Civil War Biography: General Ulysses S Grant

00:30:58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnwwXTnKBrg

Resumo

TLDRThe video documents the life of Ulysses S. Grant, from his modest beginnings in Point Pleasant, Ohio, to his rise as a celebrated military leader in the American Civil War and later as the 18th President of the United States. Grant is detailed as a man who struggled with business and politics in his early life, only to find extraordinary success on the battlefield. Despite setbacks and controversies, such as accusations of alcoholism and issues during his presidency, Grant distinguished himself with key victories like Vicksburg and his bold strategies against Confederate forces. His crucial role in commanding Union forces earned him acclaim and a vital place in American history. Post-war, his leadership qualities and strategic thinking left a lasting legacy, although his presidential terms were seen as marred by corruption scandals. Towards the end of his life, with financial difficulties and a battle with throat cancer, Grant completed his memoirs, ensuring his family's financial security and cementing his legacy in literature.

Conclusões

  • 🎖️ Grant's military prowess emerged during the Civil War despite a humble beginning.
  • 📚 His life was marked by significant failures and triumphs.
  • 🏇 Known for his exceptional horsemanship and strategic military tactics.
  • 🎆 Achieved critical victories like Vicksburg, shifting the war in favor of the Union.
  • 🏛️ Served as the 18th President of the United States despite limited political skills.
  • 🤝 His presidency faced issues like corruption and ineffective Reconstruction policies.
  • 🖋️ Authored his memoirs with encouragement from Mark Twain, ensuring financial stability.
  • 🪦 Grant faced financial ruin post-presidency but remains a celebrated historical figure.
  • 🗡️ Regarded as a relentless commander, often labeled 'Grant the Hammer' or 'the butcher.'
  • 🌐 Toured globally post-presidency, gaining international respect.
  • 🏅 Grant is celebrated for his contributions to both military strategies and literature.
  • 🚢 Transformative efforts in Mississippi significantly weakened the Confederate states.

Linha do tempo

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Ulysses S. Grant was an unlikely hero who emerged as a bold commander during the Great War despite a modest upbringing and a failed professional life. Born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Ohio, he had a passion for horses and eventually attended West Point, where a congressional error changed his name to Ulysses S. Grant. He served in the Mexican War, where he demonstrated bravery, but struggled afterward to find a successful career.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    After resigning from a bleak military post in 1854, Grant returned to civilian life and endured several unsuccessful ventures before pleading with his father for a job. A West Point graduate, Grant's life changed with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. He rapidly rose through military ranks due to his ability to instill discipline and attract recognition for his talent, leading to significant military commands.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Grant's first significant combat at Belmont taught him the importance of discipline and preparation. His aggressive initiative was further proved by capturing Fort Donelson, earning the nickname 'Unconditional Surrender Grant' and promotion to Major General. The victory at Fort Donelson was celebrated as the North's first great victory of the war, marking Grant's rise from a clerk to a notable military leader.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Despite the stunning victory at Shiloh, which proved costly with heavy casualties, Grant's aggressive strategies were questioned, and his career seemed jeopardized until President Lincoln backed him. Allegations of excessive drinking lingered, but his victories, like the successful Vicksburg campaign, showcased his brilliance and strategic prowess, reinforcing his crucial role in the Union's success.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Coming to prominence with his victories, Grant's leadership styles—characterized by aggressiveness, boldness, and a clear overarching strategy—solidified his reputation, especially in handling large campaigns. His tactics often outmaneuvered Confederate forces. As a Lieutenant General, he led the Union to decisive battles against General Lee's forces, culminating in a series of bloody engagements.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:58

    The Civil War concluded with Grant's victory at Appomattox, reinforcing his status as a war hero. Entering peacetime, Grant became a political figure, serving two terms as U.S. President, where his administration faced challenges and corruption scandals. Post-politics, he undertook a world tour but faced financial ruin before completing his memoirs, which secured his family's future and cemented his legacy.

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Vídeo de perguntas e respostas

  • Who was Ulysses S. Grant?

    Ulysses S. Grant was a Union general during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States.

  • Where was Ulysses S. Grant born?

    Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822.

  • What was Grant's early career like?

    Grant initially worked as a clerk in his father's store and pursued several unsuccessful ventures in farming and politics before joining the military.

  • How did Grant rise to prominence in the military?

    Grant rose to prominence through his leadership and strategic skills, particularly his victories at Fort Donelson and Vicksburg during the Civil War.

  • What was significant about Grant's win at Vicksburg?

    Grant's victory at Vicksburg was important because it gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, effectively splitting the Confederacy.

