The Real Truth

[STS Lincolnite]

(01-11-2015 02:35 PM)Wild Bill Wrote:  I do not discount the story of Grant being drunk, particularly at Sartaria up the Yazoo during the siege at Vicksburg, which I assume is different from the Cadwallader affair.

Bill, they are one and the same. I do think that there is a possibility that Grant was drunk on this trip. But for me that is a far cry from him being a drunk. Him being a drunk is not the case - as you said, there is no evidence that his generalship was affected or that he was ever drunk on the field of battle. What is at issue is the extreme, almost fanciful nature of Cadwallader's account of the Yazoo incident because of its impact on the ongoing characterization of Grant being a drunk.

There has been debate based on the evidence whether Grant had been drinking, was suffering one of his severe headaches or was ill on the trip up the Yazoo. He could have been drinking, having a severe headache, been ill or a combination of some or all. What is known is that shortly after the trip (an inspection up the Yazoo River to Satartia) began, Grant, due to illness, went to bed onboard the USS Diligence (reserved for Grant's use and sometimes alternately used as a mailboat). The assumption, because of his reputation, had been that Grant's "illness" had been due to drink. Charles Dana (who later had a falling out with Grant due to his Presidential policies) stated in an 1887 article that Grant had been drunk. He further wrote the Grant awoke the next morning "fresh as a rose".

Grant certainly suffered some sort of an affliction on the trip and drinking may well have played a role. (James Wilson - the inspector General for Grant's army during the Vicksburg campaign - stated that Grant got sick and thought a "drink would help his feelings" but that it instead had the opposite affect which left him in a worsened state.)

Cadawallader's account of events is largely in contradiction to the official reports as well as the later accounts written by Dana. Cadwallader's account, with critical examination, has had numerous holes poked in it to the degree that it is questionable whether he was even present during the incident. Part of the problem is that his account was not published until 1955 so no one was left to corroborate or directly refute his claims. Cadwallader's account and all of the evidentiary counter points are far too lengthy to type in here.

As I alluded to in a previous post, for those interested in Cadwallader's account as well as the rebuttals, for lack of a better term, I would suggest the following:

Three Years With Grant: As Recalled By War Correspondent Sylvanus Cadwallader, by Sylvanus Cadwallader, edited by Benjamin Thomas, introduction by Brooks Simpson, Bison Books, 1996. - this one gives both Cadwallader's account as well as Simpson's critical appraisal in regards to the Yazoo incident.

Grant at Vicksburg: The General and the Siege, by Michael B. Ballard, Southern Illinois University Press, 2013. - Ballard devotes and entire chapter to this incident and the questionable Cadwallader account.

Both are available on Amazon.com