No change of expression crossed his face" ( Autobiography, 251). At the high point of the ceremony, "here wasn't a soldier on that stage who wasn't visibly affected, except the man who was being welcomed, Grant. Twain was among the invited dignitaries (asked to toast "the ladies," he instead toasted "the babies"), and he used the occasion of sharing the stage with Grant to observe him closely. For the occasion a broadside was published which described Grant as "the admitted and undisputed Military Genius of the whole world" (Kaplan, 224). In 1879, Grant was feted in Chicago at a reunion of the Army of the Tennessee. In this context, it is intriguing to find in Twain's work descriptions of Grant that are suggestive of Scoresby. So when Twain thought about the great military reputations of the 19th century, it was only natural that Wellington and Grant would have come to his mind as the two most outstanding figures. If you had done and suffered for any other country what you have done and suffered for your own, you would have been affronted in the same sordid way" ( Notebooks and Journals II, 355). In the words of the introduction itself, Twain had addressed Grant as follows: "When Wellington won Waterloo, a battle about on a level with some dozen of your victories, sordid England tried to pay him for that service with wealth and grandeur she made him a Duke and gave him $4,000,000. in introducing the General I referred to the dignities and emoluments lavished upon the Duke of Wellington by England and contrasted that conduct with our far finer and higher method toward the savior of our country - to wit, the simple carrying him in our hearts without burdening him with anything to live on" ( Autobiography I, 29). Twain later recalled the incident with some irony: ". Less familiar is the story of Grant's visit to Hartford during Garfield's presidential campaign. It is also well known that Grant figures in another story included in Merry Tales, "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed." Grant on terms much more favorable to the General than had originally been proposed by rival publishers. Under these circumstances, Twain - as is well known - arranged to publish the Personal Memoirs of U.S. After leaving the White House, Grant was reduced to a state of near poverty. Moreover, Twain admired Grant's moral character, his simplicity and personal incorruptibility, even though his administration had been riddled with scandal. Twain regarded Grant as a "military genius," a man with "the gift of command, a natural eloquence, and an equally natural reserve" (Fishkin, 1996, xvii). Though unsuccessful as president, Grant's military reputation was almost universally acknowledged (apparently Lord Wolseley was the only one to question his generalship). Here remains one more possible candidate for the model of Scoresby: Ulysses S. The troops engaged in them will have to look to the detailed reports of their individual commanders for the full history of those deeds.Part V of the author's "Mark Twain on the Crimean War." In-text citations refer to items in the bibliography. There were thousands of instances, during the rebellion, of individual, company, regimental and brigade deeds of heroism which deserve special mention and are not here alluded to. There must be many errors of omission in this work, because the subject is too large to be treated of in two volumes in such way as to do justice to all the officers and men engaged. In preparing these volumes for the public, I have entered upon the task with the sincere desire to avoid doing injustice to any one, whether on the National or Confederate side, other than the unavoidable injustice of not making mention often where special mention is due. Download cover art Download CD case insert Personal Memoirs of U.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |