Misplaced Pages

#415584

240-715: 15,097 (2,277 KIA, 8,017 WIA, 4,742 MIA/POW) The Franklin–Nashville campaign , also known as Hood's Tennessee campaign , was a series of battles in the Western Theater , conducted from September 18 to December 27, 1864, in Alabama , Tennessee , and northwestern Georgia during the American Civil War . The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.) John Bell Hood drove north from Atlanta , threatening Major General (Maj. Gen.) William T. Sherman 's lines of communications and Middle Tennessee. After

480-666: A Christmas gift the City of Savannah ...." After Sherman captured Savannah, he was ordered by Grant to embark his army on ships to reinforce the Union armies in Virginia, where Grant was bogged down in the Siege of Petersburg against Robert E. Lee. Sherman proposed an alternative strategy. He persuaded Grant that he should march north through the Carolinas instead, destroying everything of military value along

720-494: A slave from his father-in-law, a thirty-five-year-old man named William Jones. Although Grant was not an abolitionist at the time, he disliked slavery and could not bring himself to force an enslaved man to work. In March 1859, Grant freed Jones by a manumission deed, potentially worth at least $ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 34,000 in 2023). Grant moved to St. Louis, taking on a partnership with Julia's cousin Harry Boggs working in

960-404: A 180-foot, 65 feet deep railroad cut and many of the men, including the entire 7th Illinois , were armed with Henry repeating rifles . Major General Samuel Gibbs French 's division arrived near Allatoona at sunrise on Wednesday, October 5. After a two-hour artillery bombardment, French sent a demand for surrender, which Corse refused. French then launched his brigades in an attack—one from

1200-568: A Confederate invasion of Kentucky and gaining control over large amounts of Tennessee through the Battle of Stones River and the 1863 Tullahoma Campaign while fighting against the Confederate Army of Tennessee , whose commander, Braxton Bragg , was often criticized for a perceived lack of military skill. The Union army was briefly checked in its invasion of Georgia at the Battle of Chickamauga , and besieged at Chattanooga . Grant, now commanding

1440-740: A Federal column approaching from their left— this was the lead brigade of Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Ruger 's division of the XXIII Corps. Ruger was riding with Schofield and could see Bate's men drawn up in line to attack and occupy the pike. As the two generals watched unseen by the Rebels, they saw the enemy battle line withdraw in the dusk. Before the Bate could engage in battle, an officer from Cheatham's staff arrived to insist that he follow Cheatham's original orders and join Cleburne's attack. Late that night, Bate reported

1680-402: A Federal infantry force of 3–5,000 men was defending an entrenched line that included two forts and 1,600 yards of rifle pits. Two Federal wooden gunboats patrolled the river. On Friday, October 28, Confederate skirmishers advanced through a dense fog to a ravine within 800 yards of the main fortifications. Around noon, a small Federal detachment drove the sharpshooters and skirmishers out of

1920-531: A battle, replaced him with the more aggressive Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood . Over the next six weeks, Hood would repeatedly attempt to attack a portion of Sherman's force which seemed isolated from the main body; each attack failed, often with heavy casualties for the Confederate army. Sherman eventually cut Hood's supply lines from the south. Knowing that he was trapped, Hood evacuated Atlanta on the night of September 1, burning military supplies and installations, causing

2160-572: A brief attempt to pursue Hood, Sherman returned to Atlanta and began his March to the Sea , leaving Union forces under Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas to deal with Hood's threat. Hood hoped to defeat the Union force under Maj. Gen. John Schofield before it could converge with Thomas's army and attempted to do so at the Battle of Spring Hill on Tuesday, November 29, but poorly coordinated Confederate attacks combined with effective U.S. forces leadership allowed Schofield to escape. The following day, Hood launched

2400-553: A brigade under Colonel Horace Capron . Forrest kept up the pressure and on Wednesday, November 23, heavy skirmishing occurred from Henryville to the outskirts of Mount Pleasant. To the east, Forrest's divisions under Brig. Gens. Abraham Buford II and William H. Jackson forced Hatch's division out of the Lawrenceburg area and drove them back toward Pulaski. Early on November 24, Schofield began marching his two infantry corps north to Columbia. Forrest pursued aggressively with part of

2640-509: A brilliant, almost bloodless, campaign of maneuver, the Tullahoma Campaign , and drove Bragg from Middle Tennessee. During this period, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his 2,460 Confederate cavalrymen rode west from Sparta in middle Tennessee on June 11, intending to divert the attention of Ambrose Burnside 's Army of the Ohio , which was moving toward Knoxville, from Southern forces in

SECTION 10

#1732859033416

2880-635: A campaign that would capture Mobile and push east. But when news of the dire straits of Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland reached Washington, Grant was ordered to rescue them. On October 17, he was given command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, controlling all of the armies in the Western Theater. He replaced Rosecrans with Thomas and traveled to Chattanooga, where he approved a plan to open

3120-495: A cavalry raid through Western Tennessee to destroy that supply line. The first of Forrest's men began to ride on Sunday, October 16; Forrest himself began moving north eight days later, on Monday, October 24 and reached Fort Heiman on the Tennessee River on Friday, October 28, where he emplaced artillery. On October 29 and October 30, his artillery fire caused the capture of three steamers and two gunboats. Forrest repaired two of

3360-647: A combined army of about 120,000 men. On April 29, he relieved Grant of field command and replaced him with Major General George Henry Thomas . Halleck slowly marched his army to take Corinth, entrenching each night. Meanwhile, Beauregard pretended to be reinforcing, sent "deserters" to the Union Army with that story, and moved his army out during the night, to Halleck's surprise when he finally arrived at Corinth on May 30. Halleck divided his combined army and reinstated Grant as field commander on July 11. Later that year, on September 19, Grant's army defeated Confederates at

3600-534: A decision. By the time Cheatham and Brown were able to speak, the battlefield was in total darkness, and the two officers decided that an assault conducted then without knowing the condition of their right flank might be a disaster. Hood was furious that the attack had not proceeded as he intended and that the pike was still open. He dispatched a staff officer to find Stewart to assist Cheatham. Having been up since 3:00 a.m., Hood went to bed at 9:00 p.m., confident that whatever setbacks his army had suffered during

3840-552: A defense against Hood, while taking the remainder of his army in the direction of Savannah, Georgia . Thomas's forces were divided: half were with him in Nashville and the other half with John M. Schofield , moving in pursuit from Atlanta, with other troops due to arrive from the Red River Campaign . Hood hoped to defeat Schofield before he could join forces with Thomas and before the reinforcements from Louisiana arrived. He had

4080-531: A direct frontal attack on Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia , while Sherman—now in command of all western armies—would destroy Joseph E. Johnston 's Army of Tennessee and take Atlanta. Major General Benjamin Butler would advance on Lee from the southeast, up the James River , while Major General Nathaniel Banks would capture Mobile . Major General Franz Sigel was to capture granaries and rail lines in

4320-724: A false report from his cavalry that a strong Union force was approaching from Acworth, so he reluctantly withdrew at 2:00 p.m. Allatoona was a relatively small, but bloody battle with high percentages of casualties. Hood then moved to the west and crossed the Coosa River in the vicinity of Rome, Georgia , near the Alabama state line. He turned north in the direction of Resaca, Georgia , and joined with Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler 's cavalry, which had been previously raiding in Tennessee. On Wednesday, October 12 (a week after Allatoona ), Hood demanded

4560-400: A few miles south of the city and waited, hoping that Thomas would wreck his army on the Confederate fortifications. After a two-week preparation period in winter weather, during which he received great pressure from Grant and the Union government to attack, Thomas unleashed an overwhelming assault that sent Hood and his survivors in retreat to Franklin and then to Mississippi, never to recover as

4800-574: A few of the 117 battles the NPS classifies for this theater are described. Boxed text in the right margin show the NPS campaigns associated with each section. The focus early in the war was on two critical states: Missouri and Kentucky. The loss of either would have been a crippling blow to the Union cause. Primarily because of the successes of Captain Nathaniel Lyon and his victory at Boonville in June, Missouri

5040-411: A fighting force. There are stories of Federal cavalry pursuing the fleeing Confederates up to 100 miles over the next week. The western army was nothing but a shadow of its former self. Many men chose to desert because of the overall leadership that had been lost, Hood's poor planning and tactics leading to disaster in battle, and the realization by many that the war was truly over. By his own request, Hood

