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Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant - Volume 1
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224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 12, 2012
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About the author
Ulysses S. Grant
230 books133 followersUlysses Simpson Grant, originally Hiram Ulysses Grant, in Civil War victoriously campaigned at Vicksburg from 1862 to 1863, and, made commander in chief of the Army in 1864, accepted the surrender of Robert Edward Lee, general, at Appomattox in 1865; widespread graft and corruption marred his two-term presidency, the eighteenth of the United States, from 1869 to 1877.
Robert Edward Lee surrendered to Ulysses Simpson Grant at Appomattox in 1865.
Robert Edward Lee, Confederate general, surrendered to Ulysses Simpson Grant, Union general, at the hamlet of Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865 to end effectively the Civil War.
The son of an Appalachian tanner of Ohio, Ulysses Simpson Grant of America entered the military academy at 17 years of age in 1839. The academy graduated him in 1843. In 1846, three years afterward, Grant served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War under Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor. The conflict concluded in 1848.
Grant abruptly resigned in 1854. After struggling through the succeeding years as a real estate agent, a laborer, and a county engineer, Grant decided to join the northern effort.
Abraham Lincoln appointed Grant to brigadier of volunteers in 1861; he in 1862 claimed the first major capture of fort Henry and fort Donelson in Tennessee. A Confederate attack at the battle of Shiloh surprised him, who emerged, but the severe casualties prompted a public outcry. Following many long initial setbacks and his rescue of the besieged at Chattanooga, however, Grant subsequently established his reputation as most aggression and success to Lincoln. Named lieutenant in 1864, Grant implemented a coordinated strategy of simultaneous attacks, aimed at destroying ability of economy to sustain forces of the south. He mounted a successful attrition against his Confederate opponents to courthouse in 1865.
After Andrew Jackson, four decades earlier, people elected duly popular Grant as a Republican in 1868 and re-elected him in 1872 as the first to serve fully. Grant signed and enforced congressional rights legislation to lead Reconstruction.
Grant built a powerful, patronage-based Republican Party in the south and strained relations between the north and former Confederates. Sometimes, nepotism produced scandal of his Administration; people coined the neologism to describe his politics.
Grant left office in 1877 and embarked upon a two-year world tour. Unsuccessful in winning the nomination for a third in 1880, left destitute by a fraudulent investor, and near the brink of death, Grant wrote his Memoirs, which were enormously successful among veterans, the public, and critics. However, in 1884, Grant learned that he was suffering from terminal throat cancer and, two days after completing his writing, he died at the age of 63. Historians typically rank Grant in the lowest quartile for his tolerance, but in recent years his reputation has improved among some scholars impressed by his support for rights for African Americans.
Robert Edward Lee surrendered to Ulysses Simpson Grant at Appomattox in 1865.
Robert Edward Lee, Confederate general, surrendered to Ulysses Simpson Grant, Union general, at the hamlet of Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865 to end effectively the Civil War.
The son of an Appalachian tanner of Ohio, Ulysses Simpson Grant of America entered the military academy at 17 years of age in 1839. The academy graduated him in 1843. In 1846, three years afterward, Grant served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War under Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor. The conflict concluded in 1848.
Grant abruptly resigned in 1854. After struggling through the succeeding years as a real estate agent, a laborer, and a county engineer, Grant decided to join the northern effort.
Abraham Lincoln appointed Grant to brigadier of volunteers in 1861; he in 1862 claimed the first major capture of fort Henry and fort Donelson in Tennessee. A Confederate attack at the battle of Shiloh surprised him, who emerged, but the severe casualties prompted a public outcry. Following many long initial setbacks and his rescue of the besieged at Chattanooga, however, Grant subsequently established his reputation as most aggression and success to Lincoln. Named lieutenant in 1864, Grant implemented a coordinated strategy of simultaneous attacks, aimed at destroying ability of economy to sustain forces of the south. He mounted a successful attrition against his Confederate opponents to courthouse in 1865.
After Andrew Jackson, four decades earlier, people elected duly popular Grant as a Republican in 1868 and re-elected him in 1872 as the first to serve fully. Grant signed and enforced congressional rights legislation to lead Reconstruction.
Grant built a powerful, patronage-based Republican Party in the south and strained relations between the north and former Confederates. Sometimes, nepotism produced scandal of his Administration; people coined the neologism to describe his politics.
Grant left office in 1877 and embarked upon a two-year world tour. Unsuccessful in winning the nomination for a third in 1880, left destitute by a fraudulent investor, and near the brink of death, Grant wrote his Memoirs, which were enormously successful among veterans, the public, and critics. However, in 1884, Grant learned that he was suffering from terminal throat cancer and, two days after completing his writing, he died at the age of 63. Historians typically rank Grant in the lowest quartile for his tolerance, but in recent years his reputation has improved among some scholars impressed by his support for rights for African Americans.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
February 24, 2017
If you're going to read this, get yourself a good atlas and use it to follow troop movements, battle sites etc. Some items that I thought are of note 1] Grant got sick while at West Point and this persisted for some time after graduation. Similar to T. Roosevelt he believed his "life was saved, and my health restored, by exercise and exposure" 2] Duels are fought due to the "want of moral courage on the part of those engaged to decline" 3] "Bad habits spread more rapidly and universally than good ones" 4]"It is always in order to follow a retreating foe". Amazing that his 12 year old son accompanied him on much of his campaign. Finally I had no idea of the importance of navigable waterways in the "rebellion" (as Grant calls it) nor in the role of the navy (steamboats and gunboats) in securing a Union victory in many significant battles. The book also gives a great perspective on military strategy which would only be appreciated more with a map. While reading this I felt like I was sitting with a friend and having a beer while he told me what he had been doing since I last saw him. Loved it. Not at all what I expected from a memoir.
January 20, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir written by Ulysses S. Grant. He is so frank and honest. I have read many books on the subject of the Civil War and, admittedly enjoyed them. too. Ulysses offering is very precise and written in exquisite detail that is easy to read and understand. Many books are text heavy and I find my brain swimming in the details and have to read the same information ten times and still not get an understanding of what was going on. This offering afforded me a picture in my mind as I read the details of the battles and travelings of the Union Army. I look forward to reading Volume 2 next.
March 16, 2017
Actually this is a review of Vol II, but that option wasn't offered on Goodreads.
I was fortunate enough to get one of the original editions of this book out of the library, from 1886. A veritable gem of a book. It was falling apart, but it was the writers own words, not 'updated' by a modern editor trying to impose his own narrative under the guise of "making it more understandable for the modern reader". The narrative from the the first half of the last century was that Gen'l Grant was a drunken, ignorant, butcher. Yes, he was Commander of all the Union Forces that won the American Civil War, but not polished like Gen'l Lee or Napoleon, not suave & dashing like Gen'l Stonewaii Jackson or MacArthur. Just a butcher, winning battles & campaigns by throwing more troops at the enemy 'til he ground the enemy down. That narrative was put together by writers well after his death, and the deaths (of old age) of most of the troops (and other grateful fans) who served under him. Mark Twain published the book, but said all the words & editing were done by Grant himself, assisted only by a former military staff secretary. Nobody who writes this clearly, with this degree of perception & accuracy, can ever be accused of being ignorant.
In the first part of the war, in the west, his forces were often outnumbered and outgunned. And his Confederate opposition was usually dug in as being the defenders. The rule of thumb, back then as well as now, is that attackers need 3-1 odds to defeat a well dug in opponent on the defensive. He often didn't win his campaigns quickly, but eventually, through brilliant use of good old fire & maneuver tactics, he found a week spot in the enemies defense, and accepted their 'Unconditional surrender'. Since most Confederate strong points were on rivers or port cities, he needed cooperation from the US Navy. He won their respect and support, and effectively overcame the inter-service rivalry that has always existed, and continues to bedevil the military effectiveness of most all nations to this day.
Once transferred to Washington, DC to take command of all the US forces, he still had command and responsibility for all the west as well as all the other theaters of the war. But he made his own field tent his office, and kept it with the Army of the Potomac, often less than a mile from the Confederate front line. He used the new invention, the telegraph, to keep in touch with Washington and all his other commands all over the continent. He was a huge fan of new technology his whole life, and was always quick to adapt it in his pursuit of victory in the field of battle. His attitude towards politics was very much the opposite. He abhorred it.
Once he was in the Eastern Theater, facing Gen'l Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, he knew how Lee would fight. And he knew that the other Union Generals (many of whom were political appointees, without formal military training) would not fight him, because they could not win. Gen'l Lee was so widely respected and admired as the best Military officer in the USA at the time, that US President Abe Lincoln had offered him command of all the US Forces when the rebellion had started. Unfortunately for the US Gov't, he decided to fight for his home state of Virginia. Once he was settled in, a stones throw from Washington, DC, no Union forces were able to budge him for the next three years. Washington was always threatened by an attack at any moment, and although outnumbered by vastly superior forces, Lee could, and did, invade the north almost at will. By necessity a defensive general, it would be easy to argue that he was the most effective and successful defensive strategic genius that America has ever produced. And he understood politics well enough that he knew full well that all he had to do was hold on long enough for the North to get tired of all the fighting, and the politicians of the North would negotiate peace, and recognize the independence of the Confederate States of America as a separate country. And slavery would continue in the south.
All the Union Generals that went up against Lee were defeated, until Gen'l Grant got there.
And all Lee had to do was wait him out until the next election.
Grant knew he had a good army, well supplied and a willingness to fight, but his senior officers were terrified of Lee, and would flee back to the safety of the forts surrounding Washington after their first clash with Lee, which always was a defeat for the Union. Which seems to be why Grant kept his headquarters within sight of the front lines. So he could keep an eye on his own senior officers.
Less than a month after taking charge, Grant took his army around Lee's right flank, through The Wilderness, and by the next morning, Lee was on him. Three days of brutal fighting, but Grant's Army held their line. Grant didn't win, but neither did Lee. Any other Union Gen'l would have retreated, but Grant went around Lee's right flank again, heading south towards Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Lee moved his army also, blocking Grant within the day at Spotsylvania.
Three more days of bloody, vicious battles. Lee had made it clear that Grant couldn't go through him. Grant let his army rest a bit, resupply as necessary, and a week latter, maneuvered his army around Lee's right flank again, towards Richmond. He knew by this point that only total war would win this war for preserving the Union.
Reporters for the northern newspapers asked him what he intended to do. "I will fight it out on this line all year if I have too." The newspapers cheered! It ended up taking into the following year.
After many more battles, Lee had to retreat back to his defenses surrounding Richmond. He had planned this as a contingency, and he had defense in depth already built that could keep Grant's army at bay indefinitely. Grant threw attack after attack at Lee's entrenchments, losing thousands of men, and getting nowhere. The northern newspapers called him a butcher. But Lincoln got re-elected. The war to preserve the Union would go on.
Grant, as Commander of all the Union forces, unleashed total war on the rest of the Confederacy, basically all the areas that had not been subdued yet. Sherman took Atlanta, destroying it's industrial base, then marched to the sea through Georgia, cutting a 60 mile wide swathe through the heart of the Confederacy, destroying the agricultural production of the south. Now the south could no longer feed itself, not even it's armies. And then winter came, and the fighting slowed down a bit until Spring would come again.
In the Spring of 1865, Lee's army in Richmond, depleted and starved, and the Gov't of the Confederacy knew they could not fight Grant, but they refused to give up. They were waiting for a political solution, if only Great Britain, the superpower of the day, would recognize their sovereignty... their attaches at St. James Court were reporting positive negotiations. On Easter Sunday, during the church service at St. Marks Episcopal Cathedral in Richmond, the Bishop interrupted his sermon to announce that Grant's army was attacking the lines south of Richmond, had broken through, and could not be stopped. All CSA officers, troops, and gov't officials must go immediately. Gen'l Lee and President Davis moved quickly.
Richmond could not be saved, the Gov't and Lee's army must flee. If they could break out and marry up with the other surviving armies of the Confederacy, maybe they could hold on long enough for the political salvation. Lee ordered a distracting attack towards the north, and the rest of his army and the gov't escaped to the west. Grant, expecting this, was in immediate pursuit as soon as he figured out their direction.
For the next 5 days, Grant was trying to get in front of Lee, but Lee was traveling light in territory he knew well, and he was able to stay ahead of Grant's forces. Grant's cavalry screen captured a telegram directing Lee's supply trains to Appomatox Station, and wait there to resupply Lee's starving army. Grant directed his forces to concentrate there.
When Lee's army got to Appomatox Courthouse, they found that Grant's cavalry had already captured the trains at the station, and when Lees troops attacked, the Union troops fought them off long enough to burn one train, and move the rest out of reach of Lee's troops. Lee was surrounded.
Grant, with a very small staff, rode through Lee's army in the dark of night to be in front of Lee, to deliver a message at dawn the next morning requesting his surrender "to avoid any further bloodletting". Lee responded asking for conditions. Grant's reply. Unconditional surrender was his only option. But he gave his personal word that lenient treatment would be extended to all the troops and officers of the Army of Northern Virginia. He knew they had to go home to plant their crops, or the south would starve for another year. He wanted no more death.
Lee surrendered on April 9. All his troops and officers that vowed to go home to their farms and families were allowed to do so, with their own personal weapons & horses, if they asserted that they were necessary. All did. No prisoners ended up being taken. CSA President Davis was captured a few days latter a bit further west...but the Confederate gold from the treasury was never recovered.
Grant, of course, went on to become the President of the USA. Lee went on to found Washington & Lee College (now University) and was it's first President, until his death. US President Lincoln was assassinated less than a week after Lee's surrender by an actor, and CSA President Davis was hanged shortly thereafter. When Grant was nominated for President of the USA in 1868, he refused to run a campaign because he abhorred politics. But Lee campaigned gentilly for him in the south. Grant won the election.
As US Grant wrote his personal memoirs he knew he was dying, of cancer. Mark Twain convinced him to do it, to insure his wife Julia would be able to live comfortably after his death, since he was not entitled to any gov't pension back then. And Twain set up his own publishing house to ensure that his widow would not be swindled out of her proceeds from the books publication. His doctors marveled at his still being alive at the end, saying that it was only his willpower to complete the book that was keeping him alive. His last chapter, the conclusion, is a masterpiece of astute perception of America's future and it's place in the world. He knew what his Personal Memoirs were really about. It wasn't about him. He finished it late one night, by a candlelight lantern. A few mornings later he never woke up. He was dead.
Later, as Mark Twain was preparing the manuscript for publication, he noted that the only thing missing was a Forward, at the beginning of the Memoirs. He wrote it himself, and signed it. He said he wanted to make sure that nobody could assert that Grant claimed credit for something that somebody else had actually written. Even after Grant's death. He gave Julia an advance of $200,000 (about US$10 million in today's currency) for the manuscript the day he came out to pick up the hand written copy just after Grant died. Julia never had cash flow problems for the rest of her life.
I was motivated to read Grant's Personal Memoirs by a 2016 biography of US Grant by Ron White. But even before reading White's book, I had a suspicion that the narrative about Grant was a false one. I was already fully aware of his military history, and the times they were in.
