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Around the World with General Grant
After leaving the office of the presidency in 1877, Ulysses S. Grant embarked on a journey worthy of his legendary namesake, an around-the-world tour that took him from Europe to the Middle East and Asia over two and one-half years. Accompanying Grant was journalist John Russell Young, a wartime associate who was working in Europe as a correspondent for the New York Herald when Grant first arrived in England. On assignment for the Herald , Young joined the former president's entourage and faithfully recorded every detail of the grand tour―the sightseeing, official visits, travel conditions, and Grant's candid discussions with heads of state and other notables about the Civil War and other matters of state. So far from home, Grant felt free to speak his mind about his fellow Union officers, his Confederate adversaries, and the conduct of the war, at far more length than he would in his celebrated but close-to-the-vest memoirs. These salty reminiscences of the war give this travelogue its greatest importance for posterity. First published in two volumes in 1879, Young's account has been carefully abridged by historian Michael Fellman and is now available to modern readers in a single volume that, besides his adventures abroad, distills Grant's unvarnished memories and judgments of his wartime and executive experiences. We read Grant's opinions of such Civil War figures as Stonewall Jackson ("Jackson's fame as a general depends upon achievements gained before his generalship was tested, before he had a chance of matching himself with a really great commander."); George McClellan ("It has always seemed to me that the critics of McClellan do not consider this vast and cruel responsibility―the war, a new thing to all of us, the army new, everything to do from the outset, with a restless people and Congress."); and Joe Johnston ("I have had nearly all of the Southern generals in high command in front of me, and Joe Johnston gave me more anxiety than any of the others. I was never half so anxious about Lee... Take it all in all, the South, in my opinion, had no better soldier than Joe Johnston."). An intimate portrait of one of America's most brilliant―and thoughtful―military men, Around the World with General Grant is a classic work of American journalism and history. It is also a vivid and insightful travel book, filled with reflections on exotic places and on Western, particularly British, imperialism as America was on the reluctant verge of entering the world stage.
- GenresHistoryTravelNonfiction
Hardcover
First published September 13, 2002
103 people want to read
About the author
John Russell Young
87 booksJohn Russell Young was a journalist, author, and diplomat, and was appointed by President McKinley as the seventh Librarian of the United States Congress (1897–1899). He was the brother of Congressman James Rankin Young.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 12, 2013
Cross-posted on http://soapboxing.net/
In my ideal library Mark Twain wrote Around the World with General Grant. On earth, however, the General commenced his travels before he and Twain were well acquainted, and even if they had been Twain was a famous author with a schedule of lucrative lectures, not at all what Grant needed and found in John Russell Young – a pure correspondent, an instrumental reporter whose lively dispatches from the epic world tour (Liverpool to Nagasaki, May 1877 to September 1879) would keep Grant in the domestic eye and impress the American voter (who might be asked to consider a third Grant administration) with the honors Europe and Asia were showering on the ex-president. Young notes that while cruising between Malta and Naples on an American warship, Grant read and enjoyed Twain's Innocents Abroad
This edition is an abridgement of the popular two-volume coffee table book – or parlor piano-top book – Young published after he got back. Around the World with General Grant was a lavishly illustrated atlas-cum-gazetteer that allowed Americans to glimpse exotic geography, culture and politics over the shoulder, as it were, of a national hero and nominal Everyman. In the engravings Grant is familiar and repeated, Gorey-like, talismanic; the beard, the cigar, and the frock coat, though his headgear varies: a bowler while strolling European streets, a pith helmet in the desert and in the tropics, a glossy top hat in official receptions.
