What Happened
Ulysses S. Grant begins his record not with grand ambitions, but with a fall and a business betrayal that left him living on borrowed money. Writing to secure his family's future while battling throat cancer, he details a career defined by early indifference to the army and later mastery of its logistics. The text moves from the treeless prairies of the Mexican War to the intricate telegraph networks of the Civil War. Grant focuses on the movement of divisions and the weight of command, avoiding flowery prose to explain exactly how Vicksburg fell and why the Union survived.
Key figures
- Ulysses S. Grant
Former President and General-in-Chief of the Union armies.
- Abraham Lincoln
President who called for 75,000 volunteers after Fort Sumter.
- William T. Sherman
Grant's trusted subordinate who commanded the right wing at Memphis.
- Vicksburg
The besieged Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.
What it's really about
- Providence
- The belief that God disposes what man proposes.
- Reconciliation
- Seeking harmony between former Federal and Confederate enemies.
Why it's memorable
- A young lieutenant admitting he felt sorry he enlisted during his first battle.
- White flags appearing over Vicksburg after months of weary marches and Northern media gibes.
Where it lands
Grant reflects on the war's cost and expresses hope that the kindness shown during his illness signals a new era of national harmony.
For your book club
- Grant’s blunt assessment of his own fear and early failures in private business.
- The strategic use of telegraphs and railroads to concentrate forces at threatened points.