The Life of Abraham Lincoln for Young People by Harriet Putnam (old books to read txt) 📖

The fine fall days were go-ing by and Mc-Clel-lan, though he seemed to be get-ting read-y for work, did not bring a-bout what folks thought he would. They be-gan to ask why the ar-my did not move. Word was sent North each night that it was “All qui-et a-long the Po-to-mac!”

Ere the end of Sep-tem-ber came it was clear-ly made known to the Pres-i-dent that the friends of the Un-ion cause felt that some of the lead-ers were at fault. The Pres-i-dent, as a boy, had made him-self mas-ter of gram-mar, law, sur-vey-ing, and oth-er things, and now he made a close stud-y of war and how to fight great bat-tles. While he was a help to Mc-Clel-lan, yet he saw, at last, that his own plans were best, and so, in time, it was proved to all that Mc-Clel-lan was wrong and Lin-coln was right.

Not a-lone in war schemes but in oth-ers the hand and head of Lin-coln oft-en proved bet-ter than those of men who had been brought up to such work. Lin-coln’s way with for-eign lands, some of whose ru-lers were friend-ly to the South and want-ed it to win, was thought to be just right. Then the way Lin-coln got vast sums to car-ry on the war, and the part he thought it wise for the na-vy to take in the great strife, won praise for him. These things were all un-der Lin-coln’s eye and had his close care.

As time went on the whole North learned to look to Lin-coln, and de-pend up-on him for help in dark days and wise work in bright times. When the North felt they could not win, Lin-coln said, “We shall win!”

While a large force of men was in arms not much had been done by Un-ion Gen-er-als. Mc-Clel-lan’s great ar-my grew less and less. Hordes of men were ill. Mc-Clel-lan had no plan for his troops to move. Hal-leck was in charge in Mis-sou-ri and Gen. Bu-ell in Ken-tuc-ky.

Pres-i-dent Lin-coln saw that a un-ion must be brought a-bout be-tween the moves of these three lead-ers. He wrote to them, but they did not care to do what he thought best.

U-lys-ses S. Grant, though a West Point man who had fought in the war with Mex-i-co in 1843, had left the ar-my and gone to a small farm near St. Lou-is. He was poor, but he built a small house of hewn logs for his fam-i-ly, did his own work on the land, and lived a life of peace.

A chance came to go to Ga-le-na, in the State of Il-li-nois. There Grant was a clerk in a store where they sold hides. There he was when the war broke out, and the South and the North, which had been as one, were now two, and full of hate.

Four days af-ter Lin-coln’s call for troops went through the land, U. S. Grant be-gan to drill some of the men in his place in the use of the gun. In a few days he set off with them for Spring-field, Ill. From there he wrote to a man who held a high post at Wash-ing-ton and told him that he would like to be of use and help save the land from its foe.

No word came back. But Grant kept on, staid in the same cit-y, and gave his time to the drill of all the troops he could find.

In five weeks’ time Cap-tain Grant was made Colo-nel and sent off to the seat of war at the head of the 21st Il-li-nois. He went first to Mis-sou-ri and then to Cai-ro. Soon, with-out ask-ing for the post, he was made Brig-a-dier-Gen-er-al.

A force of the foe, led by Gen. Polk, went up the Mis-sis-sip-pi from Mem-phis and took the high bluffs at Co-lum-bus, in Ken-tuc-ky.

A man from Co-lum-bus said, “The Con-fed-er-ates are get-ting read-y to seize Pa-du-cah!” Pa-du-cah was a place which would be of great worth to the side which first got hold of it. If the guns of the foe were put there they would stop steam-boats from pass-ing that point.

Gen. Grant saw that he must act at once. There was no time in which to wait for or-ders from the head of the troops in the West. The ver-y next morn-ing the folks who lived in Pa-du-cah were great-ly sur-prised to see a fleet of steam-boats full of Un-ion troops made fast at the wharf. The na-tives had been told that the for-ces of the South were to be there that day, and they had gone to the quay to greet Gen. Thom-as who was to lead those troops.

Grant’s quick move gave Ken-tuc-ky to the Un-ion cause and much cheer to Pres-i-dent Lin-coln.

The first fight of the war in which Grant took the lead was af-ter he moved his troops from Pa-du-cah down to Hun-ter’s Point, near Bel-mont.