Grant's greatest acheivement

[hurryuphill]

in war or in life. Tactical, strategic, political, personal, equestrian, artist, writer. and i will include "other"

 

[ole]

Thanks, hurryuphill. This one should devolve into some interesting discussions.

Ole

 

[Elennsar]

I voted for "Other". But what I really meant was "All of the above."

Any one of those feats would be pretty credible, but plenty of people are "pretty credible".

Grant was great because he did all of those things. He managed to balance having a "ruthless" drive to win the war with wanting to "let 'em up easy".

Grant also was remarkable for the fact that he was humble enough to accept he had limitations and to deal with them. He was not necessarily greatly insightful on what those were and still had issues (see Thomas), but if you pinned Grant down and asked him "Did you make any mistakes in the war?", he'd be able to say "Yes."

That humility alone isn't enough, but given what he accomplished, its another one of his good features.

So I can't pick one accomplishment, unless possibly "being the kind of guy who could give gracious terms of surrender to an enemy and the kind of guy who could fight the Overland Campaign" counts.

As Ole said, this should get interesting. But that's my vote.

 

[OpnDownfall]

Other; mainly because I find it difficult to describe, exactly, the quality that allowed him to achieve ultimate victory with the AoP, officered as it was.

 

[ole]

It is truly difficult to distill the man down to a single essence. What I find notable that "give up" was not in his vocabulary. "Lick 'em tomorow" says a great deal. He simply would not be beaten.

Although this does not exactly define "Grant's Greatest Achievement." in a sense, it does. He conquered his demons and moved on. That, with your indulgence, is his greatest achievement.

Ole

 

[samgrant]

Tough choice, but as no one so far chose the Overland Campaign, I'll give it a vote.

Here is where he was regrettably given the sobriquet "the butcher", for the great number of casualties sacrificed in this campaign.

The facts are that General Grant inherited a large, well trained army. He also inherited an army which, by virtue of its history with its prior commanders, was accustomed to be timid and self protective.

Additionally, in the army he inherited, the most hardened veterans of the AoP were due for mustering out, and who could blame those that did?, and so the ranks were filled with all sorts of also rans, so different from the Army of the Tennessee with which he vanquished most of the South.

Now with this force, and he also took in a lot of Heavy Arty prima donnas, etc., he determined to end the war by defeating the ANV.

We can say the ANV was depleted and had no chance against the numbers of Grant's AoP, but that excuse never stopped them before. The ANV had never before met such a determined adversary.

His achievement was due to the fact that in this long campaign, tho Lee sometimes beat him to the punch, he took and continued to maintain the strategic initiative throughout. He never turned back.

---

 

[timewalker]

I am going to have to go with Vicksburg. Not for its strategic importance, although that is debatable, but rather for the brilliance and doggesdness of the campaign: the seven failed attempts followed by a simply brilliant move to attack and invest the city from the East. It has to go down as the most brilliant campaign of the war.

I chose this only because the poll asks for an achievement. I think Grant's greatest contribution to the war was his strategic vision which he was finally able to bing to bear when he was made Lieutenant General and thus General-in-Chief.

 

[samgrant]

Yeah, "All of the Above" should have been an option.

Once he got his war boots on, it's hard to find a thing that he acheived to do that he did not do.

===

 

[ole]

Once he got his war boots on, it's hard to find a thing that he acheived to do that he did not do.

And that closely sums up Hiram Ulysses Grant. Kinda makes you re-look at providence in that here was one nebbish that turned history. Go figurel

 

[hurryuphill]

Yeah, "All of the Above" should have been an option.

Once he got his war boots on, it's hard to find a thing that he acheived to do that he did not do.

===

with all due respect he never licked Lee in a straight up battle...came close a few times and eventually stretched Lee out too thin, but never beat him head to head in a single battle.

by the way writing his memoirs was my choice; disgraced, broke, shunned, in constant pain, and terminally ill, he once again doggedly pursued his task for the sake of his family

 

[Dred]

with all due respect he never licked Lee in a straight up battle...came close a few times and eventually stretched Lee out too thin, but never beat him head to head in a single battle.

by the way writing his memoirs was my choice; disgraced, broke, shunned, in constant pain, and terminally ill, he once again doggedly pursued his task for the sake of his family

Don't forget... he died within weeks of finishing it. Almost as if he knew he had given everything he had into making it, and with nothing more to offer,only then did he allow himself to pass on. I am amazed at his memoirs, possibly the best since... well, maybe ever. A rare glimpse into a brilliant mind. My vote.

 

[Freddy]

Grant was a determined warrior, who accomplished what he set out to do. All of the choices have that quality. That said, it was the Overland Campaign that defeated the AONV and ended the CW. That was no easy task, but Grant got the job done.

 

[5fish]

overland

All of Grants feats are impressive but in the west he had no equal. It was not until he move east that he met a general that was his equal in all the qualities he, himself had.

I pick the the Overland campaign because it one of my favorite moments in the civil war. It is where two military greats duke it out until one was pummel into submission not because the other was better. But, the other had a better support team....