Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865 Summary and Reviews

Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865
by Bruce Catton

Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865
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Book Summary Information

Author: Bruce Catton
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-04-18
ISBN: 0316132403
Number of pages: 556
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780316132404
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865

Book Review: "Worry about what we are going to do to Lee--not what he is going to do!"
Summary: 5 Stars

No one could figure out how to defeat Robert E. Lee until Ulysses S. Grant took command of the Union forces. Grant alone understood that the North's advantages in manpower, industry, and logistics would doom the Confederacy to defeat so long as the Union avoided a disastrous military debacle and was willing to take terrible casualties repeatedly. These things Grant did. After big battles often featuring terrible losses on both sides, the Union Army continued South rather than turning North to lick its wounds as previous Union generals had done. Grant explained to his commanders that he was not concerning himself with Lee's plans against his Army--his focus and theirs was to be upon what they were going to do to Lee. This simple fact inspirited Grant's Army and before long the soldiers on both sides began to understand that the Union would eventually emerge victorious.

This book details many aspects of the command of General Grant, and causes the reader to appreciate the unique nature of the Union Army. It was the first truly modern army, where the soldiers were uniformed and provisioned through a modern logistical system based on railroads rather than simply foraging for provisions. (Not that they did not forage--General Sherman's Army was renowned and hated for that.) Grant's great achievement was that he brought the Union's advantages in industrial and logistical might to bear against the Confederacy, which lacked a comparable economic base. The South's bravery and elan could not prevail against this plenty, and Grant understood this. Our world is what it is today because of Grant's application and understanding of this principle, and it is probably not too much to say that every American war since Grant has been fought by applying the same principle.

Highly recommended for Civil War and military history enthusiasts. RJB.

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