This is the opening chapter of my upcoming audiobook of Campaigning With Grant by Horace Porter.It’s a first-person account of meeting General Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War.
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00:00Campaigning with Grant by Horace Porter Chapter 1 My First Meeting with General Grant
00:06While sitting in my quarters in the little town of Chattanooga, Tennessee, about an hour after
00:12nightfall, Friday, October 23, 1863, an orderly brought me a message from General George H.
00:20Thomas, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, on whose staff I was serving, summoning me to
00:25headquarters. A storm had been raging for two days, and a chilling rain was still falling.
00:31A few minutes' walk brought me to the plain wooden one-story dwelling occupied by the commander,
00:37which was situated on Walnut Street near 4th, and upon my arrival I found him in the front room on
00:43the left side of the hall, with three members of his staff and several strange officers. In an armchair
00:50facing the fireplace was seated a general officer, slight in figure and of medium stature, whose face
00:57bore an expression of weariness. He was carelessly dressed, and his uniform coat was unbuttoned and
01:04thrown back from his chest. He held a lighted cigar in his mouth, and sat in a stooping posture, with
01:11his head bent slightly forward. His clothes were wet, and his trousers and top-boots were spattered
01:17with mud. General Thomas approached this officer, and turning to me, and mentioning me by name,
01:23said, I want to present to you General Grant. Thereupon the officer, seated in the chair,
01:29without changing his position, glanced up, extended his arm to its full length, shook hands, and said
01:36in a low voice, and speaking slowly, How do you do? This was my first meeting with the man with
01:42whom I
01:42was destined afterward to spend so many of the most interesting years of my life. The strange
01:48officers present were members of General Grant's staff. Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War,
01:55who had been for some time with the Army of the Cumberland, had also entered the room. The next
02:00morning he sent a dispatch to the War Department, beginning with the words,
02:04Grant arrived last night, wet, dirty, and well. On the 19th of October, General Grant's command had
02:12been enlarged, so as to cover the newly created military division of the Mississippi, embracing
02:18nearly the entire field of operations between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi River, and the
02:24Army of the Cumberland had thus been placed under his control. About a month before, that Army,
02:30after having fought at Chickamauga, one of the most gallantly contested and sanguinary battles in the
02:37annals of warfare, had fallen back and taken up a defensive position on the south side of the
02:42Tennessee River, in closing within its lines the village of Chattanooga. The opposing forces under
02:48General Bragg had invested this position, and established such a close siege that the lines of
02:55supply had been virtually cut off, rations and forage were about exhausted, and almost the last tree
03:02stump had been used for fuel. Most of the men were without overcoats, and some without shoes.
03:08Ten thousand animals had died of starvation, and the gloom and despondency had been increased
03:14by the approach of cold weather and the appearance of the autumn storms. General Grant, upon assuming the
03:21responsibilities of his new command, had fully realized the critical condition of the Army of
03:26the Cumberland, and had set out at once for its headquarters to take charge in person of its future
03:32operations. On his way to the front, he had telegraphed General Thomas from Louisville to hold
03:39Chattanooga at all hazards, to which that intrepid soldier made the famous reply,
03:44I will hold the town till we starve. General Grant had started the day before the incident I have
03:51described from Bridgeport, a place thirty miles below Chattanooga, where the Nashville and Chattanooga
03:57Railroad crosses the Tennessee River, and had ridden by way of Walden's Ridge, the only route left open
04:03by which communication could be had with the beleaguered town. We had been advised that he was on his way,
04:11but hardly expected that he would reach Chattanooga that night, considering the state of the weather,
04:17the wretched conditions of the roads, or rather bridle-paths, over the mountain, and the severe
04:23injury to his leg which had been caused by a fall of his horse several weeks before, and from which
04:29he
04:29was still suffering. When he arrived he had to be lifted from his saddle, and was evidently experiencing
04:36much pain, as his horse had slipped in coming down the mountain, and had further injured the lame leg.
