American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant

by Ronald C. White Jr.

The infantry began to march at eight thirty that evening. Grant, Meade, and the headquarters party started along Brock Road. In the darkness, fog, and smoke from the still burning scrub forest, it was difficult for soldiers to recognize anyone. But a buzz grew as the headquarters party came into sight at the Chancellorsville junction. Recognition passed from man to man, and soldiers flocked to the junction, pushing in from all sides. In the dim light they recognized Grant on Cincinnati, the huge horse dancing with excitement. Which direction would Grant turn? Back north in the direction of the Rapidan? Back toward the humiliating retreats of the past? As the men swarmed to see, Grant turned south. He turned onto the road leading to the Spotsylvania Court House, where Lee waited. In one of the most dramatic moments of the entire war, soldiers leaped to their feet and began to cheer, their voices echoing through the forest. Grant’s decision to turn south served as a potent elixir to men wounded of body and spirit. Some began to sing the spiritual “Ain’t I Glad to Get Out of the Wilderness.” Horace Porter, awed by the scene, wrote, “The night march had become a triumphal procession for the new commander.” For the first time, Grant earned the unprompted applause of the Army of the Potomac.