Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Introduction

  PREFACE

  CHAPTER ONE - ANCESTRY — BIRTH — BOYHOOD

  CHAPTER TWO - WEST POINT — GRADUATION

  CHAPTER THREE - ARMY LIFE — CAUSES OF THE MEXICAN WAR — CAMP SALUBRITY

  CHAPTER FOUR - CORPUS CHRISTI — MEXICAN SMUGGLING — SPANISH RULE IN MEXICO — ...

  CHAPTER FIVE - TRIP TO AUSTIN — PROMOTION TO FULL SECOND LIEUTENANT — ARMY OF OCCUPATION

  CHAPTER SIX - ADVANCE OF THE ARMY — CROSSING THE COLORADO — THE RIO GRANDE

  CHAPTER SEVEN - THE MEXICAN WAR — THE BATTLE OF PALO ALTO — THE BATTLE OF ...

  CHAPTER EIGHT - ADVANCE ON MONTEREY — THE BLACK FORT — THE BATTLE OF MONTEREY — ...

  CHAPTER NINE - POLITICAL INTRIGUE — BUENA VISTA — MOVEMENT AGAINST VERA CRUZ — ...

  CHAPTER TEN - MARCH TO JALAPA — BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO — PEROTE — PUEBLA — SCOTT ...

  CHAPTER ELEVEN - ADVANCE ON THE CITY OF MEXICO — BATTLE OF CONTRERAS — ASSAULT ...

  CHAPTER TWELVE - PROMOTION TO FIRST LIEUTENANT — CAPTURE OF THE CITY OF MEXICO ...

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN - TREATY OF PEACE — MEXICAN BULL FIGHTS — REGIMENTAL ...

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN - RETURN OF THE ARMY — MARRIAGE — ORDERED TO THE PACIFIC COAST ...

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN - SAN FRANCISCO — EARLY CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCES — LIFE ON THE ...

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN - RESIGNATION — PRIVATE LIFE — LIFE AT GALENA — THE COMING CRISIS

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION — PRESIDING AT A UNION MEETING — ...

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - APPOINTED COLONEL OF THE 21ST ILLINOIS — PERSONNEL OF THE ...

  CHAPTER NINETEEN - COMMISSIONED BRIGADIER-GENERAL — COMMAND AT IRONTON, MO. — ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY - GENERAL FREMONT IN COMMAND — MOVEMENT AGAINST BELMONT — BATTLE ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - GENERAL HALLECK IN COMMAND — COMMANDING THE DISTRICT OF ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO - INVESTMENT OF FORT DONELSON — THE NAVAL OPERATIONS — ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE - PROMOTED MAJOR-GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS — UNOCCUPIED ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR - THE ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING — INJURED BY A FALL — THE ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE - STRUCK BY A BULLET — PRECIPITATE RETREAT OF THE ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX - HALLECK ASSUMES COMMAND IN THE FIELD — THE ADVANCE UPON ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN - HEADQUARTERS MOVED TO MEMPHIS — ON THE ROAD TO MEMPHIS — ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT - ADVANCE OF VAN DORN AND PRICE — PRICE ENTERS IUKA — ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE - VAN DORN’S MOVEMENTS — BATTLE OF CORINTH — COMMAND OF THE ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY - THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST VICKSBURG — EMPLOYING THE FREEDMEN — ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE - HEADQUARTERS MOVED TO HOLLY SPRINGS — GENERAL McCLERNAND ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO - THE BAYOUS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI — CRITICISMS OF THE ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE - ATTACK ON GRAND GULF — OPERATIONS BELOW VICKSBURG

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR - CAPTURE OF PORT GIBSON — GRIERSON’S RAID — OCCUPATION OF ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE - MOVEMENT AGAINST JACKSON — FALL OF JACKSON — INTERCEPTING ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY SIX - BATTLE OF BLACK RIVER BRIDGE — CROSSING THE BIG BLACK — ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN - SIEGE OF VICKSBURG

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT - JOHNSTON’S MOVEMENTS — FORTIFICATIONS AT HAINES’ BLUFF — ...

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE - RETROSPECT OF THE CAMPAIGN — SHERMAN’S MOVEMENTS — ...

  CHAPTER FORTY - FIRST MEETING WITH SECRETARY STANTON — GENERAL ROSECRANS — ...

