fied.

LIEUTENANT GRANT IN THE MEXICAN WAR.

43

In these works were posted a far superior force of Mexicans; but General Taylor was determined to drive them out of their intrenchments, and succeeded.

The American campaign in Mexico was now about to assume a different phase of character. War had been regularly declared, and a systematized plan of attack was made out. The advance by the northern route was to be made secondary to the grand movement by way of Vera Cruz; and the army and navy, as in the present war, were both to be brought into active use.

The time had come for a great and decisive struggle for victory and peace. The magnificent Mexican capital was to be the goal of the augmented forces under the command of General Scott, who was at the head of the United States army. His fleet came up the bay, March 9, 1847, bringing twelve thousand troops, with streamers flying and bands playing. It was a splendid sight. He landed the men safely at Sacrificios, three miles from Vera Cruz, rolling high with crested breakers on the beach.

It was observed by his commanding officers, that Lieutenant Grant possessed talents more than ordinary, and during the early part of April, when the army was preparing to advance into the interior of the Mexican country, Lieutenant Grant was appointed the quartermaster of his regiment, a post both honorable and of vital importance to an army in a strange country-the home of· an enemy. With this position he participated in the whole of the remainder of the Mexican campaign, to the occupation, by the United States forces, of the capital.

His position in the army did not, of necessity, call upon him to enter into the actual strife; but, at the same time, his nature would not allow of his keeping out of it, when he found that his services were needed in the field. At the battle of Molino del Rey, on the 8th of September, 1847, he behaved with such distinguished gallantry and merit, that he was appointed on the field a first-lieutenant, to date from the day of that battle. Congress afterward wished to confirm the appointment

as a mere brevet, but Grant declined to accept it under such circumstances.

Five days later, Chapultepec, a frowning, formidable stronghold, was stormed. Up to the battlements, raining destruction upon the assailants, the ranks of brave men sternly moved. None among them all was more daring and gallant than Grant. We will furnish the interesting proof of his splendid conduct, from the official reports of the officers of the day. Captain Brooks, of the Second Artillery, writes:-

"I succeeded in reaching the fort with a few men. Here Lieutenant U. S. Grant, and a few more men of the Fourth Infantry, found me, and, by a joint movement, after an obstinate resistance, a strong field-work was carried, and the enemy's right was completely turned."

Major Lee, in his report, says of the young soldier's conduct at Chapultepec :—

"At the first barrier the enemy was in strong force, which rendered it necessary to advance with caution. This was done; and when the head of the battalion was within short musket-range of the barrier, Lieutenant Grant, Fourth Infantry, and Captain Brooks, Second Artillery, with a few men of their respective regiments, by a handsome movement to the left, turned the right flank of the enemy, and the barrier was carried. Lieutenant Grant behaved with distinguished gallantry on the 13th and 14th."

The rising commander thus early learned the art of outflanking the enemy-displaying a cool, unyielding valor, rather than a dashing and ambitious warfare.

Colonel Garland, of the First Brigade, speaks very highly of Grant in the same action :—

"The rear of the enemy had made a stand behind a breastwork, from which they were driven by detachments of the Second Artillery, under Captain Brooks, and the Fourth Infantry, under Lieutenant Grant, supported by other regiments of the division, after a short, sharp conflict. I recognized the command as it came up, mounted a howitzer on the top of a convent, which, under the

CLOSE OF THE WAR-MARRIAGE OF LIEUT. GRANT. 45

direction of Lieutenant Grant, quartermaster of the Fourth Infantry, and Lieutenant Lendrum, Third Artillery, annoyed the enemy considerably. I must not omit to call attention to Lieutenant Grant, who acquitted himself most nobly upon several occasions under my observation."

There was an additional evidence of the hero's steady progress in the career of fame. He was brevetted captain in the United States army, his rank to date from the great battle of Chapultepec, September 13th, 1847.

When, not long after, the victorious army entered Mexico, the splendid capital, Grant participated in the magnificent parade, and enjoyed the glory of the final achievement, to which all previous battles had been opening the way. Lieutenant Grant was in fourteen battles.