  • What challenges did Grant face during his presidency?

    Grant's presidency was troubled by political naivety, corruption within his administration, and challenges in Reconstruction policies.

  • How did Grant handle his post-presidency financial difficulties?

    To handle financial difficulties, Grant wrote his memoirs, which were published with assistance from Mark Twain and secured his family's financial future.

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    [Music]
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    on the field of battle he was an
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    unlikely hero plain and dress and quiet
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    and manner he avoided pomp and had no
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    need for chivalry a failure in his
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    professional peacetime pursuits he was
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    an anonymous clerk in a small-town store
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    when the great war of his generation
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    began but on the field of battle
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    this unshakably calm man emerged as a
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    bold commander a brilliant strategist
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    and a courageous and determined leader
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    his name was ulysses s grant
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    [Music]
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    he was born
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    Hiram Ulysses Grant at Point Pleasant
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    Ohio on April 27th 1822 to a
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    middle-class family with a modest
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    military tradition his father Jesse
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    route Grant was a small-town cobbler a
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    farmer who moved westward from
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    Connecticut to Pennsylvania and then on
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    to Ohio
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    his mother Hannah Simpson came from a
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    farming family when Ulysses was but a
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    year and a half old the family moved to
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    nearby Georgetown Ohio where Jesse set
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    up a tender his son Ulysses was a quiet
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    child with a pure gift for understanding
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    animals particularly horses he grew to
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    be an accomplished Rider at a young age
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    his early passion for horses led to an
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    unusual experience once when he was
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    about eight ulysses convinced his father
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    to loan him enough money to purchase a
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    prized Colt from a nearby farmer when
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    the farmer asked the boy how much he was
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    willing to give for the cold Ulysses
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    answered Papa says I may offer you $20
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    for the Colt but if he won't take that
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    I'm too offered 22 and a half and if you
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    won't take that and to give you 25
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    Ulysses got the Colt for $25 in what was
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    to be for him the first of many for
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    business transactions
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    Jesse Brandt wanted his son to have a
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    life with opportunity though he made
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    young Ulysses work everyday in the
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    tannery work which the boy detested
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    he also made him attend school regularly
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    when Ulysses turned 17 jesse obtained an
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    appointment to the United States
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    Military Academy for his son so
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    unenthusiastic about a military career
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    Ulysses acquiesced to his father's
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    wishes in the late spring of 1839 he
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    left his native Ohio and went to West
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    Point his name changed along the way
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    twice worried that his fellow cadets
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    will tease him about his initials which
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    spelled out hug he switched his name to
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    Ulysses Hiram grant but he wasn't the
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    only one to change his name his
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    congressman mistakenly wrote Ulysses
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    Simpson grant on his appointment papers
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    when grant arrived at West Point he was
