Other editions of book Personal Memoirs: Ulysses S. Grant

Among the autobiographies of great military figures, Ulysses S. Grant’s is certainly one of the finest, and it is arguably the most notable literary achievement of any American president: a lucid, compelling, and brutally honest chronicle of triumph and failure. From his frontier boyhood, to his heroics in battle, to the grinding poverty from which the Civil War ironically rescued him, these memoirs are a mesmerizing, deeply moving account of a brilliant man told with great courage as he reflects on the fortunes that shaped his life and his character. Written under excruciating circumstances—Grant was dying of throat cancer—and encouraged and edited from its very inception by Mark Twain, it is a triumph of the art of autobiography. Grant was sick and broke when he began work on his memoirs. Driven by financial worries and a desire to provide for his wife, he wrote diligently during a year of deteriorating health. He vowed he would finish the work before he died, and one week after its completion, he lay dead at the age of 63. Publication of the memoirs came at a time when the public was being treated to a spate of wartime reminiscences, many of them defensive in nature, seeking to refight battles or attack old enemies. Grant’s penetrating and stately work reveals a nobility of spirit and an innate grasp of the important fact, which he rarely displayed in private life. He writes in his preface that he took up the task “with a sincere desire to avoid doing injustice to anyone, whether on the National or the Confederate side.”

General Grant's personal memoirs are a must read for all Civil War buffs and those even remotely interested in history. This book, which includes both Volume I and II, articulately spells out the military career of one of the United States' greatest generals. Grant's memoirs are well-written, thoughtful, insightful, and offer more than a glimpse into the mind of U.S. Grant. Volume I opens with a heartfelt preface where Grant explains how his diminishing health pushed him to complete this work and "asking no favor but hoping (his remarks) will meet the approval of the reader." They most definitely do. Following the preface, the reader is given a (very) short review of his early childhood, life at West Point, and early Army life. The next one hundred pages are dedicated to the Mexican War followed by his resignation from the military and civilian life in Illinois. The remainder of Volume I and all of Volume II extensively deal with the war between the states. Volume I (written before Grant realized he was critically ill) is rich in detail of the various military campaigns and his ascension through the military ranks. Volume II hurls the reader into the conflict, reads rapidly, and is rife with Grant's personal observations and insights. This second volume picks up where the first left off--following Vicksburg to the campaigns in Tennessee to the Battle of the Wilderness to Sherman's March to the Sea to the Battle of Franklin right up to Appomattox and all the events of April and May 1865. These campaigns are told from the commanding general's perspective with great overview and detail. However, what really makes Volume II special are all the personal observations and insightful comments about those Grant served with and against. Grant is thoughtful and displays much about himself as this great book draws to a close. An eloquently written, detailed, first-person account of the Civil War that offers much to those who read it.

Completed just days before his death and hailed by Mark Twain as "the most remarkable work of its kind since the Commentaries of Julius Caesar," this is the now-legendary autobiography of ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT (1822-1885), 18th president of the United States and the Union general who led the North to victory in the Civil War. Though Grant opens with tales of his boyhood, his education at West Point, and his early military career in the Mexican-American war of the 1840s, it is Grant's intimate observations on the conduct of the Civil War, which make up the bulk of the work, that have made this required reading for history students, military strategists, and Civil War buffs alike. This unabridged edition features all the material that was originally published in two volumes in 1885 and 1886, including maps, illustrations, and the text of Grant's July 1865 report to Washington on the state of the armies under his command.

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The celebrated remembrances of the man who led the Union to victory during the Civil WarCompleted just days before his death, Grant’s Personal Memoirs is a clear and compelling account of his military career, focusing on two great conflicts: the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Lauded for its crisp and direct prose, Grant’s autobiography offers frank insight into everything from the merits of the war with Mexico to the strategies and tactics employed by Union forces against the Confederacy to the poignancy of Grant’s meeting with General Lee at Appomattox Court House.Beloved and bestselling since its publication in 1885, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is a seminal work of military history and one of the great achievements of American autobiography.This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

The Complete Personal Memoirs of General Ulysses S. Grant Collection of two volumes The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is an autobiography by Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, focused mainly on his military career during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, and completed as he was dying of throat cancer in 1885. Complete volumes combined Original Maps and Illustrations

This book contains the complete memoirs of the revered United States General and President, Ulysses S. Grant, including his original illustrations and maps. In Volume I, we learn of Grant's early life and education, his entry into the West Point military academy, and what influenced his views on life and the situation of the United States as a nation. General Grant's gradual rise from his original posting as second lieutenant is charted through the various conflicts and skirmishes he was involved in. Various battles such as Monterrey, and sieges such as Vera Cruz, are recounted in this volume, with Mexico's actions and abilities as an enemy much detailed. Grant is keen to narrate the experience from his perspective as a junior officer, bringing perspective of both the strategic planning and the tactical maneuvers such conflicts entailed together with the morale of the rank and file ahead of each skirmish. We also hear of Grant's resignation in 1854, and how issues over supporting his family financially and emotionally played their part. His return to the Army, as tensions rose following the election of the anti-slavery President Abraham Lincoln, is thereafter related along with the activities of the U.S. Army as war crept closer and was declared by the secessionist states of the Confederacy. The later chapters of Volume I mention Grant's injury and participation in battles such as Shiloh, and his famous advance upon Chattanooga. Ulysses S. Grant demonstrated courage and ability in the face of an enemy more dogged and skilled than he had ever faced before; through levelheaded aptitude, he steadily rose through the command structure. Volume II begins with Ulysses S. Grant assuming his place as commander of the Chattanooga detachment of the Union Army. Early difficulties with supply lines are detailed, as the military sets about rebuilding railways to ensure the ultimate success of their campaign. Hereafter, we witness Grant's activities as he gradually wore down the Confederate war machine, physically outmaneuvering the opposing army and gradually outmatching them for resources of men, arms and essential supplies. Grant's immense devotion to his country, and his essential honesty - such as in downplaying the much-discussed final surrender of General Lee at the Appomattox Court House, is demonstrated at the conclusion of this volume. Declining to glorify war, Grant writes meditatively on the loss of life and destruction he beheld in his military roles. To a large extent this autobiography corroborates accounts by Grant's associates that he was a methodical and moral person, able in his work and convinced of the righteous abolition of slavery. Chiefly, accounts of battle as it was in the nineteenth century characterize this memoir. First and foremost, Ulysses S. Grant was a military man with an intense interest in strategical movements and battle tactics. However, he also frequently recalls the personalities and views of his friends, colleagues and enemies in a manner which enlivens the book's tone. Furthermore, we gain an impression of Grant as a family man, with a profound devotion to his wife and children. Together with U.S. Grant's own recollections, which are detailed and comprehensive, we find in this edition appendices in the form of original correspondences sent and received regarding the Union and Confederate forces. At the time he authored his memoirs in the mid-1880s, Grant was determined in spite of illness to add to the burgeoning historical narrative as a reliable source. With this autobiography, it is indisputable that he achieves this goal.