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... ... middle of paper ... .... Web. 5 March 2014. “Battle of Spotsylvania Court House”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 3 March 2014. “Cold Harbor”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 3 March 2014. Marrin, Albert. Unconditional Surrender: U.S. Grant and the Civil War. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. Print. “Petersburg”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 4 March 2014. “Shiloh”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 4 March 2014. “The Wilderness”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 3 March 2014. “Ulysses S. Grant: General-in-Chief”. Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields: Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
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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.
McPherson, James M.; The Atlas of the Civil War. Macmillan: 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY. 1994.
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.
In this newly written biography, General Ulysses S. Grant: the soldier and the man, Civil War historian, Edward G. Longacre, examines Grant’s early life all the way through to his time as a military leader. Longacre takes the time to carefully analyze Grant’s childhood and the type of kid he was. He also examines Grant’s married life and how important his wife was to him. He takes a look at Grant’s early military career and what made him the kind of general he became. A deep focus that Longacre discussed was Grant’s biggest weakness: alcohol. Alcoholism consumed Grant, in the most literal sense, and affected him during his military career. Longacre describes Grant in a new and fascinating perspective in his biography.
“All up and down the lines the men blinked at one another, unable to realize that the hour they had waited for so long was actually at hand. There was a truce…” Bruce Catton’s Pulitzer prize winning book A Stillness at Appomattox chronicles the final year of the American Civil War. This book taught me a lot more about the Civil War than I ever learned through the public school system. Bruce Catton brought to life the real day to day life of the soldiers and the generals who led them into battle.
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
"Battles of the Civil War". Civil War. 2013. Civil War Trust. Web. 9 Dec 2013.
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a
... The. Web. The Web. The Web. November 22, 2013.