Grant Great Quote about General Grant

[Championhilz]

I was just reading a letter from Elihu Washburne to President Lincoln written on May 1, 1863, and describing the Union victory at the battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Washburne closes his letter with this wonderful description of General Grant:

I am afraid Grant will have to be reproved for want of style. On this whole move for five days he has had neigh neither a horse nor an orderly or servant, a blanket or overcoat or clean shirt, or even a sword (that being carried by his boy 13 years old.) His entire baggage consists of a tooth brush.
The entire letter can be read here: https://www.loc.gov/item/mal2326000/

 

[tony_gunter]

"At that moment Jack Logan3 rode up and the boys went in with such a shout as you never heard, and the enemy ran like the very devil and our boys after them, closing up the day with a perfect success."

It's so odd how McPherson seems to dodge taking credit for things. He's talking about McPherson here, not Logan. Logan was on the other road wondering why in the hell he hadn't been informed that McClernand had ordered his men to withdraw a distance and make camp for the night.

 

[tony_gunter]

I was just reading a letter from Elihu Washburne to President Lincoln written on May 1, 1863, and describing the Union victory at the battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi. Washburne closes his letter with this wonderful description of General Grant:

I am afraid Grant will have to be reproved for want of style. On this whole move for five days he has had neigh neither a horse nor an orderly or servant, a blanket or overcoat or clean shirt, or even a sword (that being carried by his boy 13 years old.) His entire baggage consists of a tooth brush.
The entire letter can be read here: https://www.loc.gov/item/mal2326000/

And yeah, Osterhaus really didn't play a role in the charge. He was still sitting in the gully complaining that John Smith's initial assault was not the flank attack he had been demanding all day. *

By the time Osterhaus realized the enemy was fleeing, there was only a single regiment in his front that had not received the order to retreat.

* John Smith was ordered by McPherson to execute the flank attack Osterhaus had been demanding. But the Confederate flank was established on a ridgeline that enfiladed the road, and the road approached the position over a very narrow ridge that canalized the attackers into a crowded space. When Smith's assault failed, McPherson rode to the front to scout the position and devised the final assault that crumpled the flank and sent the Confederates fleeing.