SECTION 20

#1732859033416

5280-532: A fleeting advantage to the South. Sherman deployed as many as 10,000 men in reconstruction and by October 28 regular rail service resumed between Chattanooga and Atlanta. Sherman pursued Hood only as far as Gaylesville, Alabama , over 30 miles short of Gadsden. Hood began to focus his strategy. He needed to prevent Thomas's army from reuniting with Sherman and overwhelming him, and he calculated that if he moved swiftly into Tennessee, he might be able to defeat Thomas before

5520-620: A force of about 55,000 men. Hood split his force, sending the majority of his command to Dallas, Georgia . The remainder, a division under Maj. Gen. Samuel G. French , moved along the railroad toward Allatoona . The small Federal garrison at Allatoona, a partial brigade, was commanded by Colonel (COL) John Tourtellotte. Before the Southern division arrived, Sherman sent a reinforcement brigade with Brig. Gen. John M. Corse , who took command of both brigades. The Federal troops occupied strong defensive positions in two earthen redoubts on each side of

5760-544: A government and laws and a flag, and they must all be sustained. There are but two parties now, Traitors and Patriots." On April 18, Grant chaired a second recruitment meeting, but turned down a captain's position as commander of the newly formed militia company, hoping his experience would aid him to obtain a more senior rank. His early efforts to be recommissioned were rejected by Major General George B. McClellan and Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon . On April 29, supported by Congressman Elihu B. Washburne of Illinois, Grant

6000-575: A great conflagration in the city. While Sherman rested his army in preparation for offensive operations to the east, Hood embarked on a campaign to defeat Sherman by interfering with his lines of communications from Chattanooga. He drove west through Alabama and turned north toward Tennessee, hoping that Sherman would follow him and do battle. This was partially effective because his movements, and raids by Nathan Bedford Forrest, were causing considerable consternation to Sherman. Sherman thought Hood's strategy to be folly. Even stating “If Hood takes his army to

6240-552: A home called "Hardscrabble" on Grant's Farm ; Julia described it as an "unattractive cabin". Grant's family had little money, clothes, and furniture, but always had enough food. During the Panic of 1857 , which devastated Grant as it did many farmers, Grant pawned his gold watch to buy Christmas gifts. In 1858, Grant rented out Hardscrabble and moved his family to Julia's father's 850-acre plantation . That fall, after having malaria , Grant gave up farming. That same year, Grant acquired

6480-425: A large, mobile army operating in hostile territory", according to biographer Ronald White. Grant came to recognize how wars could be won or lost by factors beyond the battlefield. Grant's first post-war assignments took him and Julia to Detroit on November 17, 1848, but he was soon transferred to Madison Barracks , a desolate outpost in upstate New York, in bad need of supplies and repair. After four months, Grant

6720-737: A launching pad for Sherman to capture the Confederate rail-hub of Atlanta and to march to the Atlantic, inflicting a major logistical and psychological blow to the Confederacy. After reaching the ocean, Sherman invaded the Carolinas. Operations in the Western Theater concluded with the surrender of Southern forces to the Union armies in North Carolina and Florida in May 1865 following General Robert E. Lee 's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House . The Western Theater typically receives less attention than

6960-496: A little to do with my decision to resign." With no means of support, Grant returned to St. Louis and reunited with his family. In 1854, at age 32, Grant entered civilian life, without any money-making vocation to support his growing family. It was the beginning of seven years of financial struggles and instability. Grant's father offered him a place in the Galena, Illinois , branch of the family's leather business, but demanded Julia and

7200-598: A long defensive line that was intended to block Union advances against the strategic city of Chattanooga in his rear. In April, Union cavalry under Col. Abel Streight moved against the railroad that supplied Bragg's army in Middle Tennessee, hoping it would cause it to withdraw to Georgia. Streight's brigade raided through Mississippi and Alabama, fighting against Nathan Bedford Forrest . Streight's Raid ended when his exhausted men surrendered near Rome, Georgia , on May 3. In June, Rosecrans finally advanced against Bragg in

7440-464: A minor victory at the Battle of Iuka (September 19), but poor coordination of forces and an acoustic shadow allowed Price to escape from the intended Union double envelopment. Price and Van Dorn decided to unite their forces and attack the concentration of Union troops at Corinth and then advance into West or Middle Tennessee . In the Second Battle of Corinth (October 3–4), they attacked

Franklin–Nashville campaign - Misplaced Pages Continue

7680-563: A new Confederate capital at Bowling Green , set up by the Russellville Convention . The alternative government was recognized by the Confederate government, which admitted Kentucky into the Confederacy in December 1861. Using the rail system resources of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad , Polk was able to quickly fortify and equip the Confederate base at Columbus. The Union military command in

7920-636: A new army under Major General Winfield Scott . Traveling by sea, Scott's army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City . They met the Mexican forces at the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec . For his bravery at Molino del Rey, Grant was brevetted first lieutenant on September 30. At San Cosmé, Grant directed his men to drag a disassembled howitzer into a church steeple, then reassembled it and bombarded nearby Mexican troops. His bravery and initiative earned him his brevet promotion to captain. On September 14, 1847, Scott's army marched into

8160-647: A new supply line (the "Cracker Line"), allowing supplies and reinforcements to reach the city. Soon the troops were joined by 40,000 more, from the Army of the Tennessee under Sherman and from the Army of the Potomac under Joseph Hooker . While the Union army expanded, the Confederate army contracted; Bragg dispatched Longstreet's corps to Knoxville to hold off an advance by Burnside. The Battles for Chattanooga began in earnest on November 24, 1863, as Hooker took Lookout Mountain , which

8400-672: A number of their troops broke through the now not-so-solid Federal defenses on either side. In a matter of minutes, the Confederates had penetrated 50 yards through the center of the Federal line. Western Theater of the American Civil War The western theater of the American Civil War encompassed major military operations in the states of Alabama , Georgia , Florida , Mississippi , North Carolina , Kentucky , South Carolina and Tennessee , as well as Louisiana east of

8640-470: A position in his father's leather goods business, "Grant & Perkins", run by his younger brothers Simpson and Orvil. In a few months, Grant paid off his debts. The family attended the local Methodist church and he soon established himself as a reputable citizen. On April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began when Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina . The news came as

8880-735: A pragmatic program and hired Presbyterian chaplain John Eaton to administer contraband camps. Freed slaves picked cotton that was shipped north to aid the Union war effort. Lincoln approved and Grant's program was successful. Grant also worked freed black labor on a canal to bypass Vicksburg, incorporating the laborers into the Union Army and Navy. Grant's war responsibilities included combating illegal Northern cotton trade and civilian obstruction. He had received numerous complaints about Jewish speculators in his district. The majority, however, of those involved in illegal trading were not Jewish. To help combat this, Grant required two permits, one from

9120-401: A railroad bridge and a recently installed pontoon bridge, but heavy rains that day made approaches to the bridge impassable. That evening, the bulk of the Army of Tennessee reached the fortifications south of Columbia. On Monday, November 28, Forrest crossed the river east of town against little resistance from the Union cavalry; the Southern cavalrymen had deceived Wilson and drawn his force to

9360-501: A series of futile frontal assaults against Schofield's field fortifications in the Battle of Franklin , suffering heavy casualties; Schofield withdrew his force and successfully linked up with Thomas in Nashville, Tennessee . On December 15–16, Thomas's combined army attacked Hood's depleted army and routed it in the Battle of Nashville , sending it in retreat to Tupelo, Mississippi . Hood resigned his commission shortly thereafter and

9600-506: A sharp bend in the river and called the " Gibraltar of the Mississippi", Vicksburg was nearly invulnerable to naval assault. Admiral David Farragut had found this directly in his failed operations of May 1862. The overall plan to capture Vicksburg was for Ulysses S. Grant to move south from Memphis and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks to move north from Baton Rouge . Banks's advance was slow to develop and bogged down at Port Hudson, offering little assistance to Grant. Grant's first campaign

9840-455: A shock in Galena, and Grant shared his neighbors' concern about the war. On April 15, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers. The next day, Grant attended a mass meeting to assess the crisis and encourage recruitment, and a speech by his father's attorney, John Aaron Rawlins , stirred Grant's patriotism. In an April 21 letter to his father, Grant wrote out his views on the upcoming conflict: "We have