  CHAPTER FORTY ONE - ASSUMING THE COMMAND AT CHATTANOOGA — OPENING A LINE OF ...

  CHAPTER FORTY TWO - CONDITION OF THE ARMY — REBUILDING THE RAILROAD — GENERAL ...

  CHAPTER FORTY THREE - PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE — THOMAS CARRIES THE FIRST LINE ...

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR - BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA — A GALLANT CHARGE — COMPLETE ROUT ...

  CHAPTER FORTY FIVE - THE RELIEF OF KNOXVILLE — HEADQUARTERS MOVED TO NASHVILLE ...

  CHAPTER FORTY SIX - OPERATIONS IN MISSISSIPPI — LONGSTREET IN EAST TENNESSEE — ...

  CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN - THE MILITARY SITUATION — PLANS FOR THE CAMPAIGN — ...

  CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT - COMMENCEMENT OF THE GRAND CAMPAIGN — GENERAL BUTLER’S ...

  CHAPTER FORTY NINE - SHERMAN’S CAMPAIGN IN GEORGIA — SEIGE OF ATLANTA — DEATH ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY - GRAND MOVEMENT OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC — CROSSING THE ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY ONE - AFTER THE BATTLE — TELEGRAPH AND SIGNAL SERVICE — MOVEMENT ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY TWO - BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA — HANCOCK’S POSITION — ASSAULT OF ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY THREE - HANCOCK’S ASSAULT — LOSSES OF THE CONFEDERATES — ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR - MOVEMENT BY THE LEFT FLANK — BATTLE OF NORTH ANNA — AN ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE - ADVANCE ON COLD HARBOR — AN ANECDOTE OF THE WAR — BATTLE ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY SIX - LEFT FLANK MOVEMENT ACROSS THE CHICKAHOMINY AND JAMES — ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN - RAID ON THE VIRGINIA CENTRAL RAILROAD — RAID ON THE ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT - SHERIDAN’S ADVANCE — VISIT TO SHERIDAN — SHERIDAN’S ...

  CHAPTER FIFTY NINE - THE CAMPAIGN IN GEORGIA — SHERMAN’S MARCH TO THE SEA — WAR ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY - THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN — THE BATTLE OF NASHVILLE

  CHAPTER SIXTY ONE - EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER — ATTACK ON THE FORT — ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY TWO - SHERMAN’S MARCH NORTH — SHERIDAN ORDERED TO LYNCHBURG — ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY THREE - ARRIVAL OF THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS — LINCOLN AND THE ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR - INTERVIEW WITH SHERIDAN — GRAND MOVEMENT OF THE ARMY OF ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE - THE CAPTURE OF PETERSBURG — MEETING PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY SIX - BATTLE OF SAILOR’S CREEK — ENGAGEMENT AT FARMVILLE — ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN - NEGOTIATIONS AT APPOMATTOX — INTERVIEW WITH LEE AT ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT - MORALE OF THE TWO ARMIES — RELATIVE CONDITIONS OF THE ...

  CHAPTER SIXTY NINE - SHERMAN AND JOHNSTON — JOHNSTON’S SURRENDER TO SHERMAN — ...

  CHAPTER SEVENTY - THE END OF THE WAR — THE MARCH TO WASHINGTON — ONE OF ...

  CONCLUSION

  APPENDIX - REPORT OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL U. S. GRANT, OF THE UNITED STATES ...

  ENDNOTES

  INDEX

  SUGGESTED READING

  Introduction and Suggested Reading

  © 2003 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  Originally published in two volumes in 1885

  This 2003 edition published by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

  in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

  means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or

  otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-7607-4990-6 ISBN-10: 0-7607-4990-6

  eISBN : 978-1-411-42830-0

  Printed and bound in the United States of America

  7 9 10 8 6

  The facsimiles of General Buckner’s dispatches at Fort Donelson are copied from the originals furnished the publishers through the courtesy of Mr. Ferdinand J. Dreer. General Grant’s dispatch, “I propose to move immediately upon your works,” was copied from the original document in the possession of the publishers.

