Memoirs and Selected Letters

by Ulysses S. Grant, John Y. Simon (Editor)

Twenty years after Appomattox, the Civil War’s greatest general fought his last campaign against death and time. Stricken by cancer as his family faced financial ruin, Ulysses S. Grant wrote his Personal Memoirs to secure their future, and in doing so won for himself a unique place in American letters. Acclaimed by readers as diverse as Mark Twain, Matthew Arnold, Gertrude Stein, and Edmund Wilson, the Personal Memoirs demonstrates the intelligence, intense determination, and laconic modesty that made Grant the Union’s foremost commander. This Library of America volume also includes 174 letters written by Grant from 1839 to 1865. Many of them are to his wife, Julia, and offer an intimate view of their affectionate and enduring marriage; others, addressed to fellow generals, government officials, and his congressional patron Elihu B. Washburne, provide a fascinating contemporary perspective on the events that would later figure in the Memoirs.

Grant’s autobiography is devoted almost entirely to his life as a soldier: his years at West Point, his service in the peacetime army, and his education in war during conflicts foreign and domestic. Grant considered the Mexican War “one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation” and thought that the Civil War was our punishment for it; but his retrospective disapproval did not prevent him from becoming enchanted by Mexico or from learning about his own capacity for leadership amid the confusion and carnage of battle.

His account of the Civil War combines a lucid treatment of its political causes and its military actions, along with the story of his own growing strength as a commander. At the end of an inconsequential advance in Missouri in 1861 he realized that his opponent “had been as much afraid of me as I had been of him.” Fort Donelson and Shiloh taught him to seize the initiative, while his success in living off the land during the Vicksburg campaign inspired William T. Sherman to undertake his marches through the interior of the South.

By 1864 Grant knew that the rebellion could be suppressed only by maintaining relentless pressure against its armies and methodically destroying its resources. As the Union’s final general-in-chief, he acted with the resolve that had eluded his predecessors, directing battles whose drawn-out ferocity had no precedent in Western warfare. His narrative of the war’s final year culminates in his meeting with Lee at Appomattox, a scene of quiet pride, sadness, and humanity.

Grant’s writing is spare, telling, and quick, superbly evocative of the imperatives of decision, motion, and action that govern those who try to shape the course of war. Grant wrote about the most destructive war in American history with a clarity and directness unequaled in our literature.

Genres: History, Biography, Civil War, Memoir, Nonfiction, American History, War

1199 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Ulysses Simpson Grant, originally Hiram Ulysses Grant, in Civil War victoriously campaigned at Vicksburg from 1862 to 1863, and, made commander in chief of the Army in 1864, accepted the surrender of Robert Edward Lee, general, at Appomattox in 1865; widespread graft and corruption marred his two-term presidency, the eighteenth of the United States, from 1869 to 1877.

Robert Edward Lee surrendered to Ulysses Simpson Grant at Appomattox in 1865.

Robert Edward Lee, Confederate general, surrendered to Ulysses Simpson Grant, Union general, at the hamlet of Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865 to end effectively the Civil War.


The son of an Appalachian tanner of Ohio, Ulysses Simpson Grant of America entered the military academy at 17 years of age in 1839. The academy graduated him in 1843. In 1846, three years afterward, Grant served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War under Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor. The conflict concluded in 1848.

Grant abruptly resigned in 1854. After struggling through the succeeding years as a real estate agent, a laborer, and a county engineer, Grant decided to join the northern effort.

Abraham Lincoln appointed Grant to brigadier of volunteers in 1861; he in 1862 claimed the first major capture of fort Henry and fort Donelson in Tennessee. A Confederate attack at the battle of Shiloh surprised him, who emerged, but the severe casualties prompted a public outcry. Following many long initial setbacks and his rescue of the besieged at Chattanooga, however, Grant subsequently established his reputation as most aggression and success to Lincoln. Named lieutenant in 1864, Grant implemented a coordinated strategy of simultaneous attacks, aimed at destroying ability of economy to sustain forces of the south. He mounted a successful attrition against his Confederate opponents to courthouse in 1865.

After Andrew Jackson, four decades earlier, people elected duly popular Grant as a Republican in 1868 and re-elected him in 1872 as the first to serve fully. Grant signed and enforced congressional rights legislation to lead Reconstruction.
Grant built a powerful, patronage-based Republican Party in the south and strained relations between the north and former Confederates. Sometimes, nepotism produced scandal of his Administration; people coined the neologism to describe his politics.

Grant left office in 1877 and embarked upon a two-year world tour. Unsuccessful in winning the nomination for a third in 1880, left destitute by a fraudulent investor, and near the brink of death, Grant wrote his Memoirs, which were enormously successful among veterans, the public, and critics. However, in 1884, Grant learned that he was suffering from terminal throat cancer and, two days after completing his writing, he died at the age of 63. Historians typically rank Grant in the lowest quartile for his tolerance, but in recent years his reputation has improved among some scholars impressed by his support for rights for African Americans.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to Grant's memoirs, not because of its military history (though I am a fan of that sort of thing), but because both Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway were fans of Grant's work. I have only read the first volume, which takes the reader up to the fall of Vicksburg. What a trudge! Actually, up to Shiloh, I was rating the Memoirs much higher. Grant (or Twain for him) could write some really clean, uncluttered prose. His sharp eye for telling (and economical) detail certainly must have been attractive to Hemingway. My favorite portions were the times where Grant wasn't recounting military events (though the war with Mexico is stunningly told stuff). Grant's descriptions of visiting a Mexican cave, or San Francisco during the Gold Rush (each of these segments represent only a few pages), stand out a crystal clear portraits, where eye and pen achieve perfect balance.