Franklin–Nashville campaign - Misplaced Pages Continue

10080-505: A single corps of Buell's Army of the Ohio . That evening Bragg realized that he was facing Buell's entire army and ordered a retreat to Harrodsburg , where he was joined by Kirby Smith's Army of Kentucky on October 10. Despite having a strong combined force, Bragg made no attempt to regain the initiative. Buell was equally passive. Bragg retreated through the Cumberland Gap and returned to Murfreesboro by way of Chattanooga. While Buell

10320-441: A single nation within the Union. Modern scholarship has better appreciated Grant's appointments of Cabinet reformers. Grant's father Jesse Root Grant was a Whig Party supporter and a fervent abolitionist. Jesse and Hannah Simpson were married on June 24, 1821, and their first child, Hiram Ulysses Grant, was born on April 27, 1822. The name Ulysses was drawn from ballots placed in a hat. To honor his father-in-law, Jesse named

10560-534: A total force of over 40,000 men. Grant was with Foote four miles away when the Confederates attacked. Hearing the battle, Grant rode back and rallied his troop commanders, riding over seven miles of freezing roads and trenches, exchanging reports. When Grant blocked the Nashville Road, the Confederates retreated back into Fort Donelson. On February 16, Foote resumed his bombardment, signaling a general attack. Confederate generals John B. Floyd and Pillow fled, leaving

10800-571: A week. Three days later, Halleck claimed "word has just reached me that ... Grant has resumed his bad habits (of drinking)." Lincoln, regardless, promoted Grant to major general of volunteers and the Northern press treated Grant as a hero. Playing off his initials, they took to calling him "Unconditional Surrender Grant". Reinstated by Halleck at the urging of Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton , Grant rejoined his army with orders to advance with

11040-506: A wife to support, he would remain in the army. Grant's unit was stationed in Louisiana as part of the Army of Occupation under Major General Zachary Taylor . In September 1846, President James K. Polk ordered Taylor to march 150 miles (240 km) south to the Rio Grande . Marching to Fort Texas , to prevent a Mexican siege, Grant experienced combat for the first time on May 8, 1846, at

11280-499: Is now fixed upon a point far beyond that where he was assailed by the enemy. He hopes soon to have his hand upon Sherman's line of communications, and to fix it where he can hold it. ... I believe it is in the power of the men of the Confederacy to plant our banners on the banks of the Ohio, where we shall say to the Yankee, "be quiet or we shall teach you another lesson." Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee, at 39,000 men, constituted

11520-415: Is one of the key tenets of a strategy of total war . Sherman's army left Atlanta on November 15, 1864, and was conducted in two columns separated by about 60 miles (97 km), the right under Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard and the left under Maj. Gen. Henry Warner Slocum . Between these columns, the destruction was significant and spawned hatred for generations. Most of the resistance to Sherman's armies

11760-457: Is one of two dominant peaks over the city. The next day, Grant planned a double envelopment of Bragg's position on the other mountain, Missionary Ridge . Sherman was to attack from the north, Hooker from the south, and Thomas was to hold the center. But Sherman's attack bogged down in confusion, and Grant ordered Thomas to launch a minor attack as a diversion to relieve pressure on Sherman. Thomas's troops continued their initial attack by charging up

12000-473: The Army of Tennessee , in Tupelo, Mississippi , due south of Corinth. But he determined that an advance directly north from Tupelo was not practical. He left Maj. Gens. Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn to distract Grant and shifted 35,000 men by rail through Mobile, Alabama , to Chattanooga. Even though he did not leave Tupelo until July 21, he was able to reach Chattanooga before Buell could. Bragg's general plan

12240-496: The Army of the Tennessee into Tennessee. His main army was located at Pittsburg Landing , while 40,000 Confederate troops converged at Corinth, Mississippi . Grant wanted to attack the Confederates at Corinth, but Halleck ordered him not to attack until Major General Don Carlos Buell arrived with his division of 25,000. Grant prepared for an attack on the Confederate army of roughly equal strength. Instead of preparing defensive fortifications, they spent most of their time drilling

SECTION 50

#1732859033416

12480-467: The Battle of Iuka , then successfully defended Corinth , inflicting heavy casualties. On October 25, Grant assumed command of the District of the Tennessee. In November, after Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation , Grant ordered units under his command to incorporate former slaves into the Union Army, giving them clothes, shelter, and wages for their services. The Union capture of Vicksburg ,

12720-494: The Battle of Palo Alto . Grant served as regimental quartermaster, but yearned for a combat role; when finally allowed, he led a charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma . He demonstrated his equestrian ability at the Battle of Monterrey by volunteering to carry a dispatch past snipers; he hung off the side of his horse, keeping the animal between him and the enemy. Polk, wary of Taylor's growing popularity, divided his forces, sending some troops (including Grant's unit) to form

12960-479: The Battle of Stones River , Bragg surprised Rosecrans with a powerful assault on December 31, pushing the Union forces back to a small perimeter against the Stones River. But on January 2, 1863, further attempts to assault Rosecrans were beaten back decisively and Bragg withdrew his army southeast to Tullahoma . In proportion to the size of the armies, the casualties at Stones River (about 12,000 on each side) made it

13200-460: The Eastern Theater in late October to reorganize and command Thomas's cavalry, but he possessed only 4,800 horsemen ready to oppose Forrest, compared to Forrest's between 5,000 and 6,000 men. The Confederate cavalry advanced to Mount Pleasant by November 23. Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton 's brigade, the initial Federal cavalry force, was reinforced with a division under Brig. Gen. Edward Hatch and

13440-669: The Mississippi River . Operations on the coasts of these states, except for Mobile Bay , are considered part of the Lower Seaboard Theater . Most other operations east of the Appalachian Mountains are part of the eastern theater . Operations west of the Mississippi River took place in the trans-Mississippi theater . The western theater served as an avenue of military operations by Union armies directly into

13680-508: The Oregon Territory . Grant tried several business ventures but failed, and in one instance his business partner absconded with $ 800 of Grant's investment, equivalent to $ 23,000 in 2023. After he witnessed white agents cheating local Indians of their supplies, and their devastation by smallpox and measles transferred to them by white settlers, he developed empathy for their plight. Promoted to captain on August 5, 1853, Grant

13920-475: The Overland Campaign , forcing Lee into a brutal siege of Petersburg . Sherman's Atlanta Campaign , on the other hand, was an unqualified success. At the start of the campaign, Sherman's Military Division of the Mississippi consisted of three armies: James B. McPherson 's Army of the Tennessee (Sherman's old army under Grant), John M. Schofield 's Army of the Ohio , and George H. Thomas 's Army of

14160-493: The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York , in spring 1839. Grant was accepted on July 1. Unfamiliar with Grant, Hamer altered his name, so Grant was enlisted under the name "U. S. Grant". Since the initials "U.S." also stood for " Uncle Sam ", he became known among army colleagues as "Sam." Initially, Grant was indifferent to military life, but within a year he reexamined his desire to leave

14400-459: The XXIII Corps under Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox , and a Cavalry Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson . Thomas had an additional 26,000 men at Nashville and scattered around his department. So far, the Confederate strategy was working, because Sherman was being forced to disperse his strength to maintain his lines of communication. Hood's movements attracted a lot of attention in the press in

14640-565: The first Civil Service Commission , advancing the civil service more than any prior president. Grant was re-elected in the 1872 presidential election , but was inundated by executive scandals during his second term. His response to the Panic of 1873 was ineffective in halting the Long Depression , which contributed to the Democrats winning the House majority in 1874 . Grant's Native American policy

SECTION 60

#1732859033416

14880-633: The pseudohistorical and negationist mythology of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy spread by Confederate sympathizers around the turn of the 20th century, historical assessments and rankings of Grant's presidency suffered considerably before they began recovering in the 21st century. Grant's critics take a negative view of his economic mismanagement and the corruption within his administration, while his admirers emphasize his policy towards Native Americans , vigorous enforcement of civil and voting rights for African Americans , and securing North and South as

15120-399: The 25th, Grant ordered Thomas to advance to the rifle-pits at the base of Missionary Ridge after Sherman's army failed to take Missionary Ridge from the northeast. Four divisions of the Army of the Cumberland, with the center two led by Major General Philip Sheridan and Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood , chased the Confederates out of the rifle-pits at the base and, against orders, continued

15360-545: The 3,000 men in Wagner 's two brigades under Lane and Conrad, which attempted to stand their ground behind inadequate fieldworks and without anchored flanks, but quickly collapsed under the pressure. Many of the veteran soldiers of the two brigades stampeded back on the Columbia Pike to the main breastworks, while some untried replacements were reluctant to move under fire and were captured. The fleeing troops were closely pursued by

