Springfield re-enactor portrays Civil War general at Powers museum

Dinner with President Grant

Usually when people decide to have dinner with President Ulysses S. Grant, they’re paying for the meal with a 50-dollar bill.

On Friday an Saturday, area residents got the chance to have dinner with President Grant, or at least a close approximation of the 18th president of the United States.

Jim Millikin, president of the Civil War Round Table of the Ozarks, and his wife Pat Millikin, have been portraying Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant, for the past 11 years, Millikin said.

On Friday and Saturday, the two brought their portrayal to Carthage for two dinners at the Powers Museum. About a dozen people attended each dinner.

Millikin, in his Grant persona, led the people attending the dinner on a tour of the Lee and Grant Exhibit at the Powers Museum.

“This is a lot of hard work and there are a lot of interesting things for young and old. I’ve looked around and I’ve seen things I didn’t know about me,” Millikin said. “It’s outstanding, the ones who are in charge of this display, and the Powers Museum and Michelle (Hansford) have got to be commended for all their hard work in setting this up for the public and inviting folks like myself and my wife to come down.”

After the tour, everyone retired to the meeting room for a dinner that featured chicken and mushroom gravy and potatoes prepared from a recipe created by the Grant family.

While everyone ate, Millikin spoke about Grant’s struggles as general in command of the Army of the Potomac.

“To know Grant, you had to be there and serve with him,” Millikin said. “He was known to throw himself on his cot in his tent, especially during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1865, and weep over the casualties and the suffering of his men.”

Millikin and Pat Millikin shared some of the more personal and intimate moments that Grant and his wife shared, including how they met and fell in love while Grant was attending West Point.

Pat Millikin, in her Julia Grant persona, spoke about how Julia had a pet canary that died, and how Grant made her a little coffin, painted it yellow and had some of his classmates at West Point accompany him while they held a burial for the bird.

Millikin, as Grant, said Grant didn’t want to attend West Point, but he did at the insistence of his father.

He also spoke about the last time Lee and Grant met at the White House while Grant was president and Lee was president of Washington University.

He told the story about how a professor at Washington University was speaking disparagingly about Grant and how Lee defended Grant.

“Lee told me he told that professor that if he ever degraded General Grant again, one of them would not be there anymore,” Millikin said. “I’ve always held a great respect for General Lee.”

More events are schedule for this weekend to celebrate the opening of the Lee and Grant Exhibit and the start of the run-up to the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Carthage in July 2011.

• 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5 — Powers Museum Director Michelle Hansford will lead a special program honoring Civil War Veterans buried in Park Cemetery. Meet at the GAR monument inside the cemetery grounds. People can tour the other monuments, including the first Battle of Carthage monument in the adjacent Oak Hill Cemetery, on their own.

• 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 6 — Hansford will lead a special program honoring Civil War Veterans at Cedar Hill Cemetery on Chestnut Street east of the Battle of Carthage State Historic Site. People can also tour the historic site after the program.

• Noon-5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 6 — Powers Museum will be open for a special Labor Day show of the Lee and Grant Museum.

All events on Labor Day are free, but the Hansford said she would appreciate knowing how many people will participate in the events so she can provide enough printed material.

For more information, people can call the Powers Museum at 237-0456, or email powersmuseum@att.net.