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Bullworker64
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Grant
I just finished Grant by Chernow.
It is interesting, how an author, using the same material used by other authors, can take a President who has been maligned by "academics" and turn him into a Theodore Roosevelt like persona who became as famed in the late Mid 19th Century as anyone.
Surrounded by knaves, Grant was never associated with the worst of the politicos during his presidency. Trusting, and honest, to a fault, Grant the politician, did not know how to come to grips with the corruption of his day. However, he was as big in the theatre of civil rights as any president. He saw to the passing of the 15th Amendment, defeated the first incursion of the Klan, appointed the first American Native in a US cabinet, negotiated with England to get war reparations from the Civil War, was friendly to the plains Indians when his generals (Sheridan) were telling people the only good Indian was a dead Indian, pushed for universal education, yada, yada...
As Cherkow stated, the end of the Civil War was just the beginning, and Grant held his own. (The nation could have slipped into slavery again, or had a Civil War part Deux...)
Of course, as General of the Army, the author argued that for all the post-Civil War hype about Lee, Grant was the superior general, and by the War's end, had not only defeated Lee in head to head battles, but had also developed the winning strategy to beat the South. Amazingly, Appomattox was only 7-8 years after Grant had been selling firewood from a wagon in St. Lois to support his family.
If I read the author right, Grant was also in a similar situation as Washington was. At the end of the Civil War Grant had the opportunity to become a dictator/king/major domo, whatever you want to call it. But he believed in law.
The book is big, pushing 1000 pages. It was heavy, but if you get the chance, give it a read.
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6/11/2018, 9:21 pm
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Physical Culturist
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Re: Grant
That sounds like a good read Jon. I am grossly behind in my reading but I hope to read it as time allows.
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6/12/2018, 12:52 am
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mothom
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Re: Grant
Lee was the better general. The only battle grant won against him was the last one, and neither one was involved. the battle of sayler's creek. the difference between grant and his predecessors was that after each defeat, grant didn't retreat. grant was a humble, honest, and generous man who kept his promises. I have great respect for man. he issued standing orders to hang col. mosby, if captured. after the war, they became good friends. grant was a good man. but Lee was the better general. of course i'm distantly related to him, so I may be biased.
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6/13/2018, 2:37 pm
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Bullworker64
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Re: Grant
Interestingly, Grant lost Cold Harbor.
From May 1864 to late June 1864 there was a series of battles fought in Northern Virginia, ending with St. Mary's Church.. In a sense it was
This month long battle was called the Overland Campaign. When it ended on June 24, 1864, for all intents, the war was over.
Although Grant was considered a "butcher" by the Lost Cause faction post-Civil War, it seems to have been Lee who strung the war out almost a year longer than it should have. Thousands of soldiers, on both sides, died needlessly. Something akin the Germany post 1944.
So, do I disagree that Lee was a better general? yea, but that is what is great about being us, we can disagree happily.
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6/21/2018, 2:36 am
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mothom
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Re: Grant
grant was called a butcher, but look at who he went up against. i'm afraid every general would have lost a lot of men going up against Lee, enough to be termed a butcher. i'm confederate through and through, but i have great respect for grant and sherman (howbeit their scorched earth policy puts me off, i honestly don't think it was necessary for winning the war), not so much for custer though. you can safely disagree with me on who was the better general. i'm not one of those who are still fighting that war. my great grandpa was drafted by both sides and served neither. he said it was a stupid war, brother killing brother. he refused to participate. it's not my favorite war to study. i feel like it could have been avoided if both sides had wanted to avoid it. they were just a generation of Americans who were itching for war, even if it was with themselves. good men killing good men. i see both sides as being the good guys as well as the bad guys. it's hard for me to make that my favorite period in American history. it's a black chapter all around. historians have, and continue to debate that issue with no consensus formed. it's just a matter of opinion. and opinions are like anuses, we all have one. yours is as good as mine. so don't worry about disagreeing with me. where you would raise my ire would be to take the opinion that the soldiers and other officers of the south committed treason in what they did. that's an argument for another day, and would put me on a rant.
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6/21/2018, 5:33 pm
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Physical Culturist
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Re: Grant
Many remarkable men perished. Imagine what their bloodlines could have accomplished had they been born.
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6/21/2018, 7:54 pm
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mothom
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Re: Grant
sayler's creek was the ANV last battle, five forks was the one that caused it's retreat from Petersburg and Richmond. yes we can disagree and still be friends. that's something friscobob could never figure out. I notice there are members here who root for sporting teams I disdain, but I make no issue out of it.
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6/22/2018, 2:18 pm
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Bullworker64
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Re: Grant
Custer was a schmuck.
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6/22/2018, 5:19 pm
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Physical Culturist
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Re: Grant
I like the story of Custer giving chase on horseback. He accidentally shot his horse in the head. That had to be a rough landing.
Last edited by Physical Culturist, 6/22/2018, 9:54 pm
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6/22/2018, 9:41 pm
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Bullworker64
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Re: Grant
quote: mothom wrote:
sayler's creek was the ANV last battle, five forks was the one that caused it's retreat from Petersburg and Richmond. yes we can disagree and still be friends. that's something friscobob could never figure out. I notice there are members here who root for sporting teams I disdain, but I make no issue out of it.
You are right. If I have been out of place, I apologize.
Last edited by Bullworker64, 6/26/2018, 12:20 pm
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6/25/2018, 1:17 pm
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