15600-513: The Army of Tennessee ceased to exist as an effective fighting force. At the conclusion of his successful Atlanta campaign , Sherman occupied the city of Atlanta on September 2, 1864, and Hood, who was forced to evacuate the city, regrouped at Lovejoy's Station. For almost a month, the normally aggressive Sherman took little action while his men sat about idly, and many left the army at the end of their enlistments. On September 21, Hood moved his forces to Palmetto, Georgia , where on September 25, he

15840-437: The Army of Tennessee. He also established a new theater commander to supervise Hood and the department of Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor , although the officer selected for the assignment, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard , was not expected to exert any real operational control of the armies in the field. Although Sherman was planning to march east to seize the city of Savannah, Georgia , (the campaign that would be known as Sherman's March to

16080-474: The Atlanta campaign, losing tens of thousands of men in ill-advised frontal assaults for no significant gains, and implied that he was considering replacing Hood in command of the army. After the president's departure for Montgomery, Alabama , he telegraphed Hood that he had decided to retain him in command and, acceding to Hood's request, transferred Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee , one of Hood's corps commanders, out of

16320-569: The Civil War began, Grant joined the Union Army and rose to prominence after securing victories in the western theater . In 1863, he led the Vicksburg campaign that gave Union forces control of the Mississippi River and dealt a major strategic blow to the Confederacy. President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general and command of all Union armies after his victory at Chattanooga . For thirteen months, Grant fought Robert E. Lee during

16560-644: The Confederate Army was divided and could be defeated in detail. Further, he could not agree with his peer, Buell, now in Nashville, on a joint course of action. He sent Grant up the Tennessee River while Buell remained in Nashville. On March 11, President Lincoln appointed Halleck the commander of all forces from the Missouri River to Knoxville, Tennessee , thus achieving the needed unity of command, and Halleck ordered Buell to join Grant's forces at Pittsburg Landing on

16800-409: The Confederate commanders slept. The passage of the army did not go unnoticed by some of the soldiers, but no concerted effort was made to block the pike. Confederate cavalry attempted to block the passage of the supply trains north of Spring Hill, at Thompson's Station, but accompanying Federal infantry drove them off. A private soldier woke up the commanding general at 2:00 a.m. and reported he saw

17040-531: The Confederate defenses. At this time, Beauregard decided not to make a costly defensive stand and withdrew without hostilities during the night of May 29. Grant did not command directly in the Corinth campaign. Halleck had reorganized his army, giving Grant the powerless position of second-in-command and shuffling divisions from the three armies into three "wings". When Halleck moved east to replace McClellan as general-in-chief, Grant resumed his field command, now named

17280-432: The Confederate defenses. When Sherman flanked the defensive lines (almost exclusively around Johnston's left flank), Johnston would retreat to another prepared position. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27) was a notable exception, in which Sherman attempted a frontal assault, against the advice of his subordinates, and suffered significant losses, losing 3,000 men versus 1,000 for Johnston. Both armies took advantage of

17520-563: The Confederate side, General Albert Sidney Johnston commanded all forces from Arkansas to the Cumberland Gap . He was faced with the problem of defending a broad front with numerically inferior forces, but he had an excellent system of lateral communications, permitting him to move troops rapidly where they were needed, and he had two able subordinates, Polk and Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee . Johnston also gained political support from secessionists in central and western counties of Kentucky via

17760-457: The Confederate works twice at great cost at the start of the Siege of Vicksburg but then settled in for a lengthy siege. The soldiers and civilians in Vicksburg suffered greatly from Union bombardment and impending starvation. They clung to the hope that General Johnston would arrive with reinforcements, but Johnston was both cut off and too cautious. On July 4, Pemberton surrendered his army and

18000-501: The Confederates and the two sides became so intermingled that defenders in the breastworks had to hold their fire to avoid hitting their comrades. The U.S. forces' momentary inability to defend the opening in the works caused a weak spot in its line at the Columbia Pike from the Carter House to the cotton gin. Hood's aggressiveness seemed to be paying off. The Confederate divisions of Cleburne, Brown, and French converged on this front and

18240-466: The Confederates moved into western Kentucky, taking Columbus, with designs on southern Illinois, Grant notified Frémont and, without waiting for his reply, advanced on Paducah, Kentucky , taking it without a fight on September 6. Having understood the importance to Lincoln of Kentucky's neutrality, Grant assured its citizens, "I have come among you not as your enemy, but as your friend." On November 1, Frémont ordered Grant to " make demonstrations " against

18480-490: The Confederates on both sides of the Mississippi, but prohibited him from attacking. On November 2, 1861, Lincoln removed Frémont from command, freeing Grant to attack Confederate soldiers encamped in Cape Girardeau , Missouri. On November 5, Grant, along with Brigadier General John A. McClernand , landed 2,500 men at Hunter's Point, and on November 7 engaged the Confederates at the Battle of Belmont . The Union army took

18720-574: The Cumberland . Opposing him was the Confederate Army of Tennessee , commanded by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman outnumbered Johnston 98,000 to 50,000, but his ranks were depleted by many furloughed soldiers, and Johnston received 15,000 reinforcements from Alabama in April. The campaign opened with several battles in May and June 1864 as Sherman pressed Johnston southeast through mountainous terrain. Sherman avoided frontal assaults against most of Johnston's positions, instead maneuvering in flanking marches around

18960-519: The Cumberland River. Unaware of the garrison's strength, Grant, McClernand, and Smith positioned their divisions around the fort. The next day McClernand and Smith independently launched probing attacks on apparent weak spots but were forced to retreat. On February 14, Foote's gunboats began bombarding the fort, only to be repulsed by its heavy guns. The next day, Pillow attacked and routed McClernand's division. Union reinforcements arrived, giving Grant

19200-476: The Dents' owning slaves, and neither of Grant's parents attended the wedding. Grant was flanked by three fellow West Point graduates in their blue uniforms, including Longstreet, Julia's cousin. The couple had four children: Frederick , Ulysses Jr. ("Buck"), Ellen ("Nellie"), and Jesse II . After the wedding, Grant obtained a two-month extension to his leave and returned to St. Louis, where he decided that, with

19440-581: The District of West Tennessee. But before he left, Halleck dispersed his forces, sending Buell towards Chattanooga , Sherman to Memphis, one division to Arkansas, and Rosecrans to hold a covering position around Corinth. Part of Halleck's reason for this was that Lincoln desired to capture eastern Tennessee and protect the Unionists in the region. While Halleck accomplished little following Corinth, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg succeeded Beauregard (on June 27, for health reasons) in command of his 56,000 troops of

19680-466: The Duck River either upstream or downstream and cut off the Union force from Thomas, who was assembling the remainder of his force in Nashville. On the morning of November 26, Schofield received an order from Thomas to hold the north bank of the Duck River until reinforcements under A. J. Smith could arrive from Nashville. Schofield planned to move his trains during the day and his infantry overnight, using

19920-541: The Duck. Cavalry skirmishing between Wilson's and Forrest's troopers had occurred throughout the day on Monday and continued on Tuesday. Forrest's wide turning movement with 4,000 troopers had forced Wilson north to Hurt's Corner, preventing the U.S. horsemen from interfering with Hood's infantry advance. By 10:00 a.m., on Tuesday, November 29, Forrest ordered his men to turn west toward Spring Hill. Wilson had sent multiple messages to Schofield warning of Hood's advance, but it

20160-498: The Eastern Theater. This has much to do with the greater proximity of action in the east to capitals and to major population centers. However, some historians consider it the war's most important theater. While the Eastern Theater essentially remained in stalemate until 1864, Union troops in the west, beginning in 1861, were able to steadily surround and drive back the Confederate troops, forcing them into eventual capitulation. This

20400-641: The Eastern, both at the time and in subsequent historical accounts. The near-steady progress that Union forces made in defeating Confederate armies in the West and overtaking Confederate territory went nearly unnoticed. The campaign classification established by the United States National Park Service is more fine-grained than the one used in this article. Some minor NPS campaigns have been omitted and some have been combined into larger categories. Only

20640-477: The Federal garrison at Dalton, Georgia , under ugly circumstances. The 751 men under Colonel Lewis Johnson included a large number of African-American soldiers, a sight that enraged many in Hood's army. In surrender negotiations, Johnson insisted that his black troops be treated as prisoners of war, but Hood replied that "all slaves belonging to persons in the Confederacy" would be returned to their masters. Unable to defend