“Smooth twaddle” is what Henry James would have called Young’s narrative. But Young’s glibness is overpowered by the interest of the historical moment - a moment in which Grant, as the voice of a young New World power whose recent consolidation and display of military prowess has stymied British and French designs, preaches anti-imperial idealism to Asians oppressed by European powers - and by the drama of the witnessed scenes, which show Grant discussing the cares of state with Bismarck; blushing before the dancing girls summoned by the Majaraja of Jeypore; mediating a Sino-Japanese dispute (the chapter on Grant in China is amazing); candidly talking shit about colleague and opponent generals in the American Civil War; and much more.Young’s account for the most part presents an officially masked, phlegmatic and platitudinous Grant, but there are glimpses of the spirited solitary and restless horseman later biographers have revealed:
In my ideal library Mark Twain wrote Around the World with General Grant. On earth, however, the General commenced his travels before he and Twain were well acquainted, and even if they had been Twain was a famous author with a schedule of lucrative lectures, not at all what Grant needed and found in John Russell Young – a pure correspondent, an instrumental reporter whose lively dispatches from the epic world tour (Liverpool to Nagasaki, May 1877 to September 1879) would keep Grant in the domestic eye and impress the American voter (who might be asked to consider a third Grant administration) with the honors Europe and Asia were showering on the ex-president. Young notes that while cruising between Malta and Naples on an American warship, Grant read and enjoyed Twain's Innocents Abroad
This edition is an abridgement of the popular two-volume coffee table book – or parlor piano-top book – Young published after he got back. Around the World with General Grant was a lavishly illustrated atlas-cum-gazetteer that allowed Americans to glimpse exotic geography, culture and politics over the shoulder, as it were, of a national hero and nominal Everyman. In the engravings Grant is familiar and repeated, Gorey-like, talismanic; the beard, the cigar, and the frock coat, though his headgear varies: a bowler while strolling European streets, a pith helmet in the desert and in the tropics, a glossy top hat in official receptions.
“Smooth twaddle” is what Henry James would have called Young’s narrative. But Young’s glibness is overpowered by the interest of the historical moment - a moment in which Grant, as the voice of a young New World power whose recent consolidation and display of military prowess has stymied British and French designs, preaches anti-imperial idealism to Asians oppressed by European powers - and by the drama of the witnessed scenes, which show Grant discussing the cares of state with Bismarck; blushing before the dancing girls summoned by the Majaraja of Jeypore; mediating a Sino-Japanese dispute (the chapter on Grant in China is amazing); candidly talking shit about colleague and opponent generals in the American Civil War; and much more.Young’s account for the most part presents an officially masked, phlegmatic and platitudinous Grant, but there are glimpses of the spirited solitary and restless horseman later biographers have revealed:
We had an escort of lepers as we took our places in our wagons, and were glad to hurry away. We kept our journey, our eyes bent toward Jerusalem, and looking with quickened interest as Mr. Hardegg told us that the blue mountains coming in view were the mountains of Judea. Our road is toward the southeast. The rain falls, but it is not an exacting shower. The General has found a horse, and when offered the affectation of an umbrella and urged to swathe his neck in silk, says it is only mist, and gallops ahead.
April 18, 2021
“Around The World With General Grant” is part pageant, part travelogue, part diplomacy and part reflection on an extraordinary life and career. Author John Russell Young was a journalist who accompanied General and Mrs. Grant on their two and a half year, round the world tour after leaving the White House. To each chapter is added an introduction by editor Michael Fellman.
The trip was broad in extent, magnificent in splendor and presaged the later excursion of former President Theodore Roosevelt. Grant was greeted on a par with a head of state by monarchs, diplomats and citizens. Beginning with departure from Philadelphia, the party visited sequentially England, the Grant ancestral lands in Scotland, Paris, Italy, Malta, Egypt, the Holy Land, Holland, Germany, Scandinavia, Russia, Austria, Portugal, Ireland before going on to the East. A long sea voyage carried them to India, Burma, Singapore, Siam, Cochin China (Indochina), Hong Kong, China and Japan before proceeding on to San Francisco and the rail trip across the United States. In the course of these stops, Grant became the first U.S. president to visit Saigon and, according to the book, the first person to shake hands with the Emperor of Japan.
