|
|
Here's something worthwhile for
Friday, May 16, 2008:
|
Memoirs of U. S. Grant
|
U. S. Grant rose to fame as a Civil War general and later became the 18th president of the United
States. Yet his early days barely hinted at the fame that was to come. Below is an excerpt from his
memoirs where he writes with his trademark modesty. The topic is his first campaign against Confederate troops, in Missouri.
As we approached the brow of the hill from
which it was expected we could see Harris' camp, and possibly find his men
ready formed to meet us, my
heart kept getting higher and higher until it felt to me as though it was in
my throat. I would have given
anything then to have been back in Illinois, but I had not the moral courage
to halt and consider what to
do; I kept right on. When we reached a point from which the valley below was
in full view I halted. The
place where Harris had been encamped a few days before was still there and
the marks of a recent
encampment were plainly visible, but the troops were gone. My heart resumed
its place. It occurred to me
at once that Harris had been as much afraid of me as I had been of him. This
was a view of the question I
had never taken before; but it was one I never forgot afterwards. From that
event to the close of the war,
I never experienced trepidation upon confronting an enemy, though I always
felt more or less anxiety. I
never forgot that he had as much reason to fear my forces as I had his. The
lesson was valuable.
|
|
