Grant What Did Grant's Men Think Of Him?

Joined
Jan 24, 2017
What did the men who fought under Ulysses S. Grant think of him? It seems the men who fought under "Little Mac" held him in high esteem, and also with great affection. The same could be said of other Generals such as Sedgwick. Up to now, I haven't come across any impressions of the men with regard to Grant and his Generalship. I'd be very interested to know if others have come across any writings in relation to this.
 
Great post, @Cavalry Charger, thank you for creating this!

I did see something written about this by Bruce Catton in A Stillness At Appomattox, and can copy what was written later tonight. Of course, this was just about the AOP prior to the start of the Overland Campaign - I've never seen anything about how the AOTT responded to him, nor how the men of the AOP saw Grant after a bloody month in Virginia.
 
Great post, @Cavalry Charger, thank you for creating this!

I did see something written about this by Bruce Catton in A Stillness At Appomattox, and can copy what was written later tonight. Of course, this was just about the AOP prior to the start of the Overland Campaign - I've never seen anything about how the AOTT responded to him, nor how the men of the AOP saw Grant after a bloody month in Virginia.
Thanks, Adam. I will look forward to reading it when you get a chance.
 
Do we have letters and diaries which give us a clue?
I'm wondering the same thing. I have the reproductions of a Union officer's letters (which I haven't finished transcribing yet), but the relevant ones mostly fall into the period just after Grant has taken over the AOP. He makes mention of Sedgwick (following his death), and the army as a whole, but he doesn't make mention of Grant. The officer was killed several weeks later in Wilson's Raid (June 24) so not much of a window for him to give his impressions.
 
I'm the impression the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee respected him and thought him a good commander but had no special affection for him. They thought he was workwise and that was fine by them. I think that for the short time he was associated with the Army of the Cumberland they felt pretty much the same way.
 
In regard to AoP old timers, like Meade, Hancock, Warren, they always did harbor a touch of resentment but Grant's easy going nature helped to smooth things out. I would say McClellan was loved and Grant was liked.
McClellan's men didn't love him enough to vote for him in 1864. Lincoln carried the vote in AoP handsomely. In 1868 Grant got a huge majority of the GAR vote. The letters I have read and seen quoted about the average soldier's opinion of Grant are full of respect but not love. The only time the AoP cheered Grant like they did Little Mac was when Grant had them turn southward after the Wilderness rather than retreat across the Rapidan/Rappahannock.
 
McClellan's men didn't love him enough to vote for him in 1864. Lincoln carried the vote in AoP handsomely. In 1868 Grant got a huge majority of the GAR vote. The letters I have read and seen quoted about the average soldier's opinion of Grant are full of respect but not love. The only time the AoP cheered Grant like they did Little Mac was when Grant had them turn southward after the Wilderness rather than retreat across the Rapidan/Rappahannock.

Determine to drag down McClellan aren't you haha.:D I remember Catton, not a McClellan fan, discusses in the book amwiener mentioned above that the men "adored" McClellan but largely voted for Lincoln because they liked the direction the war was going and viewed McClellan as a peace candidate. They loved him as a commander because he took care of them, politics is a different matter. To say the AoP liked Grant more then McClellan or Meade, I think would be stretching it.

I posted this quote earlier by Gen. Alexander Webb I think it illustrates how many of the men felt: "McClellan proceeded to equip and discipline the AoP with a skill and persistence which will be the admiration of military students for all time. He inspired the army with confidence, it believed him to be right in all his measures because it loved and respected him. The AoP never lost its reputation of being the best equipped and most efficient army on this continent and this reputation was due solely to General McClellan's system of organization."

Anyway this thread is about Grant we should leave McClellan aside.
 
Determine to drag down McClellan aren't you haha.:D I remember Catton, not a McClellan fan, discusses in the book amwiener mentioned above that the men "adored" McClellan but largely voted for Lincoln because they liked the direction the war was going and viewed McClellan as a peace candidate. They loved him as a commander because he took care of them, politics is a different matter. To say the AoP liked Grant more then McClellan or Meade, I think would be stretching it.

I posted this quote earlier by Gen. Alexander Webb I think it illustrates how many of the men felt: "McClellan proceeded to equip and discipline the AoP with a skill and persistence which will be the admiration of military students for all time. He inspired the army with confidence, it believed him to be right in all his measures because it loved and respected him. The AoP never lost its reputation of being the best equipped and most efficient army on this continent and this reputation was due solely to General McClellan's system of organization."

Anyway this thread is about Grant we should leave McClellan aside.
I am not determined to drag down Mac. Your post which I quoted said they loved McClellan and liked Grant. I'm pretty sure it was you who injected McClellan into this thread.
 
that army had grown up a bit and no longer needed to love their commander.
I've no doubt the men respected Grant, and he did achieve the long sought after victory, but this aspect of his Generalship seems to be little mentioned , and it has me wondering if it was Grant's own nature that prevented the men from having strong impressions one way or another. He appears to me to have been a reserved character, and maybe as you say the 'army had grown up a bit and no longer needed to love their commander'. Perhaps it was enough, at the end of the day, that via Grant's tenacity they could win the war, and finally go home.
 
By the time Grant took over the AOP, that army had grown up a bit and no longer needed to love their commander.

They wanted a killer who would finish the fight.

That seems to be what Catton leans towards. On the other hand you did have men like Warren who were somewhat upset with Grant's tactics, more cautious and thought he was gutting the AoP. I don't know if this was a wide spread view its hard to judge what the average solider thought compared to the officers.

EDIT: Also that veteran verse new recruit element might have came into play. Units like Iron Brigade had the veteran core and then influx of green men.
 
Back
Top