Grant by Ron Chernow, a Book Report
Grant by Ron Chernow
A Book Report by Bobby Everett Smith
Spoiler Alert
December 11, 2017
Setting
The United States in 1822, the year of the birth of Ulysses S. Grant, was in a state of turmoil with controversies centered around the issue of slavery which was legal in the South and illegal in northern states. This is the story of the life of Grant as he grows from a farm boy in Ohio to President of the United States.
Characters
Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, General in Civil War for the United States, and graduate of West Point
Jesse Grant, Ulysses’ father from Southwest Ohio
Hannah Grant, Ulysses’ mother from Southwest Ohio
Julia Dent Grant, Ulysses’ wife
General Zachary Taylor, U.S. Army general in Mexican War. Later President of the United States after James Polk
Col. Frederick Dent, Julia’s father, slave-owner from Missouri
Nellie Grant, Grant’s daughter
General Winfield Scott, U.S. Army General senior to U S Grant
Brigadier General John Rawlins, friend, and chief of staff to Grant in the Army
Congressman Elihu Washburne, Galena, IL, mentor to Grant throughout career
Adam Badeau, secretary to General Grant, later adversary
Orville Babcock, aide de campe, secretary in White House to President Grant
General William T. Sherman, colleague of Grant and general of U S Army during Civil War
General Philip H. Sheridan, on of the three general that Grant relied on in Civil War
General Benjamin F. Butler, a political general and nemesis of Grant
General Henry W. Halleck, Grant’s senior in the West and then in Washington during the Civil War
General John A. McClernand, Union general in Battle of Vicksburg
Robert E. Lee, Confederate General who surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House
Abraham Lincoln, President of the U.S. during Civil War, friend of Grant
Mary Lincoln, president’s wife, and competitor with Julia Grant
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War under Lincoln
Andrew Johnson, Vice President who succeeded Lincoln when he was assassinated, impeached but acquitted
Fred Grant, Grant’s son
Jesse Grant, Jr., Grant’s son
Buck Grant, Jr., Grant’s son
Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State under Grant as President
Amos T. Akerman, Attorney General under Grant, help solve KKK problem, first Attorney General
Charles Sumner, Senate Foreign Affairs Chairman while Grant was president. Enemy of Grant
Roscoe Conkling, Champion of Grant in Senate while Grant was president
Ferdinand Ward, investor in New York who led a Ponzi scheme that bankrupted Grant
Mark Twain, author who helped Grant profit from writing his memoirs
Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy during the Civil War
The Story
Part 1 A Life of Struggle
Jesse and Hannah Grant delivered Ulysses S. Grant in Pt. Pleasant, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio River not far from Cincinnati on April 27, 1822.
Jesse was a bombastic man, “a self-assertive windbag,” full of ideas and schemes to get ahead. He owned a tannery on the Ohio River and eventually turned it into a successful business. Hannah, Grant’s mother, was quiet and introverted. Slim and attractive, devoted to the Episcopal Church, Hannah led the family in their anti-slavery philosophy which was the key issue of the day throughout the U.S.
Grant grew up as a steady, serious kind of boy, imperious to danger. He was a strident horseman from the age of five. He did not pick fights but neither did he back down from bullies. His was a quiet life of playing marbles, swimming, and ice skating.
Grant did ok in school, with his best subject math, he was also drawn to reading, history, and politics. He hated public speaking and trying to push himself into the limelight. He was retiring, reticent, and quiet, like his mother.
His love of horses was one of his main strengths as he grew up. Beginning at age five, he could ride a horse at top speed, while standing on one leg.
As a boy, Grant never seemed to understand money. He was a hard-working boy but did not grasp the concepts of supply and demand and the need to negotiate with other people.
When Grant was 16, his father, without Grant’s permission, partitioned his congressman to nominate Grant for West Point. Grant did not want to go to West Point, but he succumbed to his father’s pressure when it became time for him to make the journey to West Point on the Hudson River in New York State.
West Point housed a total of 250 cadets who were subjected to a rigorous military life. Courses included math, geography, engineering, and history. Some introductions to military strategy and maneuvers were Grant’s first exposure to a military career. Grant did best at math, but he was not a leading student. He was known as the best horseman at the academy, however.
Grant graduated from West Point in 1843, 21 out of 39 graduates in his class, not an outstanding record but ok. He received a commission in the Army as a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to the Fourth Infantry Regiment in St. Louis, Mo, the gateway to the nation’s frontier. The soldiers at Jefferson Barracks were assigned the mission to protect pioneers crossing the plains in their treks to Utah and California and other parts of the West.
While serving at Jefferson Barracks, Grant met Julia Dent, the daughter of a wealthy slave-owner in Missouri who owned a farm with about 850 acres and at one time up to 30 slaves. Grant remained a strict abolitionist, but he quickly fell in love with Julia and he became torn with his fondness for Julia and his belief that human beings should not be owned and treated as slaves. Grant and Julia’s father, Col Fredrick F. Dent, never did get along well although in future years, Grant would become beholden to him financially.