One aspect of Memoirs that surprised me is that they are hardly as egoless as many have portrayed them. Grant does indeed come across as a humble, straightforward guy, but then again, he almost never dwells on himself in any deep way. You do see flashes when he discusses his politics -- and his dislike for the "rebellion." You can't help but admire his passion and devotion to his country. But he's also quite capable of snark, and he does get his digs in at those he feels were incompetent or a drag to the cause. You also sense a thin skin.This sensitivity really jumps out at you when he discusses Shiloh. Essentially he got caught with his pants down, as the Confederates launched a berserker attack that almost swamped the Union troops. Grant tries to wave this off, insisting that the battle was never in any real doubt. He then disparages the Confederate General, Albert Johnson, as being overrated and vacillating. I tend to agree with him on the first point, but his loss along with his coordinating eye, certainly damaged the Confederate chances on the first day. Grant also insists (in a contradictory way) that Shiloh was "the severest battle fought at the West during the war, and but few in the East equalled it for hard, determined fighting."

Shiloh was a wild affair, fought by two undisciplined and green armies. But there are a number of more savage (and bloodier) battles yet to come. Even a casual reader of Civil War history knows this. Grant's statement simply makes no sense, and its especially damning to an author known for his objective eye. Also odd was Grant's carping about how the Confederates in general low balled the number of troops engaged, as well at the casualties suffered (Grant insists that twice the number of Confederates died than has been reported). As far as I can tell, history records that the Union lost slightly more men than the Confederates. But the Union also won the battle, so why the hyper sensitivity?

At this point, I started noticing Grant's fixation on the numbers. How this plays out over the course of both volumes, I can only guess (from what I understand, he was no fan of Lee). But I'm left with the impression that the specter of "Grant the butcher" (of his own men) haunted the general. What follows, other than some smaller battles and maneuvering, is the Vicksburg campaign. I've read Shelby Foote's take on the campaign, and in his capable hands it's nearly impossible to follow. Grant's take is no better. You would need detailed maps of the day to make any sense of what Grant is (no doubt accurately) describing. Here's a taste:

"The 9th, McPherson moved to a point within a few miles of Utica; McClernand and Sherman remained where they were. On the 10th McPherson moved to Utica, Sherman to Big Sandy; McClernand was still at Big Sandy. The 11th, McClernand was at Five Mile Creek; Sherman at Auburn; McPherson five miles advanced from Utica. May 12, McClernand was at Fourteen Mile Creek; McPherson at Raymond after a battle."

Man, that's some numbing stuff, and hardly memorable literature. The point, I gather, is the slow strangulation of Vicksburg. It is this "battle" that stands as Grant's great achievement. But it seems, at least in part, an engineer's achievement. The terrain, a swampy impossibility, was the main opponent. Grant successfully coordinated a complicated land and water campaign, against a smaller sized opponent who got little help -- other than a piecemeal kind -- from other Confederate forces. Grant would indeed save the Union, but it would be on Virginia's bloody soil. A brutal campaign where numbers and time mattered, and not battle field finesse. One gets the sense that Grant resented that interpretation. Bitterly.

[Bob Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In conjunction with Grant's memoir, this is a must read for anyone interested not only in the Civil War, but the mindset of one of our greatest generals.

At West Point we studied many generals and my own personal area of interest has always been the Civil War. I've walked most of the battlefields, wrote the Staff Walk for Gettysburg for the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, and also wrote a trilogy of novels about two West Pointers going from 1842 into the Civil War

Grant's best two subjects at West Point were math and art, which is a strange combination. He was also a horse whisperer. I think his unique brain, which is shown in these letters, was the key to his unique leadership and calmness.

I feel Grant has been greatly under-rated as a General.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

One can't help but fall in love with the man, respect the soldier as a leader of men and admire the general as a great tactician and strategist throughout this narrative. After getting to know the man better, it makes the tragedy of his presidency, in retrospect, even more poignant.

Grant was a good man. As president he was exploited by the poisonous repercussions of Reconstruction; of cynical politicians who preyed on the political opportunism a divided nation provided to make some rich and powerful at the expense of national healing and prosperity. He left the presidency in disgrace and soon after, in pending poverty. There were no presidential pensions or other perks in his times. His "friends" and business associates plundered what money he had in bad investments and outright graft. And when he was diagnosed with throat cancer, he feared the failure of leaving his family with nothing more than debts and further disgrace. Perhaps the one bit of fortune he had late in life was his friendship with Mark Twain, who considered him to be an icon of American history. Twain used his connections to get Grant an astounding advance to write his memoirs.

Grant sat on the porch of his New York City home, swaddled in blankets, quietly and deliberately, with pen in hand, writing page after page of his memories, beginning with the his early life, his service in the Mexican War and through the Civil War, meticulously recalling key battles. People who learned of his impending death would line up and slowly walk past in silence, so as not to disturb his work, paying tribute to the man whose unlikely military leadership won the Civil War. He finished the manuscript five days before his death. He fulfilled his last duty to financially support his family.