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    told he had to take that name or reapply
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    he took the name aside from his
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    horsemanship at which he was unsurpassed
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    grant was an unremarkable cadet quiet
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    shy and somewhat slighted build grant
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    was an able with undistinguished student
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    who read romantic novels in his off
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    hours when he graduated in 1843 he hoped
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    for a commission in the cavalry but was
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    instead sent to the fourth US Infantry a
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    disappointing assignment for the best
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    rider at West Point
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    two years later grant found himself a
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    member of Zachary Taylor's army in Texas
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    an army which would help provoke a war
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    with Mexico a war grant opposed and
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    later called one of the most unjust ever
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    waged by a stronger against a weaker
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    nation once it started however grant
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    threw himself into it earnestly detailed
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    as a regimental quartermaster he
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    distinguished himself at the Battle of
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    Monterey by riding alone through the
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    hostile city streets to obtain supplies
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    for beleaguered American soldiers later
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    transferred the general Winfield Scott's
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    army grant continued to serve as
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    regimental quartermaster on Scott's
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    march from Veracruz to Mexico City at
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    the attack on the gates of that city he
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    was cited for his bravery when the war
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    ended grant took with him the knowledge
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    of a success in battle it was a powerful
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    memory
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    [Music]
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    he carried with him another powerful
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    memory her name was Julia dent the
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    sister of one of his West Point
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    roommates they had met at Whitehaven her
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    family home near st. Louis and married
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    after grants return to the states in
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    1848 they lived together at Grant's new
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    post at Sacketts Harbor New York than
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    Detroit followed by a nostalgic return
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    to Sacketts Harbor but Julia remained
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    behind when Grant was transferred to the
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    West Coast man who proved to be devoted
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    to his family throughout his life grant
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    found the separation unbearable in 1854
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    after two miserable years in Washington
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    Territory in California he resigned from
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    the United States Army and landing
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    without funds in New York City borrowed
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    money from an old army friend named
  • 00:05:48
    Simon all of our Buckner so that he
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    could rejoin Julia in st. Louis it was
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    not a productive time grant labored
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    unsuccessfully for a half a dozen years
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    as a farmer a rent collector a political
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    candidate and a clerk in a custom house
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    finally he turned to his father
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    [Music]
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    the ultimate and disgraces for grant is
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    that he has to plead for his for a job
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    from his father which he does and he
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    finally goes to Galena Illinois to clerk
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    in his father's store and that's where
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    we find him when the Civil War breaks
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    out a West Point graduate grant was 38