20880-459: The IV Corps division of Brig. Gen. George D. Wagner . On November 29 Hood sent Cheatham's and Stewart's corps on a flanking march north, crossing the Duck River at Davis's Ford east of Columbia while two divisions of Lee's corps and most of the army's artillery remained on the southern bank to deceive Schofield into thinking a general assault was planned against Columbia. Hood, riding near the head of

21120-488: The IV Corps under Stanley to Chattanooga and the XXIII Corps under Schofield to Nashville, as well as Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith 's XVI Corps from Missouri to Nashville. By November 10, the remainder of Sherman's troops were en route back to Atlanta. One of the critical Federal supply lines in Tennessee was to use the Tennessee River, offload supplies at Johnsonville , and then ship them by rail to Nashville. Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor ordered Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest on

21360-685: The IV Corps. Thomas remained concerned that 10,000 troops from the XVI Corps , commanded by Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith , had not arrived as promised reinforcements from Missouri . In Tennessee [Hood] groped for some grandiose scheme—the capture of Nashville, a march on Cincinnati, a crossing of the Ohio. Repeatedly, since reaching North Georgia in October, he had changed his objective, not because of unexpected Federal moves as much as because he had no real objective save that long-lasting Confederate dream that victory—and perhaps fame as well—lay along

21600-488: The Mexican war was morally unjust and that the territorial gains were designed to expand slavery. He opined that the Civil War was divine punishment for U.S. aggression against Mexico. Historians have pointed to the importance of Grant's experience as an assistant quartermaster during the war. Although he was initially averse to the position, it prepared Grant in understanding military supply routes, transportation systems, and logistics, particularly with regard to "provisioning

21840-485: The Mississippi River and split the Confederacy. By that time, Grant's political sympathies fully coincided with the Radical Republicans ' aggressive prosecution of the war and emancipation of the slaves. The success at Vicksburg was a morale boost for the Union war effort. When Stanton suggested Grant be brought east to run the Army of the Potomac , Grant demurred, writing that he knew the geography and resources of

22080-402: The Mississippi River began to tighten. On April 7, while the Confederates were retreating from Shiloh, Union Maj. Gen. John Pope defeated Beauregard's isolated force at Island Number 10 , opening the river almost as far south as Memphis . On April 28, Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans , the South's largest city and most significant seaport. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler occupied

22320-559: The Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers, which effectively divided the unity of command so that Johnston controlled only a small force at Murfreesboro, Tennessee . Beauregard planned to concentrate his forces in the vicinity of Corinth, Mississippi , and prepare for an offensive. Johnston moved his force to concentrate with Beauregard's by late March. The preparations for the Union campaign did not proceed smoothly. Halleck seemed more concerned with his standing in relation to General-in-Chief George B. McClellan than he did with understanding that

22560-400: The Mississippi and beyond. Here, in the West, the truly decisive battles were fought. Steven E. Woodworth , Jefferson Davis and His Generals The West was by some measures the most important theater of the war. Capture of the Mississippi River has been one of the key tenets of Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott 's Anaconda Plan . Military historian J. F. C. Fuller has described

22800-415: The Mississippi, to converge at Pittsburg Landing. He moved slowly in the direction of the critical rail junction at Corinth, taking four weeks to cover the twenty miles (32 km) from Shiloh, stopping nightly to entrench. By May 3, Halleck was within ten miles of the city but took another three weeks to advance eight miles closer to Corinth , by which time Halleck was ready to start a massive bombardment of

23040-658: The Mississippi. Grant's army captured Jackson . Advancing west, he defeated Pemberton's army at the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16, forcing their retreat into Vicksburg. After Grant's men assaulted the entrenchments twice, suffering severe losses, they settled in for a siege which lasted seven weeks . During quiet periods of the campaign, Grant would drink on occasion. The personal rivalry between McClernand and Grant continued until Grant removed him from command when he contravened Grant by publishing an order without permission. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863. Vicksburg's fall gave Union forces control of

23280-482: The Ohio River I’d give him rations”. The confederate western army was already greatly reduced and The Federal Western Command had more than enough men in reserve to deal with Hood's invasion. Leaving Sherman virtually unopposed taking 65,000 men and marching through Georgia to the Sea. He sent Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas with portions of the Army of the Cumberland and most of the cavalry corps to Nashville to coordinate

23520-487: The Ohio River. Thomas L. Connelly, Autumn of Glory Hood's army departed Florence on November 21, marching in three columns, with Cheatham on the left, Lee in the center, and Stewart on the right, all screened by Forrest's cavalry. Hood's plan was to consolidate at Mount Pleasant and from there move to the east to cut off Schofield before he could reach Columbia and the Duck River. The rapid forced march 70 miles north

23760-399: The Sea ) he was concerned about his lines of communications back to Chattanooga. One particular threat was the cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest, who had long bedeviled Union expeditions with lightning raids into their rear areas. On September 29, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant urged Sherman to dispose of Forrest and Sherman sent Thomas to Nashville, Tennessee, to organize all of

24000-511: The South was determined to fight, would later write, "Then, indeed, I gave up all idea of saving the Union except by complete conquest." Shiloh was the costliest battle in American history to that point and the staggering 23,746 casualties stunned the nation. Briefly hailed a hero for routing the Confederates, Grant was soon mired in controversy. The Northern press castigated Grant for shockingly high casualties, and accused him of drunkenness during

24240-401: The Tennessee River, heading south, and interdicting the Confederate supply lines from Georgia. He began operations on August 18 and used a two-week bombardment of Chattanooga as a diversion. The Confederate high command reinforced Bragg with a division from Mississippi as well as a corps previously of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by James Longstreet . Rosecrans pursued Bragg into

24480-420: The Tennessee River. On April 6, the combined Confederate forces under Beauregard and Johnston surprised Grant's unprepared Army of West Tennessee with a massive dawn assault at Pittsburg Landing in the Battle of Shiloh . In the first day of the battle, the Confederate onslaught drove Grant back against the Tennessee but could not defeat him. Johnston was mortally wounded leading an infantry charge that day; he

24720-401: The Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeated the Confederate Army of Mississippi , commanded by General Albert Sidney Johnston , at the Battle of Shiloh , driving it out of western Tennessee and subsequently marching into Mississippi and capturing Corinth. Grant's troops marched towards and captured Vicksburg in 1862–1863. Meanwhile, the Army of the Ohio experienced success, blocking

24960-416: The Tennessee. Grant moved swiftly, starting his troops up the Tennessee River toward Fort Henry on river transports on February 2. His operations in the campaign were well coordinated with United States Navy Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote . The fort was poorly situated on a floodplain and virtually indefensible against gunboats, with many of its guns under water due to flooding winter rains. Because of

25200-631: The Treasury and one from the Union Army, to purchase cotton. On December 17, 1862, Grant issued a controversial General Order No. 11 , expelling "Jews, as a class", from his military district. After complaints, Lincoln rescinded the order on January 3, 1863. Grant finally ended the order on January 17. He later described issuing the order as one of his biggest regrets. On January 29, 1863, Grant assumed overall command. To bypass Vicksburg's guns, Grant slowly advanced his Union army south through water-logged terrain. The plan of attacking Vicksburg from downriver

25440-460: The Union column moving north, but Hood did nothing beyond sending a dispatch to Cheatham to fire on passing traffic. By 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 30, all of Schofield's army was well north of Spring Hill and its vanguard had reached Franklin, where it began to build breastworks south of town. In the morning Hood discovered Schofield's escape, and after an angry conference with his subordinate commanders in which he blamed all but himself for

25680-426: The Union force, a decision that caused dismay among his top generals. Some popular histories, in the Lost Cause tradition, assert that Hood acted rashly in a fit of rage, resentful that the Federal army had slipped past his troops the night before at Spring Hill and that he wanted to discipline his army by ordering them to assault against strong odds. Recent scholarship by Eric Jacobson discounts this as unlikely, as it

25920-466: The Union forces could be reassembled. After Thomas was eliminated, Hood planned to move into central Kentucky and replenish his army with recruits from there and Tennessee. He hoped to accomplish all of this before Sherman could reach him. His plan was that if Sherman followed him, Hood would fight him in Kentucky; from there he planned to move eastward through the Cumberland Gap to aid Robert E. Lee , who