I was fortunate enough to get one of the original editions of this book out of the library, from 1886. A veritable gem of a book. It was falling apart, but it was the writers own words, not 'updated' by a modern editor trying to impose his own narrative under the guise of "making it more understandable for the modern reader". The narrative from the the first half of the last century was that Gen'l Grant was a drunken, ignorant, butcher. Yes, he was Commander of all the Union Forces that won the American Civil War, but not polished like Gen'l Lee or Napoleon, not suave & dashing like Gen'l Stonewaii Jackson or MacArthur. Just a butcher, winning battles & campaigns by throwing more troops at the enemy 'til he ground the enemy down. That narrative was put together by writers well after his death, and the deaths (of old age) of most of the troops (and other grateful fans) who served under him. Mark Twain published the book, but said all the words & editing were done by Grant himself, assisted only by a former military staff secretary. Nobody who writes this clearly, with this degree of perception & accuracy, can ever be accused of being ignorant.
In the first part of the war, in the west, his forces were often outnumbered and outgunned. And his Confederate opposition was usually dug in as being the defenders. The rule of thumb, back then as well as now, is that attackers need 3-1 odds to defeat a well dug in opponent on the defensive. He often didn't win his campaigns quickly, but eventually, through brilliant use of good old fire & maneuver tactics, he found a week spot in the enemies defense, and accepted their 'Unconditional surrender'. Since most Confederate strong points were on rivers or port cities, he needed cooperation from the US Navy. He won their respect and support, and effectively overcame the inter-service rivalry that has always existed, and continues to bedevil the military effectiveness of most all nations to this day.
Once transferred to Washington, DC to take command of all the US forces, he still had command and responsibility for all the west as well as all the other theaters of the war. But he made his own field tent his office, and kept it with the Army of the Potomac, often less than a mile from the Confederate front line. He used the new invention, the telegraph, to keep in touch with Washington and all his other commands all over the continent. He was a huge fan of new technology his whole life, and was always quick to adapt it in his pursuit of victory in the field of battle. His attitude towards politics was very much the opposite. He abhorred it.
Once he was in the Eastern Theater, facing Gen'l Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, he knew how Lee would fight. And he knew that the other Union Generals (many of whom were political appointees, without formal military training) would not fight him, because they could not win. Gen'l Lee was so widely respected and admired as the best Military officer in the USA at the time, that US President Abe Lincoln had offered him command of all the US Forces when the rebellion had started. Unfortunately for the US Gov't, he decided to fight for his home state of Virginia. Once he was settled in, a stones throw from Washington, DC, no Union forces were able to budge him for the next three years. Washington was always threatened by an attack at any moment, and although outnumbered by vastly superior forces, Lee could, and did, invade the north almost at will. By necessity a defensive general, it would be easy to argue that he was the most effective and successful defensive strategic genius that America has ever produced. And he understood politics well enough that he knew full well that all he had to do was hold on long enough for the North to get tired of all the fighting, and the politicians of the North would negotiate peace, and recognize the independence of the Confederate States of America as a separate country. And slavery would continue in the south.
All the Union Generals that went up against Lee were defeated, until Gen'l Grant got there.
And all Lee had to do was wait him out until the next election.
Grant knew he had a good army, well supplied and a willingness to fight, but his senior officers were terrified of Lee, and would flee back to the safety of the forts surrounding Washington after their first clash with Lee, which always was a defeat for the Union. Which seems to be why Grant kept his headquarters within sight of the front lines. So he could keep an eye on his own senior officers.
Less than a month after taking charge, Grant took his army around Lee's right flank, through The Wilderness, and by the next morning, Lee was on him. Three days of brutal fighting, but Grant's Army held their line. Grant didn't win, but neither did Lee. Any other Union Gen'l would have retreated, but Grant went around Lee's right flank again, heading south towards Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Lee moved his army also, blocking Grant within the day at Spotsylvania.
Three more days of bloody, vicious battles. Lee had made it clear that Grant couldn't go through him. Grant let his army rest a bit, resupply as necessary, and a week latter, maneuvered his army around Lee's right flank again, towards Richmond. He knew by this point that only total war would win this war for preserving the Union.
Reporters for the northern newspapers asked him what he intended to do. "I will fight it out on this line all year if I have too." The newspapers cheered! It ended up taking into the following year.
After many more battles, Lee had to retreat back to his defenses surrounding Richmond. He had planned this as a contingency, and he had defense in depth already built that could keep Grant's army at bay indefinitely. Grant threw attack after attack at Lee's entrenchments, losing thousands of men, and getting nowhere. The northern newspapers called him a butcher. But Lincoln got re-elected. The war to preserve the Union would go on.
Grant, as Commander of all the Union forces, unleashed total war on the rest of the Confederacy, basically all the areas that had not been subdued yet. Sherman took Atlanta, destroying it's industrial base, then marched to the sea through Georgia, cutting a 60 mile wide swathe through the heart of the Confederacy, destroying the agricultural production of the south. Now the south could no longer feed itself, not even it's armies. And then winter came, and the fighting slowed down a bit until Spring would come again.
In the Spring of 1865, Lee's army in Richmond, depleted and starved, and the Gov't of the Confederacy knew they could not fight Grant, but they refused to give up. They were waiting for a political solution, if only Great Britain, the superpower of the day, would recognize their sovereignty... their attaches at St. James Court were reporting positive negotiations. On Easter Sunday, during the church service at St. Marks Episcopal Cathedral in Richmond, the Bishop interrupted his sermon to announce that Grant's army was attacking the lines south of Richmond, had broken through, and could not be stopped. All CSA officers, troops, and gov't officials must go immediately. Gen'l Lee and President Davis moved quickly.
Richmond could not be saved, the Gov't and Lee's army must flee. If they could break out and marry up with the other surviving armies of the Confederacy, maybe they could hold on long enough for the political salvation. Lee ordered a distracting attack towards the north, and the rest of his army and the gov't escaped to the west. Grant, expecting this, was in immediate pursuit as soon as he figured out their direction.
For the next 5 days, Grant was trying to get in front of Lee, but Lee was traveling light in territory he knew well, and he was able to stay ahead of Grant's forces. Grant's cavalry screen captured a telegram directing Lee's supply trains to Appomatox Station, and wait there to resupply Lee's starving army. Grant directed his forces to concentrate there.
When Lee's army got to Appomatox Courthouse, they found that Grant's cavalry had already captured the trains at the station, and when Lees troops attacked, the Union troops fought them off long enough to burn one train, and move the rest out of reach of Lee's troops. Lee was surrounded.
Grant, with a very small staff, rode through Lee's army in the dark of night to be in front of Lee, to deliver a message at dawn the next morning requesting his surrender "to avoid any further bloodletting". Lee responded asking for conditions. Grant's reply. Unconditional surrender was his only option. But he gave his personal word that lenient treatment would be extended to all the troops and officers of the Army of Northern Virginia. He knew they had to go home to plant their crops, or the south would starve for another year. He wanted no more death.
Lee surrendered on April 9. All his troops and officers that vowed to go home to their farms and families were allowed to do so, with their own personal weapons & horses, if they asserted that they were necessary. All did. No prisoners ended up being taken. CSA President Davis was captured a few days latter a bit further west...but the Confederate gold from the treasury was never recovered.
Grant, of course, went on to become the President of the USA. Lee went on to found Washington & Lee College (now University) and was it's first President, until his death. US President Lincoln was assassinated less than a week after Lee's surrender by an actor, and CSA President Davis was hanged shortly thereafter. When Grant was nominated for President of the USA in 1868, he refused to run a campaign because he abhorred politics. But Lee campaigned gentilly for him in the south. Grant won the election.
