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July 29 - August 11, 2018
An army without adequate transportation is an army without supplies that will become an army unable to fight.
The Mexican War of 1846–1848, largely forgotten today, was the second costliest war in American history in terms of the percentage of soldiers who died. Of the 78,718 American soldiers who served, 13,283 died, constituting a casualty rate of 16.87 percent. By comparison, the casualty rate was 2.5 percent in World War I
As for his forces, “I felt that 15,000 men on the 8th would be more effective than 50,000 a month later.”
Grant, unlike Johnston, did not attempt to lead from out front or micromanage the divisions of his huge army. Relying upon the effectiveness of a well-structured command, he believed division commanders should direct their forces. Thus, from the moment he arrived at the landing he chose instead to offer overall strategy and support to his commanders.
Its blue waters turned red with the blood of the wounded and dying; today, visitors see the “Bloody Pond” and imagine the horror that took place all around it.
cotton trade. The New York Tribune reported Colonel
Grant urged Sherman to proceed with “celerity”—a word he had recently begun to favor, meaning “speed”—because “the road to Vicksburg is open.”
Grant now read what Stanton had written him on May 5: General Grant has full and absolute authority to enforce his own commands, and to remove any person who, by ignorance, inaction, or any cause, interferes with or delays his operations. He has the full confidence of the Government, is expected to enforce his authority, and will be firmly and heartily supported; but he will be responsible for any failure to exert his powers.
Grant put in place a psychology of behavior that the army that would be victorious would never dwell on past mistakes, never wallow in its wounds, never pause to refresh and refit. Rather, Grant understood the consequences if he did not move forward. He told an aide, “Every day’s delay is worth two thousand men to the enemy.”
After his detailed recitation of disagreements with Grant’s strategy, President Lincoln confessed: “I now wish to make the personal acknowledgement that you were right and I was wrong.”
Despite the forcefulness of his order, however, Grant embraced a command structure affirming autonomy. “You have been over this country,” he added, “and having had a better opportunity of studying it than myself, the details are left to you.”
Grant had several habits going for him that Bragg did not. He listened; he asked questions; he did not attempt to micromanage; he seldom engaged in criticism after a battle.
Grant closed his letter to Halleck with remarkable deference: “I have written this in accordance with what I understood to be an invitation from you to express my views about Military operations and not to insist that any plan of mine should be carried out.”
He assured Grant, “All he ever wanted…was someone who would take the responsibility and act, and call upon him for all the assistance needed.”
“He is capable and perfectly subordinate, and by attending to the details he relieves me of much unnecessary work, and gives me more time to think and mature my general plans. I will always see that he gets full credit for what he does.”
One soldier wrote home, “How long ‘Old Useless,’ as the boys mischievously call the Lieutenant General, will allow it to hinder his onward progress,
More than with any other general, he steered clear of telling Grant what to do—almost as if he knew that in Grant’s position, he would take the same aggressive approach, with the same risks involved.
major exasperation was how many senior commanders—Thomas, Canby, and Stoneman—were late in executing his orders. But Grant deftly moved his chess pieces across the board.
in the rush of events he had not organized his thoughts in advance, but this did not prevent him from writing a concise 185 words on the spot. The final sentence embodied his sense of the surrender: “This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by U. S. authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside.”
THE GRANT WHO came to make peace at Appomattox had been transformed by four years of war. A latent gift of quiet leadership was honed in his own understated style.
Having gained a reputation as a hard-war warrior, at Appomattox he offered a magnanimous peace.
at the end of the war, all had transformed into a man who understood the close correlation between war and politics. Lincoln had become his example. Together they chose reconciliation over retribution.
It is now accepted that the Civil War cost the lives of nearly 750,000 people
Grant traveled to Washington and on April 14 went to the Executive Mansion for a morning meeting with the president. Lincoln had also invited him and Julia to join him and Mary that evening for a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre.
