"Why, Mister President, the general impression is that Grant won the battle of Shiloh; as he commanded the army, he wo…"

"I think every man should be obliged to take that oath, for I have seen more treason in the last ten days than I ever …"

"I was much disappointed at seeing those who had once belonged to the United States navy excelled in matters of honor …"

"By breaking up the great wooden navies of Europe, Ericsson helped to place us more on an equality with them as a nava…"

"The people fairly went wild; they set fire to the cotton along the levees, and seemed determined that nothing valuabl…"

"Well, Mister President, with all due deference to you, I don't believe in natural-born generals except where they hav…"

"Great complaints were made by both sides as to whose fault it was that there was a failure, but I told the navy I did…"

"Regulations of the Navy provide that medical officers shall exercise no military authority. If I give you a flag, the…"

"I never encouraged officers to discuss politics at all, and, as a rule, officers of the navy were exempt from politic…"

"There was a time not long ago when Vicksburg could have been easily captured, but it is now a second Gibraltar, and t…"