As US Grant wrote his personal memoirs he knew he was dying, of cancer. Mark Twain convinced him to do it, to insure his wife Julia would be able to live comfortably after his death, since he was not entitled to any gov't pension back then. And Twain set up his own publishing house to ensure that his widow would not be swindled out of her proceeds from the books publication. His doctors marveled at his still being alive at the end, saying that it was only his willpower to complete the book that was keeping him alive. His last chapter, the conclusion, is a masterpiece of astute perception of America's future and it's place in the world. He knew what his Personal Memoirs were really about. It wasn't about him. He finished it late one night, by a candlelight lantern. A few mornings later he never woke up. He was dead.
Later, as Mark Twain was preparing the manuscript for publication, he noted that the only thing missing was a Forward, at the beginning of the Memoirs. He wrote it himself, and signed it. He said he wanted to make sure that nobody could assert that Grant claimed credit for something that somebody else had actually written. Even after Grant's death. He gave Julia an advance of $200,000 (about US$10 million in today's currency) for the manuscript the day he came out to pick up the hand written copy just after Grant died. Julia never had cash flow problems for the rest of her life.
I was motivated to read Grant's Personal Memoirs by a 2016 biography of US Grant by Ron White. But even before reading White's book, I had a suspicion that the narrative about Grant was a false one. I was already fully aware of his military history, and the times they were in.
Currently reading
September 26, 2021
"At this juncture the editor of the Century Magazine asked me to write a few articles for him. I consented for the money it gave me; for at that moment I was living upon borrowed money."
I could not believe it, but he had to write his Memories for the money. At that time, age 62, it seems, he was penniless. (After so much work for the Republic, ...)
February 11, 2022
For anyone who has an interest of the American Civil War, U.S. Grant’s Memoirs is a must read. Recollections of his boyhood are sparse yet revealing as he describes his “horse trading skills” as well as his unhappiness when his father insisted that he attend the United States Military Academy where he studied and socialized with many of the future officers he would lead and fight during the rebellion of 1861-65 graduating in 1843.
Grant explains his role in the war with Mexico (1846-48); his marriage to a classmate’s sister, Julia Dent (1848); his disenchantment with a military career; and his struggles as a civilian in Galena, Illinois before the Civil War began in 1861. The memoir really picks up as Grant begins service as a Colonel when war broke out as he shares his thoughts and actions commanding northern troops, comments on other military leaders of that era, and occasionally imparts some military axioms that every leader should live by.
Unfortunately, the early death of our 18th President (1885) prevented any opportunity for the cancer ridden General to describe his post war actions which would have certainly been illuminating. Reading the memoirs of U.S. Grant shows the reader his drive, his fears, his intellect, and his courage as he maintains his humanity and his belief in the Constitution and the United States.
Grant describes his first meeting with Robert E. Lee which particularly paints a picture of the man: “General Lee was dressed in full uniform which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value, very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia; at all events, it was an entirely different sword from the one that would ordinarily be worn in the field. In my rough traveling suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high and of faultless form. But that was not a matter that I thought of until afterwards.” Humble and without pretense, underestimated by friends and foe, Grant rises to the very highest echelons of the greatest military commanders in history. As President Lincoln said, “He fights”.
Grant explains his role in the war with Mexico (1846-48); his marriage to a classmate’s sister, Julia Dent (1848); his disenchantment with a military career; and his struggles as a civilian in Galena, Illinois before the Civil War began in 1861. The memoir really picks up as Grant begins service as a Colonel when war broke out as he shares his thoughts and actions commanding northern troops, comments on other military leaders of that era, and occasionally imparts some military axioms that every leader should live by.
Unfortunately, the early death of our 18th President (1885) prevented any opportunity for the cancer ridden General to describe his post war actions which would have certainly been illuminating. Reading the memoirs of U.S. Grant shows the reader his drive, his fears, his intellect, and his courage as he maintains his humanity and his belief in the Constitution and the United States.
Grant describes his first meeting with Robert E. Lee which particularly paints a picture of the man: “General Lee was dressed in full uniform which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value, very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia; at all events, it was an entirely different sword from the one that would ordinarily be worn in the field. In my rough traveling suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high and of faultless form. But that was not a matter that I thought of until afterwards.” Humble and without pretense, underestimated by friends and foe, Grant rises to the very highest echelons of the greatest military commanders in history. As President Lincoln said, “He fights”.
November 24, 2025
I waived the white flag and returned it to the library at the end of Mexican/American War. A lot of good stuff and I’m glad it’s available for history scholars and such. But too ambitious for me.
April 19, 2021
Not sure why it took me so long to get to U.S. Grant's memoirs. This first volume briefly covers his life up through the Mexican War and just before he is going to be called to lead the the full Union Army in the Eastern Theater. I have read a lot about Grant so there wasn't much new here but it was interesting to read it from in his writing style and to see where historians found a lot of their biographical information.
November 30, 2025
A little wordy at times
February 19, 2020
Slow going, but educational. Fans of David Weber will be up to the challenge.
So interesting to read about the Mexican War. We hardly covered it in school. Also fascinating to realize that many of the officers who fought side-by-side in the Mexican War ended up fighting on opposite sides in the Civil War (or "the war of the rebellion," as Grant called it.)
He writes, "The natural disposition of most people is to clothe a commander of a large army whom they do not know, with almost superhuman abilities. A large part of the National army, for instance, and most of the press of the country, clothed General Lee with just such qualities, but I had known him personally, and knew that he was mortal; and it was just as well that I felt this." -Chapter XIV
My favorite quotes: "I am not aware of ever having used a profane expletive in my life; but I would have the charity to excuse those who may have done so, if they were in charge of a train of Mexican pack mules at the time." -Chapter VII
and,
"I was regimental quartermaster and commissary. General Scott had been unable to get clothing for the troops from the North. The men were becoming-well, they needed clothing." -Chapter XIII
(Directly after this Grant goes into an explanation of how he baked bread to give to the soldiers instead of flour so as to save month for the regimental fund, which was then used to pay the musicians in the regimental bands! As a musician I love this detail.)
Another quote of interest: "It was evident to my mind that the election of a Republican President in 1856 meant the secession of all the Slave States, and rebellion." He feared the southern states would not tolerate a president from the Republicans, the party who favored abolition. He was right and four years later Lincoln was elected, starting the whole chain of events leading to the Civil War.
I was shocked to see the term "white trash" in the text, having always assumed it was a more modern term. "Under the old régime [the poor Southern non-slave owners] were looked down upon by those who controlled all the affairs in the interest of slave owners, as poor white trash who were allowed the ballot so long as they cast it according to direction."-Chapter XVI
Grant did not seem to hold a very high opinion of the press: "Correspondents of the press were ever on hand to hear every word dropped, and were not always disposed to report correctly what did not confirm their preconceived notions, either about the conduct of the war of the individuals concerned in it." -Chapter XXV
I learned a new term: Quaker guns, which are apparently "logs of about the diameter of ordinary cannon, mounted on wheels of wagons and pointed in the most threatening manner towards us." -Chapter XXVI
On to Volume II!
So interesting to read about the Mexican War. We hardly covered it in school. Also fascinating to realize that many of the officers who fought side-by-side in the Mexican War ended up fighting on opposite sides in the Civil War (or "the war of the rebellion," as Grant called it.)
He writes, "The natural disposition of most people is to clothe a commander of a large army whom they do not know, with almost superhuman abilities. A large part of the National army, for instance, and most of the press of the country, clothed General Lee with just such qualities, but I had known him personally, and knew that he was mortal; and it was just as well that I felt this." -Chapter XIV
My favorite quotes: "I am not aware of ever having used a profane expletive in my life; but I would have the charity to excuse those who may have done so, if they were in charge of a train of Mexican pack mules at the time." -Chapter VII
and,
"I was regimental quartermaster and commissary. General Scott had been unable to get clothing for the troops from the North. The men were becoming-well, they needed clothing." -Chapter XIII
(Directly after this Grant goes into an explanation of how he baked bread to give to the soldiers instead of flour so as to save month for the regimental fund, which was then used to pay the musicians in the regimental bands! As a musician I love this detail.)
