Civil War and Grant the Civil War

Civil War and Grant

The Civil War in the United States can be considered as the darkest moment in its relatively young history. (Mitgang, 2000) His Gettysburg State of the Union Address is perhaps the shortest in history; but the depth of meaning and the profundity of emotions it invokes should never be forgotten. It starkly contrasts with the inane, self-congratulatory blather of modern presidential administrations.

This hotly contested War had amazing leaders. General Robert E. Lee, for the Confederates, was a gentleman's gentleman, brilliant tactician and wonderful human being. If one were to root for the Unionists as being on the right side of the Civil War, then Lee was a victim of circumstances, who merely happened to lead for the Southerners. (Robert E. Lee, soldier, patriot, educator, 1921) On the other hand, the General Ulysses Grant, the leader of the Union Army, won decisive battle after battle and made the overall outcome of the War possible.

General Grant, who rode his popularity of winning the War to the White House, remains to this day, a much maligned figure. It is true that his Presidency, while not plumbing the depths of the Presidencies of Warren Harding, William Harrison or Andrew Johnson, did not set any standards for leadership. What remains hidden and often distorted is the fact that Ulysses Grant has left behind a spectacular legacy of martial generalship. This work will explore some Grant's role against the backdrop of the Civil War with his achievements and shortcomings.

It is necessary therefore, to set the stage for Ulysses Grant's role in the war by a brief description of the Civil War. On February 9, 1861, the Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis as president. Hostilities began when General Pierre Beauregard open fire with 50 cannons on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Five states seceded from the Union forming an eleven state Confederacy. Lincoln then ordered a blockade of the Southern ports to starve the South of supplies. The Congress authorized the formation of an army to counter the Confederates' escalating attacks. Initially, the Union army suffered reverses at the hands of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson; General McClellan was appointed the General of all Union armies and Lincoln officially declared that the War had begun. Soon after, General Grant earned his first victory along with the moniker of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant because of his rapid victories of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. At this point in the Civil War, sub-marine warfare took root. Ironclads were involved. At the battle of Shiloh, Grant suffered his first major reverse. He lost more men (13,000) than the Confederates.

After the Union Army under David Farragut took the port City of New Orleans, Robert E. Lee took over as General of the Confederate Armies. Lee scored his first victory over McClellan in Richmond, staunching the Union Armies advance. At the second battle of Bull Run, the Union Army was routed by a lesser manned Confederate Army who then advanced on Washington. This happened until McLellan summoned more forces and reversed the Confederate advance. And then in the bloodiest battle in U.S. history, in Antietam, Maryland, both armies lost 26,000 men in a single day. (Gallagher, 1999) This forced Lee to withdraw to his capital in Virginia.

Soon Lincoln announced the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. He also replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside. This move did not pay dividends as Burnside lost more than twelve thousand men in the battle of Fredricksburg. Burnside was replaced with Joseph Hooker while Grant was placed in charge of the West Army and sent to Vicksburg Mississippi, which would be the last bastion of the Southern resistance. Around this time, the draft was instituted. Hooker was defeated by Lee but Stonewall Jackson was accidentally killed by his own men. Lee lost some confidence at this tragedy. This set the stage for the battle of Gettysburg. Lee launched an all out assault against the Union Army. But Hooker's replacement George Meade defeated Lee. This loss was also accompanied by the news that, a day later, Grant had won the battle of Vicksburg after a six-week siege. This double loss was also compounded by the fact that the Confederate Army was split into two.

The institution of the draft provided another twist in the proceedings. Since $300 could get one an exemption from the draft, the poor were forced into the army. At least 120 persons, including children, are killed and $2 million in damage caused, until Union soldiers returning from Gettysburg restore order.

After another resounding victory at Chattanooga, Grant was appointed commander in chief of all armies of the United States. Grant then coordinated a massive, all-out campaign involving all the Union Armies. In Virginia, Grant with an Army of 120,000 advanced toward Richmond to engage Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, now numbering 64,000, began a war of attrition that included major battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. In the west, Sherman, with 100,000 men advanced towards Atlanta to engage Joseph E. Johnston's 60,000 strong Army of Tennessee. In one of the rare mistakes in military campaign Grant lost 7,000 Union soldiers in twenty minutes during an offensive against the rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia. By this time however, the Union victories were overwhelming the Confederates who did not have much to celebrate. To add insult to injury, the U.S. Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery.

