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Grant Moves South

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Bruce Catton is arguably the greatest Grant biographer and is largely responsible for changing the negative views about Grant in the 1950's and 60's. Catton wrote several books about USG and this is the second part of a grand Grant trilogy begun in 1949 by Lloyd Lewis with "Captain Sam Grant." The final volume of the trilogy is Catton's "Grant Takes Command" (both books are available on Amazon).

Bruce Catton thoroughly understand Ulysses Grant and became his vociferous proponent. He correctly grasped that Grant was the preeminent strategist of the civil war and was also the war's greatest, most innovative and most determined general. Those who errantly believe Grant won with brute force or superior numbers need to read this book. Others who espouse the line that Robert E. Lee was the real genius of the war also need to consult this volume. At its conclusion, you will change your mind and realize that Grant was not only a magnificent soldier, he was also a highly intelligent, humorous and marvelously humane man. He has been unfairly maligned and Catton sets the record straight.

Catton writes with perception about Grant as a father and devoted husband, but the thrust of the book is painting an incise portrait of Grant in the pivotal period 1861-1863 when his greatness was forged. This is a "must have" book for anyone interested in U.S. Grant or the American civil war. There are few, if any, factual errors and the narrative flows smoothly from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

Bruce Catton's eloquent and enjoyable book summarizes Ulysses S. Grant early on: "[H]is deepest instinct as a soldier was to keep a beaten foe off balance. Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only Union officer . . . who possessed that instinct." Sherman and Sheridan notwithstanding, justly said.

The volume of Civil War books these days is staggering. They range from reconsiderations of great battles to studies of events once thought inconsequential. Contemporary historians have done a great service for all in picking apart and analyzing those four crucial years in America's history.

Given the bumper crop of Civil War titles, what place does Bruce Catton occupy? The answer: at a prominent place on your bookshelf. Catton's literary skill, balanced judgment, and appreciation of the anecdote have not diminished over the 45 years since "Grant Moves South" was first published. This book remains the classic account of Grant's life starting from his re-entry into the U.S. Army at the outbreak of war in 1861, through his first campaigns, and ending with Lincoln's congratulatory letter after the victory at Vicksburg.

Catton places Grant in the all-important context of his army of volunteer soldiers. This cannot be emphasized enough. Grant, like Lincoln, had a cooly disinterested understanding of how the North must win the war. But Grant had also mustered in his men as raw recruits; he knew what they were capable of, and what they wouldn't do. And so, like the expert horseman he was, Grant spurred on, reigned in, and allowed rest time in the corral -- all the while keeping the goal of a reunified United States fixed resolutely in his mind.

Catton has a magical ability to make the reader feel as if he standing alongside Grant as events unfold. Thus, the reader is a witness to Grant's struggles with bureaucracy, encounters with colorful characters of both the Union and Confederate variety, and considerations of tactics and strategy.

In this reader's opinion, Catton understood Grant better than anyone before or since, with the exception of Julia Dent Grant and John Rawlins. Josiah Bunting, in his excellent one-volume biography just published by Times Books, is a close second. At any rate, perhaps it is a shared Midwestern heritage that makes Catton the first-rate biographer of the Union's greatest commander.

In Grant Moves South, Bruce Catton chronicles U.S. Grant's rise from an obscure regimental commander to his victory at the Siege of Vicksburg. In his second volume, Grant Takes Command, Catton finishes the story with Grant's final victory over Robert E. Lee at Appamatox. Catton takes nearly a thousand pages to cover Grant's wartime experience.

Normally, nearly a thousand pages on one man's experiences over the course of four and a half years would seem excessive. But in this case, it has been a real pleasure to read these two volumes. Bruce Catton was one the great history writers of the Twentieth Century and in these two volumes he chronicles the rise of one of the most remarkable persons in American history.

These two volumes remind me why I first fell in love with the study of history. If you are looking for the exact movements of Burnside's Corp at Cold Harbor or what life was like for the average soldier from Wisconsin, these two volumes are not for you. But if you like to curl up with a great history book on a rainy afternoon, these volumes are for you. History as it should be written.

Bruce Catton's books are always part of the mandatory reading material for anyone who wish to understand anything about the Civil War. Grant Moves South is a classical textbook example on how Civil War history books should be written for the masses. Easy to read, well researched and above all, easy to understand. Details military information was not Catton's style. He writes in broad strokes and in a matter where its easy to consumed the informtion and understand the situations. I first read this book in Middle School and still reread it to this date. The book remains just as strong back then as it does today. No one can go wrong reading this book.