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    years old and earning an annual salary
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    of only $800 working for his father
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    [Music]
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    history stepped in in mid-april 1861 the
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    nation's sectional differences
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    especially over the issue of slavery
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    RuPt it into gunfire at Fort Sumter and
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    civil war was underway his wife's family
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    owned slaves grant had returned from
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    Mexico with a servant but he ultimately
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    found his political leanings to be most
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    compatible with President Lincoln's he
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    departed to join the Union Army our
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    grants first military experience in the
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    war is as commander of the 21st Illinois
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    Volunteers an infantry regiment and he
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    immediately turns this unit around a
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    unit that was you know one of the major
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    problems with volunteer units at the
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    time was with discipline problems and
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    placing officers in charge of these
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    units that had been either appointed for
  • 00:07:28
    political sake or had been elected by
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    their soldiers and so not knowing too
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    much about discipline camp routine
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    things like sanitary conditions where do
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    you put the latrine upstream or
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    downstream and so forth so first thing
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    grant does is completely turn around
  • 00:07:44
    this unit and he's recognized right away
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    as being an officer who has some talent
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    and he's promoted very quickly through
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    the ranks from from full colonel right
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    up to Brigadier General very quickly
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    grants first significant combat command
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    at Belmont Missouri was a learning
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    experience
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    he attacked the Confederate camp his
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    troops routed the Confederates but then
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    being green troops and grant being a
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    green commander and all of his officers
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    being green officers they lost
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    discipline they broke up they started to
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    loot the camp they started to cheer
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    their great victory like football team
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    after the first quarter the Confederates
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    were allowed to regroup confetti
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    reinforcements came across from Columbia
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    from Columbus and drove the Union forces
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    back to their boats and almost captured
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    ulysses s grant himself I think what
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    grant learned from that experience of
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    victory followed by defeat and near
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    disaster was the importance of planning
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    of keeping his troops in hand of keeping
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    a retreat open but keeping the goal
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    clearly in mind he had acceded in a
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    disorders by attacking this camp and
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    staying there after he had done so I
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    think it was a valuable learning lesson
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    for him because people learn best by
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    their mistakes and he learned from this
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    mistake anxious to retain the initiative
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    grant was finally given permission to
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    undertake operations with gunboats
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    against two Confederate strongholds in
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    Tennessee near Kentucky ports Henry and
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    Donaldson Fort Henry on the Tennessee
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    River fell quickly the Union flag
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    officer Andrew foots gunboats