The conflict that Grant felt, a Northerner against slavery and a girlfriend from a family that owned slaves was not uncommon and in the late 1840’s onward. This became one of the key issues for Grant.
In May 1844, Grant’s regiment was transferred to Western Louisiana just as the annexation of Texas as a State was being discussed in Congress. The mission of Grant’s regiment was to warn Mexico which regarded Texas as renegade Mexican territory.
Mexico believed that the southern border of Texas should be the Nueces River. The U.S. thought the Rio Grande was the border. Mexicans ambushed American soldiers north of the Rio Grande in April 1846, starting the Mexican War. General Zachary Taylor oversaw U.S. forces in the war under President James Polk.
The Mexican war was Gran’s first exposure to combat and he made a good impression on his superiors as a young officer leading his men in battle. Even so, Grant was transferred to head the regiment as Quartermaster, which had the potential to keep Grant out of battle.
President Polk grew wary of the Whig general, Zachary Taylor, as a political rival. He appointed Winfield Scott to take the army to Mexico City via Vera Cruz, cancelling Taylor’s strategy of holding Monterey and proceeding south from there.
The Mexican War culminated in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which added Texas down to the Rio Grande as the Southern border, New Mexico, California, most of Arizona and Utah. This added about one quarter to the territory of the United States. The U.S. gave up Baja California and paid $3.5 million. Opponents to the war resented Texas coming into the Union as a salve-owning state. Grant had proven himself in the war as a competent officer in battle as well as a regimental quartermaster.
In August 1848, Grant and Julia Dent were wed exacerbating the conflict between the slave-owning Dent family and the abolitionist Grant family. The problem was never resolved and even intensified during the Civil War. Grant and Julia got along well even though she spent a great deal of time alone living with her parents while Grant was assigned to frontier posts like Detroit, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.
Grant spent much of the time between 1848 and 1854 alone in various assignments that made it impossible to bring his wife and kids along with him. In April 1854, Grant decided he could no longer take the Army life and submitted his resignation while he was serving in San Francisco. He did not even have enough money to get home on and he did not know what he was going to do when he got there but at least he would be with Julia and their children.
For four years until 1858, Grant applied his efforts to farming only to get to the point where he auctioned off his land, house, and farming equipment to end that part of his life.
Part 2—A Life of War
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the country quickly divided into two camps: traitors and patriots. Grant quickly joined the side of the Patriots and re-entered the U.S. Army on April 21, 1861. He broke with the Dents and maintained an adversarial relationship with his in-laws throughout the war as did many Patriots who had relatives amongst slave-owning Southerners.
By August, Grant had advanced from Colonel where he commanded one regiment of men to Brigadier General with four regiments. He now was responsible for nearly 4,000 men stationed in Missouri,
Grant progressed in responsibility and stature throughout the remainder of 1861. He showed skills in decisiveness, concentration, and coolness under pressure. He was weak in administrative skills and brought on John Rawlins, as adjutant general, or the equivalent of Grant’s Chief of Staff. Rawlins was skilled in areas where Grant was weak, managing his office and riding herd over his staff.
Leading the Union forces in the battles for Belmont and Columbus in southern Missouri, Grant pursued the Confederates with a confidence and alacrity that could not be matched by other generals in either the Union or Confederate forces. His men obeyed orders, showed great courage, and high spirits. At Belmont, Grant showed a boldness and coolness under fire that inspired his men and attained national recognition for the Union capabilities in war. Statistically the Union experienced a marginal victory with the Union forces losing 80 men and the Confederates 105.
Competition and jealousy amongst military leaders has been common since the beginnings of war and armies. This was especially true for the Civil War in the Union forces. When Grant was promoted to Brigadier General, he began a meteoric rise in power serving under General John S. Fremont out of Ironton, Missouri, railway junction 70 miles south of St. Louis.
Fremont made the mistake of declaring martial law in Missouri and issued an emancipation proclamation for the state of Missouri without consulting President Lincoln. This was an unpopular decision with Lincoln, and Fremont was soon relieved of his duties and replaced by General Henry w. Halleck.
Halleck did not turn out to be a good friend for Grant. He was more of a theoretical military strategist than a field commander, as exemplified by Grant. They clashed from the beginning of Halleck’s assignment as the western region commander.
Grant was soon buoyed by his success winning the battle for Paducah, KY, a strategic location which Lincoln considered to be one of the key points in taking the entire Confederacy. Lincoln was also impressed with the proclamation that Grant wrote to the people of Paducah when he took over the city. It was concise, compassionate, and respectful of the rights of the citizens of Paducah.
Grant was on a roll. He now was under the watchful eye of President Lincoln, but his personal fortunes improved as he began to receive his new payday of $4,000 per year– a major boost for him considering the bleak financial times he had experienced before the Civil War.
By December 1861, under General Halleck, Grant had a large force covering southern Missouri and Illinois, parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. This territory also included the mouths of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers in Northwest Tennessee. It was here that Grant joined forces with Adm. Andrew H. Foote, who supervised the gunboat flotilla on these two rivers, which were tributaries of the Ohio River.