04:42But the general showed less signs of fatigue than might have been supposed, after his hard ride of
04:49two days, under such trying circumstances. As soon as General Grant had partaken of a light supper
04:55immediately after his arrival, General Thomas had sent for several general officers, and most of the
05:01members of his staff to come to headquarters, and the room soon contained an exceedingly interesting
05:08group. A member of General Thomas's staff quietly called that officer's attention to the fact that
05:14the distinguished guest's clothes were pretty wet, and his boots were thoroughly soaked with rain after
05:21his long ride through the storm, and intimated that colds were usually no respecters of persons.
05:27General Thomas's mind had been so intent upon receiving the commander, and arranging for a
05:33conference of officers, that he had entirely overlooked his guest's travel-stained condition.
05:38But as soon as his attention was called to it, all of his old-time Virginia hospitality was aroused,
05:45and he at once begged his newly-arrived chief to step into a bedroom and change his clothes.
05:51His urgings, however, were in vain. The general thanked him politely, but positively
05:56declined to make any additions to his personal comfort, except to light a fresh cigar. Afterward,
06:03however, he consented to draw his chair, nearer to the wood fire, which was burning in the chimney
06:09place, and to thrust his feet forward, to give his top-boots a chance to dry. The extent of his
06:15indulgence in personal comfort in the field did not seem to be much greater than that of bluff old
06:21Marshal Suvaroff, who, when he wished to give himself over to an excess of luxury, used to go so far
06:28as to
06:29take off one spur before going to bed. At General Grant's request, General Thomas, General William F.
06:37Smith, his chief engineer, commonly known to the army as Baldy Smith, and others, pointed out, on a large
06:44map, the various positions of the troops, and described the general situation. General Grant sat for some
06:51time as immovable as a rock, and as silent as the Sphinx, but listened attentively to all that was said.
07:00After a while he straightened himself up in his chair, his features assumed an air of animation,
07:06and in a tone of voice which manifested a deep interest in the discussion, he began to fire whole
07:12volleys of questions at the officers present. So intelligent were his inquiries, and so pertinent
07:19his suggestions, that he made a profound impression upon every one by the quickness of his perception,
07:26and the knowledge which he had already acquired regarding important details of the army's condition.
07:32His questions showed from the outset that his mind was dwelling not only upon the prompt opening of a
07:38line of supplies, but upon taking the offensive against the enemy. In this, he was only manifesting
07:45one of his chief military characteristics, an inborn dislike to be thrown upon the defensive.
07:52Even when he had to defend a position, his method of warfare was always that of the offensive-defensive.
08:00After talking over a plan for communicating with our base of supplies, or, as he called it in his
08:06conversation, opening up the cracker line, an operation which already had been projected,
08:12and for which preliminary steps had been taken, he turned to me as chief of ordinance of the army
08:18of the Cumberland, and asked, How much ammunition is there on hand? I replied, There is barely enough
08:24here to fight one day's battle, but an ample supply has been accumulated at Bridgeport to await the
08:31opening of communications. At about half-past nine o'clock, he appeared to have finished his search
08:36after information for the time being, and, turning to a table, began to write telegrams.
08:42Communication by wire had been kept open during all the siege. His first dispatch was to General Halleck,
08:49the general-in-chief at Washington, and read, Have just arrived. I will write tomorrow. Please approve order
08:55placing Sherman in command of Department of the Tennessee, with headquarters in the field. He had
09:01scarcely begun to exercise the authority conferred upon him by his new promotion, when his mind turned
09:08to securing advancement for Sherman, who had been his second-in-command in the Army of the Tennessee.
09:14It was more than an hour later when he retired to bed in an adjoining room to get a much
09:20-needed rest.