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    but Fort Donelson was another story to
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    water batteries mounting a dozen heavy
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    guns commanded the Cumberland River
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    while more than 15,000 Confederate
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    troops manned rifle pits guarding the
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    approaches to the water batteries and
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    fort itself by February 13th 1862 grants
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    15,000 troops had marched from Fort
  • 00:09:46
    Henry and partially invested Fort
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    Donelson the next afternoon Union
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    gunboats chugged upriver and opened fire
  • 00:09:53
    on the fort trading iron Valentine's
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    with the Confederate water batters
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    although the Union boats were impulsive
  • 00:10:00
    the rebel troops inside Fort Donelson
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    discovered they were in danger of being
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    hemmed in by grants force now heavily
  • 00:10:07
    reinforced the next day the Confederates
  • 00:10:10
    tried to break up and after a tough
  • 00:10:12
    fight finally returned within
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    entrenchments and faced a savage counter
  • 00:10:16
    by grants troops that night two of the
  • 00:10:20
    Confederate commanders jonbi floor and
  • 00:10:23
    idiom pillow managed to slip out of the
  • 00:10:27
    area with about two thousand men turning
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    over command to Grant's old friend Simon
  • 00:10:32
    Bolivar Buckner now a Confederate
  • 00:10:34
    General the next morning
  • 00:10:36
    knowing his situation was hopeless for
  • 00:10:38
    his trapped soldiers Buckner petitioned
  • 00:10:41
    grant the terms of surrender grant
  • 00:10:43
    bluntly replied no terms accept an
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    unconditional and immediate surrender
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    can be acceptable the chagrin Buckner
  • 00:10:51
    had no choice and on the morning of
  • 00:10:53
    february 16 1862 surrendered to grant at
  • 00:10:57
    the Dover hotel with the victory grant
  • 00:11:00
    had not only captured Fort Donelson at
  • 00:11:03
    13,000 Confederate prisoners as well
  • 00:11:05
    it was the North's first great victory
  • 00:11:08
    of the war and grant became an immediate
  • 00:11:10
    arrow u.s. grant became unconditional
  • 00:11:14
    surrender grant and was promoted to
  • 00:11:17
    Major General it was a stunning turn of
  • 00:11:19
    events for a man who but 10 months
  • 00:11:21
    earlier have been an unknown clerk in a
  • 00:11:23
    leather goods store
  • 00:11:30
    grant whose wartime aggressiveness was
  • 00:11:32
    becoming apparent was not content to
  • 00:11:34
    rest gunning for the Confederate Army
  • 00:11:37
    under general Albert Sidney Johnston
  • 00:11:38
    gathered near Corinth Mississippi he
  • 00:11:41
    transported his army of the Tennessee
  • 00:11:43
    Senate River stopping there a place
  • 00:11:46
    called Pittsburg Landing not far from a
  • 00:11:49
    church called Shiloh disregarding
  • 00:11:52
    reports of rebel forces in the vicinity
  • 00:11:54
    grant drilled his largely green troops
  • 00:11:57
    rather than having them dig in and
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    fortify their positions but the
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    Confederates were there they launched a
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    surprise attack against grant in the
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    morning of April 6th 1862
  • 00:12:09
    [Music]
  • 00:12:16
    he was caught by surprise he didn't have
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    enough cavalry out to guard against
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    surprise he didn't have pickets far
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    enough out he and one of his division
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    commanders William Tecumseh Sherman
  • 00:12:27
    didn't believe the reports that they did
  • 00:12:29
    get from their pickets and I think
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    that's because they were so
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    single-minded in their concentration on
  • 00:12:35
    attacking the Confederate Army at
  • 00:12:38
    Corinth that they just neglected
  • 00:12:41
    defensive measures they did not believe
  • 00:12:43
    that the Confederates would undertake a
  • 00:12:46
    counter-offensive against them
  • 00:12:48
    [Music]
  • 00:12:52
    the rebel assault was a success Union
  • 00:12:55
    soldiers many cooking breakfast were
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    called into formation
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    when line after line of Union troops
  • 00:13:01
    buckled under the Confederate on saw
  • 00:13:03
    many soldiers panicked and fled but the
  • 00:13:07
    rebels ran into some tough Federals at a
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    place that became known as the hornet's
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    nest their Yankee defenders repulsed a
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    dozen Confederate attacks in eight hours
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    giving in only when the rebels brought
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    in sixty to Canada the largest artillery
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    concentration then seen in North America
  • 00:13:23
    the Union resistance at the hornet's
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    nest gave grant out of Lea's unperturbed
