Boys Book of Famous Soldiers | Page 9

got thrown helter-skelter. He flung his arms around the pony's fat neck,

and stuck on, though as he afterward said: "That pony was as round as
an apple."
He tells another amusing story of himself, in these early days. He
greatly coveted a young colt owned by a neighboring farmer, and after
teasing his father, the latter tried to buy it for him. But he offered only
twenty dollars for the colt, and the owner wanted twenty-five. After
some dickering without any result, the boy went to the owner with this
message, which he delivered all in a breath:
"Father says I may offer you twenty dollars; and if you won't take that,
I am to offer you twenty-two and a half; and if you won't take that for
your colt, I am to pay you twenty-five dollars."
"It would not take a Connecticut farmer to tell what was the price paid
for the colt," he added afterward when telling the story.
This little incident, while amusing, reveals a trait in his character which
persisted all through life. He was the soul of candor. He called a spade
a spade. And he never could bargain.
Another early trait revealing itself in later years was something that, in
his Memoirs, he calls a superstition. It was a dislike to turn back when
once started on a journey. If he found himself on the wrong road, he
would keep going until he came to some branching road rather than
turn aside. This habit was destined to make some of the generals on the
other side, in the Civil War, somewhat uncomfortable. They found that
he never quit.
Thus grew up the boy, Ulysses Grant. He was not considered
particularly bright at school, but he was a plodder, going along keeping
his own counsel. He could not talk readily, even in a small company,
and was hopeless when it came to "speaking a piece" on Friday at the
school. But he was a sturdy, outdoor boy, by this time remarkably
proficient with horses. At the age of fifteen he had explored the back
country for miles roundabout.
His father, however, had never lost sight of the fact that the boy was to

get a good schooling--and frequently brought up the subject, to "Lys's"
discomfort. The lad was not especially keen for any more books. But
the opportunity came--just as others were to come, to shape the whole
course of young Grant's life.
The son of a neighbor had received an appointment to West Point, but
had failed to pass the entrance examinations. Jesse Grant immediately
wrote to the Congressman of the district, in behalf of Ulysses, although
the two men were on opposite political sides and had quarreled bitterly:
"If you have no other person in view and feel willing to consent to the
appointment of Ulysses, you will please signify that consent to the
Department."
Ulysses got the appointment, despite the political feud, and it is
pleasant to note that the two men healed their differences and became
good friends again.
The boy received news of his appointment without much enthusiasm.
He would much rather be a horse trader, he told his father. But the
latter was determined--and Ulysses went.
Nor did his appointment please others in the village, who thought the
boy dull. One man meeting Mr. Grant in the street, said bluntly: "I hear
that your boy is going to West Point. Why didn't our Representative
pick some one that would be a credit to the district?"
This ill-natured speech may have been inspired by the fact that political
feeling ran high at that time; and Jesse Grant as a staunch Whig and
Northerner had made a good many enemies.
Ulysses was coached for West Point at an academy at Ripley, Ohio,
conducted by William Taylor, and passed his entrance examinations
with fair grades. His best study was mathematics. He entered at the age
of seventeen.
It took young Grant many a long day to accustom himself to the
Military Academy. The hazing encountered by every Freshman he
didn't seem to mind, so the older men soon let him alone. But the drill

and the dress! To this farm lad it was deadly. These were the days of
the "ramrod" tactics of Winfield Scott--the starch and stock and
buckram days of the army. "Old Fuss and Feathers" his critics called
him, but with all his love of pomp and circumstance Scott was a
splendid soldier, whether on the drill ground, or in the face of the
enemy. Nevertheless, to Grant it was a constant trial, at first. He felt
like a fish out of water. General Charles King thus speaks of him:
"Phlegmatic in temperament and long given to ease and deliberation in
all his movements at home, this springing to attention at