What he produced is rightly considered one of the great works of American literature. It ends with the Civil War, the messiness of his political career was left to others to assess. But what he left us is worth revisiting every now and then. I often think of an anecdote from James MacPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. He commanded the victory of the Battle of Vicksburg, which happened almost simultaneously as the Battle of Gettysburg. Both turned the war in the favor of the North, although victory was still uncertain and far into the future. Lincoln had to endure a slew of commanding generals who never quite knew how to turn the overwhelming advantages the Union forces had to defeat the so-called confederacy.

After Grant's victory at Vicksburg, Lincoln summoned him to come to Washington, DC. Grant and his young son made the uncomfortable journey and made it to the Willard Hotel, just two blocks from the White House, arriving dirty and unkempt. The Willard housed the military elite and was packed with soldiers when Grant arrived, the desk attendant perturbed by the disheveled man in the grimy uniform with his son in tow. He was abruptly informed some cots might be made available in the attic of the hotel as he turned the guest book for the Grant to sign. Upon seeing the signature, the desk worker gulped and Grant was informed that the presidential suite would be available immediately. Lincoln had the aura, Grant was the real deal. This memoir explains why appearances, when it came to Grant, were deceptive. His service to the nation at its time of greatest crisis was indispensable. His writing about that time is essential for any American to consider, especially now as the nation will likely soon veer toward irreparable fascism, killing all that he led the fight to achieve.

[Duffy Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the best memoir I've read. The writing is clean, graceful, blunt, and lucid. While reading it, I kept thinking that the North may have won the war because Grant was such a good writer. What I mean is that the clarity of his prose shines through so brightly, and it does the same even in his orders during the war. Of course, it is not enough for orders to be clear, they must also be effective. But if the orders are sloppy, it doesn't much matter what was intended in the first place. I wish I had come across this book thirty years ago, so that I could have studied it as an example of simple, concise and powerful writing.

At the same time, this is one of the least personal of memoirs that I have read. The material covered is basically Grant the soldier and general. There is a short preamble about his family and roots, and a passing nod to his wife. Otherwise, this book covers his time at West Point, in the Mexican War, and then in the Civil War. Thankfully, for me at least, those are all good enough subjects. From its contents, the main thing I took away from this book is how little a general thinks about fighting itself. Instead, thoughts go towards troop disposition, morale, and above all, supplies. The details of fighting, I'm led to believe, rests with the lower commanders. As a result, the commanding generals almost necessarily think of their units as pieces, and to a certain extent stop thinking of them as men. I think this habit of thinking simply goes with the territory, and I also think it probably makes possible the incredibly horrible decisions that the generals must make.

Grant struck me as being considerably more humble than I would have thought possible in a general. His praise for Sherman seems unbounded, and Sheridan gets only slightly less effusive treatment. For the most part, he does not brag about his own accomplishments. Rather, he is quick to give credit to his underlings, but always in a way that seems fair and well considered.

The one person to whom Grant seems incapable of being generous is Lee. For years, I'm sure Grant lived at least partly aware of the conventional wisdom that Lee was the unparalleled genius, while Grant was a drunken butcher who had the advantage of far superior numbers. He debunks the numbers. At several points, he notes how Lee must have been deceived. He rarely gives Lee credit for any fine military move. And there is one anecdote that seems to make Lee seem like an unfeeling bastard. After a particularly bloody fight, the no-man's land was filled with wounded from both sides, and the camps could hear their pitiful screaming and moaning. Grant wrote Lee proposing a temporary truce to allow both sides to collect their wounded and dead. Lee haggled over the terms of the truce for a few days. In the meantime, the wounded basically all bled out, and by the time they had arrived at terms, both sides could only go out to collect their dead. He didn't say it, but this anecdote clearly raises the question: Who was the heartless butcher?

The book is packed with very detailed descriptions of campaigns and troop movements. For me, there were too many. I'm sure these are invaluable to students of history. And I completely understand why they are there. But for my purposes, the detail was a bit excessive (and this is my failing, not the book's). My Library of America edition also has perhaps the most useless maps. They might just as well have put a map of the U.S. at every one of these pages, and it would have been just as much help.

I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in the Civil War, or American History, or even if you just want to see the difference between the clarity of thinking at that time and what passes for thought among politicians today.

[Franco Paz · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Anti-hero: Ulysses S. Grant. A review of his memoirs.

The story of America’s first anti-hero ended as it began, in poverty. At the tail end of his life, however, Ulysses S. Grant possessed something that he did not have before: one of the most intriguing life stories in American history. To the men of his own time, Ulysses S. Grant was the most famous, celebrated and respected American of his generation. Crowds of people swarmed the streets to cheer for him wherever he went. During his world tour, twenty thousand working Englishmen went out into the streets to cheer for the General of Freedom, the one who had single handedly defeated the armies of slavery and set free thousands of men, women and children. However, Grant’s legacy has in time become the most tarnished, with Americans often believing him to be a drunkard, an ill-kept shadow of a president that is nothing more than a blemish on the nation’s resume of leaders. His book proves that this he was not, and that it was not merely doggedness and persistence that allowed him to be the hero of the Civil War and savior of the Union, but also his towering intellect and genius strategic sense. This book is not merely his story, but a relevant account of the most tumultuous time in American history, coming from the man who played the most pivotal role in it, a man whose legacy has perhaps unjustly been tarnished by time.


