General U. S. Grant Leaves Philadelphia on Trip Around World, Arriving There on Return December 16, 1879

There were several incidents in life of General Ulysses Simpson Grant which are of especial interest to Pennsylvanians.

On June 10, 1865, he was tendered a formal reception at the Union League Club house in Philadelphia, at which he was received with such enthusiasm, the general was engaged more than three hours in shaking hands with his visitors.

When the great fair was held at the Academy of Music, commencing October 23, 1865, to aid the Soldiers and Sailors’ Home, the inauguration ceremonies were conducted by Lieutenant-General Grant, Major General Meade, and Admiral Farragut, and an executive committee, including the most distinguished officers and civilians.

As these three most distinguished officers appeared together, the entire audience rose and saluted them with long continued applause. They each made short addresses.

August 14, 1866, General Grant accompanied President Johnson and other distinguished citizens to Philadelphia, where they were received by a great procession of militia and firemen.

The burial of General George G. Meade at Laurel Hill, Philadelphia, November 11, 1872, was the occasion of much mourning.

General Meade was the one conspicuous Philadelphian who stood out above all other Pennsylvanians in the Civil War, and in the years after the Rebellion he was an object of admiration to all the people. His death was regarded as a genuine public loss, and his funeral was attended with most impressive ceremonies.

The procession contained many of the greatest soldiers and civilians in the country, chiefest among whom was General Grant, President of the United States.

On December 18, 1875, President Grant, members of his cabinet and a large number of senators and representatives in Congress made a trip to Philadelphia to inspect the Centennial buildings, then nearly completed. They were entertained at a sumptuous banquet in Horticultural Hall, at which President Grant delivered the principal address.

President Grant was the guest of honor at the opening of the great exhibition, May 10, 1876, when simple but appropriate exercises were held. Four thousand soldiers escorted the President to the grounds. One hundred and fifty thousand people acclaimed the President and the Centennial Exposition.

883On May 15, 1877, ex-President Grant started on his memorable trip around the world.

He sailed from the port of Philadelphia in the ship “Indiana.” His departure attracted much attention, and on the day previous he had held a public reception in Independence Hall.

He was accompanied down the Delaware River on the steamboat “Twilight” by a crowd of distinguished citizens, among whom were General Sherman, Senator Zachariah Chandler, Senator Simon Cameron, and others prominent in State and Nation.

He was accompanied by his wife and one son, and they made a tour of the whole civilized world, visiting especially the great countries of Europe and Asia, and receiving, as a soldier and civilian and the first citizen of the United States, all the honor which rulers and people could bestow. As the unofficial representative of his country, his bearing was such as to win universal admiration and respect.

When he arrived in the Mersey River, England, the ships of all nations gathered there displayed their flags to greet him.

In England a grand reception was accorded him in every city he visited. He was received by Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales in London, and later visited the Queen in Windsor Castle.

After visiting the other countries of Europe and being entertained by all the crowned heads, the United States man-of-war “Vandalia” was placed at his service and on board her he made a cruise of the Mediterranean Sea.

He then visited Bombay and Calcutta in India, Hong Kong, Canton and Peking in China, and finally Japan.

On September 20, 1879, he arrived at San Francisco, where a magnificent demonstration was made in his honor, and during his route East, across the United States, he was given public receptions and greeted with every mark of honor wherever he stopped.

His circuit around the world was accomplished in two years and seven months, and when he arrived back in Philadelphia, December 16, 1879, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, a great procession awaited him. All business was suspended by general consent.

The decorations along the route of the parade were unprecedented in number, variety and costliness.

The procession under the marshalship of Colonel A. Loudon Snowden, took nearly half the day in passing a given point, and it is supposed that hardly less than 40,000 men were in line.

For several days and nights the ex-President and great general had hardly any time that he could call his own; receptions, entertainments, banquets, and other methods of welcome and hospitality being kept up in rapid succession.

He was placed on the retired list of the army by a special act of Congress, March, 1884, with the rank and pay of General.

884During the last few months of his life he wrote his “Memoirs,” which was published soon after his death, which occurred on Mount McGregor, near Saratoga, N. Y., July 23, 1885.

His body found its final resting place in a magnificent mausoleum in Riverside Park, New York City, overlooking the Hudson River.