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deeds, and they have made an impression on the popular mind that
will endure, and which finds expression in hearty action as he
journeys through the country, though he probably cares less for
attentions than any eminent American who has lived since Washington.
The latter was a reserved man, and had been trained in a state
of society in which distinctions were very strong, even stronger
than they are in England at this day, and there was little that
was democratical in his nature as in his training. But General
Grant's reserve is simply a natural feeling. He is fond of quiet,
and has never made a speech in his life, and it seems that he
is destined never to make one. Had he been born in Sparta he
could not have been more laconic than he is, though he is a native
of a country in which everybody is supposed to talk, and to talk
much.
General Grant is in his forty-fourth year, as he
was born on the 27th of April, 1822, in Ohio. It was not until
1859 that he took up his residence at Galena, in Illinois, where
he embarked on the leather and saddlery business, his father being
his partner. His previous attempts in civil pursuits had all
been failures, but at Galena he was successful. He left the regular
army, in which he had become Captain, in 1854. He married in
1843, his bride being Miss Dent, a lady of Missouri. He resumed
military life in 1861, not long after the beginning of the war.
His first office was that of Adjutant-General of Illinois, and
his first field service was in command of the Twenty-First Illinois
Infantry. As his qualities became known he was promoted, until
he became the foremost man of the American world. He owes his
success to his honesty and tenacity of purpose, as much as to
his rare abilities as a soldier, and hence his career affords
matter of profitable study to the youth of the republic, who can
see in it that integrity and resolution are necessary to conduct
men to fame and usefulness.
GENERAL SHERMAN.
With the single exception of General Grant, no man
stands so high as General Sherman in the estimation of the country,
when military merit is considered. Both of them are able soldiers,
but they are very unlike, mentally; and their moral qualities
also present remarkable points of contrast. General Grant is
singularly quiet and retiring. General Sherman, without being
encroaching or obtrusive, is as singularly demonstrative. He
does not speak because he thinks that his opinions are of value,
or that others are anxious to know them, but because it is his
nature to be bold, frank and open. He acts according to the law
of his being in talking freely, as General Grant does in keeping
silent. They have strong points of resemblance, nevertheless,
– for both are honest men, and both have rendered incalculable
service to the republic. It would be hard to say which of the
two we could best spare, and therefore it is to be hoped that
we shall have them with us for many years.
General Sherman is in the prime of life. He was
born on the 8th of February, 1820, at Lancaster, Ohio, he being,
like General Grant, a "Buckeye," as Ohioans are called.
He entered West Point Academy in 1836, and was there graduated
in 1840, standing well in his class. The artillery was his arm
of the service, and he served in Florida, South Carolina, California
and Louisiana. Like Grant, he never got higher than the rank
of Captain in the old regular army; and then, again like Grant,
he retired and went into business. He was at San Francisco, manager
of a banking house, from 1853 to 1857.
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