Adam Badeau, Grant in peace: from Appomattox to Mount McGregor, a personal memoir

Sir Edward Watkins was the Chairman (President as Americans call it), of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway Company, and had offered the hospitality of his road whenever General Grant traveled over it; as in fact did most of the railroad companies in England.

Consulate-General of the United States for great Britain and Ireland, London, Oct. 18th, 1877. E. C.

Dear General,—I just returned this A. M. from Birmingham. The reception there was extremely flattering, and the speeches showed not only present warmth of sentiment for America but that it had been the same during the trying days when many other communities in England felt and spoke quite differently.—I regret that I shall not be able to get out to your house—probably—during my stay in London. Hope however that you will be able to get to Bristol Hotel.

Yours Truly,

U. S. Grant. Over

P. S.—Will you be kind enough to let me know if Sir—Watkins has made arrangements for our departure on Wednesday next; and if so, at what hour we will start, what hour arrive in Paris, and at what depot we will arrive.

Letter no. Twenty-three.

I was no longer able to be absent from my consular post, and when General Grant again left England, I parted company with him for a while. Our correspondence now became more regular than ever before, so that what was a disadvantage to me, may prove an advantage to the world; for at this time he wrote to no one else so constantly and familiarly on subjects of general importance and interest.