every stop along the way large crowds
gathered to see and cheer the man who
seemed destined to save the Union. This not
only surprised Grant but made him uncom-
fortable. The excitement and interest con-
tinued unabated once he checked into
Willard’s Hotel. Soon after retreating to his
room with his son after the chaos in the
hotel dining room, Grant was visited by
former Secretary of War Simon Cameron
and Pennsylvania Congressman James K.
Moorhead, who bustled Grant off to the
reception at the White House. Either at the
Grants’ hotel or near the White House,
Grant was joined by Rawlins and Com-
stock, who had spent their time after arriv-
ing in the capital unsuccessfully hunting for
Secretary of War Stanton to let him know
that Grant was in town.
Although the night was wet and raw, a
huge crowd had come to the White House
in anticipation of Grant being there. As
Grant entered the presidential mansion at
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the swarms of
onlookers parted like the Red Sea, allowing
the general to have a clear corridor through
the building. A few score feet from where
Grant entered stood President Lincoln.
Upon Grant’s entrance, Lincoln steppedforward, a smile on his face, his hand out-
stretched while Grant walked toward him.
One of Lincoln’s secretaries recalled that it
appeared to be a “long walk for a bashful
man [Grant], the eyes of the world upon
him.” As the men shook hands, Lincoln
exulted, “Why, here is General Grant! Well,
this is a great pleasure, I assure you.”
When the handshake was finished, the
two stood side by side, Lincoln at six feet,
four inches looking down at the five foot,
eight inch Grant as he he grasped the lapel
of the general’s uniform coat. The president
beckoned to Secretary of State William H.
Seward, who took Grant off to present him
to Mrs. Lincoln, then led Grant to the East
Room, where the president and a large
crowd were waiting.
As Grant came into the East Room, it sig-
naled another outbreak of cheers; many
pressed in on Grant to shake his hand. Sec-
retary of the Navy Gideon Welles described
the scene as “rowdy and unseemly,” while
another onlooker, Barnabas Burns, said the
cheering group “was the only real mob I
ever saw in the White House.” Grant had
to stand on a sofa for the better part of an
hour to avoid being trampled underfoot by
adoring fans. Brooks wrote of the event:“For once at least the President of the
United States was not the chief figure in the
picture. The little, scared-looking man
[Grant] who stood on a crimson-covered
sofa was the idol of the hour.”
With some effort Seward, aided by White
House staffers, managed to extricate the
distinguished visitor from the press of peo-
ple who had besieged him and take him to
the Blue Room, where Lincoln and Stan-
ton were waiting. Once there, Lincoln
showed Grant into a drawing room where
Lincoln would present him with his new
commission the next day. Lincoln
explained that he would make a short
speech at the ceremony—no more than
four sentences—and that he wanted Grant
to make a short reply. So that Grant would
know what was coming, the president gave
him a copy of his remarks. Lincoln went
on to say that he wanted the general to
include in his statement two salient points:
something that would smooth over any
feelings of jealousy among other general
officers in the Army, and something that
would put Grant “on as good terms as pos-
sible with the Army of the Potomac.”
At 1 PMthe next day, Grant returned to
the White House to receive his commissionGrant, center right, is depicted in an imaginary scene, attending Abraham Lincoln’s last reception at the White House. At his own reception a year earlier,
Grant was seemingly uncomfortable with all the attention he received.CWQ-EW16 Grant Takes DC_Layout 1 10/22/15 1:07 PM Page 15