The Ulysses S. Grant Thread

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by ole

So. Was Grant an alchoholic?
Ole

Here's an article addressing that question:

http://faculty.css.edu/mkelsey/usgrant/alcohol.html

[samgrant]

Mrs. Grant: "I would expect that Mr. Grant will succeed, for he is a very obstinate man."

[ole]

Julia oughtta know. Obstinate is frequently considered an objectionable trait. Didn't seem to affect Grant that way. Wonder sometimes, how Lincoln thought about Grant's obstinance.
OLE

[samgrant]

General Longstreet, would you please tell us what you think about General Grant?



To fellow officers on learning (early March 1864) that Grant would be directing the AOP:

"We cannot afford to underestimate him and the army he now commands. We must make up our minds to get into line of battle and stay there, for Grant will fight us every day and every hour till the end of this war. In order to whip him we must out maneuver him, and husband our strength as best we can."

To General Lee on April 2, 1864:

"If Grant goes to Virginia, I hope that you may be able to destroy him. I do not think that he is any better than Pope. They won their successes in the same field. If you will out general him you will surely destroy him. His chief strength is in his prestige."

[william42]

To compare the two may be a complement to Knight, but is an insult to Grant. And Dick Vitale is a moron.

Of course, you have the right to your opinion, Sam.


As a young coach at Army, Bob Knight was every bit as intense as he is now.




Coach Bob Knight gets win No. 880, passing Smith for best ever.

Vitale is a character but he knows his basketball. Knight's favorite Grant story was when Grant arrived in Washington after Lincoln summoned him to take over the Union armies. Grant checked in at the Willard Hotel, in a private's uniform, not wishing to flaunt his rank, or draw attention to himself. Both Grant and Knight are native Ohioans.

TW

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by william42

Knight's favorite Grant story was when Grant arrived in Washington after Lincoln summoned him to take over the Union armies. Grant checked in at the Willard Hotel, in a private's uniform, not wishing to flaunt his rank, or draw attention to himself.

That's his favorite Grant story? What a dope!

[samgrant]

This from: http://civilwarriors.net/wordpress/



The Bad Rap on Grant

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 by Brooks D. Simpson

And I mean bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iMnwIpm0LI

[samgrant]

In July, 1964, General Eisenhower had a long interview with Walter Cronkite on the beaches of Normandy on the 20th anniversary of D-Day. He said then:

I think Ulysses S. Grant is vastly underrated as a man and as a general. I know people think this and that about his drinking habits, which I think have been exaggerated way out of line. The fact is, he never demanded more men or material from the war department, he took over an army that had a long history of retreating and losing. That army had no confidence in their fighting ability and Grant came in as a real outsider. He had so many disadvantages going into the 1864 campaign, now 100 years ago. But he met every test and rose to the occasion unlike I’ve ever seen in American history. He was a very tough yet very fair man and a great soldier. He’s not been given his due.”

Eisenhower continued on to say:

Grant devised a strategy to end the war. He alone had the determination, foresight, and wisdom to do it. It was lucky that President Lincoln didn’t interfere or attempt to control Grant’s strategic line of thinking. Lincoln wisely left the war to Grant, at least in the concluding moves after he came east. Grant is very undervalued today, which is a shame, because he was one of the greatest American generals, if not the greatest.



When Richard Nixon told Eisenhower in 1956 that it was common knowledge Stonewall Jackson was the greatest Civil War general, followed by Lee, Eisenhower interrupted him:

I wouldn’t say that, Dick. In fact I think it’s not a very reasoned opinion. You forget that Grant captured three armies intact, moved and coordinated his forces in a way that baffles military logic yet succeeded and he concluded the war one year after being entrusted with that aim. I’d say that was one hell of a piece of soldiering extending over a period of four years, the same time we were in the last war.”

Dulles, who was present, remarked that Nixon said nothing in response!

http://www.granthomepage.com/grantgenius.htm

[william42]

Sam, you obviously know US Grant. I've read several accounts of the battle of the Wilderness. Some accounts say Grant, at the end of the first day, went into his tent and wept. Other accounts say nothing at all about this. I believe Shelby Foote's narrative does not mention the weeping incident, but another book, possibly McPherson, or Rhea? ( I can't remember, and I no longer have the books), say that Grant did have a crying jag on that day.

Do you know about this, and if so, is there more evidence to confirm the weeping, or more evidence that shows the weeping to be a false rumor?

Terry

[ole]

Do you know about this, and if so, is there more evidence to confirm the weeping, or more evidence that shows the weeping to be a false rumor?

Terry: (This is from memory and not having the appropriate books in front of me.) Seems the most authoritive statement on the incident mentions only that Grant "threw himself on his cot." It's an iffy enough subject that I'm supposing authors would prefer to leave it out as an unimportant distraction.
Ole