The treaty of peace was signed in February, 1848, on the 22d of which, the noble and venerable J. Q. Adams was struck down in death on the floor of the Capitol, exclaiming, at the close of a long and blameless life of usefulness, "This is the last of earth!" On July 4th, President Polk issued the formal proclamation of peace between the United States and Mexico. A large extent of territory was ceded to us, and we paid, on our part, several millions of dollars to the Mexican government. The war cost us twenty-five thousand men, and seventyfive millions of dollars.

The disbanded army was again distributed among the forts in the States, and along the frontier. The hero of Chapultepec now made a new conquest. He won the hand of a Miss Dent, a sensible and excellent young lady, near St. Louis, Missouri, and was married in August of that year. His military home was first at Detroit, Michigan, and then at Sackett's Harbor, a post on Lake Ontario, in Northern New York. There was little to do in time of peace in these quiet barracks near a small and pleasant village. He is remembered by the people in Watertown, a handsome place several miles distant, as having a passion for playing chess, and played with great skill, but found among his opponents one who was his superior, and who used to win the first games of a sitting with ease. But Grant was never content to remain

beaten, and would insist on his opponent playing until he got the better of him in the end by "tiring him out,' and winning at chess, as at war, by his superior endurance.

At this time, many of the settlers on the plains of California were without law and order. It becoming necessary to send a military force to restrain their passions, and prevent Indian depredations and massacres, the Fourth Infantry were selected to visit the Pacific coast. Lieutenant Grant went with a portion of it to Oregon. This wild and romantic life was very similar to that in the South, soon after he left West Point. The solitary marches in the grand old woods, the ancient rocks and rivers, with perils from the savages, had attractions for the young and adventurous spirit. While here, his regular commission as captain in the infantry came-another step in the career of honor..

After two years' service in the far and almost uninhabited West, Captain Grant saw so little prospect of activity and promotion, that he resigned his place in the army, and returned to his family near the city of St. Louis, to try his fortune in civil life.

It was a new and trying crisis in his history. Without fortune, and accustomed to military activity only, it was no ordinary struggle to make a fresh beginning in the struggle for an honorable livelihood, to a nature like his own, above the low rates of speculation and the legalized frauds of trade.

GRANT ON THE FARM.

47

CHAPTER IV.

GRANT ON THE FARM-IN THE STORE-AND IN THE REBELLION.

Captain Grant turns his Attention to Agriculture.-Tries the Office of Collector.The Business unsuited to his Taste.-Removes to Illinois to Engage in the Leather Trade.-The Rebellion Arouses his Patriotic and Martial Spirit.-Tenders his Services to the State.-First Work.-Is created Colonel.-Successful Command.-Is commissioned Brigadier-General.-Ordered to Missouri.-Amusing Incident.-In Command of the Port at Cairo.-Action at Fredericktown.Belmont.-Touching Scenes after Battle.-General Hunter succeeds General

Fremont.

CAPTAIN GRANT occupied a little farm to the southwest of St. Louis, whence he was in the habit of cutting the wood, drawing it to Carondelet, and selling it in the market there. Many of his wood-purchasers are now calling to mind that they had a cord of wood delivered in person by the great General Grant. When he came into the wood-market he was usually dressed in an old felt hat, with a blouse coat, and his pants tucked in the tops of. his boots. In truth, he bore the appearance of a sturdy, honest woodman. This was his winter's work. In the summer he turned a collector of debts; but for this he was not qualified. He had a noble and truthful soul; so when he was told that the debtor had no money, he believed him, and would not trouble the debtor again. He was honest, truthful, indefatigable-always at work at something; but did not possess the knack of making money. Honorable in all public and private relations, he commanded the respect of the people with whom he associated; while personally his habits were plain, inexpensive, and simple.

It soon became clear to the Captain that he was not made for a tax-gatherer, nor likely to have great success on the farm.

In August, 1859, he applied to the Commissioners of