On the onset of the American Civil War in April 1861, Ulysses S. Grant was working as a clerk in his father's leather goods store in Galena, Illinois. When the war began, his military experience was needed, and congressman Elihu B. Washburne became his patron in political affairs and promotions in Illinois and nationwide.
Grant trained Union military recruits and was promoted to colonel in June 1861. Major general John C. Frémont, who viewed in Grant an "iron will" to win, appointed Grant to commander of the District of Cairo. Grant became famous around the nation after capturing Fort Donelson in February 1862 and was promoted to major general by president Abraham Lincoln. After a series of decisive yet costly battles and victories at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general by Lincoln in 1864 and given charge of all the Union armies. Grant went on to defeat Robert E. Lee after another series of costly battles in the Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. After the Civil War, Grant was given his final promotion of general of the Armed Forces in 1866 and served until 1869. His popularity as a Union war general enabled him to be elected president in 1868.
Grant was the most acclaimed Union general during the Civil War. Some historians have viewed him as a "butcher" commander who in 1864 used attrition without regard to the lives of his own soldiers in order to kill off the enemy which could no longer replenish its losses.Bonekemper (April 2011), The butcher's bill: Ulysses S. Grant is often referred to as a 'butcher,' but does Robert E. Lee actually deserve that title?, Civil War Times, pp. 36+ Throughout the Civil War, Grant's armies incurred approximately 154,000 casualties, while having inflicted 191,000 casualties on his opposing Confederate armies. In terms of success, Grant was the only general during the Civil War who received the surrender of three Confederate armies. Although Grant maintained high casualties during the Overland Campaign in 1864, his aggressive fighting strategy was in compliance with the U.S. government's strategic war aims and was in any case abetted by profligate Confederate generals who were willing to match his losses. Grant has recently been praised by historians for his "military genius" and viewed as a decisive general who emphasized movement and logistics. Grant is considered a modern, natural, and skillful general, leading from a central command center, using common sense, and delivering coordinated attacks on the enemy's armies.
Background Ulysses S. Grant began his military career as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1839. After graduation, he went on to serve with distinction as a lieutenant in the Mexican–American War. Grant was a keen observer of the war and learned battle strategies serving under generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. After the war, Grant served at various posts especially in the Pacific Northwest, but he was forced to retire from the service in 1854 due to accusations of drunkenness.Lyle W. Dorsett, "The Problem of Ulysses S. Grant's Drinking During the Civil War," Hayes Historical Journal 4#2 (1983): 37–39. He was unable to make a success of farming.
American Civil War Initial commissions
On April 15, 1861, after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down secession. Galena was enthusiastic in support of the war and recognized in Grant the one local with broad military experience. Grant helped recruit a company of volunteers in Galena and accompanied it to Springfield, the state capital, where untrained units were assembling in great confusion. Sponsored by his influential Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, Grant was named by the governor, Richard Yates, to train volunteers.John Y. Simon, "From Galena to Appomattox: Grant and Washburne." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 58#2 (1965): 165-189. He proved efficient and energetic in the training camps but desired a field command. Yates appointed him as a colonel in the Illinois militia and gave him command of the undisciplined and rebellious 21st Illinois Infantry on June 17. He went to Mexico, Missouri, guarding the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad from Confederate attack. On July 31, 1861, President Lincoln appointed him as a brigadier general in the United States Volunteers. On September 1, he was selected by Western Department Commander, Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont, to command the District of Southeast Missouri. He soon established his headquarters at Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. His command was soon reorganized and renamed the District of Cairo.McFeely (1981), Grant: A Biography, pp. 79–85; Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 98–115.
Battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson
Grant's first Civil War battles occurred while he was in command of the District of Cairo. The Confederate Army, stationed in Columbus under General Leonidas Polk, had violated Kentucky's military neutrality. Immediately, Grant took the initiative and seized Paducah, Kentucky, on September 5, 1861. He was ordered by commanding Union Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont just to make demonstrations against the Confederate Army, rather than attack Polk directly. Grant obeyed the order until President Lincoln discharged Frémont from active duty on November 2, 1861. Going on the offensive, Grant took 3,000 Union troops by boat and attacked the Confederate Army commanded by General Gideon J. Pillow positioned at Camp Johnson in Belmont, Missouri, on November 7, 1861. Having initially pushed back the Confederate forces from Camp Johnson, Grant's undisciplined volunteers wildly celebrated rather than continuing the fight. Pillow, who was given reinforcements by Polk from Columbus, forced the Union troops to make a hasty retreat.
