Grant Moves South

Bruce Catton, a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, examines Ulysses S. Grant, the Union commander whose military leadership secured Northern victory in the Civil War. While other Union generals—McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade—suffered defeats and losses due to poor judgment and tactical errors, Grant excelled in the Western theater. Though overlooked by peers and lacking political skill, Colonel Grant, commander of the Twenty-First Illinois Volunteer Infantry, achieved successive victories at Belmont, Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson. He recovered from near-defeat at Shiloh and executed bold maneuvers at Vicksburg that cut off the Confederacy's control of the Mississippi River. President Lincoln recognized Grant's potential and entrusted him with command of the Union's military forces. Drawing on military communications, eyewitness accounts, and Grant's own writings, Catton presents a detailed history of Grant as a battlefield strategist whose innovations matched or exceeded those of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.