Another quote of interest: "It was evident to my mind that the election of a Republican President in 1856 meant the secession of all the Slave States, and rebellion." He feared the southern states would not tolerate a president from the Republicans, the party who favored abolition. He was right and four years later Lincoln was elected, starting the whole chain of events leading to the Civil War.
I was shocked to see the term "white trash" in the text, having always assumed it was a more modern term. "Under the old régime [the poor Southern non-slave owners] were looked down upon by those who controlled all the affairs in the interest of slave owners, as poor white trash who were allowed the ballot so long as they cast it according to direction."-Chapter XVI
Grant did not seem to hold a very high opinion of the press: "Correspondents of the press were ever on hand to hear every word dropped, and were not always disposed to report correctly what did not confirm their preconceived notions, either about the conduct of the war of the individuals concerned in it." -Chapter XXV
I learned a new term: Quaker guns, which are apparently "logs of about the diameter of ordinary cannon, mounted on wheels of wagons and pointed in the most threatening manner towards us." -Chapter XXVI
On to Volume II!
March 11, 2017
To hear a tale of the "Rebellion" again the Nation is like nothing I have read. First, it is written as a series of chapters that chronicle the campaigns of the war, which grow a little mundane, but some standouts are siege of Vicksburg, Atlanta, and of course Richmond. The insight into Grant's thought process for determining strategy and dealing with the powers that be is just wonderful for someone, like myself, who is new to the role of leadership and management.
There is a humanity about Grant's observations. I assesses the fighters and the strategist of both sides, of men gallant and brave during of time of such sorrow. You feel his pain for the war, its unjust reasoning, and of the pain caused. The loss of Lincoln and the rise of Johnson is both sad and
harrowing.
I would love to know how he sounded. So solid is his center of self and regard for others he holds in esteem. Brave and commanding: "One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go any where, or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop until the thing intended was accomplished."
I want to know more about Grant after reading Vol 1, 2, and 3 (they were all part of one book). Read the appendix for his final report to Sec. of War. Being such a part of history is amazing to me.
There is a humanity about Grant's observations. I assesses the fighters and the strategist of both sides, of men gallant and brave during of time of such sorrow. You feel his pain for the war, its unjust reasoning, and of the pain caused. The loss of Lincoln and the rise of Johnson is both sad and
harrowing.
I would love to know how he sounded. So solid is his center of self and regard for others he holds in esteem. Brave and commanding: "One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go any where, or to do anything, not to turn back, or stop until the thing intended was accomplished."
I want to know more about Grant after reading Vol 1, 2, and 3 (they were all part of one book). Read the appendix for his final report to Sec. of War. Being such a part of history is amazing to me.
December 19, 2013
Interesting from a historic standpoint
The personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant Volume 1 is very much an insightful look at Grant 's rise to prominence. His ability to strategize despite how unorthodox it may have been during the war and his enduring loyalty to the Union are immense factors to his meteoric rise in the army. There are groves of personal information about Grant's upbringing that I find incredibly interesting and essential to understanding his character. This memoir, his first, mostly elaborates on the multiple battles that took place in the western half of the United States until it ends with the capitulation of Vicksburg in 1863. I am not much of an armchair general and do not find the plans and multiple tactics that Grant describes in such great length, roughly more than two-thirds of the book, to be completely fascinating; I find it a bit cumbersome if anything. Overall, this work is a treasure for those who are remotely interested in the American Civil war in general or captivated by a great American historical figure that truly believed in the cause of the Union.
The personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant Volume 1 is very much an insightful look at Grant 's rise to prominence. His ability to strategize despite how unorthodox it may have been during the war and his enduring loyalty to the Union are immense factors to his meteoric rise in the army. There are groves of personal information about Grant's upbringing that I find incredibly interesting and essential to understanding his character. This memoir, his first, mostly elaborates on the multiple battles that took place in the western half of the United States until it ends with the capitulation of Vicksburg in 1863. I am not much of an armchair general and do not find the plans and multiple tactics that Grant describes in such great length, roughly more than two-thirds of the book, to be completely fascinating; I find it a bit cumbersome if anything. Overall, this work is a treasure for those who are remotely interested in the American Civil war in general or captivated by a great American historical figure that truly believed in the cause of the Union.
February 9, 2011
Having read a bit about the Civil War, what I found most appealing about Grant's memoir was simply the fact that it is a memoIr. It gives you his view of things. You would think with his central role in the war that it would be a grand view, but it is his very personal view. He took his thirteen year-old son with him. And so on. It is hard to imagine that conditions of life [even in war] were so different so recently. Grant gets into all sorts of scrapes simply bcause orders don't arrive etc. It is easy to get lost in some of the details, but if you keep your eye on the personal, and Grant is very personal at times, it is a very absorbing book.
January 29, 2019
The finest autobiography I've ever written, Grant's memoirs combine lucid style, simplicity of language and fascinating subject matter to produce a reading experience both comfortable and rewarding. Fear not, fiction lovers! You can read this, too!
November 12, 2021
Since I've fought two wars as an enlisted soldier, it is interesting to see war from an officer's perspective. Grant is truly inspiring by what he did, and how he overcame opposition and setbacks.
November 26, 2025
Look, sometimes you're trapped in a car for 14 hours and you have to concede to listen to some audiobooks outside your comfort zone. And this is a shockingly not terrible thing to be subjected to, when you must traverse a significant chunk of the midwest. Grant is an enjoyable storyteller with a dry sense of humor and self-deprecating commentary, and although I know more about the civil war than I ever really needed to, it was a nice listen with a good narrator. My fellow fantasy devotees, give the Union hero a chance; he will surprise you.
June 1, 2025
One of the best autobiography’s I have ever read. Very informative and entertaining!
February 10, 2020
This may be one of the best memoirs that I have read, and I'm only 1/3 through it. Maybe because of who he was, but also because not everyone had written one. Ulysses S. Grants gives us first hand insight to his life and career along with the politics of the time. Well written.
September 22, 2024
History, written by a man who greatly affected that history (Vol 1 & 2)
I bought U. S. Grant’s autobiography even though I had already read Ron Chernow’s biography of U. S. Grant (simply titled “Grant”). As Chernow’s book was excellent (I gave it 5 stars), why did I read a second biography about the very same person? Two reasons:
[1] From Chernow’s book, I learned the Grant wrote his autography at the encouragement of Mark Twain and with the purpose of providing an income for his wife (as Grant was by then deathly ill and died shortly after the book’s completion).
[2] Grant’s autobiography may not be as objective as a researched biography on Grant, but it is far superior for learning what motivated Grant and what Grant thought about some of the people, politics and events during that historic period of time.
Before I started reading this book, my biggest concern was that the writing might a bit too archaic to be readable in 2024. But that turned out to not be a problem.
Grant’s autobiography covers 5 main subjects, but with greatly different levels of detail:
[1] Grant’s early life (briefly)
[2] Grant’s military experience in the war with Mexico (15-20% of the book)
[3] Grant’s time between the war with Mexico and the Civil War (very briefly)
[4] Grant’s military experience in the Civil War (70-75% of the book)
[5] Grant’s reflections on post-Civil War America (very briefly)
This isn’t the book to read if your purpose is to learn about key military actions whose outcomes affected significant Civil War battles. But you do learn about Grant’s views on tactics, strategies, the character and qualities (or shortcomings) of military commanders (both Federal and Confederate) or how a particular battle was progressing (or not). And this was what I expected from this book.
