This comprehensive volume contains all known documents, both military and private, written by and to Grant during the first six months of the Civil War. Of unusual interest are his letters to his wife, father, and sister which provide the best insight into his complex character. Thirty of the letters to Julia have never before been published. The letters trace Grant's early career as a Civil War officer to his promotion to brigadier general. His assignments to command at Ironton and Jefferson City, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, are fully covered. At Cairo, Grant's area of...
This comprehensive volume contains all known documents, both military and private, written by and to Grant during the first six months of the Civil Wa...
Grant's career in the closing months of 1861 has been obscured by the success which came to him on the battlefield early in the following year, beginning with the victory at Fort Donelson in February 1862.Hence, Volume 3 of this definitive edition will be especially valuable to historians of the presidency as well as the Civil War for the clear, com-prehensive insight itprovides into Grant's attitudes and motives on the eve of his military victories. The fourteen-week period covered by this volume has been exhaustively researched, and includes a great store of...
Grant's career in the closing months of 1861 has been obscured by the success which came to him on the battlefield early in the following year, beginn...
This volume provides material that will allow a fresh evaluation of Grant's activities following Appomattox.
In April Grant commanded an army of more than 1,000,000 men maintained at enormous cost. Disbanding this army took priority. By mid-July, more than two-thirds of the volunteers had been mustered out.
Grant as peacemaker exerted his power to protect his former adversaries. He opposed prosecuting Southern military leaders, including Robert E. Lee and others who had been indicted for treason. The South had to accept defeat, but Grant was no believer in a Carthaginian...
This volume provides material that will allow a fresh evaluation of Grant's activities following Appomattox.
Although Ulysses S. Grant is best remembered as Civil War commander and as president, documents included here demonstrate his importance in the intervening years. Grant interpreted Reconstruction as the means to preserve battlefield victories. He avoided taking a public stand in the bitter dispute between President Andrew Johnson and Congress because he believed that military men served the country, not partisan interests. Nevertheless, he recognized that presidential Reconstruction had failed and privately supported passage of the First Reconstruction Act.
Grant's public silence on...
Although Ulysses S. Grant is best remembered as Civil War commander and as president, documents included here demonstrate his importance in the int...
In the spring of 1871, Ulysses S. Grant wrote to an old friend that as president he was "the most persecuted individual on the Western Continent." Grant had not sought the office, and halfway through his first term he chafed under its many burdens.
Grant's cherished project to annex Santo Domingo, begun early in his administration, entered a crucial period. Grant agreed to a tactical compromise: Rather than vote the controversial treaty down, Congress sent a commission to investigate the island. Grant's message submitting the report, hammered out over labored drafts, bore a defensive...
In the spring of 1871, Ulysses S. Grant wrote to an old friend that as president he was "the most persecuted individual on the Western Continent." ...
In his third annual message to the nation, Ulysses S. Grant stated the obvious: "The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as all true patriotic citizens would like to see." Brutal attacks and political murders throughout the South prompted Grant to invoke the new Enforcement Act, ordering in troops and suspending the writ of habeas corpus.
When fire swept through Chicago during 1871, Grant immediately telegraphed to General Philip H. Sheridan to "Render all the aid you can." When Illinois' governor charged federal interference, Grant replied: "The only thing...
In his third annual message to the nation, Ulysses S. Grant stated the obvious: "The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as al...
Inaugurated for a second term on March 4, 1873, Ulysses S. Grant gave an address that was both inspiring and curiously bitter. He told the assembled crowd, "It is my firm conviction that the civilized world is tending towards republicanism, or government by the people through their chosen representatives, and that our own great republic is destined to be the guiding star to all others." Yet he ended the speech on an almost petulant note: "I have been the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history, which to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard in view of your...
Inaugurated for a second term on March 4, 1873, Ulysses S. Grant gave an address that was both inspiring and curiously bitter. He told the assembled c...
Pressured in 1875 to declare himself for or against a third term as president, Ulysses S. Grant found it equally difficult to decide what he wanted and to explain himself to the nation. In May, he pronounced the idea of a third term both constitutional and potentially expedient, and defended the right of the people to choose their own leaders. Grant disavowed any desire to continue as president but expressed gratitude at being chosen twice already. His conclusion left room for doubt. "I would not accept a nomination if it were tendered unless it should come under such circumstances as to make...
Pressured in 1875 to declare himself for or against a third term as president, Ulysses S. Grant found it equally difficult to decide what he wanted an...
On May 10, 1876, Ulysses S. Grant pulled a lever to start the mighty 1,400-horsepower Corliss Steam Engine, powering acres of machinery for the nation's Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Grant summed up a century of American progress by saying, "Whilst proud of what we have done, we regret that we have not done more. Our achievements have been great enough however to make it easy for our people to acknowledge superior merit wheresoever found."
That summer, Fourth of July celebrations coincided with early reports that Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry...
On May 10, 1876, Ulysses S. Grant pulled a lever to start the mighty 1,400-horsepower Corliss Steam Engine, powering acres of machinery for the nat...