deserts, and his
ability for still greater responsibilities. The result of this
deliberation was the passage of the act, approved March 1, 1864,
reestablishing the grade of lieutenant-general in the regular army. The
next day President Lincoln nominated General Grant to the rank, and the
nomination was promptly confirmed. He was ordered to Washington to
receive the supreme commission. It was his first visit to the national
capital; his first personal introduction to the President, although he
had heard him make a speech many years before; his first meeting with
the leading men in civil official life, who were sustaining the armies
and guiding the nation in its imperiled way. He came crowned with the
glory of victories second in magnitude and significance to none, since
Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Everybody desired to see him,
and to honor him.

Yet he journeyed to Washington as simply and quietly as possible,
avoiding demonstration. He arrived on the 8th of March, and going to a
hotel waited, unrecognized, until the throng of travelers had
registered, and then wrote, simply, "U. S. Grant and son, Galena." The
next day, at 1 o'clock, he was received by President Lincoln in the
cabinet-room of the White House. There were present, by the President's
invitation, the members of the cabinet, General Halleck, and a few other
distinguished men. After introductions the President addressed him as
follows:--

"GENERAL GRANT,--The expression of the nation's approbation of what you
have already done, and its reliance on you for what remains to be done
in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission,
constituting you lieutenant-general in the army of the United States.
With the high honor, devolves on you an additional responsibility. As
the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I
scarcely need to add, that with what I here speak for the nation goes
my own hearty personal concurrence."

General Grant made the following reply:--

"MR. PRESIDENT,--I accept the commission with gratitude for the high
honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so
many battlefields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor
not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the
responsibilities now devolving upon me; and I know that if they are met,
it will be due to those armies; and, above all, to the favor of that
Providence which leads