Key to the Confederate defense of this area were two forts which the southerners had built on the banks of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. It was Grant and Foote’s opinion that the two forts could be taken with the use of two ironclads and nine gunboats and an infantry force of 25,000 men. When Grant presented this plan to Halleck in St. Louis, he was initially rebuffed.
Foote and Grant renewed their intention to take Ft. Henry in early January 1962. Halleck endorsed the campaign on January 30. Grant was to lead 15,000 men and Foote was to lead nine gunboats up the river for a surprise attack, held in secrecy, on Ft. Henry. The sailors successfully took the fort and by 3 p.m. on the day of the first attack, Grant was surprised to be able to raise the American flag over the fort by 3 p.m. with minor casualties.
Ft. Donelson was another matter. It had better natural defenses along the river and was more heavily fortified than Ft. Henry. The Confederates had around 15,000 men there in defense of the fort. Nevertheless, after several days of fighting, in which Adm. Foote was shot in the foot, the three southern generals at Ft. Donelson agreed to Grant’s demand for unconditional surrender and Grant took possession of up to 15,000 Confederates, the largest capture of enemy troops in the history of United States warfare. Grant attained rock-star status amongst Union citizens.
Grant was promoted to Major General (two stars) and thus was the most senior Army officer below General Halleck (who was not pleased at all with Grant’s performance.) Capture of the two forts, Henry and Donelson, opened huge paths to the Confederacy giving the Union control of parts of Tennessee and Kentucky that were vital to winning the war overall.
Grant participated in battles like Corinth, Nashville, and Shiloh, the latter being the battle that to this point suffered the most casualties on either side, with thousands of men losing their lives. Grant’s career had its difficulties with disagreements between him and Halleck causing most of the problems.
As the war progressed, the fugitive slave issue became paramount. Masses of dislocated black people had never faced freedom nor the responsibility of taking care of themselves. Grant was perplexed at what to do with large numbers of these people as they entered the free world for the first time. Southerners wanted them returned to their rightful owners and Northerners were not happy to have them move into their areas either. Grant proposed the independent Negro as laborers in the post-war society building houses, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. Grant formed the first camp for the training of recently freed slaves to help them provide for themselves and their families and their merger into full U.S. citizenship.
Repeated union military failures in the East made an opening for leaders from the West, like Grant.
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This act added a major objective to the Civil War, the freeing of slaves, in addition to the prevention of secession from the United States.
Vicksburg, Mississippi is a strategic city on the banks of the Mississippi River, north of Natchez and Baton Rouge. Union forces had already claimed New Orleans and Baton Rouge by May 1863 so capturing Vicksburg was the last bastion of control of the Mississippi River by Confederate forces. Grant, with 50,000 soldiers, began encircling Vicksburg. Adm Porter supported Grant with gunboats, transports, and other Naval forces. General Pemberton commanded Confederate troops who were determined to stop the Union assault. On May 26, 1863 President Lincoln declared about the campaign that Grant had managed, “it is one of the most brilliant in the world.”
Grant cut off reinforcements to Pemberton from Jackson, Mississippi from the west and Porter poured in over 20,000 shells from the River. Vicksburg was cutoff from supplies, ammunition, and food. Motivated, enthusiastic, well-fed Union soldiers surrounded them. With no hope, Pemberton raised a white flag and proposed a negotiated surrender.
Grant accepted no negotiations, demanding unconditional surrender as the only course of action for the Confederate troops. Pemberton reluctantly agreed on July 4, 1863. Once Pemberton accepted the terms of surrender, Grant softened his position and allowed generous terms to the remaining Confederates still alive in Vicksburg. The Mississippi River was now entirely controlled by federal forces. Confederates had lost a major army with over 31,000 Confederate soldiers captured along with 60,000 muskets and rifles and over 7,000 cannons. In the east, Robert E. Lee was also suffering defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg.
The next major conflict was in Eastern Tennessee where Grant’s subordinate General Rosecrans led the battle in Chickamauga. Rosecrans performed poorly, and Union troops were ordered to retreat to Chattanooga where they were left with only a 10-day supply of food and ammunition. Southern troops had seized the commanding heights of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Chattanooga was a major railway hub and the North could not afford to lose it. The impending winter left Northern troops facing starvation and defeat.
Stanton, Secretary of the War Department in Washington, ordered Grant to relieve Rosecrans in Tennessee as soon as possible. Grant dispatched General Sherman with one division of troops within 12 hours of receiving these orders.
On October 3, Stanton ordered Grant to Nashville via Cairo. Rosecrans proposed to abandon Chattanooga. Stanton and Gant disagreed and determined to preserve Chattanooga at all costs.
Grant assumed command of the Military Division of the Mississippi and he immediately replaced Rosecrans with General Thomas and told him to hold Chattanooga, whatever the hazards. This is now the most important command in all Union forces, and Grant enjoyed the complete confidence of President Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton. Thomas sent back a message: “We will hold the town until we starve.”
