Grant vs. Lee: The Graphic History of the Civil War's Greatest Rivals During the Last Year of the War

by Wayne Vansant

Grant vs. Lee tells the dramatic story of the final year of the Civil War in Virginia—a bloody and unyielding fight for both sides—through the eyes of the two greatest Civil War generals: the North’s Ulysses S. Grant and the South’s Robert E. Lee.

The long and violent campaigns that took place from 1864–1865 (the Overland Campaign, Petersburg Campaign, and Appomattox Campaign) represent the beginning of modern warfare. By this point of the war, both sides employed seasoned and hardened soldiers who looked past the Victorian sensibilities of the gentleman soldier and understood that there would be no falling back. By the end of 1864, both sides built trenches and mounted attacks to break each other’s lines. There was a stalemate that winter.

Grant’s forces had superior numbers and supplies and by March 1865 they pushed Lee’s army out of the trenches at Petersburg and took Richmond, the Confederate capital. Lee’s dwindling forces retreated west, looking for food and other Southern forces to help continue the fight. After a bitter final battle at Sailor’s Creek, Lee’s army was surrounded by Union forces at Appomattox Court House. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant and the Civil War was over.

Beautifully illustrated and vastly researched, Grant vs. Lee is a dramatic, illustrated introduction to one of the most pivotal years in American history.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Nonfiction, War, Comics, Civil War

104 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2013

About the author

I was born and raised near Atlanta, GA, and served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. I graduated from the Atlanta College of Art in 1975 and have had many jobs, including being a salesman, security guard, milk delivery man, and the Director of Security for a large art museum.

I began my writing and illustration career in 1986 with Marvel Comics' "Savage Tales" and "The 'Nam." Since then I have written and/or illustrated many books and comics on historical/military subjects such as Battle Group Peiper, Days of Darkness, Antietam: The Fiery Trial (commissioned by the National Park Service), Blockade: The Civil War at Sea, The War in Korea, The Hammer and the Anvil (profiling Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass), Normandy (profiling D-Day and the entire Normandy Campaign), Gettysburg (profiling the Battle of Gettysburg), and many others.

I am currently working on graphic histories of the Battle of the Bulge, Manfred von Richthofen, aka the Red Baron, and and am finishing up my Russian Front trilogy entitled Katusha: Girl Soldier of the Patriotic War, which is currently available as an eBook on Comics Plus, a leading comics book app.

Reviews

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Grant vs. Lee" is an interesting way to learn about the end of the Civil War. The book covers the time from when Grant takes over the Federal Army to the end of the war at Appomattox Courthouse. The book is mostly about battles and troop movements. There are a few personal stories, but mostly of generals. I liked the few mentions of individual soldiers and hoped there would be a bit more expansion on those stories. There are a few maps along the way, but some of the maps give a lot of place names that aren't in the text, and don't mention the army units that are in the text. This limits their usefulness in this context. The graphics, while interesting at the start, got repetitive after a while. There were many casualties during this period, and these images are comic-book-grisly, with a lot of eye shots. The soldiers and their lesser leaders started to look alike after a while, which is understandable when you depict as many different scenes, all with many men, as the author did. I learned a few things along the way. I hadn't heard of the confederate navy coming to bear on a ground action, and later becoming infantry. And I never pictured the Confederate soldiers at the end of the war, without common uniforms, looking a bit like an Amish barn raising party. I do like Vansant's ability to tell history stories using sequential art. I think this opens history up to people that can learn best from a quicker read in graphic format.

I won this book on Goodreads First Reads program.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Anna,
Thanks for recommending the book Grant vs. Lee to me. I loved the novel and it taught me about some of the battles during the civil war.

Review of Grant vs. Lee
5 out of 5 stars
December 30, 2017

I am a middle school student and a very picky reader. I am a history freak and know a lot about the battles during the civil war. This book taught me about some battles that I had never heard of before.

In the nonfiction graphic novel, Grant vs Lee, the author, Wayne Vansant, teaches readers about the battles that followed Gettysburg during the civil war. This novel occurs between the years of 1864 and 1865. Robert E. Lee’s army was fighting to part with the north, and Ulysses S. Grant’s army was fighting to abolish slavery in the south. This piece talks about the struggles and success of both armies and discusses the dramatic effects that the battles caused on the entire country. Some of the main battles that this book includes were: Petersburg, Richmond, and Fredericksburg. The elaborate pictures drawn in this book help to visual the bloody battlefields during the civil war.

Grant vs Lee was a fabulous book overall. It taught me about the battles during the civil war. The pictures were amazing and were filled with detail. This helped to visualize the death rate and brutal struggles during the battles. The only thing about this story that I didn't love, was that it got a little confusing. It was hard to remember the less important generals and which side of the war they sided with. The drawing did help though, because in the pictures the union was always blue, and the confederates were always brown. Other than that this novel was very engaging and kept me on my toes throughout the entire novel.

I recommend this story to anyone who wants to read a quick read and is interested in learning a little bit about the battles during the civil war.

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable. With the American civil war battles it's a hit and miss. Many historians just keep mentioning names and battles making it all boring and pointless. Do I care about some small preliminary battle in a nation I have never been in? Yet the overall tactics and details are very curious. Many could read and write back then so we know a ton of details about the war.

This book is actually engaging. The battles are brutal and there are a few maps giving us some background. When someone dies the author has at times found a real name so everything feels personal. Each death and battle is sad here as it should be. Great respect is shown to both sides fighting this war.