09:20As he arose and walked across the floor, his lameness was very perceptible. Before the company
09:27departed, he had made an appointment with General Thomas and Smith and several staff officers to
09:33accompany him the next day to make a personal inspection of the lines. Early in the morning of
09:38the 24th, the party set out from headquarters, and most of the day was spent in examining our lines
09:44and obtaining a view of the enemy's position. At Brown's Ferry, General Grant dismounted,
09:50and went to the river's edge on foot, and made his reconnaissance of that important part of the
09:55line in full view of the enemy's pickets on the opposite bank, but singularly enough he was not
10:02fired upon. Being informed that the General wished to see me that evening, I went into the room he was
10:08occupying at headquarters, and found two of his staff officers seated near him. As I entered, he gave a
10:15slight nod of the head by way of recognition, and pointing to a chair, said, rather bluntly but
10:20politely,
10:21Sit down. In reply to a question which he asked, I gave him some information he desired, in regard to
10:28the character and location of certain heavy guns which I had recently assisted in putting in position
10:35on the advanced portion of our lines, and the kind and amount of artillery ammunition. He soon after
10:42began to write dispatches, and I arose to go, but resumed my seat as he said, Sit still. My attention
10:50was
10:50soon attracted to the manner in which he went to work at his correspondence. At this time, as throughout
10:57his later career, he wrote nearly all of his documents with his own hand, and seldom dictated to anyone,
11:04even the most unimportant, dispatch. His work was performed swiftly and uninterruptedly, but without any marked
11:12display of nervous energy. His thoughts flowed as freely from his mind as the ink from his pen. He was
11:20never at a
11:20loss for an expression, and seldom interlined a word or made a material correction. He sat with his head bent
11:28low
11:28over the table, and when he had occasion to step to another table or desk to get a paper he
11:33wanted, he would glide rapidly
11:36across the room without straightening himself, and returned to his seat with his body still bent over at about the
11:43same
11:43angle at which he had been sitting when he left his chair. Upon this occasion he tossed the sheets of
11:50paper across the table,
11:52as he finished them, leaving them in the wildest disorder. When he had completed the dispatch, he gathered up the
11:59scattered
11:59sheets, read them over rapidly, and arranged them in their proper order. Turning to me after a time, he said,
12:06"'Perhaps you might like to read what I am sending.' I thanked him, and in looking over the dispatches,
12:13I found that he was ordering up Sherman's entire force from Corinth to within supporting distance,
12:19and was informing Halleck of the dispositions decided upon for the opening of a line of supplies,
12:25and assuring him that everything possible would be done for the relief of Burnside in East Tennessee.
12:32Directions were also given for the taking of vigorous and comprehensive steps in every direction
12:38throughout his new and extensive command. At a later hour, after having given further directions in regard
12:46to the contemplated movement for the opening of the route from Bridgeport to Chattanooga,
12:51and in the meantime sending back to be foraged all the animals that could be spared, he bid those
12:58present a pleasant good night, and limped off to his bedroom. I cannot dwell too forcibly on the deep
13:04impression made upon those who had come in contact for the first time with the new commander by the
13:10exhibition they witnessed of his singular mental powers and his rare military qualities. Coming to us,
13:17crowned with the laurels he had gained in the brilliant campaign of Vicksburg, we naturally expected
13:23to meet a well-equipped soldier, but hardly anybody was prepared to find one who had the grasp,
13:28the promptness of decision, and the general administrative capacity which he displayed at the very start,
13:35as commander of an extensive military division, in which many complicated problems were presented
13:41for immediate solution. After remaining three days as General Thomas's guest, General Grant established
13:48his headquarters in a modest-looking two-story frame house on the bluff near the river, situated on what
13:54is now known as First Street. In the evening of the 26th, I spent some time in the front room
14:01on the
14:01left side of the hall, which he used as his office, and in which several members of his staff were
14:07seated
14:07with him. It was a memorable night in the history of the siege, for the troops were being put in
14:12motion for the
14:13hazardous attempt to open the river route to our base of supplies at Bridgeport. The general sat at a table,
14:20smoking, and writing dispatches. After finishing several telegrams and giving some directions to his staff,
14:27he began to describe the probabilities of the chances of the expedition down the river, expressing a confident
14:34belief in its success. General W. F. Smith, who had been so closely identified with the project,
14:40was given command of the movement. At midnight he began his march down the north bank of the river
14:46with twenty-eight hundred men. At three o'clock on the morning of the 27th, Hazen started silently
14:53down the stream, with his pontoons carrying eighteen hundred men. At five he made a landing at Brown's
15:00Ferry, completely surprising the guard at that point, and taking most of them prisoners. At seven o'clock
15:06Smith's force had been ferried across, and began to fortify a strong position, and at ten a bridge
15:13had been completed. Hooker's advance, coming up from Bridgeport, arrived the next afternoon, the twenty-eighth,
15:20at Brown's Ferry. The river was now open from Bridgeport to Kelly's Ferry, and the wagon road from that
15:27point to Chattanooga, by way of Brown's Ferry, about eight miles in length, was in our possession.
