched when they should have attacked, and studied their books when the field should have been their only problem."

Grant was like none of these. If he possessed acquirements he seemed unconscious of them; he made no allusion to schools, and never hesitated to transgress their rules when occasion required or seemed to demand it. So he neither won men's hearts by blandishments, nor effected their imagination by brilliancy of behavior; nor did he seem profound to those who are impressed only by display of

learning. He never looked wise nor pretended to know much about any subject that was brought before him. He listened to the theories of all who came to him, and each one went away proud of his superior judgment, and confident he had impressed and enlightened the stolid and stupid General. Men smiled when great civil questions pressed upon him, and wondered what he would do with them; and when, with easy and happy judgment, he disposed of them, all agreed that it was Grant's luck, and not his wisdom, that had found the solution. From the day when he cut the neutrality knot in Kentucky, by marching his troops to Paducah, down to the hour when he received the sword of Lee, at the Appottomax apple-tree, his military career was one of continued success and surprise to both his friends and foes. And, again, when the President placed him in the War Department, a position every one thought he had no particular ability for, he astonished the country by retrenching at once the expenses of the military establishment in one month, saving the people some millions of money, and so directing the affairs of his office that the nation saw in him one of the ablest war ministers it had ever had. When General Grant dies and his character and career come to be sifted and understood, it will be found that no such man has lived in America since the days of George Washington.

On the 26th of October, 1862, General Grant, who had long been meditating the opening of the Mississippi to the Gulf, communicated what was on his mind to General Halleck, in the following words: "If you would give me some small reënforcements, I think I would be able to move down the Mississippi Central Railroad and cause the evacuation of Vicksburg." This is the first mention we find made in the military dispatches of the place destined afterward to become so famous in the history of the rebellion.