26160-610: The Union invasion as an immense turning movement, a left wheel that started in Kentucky , headed south down the Mississippi River, and then east through Tennessee , Georgia, and the Carolinas. With the exception of the Battle of Chickamauga and some daring raids by cavalry or guerrilla forces, the four years in the West marked a string of almost continuous defeats for the Confederates; or, at best, tactical draws that eventually turned out to be strategic reversals. Union generals consistently outclassed most of their Confederate opponents, with

26400-414: The Union line and into a reserve position behind the gap through which the Columbia Pike passed, leaving the brigades of Colonels John Q. Lane, and Joseph Conrad in front. Hood's army began to arrive on Winstead Hill, two miles (3 km) south of Franklin. Around 1:00 p.m. Hood ordered a frontal assault in the dwindling afternoon light—sunset would be at 4:30 p.m. that day—against

26640-540: The Union losses as 4 gunboats, 14 transports, 20 barges, 26 pieces of artillery, $ 6,700,000 worth of property, and 150 prisoners. One Union officer described the monetary loss as about $ 2,200,000. Forrest's command, delayed by heavy rains, proceeded to Perryville, Tennessee, and eventually reached Corinth, Mississippi , on Thursday, November 10. During the raid, on November 3, Beauregard designated Forrest's cavalry for assignment to Hood's Army of Tennessee. Hood elected to delay his advance from Florence to Tuscumbia until Forrest

26880-462: The Union squadron for nearly three hours before he determined that further resistance was useless. The Tennessee River was then open for future Union operations into the South. Fort Donelson , on the Cumberland River , was more defensible than Henry, and Navy assaults on the fort were ineffective. Grant's army marched cross-country in pursuit of Tilghman's men and attempted immediate assaults on

27120-528: The Union works formed an approximate semicircle around the town. A gap in the line occurred where the Columbia Pike entered the outskirts of the town, left open to allow passage of the wagons. Just behind the center of the formidable line stood the Carter House , appropriated as Cox's headquarters. Brig. Gen. Stanley had ordered Wagner to maintain a rear guard on Winstead Hill and relieve his third brigade under Colonel Emerson Opdycke who were further south. Wagner

27360-460: The Vicksburg defensive guns and were able to ferry Grant's army across the river to land south of Vicksburg at Bruinsburg . Grant employed two strategic diversions to mask his intentions: a feint by Sherman north of Vicksburg and a daring cavalry raid through central Mississippi by Colonel Benjamin Grierson , known as Grierson's Raid . The former was inconclusive, but the latter was a success. Grierson

27600-757: The West better and he did not want to upset the chain of command in the East. On October 16, 1863, Lincoln promoted Grant to major general in the regular army and assigned him command of the newly formed Division of the Mississippi , which comprised the Armies of the Ohio , the Tennessee, and the Cumberland . After the Battle of Chickamauga , the Army of the Cumberland retreated into Chattanooga, where they were partially besieged. Grant arrived in Chattanooga, where plans to resupply and break

27840-514: The West, however, suffered from a lack of unified command, organized by November into three separate departments: the Department of Kansas , under Maj. Gen. David Hunter , the Department of the Missouri , under Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck , and the Department of the Ohio , under Brig. Gen. Don Carlos Buell (who had replaced Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman ). By January 1862, this disunity of command

28080-532: The Yazoo, McClernand asserted control. He inexplicably detoured from his primary objective by capturing Arkansas Post on the Arkansas River , but before he could resume his main advance, Grant had reasserted control, and McClernand became a corps commander in Grant's army. For the rest of the winter, Grant attempted five separate projects to reach the city by moving through or reengineering, rivers, canals, and bayous to

28320-402: The academy and later wrote that "on the whole I like this place very much". He earned a reputation as the "most proficient" horseman . Seeking relief from military routine, he studied under Romantic artist Robert Walter Weir , producing nine surviving artworks. He spent more time reading books from the library than his academic texts. On Sundays, cadets were required to march to services at

28560-609: The academy's church, which Grant disliked. Quiet by nature, he established a few intimate friends among fellow cadets, including Frederick Tracy Dent and James Longstreet . He was inspired both by the Commandant, Captain Charles Ferguson Smith , and by General Winfield Scott , who visited the academy to review the cadets. Grant later wrote of the military life, "there is much to dislike, but more to like." Grant graduated on June 30, 1843, ranked 21st out of 39 in his class and

28800-581: The agricultural heartland of the South via the major rivers of the region (the Mississippi , the Tennessee , and the Cumberland ). The Confederacy was forced to defend an enormous area with limited resources. Most railroads ran from north to south, as opposed to east to west, making it difficult to send Confederate reinforcements and supplies to troops further from the more heavily populated and industrialized areas of

29040-416: The attack on Johnsonville. On the morning of November 4, Undine and the Confederate batteries were attacked by three Union gunboats from Johnsonville and the six Paducah gunboats. Undine was abandoned and set on fire, which caused her ammunition magazine to explode, ending Forrest's brief career as a naval commander. Despite this loss, the Confederate land artillery was completely effective in neutralizing

29280-548: The battle gave his volunteers much-needed confidence and experience. Columbus blocked Union access to the lower Mississippi. Grant and lieutenant colonel James B. McPherson planned to bypass Columbus and move against Fort Henry on the Tennessee River . They would then march east to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River , with the aid of gunboats, opening both rivers and allowing the Union access further south. Grant presented his plan to Henry Halleck , his new commander in

29520-454: The battle, contrary to the accounts of those with him at the time. Discouraged, Grant considered resigning but Sherman convinced him to stay. Lincoln dismissed Grant's critics, saying "I can't spare this man; he fights." Grant's costly victory at Shiloh ended any chance for the Confederates to prevail in the Mississippi valley or regain its strategic advantage in the West. Halleck arrived from St. Louis on April 11, took command, and assembled

29760-445: The bloodiest battle of the war. At the end of the campaign, Bragg's threat against Kentucky had been defeated, and he effectively yielded control of Middle Tennessee. Abraham Lincoln believed that the river fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi , was a key to winning the war. Vicksburg and Port Hudson were the last remaining strongholds that prevented full Union control of the Mississippi River. Situated on high bluffs overlooking

30000-577: The boats, Undine and Venus , to use as a small flotilla to aid in his attack on Johnsonville. On November 2, Forrest's flotilla was challenged by two Union gunboats, Key West and Tawah , and Venus was run aground and captured. The Federals dispatched six more gunboats from Paducah, Kentucky , and on Wednesday, November 3 they engaged in artillery duels with strong Confederate positions on either end of Reynoldsburg Island, near Johnsonville. The Federal fleet had difficulty attempting to subdue these positions and were occupied as Forrest prepared his force for

30240-614: The boy "Hiram Ulysses", though he always referred to him as "Ulysses". In 1823, the family moved to Georgetown, Ohio , where five siblings were born: Simpson, Clara, Orvil, Jennie, and Mary. At the age of five, Ulysses started at a subscription school and later attended two private schools. In the winter of 1836–1837, Grant was a student at Maysville Seminary , and in the autumn of 1838, he attended John Rankin 's academy. In his youth, Grant developed an unusual ability to ride and manage horses; his father gave him work driving supply wagons and transporting people. Unlike his siblings, Grant

30480-450: The camp, but the reinforced Confederates under Brigadier Generals Frank Cheatham and Gideon J. Pillow forced a chaotic Union retreat. Grant had wanted to destroy Confederate strongholds at Belmont, Missouri , and Columbus, Kentucky , but was not given enough troops and was only able to disrupt their positions. Grant's troops escaped back to Cairo under fire from the fortified stronghold at Columbus. Although Grant and his army retreated,

30720-470: The chance at the Battle of Spring Hill in Tennessee (November 29, 1864), but the Union troops were able to slip through the trap, due to the Confederate failure to cut the Columbia-to-Franklin turnpike in the Union rear. At the Battle of Franklin the following day, Hood launched repeated massive frontal assaults against strong entrenchments and suffered severe casualties. The battle of Franklin cost

30960-521: The charge up the 45-degree slope and captured the Confederate entrenchments along the crest, forcing a hurried retreat. The decisive battle gave the Union control of Tennessee and opened Georgia , the Confederate heartland, to Union invasion. On March 2, 1864, Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general, giving him command of all Union Armies. Grant's new rank had previously been held only by George Washington . Grant arrived in Washington on March 8 and