15:33The success of the movement had been prompt and complete, and there was now established a good
15:39line of communication with our base. This changed condition of affairs had been accomplished within
15:45five days after General Grant's arrival at the front. As soon as the enemy recovered from his surprise,
15:52he woke up to the importance of the achievement. Longstreet was dispatched to retrieve, if possible,
15:58the lost ground. His troops reached Wahatchee in the night of the twenty-eighth, and made an attack
16:04upon Geary's division of Hooker's forces. The fight raged for about three hours, but Geary succeeded in
16:11holding his ground against greatly superior numbers. During the fight, Geary's teamsters had been scared,
16:17and had deserted their teams, and the mules, stampeded by the sound of battle raging about
16:23them, had broken loose from their wagons and run away. Fortunately for their reputation and the
16:29safety of the command, they started toward the enemy, and with heads down and tails up, with trace
16:35chains rattling and whiffle-trees snapping over the stumps of trees, they rushed pell-mell upon Longstreet's
16:42bewildered men. Believing it to be an impetuous charge of cavalry, his line broke and fled. The
16:49quartermaster in charge of the animals, not willing to see such distinguished services go unrewarded,
16:55sent in the following communication. I respectfully request that the mules, for their gallantry in this
17:02action, may have conferred upon them the brevet rank of horses. Brevets in the army were being
17:09bestowed pretty freely at the time, and when this recommendation was reported to General Grant,
17:14he laughed heartily at the humor of the suggestion. Our loss in the battle, including killed, wounded,
17:20and missing, was only 422 men. The enemy never made a further attempt to interrupt our communications.
17:28The much-needed supplies, which had been hurried forward to Bridgeport in anticipation of this
17:33movement, soon reached the army, and the rejoicing among the troops manifested itself in lively
17:39demonstrations of delight. Every man now felt that he was no longer to remain on the defensive,
17:46but was being supplied and equipped for a forward movement against his old foe, whom he had driven
17:52from the Ohio to the Cumberland, and from the Cumberland to the Tennessee. As soon as communication
17:58had been opened with our base of supplies, General Grant manifested an eagerness to acquaint himself
18:03minutely with the position of the enemy, with a view to taking the offensive. One morning he started
18:10toward our right, with several staff officers, to make a personal examination of that portion of the
18:16line. When he came in sight of Chattanooga Creek, which separated our pickets from those of the enemy,
18:22he directed those who had accompanied him to halt and remain out of sight, while he advanced alone,
18:29which he supposed he could do without attracting much attention. The pickets were within hailing
18:35distance of one another on opposite banks of the creek. They had established a temporary truce on
18:40their own responsibility, and the men of each army were allowed to get water from the same stream,
18:46without being fired upon by those on the other side. A sentinel of our picket guard recognized
18:52General Grant as he approached, and gave the customary cry,
18:56Turn out the guard, commanding general. The enemy on the opposite side of the creek evidently heard
19:01the words, and one of his sentinels cried out, Turn out the guard, General Grant.
19:06The Confederate guard took up the joke, and promptly formed, facing our line, and presented arms.
19:13The general returned the salute by lifting his hat. The guard was then dismissed, and he continued his
19:19ride toward our left. We knew that we were engaged in a civil war, but such civility largely exceeded
19:26our expectations. In company with General Thomas and other members of his staff, I was brought into
19:33almost daily contact with General Grant, and became intensely interested in the progress of the plans he
19:39was maturing for dealing with the enemy at all points of the theater of war lying within his command.
