The Captain Departs: Ulysses S. Grant's Last Campaign

5. The General Leaves the Mountain

5. The General Leaves the Mountain COLONEL GRANT, exhausted by long vigils, was ably and tactfully assisted in the many arrangements that had to be made following his father's death by W. J. Arkell, whose cottage was only a short distance away. Within half an hour of the general's death, the waiting engine at the mountain depot was on the way to Saratoga to bring Holmes, the local undertaker. Undertaker Stephen J. Merritt of New York had also been summoned. Karl Gerhardt, Mark Twain's protege sculptor, had been at the hotel for some time, making a study for a proposed statue of Grant. He was called to the cottage at Dr. Newman's suggestion, and prepared a death mask. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, probably the nation's most distinguished sculptor, commissioned by the Century Company, wired for permission to come and make a death mask, but found that he had been forestalled. Gerhardt's mask shortly showed up in the office of Charles L. Webster & Co., who, it was reported, were planning to use it in the preparation of an engraved portrait. The doctors, who were sensitive about some misrepresentations that had been made of tll.eir diagnosis, urged an autopsy. The family firmly declined, declaring that they were perfectly satisfied with diagnosis and treatment from beginning to end? Holmes arrived on a special train, bringing an ice coffin, and the general's body was placed in it. The body was found to be greatly emaciated, and was estimated to weigh less than 100 94 The General Leaves the Mountain 95 pounds. Merritt and his son arrived late in the afternoon, bringing with them a set of embalming implements. The work of embalming began at once and was expected to continue all night. Actually, it took longer, and was continued the following night. The ice coffin was so constructed that its sides could be let down to facilitate the work. When the embalming was finished, the ice was no longer needed, but the body was kept in the box until the coffin should arrive. Over it was hung a canopy of broadcloth and satin, resting upon four pillars.2 On the evening of the general's death a detachment of G.A.R. veterans from Wheeler Post No. 92, in Saratoga, arrived, pitched a tent between the cottage and the hotel, and went on guard. It was this same organization that had turned out to honor the general when he passed through Saratoga in June. "There is perhaps no occasion for their presence," the World observed, "but there is a touching fitness in their loyal devotion to an old leader to which no man can be insensible." The U. S. Grant Post of the G.A.R., a Brooklyn unit, also urged their services as guards, and Colonel Grant, who evidently felt that it would be undiplomatic to decline, accepted them. The Brooklyn contingent arrived the next evening; another tent went up, and arrangements were made for dividing duties. The Brooklyn post was to guard the porch and the room where the general lay; the Saratoga post was to continue guarding the grounds.3 The choice of a final resting-place for the general came under discussion almost immediately. Colonel Grant sent many telegrams announcing the death of his father. One went to Mayor W. R. Grace of New York City. The mayor called a meeting of the board of aldermen, and a burial place in one of the city's parks was offered. In notes to Colonel Fred the general had mentioned West Point, Galena, and New York City as possible burial places, adding that he wanted Julia to rest by him eventually and that this would not be permitted at West Point. The prompt offer from the city brought immediate response from Colonel Grant, who asked that someone be sent to confer with him. Chief Clerk W. L. Turner, by direction of the mayor, left for Mount McGregor the same evelling.4 96 THE CAPTAIN DEPARTS When Turner arrived the next morning and suggested Riverside Park, he found the Grants opposed. "The family would not consider it. Central Park seemed to them the proper place." Telegrams went back and forth, and on July 27 Colonel Grant, with his brother Jesse and General Horaee Porter, went down to the city to choose a site. Mayor Grace and park officials accompanied them on a tour of the...