Accounts of audiences with Queen Victoria, Kings Leopold of Belgium, Alfonso II of Spain, Don Luis I of Portugal, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Tsar Alexander II of Russian, the King of Siam and Emperors of China and Japan provide insights into the splendor of Courts and exchanges of views between leaders. At times Young would break his attention away from the company and fill his readers minds’ eyes’ with descriptions of his purview. “We come to the scene of the great battle between David and Gollaih. There were stones enough for the stripling‘s sling, as we can well see. The valley is deep and the brook still runs its swift course. We could easily imagine the armies of the Jews on one side of the valley and the armies of the Philistine on the other. It is the last ravine this side of the heights of Jerusalem, and one of the strongest natural defenses of the Holy City.” P. 119
An around the world journey in Grant’s day required many days aboard ship traversing oceans and Young took advantage to collect Grant’s memories of martial battles and military and political personalities with whom he had interacted.
John Russell Young has crafted a chronicle of a trek unique in world history. He made the most of his opportunity with vignettes of meetings with rich and powerful, verbal sketches of scenery and structures and reports of leisurely conversations with General Grant make this a read not to be missed.
The trip was broad in extent, magnificent in splendor and presaged the later excursion of former President Theodore Roosevelt. Grant was greeted on a par with a head of state by monarchs, diplomats and citizens. Beginning with departure from Philadelphia, the party visited sequentially England, the Grant ancestral lands in Scotland, Paris, Italy, Malta, Egypt, the Holy Land, Holland, Germany, Scandinavia, Russia, Austria, Portugal, Ireland before going on to the East. A long sea voyage carried them to India, Burma, Singapore, Siam, Cochin China (Indochina), Hong Kong, China and Japan before proceeding on to San Francisco and the rail trip across the United States. In the course of these stops, Grant became the first U.S. president to visit Saigon and, according to the book, the first person to shake hands with the Emperor of Japan.
Accounts of audiences with Queen Victoria, Kings Leopold of Belgium, Alfonso II of Spain, Don Luis I of Portugal, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Tsar Alexander II of Russian, the King of Siam and Emperors of China and Japan provide insights into the splendor of Courts and exchanges of views between leaders. At times Young would break his attention away from the company and fill his readers minds’ eyes’ with descriptions of his purview. “We come to the scene of the great battle between David and Gollaih. There were stones enough for the stripling‘s sling, as we can well see. The valley is deep and the brook still runs its swift course. We could easily imagine the armies of the Jews on one side of the valley and the armies of the Philistine on the other. It is the last ravine this side of the heights of Jerusalem, and one of the strongest natural defenses of the Holy City.” P. 119
An around the world journey in Grant’s day required many days aboard ship traversing oceans and Young took advantage to collect Grant’s memories of martial battles and military and political personalities with whom he had interacted.
John Russell Young has crafted a chronicle of a trek unique in world history. He made the most of his opportunity with vignettes of meetings with rich and powerful, verbal sketches of scenery and structures and reports of leisurely conversations with General Grant make this a read not to be missed.
April 11, 2020
Fascinating. Such an incredible adventure.
February 12, 2015
John Russell Young was a journalist who accompanied U.S. Grant on his around the world tour after Grant left the Presidency. The trip took about 2 1/2 years and at times it seemed like reading this book would take that long.
The worst part of the book is the coverage of Grant's visit to England. Young felt the need to report verbatim the speeches that Grant made at every tour stop. Grant was not a good public speaker and he essentially made the same speech over & over.
The best parts of the book are Young's descriptions of Paris and the life of the American expatriate community and his description of visiting the Taj Mahal.
The lengthy introduction promises candid shipboard conversations with Grant on the Civil War & politics. But you don't get to those conversations until after they leave India.
The worst part of the book is the coverage of Grant's visit to England. Young felt the need to report verbatim the speeches that Grant made at every tour stop. Grant was not a good public speaker and he essentially made the same speech over & over.
The best parts of the book are Young's descriptions of Paris and the life of the American expatriate community and his description of visiting the Taj Mahal.
The lengthy introduction promises candid shipboard conversations with Grant on the Civil War & politics. But you don't get to those conversations until after they leave India.
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October 11, 2016A different edition of this book is available for free legal download or online reading from archive.org here.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews