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William B. Feis
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Grant's Secret Service: The Intelligence War from Belmont to Appomattox Paperback – January 1, 2004

by William B. Feis (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
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William B. Feis offers us the first scholarly examination of the use of military intelligence under Ulysses S. Grant’s command during the Civil War. Feis makes the new and provocative argument that Grant’s use of the Army of the Potomac’s Bureau of Military Information played a significant role in Lee’s defeat. Feis’s work articulately rebuts accusations by Grant’s detractors that his battlefield successes involved little more than the bludgeoning of an undermanned and outgunned opponent.
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  1. Print length
    344 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bison Books
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0803269110
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0803269118
  8. See all details
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4.1 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Roger Davis
    5.0 out of 5 stars A look at Grant's intelligence operations-even the accounting.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2023
    Grant's Secret Service by Professor William Feis is a truly scholarly work on Grant's intelligence organizations during the Civil War.
    Feis' entertaining lecture based on this book is available on C-Span (Type in Willam Feis in search and go down to "Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Espionage.")
    Though Feis gives intelligence field collectors their due, his focus is more on the intelligence cycle, including analysis with the difficulty of using multi- sources to discover what information is reliable and proving the information in usable format to the commanders (The Bureau of Military Information provided Grant with a daily concise intelligence briefing that was usually quite accurate, incredibly so concerning the Confederates' order of battle)
    The mundane but critical aspects of intelligence is given much study , as expected from the protégé of the late Edwin Fishel, arguably the most famous name in Civil War intelligence history. For example, how operatives were safely paid is discussed in considerable detail, and well as the trouble of tracking expenses.
    However, this work is not at all dry, he manages to superbly capture the personalities of the personal, the analysts, collectors, and users well ....when he makes the attempt. The average reader might enjoy a more more "fleshing out." But like Fishel he seeks to provide a real understanding of intelligence in the Civil War, not to give exciting stories of derring do.
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  • Neily J. Wagner
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Education of a General
    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    This book explores the development of military intelligence under General Ulysses S. Grant during the course of the Civil War. We often forget that Grant learned to be a general by trial and error during the war itself. He achieved his earliest victories by keeping his enemy off balance through constant movement and persistent aggressiveness. As the war progressed, however, and he confronted ever greater battle-field challenges, he realized he needed more consistent, timely and reliable information about his enemy's strength and movements. Finally, by the time of his final campaign against Lee, Grant had established a fully functional intelligence service. The writing, at times, is less than engaging, and, during the lulls in Grant's activities between Shiloh and Vicksburg, the book bogs down a bit. Stay with it! What emerges is a very interesting narrative on an overlooked aspect of the Civil War.
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  • Marty R
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not great...just okay.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I read a great deal of Civil War material. For me this book was okay, not great, not even really good...it's just okay. The material covered is decent enough but the books just meanders along.We learn that more often than not the outcomes of battles and movements are as much a product of goofd fortune than any military intelligence. I had hope for something more than this book delivers. It is not a difficult read and at some point I may even re-read it but I did/do not find it's content as compelling as many other CW books in my library.. At the moment my wife is reading some CW material and she used this book as supplemental reading. One highlight for me was learning more about how Grant had obtained dispatches from Johnston to Pemberton.
    One person found this helpful
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  • HistoryBuff
    5.0 out of 5 stars Grant does care what his enemy does out of sight but chooses not to worry about it
    Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020
    This is an excellent account of Grant's intelligence system. His intelligence could fail him at times, but he still managed to hold the initiative.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jonathan E. Adams
    4.0 out of 5 stars It's not really about Grant's Secret Service
    Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2021
    This is the first time I have downgraded rating of a book or movie because of its title. Unfortunately the title, "Grant's Secret Service”, is so misleading about the subject of this book that this problem cannot be ignored. And yes, the subtitle, "The Intelligence War from Belmont to Appomattox" sort of ameliorates the problem … but not really.

    The secret service component of military intelligence is the agents and spies who clandestinely gather information about the enemy and their circumstances. Often, those engaging in secret activities are not even part of a combatant unit but rather report up though the general’s staff. (Secret service can involve troops presenting themselves as the enemy.) Secret service is only one portion of the larger discipline of military intelligence. A lot of information gathering about the enemy is not secret. It is also acquired through probes by regular troops, gathering newspapers, interrogating travelers, captured soldiers, defectors and runaway slaves, and intercepting plans, correspondence and telegraphy (a new form intelligence in the Civil War).

    Truth is, (and a minor spoiler) little of Grant’s decision making was in response to military intelligence, especially early in the war. In general, his attitude was that as long as he had the initiative, he did not need to worry much about the enemy’s intentions. In his opinion when he had the initiative, it was the enemy who needed to worry about he was going to do, not he who had to worry about what they were going to do.

    So first of all, why would I have rated this a 5 star book if it had a better title? What the book is really about is U.S. Grant's tactical decision making throughout the war. The book does an excellent job of describing the problems that Grant faced and how he addressed them. As a narrative of the war, this is one of the best … and the only one I have read that closely follows Grant from the beginning of the war to the end. Descriptions of the various campaigns are well written and are supplemented with excellent maps. Overall one gets a sense of how the Union Army under Grant prevailed. And yes there is plenty about military intelligence, i.e., what did Grant know (and did not know) about the actions and reactions of the Confederate forces. Still, overall the discussion of intelligence (and its secret service component) is very much secondary to the main narrative thrust of the book.
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  • Rich
    2.0 out of 5 stars Too much mundane detail.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2019
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    Very slow reading with too much detail about individual communications.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Plausible Denial
    4.0 out of 5 stars Grant doesn't give a damn for what the other fellow does out of his sight...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    A very serviceable account of Grant's use of reconnaissance and intelligence during the American Civil War. It very usefully highlights those occassions when Grant failed to make best use of his resources, as well as those where intelligence was a major contribution to his success.

    It is thoughtprovoking that the battle with which he is most associated - Shiloh - was an intelligence disaster, mostly down to Grant's conviction he still held the initiative, despite no intelligence to support his mindset.

    An accessible read. definitely one for the serious student og Grant in the ACW.
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