On October 20, Grant proceeded to Chattanooga and he reached the headquarters of General Thomas on October 23 after an arduous trip by train and horseback in inclement weather. Grant and Thomas surveyed the situation of desperate men in need of food, medical attention, and motivation. Grant concluded that the first order of business was to bring in medicine and supplies and rebuild the spirit and morale of the Union soldiers. Supplies could be taken by train to Bridgeport, Alabama and then by wagon train to Brown’s Ferry where it was transferred to ferry boats to cross the Tennessee River. On October 27, Union forces broke through Confederate positions and opened the route between Bridgeport and Chattanooga providing rations and medical supplies to the soldiers holed up there under Rosecrans.
Grant strengthened the entire supply route, building 182 bridges and other kinds of infrastructure to keep the troops supplied. Union forces went from starving to abundance, building morale and spirit. Grant could now shift from logistics to offensive operations.
By November 18, Grant had 80,000 well-equipped and motivated men ready to attack Missionary Ridge. Soon, Confederates were in retreat and Grant had control of the Chattanooga area soon to be followed by rescue of Knoxville. Grant had become the darling of the northern press and indeed of Lincoln himself who had but one problem with Grant. Was he going to run for president in competition with Lincoln?
Lincoln was relieved to learn that Grant had no political ambitions and he encouraged Congress to pass a bill that would promote Grant to Lt. General, three stars, that would make him the most senior military officer in the Union Army.
On March 4, 1864, Grant left Nashville with his entourage for Washington, D.C. where he was to be inaugurated as the only three-star general in the Union Army. One of those who accompanied him was his son Fred, now 13. They stayed at the Willard Hotel and on March 9, Grant met Abraham Lincoln in person for the first time. Grant was promoted to Lt. General the next day and shortly after the ceremony, Lincoln and Grant sat down in the White House for a strategy session. Lincoln informed Grant that he was leaving all military strategy and decisions to Grant, a forecast that pleased Grant completely. He and Lincoln hit it off well. Lincoln would provide the resources and work with the public and Grant would lead the armies and fight the wars.
Grant established headquarters in Culpepper, Virginia, and began preparations for the defeat of Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy. Every week, Grant went into Washington for a meeting with Lincoln. They developed a strong working trust and mutual respect. Lincoln said of Grant, “the only evidence you have that he is any place is that he makes things git. Wherever he is, things move.”
Lincoln later said to one of his cabinet members, “Grant is the first general I have had. He’s a general. …the others put the responsibility of success on me. It isn’t so with Grant. He has not told me what his plans are, and I don’t want to know. I’m glad to find a man who can go ahead without me.”
Grant replied, “I had the fullest support of the president and the Secretary of War. No general would want better backing.” The pieces were now in place for a major turn in the direction of a stalemated eastern war.
Grant mapped out a military plan unifying all 530,000 Union troops. This centralized command using the telegraph as the latest technology allowed Grant to coordinate Union forces in a combined assault with orders conveyed in real time to the local military commanders.
In May 1964 when Grant was 42 he started his push towards Richmond and the defeat of Robert E. Lee. With 115,000 men, Union forces outnumbered Lee’s force of 65,000. The first goal for Grant was to get his troops across the Rapidan River which put them into an area known as the Wilderness. Lee did not object to Grant’s crossing of the Rapidan because he knew that the terrain of the Wilderness favored his side even with fewer troops.
After two days of fighting in the Wilderness, Grant declared victory but in fact, he had lost 17,000 men while Lee had lost 11,000. Grant saw the Wilderness as an opening act in a long drama to defeat Lee. Instead of turning back north as his predecessors might have done, Grant turned his forces south towards Richmond with his first stop at Spotsylvania.
Grant continued his move towards Richmond in May and early June. Then he made a huge assault at Cold Harbor, 109,000 men against only 59,000 Confederates. At 4:30 a.m. Union forces lunged forward and by 7:30, they had lost 7,000 troops to only 1,500 lost for Lee, one of the worst defeats Grant endured in the entire Civil War.
Throughout the summer and fall of 1864, Grant persevered with his efforts to take Richmond. Major battles ensued and both Union and Confederate forces received many casualties. In a message to Lincoln, Grant wrote, “I propose to fight it out on this line if takes all summer.” This line was emblazoned in the press and nothing had gripped the public’s impression more powerfully since his message at Ft. Donelson that required unconditional surrender.
Sherman was headed for Atlanta, Sheridan oversaw the Cavalry and conducted attacks on railyards in and around Richmond. Butler with 30,000 troops, five ironclads and 17 gunboats, moved up the James River and engaged Confederate forces at Drewrey’s Bluff where the James and Appomattox rivers came together.
On September 2, 1864 Sherman marched into Atlanta and within a couple of days, he announced victory. Atlanta was a critical railway hub for the Confederacy and with its loss, Union forces were in command of resupply and reinforcements from Atlanta to the Richmond battles.
Sheridan was in the Shenandoah valley and confronted Early’s army at Winchester. By October 7, he announced victory in the territory north of the Potomac River. A “massive flight” of residents fled the Shenandoah Valley, depopulating the area.