31200-466: The children stay in Missouri, with the Dents, or with the Grants in Kentucky. Grant and Julia declined. For the next four years, Grant farmed with the help of Julia's slave, Dan, on his brother-in-law's property, Wish-ton-wish , near St. Louis . The farm was not successful and to earn a living he sold firewood on St. Louis street corners. In 1856, the Grants moved to land on Julia's father's farm, and built

31440-509: The city to Grant. In conjunction with the defeat of Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg the previous day, Vicksburg is widely considered one of the turning points of the war. By July 8, after Banks captured Port Hudson, the entire Mississippi River was in Union hands, and the Confederacy was split in two. After his victory at Stones River, Rosecrans occupied Murfreesboro for almost six months while Bragg rested in Tullahoma, establishing

31680-442: The city with a strong military government that caused considerable resentment among the civilian population. Although Beauregard had little concentrated strength available to oppose a southward movement by Halleck, the Union general showed insufficient drive to take advantage of the situation. He waited until he assembled a large army, combining the forces of Buell's Army of the Ohio, Grant's Army of West Tennessee, and Pope's Army of

31920-434: The city, moving north, and continuing the destruction of the railroad. Meanwhile, Sherman had learned of Hood's location and ordered reinforcements sent to Resaca, arriving there on October 13, too late to engage Hood in battle. Hood sent Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart as far north as Tunnel Hill , near the Tennessee state line, to damage the railroad as much as possible. During this operation, on October 13, Stewart captured

32160-533: The city; Mexico ceded the vast territory , including California , to the U.S. on February 2, 1848. During the war, Grant established a commendable record as a daring and competent soldier and began to consider a career in the army. He studied the tactics and strategies of Scott and Taylor and emerged as a seasoned officer, writing in his memoirs that this is how he learned much about military leadership. In retrospect, although he respected Scott, he identified his own leadership style with Taylor's. Grant later believed

32400-470: The column with Cheatham's corps, planned to interpose his army between Schofield and Thomas, hoping to defeat Schofield as the Federals retreated north from Columbia. Stewart's corps followed Cheatham, and they were followed by the division of Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson (Lee's corps). The rest of Lee's corps remained south of Columbia, demonstrating with artillery fire against Schofield's men north of

32640-430: The confederacy far too many experienced officers and men. David J. Eicher wrote that Hood mortally wounded his army at Franklin but killed it at the Battle of Nashville Schofield although taking high casualties was able to retreat in good order to Nashville. The Battle of Franklin had been a blunder the South could not afford. December 15–16. At Nashville, facing the combined force of Schofield and Thomas, he dug in

32880-638: The contact with the Federal column traveling up the Columbia Pike, but Cheatham discounted the importance of the encounter. By this time, Cheatham's division under Maj. Gen. John C. Brown was moved into position for another attack on Spring Hill, on Cleburne's right. Brown did not attack, however. It was reported that there were Union troops in position on his right flank and front and that Forrest's cavalrymen, promised to protect his right flank, did not seem to be present. Brown decided to consult with his corps commander before proceeding, sending two staff officers to find Cheatham and halting his troops while he awaited

33120-425: The day, they would be able to correct them in the morning and bag Schofield. The Battle of Spring Hill was a minor affair in terms of casualties—about 350 Union and 500 Confederate—but the result of miscommunication, simple bad military management, and the capable leadership in the U.S. forces was that during the night all of Schofield's command, including Cox, passed from Columbia through Spring Hill while

33360-466: The defensive stand by a portion of the line led by the Union XIV Corps , commanded by Major General George H. Thomas ("The Rock of Chickamauga"), the Union Army would have been completely routed. Rosecrans, devastated by his defeat, withdrew his army to Chattanooga, where Bragg besieged it, occupying the high ground dominating the city. Back in Vicksburg, Grant was resting his army and planning for

33600-553: The direction of Richmond and in the Shenandoah Valley ; capture Mobile with an army under Nathaniel Banks ; and destroy Johnston's army while driving toward Atlanta. Most of the initiatives failed: Butler became bogged down in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign ; Sigel was quickly defeated in the valley; Banks became occupied in the ill-fated Red River Campaign ; Meade and Grant achieved a string of strategic victories during

33840-468: The division of Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers , who occupied Mount Pleasant and hit Capron's men repeatedly as he forced them north. Buford and Jackson drove Hatch north toward Lynnville and captured a number of prisoners, but the Confederate cavalry was unable to prevent the division of Brig. Gen. Cox from reaching Columbia. Stanley's corps completed a 30-mile march from Pulaski to reinforce him. Together they began constructing an arc of trenches just south of

34080-401: The divisions of Major Generals Buell and Lew Wallace , Grant counterattacked at dawn the next day and regained the field, forcing the disorganized and demoralized rebels to retreat to Corinth. Halleck ordered Grant not to advance more than one day's march from Pittsburg Landing, stopping the pursuit. Although Grant had won the battle, the situation was little changed. Grant, now realizing that

34320-470: The eastern Confederacy. Union operations began with attempting to secure Kentucky in Union hands in September 1861, as more than half of Kentucky was under Confederate control by late 1861 into 1862. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 's Army of the Tennessee had early successes in Kentucky and western Tennessee in 1861 and 1862, capturing the important strategic locations of forts Henry and Donelson . The Army of

34560-451: The exception of cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest . Lacking the proximity to the opposing capitals and population centers (and the accompanying concentration of newspapers) of the East, the astounding Confederate victories, and the fame of Eastern generals such as Robert E. Lee , George B. McClellan , and Stonewall Jackson , the Western theater received considerably less attention than

34800-505: The failure, ordered his army to resume its pursuit. Spring Hill had been, arguably, Hood's best chance to isolate and defeat the Union army and recriminations for the lost opportunity soon began flying. Hood believed that Cheatham was most responsible. Historians Thomas L. Connelly , Eric Jacobson, and Wiley Sword have each assigned blame to both Hood and Cheatham, but Jacobson has also stressed that equally, Schofield's and his subordinates' leadership and ability exploited these failures to wrest

35040-473: The fertile Shenandoah Valley . Grant now commanded 533,000 battle-ready troops spread out over an eighteen-mile front. The Overland Campaign was a series of brutal battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864. Sigel's and Butler's efforts failed, and Grant was left alone to fight Lee. On May 4, Grant led the army from his headquarters towards Germanna Ford. They crossed the Rapidan unopposed. On May 5,

35280-626: The final troops departed up the Franklin Pike by 10:00 pm. . Cleburne's 3,000 men began an attack against Bradley's brigade at about 4:00 p.m. Whereas Cheatham was expecting Cleburne to drive north into Spring Hill, Hood's intention was to use this formation to sweep toward the turnpike and wheel left to intercept Schofield's arriving units. Cleburne wheeled his brigades into a northern alignment against Bradley's right flank, causing Bradley and his outnumbered men to withdraw. Cleburne's two brigades chased them vigorously, and they were stopped short of

35520-477: The fires were accidental, others a deliberate act of vengeance. On that same day, the Confederates evacuated Charleston. On February 18, Sherman's forces destroyed virtually anything of military value in Columbia. The last significant Confederate seaport, Wilmington , surrendered on February 22. Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885)

35760-486: The following day, but some of his black soldiers were returned to slavery. From Resaca, Hood withdrew on a six-day march to the west toward Gadsden, Alabama , reaching it on Thursday, October 20. He had hoped to engage Sherman in battle near LaFayette, Georgia , but his subordinate commanders convinced him that their troops' morale was not ready to risk an attack. He considered his campaign a success so far, having destroyed 24 miles of railroad, although this turned out to be

36000-404: The fort from the rear, but they were unsuccessful. On February 15, the Confederate forces under Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attempted to escape and launched a surprise assault against the Union right flank (commanded by Brig. Gen. John A. McClernand ), driving McClernand's division back but not creating the opening they needed to slip away. Grant recovered from this temporary reversal and assaulted

36240-477: The fort in command of Simon Bolivar Buckner , who submitted to Grant's demand for "unconditional and immediate surrender". Grant had won the first major victory for the Union, capturing Floyd's entire army of more than 12,000. Halleck was angry that Grant had acted without his authorization and complained to McClellan, accusing Grant of "neglect and inefficiency". On March 3, Halleck sent a telegram to Washington complaining that he had no communication with Grant for

36480-492: The fortified Union troops but were repulsed with serious losses. Retreating to the northwest, they escaped pursuit by Rosecrans's exhausted army, but their objectives of threatening Middle Tennessee and supporting Bragg were foiled. On October 24, the Union government replaced Buell with Rosecrans, who renamed his force the Army of the Cumberland . After a period of resupplying and training his army in Nashville, Rosecrans moved against Bragg at Murfreesboro just after Christmas. In