As for generalship, commanders can’t plan to initiate a battle if they can’t move their troops to where they need them. So railroads, rivers (and bridges over those rivers) and the quality of roadways (muddy or dry, wide or narrow, visible to the enemy or hidden from the enemy, etc) were often key factors. And to feed the troops, do your troops transport all their provisions with them or do they live off the land? But regardless of that choice, you only have the ammunition that you take with you (usually).
The main problem with this book is that Grant’s descriptions of the fighting and of tactical troop movements required the reader to have a fairly detailed knowledge of the location of nearby towns and rivers as well as of the geography in the general area. Without that knowledge, the reader can not follow the action well. So I could not follow the action well; but having read about many of these Civil War battles already, I was more interested in how Grant was viewing the progress of the battle than of the battle itself. But others may not be as okay with that as I was. Or, better, they may be more knowledgeable than I am.
Bottom Line: A rare opportunity to view history through one of its major participants.
I bought U. S. Grant’s autobiography even though I had already read Ron Chernow’s biography of U. S. Grant (simply titled “Grant”). As Chernow’s book was excellent (I gave it 5 stars), why did I read a second biography about the very same person? Two reasons:
[1] From Chernow’s book, I learned the Grant wrote his autography at the encouragement of Mark Twain and with the purpose of providing an income for his wife (as Grant was by then deathly ill and died shortly after the book’s completion).
[2] Grant’s autobiography may not be as objective as a researched biography on Grant, but it is far superior for learning what motivated Grant and what Grant thought about some of the people, politics and events during that historic period of time.
Before I started reading this book, my biggest concern was that the writing might a bit too archaic to be readable in 2024. But that turned out to not be a problem.
Grant’s autobiography covers 5 main subjects, but with greatly different levels of detail:
[1] Grant’s early life (briefly)
[2] Grant’s military experience in the war with Mexico (15-20% of the book)
[3] Grant’s time between the war with Mexico and the Civil War (very briefly)
[4] Grant’s military experience in the Civil War (70-75% of the book)
[5] Grant’s reflections on post-Civil War America (very briefly)
This isn’t the book to read if your purpose is to learn about key military actions whose outcomes affected significant Civil War battles. But you do learn about Grant’s views on tactics, strategies, the character and qualities (or shortcomings) of military commanders (both Federal and Confederate) or how a particular battle was progressing (or not). And this was what I expected from this book.
As for generalship, commanders can’t plan to initiate a battle if they can’t move their troops to where they need them. So railroads, rivers (and bridges over those rivers) and the quality of roadways (muddy or dry, wide or narrow, visible to the enemy or hidden from the enemy, etc) were often key factors. And to feed the troops, do your troops transport all their provisions with them or do they live off the land? But regardless of that choice, you only have the ammunition that you take with you (usually).
The main problem with this book is that Grant’s descriptions of the fighting and of tactical troop movements required the reader to have a fairly detailed knowledge of the location of nearby towns and rivers as well as of the geography in the general area. Without that knowledge, the reader can not follow the action well. So I could not follow the action well; but having read about many of these Civil War battles already, I was more interested in how Grant was viewing the progress of the battle than of the battle itself. But others may not be as okay with that as I was. Or, better, they may be more knowledgeable than I am.
Bottom Line: A rare opportunity to view history through one of its major participants.
December 3, 2016
Who is Ulysses S. Grant? Isn’t he that President from long ago who is viewed by those fortunate enough to continuously carry the $50 bill? Or that butt of a joke, ‘Who is buried in Grant’s tomb’? Students of history know him for other reasons, almost all centered on the American Civil War. For those who know little of Grant a must read is Grant’s own memoirs of this life from birth through the end of what Grant himself called the War of Rebellion.
The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant begin by chronicling his early life. We find that he was raised as an independent, analytical individual not enamored with schooling and adept at horsemanship. His appointment to West Point was by chance. An average student who excelled in math, his goals were anything but lofty, hoping some day to return to West Point as a math instructor. His professional crucible was the Mexican War. Although personally opposing it as an act of unprovoked imperialism on the part of the United States, Grant acquitted himself well. Eventually opting to return to civilian life after the war, he did not hesitate to volunteer for the Union cause once the Civil War commenced.
Grant discusses in detail every campaign he was involved with, which is tedious at times, but also fascinating. One is struck by the thousands of decisions he had to make, each which involved increasingly high stakes with respect to lives put at risk the ultimate impact these decisions might have on the outcome of the war. The reader also learns how tenuous the Union army’s ultimate success was during the entire Vicksburg Campaign, Sherman’s march through the heart of the Confederacy, and Grant’s prosecution of the final campaign against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during the last year of the war.
There are several important take aways from this exquisite work. Grant wrote at the very end of his life while he was suffering from throat cancer. If there is a handful of words that describe this man they would be integrity, character, tactical and strategic brilliance, pragmatic, aggressive realistic, brave, and humble. Grant also displayed a wry sense of humor. Until Grant took command of the northern armies in the east, the military outcome and therefore the political outcome of the war remained unknown. In Grant Lincoln found the general who would bring Union victory.
Grant detested the rebellion and all it stood for, including the preservation of slavery. Yet in victory he was magnanimous. He sought to preserve the pride of the vanquished Confederate armies by praising their courage while condemning their cause. He believed in the Union and the dignity of all people, regardless of color and he never wavered. More than anything else Grant’s final act, these memoirs, has cemented his place in our history
The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant begin by chronicling his early life. We find that he was raised as an independent, analytical individual not enamored with schooling and adept at horsemanship. His appointment to West Point was by chance. An average student who excelled in math, his goals were anything but lofty, hoping some day to return to West Point as a math instructor. His professional crucible was the Mexican War. Although personally opposing it as an act of unprovoked imperialism on the part of the United States, Grant acquitted himself well. Eventually opting to return to civilian life after the war, he did not hesitate to volunteer for the Union cause once the Civil War commenced.
Grant discusses in detail every campaign he was involved with, which is tedious at times, but also fascinating. One is struck by the thousands of decisions he had to make, each which involved increasingly high stakes with respect to lives put at risk the ultimate impact these decisions might have on the outcome of the war. The reader also learns how tenuous the Union army’s ultimate success was during the entire Vicksburg Campaign, Sherman’s march through the heart of the Confederacy, and Grant’s prosecution of the final campaign against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during the last year of the war.
There are several important take aways from this exquisite work. Grant wrote at the very end of his life while he was suffering from throat cancer. If there is a handful of words that describe this man they would be integrity, character, tactical and strategic brilliance, pragmatic, aggressive realistic, brave, and humble. Grant also displayed a wry sense of humor. Until Grant took command of the northern armies in the east, the military outcome and therefore the political outcome of the war remained unknown. In Grant Lincoln found the general who would bring Union victory.
Grant detested the rebellion and all it stood for, including the preservation of slavery. Yet in victory he was magnanimous. He sought to preserve the pride of the vanquished Confederate armies by praising their courage while condemning their cause. He believed in the Union and the dignity of all people, regardless of color and he never wavered. More than anything else Grant’s final act, these memoirs, has cemented his place in our history
December 27, 2020
“Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant” is essential reading for anybody interested in United States History in general or American Presidents or the Civil War. President Grant’s memoirs were published in two volumes, presumably to generate more profit for Mrs. Grant. He penned this work at the strong suggestion of Mark Twain while suffering from the throat cancer that would take his life. He had lost a considerable portion of his life savings in trying to help his son salvage his investment business caused by the criminal deceit of his business partner. Sad story, happy ending: the two-volume memoirs were a financial success allowing his beloved wife Julia to live out her life free from financial anxiety. Volume I ends with the capture of Vicksburg. I believe Volume II takes up where VI ends and extends through Appomattox.