On September 29, in a surprise raid, the Army of the James, under Butler, captured Port Harrison, which formed a part of Richmond’s outer defenses.
Sherman broached the idea to Grant of a trip across Georgia with 60,000 men cutting a swath of destruction which battered supply lines and destroyed crops and food supplies of the Confederates. Grant approved the mission and Sherman began his attacks from Atlanta. By November 15, Sherman had destroyed everything of military value in the Atlanta area. Sherman largely followed railroad lines in the trip to Savannah, destroying them as he went, further cutting off the ability of the Confederates to help with Lee’s defense of Richmond.
Hundreds of thousands of prisoners for both sides occupied multiple prisons throughout the South and border states. Grant made a difficult decision to ban further prisoner exchanges during the summer of 1864. “Every man released on parole becomes an active soldier against us,” Grant reasoned. Confederates continued to insist that black prisoners be retained in their POW camps.
With the presidential election coming in the fall, Grant was faced with the issue of whether active duty soldiers, away from home, should be allowed to vote. In the end many states allowed absentee ballots from the field. Delaware did not allow those kinds of votes and many soldiers were given enough leave to get home to vote.
In the end, Lincoln won the election with 212 electoral college votes and 21 votes for his adversary, General McClelland. The Confederacy gazed with dismay on the election as their entire strategy had been based on the belief that Lincoln would lose at the polls and the North would be further fermented into disarray.
On December 13, Grant ordered Major General John A. Logan to proceed to Nashville and relieve General Thomas of his command. Grant himself proceeded to Nashville to execute the change of command since he had grown frustrated with Thomas’s lack of initiative in pursuing the capture of Nashville. Before Grant arrived, Thomas did begin his attacks and the Confederate General’s army had been whittled down from 40,000 men to less than 20.000 men. “Thomas came away from the Nashville events with bruised feelings which never healed between him and Grant.”
Grant’s next target was the seaport of Ft. Fisher near Wilmington, N.C. If Grant could get control of this port, the only serious seaport open to the Confederates would be Galveston, Texas. With “the largest naval force ever assembled, Grant and Admiral Porter, on January 6, 1865, set sail for Ft. Fisher where they laid down heavy naval bombardments followed by land attacks. The Union forces captured Ft. Fisher and 2,000 prisoners.
In late January, the Confederates sent word that they would like to send a delegation to confer with the Union about “peace for the two countries.” Lincoln sent word that he was willing to commence informal discussions. On January 29, 1865 three Confederate delegates arrived in Petersburg under a flag of truce. Secretary Seward was present with the message from Lincoln that the North was willing to talk with the view to attain peace as one common country.
On February 3, 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was approved, outlawing slavery. Lincoln hoped that the passage of this amendment would signal to the Confederates that their struggle to save slavery was doomed.
As the talks continued, Lincoln made clear that he had three non-negotiable conditions for peace:
- Permanent restoration of the Union
- An end to slavery
- No cessation of hostilities until all rebel forces were disbanded
Lincoln did express a willingness to compensate southerners for forfeited slaves. The southern commissioners retired expressing their policy that these terms from Lincoln were unacceptable.
Grant was impressed with Lincoln’s somewhat generous attitude and kindly spirit towards the southern people. “With malice towards none; with charity for all. With firmness to the right, let us begin our task to bind up the nation’s wounds, to achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all nations,” Lincoln concluded.
On February 1, 1865, Sherman had finished his decimation of Georgia and began his march through the Carolinas. By February 23, Columbia, S.C. was in smoking ruins as Sherman continued his march to the north.
Lee found his army at Richmond squeezed and encircled. He felt that he would have to fully give up Richmond and Petersburg or risk losing his entire army.
Grant oversaw a well-fed army of 217,000 men ready to stamp out Lee’s army and end the rebellion for good.
Lee abandoned Richmond and Petersburg towards the end of March 1865. By April 4, Grant had decided to give Lee no respite until he knocked out his army and ended the war.
Grant decided it was time to send Lee a letter, asking for his surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Lee wanted to know the terms of surrender. Grant replied he was looking to ensure that the officers and men of Lee’s army would not take up arms again against the government of the United States. After several exchanges and barters, Grant and Lee agreed to meet at Appomattox Court House.
Lee was brilliantly dressed in his finest military uniform. Grant was down to earth and down right dirty from fighting for the past few days without a change in clothing. Lee and Grant agreed on terms of surrender. All officers and men of Lee’s army would be paroled and barred from further combat with the North. All hostilities were hereby suspended. All arms, ammunition and supplies were to be delivered to the North as captured property. All officers and men were to be allowed to their homes if they did not violate the terms of parole. Lee was not asked to surrender his sword or his horse. Officers could retain their sidearms. Grant allowed Confederate soldiers to ride home on Union trains free of charge.
Lee requested that the terms of the agreement be put in writing. Grant agreed and after a few edits, Lee agreed to the terms and was happy that they were easier than he foresaw.