The inauguration speech for President Lincoln's second term included the immortal words: "With malice toward none; with charity for all...let us strive on to finish the work we are in to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." Soon, Grant's forces began a general advance and broke through Lee's lines at Petersburg. The Confederate Capital, Richmond, was evacuated. Fires and looting broke out. The next day, Union troops raised the Stars and Stripes. Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

The Stars and Stripes having ceremoniously been raised over Fort Sumter, Lincoln and his wife Mary watched the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. At 10:13 P.M., during the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth shot the president in the head. He was laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, outside Springfield, Illinois. Soon the final hold outs on the Confederate side surrendered. The Civil War came to an end. 620,000 Americans died in the battles. Disease took more than twice that. 50,000 soldiers returned home as amputees.

General Grant emerged as the most decorated and accomplished general in the Civil War. This was a great achievement. It demonstrated the faith that Lincoln placed in Grant. As has been shown in earlier paragraphs, Lincoln once replaced five generals in one calendar year because he did not believe they were capable of winning decisively.

Grant's personality was one of extreme civility and politeness. He was remarkably shy and bashful, not making extroverted overtures unless he new a person well and felt comfortable with them. Grant was capable of tremendous devotion and deep affection, and he prized loyalty. If a man once won his trust, Grant stood by him, even when their personal honor had been assailed. He liked Generals Sherman and Sheridan. His excessive praise of them was constant and unceasing. Grant earned the wraths of George Meade and George Thomas when he awarded Sheridan a third star when they thought they were more deserving. On the Confederate side, Grant always expressed tremendous admiration for Joe Johnston, and said he felt "greater fear" when Johnston was facing him instead of Robert E. Lee. It is significant that he never spoke effusively about his greatest and most dangerous opponent, and said little about Lee's merits in later years. But once someone betrayed him, that book was closed and never opened again. Privately, he was an engaging, witty and humorous conversationalist. Though not an intellectual, he was nonetheless highly intelligent and rather well read. He has been described as "prudish," probably because he was self-conscious while undressing in the field, even in a closed tent. Grant was also overly trusting and naive. He expected everyone to be as honest and good as he was himself and was disappointed in others duplicity. (Garland, 1920)

Grant, though not an extrovert enjoyed having company about him. During the Civil War, he spent his evenings sitting around the campfire, listening to other officers. He disliked isolation and didn't function well unless there were people around him. It didn't matter if he interacted with them, their mere presence was satisfactory. Above all else, he preferred the company of his wife and children above all else. In 1864, he wrote to his old West Point roommate, Rufus Ingalls, "Now I have four children, three boys and a girl, in whose society I feel more enjoyment than I possibly can with other company. They are a responsibility giving much more pleasure than anxiety."

As a man, Grant was remarkably free of personal animosity. He was never vindictive In his entire life, he spoke disparagingly of very few, and they usually had done something to deserve it. He was certainly not fond of General Hooker or General McClernand, and in his political life, Sumner and President Andrew Johnson were two men he despised. On a personal level, Grant disliked rare meat, eating poultry (though he ate turkey constantly in the White House), liars, cheats, dancing, "immorality" and he generally avoided off-color stories. His Secretary of State said that the General had a great aversion for adulterers, though he certainly surrounded himself with plenty while in the army.