Although the battle was considered inconclusive and futile, Grant and his troops gained the confidence needed to continue on the offensive. More importantly, President Lincoln took notice of Grant's willingness to fight.McFeely (1981), Grant: A Biography, pp. 79–85; Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 98–115 Grant won approval from Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck to attack Confederate Fort Henry on the Tennessee River. Embarking on Admiral Andrew H. Foote's naval flotilla, the expedition steamed south on February 3, 1862, with two divisions of 15,000 men. During the winter, the river had risen and swamped some of the defenses of Fort Henry. On February 6, 1862, Adm. Foote's Union fleet consisting of ironclads and wooden ships bombarded Fort Henry as Grant's troops began the landing. Before Grant could attack, the fortress surrendered. Two Union naval officers entered the fort on a rowboat to accept the surrender. Although approximately 3,000 Confederates escaped east before the surrender, the fall of Fort Henry opened up the Union war effort in Tennessee and Alabama.
After the fall of Fort Henry, Grant moved his army overland 12 miles east to capture Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. Foote's naval fleet arrived on February 14 and immediately started a series of bombardments; however, Fort Donelson's water batteries effectively repulsed the naval fleet. Stealthily, on February 15, Confederate Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd ordered General Pillow to strike at Grant's Union forces encamped around the fort, in order to establish an escape route through to Nashville, Tennessee. Pillow's attack pushed McClernand's corps into a disorganized retreat eastward on the Nashville road. However, the Confederate advance stalled, and Grant was able to rally the Union troops to keep the southerners from escaping. The Confederate forces, under General Simon Bolivar Buckner, finally surrendered Fort Donelson on February 16. Grant's surrender demand to Buckner was popular throughout the Union, " "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." The general was colloquially known from then on as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to major general of volunteers.McFeely (1981), Grant: A Biography, pp. 89–101; Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 143–162.
The surrender of Fort Donelson was a tremendous victory for the Union war effort; 12,000 Confederate soldiers had been captured in addition to the bountiful arms inventory of the fort. However, Grant now experienced serious difficulties with his superior in St. Louis, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck. Some writers believe that Halleck was personally or professionally jealous of Grant. In any event, Halleck made various criticisms about Grant to Washington, even suggesting that Grant's performance was impaired by drinking. With Washington's support, Halleck told Grant to remain at Fort Henry and give command of the next expedition up the Tennessee River to Charles F. Smith, newly nominated as a major general. Grant asked three times to be relieved from duty under Halleck. However, Halleck soon restored Grant to field command, perhaps in part because Lincoln intervened to inquire into Halleck's dissatisfaction with Grant. Grant soon rejoined his forces, eventually known as the Army of the Tennessee, at Savannah, Tennessee. After the fall of Donelson, Grant became popularly known for smoking cigars, as many as 18–20 a day.McFeely (1981), Grant: A Biography, pp. 107–109; Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 177–179, 244. According to Smith, the relationship between Halleck and Grant much improved as the war progressed. When Grant was heavily inundated with charges of drinking during the Vicksburg campaign, Halleck wrote on March 20, 1863, "The eyes and hopes of the whole country are now directed to your army."
Battle of Shiloh
In early March 1862, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck ordered Grant's Army of the Tennessee to move southward up the Tennessee River to attack Confederate railroads. Halleck then ordered Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of Ohio to concentrate with Grant before implementing a planned attack on Confederate troops concentrated in Corinth, Mississippi. Buell, whose veteran army was only 90 miles east in Columbia, was hesitant in sending reinforcements, claiming "swollen rivers" were hindering progress. Union commanders Grant and then Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, the informal commander at Pittsburg Landing, mistakenly assumed Confederate troops would not attack the Union Army, so there were no entrenchments. On April 6, 1862, the Confederates launched a preemptive full force attack on Grant's troops in the Battle of Shiloh; the objective was to destroy Grant's forces before being reinforced by Buell's army. Over 44,000 Confederate Army of Mississippi troops, led by Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard, vigorously attacked five divisions of Grant's army bivouacked nine miles north from Savannah, Tennessee, at Pittsburg Landing. Union Col. Everett Peabody, upon his infantry discovering the oncoming Confederate assault, was able to adequately warn the Union Army to form battle lines. Nonetheless, the Confederates were initially able to drive back the Union Army.Eicher (2001), The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, pp. 219, 223; Timothy B. Smith (May 2006), The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield, America's Civil War magazine; Emerson (1896), Grant's life in the West and his Mississippi Valley Campaigns