Reviews

Grant Moves South by Bruce Catton

larryerick's review

4.0

This is the fourth book I've read by this author. The first three were the Army of the Potomac trilogy about the American Civil War, which followed his first history volume which covered aspects of World War II. The growth he accomplished as a history writer between the first volume of that trilogy and the second was significant. This book is better yet in the historical detail he submits to the reader, but I think he has Lloyd Lewis to thank, in part, for that. Between the completion of the Army of the Potomac trilogy and the writing of this book, this author published a half dozen other books on the Civil War. Back in 1950, the first of three volumes on American Civil War general, Ulysses Grant, was published a year after the author, Lloyd Lewis, died, leaving behind significant research for his estate to bestow upon some other historian to finish, which ended up being the author of this book. The strength of this book is the abundance of documentation available and used judiciously by the author to focus very closely on what was and was not happening to Ulysses Grant from the start of the Civil War in 1861 to the capture of Vicksburg in July 1863. If documents differed in their conclusions, the author dutifully points out the discrepancies and offers reasoned analysis on why one source might be more credible than another. The writing in quite engaging through all of this. Nevertheless, I see two weaknesses to this volume as history. First, the reporting is so closely focused on the main subject that concurrent civil war activity taking place beyond Grant's activities is so superficially covered, if at all, that it often fails to give proper perspective to what is reported in the book. A reasonably well-read civil war buff will find themselves automatically filling in facts "not otherwise offered in evidence" to the analysis. At least, I did many times. Secondly, while the author clearly tries to be as open and fair to Grant's reputation as possible throughout the volume, it becomes more than obvious he has a high degree of hero worship going on at the end. A reader might end up with the same conclusion based on what they have just been reading, but I do not believe it is the historian's role to make that conclusion for the reader, and this author clearly does. Having said all this, I do intend to read the final volume in this Ulysses Grant trilogy (which does not cover his presidential years), as well as two well-reviewed recent volumes on Grant by both White and Chernow. Why? Someone might ask. Because I'm a history buff, particularly on the American Civil War, and I already own the books.

dws405's review

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this well researched book about General Grant. I was amazed to learn about the organizational problems that he had to deal with...especially with his managers that were over him. You would think that after his stunning victory at Shilo (aka Pittsburgh Landing) that he wouldn't have to deal with the criticism that was poured upon him. In fact, it got so bad that he asked to be relieved of his command and to leave the army.

What it really came down to is that General Grant saw that you had to fight this war to DESTROY the Confederate Army. While his upper management saw this as being a war to control strategic points on a map. His upper management understood the 'old' way of fighting and General Grant understood that the 'old' ways would not win this war. And because of that, he received so much grief.

I also found it interesting that the rumors that he was a hard drinking, drunk of a man, were just that...rumors. Those rumors are still alive today, as I went into reading this book thinking that General Grant was a 'drunk', but a good fighter. In this well researched book, you can see where those rumors started....and what I can say, is that it is all a game of politics and hatred for people that have success. Not much has changed in these many years...well, that is because we are dealing with human nature. And human nature is pretty predictable.

Again...a great book. I really enjoyed it.