The Civil War was the fiercest contest of all time. Between the two sides, 700,000 lives had been claimed, more than the combined total of all wars from The Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War. The Civil War killed seven times as many American soldiers as World War II. Four million slaves had been emancipated and would soon have the right to vote, send their children to public schools and enjoy the benefits of citizenship. The Civil War was a fearful lesson that we should avoid wars in the future. That’s a lesson we have still not learned.
By April 13, 1865, Ulysses and Julia Grant had arrived in Washington, D.C. Grant was recognized as the hero of the Civil War and was cheered as a rock-star wherever he went. Lincoln invited the two to Ford’s Theater that night, but Julia did not want to attend because she felt that Mary Lincoln had slighted her in the past and she did not want to spend an evening with her.
Lincoln was assassinated that night by John Wilks Boothe who was part of a conspiracy to kill Lincoln, Grant, and Seward amongst others, disrupting the government and the quest of reconstruction. Because of the activities of the night, Lincoln was killed, Grant escaped unharmed but devastated at the loss of Lincoln, and Seward was gravely wounded.
Andrew Johnson was sworn in as president. Grant felt that the path to reconstruction had been set back and no telling how far.
Booth was killed in a fire fight while he was trying to escape 11 days later. Eight others were tried for treason and six of those were hung and two sent to life in prison.
Instead of working towards a peaceful reconstruction, Johnson issued a statement during his first week as president, “instigators of this rebellion will pay the full price for their actions.” This statement was the antithesis of Grant’s and Lincoln’s more conciliatory approach to reconstruction. Moreover, Johnson was a racist at heart and his philosophy would not help in bringing the four million freed slaves to full citizenship.
The War was over, but the politics and the problems remained. Grant settled into his quarters in Washington to oversee the dismantling of the Union army from over one million soldiers to about 200,000 soldiers.
Part 3 A Life of Peace
Andrew Johnson quickly began to show his racist views. “This is a country for white men,” he said. In May 1865, Johnson issued two proclamations related to Reconstruction:
- Promised to restore full citizenship to most southerners who agreed to take an oath of allegiance
- Outlined steps for governors to call elections that would bring forth new state constitutions. (Steps authorized white voters only.)
Citizens of the United States passed three Constitutional amendments related to the civil war:
- Amendment 13: The emancipation proclamation freed all slaves in the United States
- Amendment 14: Provides rights of citizenship to former slaves, due process, and equal rights
- Amendment 15: Prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to votebased on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.
Grant and Johnson clashed over possible treason prosecution of Robert E. Lee. Grant wanted to continue to honor the terms of the Appomattox surrender. Johnson wanted to take charge and try Lee for the treason he had committed.
On June 20, the attorney general ordered the justice department to abandon the prosecution of Robert E. Lee. His citizenship was not fully restored until 1975 when a joint resolution of Congress approved that action. Lee continued to stress states’ rights to justify the south’s actions during the War.
In March 1865, the federal government created the Freedmen’s Bureau under the War Department. The purpose of this bureau was to feed, clothe, and educate former slaves. As General of the Army, Grant was involved in this part of reconstruction. The bureau’s mandate also called for the distribution of land to former slaves to help them gain their independence.
On August 16, Johnson issued orders to recapture land confiscated from whites during the war. This made Johnson popular with the white people of the south and was one of the first steps in creating a segregated world where freed slaves were worked as indentured servants. These servants were subject to arrest if they left jobs before their contracts expired. Thus, within six months of the end of the War, the old white supremacy of he old Confederacy had returned.
On November 27, 1865, Grant along with Comstock, Babcock, and Badeau left for a two-week tour of the south to determine the status of Reconstruction. The conclusion of this group was that there continued to be a bitter feeling towards blacks and Yankees. The federal government would have to exercise control over the south for a year or more to accomplish the objectives of the War.
The Fourteenth Amendment giving rights of citizenship and due process to all citizens including blacks, was ratified on July 9, 1868. On July 25, Johnson recommended to Congress that Grant be promoted to full General of the Armies (four stars) with an annual salary of $20.000. Although Grant was not pushing for his ascendancy to the presidency, this promotion added to his prestige and future nomination as president.
Political tensions and violence flared in New Orleans and Memphis that summer. 34 blacks were killed and 160 wounded in New Orleans. When blacks raised a white flag to stop the bloodshed, they were shot and killed without mercy. Grant recommended to the Secretary of War that New Orleans be kept under martial law for the near future to prevent future incidents of this nature.
In the wake of the New Orleans riot, Grant found Johnson’s policies increasingly intolerable. A move to impeach President Johnson began to gain momentum.
In March 1867, Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act, this act divided the Confederacy, except Tennessee, into five military districts which would oversee conventions to draft new constitutions for future states which would then be readmitted to the Union. Johnson vetoed the Act and Congress overrode the veto by a strong margin.
On March 23, Congress passed the Second Reconstruction Act, expanding the powers of the military commanders over voter registration and southern election procedures.
