A PAGE FROM THE LOST DIARY OF ULYSSES S. GRANT
By Don Conway
Ulysses S. Grant was known as a hard drinking, hard fighting General of the Union Army during the Civil War. His reputation as a hard drinker, though not an alcoholic, was earned early in his military career during a period of long separation from his wife and family. His drinking habits modified significantly as he matured and were not a factor during his most critical years and battles of the Civil War. Yet the reputation stayed with him.
Following his graduation from West Point in 1843 he served with honor during the Mexican American War of 1846-48. He distinguished himself at the battles of Monterey, Molina Del Rey, and Chapultepec and emerged from that war as a seasoned Captain in the U.S. Army. For the first time, he considered a permanent career in the military. However, the financial strains of his growing family led him to retire from the Army in 1854 to try his hand at civilian life. The several business ventures that he entered into were not successful and at one point he ended up selling firewood on street corners in St. Louis, Missouri.
With the start of the Civil War in 1861, Grant reenlisted in the Army with his former rank. Initially assigned as a quartermaster he yearned for a combat assignment. Despite his reputation as a superb equestrian and trainer of horses, it was not until 1861 that he finally got his wish. What followed were a series of critical battles in which Grant proved himself a skillful and aggressive field commander. The list of battles in which he participated is impressive: Shilo (1862), Vicksburg (1863), Missionary Ridge (1863), The Wilderness (1864) and Cold Harbor (1864).
One notorious incident involving Grant occurred in 1862. It became known as General Order No 11. Grant had been given command of a military district which consisted of the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. He became aware of a black market involving the sale of southern cotton which he believed was helping to finance the South’s rebellion. He also came to believe that this trade was being run “mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders”. On December 17, 1862, he issued his General Order No. 11, which ordered the expulsion of all Jews in the three States under his jurisdiction. President Lincoln was inundated with protests from Jewish Community leaders, members of Congress and the press. Lincoln revoked the order on January 4, 1863. During his presidential campaign of 1868, Grant stated that he had issued the order only as a way to control certain Jews who had caused the problem in the first place.
July 1863 saw dual victories for the Union armies at Vicksburg Under U.S. Grant’s leadership, and at Gettysburg under General George Meade. While casualties were high for both the Union and the Confederacy; General Lee’s defeat was the greater in that he was never able to fully replace the troops he lost at those two battles.
The battle of Cold Harbor in July 1864, lasted for thirteen days and resulted in 52,788 Union casualties as opposed to 32,907 on the Confederate side. The country and the Northern press castigated Grant for these horrendous losses and for a while referred to him as “the Butcher” In later years, as President of the United States, Grant admitted that Cold Harbor was one of the two battles he regretted most. The other was Vicksburg.
Lee’s retreat from Pennsylvania into Virginia to protect Richmond, the Capital of the Confederacy. set the stage for the siege of Richmond-Petersburgh and his eventual Western retreat to Appomattox and surrender.
Mississippi State University is the repository of millions of U.S. Grant’s papers covering all relevant periods of his life and Presidency. While there are a number of memoir documents nothing like a personal diary had ever been found until 2015 when a secret, “lost diary” was discovered amongst some of his Civil War belongings. The entry shown below is dated April 6, 1865, three days before General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.
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Apr. 6, 1865
Thursday
Thank you, God, for sending me Phil Sheridan. He has been absolutely clairvoyant about General Lee’s movements over these last five days. When the old Gray fox abandoned Petersburgh Sheridan rightly predicted that he would attempt to move his army South to join Johnston in North Carolina. Sheridan and his cavalry stopped him cold at Five Forks and forced the Rebs to head West. And so it has been over these last five days. Every time Lee thought he had found a way through my lines Sheridan blocked his path and drove him further West. Now I think we have the Rebs in a pincer movement between Mead at his rear and Sheridan at his front. My concern over the next two days is to get Gibbon’s infantry to Appomattox in time to reinforce Sheridan. If we succeed Lee must sue for surrender and bring an end to this nightmare war.
I have begun to formulate my terms for Lee’s surrender. In general, it is not my intention to punish or humiliate the Confederates. After all, following the surrender, they will be American citizens again. They must be allowed to return to their homes with dignity and some resources to begin rebuilding the South. I am inclined to allow them to keep their horses and side arms and to provide them with rations for their journey home. I have decided to Grant General Lee and his officers an amnesty following their oath not to take up arms against the Union again.
With God’s blessings, we will begin to rebuild this country again.
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Don Conway is an award-winning Architect and Writer (two golds and a silver medal from a national writing competition) also a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University. Says he is working hard on book number four.