And finally, three miscellaneous comments:
On human nature: After commenting on the politics of tobacco re: Mexico and Spain, Grant philosophized. "The difficulty of obtaining tobacco is probably the reason why everybody, male and female, used it at that time (in Mexico). I know from my own experience that when I was at West Point, the fact that tobacco, in every form, was prohibited, and the mere possession of the weed severely punished, made the majority of the cadets, myself included, try to acquire the habit of using it."
At Appomattox Grant was suffering a migraine headache which was instantly cured when the surrender note came. Upon meeting with Lee "My own feelings, which had been quite jubilant on the receipt of the letter, were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. I do not question, however, the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us."
How time changes attitudes: Grant knew that as long as there are living witnesses to the war there are people who will not be consoled at the loss of a cause they considered holy. "As time passes, people, even of the South, will begin to wonder how it was possible that their ancestors ever fought for or justified" the institution of slavery.
# posted by Randy @ 10:24 AM
