as lieutenant general in the Regular Army.
To make the occasion more newsworthy,
Lincoln had assembled his entire cabinet.
After the president and Grant positioned
themselves standing face to face, Lincoln
read his brief statement: “General Grant:
The nation’s appreciation of what you have
done, and its reliance upon you for what
remains to do, in the existing great struggle,
are now presented with this great commis-
sion, constituting you Lieutenant General
in the Army of the United States. With this
high honor devolves upon you also a cor-
responding responsibility. As the country
herein trusts you, under God, it will sus-
tain you. I scarcely need to add that what I
here speak for the nation goes my own
hearty personal concurrence.”
Grant, holding his written notes in one
hand, commenced the acceptance speech
he had composed the night before in his
hotel room. He appeared ill at ease as he
began to read the original draft, and the
first few word were almost inaudible. One
listener thought Grant simply had not
taken enough air into his lungs and tried to
read the entire piece in one quick rush.
After his poor start the general paused,
tightly gripped his paper with both hands,
took a deep breath, and went on in a clear
voice that seemed to gain strength as he
continued to speak. His comments were
brief: “Mr. President: I accept this com-
mission with gratitude for the high honor
conferred. With the aid of the noble armies
that have fought on so many fields for our
common country, it will be my earnest
endeavor not to disappoint your expecta-
tions. I feel the full weight of the responsi-
bilities now devolving on me and know if
they are met it will be due to those armies,
and above all to the favor of that Provi-
dence which leads both Nations and men.”
Lincoln’s personal secretary, John Nico-
lay, later observed of Grant’s performance:
“The general had hurried and almost illeg-
ibly written his speech on a half sheet of
note paper in lead pencil. His embarrass-
ment was evident and extreme; he found
his own writing difficult to read.” He went
on to say that the speech was “brief and to
the point,” but noted that Grant had failedto include the two items Lincoln had
requested he make in his presentation. Still,
all in attendance agreed that the general’s
remarks had suited the moment.
After the formalities at the White House,
Grant inspected the defenses surrounding
Washington, posed for a picture at Mathew
Brady’s famous portrait gallery, and spent
some time with Lincoln and Stanton dis-
cussing his new duties. All the while Grant
was itching to escape the capital. He con-
cluded his eventful day by attending a din-
ner at Secretary Seward’s home.
The next day Lincoln sent orders to the
War Department formally making Grant
commander in chief of the armies of the
United States. This created a new military
hierarchy in the Federal Army: Grant
became head of all the Union armies, Sher-
man took Grant’s place as commander of
the Department of the Military Division of
the Mississippi, and Maj. Gen. Henry W.
Halleck, the former Army chief, was
relieved of that duty and named chief of
staff under Grant. Another major change
followed the shakeup of the high com-
mand: the headquarters of the new com-manding general would no longer be in an
office at the War Department in Washing-
ton, as it had been under Halleck, but
would be wherever Grant was at the time.
That same day Grant and Rawlins
departed Washington and headed for
Brandy Station, Virginia, campsite of the
Army of the Potomac and its commander,
Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. Soon after
his arrival at Meade’s headquarters, Grant
realized that two significant assumptions
that had guided his actions had changed.
In the mere 36 hours Grant had been in
Washington, he came to realize that despite
his sincere desire to return to the West, he
needed to be closer to the seat of govern-
ment. He understood that regular face-to-
face meetings with the president and the
secretary of war would do more to facili-
tate the war effort than impersonal
telegrams. Also, his presence in the East
would ease the vexing problem and prac-
tices of army administration departments
such as quartermaster and ordnance that
consistently acted contrary to the needs of
the field armies. Lincoln seemed like a rea-
sonable politician who would not intrude
into matters beyond his understanding.
Had not the president just told him during
their last conversation that he did not
expect the general to share his military
plans with him? All Lincoln wanted, he
made clear to Grant, was that Grant take
personal responsibility and act decisively.
Grant had a second change of heart after
his first meeting with Meade. A number of
his former military subordinates, including
Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson and Assistant
Secretary of War Charles A. Dana, had rec-
ommended that Meade be removed from
command of the Army the Potomac if that
organization was to perform at its full
potential. Upon meeting Meade, Grant was
impressed by the former’s offer to step
down as army commander and serve in a
subordinate capacity if Grant wanted a
Western general, such as Sherman, to take
charge of the Army of the Potomac. Grant
recorded in his memoirs that Meade’s
unselfish offer “gave me even a more favor-
able opinion of Meade than did his great
victory at Gettysburg the July before.” InAnother Thulstrup sketch shows Lincoln present-
ing Grant with his lieutenant general’s commis-
sion as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton looks on
approvingly. Stanton originally had doubts about
Grant’s suitability.CWQ-EW16 Grant Takes DC_Layout 1 10/22/15 1:07 PM Page 16