As a soldier, Grant was unbelievably courageous on the battlefield. If he felt fear, he never showed it. He amazed and worried his aides when he routinely sat on his horse in the midst of a battle, with bullets whizzing by his ears. He never batted an eyelash, and never showed the slightest consternation when in danger. He wrote dispatches while sitting Indian-style on the ground, as shot and shell exploded within feet of him. He allowed his 13-year-old son, Fred, to accompany him during the Vicksburg campaign and expected the boy to look out for himself and behave "like a man." (Bradford, 2001)

Grant loved horses and was one of the great horsemen of his age. He was a fearless rider with tremendous endurance and dare. He also was an avid card player and liked to gamble. When he wasn't actively playing, he was an enthusiastic chatter. He also took delight in playing with his children and was observed wrestling, romping and playing "horsie" with them. In 1869, he had a pool table installed in the White House and became addicted to the game, which he had learned in Detroit in 1849. He was an aggressive, though not terribly gifted player and according to the White House butler, "he didn't like to lose." Grant also played croquet and baseball with the neighborhood boys on the White House lawn. After 1868, he spent the summers with his family at Long Branch, New Jersey, to escape the heat and humidity of the capital. Each morning, he rode 20 miles in his buggy and then returned to read the newspapers. He was fond of the beach, but wasn't too enthusiastic about swimming in the ocean and went in only rarely.

Shortly after the close of the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson's new administration sent an emissary to tour the southern states. His mission was to evaluate the feelings of the southern people. Everywhere he went, people honored him, old soldiers sought him out, mayors came to greet him, and he was invited to sessions of government and was received with applause. The South was just emerging from the most difficult of circumstances. It was astounding that the man being honored was greatly responsible for their condition. The man was General Ulysses S. Grant, Commander of the Union Army and hero of Appomattox. Grant was perhaps the only man the southerners trusted to aid them during the initial period of reconstruction.

It is remarkable that General Grant survived an army career amid the malicious rumors that surrounded him during the war. The saving factor seemed to be President Abraham Lincoln himself. Lincoln was an astute judge of character, and although he and Grant had not previously met, he sensed Grant's qualities and retained him over the protests of his own advisors. The rumors that surrounded Grant from the beginning of the war were largely brought about by jealous fellow officers who were incensed by Grant's quick rise in rank. Grant's victory at Fort Donelson soon made him a household name.

In summary therefore, Ulysses S. Grant's personality was not that of the stereotypical great general. (McCormick, 1934) His chief characteristic was his extreme modesty. He was totally free of conceit; a rare quality for a man who had advanced as far and as fast as Grant had. He was reserved with strangers, but would carry most of a conversation with people he knew. He was honest to a fault, and never swore or used abusive language. He had a kind heart, and several kindnesses to friends and foe alike were attributed to him. He was physically courageous, almost to the point of recklessness which caused his staff members' great consternation. Perhaps the characteristic that served him best during the war was his coolness. Nothing could shake his composure nor alarm him. He was never awed by the enemy nor worried about what the enemy was doing. He worried more about what he was going to do to the enemy.

Historically however, Grant has been portrayed more as a caricature than his vast accomplishments merit. Revised history is slowly beginning to however, turn the tide in favor of Grant's numerous qualities. One of the biggest faults brought up against him were that of drinking, with the allusions that his drunkenness were somehow related to the injudiciousness that he displayed on the battle field, especially with the soldiers. Statistically, battles that Grant was involved in resulted in the loss of more Union soldiers in very short periods of time. This earned him the unfair moniker of "Butcher." It is true that the Union army's casualties at Shiloh were appalling, but so were Confederate losses. (Wakefield, 1999) In the Wilderness campaign against Lee, the Federal casualties were again vast. However, in a comparison against his great opponent, Robert E. Lee, Grant is shown to have lost fewer men per 100 than the Virginian. In 1862-3, Grant's average percentage of killed and wounded is 10.03%, and Lee's is 16.20%. In 1864-5, Grant's average remains 10.42%. Lee's casualty rate cannot be determined after 1864 because no accurate records exist, but Lee lost 50% of his army during the Virginia campaigns in 1864. In the Vicksburg campaign, for instance, casualties were limited and his genius best exemplified. Grant had been accused of needless slaughter of his men, particularly after the battle of Cold Harbor, but he knew that his persistency of purpose in fighting and winning would save more lives in the end. During the Civil War, for every soldier killed in battle, two soldiers died of disease. The entire myth of the "Lost Cause" has enveloped a culture and Grant has been victimized by the cult of personality that has surrounded Robert E. Lee. The two giants of the Civil War are inextricably linked, and when Lee's fortunes rose to dizzying heights, Grant's reputation plummeted.