CHAPTER 16

The Legacy of General Grant

WHEN GRANT LEFT the White House in 1877, after turning over the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, he and Julia embarked on a two-and-a-half-year trip around the world. Accompanying the Grants was American journalist John Russell Young, who published his account of the journey in 1879. The two volumes of Around the World with General Grant included conversations between Young and Grant on a variety of subjects. Young wrote, “Wherever I have quoted General Grant, as expressing an opinion, I have asked his permission to do so; and, in fact, he has in most instances obliged me by revising the proof-sheets.”¹

Reconciliation was extremely important to Grant. Among their many conversations, Young asked Grant what he thought about reconciliation between the North and South:

I have never . . . shared the resentment felt by so many Republicans toward Mr. Rutherford B. Hayes on the ground of his policy of conciliation. At the same time I never thought it would last, because it was all on one side. There is nothing more natural than that a President, new to his office, should enter upon a policy of conciliation. He wants to make everything friendly, to have all the world happy, to be the central figure of a contented and prosperous commonwealth. That is what occurs to every President, it is an emotion natural to the office. I can understand how a kindly, patriotic man like Hayes would be charmed by the prospect. I was as anxious for such a policy as Mr. Hayes. There has never been a moment since Lee surrendered that I would not have gone more than halfway to meet the Southern people in a spirit of conciliation. But they have never responded to it.

They have not forgotten the war. A few shrewd leaders like the lawyer from Mississippi, Mr. L. Q. C. Lamar, and others have talked conciliation; but anyone who knows Mr. Lamar knows that he meant this for effect, and that at least he was as much in favor of the old regime as Jefferson Davis. The pacification of the South rests entirely with the South. I do not see what the North can do that has not been done, unless we surrender the results of the war. I am afraid there is a large party in the North who would do that now. I have feared even that our soldiers would begin to apologize for their part in the war. . . . The radical trouble with the Southern leadership is, that instead of frankly acting with the Republicans in the North, they have held together, hoping by an alliance with the Democrats to control the government. I think Republicans should go as far as possible in conciliation, but not far enough to lose self-respect.²

Never one to boast about his success as a commander, Grant initially shied away from writing an account of the Civil War. He was happy to talk about the war, but he had no interest in taking on the role of historian. Documentation of the war was easily obtainable and would soon be published in what became the 128-volume Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. Grant authorized the mammoth project during his second term as president.

Early in the summer of 1884, Grant found himself broke after the investment firm of Grant and Ward collapsed, leaving him and his family in financial ruin. The idea of earning money for his family by writing about the war suddenly seemed appealing. He agreed to write four accounts of major battles that would be published in Century Magazine; his payment was to be five hundred dollars but was later raised to one thousand. His first article, “The Battle of Shiloh,” was a failure. The writing was dry and formal, and his editor encouraged Grant to try again with a more casual and entertaining style.

At the urging of a Century Magazine editor, Grant agreed to provide his perspective on the war. He liked writing and continued to submit articles. Then a year later his life was in turmoil when he was diagnosed with incurable throat cancer, discovered after he bit into a peach and experienced excruciating pain. Knowing that time was not on his side, he rushed to complete his memoirs.

As a result, Grant became in many ways responsible for his own legacy. He finished his two-volume memoirs just days before he died and they were published posthumously in 1885. They are considered to be the greatest work of the genre. His writing is remarkable, but this should not be a surprise because he always had a way with words. For instance, in the 1866 report to Congress that he was required to submit as commander of the army, Grant provided a succinct overview of his strategy to win the war in 1864–65: he determined “to use the greatest number of troops practicable against the armed force of the enemy.” Furthermore, he wrote, his objective was “to hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy, and his resources, until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal section of our common country to the constitution and laws of the land.”³

Grant’s memoirs have stood the test of time. They remain in print more than 125 years later, and new editions are published to satisfy the appetite of Civil War historians and other writers who see much value in Grant’s reflections. One historian correctly stated that the Memoirs “were written both to advance a larger truth, that of the Union moral superiority, and to remind Americans of Grant’s contributions to the victory that remade America into ‘a nation of great power and intelligence.’ ” ⁴

In 2010, former president George W. Bush relied on Grant’s memoirs for his own inspiration to tell his story. “Nearly all the historians suggested I read Memoirs by President Ulysses S. Grant, which I did. The book captures his distinctive voice. He uses anecdotes to recreate his experience during the Civil War. I could see why his work had endured.” He went on to say, “Like Grant, I decided not to write an exhaustive account of my life or presidency. Instead I have told the story of my time in the White House by focusing on the most important part of my job: making decisions.” ⁵ For Grant, making decisions but also having to improvise while remaining calm was a part of his command style that few generals can emulate. Yet Grant also recognized that even though he was the commander on the battlefield, his actions impacted the entire Union army and the nation that entrusted him to bring about results. His close friend William T. Sherman reflected on the generalship of Grant when he said:

It will be a thousand years before Grant’s character is fully appreciated. Grant is the greatest soldier of our time if not all time . . . he fixes in his mind what is the true objective and abandons all minor ones. He dismisses all possibility of defeat. He believes in himself and in victory. If his plans go wrong he is never disconcerted but promptly devises a new one and is sure to win in the end. Grant more nearly impersonated the American character of 1861–65 than any other living man. Therefore he will stand as the typical hero of the great Civil War in America.⁶

More recently, historian John S. D. Eisenhower, the son of another great general and president, said the following about the brilliance of Grant as a commander during the Civil War:

Of all the American generals of the nineteenth century, it seems to me that Ulysses S. Grant better understood the role of the military in a democracy than any other. Many professional soldiers become so immersed in the techniques and proper administration of the Army that they lose sight of its purpose, to enforce the will of the United States government, more specifically the president. Grant never lost sight of that. He did not lack imagination. The Vicksburg campaign stands as a monument to that. But he had no illusions that spectacular maneuvers, for which lesser generals have received plaudits, would not in themselves bring the Rebellion to its knees. He did not aggrandize himself. He did his job and he did it superbly. ⁷

Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885, in Mount McGregor, New York. His funeral on August 8, 1885, was one of the largest events in the history of New York City. An estimated one million people jammed the sidewalks, filled windows, stood on rooftops, and climbed trees to get a glimpse of the seven-mile funeral procession that took five hours to pass. Not only were buildings in New York draped in black, but all over the United States cities large and small mourned the passing of the Savior of the Union. Grant’s death turned into a rallying cry for the reconciliation of North and South, something for which he strived during his presidency. Former Confederate general and one of the pallbearers, Simon Bolivar Buckner, proclaimed, “I am sorry General Grant is dead, but his death has yet been the greatest blessing the country has ever received. Now, reunion is perfect.” Robert E. Lee’s son Fitzhugh “Rooney” Lee wrote in a telegram that “I send my most profound sympathy. The whole South mourns the nation’s loss.”⁸

Because of his status as a national hero, it was expected that Grant would be buried in Washington. He never indicated a strong preference, although he suggested West Point. But that idea was rejected when Grant was told that Julia could not be buried next to him. His family preferred New York City since it had become their home for four years. His remains were placed in a temporary vault while funds were solicited to build an appropriate memorial. More than ninety thousand people from around the world came forward with donations totaling more than $600,000 to the Grant Memorial Association, which was led by Horace Porter. Architect John Duncan was chosen to design the memorial, and after twelve years the grand structure was completed. The fifteen-hundred-foot-high mausoleum that overlooks the Hudson River was dedicated on April 27, 1897, the seventy-fifth anniversary of Grant’s birth. Thousands were in attendance that day, including diplomats from twenty-six countries. President William McKinley led the dedication parade that was nearly as long as Grant’s funeral procession. Sitting next to the president, Julia reviewed the parade. Five years later she would be buried next to her husband; both rest in red granite coffins in an open crypt in the center of a circular gallery inside the memorial.

Today, the legacy of Ulysses S. Grant continues in countless ways. The market for Civil War books seems never ending, and many of them devote at least part of their story in one way or another to Grant. You can often find these books at Civil War collector shows where other Grant items such as photographs, figurines, copies of his death mask, and ephemera of every variety are bought and sold. The National Park Service maintains several Civil War battlefields associated with Grant: Shiloh, Cold Harbor, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Vicksburg, Petersburg, and Appomattox, among others. Thousands of visitors descend upon these sacred sites to pay tribute to the soldiers who fought there and to learn how and why such battles were fought. It is hard not to come away from these pilgrimages without an opinion of Grant’s command style.

Congress honored Grant by commissioning a memorial to him in 1902. When it was dedicated ten years later, the memorial became the second largest equestrian statue in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. It is located at the base of Capitol Hill, below the west front of the United States Capitol, and faces west toward the Lincoln Memorial honoring Grant’s wartime president, Abraham Lincoln.

The US government paid homage to Grant in another way by placing his image on the fifty-dollar bill in 1913. Although he was clearly given the honor as a tribute to his presidency, most people have no idea when he lived at the Executive Mansion, but many at least know he was a Civil War general. Continuing the tribute to Grant’s legacy, in May 2011, the United States Mint released a Ulysses S. Grant Presidential $1 coin on the 148th anniversary of the Vicksburg Campaign. Yet Grant will be remembered as more than just a general during the most controversial and costliest time in American history. Grant fought because he believed it was his duty to do so. He did not fight to seek fame and glory. That came because he finally found something he was good at and believed in. By gaining confidence in himself, others believed in him, and thus he became the Savior of the Union.