Why Julia chose not to attend the play at Ford’s Theatre is a question that still lingers. Perhaps the reason she gave—a visit to the children, whom she had not seen for three months—was the explanation.
For the rest of his life, Grant agonized over what might have happened if he had been sitting in the box at Ford’s Theatre with Lincoln. Could he have prevented Lincoln’s death?
On June 13, Lee wrote Grant, including his application for pardon. Grant sent Lee’s letter and application on to Stanton with his own strong endorsement: “In my opinion the officers and men paroled at Appomattox and since…cannot be tried for treason so long as they observe the terms of their parole.”
Recognizing Grant’s enormous popularity, Johnson gave in and directed Attorney General Speed to drop the charges against Lee. On the same day, Grant wrote Lee to inform him that his word at Appomattox would be honored. In the weeks that followed, scores of Confederate officers who trusted Grant applied for pardons through him.
Grant joined those surprised when Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act on March 27. This time Johnson’s views on race became explicit. Arguing that the federal government’s role in protecting the civil rights of blacks contravened “all our experience as a people,” he baldly declared that to grant the privileges of citizenship to blacks would show prejudice against whites.
As a soldier who had seen too much bloodshed, he longed for conciliation. As a person who grew from indifference about slavery to advocacy of African American rights, he stood for congressional measures that would give them protection. As general in chief, he was committed to enforcing the laws of the land. Yet the orders, laws, and amendments coming from the president and Congress, rather than offering clarity, were increasingly in conflict.
Grant confided to Washburne, “I do not think it proper for an Army officer, particularly the Army commander, to take part in elections.” He tried to decline but in the end could not turn down an invitation from his commander in chief.
The tour left Washington on August 27. In Johnson’s speech in New York, he shrewdly had Grant stand by his side, as if to say the military hero supported his policies. A few days later, Ulysses wrote Julia, “I am getting very tired of this expedition and of hearing political speeches.”
An interested foreign observer, Mexico’s Matías Romero, captured the tensions of the tour: “General Grant’s presence and name excited much more enthusiasm than Johnson’s presence and name.”
never been so tired of anything before as I have been with the political stump speeches of Mr. Johnson from Washington to this place. I look upon them as a National disgrace.” He counseled her, “Of course you will not show this letter to anyone for so long as Mr. Johnson is President I must respect him as such, and it is the country’s interest that I should also have his confidence.”
But Grant had had enough. He left the tour early, after Cincinnati, and returned to Washington in advance of Johnson.
Before Stanbery could say a word, Grant stood up: “I can answer that question.” He told the cabinet that as an army officer, “any legal military order you give me I will obey; but this is civil and not military; and I decline the duty.”
In the end, Sherman accepted Grant’s assignment to go to Mexico, Stanton remained as secretary of war, and the fissure between Grant and Johnson widened.
This was because as the nation’s chief military officer, Grant continued to be discreet in his public remarks. Further, in contrast to President Johnson and firebrands Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and Wendell Phillips, he maintained a calm demeanor that allowed him to move back and forth among powerful and contentious personalities. Grant’s personal secretary, Adam Badeau, offered his insight: “His equanimity of temper was as important at this juncture as either his steadfastness or unselfishness of purpose.”
In a letter to Washburne, Grant called Johnson’s rejection “one of the most ridiculous Veto messages that ever emanated from any President.” These are strong words. Although circumspect in public, Grant was increasingly sharing his true thoughts and feelings about Johnson with Julia, Sherman, and Washburne.
THE VERY NEXT day, the House, now in a frenzy, began impeachment proceedings against Johnson for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Many senators wrote letters of encouragement to Stanton, including Radical Charles Sumner, who sent a terse one-word telegram: “Stick.” House and Senate members also called on Grant to let him know he had their support.
JULIA CARRIED ON her own diplomatic relations. She knew politics of Washington flourished not only in the halls of Congress, but in the social gatherings of the capital. Although she would never say so aloud, she knew her warmth could sometimes make up for her husband’s stretches of silence.
