General Grant played the banjo?

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Posted by kc8tby on Sunday, September 26, 2010

No. He didn't play the banjo or any other musical instrument for that matter. In fact, old Sam Grant was famous for being tone deaf! In fact, according to a number of his biographers, he so disliked music that he refused to allow any military band to be anywhere near any of the armies that he commanded during the civil war! Given the fact that military bands were part and parcel to much of the pomp and circumstance that surrounded military untis during the nineteenth centrury, that was quite a revolutionary stance for any military leader to take! General Grant once said that he only knew two pieces of music: One was Yankee Doodle Dandy, the other was not!

So, why in the world would I be talking about General Grant on a web site that is centered on banjo music and populated by banjo players? Good question! Ahha but here is my reason...

General Grant was a very unique individual. His life was full of adversity. After graduating from West Point , and after gaining some noteriety as a young Lieutenantduring the Mexican War, he quickly fell into disfavor with the "powers that be" in the US Army. In was "cashiered" (tossed out!) from the army for his reported heavy drinking. Upon his return to Illinois he tried his hand at farming. The farm failed. He then tried his hand at being a shop keeper. He failed at this as well. Finally, as a way to feed his family, he was reduced to selling scrap wood door to door in order to make ends meet. It wasn't until after the civil war had begun and the Govenor of Illinois was desperate to fing "trained" professional Army officers to lead the state militia, that old Sam Grant was able to find some real "success". Of course, the rest is history.

What I am getting at here is that General Grant never, ever gave up!! During the war he often met with defeat. After the first day at the battle of Shiloh, when his Union army had its back to the wall (literally) and defeat staring them in the face he calmly told his officers: " Bad day today BUT we'll get them tomorrow!" (AND he did!) He never gave up!

OK. We aspiring banjo players and those of us who have more developed musical skills meet challenges every day, don't we? "I will never learn that piece of music!" OR "I'll never master that bum-ditty strum!" Sound familiar? We need to take a clue from old General Grant though! NEVER GIVE UP!!! Like Grant after the first day at Shiloh, we may have had a bad day today (practice, performance, etc) BUT, well, we'll "get them tomorrow!"

Thanks General Grant. You may never had played the banjo BUT you sure set a good example for those of us who want to play that darned thing!

OK...I'm done preaching. Hope I didn't bore you!

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