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    as ever time to reorganize his troops
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    with their backs to the Tennessee River
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    and their flanks shielded by deep
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    hollows they formed a final line of
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    defense the Confederates meanwhile
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    suffered the loss of their commander
  • 00:13:41
    General Albert Sidney Johnston who was
  • 00:13:44
    shot by rallying his troops at the front
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    the next morning having been heavily
  • 00:13:49
    reinforced grant counter attacked the
  • 00:13:52
    Confederates now under general PGT
  • 00:13:54
    Beauregard despite fierce resistance
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    the Federals slowly forged ahead about
  • 00:14:00
    3:00 in the afternoon
  • 00:14:01
    the Confederates withdrew the Federals
  • 00:14:04
    exhausted from the battle
  • 00:14:07
    the Battle of Shiloh was over as were
  • 00:14:10
    any notions of the romance of war in two
  • 00:14:13
    days more than 23,000 soldiers have been
  • 00:14:16
    killed wounded or captured though Grant
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    skirted disaster at Shiloh it was a
  • 00:14:24
    troubling event some members of the
  • 00:14:26
    Union command called for his resignation
  • 00:14:29
    President Lincoln refused saying I can't
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    spare this man he fights but general
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    Henry Halleck took the field assuming
  • 00:14:38
    the command of the armies of Tennessee
  • 00:14:40
    Ohio and Mississippi for grant it was a
  • 00:14:44
    low point grant has relegated to the
  • 00:14:47
    position of second-in-command to general
  • 00:14:49
    Halleck and grant at this time talks to
  • 00:14:53
    his friend Sherman he says he strongly
  • 00:14:56
    thinks that he oughta resign go back to
  • 00:14:59
    Illinois the Chairman does his great
  • 00:15:02
    favor for the United States for the
  • 00:15:04
    Union
  • 00:15:04
    he talks grant him to remaining with the
  • 00:15:06
    army and soon Halleck will be come to
  • 00:15:09
    Washington old brains become
  • 00:15:11
    general-in-chief
  • 00:15:11
    and grant will be back in command of the
  • 00:15:14
    army of the Tennessee
  • 00:15:20
    in the fall forces under Grant's command
  • 00:15:23
    finally captured Corinth the rumors that
  • 00:15:25
    he was drunk at Shiloh raised concerns
  • 00:15:27
    about his drinking a point of lingering
  • 00:15:30
    controversy
  • 00:15:30
    [Music]
  • 00:15:34
    many students feel that yes he did drink
  • 00:15:37
    during the war but what is almost sure
  • 00:15:40
    is that he never drank during a campaign
  • 00:15:42
    or before a campaign and certainly never
  • 00:15:45
    drank to affect him during a campaign
  • 00:15:47
    probably in the medical sense of the
  • 00:15:50
    word he probably was an alcoholic and we
  • 00:15:52
    think he was probably a binge drinker
  • 00:15:54
    where he would drink to excess in a
  • 00:15:58
    short period of time and then swear off
  • 00:16:00
    it for a long period of time and then
  • 00:16:01
    and then back to it in Grand stay
  • 00:16:05
    alcoholism was regarded as a moral
  • 00:16:08
    failing there was no institutional
  • 00:16:10
    framework to help people who were
  • 00:16:12
    affected by this they thought that
  • 00:16:13
    people thought that they were drunkards
  • 00:16:15
    that they were that they were immoral
  • 00:16:18
    grant had to overcome that he did
  • 00:16:21
    overcome it he did overcome it with the
  • 00:16:24
    help of his wife and was the help of his
  • 00:16:27
    general his chief of staff man named
  • 00:16:30
    John Rollins during the Civil War and
  • 00:16:32
    his alcoholism never affected his
  • 00:16:35
    judgment his determination his willpower
  • 00:16:40
    and I think that's the strongest
  • 00:16:41
    characteristic that Grant had he had a
  • 00:16:43
    strong will to accomplish what he set
  • 00:16:48
    out to do greater glory came for Grant
  • 00:16:55
    in his campaign against Vicksburg
  • 00:16:57
    Mississippi situated on a bluff above
  • 00:17:00
    the Mississippi River that town and Port
  • 00:17:02
    Hudson Louisiana were the last two
  • 00:17:05
    Confederate bastions on the river by
  • 00:17:06
    early 1863 grant set out to capture what
  • 00:17:10
    some Confederates called the Gibraltar
  • 00:17:12
    of the West through an inventive
  • 00:17:15
    strategy after his overland and
  • 00:17:18
    amphibious probes failed grant marched
  • 00:17:20
    his army along the Louisiana side of the
  • 00:17:22
    Mississippi
  • 00:17:23
    across south of Vicksburg he advanced to
  • 00:17:26
    Jackson then turned back toward the
  • 00:17:28
    rebel stronghold winning five battles in
  • 00:17:31
    17 days along the way after unsuccessful
  • 00:17:35
    assaults demonstrated how strong the
  • 00:17:37
    city's defenses were Brant laid siege
  • 00:17:39
    the Confederate garrison is short on
  • 00:17:42
    food capitulated on July 4 1863
  • 00:17:45
    five days later Port Hudson fell putting
  • 00:17:49
    the Mississippi River completely in
  • 00:17:51
    Union hands and forever dividing the
  • 00:17:53
    Confederate states
  • 00:17:54
    it was grants greatest triumph one of
  • 00:17:57
    the most brilliant military campaigns in
  • 00:17:59
    American history and the east after
  • 00:18:03
    grant becomes lieutenant general
  • 00:18:05
    commanding he will hammer Lee becomes
  • 00:18:08
    known as grant the hammer or if you're
  • 00:18:11
    good southerner grant the butcher and
  • 00:18:13
    now you'll attribute his victories only
  • 00:18:15
    because he has more men and more of the
  • 00:18:19
    tools of war but out in vick's out the
  • 00:18:21
    Vicksburg campaign grant will
  • 00:18:25
    demonstrate that he is an adept
  • 00:18:28
    strategist he you have to go back to
