GRANT

[LincolnMan]

The Detroit Soldiers and Sailors Monument located downtown has a relief plaque of both Lincoln and Grant featured on its sides. I think Sherman is also featured. That item is the only monument that I'm aware of in Detroit pertaining to Grant. Do any other Soldiers and Sailor Monuments honor Grant this way?

[LincolnMan]

My daughter has interviewed for a teaching job in Grant, Michigan. Until now- I didn't know that was a Grant, Michigan- and, yes, it is named for U.S. Grant. Sounds like I may have an opportunity to visit- maybe even frequently!

[RJNorton]

That's wonderful, Bill! I hope things work out!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I second Roger. What does she teach Bill?

[LincolnMan]

She has a Masters Degree from Wayne State University in Special Education. I'm not sure what grades she reaches- I guess I should know that but I don't!

[David Lockmiller]

(11-11-2013 08:19 PM)Sally Wrote:  In my reading over the last several years, I have developed more appreciation for Grant. Closer inspection of the historical record does seem to indicate that the stories of his excessive drinking have been exagerrated. As I understand it, his documented episodes of drunkeness were not brought on by a huge amount of alcohol, but rather by his inability to process it like other men who were drinking every bit (and more) than he. And it is also often pointed out that he only took to drink when he was lonely for his family.

I like this quote from the article:

"Grant was also a great writer, as anyone who has read his autobiography can attest. It is hard, perhaps impossible, to be a great writer if you’re stupid. There is a certain irony in the fact that Grant was a better writer–a better historian, in fact–than virtually all of the historians who have assailed his supposed intellectual shortcomings. One wonders whether they had the wit to notice."

I thought that you might appreciate reading this quote from the Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Vol. I. (1885), pages 353 - 54.

"During this second day of the battle (of Shiloh) I had been moving from right to left and back, to see for myself the progress made. In the early part of the afternoon, while riding with Colonel McPherson and Major Hawkins, then my chief commissary, we got beyond the left of our troops. We were moving along the northern edge of a clearing, very leisurely, toward the river above the landing. There did not appear to be an enemy to our right, until suddenly a battery with musketry opened upon us from the edge of the woods on the other side of the clearing. The shells and balls whistled about our ears very fast for about a minute. I do not think it took us longer than that to get out of range and out of sight. In the sudden start we made, Major Hawkins lost his hat. He did not stop to pick it up. When we arrived at a perfectly safe posiiton we halted to take an account of damages. McPherson's horse was panting as if ready to drop. On examination it was found that a ball had struck him forward of the flank just back of the saddle, and had gone entirely through. In a few minutes the poor beast dropped dead; he had given no sign of injury until we came to a stop. A ball had struck the metal scabbard of my sword, just below the hilt, and broken it nearly off; before the battle was over it had broken off entirely. There were three of us: one had lost a horse, killed; one a hat and one a sword-scabbard. All were thankful that it was no worse."

I agree that U. S. Grant was a great writer (Lincoln recognized this trait early in Grant's Civil War writings. I recall an example to that effect.) And, as to the commentary about whether or not the historians that criticized Grant had the "wit to notice," I have been wondering myself whether or not Grant also possessed a keen sense of humor. I am referring to the lines in the quote above which read: "In the sudden start we made, Major Hawkins lost his hat. He did not stop to pick it up." Do you think that the second sentence was meant to be humorous or merely a statement of fact?

[STS Lincolnite]

(08-17-2014 07:29 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  Do you think that the second sentence was meant to be humorous or merely a statement of fact?

While this is a statement of fact, I can't help but feel that it was meant to be humorous as well. I can just picture Grant sitting in his chair, cigar in mouth and a little grin on his face while writing that. As if anyone would stop to pick up their hat while under that type of fire (although some may have gone back for it later ). I do find the statement funny! I have always pictured Grant as having a sort of understated, dry sense of humor. I have not read enough about him to know what his contemporaries felt about his sense of humor though so I have no idea if my impression is accurate.

