On a Meeting in Wartime

The United States has fought in several wars over the nation’s 250 year history. The war that probably gets the least amount of print in history texts or even mentions in the public mind is the Mexican War, which was fought from 1846-1848, not quite two full years. The war was a resounding victory for the still-fledging United States, with the US Army easily conquering the entire country and entering Mexico City as conquerors. About 18,000 American military personnel were either killed, wounded, or missing from the fight, while Mexico’s military casualties were about twice that. At the war’s end, the United States kept everything from Texas to the Pacific and gave the rest back to a more amenable Mexican government.

For the next decade, men like the heroes General Zachary Taylor (who was later elected president) and General Winfield Scott (and others) dominated not only the American military but also much of American politics. Another of the main results of the war was that it provided what would become most of the officer class on both sides of the American Civil War which began a short 12 years later. Some historians have called that war “the training ground” for the experience it provided the soldiers who would lead both sides in the next war. Men who were junior officers in Mexico would become colonels and generals when the Southern States would rebel beginning in 1860. That meant that men who fought together to a victory over Mexico would fight against each other when the Confederacy took up arms against the United States.

A chance interaction between two officers during the Mexican War bears repeating. The story is told that a young American lieutenant named Sam, his regiment’s quartermaster officer, had been out foraging on horseback in the Mexican countryside for food and supplies. He was returning one hot afternoon to the army’s encampment not too far outside Mexico City as the American were preparing to take the city in the next several weeks. Sam was tired, sweaty, and dirty. His uniform front was unbuttoned because of the heat. Now, Sam was a good horseman, but keeping his uniform in regular “army condition” was never a priority for him despite the fact that he had graduated from West Point a few years before. At any rate, here he came, riding back into camp looking like a tramp in an army tunic.

As Sam was dismounting, a colonel came up to him quickly. Sam noticed that the man had a bushy mustache, an immaculate uniform, and spoke to him with a distinct southern accent. The colonel upbraided Sam for his slovenly appearance. Sam was somewhat taken aback, but he knew better than to dispute with the older and higher-ranked officer. Sam buttoned his tunic, wiped the grime from his cheeks, and saluted the colonel. The officer returned Sam’s salute, turned, and walked away.

Now, such a short encounter would probably not be remembered by most men, but Sam kept the meeting in his mind. In 1865, as the Civil War was ending, Sam ran across that very same colonel as the Southern troops were surrendering. The two men met once again in the front room of a house on one of the battlefields. In an effort to be jovial to the defeated rebel, Sam reminded him that they had met years earlier in the Mexican War. Sam recounted that first meeting, but the former colonel looked puzzled. The man who had been the colonel back then told Sam that, yes, he vaguely remembered the incident but that he didn’t exactly remember that it had been Sam whom he had reprimanded that day. The two men, veterans of two wars–one in which they had been comrades and one in which they had been enemies–reminisced about better days for a moment. But the moment of reflection passed.

It was then that General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army reminded the commander of the Union troops, Ulysses S. Grant, known as Sam to his friends, that they had better get on with the surrender of Lee’s troops and end the Civil War.

On Grant’s Tomb

In the 1950s, Groucho Marx hosted a game show called You Bet Your Life. The show was a vehicle for the famous comedian to interact with simple American citizens and riff on their interactions, and all of it was built around a question and answer format. Sometimes, Marx and the producers found that, when faced with the lights and TV cameras and the studio audience (not to mention the larger than life persona of Groucho himself), some contestants on the show would freeze up and not be able to answer the show’s questions. That’s when Groucho would resort to a simple question in an effort to get the people to open up and begin to relax: Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb? Well, the obvious answer that Groucho wanted was, of course, “Grant.” However, that answer both is and isn’t correct. Allow me to explain.

We today forget that Ulysses S. Grant (the “S” stood for nothing–it was only an initial) was seen in his day as one of the saviors of the Union. After almost four years of trying one commanding general after another as head of the Union Army, President Abraham Lincoln found in Grant a man who wasn’t afraid to engage with Robert E. Lee’s rebel army in the field. “I can’t spare Grant,” Lincoln said, “he fights!” Grant fought the insurrectionists to the point that they surrendered in April, 1865. And, in the 1868 election, the next election after the war’s end, Grant was elected President of the United States in a landslide as a sign of how popular he was despite the fact that he had no political experience and was the youngest president elected to that date. Think Dwight D. Eisenhower but almost one hundred years earlier. Grant was re-elected four years later, again, with a good majority of the vote. Sadly, almost a decade after his last term, Grant died of cancer.

However, at that point, much of the nation was divided over Grant’s legacy. Obviously, the people of the rebelling states thought of him as a butcher, the man who forced the Confederacy to be defeated by attrition. They had no use for him. And then, even in the north and west, there were Grant detractors because of what had happened during his eight years as president. You see, those two terms were some of the most corrupt in American History. Several of Grant’s appointees and administration officials were convicted of fraud and of bribery. While Grant himself wasn’t involved, the taint of the corruption had colored how many people viewed him. And, upon his death, the nation was torn as to how to remember this important–even if he was divisive–person.

And those who revered Grant wanted him to have a tomb fitting of the national hero they saw him to be. A fundraising campaign was begun to raise money to build a fitting tomb for the former general, but, after a good and fast start, it quickly fell flat. And land was found along the western side of upper Manhattan Island in New York City for the site of the memorial and grave. Now, Grant was from Ohio originally and had lived in Illinois for a time, but it was New York City that he called home after his presidency and where he was when he died. Also, it was where his wife, Julia, wanted the tomb to be located. She, of course, wished to be buried with her husband when she passed away. That request is why Grant wasn’t buried at West Point (no women allowed at that time) or other military cemeteries. Finally, after a direct appeal by Julia Grant to the soldiers who had fought with her husband in the war, enough money was collected to begin construction.

