Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)

Fascinating from beginning to end - particularly Grant's blunt observations on the abilities of his opponents. The only time he seems to pull punches is when referring to Robert E. Lee. Reading between the lines, he doesn't seem to respect Robert E. Lee's generalship all that much, but perhaps he had some admiration for Lee as a man that held him back. This book also does an amazing job of showing the combination of brutality and civility that characterized the war. Grant could walk alone on show more a hilltop in plan sight and within firing range of Confederate sentries, but they wouldn't fire. After battles with hundreds of men dead and hundreds more wounded, the captured Confederate officers were treated more like honored house guests. What a waste of humanity the civil war was. And how ignorant we are to celebrate it in this country as some sort of bright shining moment. It is the darkest chapter in our history and should be treated with shame. show less

Unable to locate the Memoirs edited by John Kirk, I'll add review here.

While THE MEMOIRS OF ULYSSES GRANT, with its heavy emphasis on detailed military strategy and troop movements,
might not strike most people as a read-through, for me, a 1960s Peace Marcher, it oddly and definitely was.

Editor John Kirk weaves in his own summaries of some of the repetitive parts and illuminates the reading with maps,
photographs, and on-site drawings. Grant's phenomenal memory, lucid writing style, forceful show more opinions, and even humor
make the volume dramatic reading. It would have been good to include more.

Sure wish that he had chosen a presidential cabinet with the quality of his commanding officers W.T. Sherman (except for the Nez Perce),
Philip Sheridan, and David Glasgow Farragut.

Clarification of why Grant betrayed Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce would be welcome.

That it was a white man's war is obvious, yet not because African American men did not want to join and fight.
With brave soldiers like the 1st U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment, "Black troops formed a significant part of Grant's army in 1864." show less

I've only read a bit of Julius Caesar's Commentaries, but I think Mark Twain was right to put this on the same level. I gained a huge amount of respect for Grant for his clear, perceptive, and honest account of his service in the Mexican and Civil Wars. It really is a marvel of lucidity, and makes you respect the power of a plain prose style when it comes to such bloody subject matter. He doesn't talk about his Presidency or Reconstruction at all, which is sort of a shame, because while I show more would eagerly have read about him kicking rebel ass for hundreds of pages more, I was also curious to see what his takes on the huge challenges the country was undergoing during his tenure would have been. But it's plain to see that he was more of a soldier than anything else, and unlike Eisenhower he had some actual domestic challenges to deal with, so he wisely sticks to his strengths and delivers one of the more powerful books I've read by a President. Why are 19th century authors so good? show less

Grant's biographers mention his devotion to his wife. The letters contained in this short volume affirm his affection by his constant expressions of longing and love in her absence. If ever a relationship was put to the test by long periods of separation this was one. Grant and Julia Dent were engaged for four years in the face of his distance through military postings in various places, including serving three years in Mexico during the Mexican War. Moreover, Julia's family was opposed to show more the union to the degree of boycotting the ceremony. Even after marriage, Grant and Julia were often separated during his postings in Oregon and other places, clearly a strain on both.

Grant's descriptions of action in Mexico and and his campaigns are frank and vivid and add to our understanding of his appraisal of the effects of war. He often named the casualties in his letters. He decried the mistreatment of Mexicans by rogue soldiers and expresses understanding of the hardships inflicted on Southern civilians in the wake of war. His Civil War letters show his confidence (without arrogance or boasting) in his leadership and a quiet sense that his armies would ultimately prevail.

I took particular note of several remarks in his letters to Julia about General Henry Halleck. Some time ago, I wrote a paper on Halleck (a native of our small village in upstate New York). The theme of the paper was to redeem Halleck's reputation from the harsh treatment he has received from most historians. In one section, I analyzed the criticisms of Halleck's interactions with Grant after his victory at Forts Henry and Donelson. I offered alternative mitigating views on Halleck's arrest of Grant after Donelson and whether, or to what extent, Halleck promoted the rumors of Grant's drinking. There are logical explanations that I think offset the criticism of many historians. Perhaps most telling in this regard are Grant's mentions of Halleck in his private letters to his wife. He clearly had great respect for Gen. Halleck. In his letter of February 24, 1862 Grant says that of the right conduct of the encounters at the forts, "Gen. Halleck is clearly the same way of thinking and with his clear head I think {a Congressional committee] will have nothing to enquire about." After the rumors in the press about Grant's drinking, he thinks this is just the product of jealousy of others, not Halleck. "This {the rumor} is very far from applying however, I think to our Chief, Halleck, who I look upon as one of the greatest men of the age." Surely, if Grant thought he was being slandered by his superior, he would have said so in a private letter to his wife.

Grant's final letter from Mt. McGregor in Wilton, NY to his wife when at the last stages of his disease is moving.

With so much in print about Grant, including his marvelous memoirs. can this brief volume of private letters this give us new insight into the man? Decidedly so. ( show less