19:45Early in November, instructions came from the Secretary of War, calling me to Washington,
19:51and in accordance therewith, General Thomas issued an order relieving me from duty with his army.
19:59Footnote. Headquarters, Department of the Cumberland, Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 5, 1863.
20:05General Orders No. 261. 1. Captain Thomas G. Baylor, Ordnance Corps, having pursuant to orders from the
20:13Secretary of War, relieved Captain Horace Porter from duty at these headquarters, is announced as
20:19chief ordinance for this army, and will at once enter upon the discharge of his duties. The general
20:25commanding takes this occasion to express his appreciation of the valuable service rendered by
20:31Captain Porter during his connections with this army. His thorough knowledge of the duties of his
20:37position, his good judgment, and untiring industry, have increased the efficiency of the army, and
20:44entitle him to the thanks of the general commanding, by command of Major General George H. Thomas,
20:50C. Goddard, Assistant Adjutant General, Editor. End note.
20:55I had heard, through personal letters, that the Secretary wished to reorganize the Ordnance Bureau
21:02at Washington, and wished my services in that connection, on account of my long experience in
21:08that department in the field. The order was interpreted as a compliment, but was distasteful to me for many
21:16reasons, although I understood that the assignment was to be only temporary, and it was at a season when
21:22active operations in the field were usually suspended. It was a subject of much regret to leave General
21:29Thomas, for I had become greatly attached to him, and had acquired that respect and admiration for
21:34the character of this distinguished soldier, which was felt by all who had ever come in contact with him.
21:41Old Pap Thomas, as we all love to call him, was more of a father than a commander to the
21:47younger
21:47officers who served under his immediate command, and he possessed their warmest affections. He and his
21:54corps commanders now made a written appeal to General Grant, requesting him to intercede and
21:59endeavor to retain me in the command. In the evening of the 5th of November I was sent for by
22:05General
22:05Grant to come to his headquarters. On my arrival he requested me to be seated at the opposite side of
22:12the table, at which he sat smoking, offering me a cigar, and said, I was sorry to see the order
22:18of
22:18the Secretary of War calling you to Washington. I have had some other views in mind regarding your
22:24services, and I still hope that I may be able to secure the recall of the order, and to have
22:29you
22:30assigned to duty with me, if that should be agreeable to you. I replied eagerly, nothing could possibly be
22:37more agreeable, and I should feel most highly honored by such an assignment. He went on to say,
22:43with this step in view I have just written a letter to the General-in-Chief, which he then handed
22:49me to
22:50read. Footnote. Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 5, 1863. Major General H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief of
22:59the Army. Captain Horace Porter, who is now being relieved as Chief Ordnance Officer in the Department of
23:05the Cumberland, is represented by all officers who know him as one of the most meritorious and
23:12valuable young officers in the service. So far as I have heard from general officers, there is a
23:18universal desire to see him promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and retained here. I feel no
23:24hesitation in joining in the recommendation, and ask that he may be assigned for duty with me.
23:30I feel the necessity for just such an officer, as Captain Porter is described to be, at headquarters,
23:38and, if permitted, will retain him with me, if assigned here for duty. I am, and so forth, U.S.