Written in the ‘good old days’ before political correctness and several years after the war’s end its biases and agendas are limited. The General is forth coming with praise of valor, performance, and honor—it’s not effusive but seems genuine. He is more obtuse with the buffoonery, cowardice, self-agendas, calumny, and perfidy of those deserving. He defends his actions where he felt he was unduly criticized also in a straightforward manner that mitigates a feeling of being overly defensive or sensitive. He is clearly not of ‘the establishment’ but is successful because of prodigious talent, President Lincoln and various Generals under his command (Sherman and McPherson et al.) General Grant is one of those historical figures who is just right for their time. In my opinion Mr. Grant’s legacy is woefully underrated—The Establishment lives on and on and on.
His command of language is straightforward and impressive. His wit can be dry and sharp in places. For example in describing Generals Taylor and Scott in the Mexican War: Taylor wearing ordinary clothes whereas Scott wore all the uniform allowed by law (I paraphrase.) He does not hesitate to condemn the Southern cause but is respectful of her Generals, officers, and men when appropriate. What a man!!!
On to Volume II, will keep you posted.
Written in the ‘good old days’ before political correctness and several years after the war’s end its biases and agendas are limited. The General is forth coming with praise of valor, performance, and honor—it’s not effusive but seems genuine. He is more obtuse with the buffoonery, cowardice, self-agendas, calumny, and perfidy of those deserving. He defends his actions where he felt he was unduly criticized also in a straightforward manner that mitigates a feeling of being overly defensive or sensitive. He is clearly not of ‘the establishment’ but is successful because of prodigious talent, President Lincoln and various Generals under his command (Sherman and McPherson et al.) General Grant is one of those historical figures who is just right for their time. In my opinion Mr. Grant’s legacy is woefully underrated—The Establishment lives on and on and on.
His command of language is straightforward and impressive. His wit can be dry and sharp in places. For example in describing Generals Taylor and Scott in the Mexican War: Taylor wearing ordinary clothes whereas Scott wore all the uniform allowed by law (I paraphrase.) He does not hesitate to condemn the Southern cause but is respectful of her Generals, officers, and men when appropriate. What a man!!!
On to Volume II, will keep you posted.
October 14, 2015
I read Volumes I and II mostly from the "Project Gutenberg" Kindle version with images. The images provided maps of key battles that Grant participated in or commanded; however, the images using Kindle could not be enlarged. I also bought an original 1885 edition of Grant's memoirs which contains the same maps, in addition there are "life size" facsimiles of hand written terms of surrender for Fort Donaldson and later the surrender of Robert E. Lee.
Volume 1 covers Grant years leading up to West Point and service in several locations before he resigns from the Army and lives a civilian life albeit not very successfully. He then rejoins the US Army at the beginning of the "Rebellion". Volume 1 ends after Grant's key Union victory at Vicksburg. Interesting insights are provided regarding his relationships between the Generals he encountered on both sides and how he fought with them during the American-Mexican war - including Robert E. Lee.
Volume II contains Grant's own account of the battles he fought in and later commanded, his frustrations with some of his Generals and especially with some the bureaucrats in Washington and his special relationship with Abraham Lincoln. He includes some fascinating anecdotes related to President Lincoln and some of his Generals. Grant's account of General Sherman's march to the sea and how it fit into the strategy of bringing the war to a close was quite enlightening.
It's hard to comprehend a war fought on US soil that left over 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead. It was not unusual for either side to have lost 5000 men in the course of an hour or two. The high price paid in blood to end slavery and to keep our nation whole should never be forgotten.
Volume 1 covers Grant years leading up to West Point and service in several locations before he resigns from the Army and lives a civilian life albeit not very successfully. He then rejoins the US Army at the beginning of the "Rebellion". Volume 1 ends after Grant's key Union victory at Vicksburg. Interesting insights are provided regarding his relationships between the Generals he encountered on both sides and how he fought with them during the American-Mexican war - including Robert E. Lee.
Volume II contains Grant's own account of the battles he fought in and later commanded, his frustrations with some of his Generals and especially with some the bureaucrats in Washington and his special relationship with Abraham Lincoln. He includes some fascinating anecdotes related to President Lincoln and some of his Generals. Grant's account of General Sherman's march to the sea and how it fit into the strategy of bringing the war to a close was quite enlightening.
It's hard to comprehend a war fought on US soil that left over 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead. It was not unusual for either side to have lost 5000 men in the course of an hour or two. The high price paid in blood to end slavery and to keep our nation whole should never be forgotten.
March 11, 2019
It pains me to give U.S. Grant's memoirs only two stars but I really can't stretch it to three. As a historical document it can't be beat and should be in everyone's library, especially U.S. history buffs. I think I qualify in that category but it is very difficult to read this for pleasure. I have always found histories of the Mexican War pretty dry and confusing and this was no exception especially since Grant did not play a senior role in the execution of the war. But he performed his duties well during the Mexican war and when the Civil War came around he was well enough thought of to be given increasingly responsible positions and eventually to run the whole war effort. But his recounting of the battles he fought was extremely tedious especially the sieges he ordered of Vicksburg and Richmond. Day-by-day digging of intrenchments, moving troops from here to there, across rivers, changing commanders, bringing up supply lines, etc., were mind numbing and repetitive. Also, since these are his memoirs and were completed only days before he passed away I thought they included his presidency. They don't, which means I will have to read Ron Chernow's book which I had hoped I could avoid. And I don't mean to belittle his accomplishments in all that I've written. Nor do I wish to denigrate the great Ron Chernow or others who have written books about Grant. U.S. Grant is one of the great American stories about ordinary Americans whose past does not indicate greatness but who rise to the occasion when his country needs him, or her, the most to do great things. His is a truly American success story that every American should read and be thankful that these heroes exist.
July 27, 2016
I just finished reading this incredible book today. I have been a Civil War buff for a long time since high school. I started it 6 weeks ago or so and tried to read a chapter a day. It is not a book to just sit down and read for hours. The horror of war starts quickly with Grant's service in the War with Mexico. The first few chapters about his childhood and West Point breeze along until war rears its ugly head. He is a masterful writer. Even describing carnage and awful suffering his descriptive prose is so engaging, you do not want to put it down. I did not want it to end even after 70 chapters. I loved his blunt honesty about people and his interactions with them. As the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse drew nearer in my reading I could help but think how civil he was and forgiving to the South. The song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" kept running through my head for days in the reading leading up to Lee's surrender. His civility and Lincoln's were seemingly unreal after all the brutality of war he had witnessed. For all his success as a military genius, he clearly did not like war. It is written between every line of this book. He is very humble. He never is boastful or proud. It is all very matter-of-fact, but yet riveting. Just a masterful piece of literature.
November 15, 2016
Ulysses S. Grant's memoir is a pleasure to read. I had just read a Grant biography (by Jean Edward Smith), and so thought that I might as well read Grant's own writings. They came highly recommended, and I think they measure up to that. I had a very high bar for this book after all the praise I had heard, and I think it pretty much hit it. It doesn't go over that bar, but matches it.
Grant has an interesting viewpoint and clearly sets out his life from its beginnings to the end of the Vicksburg campaign in this volume. His exposition of how things went in the Mexican war and his childhood show off Grant's personality well. They are at times a bit self-deprecating, but you always get the sense that Grant is struggling forward.
Grant writes in a clear way, and he has a nice way of using understatement and sly humor to give criticism, and gives credit where credit is due. He is always explaining how Sherman or Porter were of utmost importance in the campaign for Vicksburg, for example. If you have a Civil War interest, I would definitely recommend this book. If you don't, then this is more iffy.