As in almost every memoir, the early chapters of Grant’s autobiography make for some of the most interesting reading. The entire first chapter is dedicated to recounting Grant’s ancestry, and it is interesting to note that he places great importance in how “American” his family is. Most of the family descriptions pertain to his father’s side of the family, as his mother’s family did not keep records of ancestry. True to his military background, his book covers little more than his military years, with the narrative ending shortly after the surrender of General Lee’s army. Also interesting to note is that Grant never wanted to attend the academy at West Point, as he deemed the
academics “too demanding” and “he could not bear the idea of failing”. Grant opposed the Mexican War, only partaking in it because of his duty as a recent West Point graduate; he regarded it “among the most unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker one”. Moreover, he maintains that the American Civil War was an outgrowth of the Mexican War, more specifically the annexation of more southern states and the spread of slavery that this action represented. He goes as far as to deem the Mexican war a “transgression” in the part of the United States, and calling the Civil War “fair punishment” that the United States deserved.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book is Grant’s ability to write about the War’s most important men in such a personal way. It is good that he is seemingly very objective, and that for every fault he finds in a rival he can also find virtue. As might be expected, he has many words for both Lincoln and Sherman, and his glowing review of Sherman’s virtues on and off the battlefield has made me want to pick up Sherman’s memoirs as well. Even though his words for Lincoln and Sherman are interesting and illuminating (after all, readers do not often get primary sources as relevant as those that Grant offers), it is his words for the war’s lesser known, but perhaps equally important, military men that makes this book stand out. Grant’s sketches of his comrades are concise and they offer more insight into the men’s personality than perhaps many full-length autobiographies could. Of President Taylor, a General at the time, he says: “No soldier
could face either danger or responsibility more calmly than he. These are qualities more rarely found than genius or physical courage.” And on his mentor from West Point, General C.F Smith, he said: “His death was a severe loss to our western army. His personal courage was unquestioned, his judgment and professional acquirements were unsurpassed, and he had the confidence of those he commanded as well as those over him”. In my opinion, it is moments in the book like these; where Grant’s beautifully spare writing makes the men, whom we previously only knew from battle plans and history textbooks, take life and become real to the reader that makes this book, in my opinion, far and away the best autobiography I have ever read.

Although primarily a beautiful narrative of a man’s rise from obscurity into military heroism, Grant’s Memoirs is arguably the most essential book for someone who is seeking to be a student of the Civil War. His insight, coupled with his towering intellect, strategic sense and spare, concise writing make this book an unparalleled read. The book’s relevance, however, does not come from its aesthetic qualities. It comes from having been written by the most celebrated, respected American of his generation, a true military genius who was there when the events depicted happened, and he tells us what he saw exactly how he saw it. Sometimes genius can’t be explained, and sometimes the reader doesn’t understand some of the nuances of the battles, but we are not expected to do so. Grant is the genius; the reader is merely along for the ride. Grant was picked by Lincoln as his General because he was a fighter. He was not prone to heroics, but neither was he prone to cowardice. He confined himself to saying as little as possible in front of his men, and he was known for not speaking unless he had something to say. In his Memoirs, he found his voice and a story worth telling, and he told it the only way he knew how: in a concise, precise manner that left nothing out yet did not embellish, a Magnus Opus of the military genre that takes us on a tour de force through his life and to the farthest corners of his mind.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people are war/history buffs. I have never been one of them. That said, this book was completely fascinating from start to finish. Grant could write-- I mean really write. People are not exaggerating when they say this is one of the best autobiographies ever written. My only wish was that there was even more-- perhaps a third volume to cover his term in the presidency.

My favorite quote, if only because it is so keenly true:

"Experience proves that the man who obstructs a war in which his nation is engaged, no matter whether right or wrong, occupied no enviable place in life or history." (Volume 1, page 68)

[Chris Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

With all the (rightful) excitement surrounding Chernow’s new biography of US Grant (many of you on here have marked it as “reading” or “to read”) I just want to give a thumbs up to the Library of America edition of Grant’s memoirs and letters.

I first came to this book because Ta-Nahesi Coates couldn’t stop raving about it on Twitter (going so far as to change his Twitter profile pic to one of Grant for a while). While much of what is in here will be covered in the Chernow book, it was my exposure to Grant’s prose style that really stuck with me; there is a simplicity, directness, and moral courage (esp w/r/t slavery) in this book that really shines through. I’ve never been much of a military history reader but this book made things like supply lines, foraging, and provisions seem not only interesting but showed how vital they are to success on a battlefield).

Anyway, the LOA volume is probably a steep first step if you’re just casually interested in this topic, but much of it is online in the public domain, and I really can’t recommend it highly enough, even if just as a skim to accompany the new biography.