23:44Grant, Major General. End Note. Hardly allowing me to finish my expressions of surprise and
23:52gratification, he continued, of course you will have to obey your present orders and proceed to
23:57Washington. I want you to take this letter with you and see that it is put into the hands of
24:03General
24:03Halleck. Perhaps you will soon be able to rejoin me here. My requests are not always complied with
24:09at headquarters, but I have written pretty strongly in this case, and I hope favorable action may be
24:16taken. I replied that I would make my preparations at once to start east, and then withdrew. The next day
24:24I called to bid the General good-bye, and after taking leave of General Thomas, and my comrades on
24:30the staff, set out for the capital by way of the new line of communication, which had just been
24:35opened. A description of General Grant's personal appearance at this important period of his career
24:41may not be out of place here, particularly as up to that time the public had received such erroneous
24:48impressions of him. There were then few correct portraits of him in circulation. Some of the earliest
24:54pictures purporting to be photographs of him had been manufactured when he was at the distant front,
25:00never stopping in one place long enough to be focused. Nothing daunted the practicers of that art
25:06which is the chief solace of the vein, had photographed a burly beef contractor, and spread the pictures
25:13broadcast as representing the determined but rather robust features of the coming hero, and it was some
25:21time before the real photographs which followed were believed to be genuine. False impressions of him
25:27were derived, too, from the fact that he had come forth from a country leather store, and was famous
25:33chiefly for striking sledgehammer blows in the field, and conducting relentless pursuits of his foes
25:39through the swamps of the southwest. He was pictured in the popular mind as striding about in the most
25:45approved swashbuckler style of melodrama. Many of us were not a little surprised to find in him a man of
25:52slim figure, slightly stooped, five feet eight inches in height, weighing only a hundred and thirty-five
25:59pounds, and of a modesty of mean and gentleness of manner, which seemed to fit him more for the court
26:05than for the camp. His eyes were dark gray, and were the most expressive of his features. Like nearly all
26:12men
26:13who speak little, he was a good listener, but his face gave little indication of his thoughts,
26:19and it was the expression of his eyes which furnished about the only response to the speaker
26:24who conversed with him. When he was about to say anything amusing, there was always a perceptible
26:30twinkle in his eyes before he began to speak, and he often laughed heartily at a witty remark or a
26:36humorous incident. His mouth, like Washington's, was of the letter-box shape, the contact of the lips
26:43forming a nearly horizontal line. This feature was of a pattern in striking contrast with that of
26:49Napoleon, who had a bow mouth, which looked as if it had been modeled after a front view of his
26:56cocked
26:56hat. The firmness with which the general's square-shaped jaws were set when his features were in repose
27:03was highly expressive of his force of character and the strength of his willpower. His hair and beard
27:10were of a chestnut brown color. The beard was worn full, no part of the face being shaved, but, like
27:16the hair, was always kept closely and neatly trimmed. Like Cromwell, Lincoln, and several other great men in
27:23history, he had a wart on his cheek. In his case it was small and located on the right side,
27:30just above the
27:31line of the beard. His face was not perfectly symmetrical, the left eye being a very little
27:37lower than the right. His brow was high, broad, and rather square, and was creased with several
27:43horizontal wrinkles, which helped to emphasize the serious and somewhat careworn look, which was never
27:50absent from his countenance. This expression, however, was in no wise an indication of his nature,
27:56which was always buoyant, cheerful, and hopeful. His voice was exceedingly musical, and one of the
28:03clearest in sound and most distinct in utterance that I have ever heard. It had a singular power of
28:10penetration, and sentences spoken by him in an ordinary tone in camp could be heard at a distance
28:17which was surprising. His gait in walking might have been called decidedly unmilitary. He never carried
28:25his body erect, and having no ear for music or rhythm, he never kept step to the airs played by
28:31the
28:31bands, no matter how vigorously the bass drums emphasized the accent. When walking in company,
28:38there was no attempt to keep step with others. In conversing, he usually employed only two gestures.
28:44One was the stroking of his chin beard with his left hand, the other was the raising and lowering of
28:50his right hand, and resting it at intervals upon his knee or a table, the hand being held with the
28:57fingers close together, and the knuckles bent, so that the back of the hand and fingers formed a right
29:03angle. When not pressed by any matter of importance, he was often slow in his movements, but when roused to
29:10activity he was quick in every motion, and worked with marvelous rapidity. He was civil to all who came in
29:18contact with him, and never attempted to snub anyone or treat anybody with less consideration on account
29:26of his inferiority in rank. With him there was none of the puppyism so often bred by power, and none
29:34of
29:34the dogmatism which Samuel Johnson characterized as puppyism grown to maturity.
29:40Good day!
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