Excerpt from General Grant: Memorial Address Every step of this man's long march for the rescue of the Republic is worth most careful study. But in the brief time proper for this service only a few things maybe recalled and relived. Paducah, his first engage ment against the Rebellion, showed the presence of the great General as certainly as did Mission Ridge. Quickly done, even before authority reached him from Fremont, it Opened the Ohio river and quieted the talk about neutrality in Kentucky, and furnished Grant's first important public document, in which be distinguished between acts and ideas, soldiers and citizens. Donelson, which Grant called our first clear victory, marked a new era in the issue between the North and the South. It transformed the strife from a parade into a war. It demonstrated the ability of raw Western vol unteers to endure and win, under any circumstances, when properly led. It sent North thousands of prisoners, more than had ever been taken at once in any field since the surrender of Ulm to Bonaparte. It broke the strategical line of defense of the sacred soil of the South. Immediately Bowling Green was abandoned. Nashville surrendered without a blow. Impregnable Columbus, which held the Mississippi and threatened the Ohio, was deserted, Missouri was secured, Kentucky was practically freed from invaders, and Tennessee was restored to the Union. Well might this bat tle, where we learned about unconditional surrender, give new spirit to the army and the country, and turn all eyes upon the silent soldier whose form and face will never be forgotten. Vicksburg was called by Jefferson Davis the Gibraltar of America. It is situated on a plateau two hundred and fifty feet high, surrounded by ravines and marshes and the Mississippi river; The strategic campaign of the war was for its capture. The dark days of the war were from January 2, 1863, after the repulse Of Sherman on the Yazoo, to July 4, 1863, when Vicksburg surrendered. These were the days that taxed the faith Of public men and the patriotism of private citizens. These were the days when Grant's supreme military genius and magnificent qualities Of character were displayed. The campaign was designed to dismember the Confederacy, and Open the Mississippi for national uses. It must be done before the end could be reached. Done, the end must follow. Grant set himself about it in the one campaign which he afterward, in the quiet review Of more perfect knowledge, pronounced the campaign which I do not now see how to im prove. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.