Young Dent had two unmarried brothers living
at home, and it was to visit the young men that
Ulysses made his earlier horseback rides take him
to White Haven. There were two girls there, but
one was only eight years old and the other fifteen,
and it was not until the following February that
the young soldier's romance began to slowly dawn
upon him. An older sister, as recently released
from boarding-school as he from West Point, had
been spending the winter months with friends of the
Dent family in St. Louis. She came home now,
and the subsequent horseback rides had better com-
panionship. She was beautiful and accomplished
and in her eighteenth year, and she found the society
of her brother's friend agreeable. There were walks
as well as rides, for spring comes early on the Mis-
souri bank of the Mississippi. Perhaps neither the
young lady nor her pleasant attendant would so soon
have discovered why it was all so enjoyable, if it had
not been for the busy politicians who were propos-
ing to annex Texas to the United States.
There was, as yet, only a small war-cloud discern-
ible, but the military authorities at Washington de-
cided that there should be an " army of observation"



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 31

within striking distance of the Texas frontier. Fort
Jessup, Louisiana, about twenty-five miles from the
boundary line, was selected as the gathering place.
