Rawlins had just exacted another pledge from Grant not to drink (whether because Grant had been drinking or because Rawlins feared he would is uncertain) when Dana arrived in April. Most in camp were for turning Dana out on his heels, but Rawlins' faith in Grant led him to counsel prudence. He took Dana into his confidence, and the two became warm friends. Dana came to champion Grant, and his support allayed doubts in Washington. Dana had no qualms Grant was a great general, but he also believed that without Rawlins, Grant "would not have been the same man." In Dana's judgment, "Rawlins was one of the most valuable men in the army. He "bossed everything at Grant's headquarters. He had very little respect for persons, and a rough style of conversation. I have heard him curse at Grant when the general was doing something that he thought he had better not do."

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Civil War Times magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

Now a lieutenant colonel, Rawlins had begun to assert himself in matters of strategy. After failed attempts to get below and behind Vicksburg by canal and bayous, Raw­lins advocated a bold, direct approach: Run the Vicksburg batteries with gunboats and transports, then ferry troops to the east bank of the Mississippi for a land advance against the city. After careful consideration, Grant adopted the plan over Sherman's objections. The effort succeeded and set the stage for victory.

One brief bout with the bottle almost lost Grant Rawlins' services. In early June 1863, the general fell ill, perhaps with a migraine. A doctor at Sherman's headquarters induced Grant to take at least one glass of wine to help ease his pain. A few days later Rawlins found him sipping wine with some staff officers. To make matters worse, Rawlins found a box of wine in front of Grant's tent. Rawlins disposed of it, only to learn that the general had forbidden anyone to remove it; he wanted to pass it around when Vicksburg fell. On the morning of June 6, Rawlins penned a rebuke to Grant. His "great solicitude of this army" compelled him to remind Grant of the general's pledge of abstinence made to him nine months earlier. He added, "You have the full control of your appetite and can let drinking alone." Perhaps his concern was unfounded, Rawlins wrote, but if it was not, and Grant took another drop a liquor, "let my immediate relief from duty in this department be the result."

That same night Grant took a steamboat up the Yazoo River with Charles Dana on a reconnaissance. When he returned, rumors circulated that the general had been "stupidly drunk." James H. Wilson, a fellow staff officer and friend of both Rawlins and Grant, scribbled in his diary, "General G. intoxicated." The rumors were apparently unfounded, however, since Rawlins added an endorsement on his own copy of the letter that his admonitions had been heeded, and "all had went well." There was no more talk by Rawlins of Grant's drinking that summer.
Grant not only took Rawlins' scolding well, but in late July also recommended him for promotion "for gallant and meri­torious services" and "extreme fitness for higher command." Concluded Grant, "He comes the nearest being indispensable to me of any officer in the service." The promotion was granted but not confirmed until March 1864.

After Vicksburg a season of quiet descended upon Grant's army. Julia Grant and her children had settled into army headquarters, occupying a large white house belonging to William and Ann Lum. The Lums' Connecticut governess, Mary Emma Hurlbut, soon caught Rawlins' eye. Shy in the presence of women, Rawlins overcame his reserve and proposed. Much to the pleasure of Grant and his wife, Emma accepted.

Vicksburg earned Grant a pro­­motion to major general in the Regular Army. His first act was to try to end the politi­cal threat posed by McClernand, whom he had removed from corps command in June after the Union setback at Haynes' Bluff. Rawlins traveled to Washington, ostensibly to deliver Grant's report of the Vicksburg Campaign but really to indict McClernand, who, although now un­der Grant's command, still enjoyed Lincoln's confidence. On July 31, he was Lincoln's guest at a cabinet meeting. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles admired his "frank, intelligent, and interesting descriptions of men and of army operations….The unpolished and unrefined deportment of this earnest and sincere patriot and soldier interested me more than that of almost any other officer whom I have met." Rawlins' arguments convinced Welles, the president and Stanton that Grant was right to remove McClernand.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to