[Buckleez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ulysses S. Grant is perhaps the most misunderstood and under-rated President in US history. He was a courageous and determined military leader, a firm believer in civil rights and Reconstruction, and a humble and loving family man. He wrote "Memoirs" while he was dying of cancer finishing the book three days before his death. With his elegant prose, he tells the story of his life - his struggles with poverty and failure, his rise to Lieutenant General in the US Army (a rank held previously only by George Washington), and his two terms as President of the United States. This is not a book written by a ghost writer or dictated and heavily edited; it is a book written with pen and paper by a man racing against death so that he could provide for his soon-to-be-widow and his children. I have read "Memoirs" twice and each time I am astounded by the moving prose and the courage of this simple man.

[Bronwyn Echols · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read, by one of the most important figures of the United States's second century and a man of deep integrity, humanity, and perception. Wonderfully written, a joy to read, and a privilege to have come to know a little bit about Grant through his writings.

[Mick · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT

[Marty Reeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I had this unexplainable Ulysses S. Grant craving. I think that part of it came from teaching American history, and when I reached the Reconstruction (in my mind, thinking it would be the most boooooring section ... I mean, come on, who can top the drama of a CIVIL WAR?!) I found that the scant sections on his participation as President fascinating. Then I heard from someone else, possibly NPR, mention that his memoirs were probably the only Presidential memoirs worth reading. Well, when I got my Kindle and found that they were free ... what else could I do?

The big surprise? His memoirs don't even address his presidential years AT ALL. It is simply Grant from kid to Grant as the eventual victor of the Civil War. ... and then, that's it. Truth be told, even as a teacher of history I have neglected to be a passionate aficionado of Civil War history. I've avoided it. I think it was so broad in scope and so trammeled by other historians that I simply didn't have the ambition to step into a serious study of it. And so, now I'm reading a two volume book that pretty much details every event from this war I had so carefully avoided for so long ... not what I had planned.

And yet ... this is by far the best way for any aspiring Civil War historian to get started on the Civil War. Instead of trying to swallow the monster events, people, and places that all encapsulate a nationwide war, you get the war from the point of view of one, single soldier. And, conveniently enough, this soldier participates in many of the most significant portions of the war, particularly towards the end. Ulysses, also, turns out to be a relatively humble guy ... well, no general can be truly considered "humble" and of course most autobiographies are tainted by the reputation someone would hope to have, but still. Ulysses is no eloquent author, yet he is still one that you trust. His assessments are simple, meticulously justified, and--whether you agree with them or not--they at least make sense. Besides that, Grant really knew how to put you in the moment. When he finally corners Lee and is able to extract a surrender, and then weeks later someone else hunts down Jefferson Davis, I felt as if I had been experiencing these things in the moment: I took a huge sigh of relief. I had to stop reading temporarily and swallow in the news. The fact that these events coincided with the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden only did more to increase my sense of understanding for the emotional impact of the events of that time. (Not that Lee or Davis were equals to Bin Laden, but the idea of a long, fought era of history being drawn to a close would be difficult to not compare.)

Now that I'm done, my only regret is that I didn't get to read more about what followed. I wanted to hear about Grant's presidency from Grant himself, but if I must, I suppose that I can look to others to fill in that remaining craving.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me 12 years to read this book. It's dense. But I kept coming back to it and I'm glad. Gives context, military history, a feeling for the times, and views of the war not gotten from movies. If you choose to read it, make time and way.

[Chris Wolfington · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know enough about the war to be curious about Grant's memoirs, then you might as well get the Library of America edition which features his report as Lieutenant General and his letters.

The memoirs are great. Early in the book he talks about supply trains and the tedious aspects of the military, but they allow you to full understand what's going on when he later gives his campaign descriptions. Reading about the war, I always had trouble figuring out exactly how and why things took place;a lot of information out there is dedicated mostly to the movements of battle. Grant explains fully and coherently the hows and whys of what he did. Since he was in so many engagements, his memoirs will help you fully understand the Union movements throughout much of the war. His thoughts on other Generals (union and confederacy) and his thoughts on secession are amazing. The book is written entirely from his point of view so it's all about how the Union armies were commanded. There are some parts of the book talking about front-line combat, but they are not the main focus. This is a must read if you want to fully understand the military history of the war. There is no better source for how and why Union armies did what they did. Of course Grant wasn't in every engagement, but he was in so many that this book is truly a great source of information.

The included report is a summary of his actions as Lieutenant General. It doesn't include anything left out of the memoirs, but it is still good.

The letters are written mostly to his wife, and show Grant the man, not the General. You will like them if Grant is one of your favorite Generals of the war. Some of them also include his thoughts that aren't mentioned in the memoirs, so they also provide additional substance. There are letters to his doctor he wrote while working on his memoirs; they add a new level of poignancy and make you love and respect Grant even more.

This is a first-hand account of a man who was not only in many of the war's important engagements, but who eventually led the Union to victory. There is no reason why any Civil War buff should ignore reading these.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many times when I have been reading military history have I come across a statement alluding to the classic nature of the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. I have long been meaning to read them, and now I have. I should probably have read much more of the American Civil War before I did so: for while this is a great book, I struggled with the narrative owing to my lack of knowledge of the progress of that War, and of Grant's role in it. Despite that I found this book hard to put down.

