Originally aired on September 30, 1996 - In part 108 of our Civil War series, Virginia Tech history professor James Robertson profiles the life and career of General Ulysses S. Grant.
#108 – Sam Grant
He stood five feet, eight inches tall and weighed 135 pounds. Stooped, slouchy, round-shouldered, he was unmilitary in everything. Nobody ever gave him a nickname like “Old Fuss and Feathers” or “The Young Napoleon” because he was not a man for nicknames, for striking poses, or for standing out in a crowd. On the other hand, he more than any general is considered the man who won the Civil War for the North. His name was Ulysses Simpson Grant, though superiors and some subordinates called him “Sam”.
Born in Ohio, Grant was an average student at West Point, He won promotions for gallantry in the Mexican War but was forced from the army in 1854 for alleged problems with the bottle. In the six years thereafter, Grant bounced unsuccessfully from one civilian occupation to another.
The Civil War was three months old when Grant took the colonelcy of an Illinois regiment no other officer wanted. Then followed his series of victories in the Western theatre: Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. In the spring of 1864 Lincoln brought him east, gave Grant a lieutenant general’s rank, and put him is command of all Northern armies. Grant now was in overall charge of 21 army corps, 18 military departments, and 533,000 soldiers.
On taking supreme command, Grant decided not to endure the confinement of the War Department in Washington. Rather, he would travel with the Army of the Potomac as it campaigned against Robert E. Lee in Virginia. Initially, Grant seemed incompatible with the North’s premier army. This unmistakable Middle Westerner who had the air of the farm and a small-town harness shop was at the head of an army predominantly officered by polished Easterners.
First judgments of Grant in the Virginia theatre were tentative. A junior officer commented that Grant’s usual expression was that of a man who had made up his mind to drive his head through a stone wall. Two Wisconsin soldiers saw Grant for the first time. “Well, what do you think?” asked one. The other looked at the watchful eyes, hard mouth, and red bristly beard cropped short, then answered: “He looks as if he meant it.”
Of course, Grant had his peculiarities. His breakfast usually consisted of a cup of coffee and sliced cucumbers in vinegar. When he ate meat, it had to be cooked until it was black. Grant, the author of much bloodshed, detested the sight of blood, and red meat made him queasy. Each morning he stored two dozen cigars in various pockets. These he smoked in the course of the day.
A staff officer once asked Grant about the art of war and expected a learned response. Instead, Grant, commented that fighting a war was simple: it meant to “find out where your enemy is, get at him as soon as you can, strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on”.
That was what Grant did against Lee in the last eleven months of the war. Following battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, the North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Sailor’s Creek, this unpretentious little general not only brought Lee to bay at Appomattox; he then displayed a compassionate and caring side in the lenient terms of surrender he offered to Lee and his men.
Sam Grant wore the hero’s mantle straight into two terms as President of the United States. His administration was a national shame, filled with corruption while Grant bungled one task after another. He simply never learned that the presidency was too big for him.
When he died in 1885 of throat cancer, the nation mourned. In retrospect, however, we remember his generalship and try to forget his presidency.