It is often difficult to find good reference books on topics that are greatly controversial. This one is a classic among classics: a deeply researched book, based on excellent factual sources, that is written with talent and reads like excellent fiction.

Catton's writing is based on impeccable research. In many ways he takes advantage of living at the right time, when many of the sources he draws on are now available after having been either difficult to access or simply unknown. He definitely makes the best of it, and combines a tight and interesting writing style with a density of information that simply was not available to those that came before him. The result is an indispensable book, a reference that must be read by those interested in General Grant and in the Civil War.

Grant has been the source of much discussion, during his life and afterwards: his resignation, the painful years in Galena, the war, the two presidencies, his last years and death in poverty. Catton depicts him in his entirety, warts and all. He makes him greatly sympathetic, yet clearly discusses his weaknesses. He succeeds in doing so largely indirectly, as a character of the book rather than its study. As a result, the impressions he conveys are much more impressive, since they are largely derived by the reader from the facts exposed rather than being delivered as opinions by the author. His style is largely narrative, and one ends up reading this book as a fascinating adventure story, whose plot is progressively revealed, yet keeps surprises till the conclusion - however well we know what comes.

This book is a jewel: authentic, well researched, full of facts, yet revealing of a deep humanity and of frailties in the man it follows. It is not often that we can at the same time enjoy the writer, admire the historian, and be fascinated by the topic. If you want to read only one book on Grant (I should say two, because the previous volume, "Grant Takes Command", is equally necessary), let it be this one. If you want to read many, make this one the first.

In "Grant Moves South" Bruce Catton picks up the story of Ulysses S. Grant as he returns to the U.S. Army at the start of the Civil War. This is the second volume of a trilogy on Grant begun by Lloyd Lewis and completed by Catton, but the volume can be enjoyed on its own. Catton, with Shelby Foote a superb narrative historian of the Civil War, is in excellent form in this extremely well-written biography of Grant's progression from Colonel of Illinois volunteers to victor at Vicksburg.

As General William Sherman acknowledged, Grant was something of a mystery to everyone, perhaps even himself. This man, a failure at everything except his marriage and working as a clerk in his father's tannery in 1861, leverages his West Point education and some political connections into a commission as a regimental commander and never looks back.

The Grant portrayed by Catton is like many officers at the beginning of the Civil War in that he was learning his trade as he went along. But Grant is different from most of his contemporaries, many of whom had far better reputations in the peacetime army. First, Grant has a remarkable ability to make sound commom sense judgements under stress. Second, Grant married his decision-making ability to an utter determination to see a project through. Third, Grant was a man seemingly without illusions; his ability to correct characterize the task in front of him in order to attack it is rare among his contemporaries. These characteristics carried Grant through his apprenticeship as a regimental commander of volunteers, his successful campaign to secure middle Tennessee through victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, and finally his tenacious campaign to reduce the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg. Grant's ability to understand and lead volunteers was a key underpinning of his success throughout the war.

Catton does not sugarcoat Grant's record. Grant was not above politicking for jobs or assignments. He was badly surprised by the Confederates at Shiloh and avoided being beaten by to some degree refusing to admit defeat and retreat. His pre-war problems with alcohol pursued him into the service, including an apparently memorable bender during the Siege of Vicksburg that Catton unflinchingly documents. The Vicksburg campaign was marked by costly trial and error. Grant, to his credit, persisted, finally rolling the dice by crossing the Mississippi and boldly placing his army between two Confederate forces while temporarily cutting loose from his own lines of communication.

This book was first published in 1960. Details and interpretations of events have evolved, but Catton's superb prose stands the test of time as a wonderful reading experience. This book is highly recommended to the general reader with some knowledge of the Civil War and to the student of the Civil War looking for the broad sweep of history not found in highly specialized studies.

"Grant Moves South" by Bruce Catton covers US Grant's career from the opening of the Civil War in 1861 to the surrender of Vicksburg in July 1863. In between are the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, and other engagements that Grant was either directly or indirectly involved.

The narrative flows freely and smoothly only like Catton could. Too bad there aren't too many authors of his caliber today. Catton is fair and objective in his analysis in the capabilities of commanders, North and South.

The only complaint I have is the maps - too few and not detailed enough. Complaint aside, Grant Moves South is still a great read.

Highly recommended!

Was Ulysses S. Grant a drunk? Did he win the Civil War simply by burying Robert E. Lee under a wave of superior manpower and resources? Bruce Catton addresses these questions, and many others, in GRANT MOVES SOUTH and its companion volume, GRANT TAKES COMMAND. Taken together, the two books chronicle Grant's Civil War experience.

