Grant S Lieutenants

The second of two volumes critiquing the generals who served under Ulysses Grant, focusing on their working relationships with Grant and assessing their actual performance commanding Union troops during the final two years of the war.

Ulysses S. Grant did more than any other single Union general to secure the North's victory in the Civil War, but he did not achieve that victory alone. Grant's ability to inspire and cultivate the talents of the officers serving under him was a key factor in his remarkable military success. Steven Woodworth and his fellow authors provide ample evidence for that in this first of a two-volume reassessment of Grant's officer corps from Cairo to Appomattox. Covering the war's western theater through July 1863, Woodworth et al. highlight the character and accomplishments of these men and show how their individual relationships with Grant helped pave the way to Union victory. They demonstrate how each officer's service contributed to Grant's success and development as a general, how interaction with Grant affected each officer's career, and how the relationship ultimately contributed to the course of battle and the war's final outcome. These portraits include the most important of Grant's lieutenants as well as some who are representative of various officer types. Here are William T. Sherman and Grant's other trusted commanders from the Army of the Tennessee, revered mentor Charles F. Smith, and difficult subordinate William S. Rosecrans. Here too are such citizen soldiers as Lew "Ben Hur"Wallace and Peter Osterhaus, de facto intelligence chief Grenville Dodge, and naval officers Andrew Foote and David Dixon Porter, whose relationships with Grant proved crucial to the war effort. Full of revealing insights regarding military leadership and the special problems of Civil War command, Grant's Lieutenants adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Union road to victory and gives us the true measure of these dedicated men.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Examines the relationships and accomplishments of Ulysses Grant and the key officers who served under him in the Western Theater of the Civil War. Each essay offers a case study in command leadership in the Civil War.

A multilayered group biography of the Civil War commanders who led the Army of the Potomac: “a staggering work . . . by a masterly historian” (Kirkus, starred review). The high command of the Army of the Potomac was a changeable, often dysfunctional band of brothers, going through the fires of war under seven commanding generals in three years, until Grant came east in 1864. The men in charge all too frequently appeared to be fighting against the administration in Washington instead of for it, increasingly cast as political pawns facing down a vindictive congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. President Lincoln oversaw, argued with, and finally tamed his unruly team of lieutenants as the eastern army was stabilized by an unsung supporting cast of corps, division, and brigade generals. With characteristic style and insight, Stephen Sears brings these courageous, determined officers, who rose through the ranks and led from the front, to life and legend. “A masterful synthesis . . . A narrative about amazing courage and astonishing gutlessness . . . It explains why Union movements worked and, more often, didn’t work in clear-eyed explanatory prose that’s vivid and direct.” —Chicago Tribune