GRANT, ULYSSES S. (His MILITARY CAREER.) 



431 



559 wounded, and 20,498 missing; total 82,- 

 720. No accurate reports of the Confederate 

 losses can be obtained ; but Grant's captures in 

 battle during this year were 66,512. 



On April 10 Grant started for Washington 

 to hasten the disbanding of the armies, stop 

 purchases of supplies, and save expense to the 

 Government. He did not stop to visit Rich- 

 mond. President Lincoln was assassinated 

 on the 14th, and Grant would probably have 

 shared the same fate but for his having left 

 Washington that day. On April 18 Sherman 

 received the surrender of Johnston's army, but 

 on terms that the Government did not ap- 

 prove, and Grant was sent to North Carolina 

 to conduct further negotiations. On the 26th 

 Johnston surrendered to Sherman on terms 

 similar to those given to Lee, and 31,243 

 men were paroled. Grant remained at Raleigh 

 and avoided being present at the interview, 

 leaving to Sherman the full credit of the 

 capture. 



Canby's force appeared before Mobile on 

 March 27, the principal defensive works were 

 captured on April 9, and Mobile was evacu- 

 ated on the llth, when 200 guns and 4,000 

 prisoners were captured, but about 9,000 of 

 the garrison escaped. Wilson's cavalry com- 

 mand captured Selma, Ala., on the 2d of April, 

 and Tuscaloosa on the 4th, occupied Montgom- 

 ery on the 14th, and took West Point and Co- 

 lumbus, Ga., on the 16th. Macon surrendered 

 on the 21st. Kirby Smith surrendered his 

 command, west of the Mississippi, on the 26th. 

 There was then not an armed enemy left in 

 the country, and the rebellion was ended. 

 Grant established his headquarters in Wash- 

 ington. He was greeted with ovations wher- 

 ever he went, honors were heaped upon him 

 in every part of the land, and he was univer- 

 sally hailed as the country's deliverer. 



In June, July, and August, 1865, Grant made 

 a tour through the Northern States and Canada. 

 His receptions were marked by unprecedented 

 enthusiasm ; civic bodies, military organiza- 

 tions, and individuals vying with each other in 

 according honors to him. In November he 

 was welcomed in New York by a demonstra- 

 tion that exceeded all previous efforts. It 

 consisted of a banquet and reception, and the 

 manifestations of the people in their greetings 

 knew no bounds. 



Immediately after the war, Grant sent Gen. 

 Sheridan with an army corps to the Rio Grande 

 river to observe the movements of the French, 

 who were then in Mexico supporting the Im- 

 perial Government there in violation of the 

 Monroe doctrine. This demonstration was the 

 chief cause of the withdrawal of the French. 

 Maximilian, being left without assistance from 

 a European power, was soon driven from his 

 throne, and the Republic of Mexico was re- 

 established. 



The United States Court in Virginia had 

 found indictments against Lee and other offi- 

 cers prominent in the rebellion, and much 



anxiety was manifested by them on this ac- 

 count. Two months after the war, Lee applied 

 by letter to be permitted to enjoy privileges ex- 

 tended to those included in a proclamation of 

 amnesty, which had been issued by the Presi- 

 dent. Grant put an indorsement on the let- 

 ter, which began as follows: "Respectfully 

 forwarded through the Secretary of War to 

 the President, with the earnest recommenda- 

 tion that the application of Gen. Robert E. 

 Lee for amnesty and pardon be granted him." 

 But President Johnson was at that time greatly 

 embittered against all participants in the re- 

 bellion, and seemed determined to have Lee 

 and others punished for the crime of treason. 

 Lee afterward made a strong appeal by let- 

 ter to Grant for protection. Grant put a long 

 and emphatic indorsement upon this letter, in 

 which he used the following language: " In 

 my opinion, the officers and men paroled at 

 Appomattox Court- House and since upon the 

 same terms given to Lee, can not be tried for 

 treason so long as they preserve the terms of 

 their parole. . . . The action of Judge Under- 

 wood in Norfolk has already had an injurious 

 effect, and 1 would ask that he be ordered to 

 quash all indictments found against paroled 

 prisoners of war, and to desist from further 

 prosecution of them." Grant insisted that he 

 had the power to accord the terms he granted 

 at Appomattox, and that the President was 

 bound to respect the agreements there entered 

 into unless they should be abrogated by the 

 prisoners violating their paroles. He went so 

 far as to declare that he would resign his com- 

 mission if so gross a breach of good faith should 

 be perpetrated by the Executive. The result 

 was the abandonment of the prosecutions. This 

 was the first of a series of contests between 

 Grant and the President, which finally resulted 

 in their entire estrangement. 



In December Grant made a tour of inspection 

 through the South. His report upon affairs 

 in that section of the country was submitted 

 to Congress by the President, and became the 

 basis of important reconstruction laws. 



In May, 1866, he wrote a letter to the Secre- 

 tary of War, which was submitted to Congress, 

 and became the basis for the reorganization of 

 the army, and also for the distribution of troops 

 through the South during the process of recon- 

 struction. 



The Fenians were now giving the Govern- 

 ment much trouble, and, in consequence of their 

 acts, the relations between the United States 

 and Great Britain were becoming strained. 

 They had organized a raid into Canada, to take 

 place during the summer; but Grant visited 

 Buffalo in June, took effective measures to 

 stop them, and prevented all further unlawful 

 acts on their part. Congress had passed an 

 act creating the grade of general, a higher 

 rank than had before existed in the army, to 

 be conferred on Grant as a reward for his 

 illustrious services in the field, and on July 25, 

 1866, he received his commission. 