  INTRODUCTION

&nbs
p; AFTER THREE DEADLY YEARS OF FIGHTING, PRESIDENT ABRAHAM Lincoln had seen a little progress in the West against the Confederacy, but in the main theater of operations, Virginia, the lines were almost exactly where they had been when the American Civil War started. The war was at a stalemate with northern public support rapidly fading. Then, Lincoln summoned General Ulysses S. Grant to come East. In little over a year, America’s most catastrophic armed conflict was ended, the Union was preserved and slavery abolished. This book details how these triumphs were achieved and in the telling earned international acclaim as a superb example of an English-language personal chronicle. U. S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs constitutes a vital historical and literary classic. The book provides the reader with an understanding of the most perilous four years in United States history and the best model for an entire genre of literature.

  Born Hiram Ulysses Grant in 1822, he remains one of the giants in American history, revered and respected by his contemporaries, but viewed ever after as one of the country’s most enigmatic and controversial figures. Of modest, small-town midwestern origins, he graduated from West Point in 1843 and was promoted for bravery during the Mexican War, a conflict he denounced. He rose to command of the U.S. Army during the Civil War and served as the 18th President of the United States for two terms. All these grand accomplishments stand in stark contrast with his equally enormous failures and disappointments. He was forced into a military career by a father he disliked. As a cadet at the military academy, he hated the institution so much he hoped for its abolishment. He became an alcoholic in the early 1850s and a failed businessman and farmer. As president, his administration is regarded as one of the most corrupt in U.S. history. He lost his life savings in the 1880s and fell heavily into debt becoming dependent on friends and family for handouts. While other prominent Americans look to publishing their recollections as a crowning event undertaken in the leisure of retirement, Grant had to write his 1885 memoir as a means to pay his debts and feed, clothe, and shelter his family. Few Americans have reached such highs--or plunged to such lows.

  Grant’s reputation was shaped by some notable personality traits and habits. The handful of contemporaries who had disparaging things to say after first meeting him were usually put off by the general’s silence following the initial greeting. He was naturally shy and reserved in such encounters and rarely spoke more than a courteous and sometimes formal salutation preferring the other party to carry the conversation. Some incorrectly took this behavior as indicating a lack of intellect and knowledge. Among long-time friends and acquaintances, he was altogether a different man, talkative, amusing, and occasionally showing his characteristic dry wit. Also, Grant was not a physically striking figure. He was only five foot seven inches tall. While many officers of his era adorned themselves with professionally tailored uniforms, brilliantly colored sashes, and fancy swords, Grant was typically unarmed, wore a standard drab soldier’s coat decorated only with the government-issue shoulder boards appropriate to his rank. He was trusting of others to a fault. Grant displayed no guile and was remarkably honest. Unfortunately, he often assumed others were the same and was consequently often deceived and cheated. He was also a voracious reader of books and newspapers but only revealed his knowledge when it was called for by the occasion, never to make a favorable impression. It is understandable why some of those who only briefly knew him characterized Grant as ignorant and slovenly.

  Nothing led to more controversy about U. S. Grant than his reputation as a drunkard. In modern terms, he was a managed alcoholic. A majority of comments and memories on the subject from sixty-nine of his friends and acquaintances place the beginning of serious problems during an 1852-1854 tour of duty as an Army captain in California. The causes are generally ascribed to his having to leave his new wife, Julia, behind in the East as well as the monotonous nature of the assignment. Lonely and bored, Grant turned to the bottle for solace. His deportment was bad enough to merit the threat of embarrassing disciplinary procedures. Rather than face humiliation, he chose to resign his commission. Once he returned to his wife, commentary about his drinking to excess became infrequent. Forty-six of his friends and acquaintances remember Grant’s Civil War and White House years as periods where he shunned alcohol for three to four months at a time and was never was out of control when serious matters were at hand. Twenty-three take a different view, saying Grant’s addiction to drink was an occasional debilitating factor. However, almost all agree that during those highly public years, Grant was usually under the observation and direction of his wife or his nagging chief of staff and friend, John Rawlings. In those conditions, U. S. Grant was almost always cold sober. Additionally, the majority of his friends and acquaintances state Grant rarely drank much alcohol. But, they agreed that only a small amount made him intoxicated. Those closest to him stated that Grant could snap out of an alcohol-induced stupor after little more than an hour or two of sleep.

  Perhaps the final word on Grant’s drinking should come from the man who had the most to do with making him a leading national figure and the bearer of awesome responsibilities. Abraham Lincoln heard all the stories about Grant before promoting him to Lieutenant General. But the president also took note of Grant’s accomplishments in the preceding three years. In 1864 a few months after putting Grant in command of Union forces, Lincoln said that Grant was the only real general that he had. The rest of them had demanded the impossible from the White House. The president said that he did not know Grant’s plans and did not want to know. He knew Grant would take the necessary actions to defeat the Confederacy. Alcoholic or not, Lincoln knew that Grant was a winner.

