432 



GRANT, ULYSSES S. (His MILITAEY CAEEEE.) 



President Johnson, having changed his 

 policy toward the South, finding that Grant 

 refused to support him in his intentions to as- 

 sume powers which Grant believed were vest- 

 ed only in Congress, ordered him out of the 

 country, with directions to proceed on a special 

 mission to Mexico. Grant refused, and an effort 

 was afterward made to send him West, to pre- 

 vent his presence in Washington. The Thirty- 

 ninth Congress, fearing the result of this action 

 on the part of the President, attached a clause 

 to the Army Appropriation Bill, passed on 

 March 4, 1867, providing that "all orders 

 and instructions relating to military operations 

 shall he issued through the General of the 

 Army," and added that he should " not be re- 

 moved, suspended, or relieved from command 

 or assigned to duty elsewhere than at the head- 

 quarters in Washington, except at his own re- 

 quest, without the previous approval of the 

 Senate." The President signed the bill, with 

 a protest against this clause, and soon obtained 

 an opinion from his Attorney-General that it 

 was unconstitutional. The President then un- 

 dertook to send this opinion to the district 

 commanders, but finding the Secretary of War 

 in opposition, he issued it through the Adju- 

 tant-General's office. Gen. Sheridan, then at 

 New Orleans, in command of the Fifth Mili- 

 tary District, inquired what to do, and Grant 

 replied that a "legal opinion was not entitled 

 to the force of an order," and " to enforce his 

 own construction of the law until otherwise 

 ordered. 1 ' This brought on a crisis. The Presi- 

 dent claimed that under the Constitution he 

 could direct the district commanders to issue 

 such orders as he dictated, and was met by an 

 act of Congress, passed in July, making the 

 orders of the district commanders " subject to 

 the disapproval of the General of the Army." 

 Thus Grant was given chief control of affairs 

 relating to the reconstruction of the Southern 

 States. 



The President still retained the power of re- 

 moval, and on the adjournment of Congress he 

 removed Sheridan and placed Gen. Hancock in 

 command of the Fifth Military District. Some 

 of Hancock's orders were revoked by Grant, 

 which caused some bitterness of feeling be- 

 tween these officers, and provoked consider- 

 able opposition from the Democratic party. 

 Subsequently, when a bill was before Congress 

 to muster Gen. Hancock out of the service for 

 his acts in Louisiana, Grant opposed it and it 

 was defeated. Soon afterward he recommend- 

 ed Hancock for promotion to the grade of 

 major-general in the regular arrny, to which he 

 was appointed. 



The " Tenure-of- Office " Act forbade the 

 President from removing a Cabinet officer 

 without the consent of the Senate ; but Presi- 

 dent Johnson suspended Stanton, and ap- 

 pointed Grant Secretary of War ad interim, 

 on the 12th of August, 1867. Grant protest- 

 ed against this action, but retained the office 

 until the 14th of January, 1868, when the Sen- 



ate refused to confirm the suspension of Stan- 

 ton. Grant immediately notified the President, 

 who, finding that the General of the Army 

 would not retain the office in opposition to 

 the will of Congress, appointed Gen. L. Thomas 

 to succeed him, and ordered Grant verbally to 

 disregard Stanton's orders. This led to quite 

 an acrimonious correspondence. The Presi- 

 dent claimed that Grant had promised to sus- 

 tain him. This Grant emphatically denied, and 

 in a long letter reviewing his action said : " The 

 course you would have it understood I agreed 

 to pursue was in violation of law and was with- 

 out orders from you, while the course I did 

 pursue, and which I never doubted you under- 

 stood, was in accordance with law. . . . And 

 now, Mr. President, when my honor as a sol- 

 dier and integrity as a man have been so vio- 

 lently assailed, pardon me for saying that I 

 regard this whole matter, from the beginning 

 to the end, as an attempt to involve me in the 

 resistance of law for which you hesitate to as- 

 sume the responsibility in orders." 



Grant's course since the war had served to 

 increase his popularity still further, and when 

 the Republican Convention met in Chicago, 

 May 20, 1868, he was unanimously nominated 

 for the presidency on the first ballot. In his 

 letter of acceptance, dated nine days after, he 

 made use of the famous phrase, " Let us have 

 peace." The Democratic party nominated Ho- 

 ratio Seymour, of New York. When the elec- 

 tion occurred, out of the 294 electoral votes 

 cast for President, Grant received 214 and 

 Seymour 80 Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia 

 not voting. On the 4th of March, 1869, Grant 

 was inaugurated the eighteenth President of 

 the United States. In his inaugural address 

 he declared that the Government bonds should 

 be paid in gold, advocated a speedy return to 

 specie payments, and made many important 

 recommendations regarding public affairs. 



Grant possessed in a striking degree the es- 

 sential characteristics of a successful soldier. 

 His self-reliance was one of his most pro- 

 nounced traits, and enabled him at critical mo- 

 ments to decide promptly the most important 

 questions without useless delay in seeking ad- 

 vice from others, and to assume the gravest 

 responsibilities without asking any one to share 

 them. He had a fertility of resource and a 

 faculty of adapting the means at hand to the 

 accomplishment of his purposes, which con- 

 tributed no small share to his success. His 

 moral and physical courage were equal to every 

 emergency in which he was placed. His un- 

 assuming manner, purity of character, and ab- 

 solute loyalty to his superiors and to the work 

 in which he was engaged, inspired loyalty in 

 others and gained him the devotion of the 

 humblest of his subordinates. He was singu- 

 larly calm and patient under all circumstances, 

 was never unduly elated by victory or depressed 

 by defeat, never became excited, and never 

 uttered an oath or imprecation. His habits 

 of life were simple, and he was possessed of 