While the book is entitled Personal Memoirs, it does not cover the whole of Grant's life, merely his life up until the end of the Civil War. He of course went on to become President of the United States for two terms before his death from cancer in 1885. The book focuses mostly on Grant's military career, from his enlistment through to the end of 1865.

Grant had a frontier childhood, where he learned to be self-sufficient at an early age (he was entrusted with overnight journeys to town in his early teens), and where he developed a love of horses. His father pulled some strings to enable him to enrol in West Point, where he was a middling to good student. Grant states that fighting was not something that really interested him, and in fact he spent the early part of his time as an officer trying to get the position of teacher of mathematics back at West Point. That did not eventuate, and soon enough he found himself fighting in Mexico, where he got a taste of what it was like to fight, and what it was like to command.

Grant never saw himself as a leader, and in fact left the army after a period of time spent in Oregon and California. He worked in business with his father and brothers until the Civil War broke out. As a former regular army officer, he was asked by the Governor of Illinois to assist in gathering the militia units for initial training. At first Grant declined all offers to lead troops, but was eventually persuaded to fight, and soon became the commander of the armies in the West, where he won many victories and opened up the Mississippi for the Union.

He was then appointed to overall command of the Union troops and drove the Confederates to surrender with a strategy of denying them their supplies combined with relentless campaigning, relying on the Unions' greater numbers and industrial capacity to overwhelm the Confederates. In this he succeeded, and famously took General Lee's surrender at Appomattox to effectively end the War.

His Memoirs show Grant to be a man who, like many truly great generals, loathed the pain and wastage of war, and who was constantly seeking to find ways to reduce the carnage and to find peace. It seems ironic to write in such a way of a man who oversaw so much slaughter, but it's clear from his writing that at all times the battles he fought were fought for what he saw as good strategic reasons: on more than one occasion in the Memoirs he bemoans attacks and expeditions that he sees as merely a waste of lives and material without any advantage to be gained.

He also bemoans so many lost opportunities to follow up victories with action, missing the chance to perhaps end the war early. The failure to take Mobile when the Mississippi battles were won being a point Grant returns to in this book more than once. The politics of the Civil War were labyrinthine, intense and damaging, more so than many other conflicts: there were many reasons for this: obviously partly because the Civil War was truly a case of brother fighting brother (Grant knew many Confederate officers personally, and liked some of them on a human level) but also partly because of the way the Union army was raised and run.

Because much of the Union Army was comprised of volunteers, who enlisted on a state-by-state basis under officers who were often politicians or other leaders of society rather than military personnel, the command and control that Grant had over his forces was not absolute. Add to that the political interference from Congress, the President and other members of the executive, and Grant sometimes had a very hard task to implement strategies and even tactics that he knew were most beneficial. Time and again in the Memoirs we read of a General not obeying Grant's orders, or of Grant having troops taken away from his command when he was on the verge of a bigger victory. Sometimes the past is another country, and it bodes the reader of these Memoirs well to remember that while Grant was a General, he was not a General as we think of them now.

However, Grant is one of the major figures that imagined a time when modern generalship could come to be. He fully understood the importance of logistics, and while striving hard to destroy the logistical structure of the Confederate forces, he always was thinking carefully about the supply of his own troops. It was this attention to depriving the enemy of the tools of war while ensuring his own access to them that was decisive in his final victory.

While anyone who writes a Memoir is going to be self-serving, the Grant we get to know through these writings is essentially a humble man, who was trying to win a terrible war for the country that he loved. While he didn't hate the Southerners, he hated what they had done to his beloved Union. He wanted to win the war in the quickest way possible, and that led to him approving of the tactic of destruction undertaken by Sherman and Sheridan during their campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley and through Georgia. It was ugly, but it was effective in bringing the South to its knees without having to engage in huge set-piece battles. Grant knew he had to destroy the Confederate armies to win the war, but tried to do so without exterminating them.

This Library of America edition of the Memoirs contains much more besides: a selection of his letters, which show other sides to Grant than he chooses to reveal in his book, more political, more troubled about money and investments, as well as showing him to be a loving husband and father. There is a useful and detailed chronology of his life, as well as some of his final notes to his doctor, written when his throat cancer stopped him from being able to talk.

Which takes me to the final point that I think is worth making about this book: it is amazing that we have it at all. Grant had always said that he would not write a memoir or anything about the war, but his mind was changed by the fact that he lost all his money after a bank in which he had invested went bankrupt. He turned to writing to help pay his bills, firstly with some articles on the Civil War for magazine publication but then, encouraged by Mark Twain (who was a friend of his) he embarked on his memoirs. This was also about the time he learnt of his cancer, and it was literally a race against time for him to complete the work before his death. That he did so is a fact for which we can all be thankful.

I can see why many praise this book highly. This Library of America edition is wonderful, and after finishing it I realize that I have started my journey into the Civil War - I wonder where to next?

Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/

[Dad]

This reminds me of Churchill's History of WWII: yeah, somebody's gotta actually shoot at the other people but 90% of winning is having all the stuff you need, where you need it, when you need it there. (With Churchill it was merchant ships, with Grant it was wagons, trains, and mules.) Apparently, courage combined with foresight kicks ass.

I finished it. One of the more curious things was that, he is, at the same time, not afraid to name names of generals that were passive or incompetent, and goes out of his way to say that, in many cases, these were inalterable components of their character and that, in other respects, for other missions, they were sound, intelligent and honorable men.