I've read a lot of history, but I confess to being relatively ignorant about the American Civil War except in a very general sense. I've always been interested, I just never got very far into it. These two books are my first real foray into the subject. Both are very well researched and documented, while at the same time being very readable. Catton demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the facts as well as a genuine insight into Grant's character. The result, for me, was an experience that was at once informative and enjoyable.

What does Catton have to say about Grant's alleged drunkeness? Clearly, Catton is an admirer of Grant, but it's an admiration born of respect for the man as revealed in his personal records and actions, as well as in the record left by people who knew him. To get his take on this and other criticisms of Grant, read these books.

Conventional wisdom has it that GRANT MOVES SOUTH and GRANT TAKES COMMAND are definitive works on the subject of U. S. Grant's Civil War career. I certainly won't argue with that perception. If you have a deep interest in Grant or in the Civil War in general, they are "must haves". Beyond that, though, if you have just a casual interest, this is still great reading material. I highly recommend it.

Grant was a somewhat dispirited and discouraged man living in Illinois when the war began, but he thought he might have something to offer the Northern cause. Offering it and obtaining it, however were challenging. Eventually he was assighned to Cairo, Illinois where circumstances, partially of his own making, contributed to victories along the Tennessee River. His reputation, and a bit of politiking, put him in command of the campaign to open the Mississippi River by taking Vicksburg, a veritable fortress, and key to Southern Hegemony in a recognized vital area. New Orleans had already been captured. Shilo was the nearly disastrous prelude in a story of one imaginative tactic after another against a formidable adversary whose position was one of dominance. Finally, the practical and decisive move was determined by Grant, and worked. Vicksburg was taken from the rear after his army glided down river and on to Jacksonville to stop reinforcements from reaching the battle.

Grant had the advantage of having known many of his adversaries with whom he fought during the Mexican American War. Victory coincided with that of Gettysburg, PA, and the South was in full retreat as Union forces cautiously pressed into Tennessee and Alambama. As is often the case, luck played a part in success, but the Southern back was broken, and it was just a matter of time before the Union won. So great were the losses on both sides, and so hideous, as well as human, the circumstances, that I am confounded by the combined strength of the two armies. Abe Lincoln called the political shots, but it was Grant and his field commanders of the west who determined the War's outcome. Grant did what had to be done, though he was unjustly criticized at times. The conclusion of this volume leads naturally to the last; Grant Takes Command, the only general ever to defeat Lee.

I bought this book, after rearing so many people talk about it, and develop a "Heroic SUPER GRANT" mentality.

While this is very good reading, I'd like to point out two major flaws, that have a continuing theme in this book.

SHILOH: The fact remains, Grant was Commander in Charge on day one, the day he was whipped back to the banks of the river.
Grant allowed his men, (and Sherman also), to be extremely careless and they got caught like a bunch of campers out on a picnic. Many of the Union soldiers were bayonetted in their tents.

There was an investigation afterwords, from Senators, about what happened. ( Grant and Sherman, after the battle, were busy "covering their butts". Grant was ready to quit, as Halleck no longer trusted Grant.)

Grant failed at Shiloh, due to the fact they never acted upon the information that enemy forces had been seen around their camp. Grant failed, also by not following west point tactics maintaining a "clear field of fire", in front of their base. ( Just to name two major errors)

Shiloh, Day TWO, Beauregard faced an ENTIRELY NEW ARMY. U.S. General Buell's 18,000 plus soldiers had arrived during the night.

Now HOW in the world, Catton gives Grant the credit for Day TWO and what he calls, the victory here escapes me. This is like a wrestling match, where one person is on the mat, getting pounded, and from outside the ring comes his partner to his rescue.
You'll see this repetitious theme throughout the book.

MY other big fault is the biased statement. "Grant was a child of his times" ( speaking of his views on Africian-Americans)

Well, I certainly do agree with that, but what I don't agree with is had ANY CONFEDERATE/SOUTHERN soldiers said the very same words, they would have been branded as the worst kind of rasict.

I like reading about Grant, Sherman, Lee, Jackson or any of the Civil war Generals; and this is a good book, but the author writes in the hero worship mode.

I would highly recomend, in addition to this "Tom Worthingtons Civil War" by James Brewer. ( Tom Worthington was a Col. from the 46th Ohio Vol, who was at Shiloh, and James Brewer taught at West Point. Excellent book)