General John A. Rawlins and Colonel Rowley were neighbors of the General before the war and knew him well and intimately, and it is believed by the citizens of Galena, and known by many prominent men in the army, that these two men had more to do in helping and advising General Grant during the early part of the war, and, indeed, all through the war, so far as General Rawlins is concerned, than any of his Generals or friends in Congress or out of it.
Colonel Rowley and myself naturally had many conversations over the incidents of certain battles and about General Grant.
During the war and after, the enemies of Grant circulated many stories about his being drunk on this and that occasion.
If I wanted to stir Colonel Rowley up to a fighting mood, and hear him use a “big, big D” (for he could use them occasionally), I would ask him: “Colonel, how about this new yarn of Grant’s being drunk at Shiloh when the battle commenced?” The question was the spark that exploded the magazine of wrath and the Colonel would reply: “All a d—d lie. Wasn’t I there with him all the time; don’t I know. When will all the d—d liars get through telling their d—d lies about Grant.” And then I would chuckle to myself and say: “Them’s my sentiments, too.”
It has been said of General John A. Rawlins (chief of General Grant’s staff), and, I believe, it must be true, for Colonel Rowley once told me it was; that when Rawlins got mad he could use more “cuss words” than any man in the army. General Grant never used “cuss words,” but he loved these two men, notwithstanding their habit of emphasizing their remarks sometimes with a big D.
Grant loved his friends and was always true to them. Grant wouldn’t lie; even in small matters he insisted that the truth should be spoken. It is related of him that, after he became President and while one day he was busy with his cabinet, some one called to see the President. One of the cabinet officers directed the servant to say to the caller that the President was not in. “No,” said the General; “tell him no such thing. I don’t lie myself and I don’t want my servants to lie for me.”
A great man who was associated with him in public life has said of him: “He was the most absolutely truthful man I ever met in all my experiences.” Another man who knew him well said of General Grant: “He hated two classes of men—liars and cowards.”
General Grant never aspired to political office, although urged by his friends to do so. Just after the fall of Vicksburg some of the leading citizens of Galena visited him at that place. One day, in a general conversation, one of them asked what office he would like to have after the war was over. He replied that there was one office he would like to have when he returned to Galena. His friends pledged him their best endeavors in aiding him for whatever he might seek, and, being pressed to name the office, Grant said: “I would like to be alderman from my ward long enough to have a sidewalk built to my residence.” Of course, there was a laugh and the matter was dropped. Upon his first visit to his old home at Galena, at the close of the war, the little city of many hills got up a reception upon a grand scale for its hero. The city was smothered with flags and decorations; the streets arched with flags and words of welcome. When the General arrived amid the booming of cannon and the huzzas of the people, he was hurriedly lifted into a barouche and started up the street at the head of a long procession. The first arch he met had in large letters: “General, the sidewalk is built.” The General laughed and remarked: “I see my friends remembered I wanted to be alderman.”
After his first nomination for the Presidency he was with us at Galena during the campaign, and had you seen the General moving around so quietly and unostentatiously among his neighbors and friends, you would have wondered that it could be the man who had just been declared the greatest military hero of the age, and that he was soon to be at the head of the nation.
His record as President for eight years, and the honored guest of all nations during his tour around the world, is an open history to all.