  • 00:18:31
    Napoleon we skip over Jackson's Valley
  • 00:18:34
    campaign to find a campaign comparable
  • 00:18:37
    to Grant's Vicksburg campaign
  • 00:18:40
    [Music]
  • 00:18:44
    grants victory did not go unnoticed
  • 00:18:47
    promoted to Major General in the Regular
  • 00:18:49
    Army he and Sherman moved to East
  • 00:18:51
    Tennessee in October in an attempt to
  • 00:18:53
    relieve the embattled Union forces
  • 00:18:55
    trapped at Chattanooga after the rebel
  • 00:18:57
    victory at Chickamauga
  • 00:19:00
    [Music]
  • 00:19:05
    William s Rosa krons army of the
  • 00:19:07
    Cumberland had been driven back into the
  • 00:19:09
    defenses at Chattanooga and literally
  • 00:19:11
    besieged surrounded by the Confederate
  • 00:19:14
    Army they had to haul their supplies in
  • 00:19:17
    over one very roundabout Mountain rode
  • 00:19:19
    horses and even men were literally
  • 00:19:21
    starving in Chattanooga and Rosa cron
  • 00:19:24
    seemed immobilized stunned like a head
  • 00:19:28
    like a duck struck on the head with
  • 00:19:29
    Lincoln's word for it
  • 00:19:30
    so grant in effect replaced him as
  • 00:19:33
    supreme commander in the in the
  • 00:19:36
    Chattanooga area brought in
  • 00:19:37
    reinforcements opened up a supply line
  • 00:19:39
    by brilliant operations and then counter
  • 00:19:42
    attacked and drove Bragg's army off of
  • 00:19:44
    Lookout Mountain off a Missionary Ridge
  • 00:19:45
    into into Georgia
  • 00:19:52
    following the Chattanooga victory grant
  • 00:19:55
    received further acclaim and was
  • 00:19:57
    encouraged by some to run for president
  • 00:19:59
    in 1864 grant to Lincoln's relief turned
  • 00:20:02
    away such notions but there was more to
  • 00:20:05
    it
  • 00:20:05
    Lincoln had finally found his general
  • 00:20:08
    summoned to Washington in March 1864
  • 00:20:10
    grant was given command of all Union
  • 00:20:13
    armies he established his field
  • 00:20:15
    headquarters in the Virginia countryside
  • 00:20:17
    where he would stay in close command
  • 00:20:19
    with his armies particularly with the
  • 00:20:21
    Army of the Potomac soon he would face
  • 00:20:24
    the South's
  • 00:20:25
    Army of Northern Virginia under its
  • 00:20:27
    legendary leader Robert Ely the two
  • 00:20:36
    great generals tangled first in the
  • 00:20:38
    wilderness along the Rapidan River in
  • 00:20:40
    early May 1864 it was a desperate battle
  • 00:20:43
    fought in dense woods which soon caught
  • 00:20:46
    fire his losses were appalling but grant
  • 00:20:49
    pressed on toward Spotsylvania
  • 00:20:51
    courthouse though weary from battle
  • 00:20:54
    Union soldiers cheered grant knowing
  • 00:20:56
    that at last they had a fighter at the
  • 00:20:58
    top and grant was no ordinary fighter
  • 00:21:01
    unattached to any particular school of
  • 00:21:03
    military thought his hallmarks were his
  • 00:21:06
    common sense approach aggressiveness
  • 00:21:08
    bold decisiveness and ability to adopt
  • 00:21:11
    new tactics when old ones failed while
  • 00:21:15
    his critics derided him as a butcher who
  • 00:21:17
    won only by virtue of greater resources
  • 00:21:19
    others see him as perhaps the first
  • 00:21:22
    modern general in the world's first
  • 00:21:23
    modern war the modern stamp system which
  • 00:21:29
    Grant had was a great of great
  • 00:21:32
    assistance to him what it would allow
  • 00:21:35
    him to do was focus on his leadership
  • 00:21:38
    and command abilities he could issue
  • 00:21:40
    these clear orders and count on the
  • 00:21:42
    staff to plan and execute what he had
  • 00:21:47
    conceived and this turns out to be of
  • 00:21:49
    great assistance when your commander is
  • 00:21:52
    not exhausted from having to play too
  • 00:21:56
    large a role in developing the planning
  • 00:21:59
    grant was bold he communicated well
  • 00:22:04
    hee hee to brought along his own
  • 00:22:06
    subordinates inspired loyalty he it was
  • 00:22:12
    the first in the north to come up with a
  • 00:22:14
    overall strategic vision of the role
  • 00:22:17
    that each army was to play in the final
  • 00:22:20
    overthrow of the Confederacy he
  • 00:22:23
    understands warfare
  • 00:22:26
    he is understands that war with the
  • 00:22:30
    advent of Napoleon particularly become a
  • 00:22:32
    people's war it become a war in which
  • 00:22:35
    the nation fights with his whole might
  • 00:22:38
    both manpower and resources and grant
  • 00:22:43
    while he could be a great strategist I
  • 00:22:47
    am a lightning war like in Vicksburg
  • 00:22:49
    when he phone he comes lieutenant
  • 00:22:51
    general commanding and goes east he
  • 00:22:53
    becomes a man that sits a war of
  • 00:22:55
    attrition a war in which the side with
  • 00:22:58
    the most men and the most material has
  • 00:23:01
    to win we found grant to be a tenacious
  • 00:23:09
    opponent less than 40 hours after the
  • 00:23:12
    Battle of the wilderness their two
  • 00:23:14
    armies met again in the countryside near
  • 00:23:16
    Spotsylvania courthouse it was a savage
  • 00:23:18
    confrontation focusing on a place later
  • 00:23:21
    called the bloody angle the Battle of
  • 00:23:23
    Spotsylvania courthouse provoked some of
  • 00:23:25
    the most desperate fighting of the war
  • 00:23:28
    the battle ended a bloody two and a half
  • 00:23:30
    weeks in the combined fighting at the
  • 00:23:32
    wilderness and Spotsylvania there were
  • 00:23:35
    over 35,000 Union and 22,000 Confederate
  • 00:23:39
    casualties
  • 00:23:39
    [Music]
  • 00:23:48
    in June 1864 grant changed tactics
  • 00:23:53
    rather than continue trying to turn Lee
  • 00:23:55
    his flank grant struck directly at him
  • 00:23:58
    launching a frontal assault on the outer
  • 00:24:00
    defenses of Richmond at a place called
  • 00:24:02
    Cold Harbor it was a tragic mistake wave
  • 00:24:06
    after wave of Union soldiers were cut
  • 00:24:09
    down by the well entrenched Confederates
  • 00:24:11
    in a matter of hours there were over
  • 00:24:13
    7,000 federal casualties