One minor complaint for the edition I read is that it had no maps. It can be difficult to keep battles straight without good maps, and if you can, look at them while Grant is narrating. It really gives you a much clearer understanding.
Grant has an interesting viewpoint and clearly sets out his life from its beginnings to the end of the Vicksburg campaign in this volume. His exposition of how things went in the Mexican war and his childhood show off Grant's personality well. They are at times a bit self-deprecating, but you always get the sense that Grant is struggling forward.
Grant writes in a clear way, and he has a nice way of using understatement and sly humor to give criticism, and gives credit where credit is due. He is always explaining how Sherman or Porter were of utmost importance in the campaign for Vicksburg, for example. If you have a Civil War interest, I would definitely recommend this book. If you don't, then this is more iffy.
One minor complaint for the edition I read is that it had no maps. It can be difficult to keep battles straight without good maps, and if you can, look at them while Grant is narrating. It really gives you a much clearer understanding.
Read
July 18, 2017U. S. Grant was a graduate of West Point and a career soldier at the time of the American invasion of Mexico. He remembered everyone that he knew at that time, and he shares that information with the reader of his memoirs. He retrospectively settles the hash of everyone who crossed his path or crossed him, so to speak, including of course the entire officer corps of the armies fielded by the states in secession and many many Union officers who disappointed him or fell short of his expectations. Eventually, the reader forms the impression of a petty mind at work. These memoirs are long on dates and incidents and remarkably short of insight.
The parts dealing with his military adventures are more rewarding to the reader than the account of his presidency, which is embarrassingly disingenuous.
His judgments are shallow and suspect, although interesting. He seems not to have thought much of Lincoln. What a shame that he didn't learn a thing or two from him.
I give him credit for his understanding of the great divide between the military and the civil government. Not until Dwight David Eisenhower did another American general of distinction display an equal sensitivity.
All in all, I think these volumes are for the devoted student and not the general reader.
The parts dealing with his military adventures are more rewarding to the reader than the account of his presidency, which is embarrassingly disingenuous.
His judgments are shallow and suspect, although interesting. He seems not to have thought much of Lincoln. What a shame that he didn't learn a thing or two from him.
I give him credit for his understanding of the great divide between the military and the civil government. Not until Dwight David Eisenhower did another American general of distinction display an equal sensitivity.
All in all, I think these volumes are for the devoted student and not the general reader.
December 7, 2016
Many authorities believe that this is the greatest memoir ever written by a former US President. The book (both volumes I and II) is not about Grant's presidency, however, but about his experiences in the Civil War, written in Grant's clear and straightforward manner (he was famous for the clarity of his written battle orders). While the descriptions of the troop movements can be rather tedious to someone not particularly interested in military history, Grant's observations about the troops, various generals on both sides, Lincoln, Stanton, the Civil War and its politics, and Reconstruction are well worth reading, as they are not from a professional historian, but from someone who was a major participant. His description of the final days leading to and including Appomattox sent chills down my spine. While presidential memoirs of today tend to be suspect as trying to paint the best picture possible for posterity, Grant appears to have written candidly and with little pretense, which was consistent with his conduct during the war and possibly because he knew he was dying from throat cancer. A must read for students of the Civil War era.
May 20, 2011
A really interesting book. I read the Kindle edition, and the main thing it needs is maps. Grant does an excellent job of explaining troop movements and battles clearly, but I found that going online and looking up maps, especially for the campaigns in the Mexican-American war (which I found I really knew nothing about at all), was a big help. Grant's writing is very simple and direct, and he doesn't spend a lot of time describing battles or skirmishes, but he knows all the commanders on both sides from his time at West Point and in Mexico, and it's very interesting to see how clearly he understands their characters and abilities, and how he uses that knowledge to help him plan troop movements and battles. At one point after Grant wins a battle and is taking the surrender of the confederate officers, one of them says to him, "if I had been in charge I wouldn't have let you and your troops move in the way you did." And Grant says, "If you had been in charge I wouldn't come in that way."
October 31, 2015
Well written and easy to read is the memoir of the Northern United States victorious general who led National troops during the Civil War. The book does contain interesting stories and anecdotes of life during the 1800s, but it mostly covers the general's military rise and experience during the wars of the time. In fact, most of the book is an accounting, including death tolls, of his battles in the Civil War. I would have enjoyed more about life in that time, even more about his own feelings and considerations... but an important book nonetheless, and one worth reading. Volume 2 goes on to close the war and the tone and content remain about the same. It also includes much about other generals and how they fought/led, especially Sherman and his close relationship/alliance with Grant. It's amazing to look back and imagine how this happened on American soil. Hopefully, never again. If you are a leader, there are lessons to learn from Grant's management of others, and if you love this country there is an education within.
January 29, 2016
Finished this while walking Frodo today.
I give this 2.5 stars - it was worth reading and I might reread it, but probably not. Goodreads is quite limiting. Grant is an engaging author - WAY better than I would have expected. And while it is fascinating to read about the Vicksburg Campaign, a lot of it is numbers - this division suffered this many losses, the enemy would have been better served doing this, etc. This takes this memoir down from a 3 to a 2.5.
Reading about some of his early life and his time in Mexico was interesting to me as well. Makes me want to go back to Ulysses Grant:The Man Who Saved the Union again.
Then again, this is a first hand account (I'm going to be reading a few of them. After I finish with Volume 2 [and purchase Volume 2] of Grant, I'll read Longstreet's memoirs and Haskell's account of Gettysburg). and first hand accounts are to hear from those who were there, many of whom are appropriately famous for things other than being authors.
I give this 2.5 stars - it was worth reading and I might reread it, but probably not. Goodreads is quite limiting. Grant is an engaging author - WAY better than I would have expected. And while it is fascinating to read about the Vicksburg Campaign, a lot of it is numbers - this division suffered this many losses, the enemy would have been better served doing this, etc. This takes this memoir down from a 3 to a 2.5.
Reading about some of his early life and his time in Mexico was interesting to me as well. Makes me want to go back to Ulysses Grant:The Man Who Saved the Union again.
Then again, this is a first hand account (I'm going to be reading a few of them. After I finish with Volume 2 [and purchase Volume 2] of Grant, I'll read Longstreet's memoirs and Haskell's account of Gettysburg). and first hand accounts are to hear from those who were there, many of whom are appropriately famous for things other than being authors.
March 19, 2023
3.5 stars
A lot of this was really interesting, although I did find that sometimes he spent more time on the details of troop movements than I liked. This book has especially reminded me that while primary sources are very valuable and interesting, it is also important to read secondary sources. In our personal writings, we often leave out things that make us look...not quite as great... For example, Grant never mentioned some of his problems with drinking -- more or less understandable -- most people wouldn't, but drinking was a part of his story. It is very interesting to get his take on some of the war situations. I wish there was some kind of a "choose your own adventure" way to look at history to see if some of the changes he wanted to see made in the way the war in the West was conducted would have made a difference or not.
Overall, pretty interesting for a history lover.
A lot of this was really interesting, although I did find that sometimes he spent more time on the details of troop movements than I liked. This book has especially reminded me that while primary sources are very valuable and interesting, it is also important to read secondary sources. In our personal writings, we often leave out things that make us look...not quite as great... For example, Grant never mentioned some of his problems with drinking -- more or less understandable -- most people wouldn't, but drinking was a part of his story. It is very interesting to get his take on some of the war situations. I wish there was some kind of a "choose your own adventure" way to look at history to see if some of the changes he wanted to see made in the way the war in the West was conducted would have made a difference or not.
Overall, pretty interesting for a history lover.
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