  The chief cause of the mystery and mixed opinions about Grant is that different generations of Americans have viewed him in dramatically different ways. For most of his contemporaries, Grant was the kind, considerate, and just general and president. Ex-Confederates were surprisingly cordial toward him. In one telling post-war incident, Robert E. Lee admonished and embarrassed a man who began denouncing Grant. The ex-Confederate commander said that he would not permit such remarks about Grant in his presence. The most widely circulated southern publication among Confederate veterans printed nothing unkind or critical of Grant. Union veterans were overwhelmingly favorable to their former commander despite a few voices in the North claiming Grant had been reckless with his soldiers’ lives at the battles of Vicksburg, the Wilderness, and Cold Harbor. However, as the generation that knew him began passing away, Grant’s reputation dived. Much of the cause of this phenomenon had a decidedly political foundation. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Democratic Party began rebounding after its disastrous flirtation with slavery interests. Americans were often reminded of the Grant Administration’s corruption. At the same time, the reputations of Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee were steadily burnished and Grant’s repute suffered in the comparison. But the trend in opinions reversed in the 1960s. The Civil War centennial ushered in a new era of scholarly works about the conflict and its central personalities. As accurate, fact-based, and well-reasoned books were written, Grant’s stature grew as his admirable accomplishments were revealed. His reputation has been on the upswing ever since.

  In some measure, Grant’s revived stature stems from the remarkable story of his struggle to write his memoirs. He began work on the memoir in September 1884, after he was made financially destitute and physically crippled. During the same month, he experienced severe pain in his throat. The cause was diagnosed as an inoperable cancer. Knowing he was dying, he threw himself into writing for the purpose of providing for the love of his life, Julia Dent Grant, his wife of 36 years. Writing with a pencil several hours a day, Grant was not only in a race with death, he was struggling against an ever more intense and incapacitating pain. From January through March 1885, the former president was only able to get down pitifully small portions of food. His body weight quickly went from 150 to 120 pounds. Publication of the memoir was handled by his friend, the widely popular author M
ark Twain. Grant penciled in the finishing touches on July 19, 1885. Three days later, death mercifully released him from the excruciating agony he had endured for eleven months.

  Despite its exorbitant price, the memoir was a huge financial success. At the time, the average book price was about $1.50; U. S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs with a cloth binding started at $7.00 per set and reached $25.00 for the leather-bound, gilt-edge version. And, the memoir was sold by subscription, each prospective owner having to place an order with an authorized vendor. In today’s money, the cloth-bound set would cost $117 and the leather-bound set would bring almost $500. The vendors’ sales pitch solemnly reminded Americans that each citizen should know the history of the country and that no event in the United States was greater than the Civil War. The author, Grant, was characterized to buyers as “the greatest actor” in the war. It all worked. Across America, proud purchasers displayed the two volumes where visitors would not miss them. Julia Grant received $450,000 from the sales, an inflation-adjusted 2003 equivalent of more than $8,000,000. Debts were paid and the general’s widow and family looked forward to a financially secure and comfortable life. Grant lost his battle with cancer, but his struggle yielded his final triumph.

  The book drew praise from the moment it was published. Mark Twain described its distinguishing characteristics as “. . . clarity of statement, directness, simplicity, manifest truthfulness, fairness and justice . . .” Twain summed up his thoughts calling the Memoirs “. . . a great, unique and unapproachable literary masterpiece.” The great American political caricaturist Thomas Nash said, “He wrote as he talked, simple, unadorned, manly.” The plaudits continued into the 20th century. The biographer, Louis A. Coolidge, pictured Grant as a man who “. . . had a faculty of narrative to an unusual degree.” The prominent American editor, playwright and novelist, Edmund Wilson, said, “Perhaps never has a book so objective in form seemed so personal in every line.” And, “Somehow, despite its sobriety, it communicates the spirit of battles themselves and makes it possible to understand how Grant won them.” The applause has continued into the 21st century with the often cynical and acerbic writer and playwright, Gore Vidal, saying: “It is simply not possible to read Grant’s Memoirs without realizing that the author is a man of first-rate intelligence.” Vidal described the book simply as “a classic.”