We slowly move into the final days of the war and the surrender. I would have liked a stronger map overview. And more focus on how they sustained the armies like logistics, food, crop production, arms production, politics, news. It's all about battles which is the main issue when Americans write about their own wars they don't quite understand how a war works and don't understand logistics and news. They describe singular battles yet the state of the arms and men decides battles.

Yet despite this being a weird book overlooking the most important parts it's a very engaging read with plenty of history. The author was fully unbiases here which is nice to see. The clear overview is very much appreciated yet we just needed more background info. Maybe even details about the guns they used. How fast was reloading etc.?

I did notice he loved to draw French Zouave Cadet uniforms. In many battles troops are depicted with red uniforms and caps. I looked it up and saw a a few details about them. Their uniforms were not exact copies of the French ones though as depicted in the book. I saw turbans. But frankly there could be other companies outside NY. I also rarely saw them in photos so how many were there?

[Blakeharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about Grant and Lee and how they go through the ranks and take their positions throughout the war. Grant led the north and Lee led the south. Every battle has details and the dates of everything are in this book. This book will teach you things about the civil war you might not know. I like learning about wars so this book was an easy read and I liked it a lot. the war started on April 12, 1861 and went on until May 13, 1865. the book had details that made you feel like you could see everything that went on throughout the war.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to do a Q&A with the homeschoolers as part of our World History series. Plus, when you work with boys, comic books win the day. Vansant is a hero in this regard because he turns the bits of history into fun for the students.

And, I'm really starting to feel like a broken record here, and not just the preface to my review. I'm not really feeling these books from either a casual reader's view, nor as an educator's view.

For the kids it is a narrative with lots of pictures, an easy read, and fairly interesting. Unlike the Gettysburg novel, this book does a better job of noting the differences between the north and south armies for a newbie so they are able to see what's going on at a glance. Names, however, are still a bit detached from meaning.

I found it not quite what I expected for a comic book, and not in depth enough for a history book. As a glossed over version of the last year of the war, it seems to do a pretty good job of laying things out to show you what is going on -- there were lots of strategy maps throughout, which definitely helps the reader understand what is going on where and when. I'm sure there are a lot of details left out that a historian might balk at, but for the kids it does a really good job of keeping it to the interesting highlights that draw them into the lives of the times, if not the men themselves.

From a history standpoint, the data is accurate and understandable, so I'd give it a 3.5. Like most of Vansant's other comic books in this area, it might be enough to pique someone's interest, but there was not a lot of depth to some other parts of the story. What he does well though, besides the map, is show a little bit more of diplomacy and personalities conflict of the leaders.

As I did with the other Vansant books, I took the time to check the info against a military historian, Travis Beiersdorfer. It's fairly accurate, but Beiersdorfer said you'd probably get more from watching the History Channel or renting videos from the library.

[Debbie White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this free book that I received from Goodreads. I love the comic characters and the illustrations were very lifelike to me. I enjoyed very much reading about Grant Vs Lee in this book as it really was an eye-opener for me about the North and South. I had heard what a great general Lee was, but not until I read this little book did I see what a great one he was for the South. Also I did not know that food was so scarce for the South in the Civil War for the soldiers under General Lee. Everyone should read this and be thankful we are not in a civil war right now and take note of it. This is a really good little comic book story to read and I was amazed at the scenes and the drawings and how lifelike they all were. Makes me want to go to some of the areas to see where the actual battles were really fought. I have been to Gettysburg but that is all. Would love to read more by this author!! Thank you!!

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. This book is more of an illustrated history book than a comic. It gives what I feel is a very detailed presentation of the last year of the Civil War focusing on the battles between Grant and Lee. It was an interesting though exhausting read that really opens one up to the difficulties and losses of war. Though I'm not sure the book is completely unbiased, it seemed at times that the author held the south in favor over the North especially with more attention payed to the confederate soldier's stories and other descriptions and words used by the author. History buffs might enjoy this book along with others with general interested in history though may not care for the biased nature of the author.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grant vs. Lee is a great introduction to the last year of the Civil War as told through the eyes of the two iconic generals of the North and South. It mainly covers the war in Virginia (though there is mention of Sherman's movements to Atlanta in the opening pages) and highlights the ways that warfare changed over the course of the war (more professional troops, as well as the creation of trench warfare). Throughout Vansant covers the Battles of the Wilderness, Cold Spring, Petersburg (and the Battle of the Crater) and finally the final skirmish at Appomattox Court House. This is a great graphic novel that expertly portrays the closing days of the Civil War from a great storyteller.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The positive approach would be to say that this shows just how diverse and far-reaching the "comics" medium can be. The negative approach would be to say that this is not "comics" at all, just heavily illustrated history.
Either way, I enjoyed this summation of the end of the American Civil War.

[Celestia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is from my 10yos:

I learned a lot from this book about the War Between the States. Here are some of the facts I learned from the book:

.there were some black regiments in the Union Army
.in the battle of gettysburg gen. stonewall jackson was almost accidentally killed by one of his own men
.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and accurate portrayal of the last year and a half of the Civil War. Grant and Lee had no animosity toward each other; each simply had a job to do and they did their best to reach the end of the struggle. It is tragic that so many people lost their lives in this terrible war.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. This was a very interesting way to read a little bit about the civil war. Very well done. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from a friend. it's a new way to tell this part of history and kind of interesting. this book was nice with the graphic pictures to go along with it.