Favoritism

Joseph A. Rose vs. Dr. Brooks D. Simpson: What Really Happened on Orchard Knob and at Missionary Ridge?

 in Battles / Chattanooga / Favoritism / Generalship / Grant / Grant biographies / Historiography / Reliability / Tactics  tagged Chattanooga / Grant by

Joseph A. Rose vs. Dr. Brooks D. Simpson: What Really Happened on Orchard Knob and at Missionary Ridge? One of the Civil War’s most intriguing controversies concerns the “miraculous” charge up Missionary Ridge during the Battle of Chattanooga on November 25, 1863 and whether Major-General Ulysses S. Grant intended the soldiers to ascend, as he claimed. The Confederate defenders dug in at the bottom of the ridge, the top, and […]

The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth

 in Chattanooga / Cold Harbor / Discrimination / Drinking / Favoritism / Generalship / Grant / Grant biographies / Grant Under Fire / Grant's Memoirs / Henry & Donelson / Historiography / Honesty / Hooker / Lee / Lew Wallace / McClernand / Meade / Paducah / Presidency / Reliability / Rosecrans / Sheridan / Sherman / Shiloh / Strategy / Tactics / Thomas / Vicksburg / Wilderness by

A forthcoming book posits that the “Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth” involves the existence or non-existence of Black Confederate soldiers. Yet, the Amazon description admits that it “largely originated in the 1970s.” Many myths concerning that conflict have persisted well beyond fifty years. I would nominate a far older and much more egregious example of distorted history. General Ulysses S. Grant has acquired a sterling reputation as an officer and […]

Waiting for (Don Carlos) Godot: a tragicomedy in two acts 4 comments

 in Favoritism / Generalship / Grant biographies / McClernand / Sherman / Shiloh by

Of the myriad blunders that needed to be excused or covered up concerning the Battle of Shiloh, one of the most notorious was Ulysses S. Grant’s absence from his army. Maintaining headquarters from approximately March 17th to the start of the battle on April 6th in a mansion at Savannah, Tennessee—ten miles downriver and on the opposite bank from his army at Pittsburg Landing—General Grant took a steamboat up to […]

Did General Joe Hooker disrespect Ulysses S. Grant? 2 comments

 in Chattanooga / Favoritism / Grant / Grant biographies / Grant Under Fire / Hancock / Historiography / Rosecrans / Shiloh / Thomas by

Yesterday, I helped confirm one of the many smaller points that Grant Under Fire makes. General Joe Hooker is often criticized for trying it on with his superior, Ulysses S. Grant, on November 21, 1863 at Stevenson, Ala., while the latter was on his way to Chattanooga, Tenn. When Hooker sent a staff officer and wagon to take Grant from the railroad station to Hooker’s headquarters, Grant responded: “If Gen. […]

Maybe the worst insubordination against a commander-in-chief in U.S. history 1 comment

 in Favoritism / Grant / Presidency by

Why do most Grant biographers ignore this damning episode, in early 1868, when General-in-Chief Grant tried to help depose his superior, President Andrew Johnson? [From Grant Under Fire, pg. 560] In what may well have been the worst case of insubordination against a commander-in-chief in the nation’s history, the General-in-Chief actually lobbied certain senators to gain a conviction. Bolstering efforts to overthrow Johnson, Grant publicly forecast a threat to the […]

Fallacies concerning the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant 1 comment

 in Battles / Book reviews / Favoritism / Grant / Grant biographies / Grant Under Fire / Grant's Memoirs / Henry & Donelson / Historiography / Honesty / Lew Wallace / McClernand / Paducah / People / Reliability / Rosecrans / Sheridan / Sherman / Shiloh / Thomas by

Michael B. Ballard’s review of Chris Mackowski’s Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (November 2015 Civil War News Book Review), exemplifies the mind-set that my book, Grant Under Fire, so comprehensively opposes. Grant “did not rewrite history,” Dr. Ballard maintains, “he wrote it as he understood and lived it.” The reviewer does refer to “the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the memoirs,” yet […]

Bill O’Reilly credits U.S. Grant for Lincoln’s eminence

 in Favoritism / Grant / Grant Under Fire / Lincoln / Sherman by

In an interview in AARP, October/November 2015, Bill O’Reilly stated, “Lincoln, I think the greatest American president, would not have been that without U.S. Grant. It’s not just one person.” Well, I also argue that it’s not just one person, when I hear the constantly reiterated refrain, “Ulysses S. Grant won the American Civil War.” But in Lincoln’s case, I would assert that Grant was actually a drag on his […]

Grant “Won” the Battle of Shiloh?

 in Battles / Favoritism / Grant / Grant biographies / Honesty / Lew Wallace / McClernand / Sherman / Shiloh by

Just as Ulysses S. Grant is credited with “winning” the American Civil War, he usually receives the acclaim for Shiloh. A multitude of facts demonstrate why this is wrong. Simply awarding praise to the commanding officer in any engagement would mean that Buell, with his independent army, deserves half (or even more, as Grant was in charge during the losing battle on April 6th). This still completely ignores how they […]