In mid-1866, the Ku Klux Klan was formed to intimidate blacks and their supporters throughout the south. The KKK was a free-floating network of southern thugs wishing to terrorize blacks. Members vowed to support a white man’s government and always to carry weapons.
Congress passed the Third Reconstruction Act by in the summer of 1866. President Johnson promptly vetoed the Act and Congress overrode the veto. This act gave the military commanders the authority to fire civilian officials and expanded the powers over voting rights.
During the summer of 1867, President Johnson and his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, developed into a major disagreement over reconstruction. Johnson tried to fire Stanton. Grant was on Stanton’s side and he sent the president a letter stating his reasons for favoring the Secretary. Such a move as firing Stanton would violate the Tenure of Office Act which had recently been passed, Grant informed Johnson. Grant had now established his allegiance firmly with the Radical Republican fraternity in conflict with the president.
To bypass the law, Johnson decided to suspend Stanton rather than fire him. He asked Grant to fill in for Stanton during the suspension. Grant wasted no time informing Johnson that he would stand in support of the military commanders in the south. Grants popularity protected him from getting fired himself.
Congressional leaders began to prepare for a coup d’état against the president. The question was what would Grant do as Commander of all the armed forces? In November the House voted to impeach the president. When Johnson sent a racist message to Congress in December, it exacerbated the situation even further. This message claimed the distinction of being the “most racist such message ever penned by an American president. “
In the fall of 1867, blacks across the south began to register to vote for the first time ever with 70% of blacks registering in Georgia and 90% in Virginia. In Alabama there were 89,000 black voters vs. 70,000 white voters. On January 13, 1868, the Senate voted to reinstate Stanton as Secretary of War. Grant stood up to Johnson favoring the reinstatement of Stanton. On February 21, Johnson fired Stanton again without consulting the Senate. This was the political equivalent of war between the president and the Senate.
Retaliating against Johnson’s breach of the Tenure in Office Act, the House introduced a resolution to impeach Johnson, citing high crimes and misdemeanors. The House voted 126 to 47 for the impeachment. 11 impeachment articles were cited against Johnson, all but two of which were based on his breach of the Tenure in Office Act. These latter two cited Johnson with violation of laws to obstruct the terms of reconstruction.
The Senate impeachment trial began on March 5. A conviction required a two-thirds vote in favor of the impeachment. Otherwise Johnson was acquitted.
By a one vote margin, Johnson was acquitted on May 15. Seven Republicans voted to acquit, ending the crisis. With only 9 months left in office, Johnson pledged to cease interfering with Congressional actions addressed at reconstruction.
On July 9, 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified guaranteeing citizenship to blacks, women, and children, born in the United States. These people were also guaranteed due process of law and equal protection of the law.
Republicans held their presidential convention in Chicago in 1868 with 8,000 members attending. Grant won the nomination on the first ballot. Schuyler Colfax was nominated as vice president.
Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour as their candidate with Francis Blair as vice president. Blair was an unabashed racist.
Blacks still could not vote in many northern states but by now they could vote in all southern states. The KKK had recruited 500,000 members across the south to upset the voting and to tilt it in favor of the Democrats. A huge wave of murder and arson ensued.
Grant captured the popular vote 3,013,000 to 2,790,000 for Seymour. The electoral college vote was 214 to 80. Grant was now the president-elect and he spoke about his determination to pay off the national debt, help the Indians and have peace. Grant was sworn in on March 4, 1869 as the eighteenth president of the United States.
Grant, unlike Johnson, championed black suffrage. The ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed that result, transforming 4,000,000 black Americans from the “auction block to the ballot box.”
Grant made extraordinary efforts to name blacks, Jews, and Indians to important Washington positions. Grant welcomed blacks to the White House for the first time.
On February 3, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified and required that all returning states from the Confederacy comply with its conditions before they could reenter the United States. Grant wrote a letter to Congress: “this amendment is a measure of grander importance than any other one act from the foundation of our free government to the present day.”
Armed with the 15th amendment, the blacks who made up 36% of the population in the south could now begin to exercise real power. Whites in the south were adamantly opposed to this amendment.
During Grant’s first term, the KKK blossomed resulting in the formation of the Department of Justice with Amos T. Akerman of Georgia appointed as the first Attorney General in the United States. Akerman adopted a goal to slay the KKK and other such vigilante groups.
The Klan was successful in its efforts to keep black people in their place which was not too different than they were in 1860 when they were slaves under the law. “The KKK was the worst thing that ever afflicted the South,” one southern said.
Violence spilled over into riots. During the first three months of 1870, 63 blacks were murdered in Mississippi and no one was ever charged with one of the murders. In Spartanburg, S.C. there was a reign of terror; few Republicans were able to sleep in their houses over night for fear of the KKK.
The only help for moderate Southerners was the federal government. Under Akerman, the Justice Department pursued the Klan with vigor, trying its members in federal courts and imprisoning violators in federal penitentiaries.
