Ronald C. White - American Ulysses. A Life of Ulysses S. Grant

Copyright 2016 by Ronald C. White

Maps copyright 2016 by David Lindroth Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

Random House and the House colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

ISBN9781400069026

Ebook ISBN9781588369925

randomhousebooks.com

Book design by Victoria Wong, adapted for ebook

Cover design: Eric White

Cover photograph: Colorized History, colorized image by Mads Madsen

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In him the negro found a protector, the Indian a friend, a vanquished foe a brother, an imperiled nation a savior.

F REDERICK D OUGLASS

Mightiest among the mighty dead loom the three great figures of Washington, Lincoln, and Grant.

T HEODORE R OOSEVELT

Family Background and Early Life

The Mexican War

Peacetime Duty

The Civil War

President

American Ambassador

For the sake of clarity I have sometimes modernized the spelling and punctuation of Grant and his correspondents. Spelling and punctuation in the nineteenth century were far from regular or consistent. Grants spelling was often imaginative. Any revisions were made with the goal of maintaining the original meaning for contemporary readers.

B ABCOCK , O RVILLE E. (18351884) Young and ambitious, Babcock joined Grants staff for the Overland Campaign in Virginia in March 1864. He served as secretary to Grant in the White House and was subsequently charged in the whiskey ring scandal.

B ADEAU , A DAM (18311895) An essayist and theater critic, Badeau joined Grants staff in 1864, remaining until 1869. He helped Grant with his Personal Memoirs and wrote two noteworthy books about Grant: Military History of Ulysses S. Grant (1881) and Grant in Peace (1887).

B UCKNER , S IMON B OLIVAR (18231914) A West Point classmate, Buckner commanded Confederate forces at the end of the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson, where Grant offered famous terms of surrender.

B UELL , D ON C ARLOS (18181898) Union general, often cautious and rigid, whose lateness, absence, and then participation played a controversial role in the Battle of Shiloh.

B UTLER , B ENJAMIN (18181893) A Massachusetts congressman and political general who tangled with Grant during the Civil War. After the war, reelected to Congress, he became one of Grants strongest supporters.

C HANDLER , Z ACHARIAH (18131879) Big in size, and bluff in politics, Chandler first met Second Lieutenant Grant in a Detroit courtroom. Decades later, Senator Chandler became a staunch ally of President Grant, who appointed him secretary of the interior.

C HILDS , G EORGE W. (18291894) Publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, Childs was a neighbor in Long Branch, New Jersey, who became a close friend and financial adviser.

C ONKLING , R OSCOE (18291888) A New York senator known for his tough-minded machine politics, especially his espousal of patronage. Conkling became a leader among a group of younger Republican senators Grant courted to advance his policies as president.

D ANA , C HARLES A. (18191897) A quixotic figure who as assistant secretary of war (18631865) praised General Grant but as publisher of the New York Sun (1868 on) criticized President Grant.

D OUGLASS , F REDERICK (18181895) A former slave turned abolitionist leader, editor, and social reformer, Douglass became a strong supporter of Grant during both presidential terms.

F ISH , H AMILTON (18081893) As secretary of state during Grants administration, Fish entered his duties skeptical of Grants leadership abilities, but he subsequently changed his mind and became the only cabinet officer to serve the complete eight years of Grants tenure.

H ALLECK , H ENRY W. (18151872) Old Brains was a military theorist with a reputation as a desk-job general. While commander over Grant, he cultivated a relationship of trust and mistrust. When Grant became general in chief, Halleck served as his chief of staff.

H ANCOCK , W INFIELD S COTT (18241886) Hancock the Superb served with Grant in the Overland Campaign in Virginia in 1864. After the war, Grant became disappointed in Hancock, a conservative Democrat who displayed a reluctance to defend the freedmen in his Military District, based in New Orleans.

J OHNSON , A NDREW (18081875) Vice President Johnson was sworn in as the seventeenth president of the United States after Lincolns death. Grant, believing in military deference to civilian leadership, tried mightily to work with him.

M C C LERNAND , J OHN A. (18121900) As a political general appointed by Lincoln, McClernand continually clashed with Grant and Sherman. Grant tried hard to placate the presidents Illinois friend, but their conflicts came to a head in the long campaign against Vicksburg.

M C P HERSON , J AMES B. (18281864) Graduating at the top of his 1853 West Point class, McPherson served as Grants chief engineer during the victories at Forts Henry and Donelson. After further winning Grants confidence at Shiloh and Vicksburg, he was appointed commander of the Army of the Tennessee, ranking with Sherman and Sheridan among Grants most trusted commanders.

M EADE , G EORGE G ORDON (18151872) Victorious at Gettysburg, Meade suffered criticism for letting Lee escape back into Virginia. As commander of the Army of the Potomac, he expected to be replaced when Grant became general in chief. The story of their evolving relationship is central in understanding the drama of the final year of the Civil War.

P ORTER , D AVID D IXON (18131891) Descended from a distinguished line of naval heroes, Porter initially approached Grant with an ingrained distrust of West Point army generals. Their ability to work together in the Vicksburg Campaign became critical to success in the western theater of the war.

P ORTER , H ORACE (18371921) Graduated third in his 1860 West Point class and first joined Grants staff at Chattanooga. Despite a multifaceted career both in the army and, after the war, in business, Porter most wanted to be remembered simply as aide-de-camp to Grant. His book Campaigning with Grant remains one of the best contemporary portraits of Grant.

R AWLINS , J OHN (18311869) A lawyer whom Grant met in Galena, Rawlins became Grants chief of staff and trusted confidant. Rawlins was appointed secretary of war in Grants first term as president.

R OMERO , M ATAS (18371898) Grants friendship with this young Mexican diplomat is an overlooked story. Their relationship points to Grants advocacy of the triumph of a liberal democracy in Mexico and his hopes for an economic relationship between the two nations.