  • 00:24:15
    it was Grant's worst era in battle one
  • 00:24:18
    which helped gain for him the damning
  • 00:24:20
    label of grant the butcher in some
  • 00:24:22
    quarters and haunted him for the rest of
  • 00:24:24
    his life
  • 00:24:25
    [Music]
  • 00:24:37
    after Coldharbour grant again changed
  • 00:24:40
    tactics in a brilliantly executed
  • 00:24:42
    maneuver brandt secretly moved his
  • 00:24:44
    armies south of the james river and laid
  • 00:24:46
    siege to petersburg Richman's last link
  • 00:24:49
    to the south it was a long drawn-out
  • 00:24:52
    affair from mid-june 1864 until early
  • 00:24:56
    spring 1865 grants troops steadily
  • 00:24:59
    pushed against the Confederate
  • 00:25:00
    fortifications Lee's army in desperate
  • 00:25:03
    need of food and clothing dogged Lee
  • 00:25:05
    repulsed the grindin Union onslaught but
  • 00:25:08
    were eventually outgunned and
  • 00:25:09
    outnumbered in early April while other
  • 00:25:13
    Union armies were carving up the rest of
  • 00:25:14
    the Confederacy we finally abandoned
  • 00:25:17
    Petersburg and a burning Richmond to
  • 00:25:19
    Union troops for the North victory was
  • 00:25:26
    at hand
  • 00:25:26
    chasing Lee westward grant finally
  • 00:25:29
    caught him near Appomattox Courthouse
  • 00:25:31
    where surrender terms were attacked
  • 00:25:34
    this time the terms were generous
  • 00:25:36
    officers were allowed to keep their
  • 00:25:38
    sidearms and the defeated Confederate
  • 00:25:40
    soldiers were allowed to return to their
  • 00:25:42
    homes the war was over and grant its
  • 00:25:45
    victory was a hero
  • 00:25:57
    appomattox brought mixed blessings to
  • 00:26:00
    ulysses s grant while in war grant had
  • 00:26:03
    at last found something at which he
  • 00:26:04
    could succeed its conclusion brought the
  • 00:26:07
    uncertainties of peace a grateful North
  • 00:26:10
    was not about to forget grants
  • 00:26:11
    accomplishments perhaps to the detriment
  • 00:26:13
    of both in 1866 Congress appointed him
  • 00:26:18
    General of the army and with four stars
  • 00:26:20
    grant now outrank George Washington two
  • 00:26:23
    years later the Republican Party made
  • 00:26:25
    grant its presidential candidate and the
  • 00:26:28
    electorate voted him the nation's 18th
  • 00:26:30
    president he served two uneasy terms in
  • 00:26:33
    the White House his vacillating
  • 00:26:35
    reconstruction policy doomed the
  • 00:26:37
    southern Friedman's hoped for Liberty
  • 00:26:39
    politically naive grant appointed old
  • 00:26:42
    military cronies to his cabinet and
  • 00:26:44
    staff with little regard to their
  • 00:26:46
    qualifications though never personally
  • 00:26:49
    culpable his administration was wracked
  • 00:26:51
    with corruption
  • 00:26:54
    Glantz presidency unlike his his tenure
  • 00:26:58
    as general is regarded as a failure I
  • 00:27:00
    think that's something of an
  • 00:27:02
    oversimplification one could certainly
  • 00:27:03
    not regard it as one of the great
  • 00:27:05
    sterling successes in American history
  • 00:27:07
    but many of its failures were not
  • 00:27:09
    Grant's fault the depression was not his
  • 00:27:12
    fault he did as much as he could
  • 00:27:14
    given limitations on his power by the
  • 00:27:16
    courts by public opinion to play protect
  • 00:27:19
    blacks in the south and as for the
  • 00:27:20
    corruption of some of his subordinates
  • 00:27:22
    that's probably a result of his military
  • 00:27:26
    heritage where he would appoint what he
  • 00:27:30
    considered to be our hoped to be good
  • 00:27:31
    staff officers delegate them the
  • 00:27:33
    responsibilities have confidence in them
  • 00:27:35
    they betrayed that confidence he was a
  • 00:27:38
    bit naive politically and failure failed
  • 00:27:41
    to see that his confidence was being
  • 00:27:44
    betrayed until it was too late and that
  • 00:27:45
    I suppose was his ultimate failure
  • 00:27:48
    [Music]
  • 00:27:52
    when the grants left the White House at
  • 00:27:55
    the end of the second term they set out
  • 00:27:57
    on a world tour the grandest ever
  • 00:27:59
    undertaken by a former president and
  • 00:28:01
    first lady the tour of Europe Africa and
  • 00:28:04
    Asia received official and popular
  • 00:28:06
    acclaim the general entertaining world
  • 00:28:08
    leaders and journalists the wonders he
  • 00:28:11
    beheld weren't lost on brand either
  • 00:28:13
    though he allegedly told one newspaper
  • 00:28:15
    man that Venice would make a charming
  • 00:28:17
    place he drained it
  • 00:28:28
    the grants return proved less successful
  • 00:28:31
    though grant was pushed for a third term
  • 00:28:33
    as president in 1880 he returned to
  • 00:28:36
    business pursuits a futile effort
  • 00:28:38
    squandering what money remained after
  • 00:28:40
    the world tour on poor investments grant
  • 00:28:43
    brought the family to the brink of
  • 00:28:45
    financial ruin his declining situation
  • 00:28:48
    worsened with the discovery that he had
  • 00:28:49
    throat cancer short on funds and
  • 00:28:52
    encouraged by mark 20 grant set about to
  • 00:28:55
    write his memoirs weakened by the cancer
  • 00:28:57
    he finished them a few days before his
  • 00:28:59
    death on July 23rd 1885 Julia lived for
  • 00:29:03
    another 17 years long enough to see
  • 00:29:06
    Ulysses reinterred in a magnificent tomb
  • 00:29:08
    in New York City his greater monument
  • 00:29:11
    was his memoirs a best-seller that
  • 00:29:14
    brought his widow financial security and
  • 00:29:16
    lives on as one of the great works of
  • 00:29:18
    American literature with his memoirs
  • 00:29:21
    ulysses s grant found success in peace
  • 00:29:25
    at last
  • 00:29:27
    [Music]
  • 00:29:41
    [Music]
  • 00:30:18
    well
  • 00:30:26
    some will sleep beneath the Sun
  • 00:30:35
    [Music]
  • 00:30:46
    you
Etiquetas
  • Ulysses S. Grant
  • Civil War
  • Vicksburg
  • Union Army
  • Military Leadership
  • 18th President
  • American History
  • Strategist
  • Presidential Scandal
  • Memoirs