On April 21, 1870, Congress passed the Enforcement Act commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. This law laid down penalties for depriving citizens including blacks from their rights under the 14th Amendment. Akerman took personal supervision of the enforcement of this act using
federal troops which Grant placed at his disposal. The Klan was portrayed, not as bands of isolated thugs, but as organized, comprehensive movement that spanned the entire white community.
Arrested Klansman perjured themselves, bribed judges and law enforcement officials. By late November, Akerman had arrested more than 2,000 Klan members in South Carolina for violating the KKK Act.
By 1872, Grant and Akerman had smashed the organized efforts of the Klan. It was a triumph for Grant who had dared to question the southern states who demanded to enforce their own laws within the borders of their states.
On other issues, Grant established Yellowstone National Park in March 1872 as the first of a line of national parks established throughout the United States.
In May 1872, Grant signed legislation that extended amnesty and a restoration of rights to all former Confederates.
Grant was elected for a second term in 1872 and during his second term, he was the first president to confront the feminist movement. At that time, women were not allowed to vote.
Grant maintained close contact with his own family and that of his and Julia’s parents. His daughter Nellie was married in the White House with 250 guests on May 21, 1874.
The panic of 1873 caused concern for Grant. The stock market was closed for ten days and the national economy sank into a depression. Congress rushed through legislation to increase the nation’s money supply to $400 million, a sharp increase.
A lame-duck Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and Grant signed it, but the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in 1883. This Act was an attempt by Republicans to outlaw racial segregation in public accommodations. Segregation remained in the south until 1957 but it was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that finally gave minorities enduring civil rights such as being able to eat in public restaurants, ride in any seat of public transportation, go to public schools with white people and enjoy the normal civil rights that are justified in the United States.
The presidential election of 1876 featured Rutherford B. Hayes as the Republican candidate who would replace Grant if he won. This race threatened to erase the progress that Grant and blacks had made in the South over the past eight years. Grant had done what he could to protect the black voters and their voting rights, but the Supreme Court handed down rulings in 1876 that gutted portions of the 14th and 15th amendments.
Samuel J. Tilden was the Democratic nominee against Hayes. He produced the most popular votes by a quarter million votes, but he missed the electoral college majority by one vote, 184 to the 185 electoral votes required. Rumors circulated that Democrats would invade Washington with troops to establish Tilden as the new president. Grant and Sherman deployed troops to Washington to counter this threat.
In mid-December, Congress called for a bi-partisan committee to settle the election. On February 8, Hayes won votes in Florida and Louisiana which tipped the scales in his favor. Hayes pledged that federal troops would be withdrawn from the south, home-rule would be restored in the south. Southern Democrats pledged fair treatment of blacks in the south.
Grant’s term as president was over. He had overseen the trajectory of blacks from slavery to full-fledged citizens. He had guaranteed voting rights to blacks under the 15th Amendment. He opposed domestic terrorism. The nation’s finances were in good order. He had helped to restore American credit throughout the world. But he never really won the war in the south and it took almost 100 years before blacks there began to get true Civil rights and up to now (2017), blacks still are struggling to get full rights and recognition.
Hayes kept his promise to remove troops from the south. “Half of what Grant gained at Appomattox, Hayes surrendered on March 5, 1876 was lost, “ stated Wendell Phillips.
According to Ron Chernow, the author of Grant, “this president deserves an honored place amongst presidents, second only to Abraham Lincoln, for what he did for slaves.”
Part 4 A Life of Reflection
After Grant left office as president, he and his family took a two-year trip to Europe, the Middle East and Asia where he was treated as a diplomat and a celebrity.
In 1880, James A. Garfield was nominated for president and Grant agreed to help him get elected which he did by a thin margin. On July 2, Grant received word that Garfield had been shot. A few months later, Garfield died of complications arising from the assassination attempt, and Chester Arthur was sworn in as president of the United States.
As a retired president and general in the Army, Grant received no kind of financial pension for all the years of sacrifice and service to his country. Several benefactors contributed money, real estate, and investments which Grant accepted without reservation.
On November 1, 1880, Grant entered an investment business with Ferdinand Ward. It turns out that Ward was a crook and the business was a Ponzi scheme more than a true set of good investments. Grant and most of his family ended up losing most of their personal wealth in this business.
Mark Twain, author (aka Samuel Clemens) was a fan of Grant and offered Grant an opportunity to write his memoirs. In the meantime, Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer and he began a downward spiral towards his death. Grant did finish the memoirs and they sold in record numbers generating over $500,000 in royalties to Julia. It was considered by critics as “the foremost military memoir in the English language.”
Grant died on July 23, 1885 at the age of 66. He was now retired General of the Armies. “Grant had no peer in military genius,” said Mark Twain. Yes, he was a man of mystery who led the winning of the Civil War, served two terms as president, and enhanced the black’s evolution towards citizenship.
Rating
Four stars out of four.
This is a great autobiography by Ron Chernow. Grant is a president who is under-appreciated both for his performance as a general in the Civil War and for two terms as president of the United States. If you want to enhance your knowledge about civil rights, the issues and results of the Civil War, and the progress towards civil rights which minorities have achieved, this is a must- read book.
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