Rawlins warned him that he must stop drinking.
A
Galena, Ill., special says: Thousands of persons from this and adjoining States met in
Galena to-day to honor the memory of
General Grant, and to take part in the reunion of the survivors of the 12th Illinois Regiment.
The reunion was held in the court-house room, where thirty-five years ago
Captain Grant presided when Co. F, of the 12th, organized.
After listening to several brief addresses, the veterans adjourned to Turner Hall, where the formal exercises were held.
General John C. Black, of
Chicago, delivered the principal address.
It was an eloquent eulogy of
General Grant assoldier and statesman.
He held that the greatest achievement of his career was the signing of the treaty of
Washington, which had rendered war between the
United States and
Great Britain almost impossible, and which,
General Black, predicted, would be followed by international arbitration under
America's lead.
H. D. Estabrook, of
Chicago, read at the banquet to-night a letter from
General John A. Rawlins to
General Grant, written during the
siege of Vicksburg, which, it was said, had never appeared before, and of the existence of which very few knew.
The original is in the possession of a citizen of
Galena.
The letter is dated: ‘Before Vicksburg, Miss., June 6, 1863, 1 o'clock A. M.,’ and reads:
The great solicitude I feel for the safety of this army leads me to mention what I hoped never again to do—the subject of your drinking.
[155]
This may surprise you, for I may be, and I trust I am, doing you an injustice by unfounded suspicion; but, if I am in error, it had better be on the side of this country's safety than in fear of offending a friend.
I have heard that Dr. D——, at General Sherman's, a few days ago, induced you, notwithstanding your pledge to me, to take a glass of wine, and to-day, when I found a box of wine in front of your tent, and proposed to move it, which I did, I was told you had forbid its being taken away, for you intended to keep it until you entered Vicksburg, that you might have it for your friends, and tonight, when you should, because of the condition of your health, if nothing else, have been in bed, I find you where the wine-bottle has just been emptied, in company with those who drink, and urge you to do likewise, and the lack of your usual promptness and decision and clearness in expressing yourself in writing, conduces to confirm my suspicion.
Must stop or fail.
You have full control over your appetite, and can let drinking alone.
Had you not pledged me the sincerity of your honor early last March, that you would drink no more during the war, and kept that pledge during the campaign, you would not have stood first in the world's history as a successful leader.
Your only salvation depends upon your strict adherence to that pledge; you cannot succeed in any other way.
As I have before stated, I may be wrong in my suspicions; but if one sees that which leads him to suppose a sentinel is falling asleep on his post, it is his duty to arouse him; and if one sees that which leads him to fear the general commanding a great army is being seduced to that step which he knows will bring disgrace upon that general, and defeat to his command; if he fails to sound the proper note of warning, the friends, wives and children of those brave men, whose lives he permits to remain thus in peril, will accuse him while he lives, and stand swift witnesses of wrath against him in the day when all shall be tried.
If my suspicions are unfounded, let my friendship for you and my zeal for my country be the excuse for this letter; and, if they be correctly founded, and you determine not to heed my admonitions and prayers of this hasty note by immediately ceasing to touch a single drop of any kind of liquor, no matter by whom asked or under what circumstances, let my immediate relief from duty in this department be the result.