Now, even the building itself was controversial. The amount initially set aside for the task wouldn’t build a monument grand enough for those who loved Grant, but they felt that, as time wore on, they had to erect something on the selected spot. Finally, a cornerstone was laid in 1892, a full seven years after Grant’s death. And the final structure didn’t get finished until 1897–twelve years after the great man died. Julia died in Washington, D.C., in 1902.

And, to be clear, when the bodies of President Grant and his wife, Julia, were added to the memorial, they were not interred. Instead, the bodies lie above ground, sealed in a red marble sarcophagus. And that fact leads us back to Groucho’s question, the answer to which isn’t as easy as it seemed at the time.

Thus, the real answer to the question as to who is buried in Grant’s Tomb is, actually, nobody.

On a Small Soldier

When President Abraham Lincoln put out the call for soldiers from the northern states to volunteer for the Union Army, an 18 year old enlisted in the 95th Illinois Regiment under the name of Albert Cashier. As a private in that regiment, Albert joined the Army of the Tennessee (Union armies were named after rivers) under the leadership of General Ulysses S. Grant. Albert saw service throughout the south during the war. Though small in stature, Albert’s fellow soldiers testified to the bravery and spirit they saw in the private. It wasn’t uncommon for teenagers to enlist; courageous boys as young as ten saw duty as drummers for some regiments.

Albert kept to himself, mostly, as many soldiers did. When people asked, Albert told them about immigrating from Ireland at an early age and becoming a farmhand in Illinois. With the others in the regiment, Albert performed the usual duties of standing guard and even going on scouting missions. During a reconnaissance patrol, Albert was captured by the Confederates and held as a prisoner of war. Somehow, though, Albert escaped and managed to rejoin the regiment. But then, a crippling case of dysentery put Albert in the hospital during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863. There, Albert received the first real rest in more than 16 months in the army.

More battles followed. Albert participated in more than 40 of them and never wavered, never ran, never panicked. Albert’s coolness under fire was how most of the others in the regiment recalled the youngster. It is estimated that Albert and the 95th Regiment marched over 9,000 miles during the course of the war, following the retreating Confederates from Nashville through Chattanooga and down into Georgia.

When the war ended, Albert, along with the rest of the regiment, was discharged and sent home with the gratitude of a nation for having defended the Union and the ideals upon which it was founded. Returning home, Albert lived a quiet life as a town handyman, caretaker of the local church grounds, and sometime store employee. In 1907, Albert applied for an received a well-deserved pension for the time in the service.

Then, in 1911, a car hit Albert and the resulting injuries required hospitalization. Some of Albert’s fellow old soldiers from the regiment visited their fellow small soldier in the hospital. Sadly, Albert would never fully recover from the accident. Death followed not too shortly afterward. However, it was in the hospital that the attendants and physicians who cared for Albert made a remarkable discovery. This person who had fought bravely for the Union, worked for years in the town, was known by many people for honesty and prudence, was not who he said he was.

In fact, it was discovered that the person who had lived for over 50 years as Albert Cashier was actually a she.

On a Traffic Stop

Officer William West served the District of Columbia police force with pride and efficiency. An army veteran, William took his job of serving the public seriously. People who knew William (never “Bill,” always William) said he was tough but fair, honest, and believed that policemen and fireman and other first responders were grossly underpaid and underappreciated. In William’s case, that was certainly true. The pay at the force wasn’t great, but he prided himself in never taking a bribe to look the other way or to let someone off if they broke the law. For William, to be corrupt would make the entire system corrupt. He loved his country, his police force, and his job.

One week in the city, William was assigned traffic duty. That meant, basically, to set up what most people would call a speed trap to catch those who ignored the limit. William, characteristically, saw it differently. There had been serious incidences of speeding recently, and a mom and her kid were injured when a driver hit them while going too fast in the city limits. So, William saw his job that week as being important.

Oh, there’re some other things you should know about Officer William West at this point. He was a black man, born in Maryland, and lived in the area of Washington his entire life except for his time in the US Army. He and his wife, Katherine, had six children. He was 30 years old when the following events occurred.

William was patrolling near 13th Street an M Street when a vehicle flashed by. William quickly signaled for the driver to pull over. The man did. He was a white guy, about 20 years older than William, and when William approached the vehicle, the man said, “Well, officer; what do you want with me?” William later reported that he recognized the man, and that the man’s attitude was condescending. However, William, as usual, kept his professional cool. William calmly explained why the man had been stopped, and he politely asked the man to drive slower and gave the man a warning only. “We’re looking for people to set an example, sir,” William explained. The man sheepishly promised it wouldn’t happen again and apologized for speeding. William let him go on his way.

But that wouldn’t the last interaction between the two.

The next day, near the same spot, William spied the man again speeding through the area. It took William some distance to pull over the man this time. “I gave you a warning yesterday,” William informed the repeat offender. “You gave me your word that you wouldn’t speed again.” The man could not protest. William, making sure to be as polite as he could, placed the man under arrest for speeding. “I’m sorry, sir, but duty is duty,” William told him. William took the man to the station and turned him over to the booking clerk.

“You sure about this?” the clerk asked William. “I am,” the duty-bound officer replied. The man paid his bond and was released.

Until recently, Officer William West’s arrest of President Ulysses S. Grant was the only time that had happened to a President of the United States of America.