During the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant played a main part in the Union’s Victory. He did this by: Winning multiple battles, his expertise as a leader, and defeating Robert E. Lee. Grant started his career as an officer by going through the military academy called WestPoint. After graduating as a Second Lieutenant, he made his way through the ranks in the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War, he was promoted to Brigadier General, Major General and then to Lieutenant General by President Abraham Lincoln. As a General in the war, Grant won multiple battles including: Vicksburg, Shiloh, Chattanooga, and Petersburg. Vicksburg was one of his best battles. Although he was outnumbered, Grant still managed to lead his men to victory. Vicksburg was one of the main battles that turned the war around, giving the Union Army the upper hand. All of these major battles lead to the defeat and surrender of Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Court House in 1865. General Grant’s military skills were gained throughout his life as a soldier. All of these skills were used as he defeated countless enemies and won major battles. His expertise’s lead him to victories throughout the whole war, which ultimately helped him play a main role in the Union victory.
Grant started his military career in May 1839, at the military academy called WestPoint. He didn’t want to go to the academy; however, his father, Jesse Grant, forced him to go. Jesse made him go to WestPoint because it was the only college at the time that was free, and the Grant family didn’t have the money to send Ulysses to a university. When Grant arrived at WestPoint, his name wasn’t on the list of new students. On the list he saw a name that was close to his name so, to avoid confusion, he c...
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...ew the war he was fighting was not an epic Napoleonic battle but a war of attrition. He proceeded with his plan to slowly shrink Confederate territory and destroy Lee's army to the point that the South could no longer mount a viable defense. Eventually Grant succeeded and Lee's men were all that remained of the Confederate army. Grant surrounded them in trenches at Richmond until Lee was forced to surrender.
What happened at Andersonville was a repercussion of the Confederacy’s inability, not on the inability of Henry Wirz. Bibliography Denny, Robert. A. Civil War Prisons and Escapes. New York, New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 1993. Futch, Ovid.
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In the historical narrative Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, Nicholas Leman gives readers an insight into the gruesome and savage acts that took place in the mid-1870s and eventually led to the end of the Reconstruction era in the southern states. Before the engaging narrative officially begins, Lemann gives a 29-page introduction to the setting and provides background information about the time period. With Republican Ulysses S. Grant as President of the United States of America and Republican Adelbert Ames, as the Governor of Mississippi, the narrative is set in a town owned by William Calhoun in the city of Colfax, Louisiana. As a formal military commander, Ames ensured a
Ulysses S. Grant was an American general and 18th president of the United States. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822, the son of Hannah Simpson and Jesse Grant, the owner of a tannery. Taken to nearby Georgetown at the age of one, he was educated in local and boarding schools. In 1839, under the name of Ulysses Simpson instead of his original Hiram Ulysses, he was appointed to West Point. Graduating 21st in a class of 39 in 1843, he was assigned to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. There he met Julia Dent, a local planter's daughter, whom he married after the Mexican War.
Grant has an illustrious past. People talked about his being a drunkard but Catton says “He was simply a man infinitely more complex then most people could realize.” Grant, even though he was a West Point graduate, never wanted to be a soldier or to have a life in the military. He wanted to be a teacher. What Grant did bring to the Army of the Potomac was his ability to relate to the soldiers and made them his army. He completely retrained and re-organized the armies, and re-enlisted troops that were going to go home. They all realized that under Grant the Army of the Potomac changed which meant now that the entire war would change.
General George B. McClellan was born to a prestigious upper class family in Pennsylvania. He attended the Military Academy at West Point and graduated second in his class in 1846. He served during the war with Mexico and earned three brevets for gallantry and sound professional service. He resigned his commission but returned early during the Civil War and immediately given a high rank. He led a successful campaign in West Virginia. These events fueled General McClellan’s egotistical and elitist attitudes.
As the Civil War ended, according to Norton et al., America was a nation in need of “healing, justice, and physical rebuilding” (465). The war had left
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Kelly, M. (n.d.). Overview of the American Civil War . American History From About. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/civiloverview.htm
Grant. He was still a young, immature man unknowing of what he wanted to do in life. Grant had a hard time showing up to class and abiding by his officials guidelines. Whether out of pure laziness or lack of interest, Grant received many penalties during his time at West Point. Although he managed to graduate in 1843, he didn’t believe there was much hope for him nor “likelihood of improvement (21). Once out of college, he was anxious to receive his uniform and begin an active duty assignment. It became known to him that he had a duty to his country and being lazy wouldn’t solve problems but hard work and determination would. After graduation, Grant looked at the lessons that he learned from West Point and how he should look at his life in a new perspective. The military would change him into the man that he would become especially during the Civil
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