pecially for General Grant
in 1864. The old title of "general-in-chief," given to the officer
at the head of the army before the Civil War, is the appropriate
title in this country. That officer is, in fact, the chief general,
but does not command the army.

If it be considered the best policy to reserve the two highest
military grades,--those of general and lieutenant-general,--to be
conferred only by special act of Congress for distinguished services,
appropriate distinction may be given to the officer at the head of
the army at any time by the title of general-in-chief, with such
additional compensation as is necessary to defray his living expenses
in Washington. Neither the rank nor the pay of an officer in a
subordinate position can possibly be regarded as appropriate to
one in a higher grade of duty. Every grade of public service should
have an officer of appropriate rank and compensation, certainly
the highest in any department even more than any other. The
government of this country has not been duly regardful even of its
own dignity and self-respect, in denying to its chief military
officer appropriate rank, and in requiring him to expend all the
savings of a lifetime to maintain his official position for a few
years at the seat of government.

THE PRESIDENT AND THE COMMANDER OF THE ARMY

Not by any means the least benefit to be expected from a law
authorizing each President to select his chief general, would be
the education thus given to officers of the army in respect to the
relation in which they stand to the commander-in-chief, and in
respect to the reasonable limits of military ambition in a republic
where the President is and must be commander-in-chief, whether he
is a man of military education and experience or not.

So strongly were those views impressed upon my mind by my studies
of the subject, made at the request of General Grant and General
Sherman many years ago, that when I became the senior officer of
the army I refrained scrupulously from suggesting to the President
or the Secretary of War or anybody else that I had any expectation
of being assigned to the command, or regarded myself as having any
claim to it. It seemed to me solely a question for the President
himself to decide whether or not he wanted me as his chief military
adviser and assistant, and it would have been impossible for me to
consent that anybody should try to influence his decision i