Grant predicts rather well the tragedy of "reconstruction" and opines, as many historians have since, Boothe assassinated the best friend the South would have had when the war was over. His racial views, were, to put a kind face on it, advanced for the age in which he lived.

One last cool thing. Apparently "factories" is a contraction. The original word was "manufactories." (as in "when we entered the town we burned every manufactory capable of being a military aid").

[Vlad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very-well written book with some fascinating commentary on life and war during a turbulent time in our country's history. However, the vast majority of this book is an extremely detailed account of each and every battles in which Grant either fought or was otherwise associated. Grant goes to great length to describe the geography and layout of the battle (often including maps) and presents his thoughts on the risks and advantages of each scenario. Grant also recounts exactly how many soldiers he sent in each direction and why (as well the names of all commanding and other senior officers involved ) and the results of the battle down to the number of casualties for both sides. If you're a fan of military history, then this is a must read. For somebody with a more casual interest, however, there is just too much detail about battles to wade through to get to the other material. The non-battle related material is so good though as to almost make everything worth it. Few other people were so well placed as to deliver first-hand accounts and opinions on Lincoln, Sherman, Lee, Meade and many other notable people.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grant's Memoirs were on my 'to read' shelf for about a decade, so I'm glad to finally get to it. As a lover of history, I found Grant's account of the Civil War is invaluable. As a lover of literature, I found it well written, engrossing, and deserving of the praise that has been heaped upon it. There are some slower moments, and I was a little lost at times (an edition with a map would have helped and it took me a while to get used to military terms and descriptions of troop movements). At the time of writing, the southern re-write of Grant's legacy was already under way, and Grant refutes much of the criticism against him very well, but only as it related to his prosecution of the war. I would have gladly kept reading if only he had lived long enough to include his presidency in a third volume.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hemingway said that all modern American literature began with Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." I suppose he hadn't read Grant's "Memoirs." Here is the clean, clear prose of a well-directed intelligence. The intelligence that won the Civil War. And the story of how he did it. Eyewitnesses say that Grant in his field tent would begin to write orders for battle, penning page after page, allowing each to fall to the tent floor until he was finished. Then he'd gather up the sheets and, without second thoughts or revisions, hand them to his aides to carry to his subordinate generals. He knew what he wanted to do and he knew how to say it. And the generals who read his orders understood what they must do. Read this book and you will understand Grant, and why it was Grant and no other general who could end the Civil War.

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had a lovely copy of this book for years and finally tackled it. Worth the effort
The best parts are not about the battles but of Grant’s reflections on the people and places and reports of those events. And he also comments on the more recent world view of the events as he is writing. Grant comments on the 1880’s view of the war, the lost cause and Grant as the butcher. His writings here are priceless. And here in the 2010’s his views have re-emerged as the prevailing view of the historical record.

[Becky B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love him. Grant’s Memoirs covers his childhood through the civil war and a bit through Johnson’s presidency. Grant is the epitome of integrity, grit, and real moral courage which is vastly different from physical courage of which he also had plenty. His descriptions are blunt and witty and somehow still a breath of fresh air from over a hundred years ago.

[Jeff Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging and entertaining. Clear writing style. The model of the memoir genre. A brilliant general, magnanimous leader, good friend. We would all be better by reading this memoir, as well as Sherman’s.

[Jarred · Rating 5 out of 5]

From studying Grant, one would not expect his memoirs to be so beautifully written especially considering that he was dying while writing them.

[Stephen Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written while he was dying of throat cancer AND trying to restore his fame's lost fortune. You think YOU have pressure?

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

His writing ability shows in this book how he was such a communicator through dispatches during the war.

[Evil Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The minutes battle descriptions were tedious, but I recognize the importance of his memoir to national history. The letters at the end were more enjoyable. Also, he was really good looking!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd like to retake my AP history exam now please.

[Martin Bihl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Memoirs Volume 1 - finished 11.27.19

Personal Memoirs Volume 2 - finished 05.16.20

Selected Letters & Appendix - finished 02.21.21

[Christopher Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this work with great enthusiasm; I once went on a Civil War kick, a few years ago, while living in Tokyo, and spent countless hours wandering around Tokyo while listening to Professor David W. Blight's essential and superb course at Yale, The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877. Once you start taking an interest in the Civil War, it’s hard to ignore the reputation for Ulysses Grant’s memoirs. Thus, I had wanted to read it for years, and now and again I would encounter a superb quotation from the work, which would increase my interest, to wit:

“The framers were wise in their generation and wanted to do the very best possible to secure their own liberty and independence, and that also of their descendants to the latest days. It is preposterous to suppose that the people of one generation can lay down the best and only rules of government for all who are to come after them, and under unforeseen contingencies. At the time of the framing of our constitution the only physical forces that had been subdued and made to serve man and do his labor, were the currents in the streams and in the air we breathe. Rude machinery, propelled by water power, had been invented; sails to propel ships upon the waters had been set to catch the passing breeze—but the application of steam to propel vessels against both wind and current, and machinery to do all manner of work had not been thought of. The instantaneous transmission of messages around the world by means of electricity would probably at that day have been attributed to witchcraft or a league with the Devil. Immaterial circumstances had changed as greatly as material ones. We could not and ought not to be rigidly bound by the rules laid down under circumstances so different for emergencies so utterly unanticipated. The fathers themselves would have been the first to declare that their prerogatives were not irrevocable.”

