Book Review: U.S. Grant: Personal Memoirs, Webster & Co., New York,1885

Lt. General U.S. Grant, 1865

     President Abraham Lincoln had hardly begun his first term when he was confronted by the start of the Civil War, America's greatest existential crisis before or since.  The contested issues finally came to a head as the Southern States seceded and formed the Confederate States of America(C.S.A.).  The first shots fired at Fort Sumter began the long, bitter, bloody war between the States.
    Initially, the Congress and the Army thought that the entire affair would be over in a few months.  The South, an economy based on a few major crops- cotton and tobacco and a few others, was not viewed as a reputable opponent for a well-equipped modern army possessed by the North and its member states.  A large percentage of the Southern population was comprised of slaves, Blacks who did not enjoy any benefit as residents there in.  The plantation owners were going to fight for their way of life enjoy for centuries.  They would enlist those members of Southern states who held similar beliefs.  All male members of the population were expected to defend their homes. their businesses, their farms, and plantations.
     The first major battle occurred at Manassas(Bull Run) in Northern Virginia, about 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. The contested ground was not a grand landscape, but a site of agricultural pursuits in the rolling hills of red earth.   The contestants faced off with lines of artillery closely laid, often within 100 meters of each other.  Spectators from Washington arrived to "watch" the show.  Shortly, it became evident that the federal troops were being routed by the boys in gray, and the day trippers retreated in haste back to the relative safety of their homes along the Potomac River.  It was to be a long war.
      Lincoln took the news with alarm, and immediately convened his cabinet with special attention to the Sec. of War Stanton.   Questions were asked:  what did the army require to become an offensive unit?  Who were the leaders we have and who did we need to take command?  These questions would continue to be asked and answered over the next 4 years.
     One of those who answered was a former Army captain, a renowned figure who performed with distinction in the Mexican War approximately 13 years before.  Ulysses S. Grant had been a civilian after returning to business in the intervening years.  He was recruited initially to command the troops from the state-raised militia.  Before long, he would be called upon to lead a division as a brigadier.
      Meanwhile, Mr. Lincoln was getting reports from his staff as to the fitness of his troops and their leaders.  He wanted them in the field and in pursuit of the rebels.  His generals were reluctant to get started, waiting for optimum conditions.  Gen. Grant was now on the move in the Mississippi Department where the great river would become the focus of much activity for his 2 years.  The river was the highway for much of the middle of the country, now crisscrossed with railroads.  It was the principle conduit used by the South to market their produce and also to supply the rebel forces operating along the border states.   Gen. Grant recognized its importance and immediately made it his main effort.   His success caught the eyes of both Pres. Lincoln and Sec. of War Stanton.  In their combines effort to marshal the troops,  Gen. Halleck in Washington called for Grant's transfer to lead the Army of the Potomac operating in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.  His opponent in this region would be his former Mexican War comrade, Robert E. Lee, a most able soldier and son of old Virginia, and a son of the famous Light Horse Lee.   Grant would request and receive his most dependable general,  William T. Sherman.   After establishing himself in the tidewater country around the Potomac, he immediately put his forces on the offensive.
       With remarkable skill, this man of barely 40 years turned the tide against all the efforts of the South to establish a separate government from that established in 1789.  He would move his forces with a steady hand, placing able leaders where they could be most effective.   The names are a roll call of well known individuals who occupy a pantheon of American heroes:  Sherman at the top of the list; Phil Sheridan, the cavalry leader, George Armstrong Custer, another cavalry stalwart;  Gens. Meade; McPherson;  Schofield; Hancock; Wright; Warren, and many others.
        Reading the memoirs of one of the most able generals anywhere, it is apparent that the war was  a contest without a clear victor until Grant was given command of all the Union forces.  In a very short time, it became evident to most observers that the South was going to be the loser.  Grant was an aggressive, relentless, and able to gather his troops to defeat any and all the Southern armies no matter who led them in the field.
       After the surrender of Lee and his army at Appomattox Court House, Grant returned to Washington only to have his most generous supporter and leader cut down by an assassin's bullet.  Grant would go on to lead the country for two presidential terms before his untimely death a few months after his memoirs were completed.   He knew he was dying of an incurable disease and worked without  let up to complete the job.   Few native sons could achieve his status in a single lifetime.
     The book is divided into two volumes, often combined into one.  A new, abridged edition is now in print.