[Rogerm]

Grant's writing of his memoirs was a race against time, as he was dying of throat cancer. He wanted the proceeds from them to support his family following his death, because a few years earlier he had lost a lot of money through a fraudulent investment partner. Mark Twain was his publisher and the person who originally suggested that he write the book.

[Hess1865]

Actually a major magazine had made Grant an offer to write stories about things he did in the war. Grant ran into Twain, and told him the news.
When US told Twain how much he was getting paid, Twain told him not to do it; Grant could easily make more writing a autobiography and getting a publishing house to put it out.
The General paid attention to Twain, and courageously wrote his memoirs while in pain from cancer.
When the book came out, it was a major success, and Julia Grant received a royalty check for over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, restoring the Grant family's finances!
Personal Memoirs has never been out of print since it came out nearly 130 years ago.

[LincolnMan]

I noticed on Ebay recently that Grants two volume set was up for auction. The seller boasted that Grant had signed Volume One! Quite a feat!

[Angela]

(08-20-2014 06:28 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I noticed on Ebay recently that Grants two volume set was up for auction. The seller boasted that Grant had signed Volume One! Quite a feat!

I have only ever found the online version and up until now I was happy with that since I had only used it to find quotes from an original source - but I keep thinking that it would be great to have it as a real copy.

[Gene C]

It's an interesting book, but it tells almost nothing about after the war and his presidency.

Several different editions and copies available at a reasonable price. Soft or hardbound
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1...=u+s+grant

(I still can't get used to ebooks, but they sure can save you $$ - especially on some of the older titles, that your not sure will be any good. Some of the reprints or photocopies of old books do a terrible job reproducing the illustrations and photographs from the origional versions).

[Angela]

Gene, I agree - ebooks are very difficult to get used to. While I enjoy to be able to search for a certain word or easily mark pages/write comments, it just feels so different reading on a Kindle or iPad. Thank you for the link - they ARE decently priced!

[L Verge]

One of the volunteers at Surratt House gave me a recent article from his New York hometown's newspaper. It contains a piece of history that I guess I missed in class. Entitled "This Month in the Civil War," the article chronicles the August 1864 events in Petersburg and Atlanta. One of the things mentioned as a follow-up to The Crater explosion at Petersburg was Grant traveling to Washington to meet with Lincoln, Gen. Halleck, and Phil Sheridan regarding the Union plans to destroy the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia.

After the meeting, Grant headed back to Virginia to his base camp at City Point. His headquarters tent had been placed in the yard of a mansion that overlooked the wharves and warehouses where the James River and the Appomattox River meet. It was August 9, 1864. City Point was very well-guarded and considered safe from enemy attack; but on August 9, a Confederate secret service operative named John Maxwell had infiltrated the base, bringing with him a horological torpedo that he had rigged out of a candle box packed with twelve pounds of black powder, a percussion cap, and a clockwork mechanism to set it off.

Maxwell waited around the wharf for an opportunity to place his explosive piece on one of the barges. He finally saw the captain of an ammunition vessel go ashore and took the opportunity to set the timer, seal the box, and approach the boat long enough to hand it to a member of the crew with instructions that his captain had requested that the box be put below until he returned.

Around noon, as Grant was seated outside his tent, the huge explosion went off - almost matching the horror of The Crater ten days before. The ammunition barge held 20,000 artillery projectiles. Shells, bullets, pieces of wood, shards of metal, and bloody body parts were flying everywhere, covering over a quarter-mile radius. A nearby barge was loaded with cavalry saddles, and they were also flying around like giant bats. Estimates placed the deaths at more than 200 (the flying saddles alone killing about 43) and over $2 million worth of equipment and supplies destroyed.

Grant telegraphed Gen. Halleck that "every part of the yard used as my headquarters is filled with splinters and fragments of shells." The huge explosion remained a mystery until Maxwell's report was found after the war.

[LincolnMan]

Interesting account. I had never heard of it. I wonder if Grant himself mentioned it in his account of the war?