So perhaps my enthusiasm for this work set me up for being underwhelmed by it. What I wanted was more reflections like the quotation above; what I got was details about battles, and many, many anecdotes about rainy roads and bad conditions for traveling by horse*. For someone who is looking for first hand accounts of the Civil War, it’s probably a perfect work; same too if want insights into the thinking of the military leadership of the North; but if you’re seeking more reflection, you may be dissatisfied. My review seems to go against all received wisdom about the brilliance of this work, and thus my review may well be worth ignoring. (3.5/5)

*
Chapter XXIV.
“The night was one of impenetrable darkness, with rain pouring down in torrents; nothing was visible to the eye except as revealed by the frequent flashes of lightning. Under these circumstances I had to trust to the horse, without guidance, to keep the road.”

Chapter XXV.
“After the rain of the night before and the frequent and heavy rains for some days previous, the roads were almost impassable.”

Chapter XXXII.
“This long, dreary and, for heavy and continuous rains and high water, unprecedented winter was one of great hardship to all engaged about Vicksburg.”

Chapter XL.
“From here we took horses and made our way by Jasper and over Waldron’s Ridge to Chattanooga. There had been much rain, and the roads were almost impassable from mud, knee-deep in places, and from wash-outs on the mountain sides.”

Chapter XLVII.
“The country back to the James River is cut up with many streams, generally narrow, deep, and difficult to cross except where bridged. The region is heavily timbered, and the roads narrow, and very bad after the least rain.”

Chapter LIII.
“The night was dark, it rained heavily, and the road was difficult, so that it was midnight when he reached the point where he was to halt.”

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart, but worthwhile.

Grant describes every battle in the Civil War that he was either involved in, or oversaw as Lieutenant General in charge of the U.S. Army. Readers who don't appreciate battle strategy the details of battles will find these long descriptions hard going. It helps to keep a cheat sheet of generals, as Grant does not always distinguish between National and Confederate leaders. The reader can lose track of which side's movements he is describing. Also, I found the maps included in this edition too small to be useful. It was hard to picture the topography or where the battles were fought unless I had been to the actual places.

With all that, what comes through is a humble leader driven by a set of guiding principles on the evil of slavery and the value of liberating black people from the tyranny of slavery. In one description of a southern general's view of black soldiers, Grant cannot bring himself to describe the racist view of the southerner, instead letting the man's words as quoted speak for him, with Grant's commentary letting us know his deep disagreement with the view.

Grant's compassion also shines through even in the midst of bloody battles. He makes sure his troops do not loot and pillage southern lands. He makes sure his army compensates farmers for the supplies they take. He disputes the view that Northern soldiers set fire to southern towns, giving evidence several times of Confederate soldiers burning cities before they departed, leaving National soldiers to put out the fires.

I also appreciated reading the timeline of Grant's life in the afterword. The memoirs only cover his time as a soldier and not as president. After his presidency, he invested his entire fortune, $100,000 (about $3 million in 2024 dollars), in an investment bank led by his son. After a bank crisis he was left penniless. Congress voted to give him a lifelong pension (ex-Presidents at the time had no such provisions). He wrote his memoirs in the last year of his life, and his wife received approximately $400,000 in 1882 dollars from the book sales. The Library of America edition includes many letters from Grant to his wife, and his life-long love for her is evident. The letters round out the picture of a man whose heroism saved the Union and destroyed the institution of slavery.

[Patrick Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

At their best these memoirs sing with uniquely romantic stoicism, despite the clear sense of responsibility Grant has towards general objectivity & factual delineation. The tactical descriptions range from impenetrably droll to captivating, some being much more difficult to fully comprehend than others. This is in part due to the inscrutable maps within the volume, in which the geographical features are indistinguishable (at least to the layman) from the troop designations & movements.

The meat here, though, is in the poetic reflections of a prosaic individual regarding his pride & penance over the prosecution of ~350,000 deaths (& the liberation of ~4 million lives). There is an eerie sobriety throughout as Grant attains higher rank, achieves greater victories, & conquers diverse vistas, yet the Union casualties alone climb to a consistency of ~5 figures per engagement. This is in service of the greatest moral triumph in American history, & Grant cedes no ground to the validity of Southern secession or to slavery as an institution, but the frank quality & quantities of death throughout are bracing.

Grant does imbue a sense of grandeur & levity throughout as appropriate, fortunately; this is not a downbeat snoozer-slog. The siege of Vicksburg, the battle above the clouds, the chaos of the Wilderness, Sheridan & Sherman’s decisive campaigns culminating in Appomattox, it is all thoroughly engaging & undergirded by our acclimation to Grant’s disposition since childhood. His diversions into personal & political reflection are relatively scant but always satisfying. I came away consistently impressed by Grant’s philosophy for his time. It is fascinating, though underwhelming & a bit frustrating, that his two term tenure as President of the United States is alluded to perhaps less than 5 times. For all I learned & loved about Grant, I learned nothing about his Presidency beyond his support of the acquisition of Santo Domingo.