Talk:Ulysses S. Grant/Archive 1

Wolcott

I added the quote from his letter to Wolcott, I figure the public deserves to know all sides of Grant.

—This unsigned comment is by 65.28.189.140 (talk • contribs) .

I added the quote - not sure of fact that Grant said it.

• “Incompetence is one of The worst forms of corruption!”

—This unsigned comment is by Jjc71538 (talk • contribs) .

I removed this, as I can find very few attributions of this to Grant, and no citations as to original source. ~ Kalki 11:08, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

what kind of contribution to society and Historical connectiond does Hirman Ulysses Grant have?

—This unsigned comment is by 68.191.110.42 (talk • contribs) .

June 8 1868 Congressional investigation proved that Grant never said "if I thought this war....". Horace Greeley paper had invented it in a failed attempt to prevent Grants campaign to become President. Gary Adams

Removing Quote

"If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my commission and offer my sword to the other side."

He never said that, his opponents concocted it up

—This unsigned comment is by 203.82.48.54 (talk • contribs) .

I believe it was concocted. He was strongly opposed to slave holders.

—This unsigned comment is by MacCillRois (talk • contribs) .

Yes, that's why he himself was a slave holder, eh? Also, he did say that. I read it in one of my Civil War history books.

—This unsigned comment is by 4.188.33.83 (talk • contribs) .

Actually, that quote is documented. He did say it. Grant was a slaveholder through his wife Julia. When Richmond fell to the Union army, only one person was allowed to be escorted through the streets of Richmond by a servant. That person was Julia Dent Grant and she openly flaunted that fact.

You may be thinking of a quote that is attributed to Grant where he supposedly said, "Good help is hard to find." That quote is undocumentd.

—This unsigned comment is by 76.7.154.215 (talk • contribs) .

This quote was supposedly made to the Chicago Tribune in 1862 by Grant. Problem is that nobody has ever been able to find this quote, not even the Chicago Tribune and the quote is contrary to everything that Grant has ever stated about the slavery issue. This quote first appears on page 219 of the 1904 reprint of _Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South 1861-65_ by George Edmonds, and page 54 of a 1920 reprint of _Truths of History_ by Mildred Lewis Rutherford. Both books are available from the Crown Rights Book Company. The alleged quote is referenced in both of these books as coming from page 33 of a the 1868 printing of a non-footnoted book called the _Democratic Speakers Handbook_ by Matthew Carey, a political enemy of Grant in the presidential election. Until someone finds a better source than the Politically Incorrect Guide to US History, please do not repost this quote.

—This unsigned comment is by 208.104.137.227 (talk • contribs) .

The _Democratic Speakers Handbook_ (or, to give its full title, _The Democratic Speaker's Hand-Book: Containing Every Thing Necessary for the Defense of the National Democracy in the Coming Presidential Campaign, and for the Assault of the Radical Enemies of the County and its Constitution_) does have something vaguely like the above quote on page 33, but the sourcing is very dubious, and I agree that the quote should not be given credence. From the Handbook, p. 33:

"The editor of the [Huntsville, Alabama] Randolph Citizen [a Democratic party newspaper] recalls some interesting reminiscences of the great Reticent. He had a tongue at one time, it would seem: In the summer of 1861 General Grant, then Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Regiment of Infantry, was stationed in Mexico [Missouri], on the North Missouri Railroad, and had command of the post . . . . Ulysses the Silent was then Ulysses the Garrulous, and embraced every fair opportunity which came his way to express his sentiments and opinions in regard to political affairs. One of these declarations we distinctly remember. In a public conversation in Ringo's banking-house, a sterling Union man put this question to him: 'What do you honestly think was the real object of this war on the part of the Federal Government?'

"'Sir,' said Grant, 'I have no doubt in the world that the sole object is the restoration of the Union. I will say further, though, that I am a Democrat--every man in my regiment is a Democrat--and whenever I shall be convinced that this war has for its object anything else that what I have mentioned or that the Government designs using its soldiers to execute the purposes of the abolitionists, I pledge you on my honor as a man and a soldier that I will not only resign my commission, but will carry my sword to the other side, and cast my lot with that people.'"

—This unsigned comment is by 99.7.82.53 (talk • contribs) .

I hate to admit it but Grant did not say "If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my commission and offer my sword to the other side" or it did not free his slave because of "good help being hard to find" at the same time you are wrong he was no lover of the black and before you start on me few in that period were.

—This unsigned comment is by Southron 98 (talk • contribs) .