36720-514: The garrison, Johnson surrendered and 600 black soldiers were stripped of their shoes and some clothing and marched to the railroad, where they were forced to tear up about 2 miles of track under the supervision of Maj. Gen. William B. Bate 's division. Six of the Union soldiers were shot for refusing to work or being unable to keep up with the march. Colonel Johnson later wrote that the abuse his men received "exceeded anything in brutality I have ever witnessed." Johnson and his white officers were paroled

36960-505: The high-casualty Overland Campaign which ended with the capture of Lee's army at Appomattox , where he formally surrendered to Grant. In 1866, President Andrew Johnson promoted Grant to General of the Army . Later, Grant broke with Johnson over Reconstruction policies. A war hero, drawn in by his sense of duty, Grant was unanimously nominated by the Republican Party and then elected president in 1868 . As president, Grant stabilized

37200-493: The imposing ridge, breaking the Confederate line and causing them to retreat. Chattanooga was saved. Combined with the failure of Longstreet's Knoxville Campaign against Burnside, politically sensitive eastern Tennessee was free of Confederate control. An avenue of invasion pointed directly to Atlanta and the heart of the Confederacy. Bragg, whose personal friendship with Confederate President Jefferson Davis saved his command following his defeats at Perryville and Stones River,

37440-487: The initiative from Hood and complete their withdrawal. Schofield's advance guard arrived in Franklin at about 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 30. Jacob Cox, a division commander temporarily commanding the XXIII Corps, immediately began preparing strong defensive positions around the deteriorated entrenchments originally constructed for a previous engagement in 1863. Schofield decided to defend at Franklin with his back to

37680-437: The initiative. The Union cavalry, which Sherman had neglected to train adequately, had a difficult time following Hood and reporting his movements. On October 3, the day that Thomas arrived in Nashville, Stewart's corps captured Big Shanty (present-day Kennesaw ) with its garrison of 175 men, and the following day Acworth , with an additional 250. Sherman left Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum in Atlanta and moved toward Marietta with

37920-435: The intention of meeting up with Forrest in the vicinity of Florence , from where they would march north into Tennessee. By this time, Sherman had received an indication from Grant that he was favorably considering the march to Savannah. He set his mind on the short-term goal of pursuing the swiftly moving Hood. He directed Thomas to come forward from Nashville to block Hood's advance. To bolster Thomas's effort, Sherman ordered

38160-423: The largely inexperienced troops while Sherman dismissed reports of nearby Confederates. On the morning of April 6, 1862, Grant's troops were taken by surprise when the Confederates, led by Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard , struck first "like an Alpine avalanche" near Shiloh church, attacking five divisions of Grant's army and forcing a confused retreat toward the Tennessee River. Johnston

38400-430: The last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River , was considered vital as it would split the Confederacy in two. Lincoln appointed McClernand for the job, rather than Grant or Sherman. Halleck, who retained power over troop displacement, ordered McClernand to Memphis , and placed him and his troops under Grant's authority. On November 13, 1862, Grant captured Holly Springs and advanced to Corinth . His plan

38640-437: The left of the assault and Stewart's on the right. Lee's corps, and almost all of the army's artillery, had not yet arrived from Columbia. Hood's attacking force, about 19–20,000 men, was arguably understrength for the mission he assigned—traversing two miles of open ground uphill with only two batteries of artillery support and then assaulting prepared, albeit hastily, fortifications. Hood's attack initially enveloped

38880-461: The mission, he was repulsed in bloody assaults against Chickasaw Bayou in late December. Political considerations then intruded. Illinois politician and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand obtained permission from Lincoln to recruit an army in southern Illinois and command it on a river-born expedition aimed at Vicksburg. He was able to get Sherman's corps assigned to him, but it departed Memphis before McClernand could arrive. When Sherman returned from

39120-481: The newly created Department of Missouri . Halleck rebuffed Grant, believing he needed twice the number of troops. However, after consulting McClellan, he finally agreed on the condition that the attack would be in close cooperation with the navy Flag Officer , Andrew H. Foote . Foote's gunboats bombarded Fort Henry, leading to its surrender on February 6, 1862, before Grant's infantry even arrived. Grant ordered an immediate assault on Fort Donelson , which dominated

39360-456: The newly created Military Division of the Mississippi , took command, and received reinforcements from the Army of the Tennessee, as well as from the eastern Army of the Potomac . The siege of Chattanooga was lifted in November 1863. Following his elevation by Abraham Lincoln to General-in-Chief, Grant put Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in charge of the combined armies. Chattanooga served as

39600-463: The north (against the rear of the fortifications) and two from the west. Corse's men survived the sustained two-hour attack against the main fortification, the Star Fort on the western side of the railroad cut, but were pinned down and Tourtellotte sent reinforcements from the eastern fort. Under heavy pressure, it seemed inevitable that the Federals would be forced to surrender, but by noon French received

39840-529: The north and caused the War Department no small concern. Washington, DC insisted that Sherman deal with Hood's threat. However, Sherman was not about to fall into Hood's trap completely. He intended to provide Thomas with sufficient strength to cope with Forrest and Hood, while he completed plans to strike out for Savannah. On September 29, Hood began his advance across the Chattahoochee River , heading to

40080-400: The north of Vicksburg. All five were unsuccessful; Grant explained afterward that he had expected these setbacks and was simply attempting to keep his army busy and motivated, but many historians believe he really hoped that some would succeed and that they were too ambitious. The second campaign, beginning in the spring of 1863, was successful and is considered Grant's greatest achievement of

40320-487: The northeast and away from the action. On the same day, Thomas directed Schofield to begin preparations for a withdrawal north to Franklin . He was expecting (incorrectly) that A. J. Smith's arrival from Missouri was imminent and he wanted the combined force to defend against Hood on the line of the Harpeth River at Franklin instead of the Duck River. Schofield sent his 800-wagon supply train out in front, guarded by part of

40560-426: The northern end of Missionary Ridge and roll down it on the enemy's right flank. On November 23, Major General George Henry Thomas surprised the enemy in open daylight, advancing the Union lines and taking Orchard Knob, between Chattanooga and the ridge. The next day, Sherman failed to get atop Missionary Ridge, which was key to Grant's plan of battle. Hooker's forces took Lookout Mountain in unexpected success. On

40800-509: The northwest with 40,000 men to threaten the Western & Atlantic Railroad , Sherman's supply line. On October 1, Hood's cavalry was intercepted by Union cavalry under Brig. Gens. Judson Kilpatrick and Kenner Garrard in a raid on the railroad near Marietta , but Sherman was still uncertain of Hood's location. For the next three weeks, Sherman had difficulty keeping abreast of Hood's movements. Hood moved rapidly, screened his march, and maintained

41040-417: The partial siege had already been set. Forces commanded by Major General Joseph Hooker , which had been sent from the Army of the Potomac, approached from the west and linked up with other units moving east from inside the city, capturing Brown's Ferry and opening a supply line to the railroad at Bridgeport. Grant planned to have Sherman's Army of the Tennessee, assisted by the Army of the Cumberland, assault

41280-586: The post-war national economy, supported congressional Reconstruction and the Fifteenth Amendment , and prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan . Under Grant, the Union was completely restored. An effective civil rights executive, Grant signed a bill to create the United States Department of Justice and worked with Radical Republicans to protect African Americans during Reconstruction . In 1871, he created

41520-433: The previous neutrality of Kentucky, the Confederates could not build river defenses at a more strategic location inside the state, so they settled for a site just inside the border of Tennessee. Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman withdrew almost all of his garrison on February 5, moving them across country 11 miles (18 km) to the east to Fort Donelson. With a reduced crew manning the cannons, Tilghman fought an artillery duel with

41760-636: The proclaimed neutrality of the state; while most of the state government remained loyal to the Union, the pro-Confederate elements of the legislature organized a separate government in Russellville that was admitted into the Confederate States. This sequence of events is considered a victory for the Union because Kentucky never formally sided with the Confederacy, and if the Union had been prevented from maneuvering within Kentucky, its later successful campaigns in Tennessee would have been more difficult. On

42000-505: The railroads as supply lines, with Johnston shortening his supply lines as he drew closer to Atlanta, and Sherman lengthening his own. However, Davis was becoming frustrated with Johnston, who he viewed was needlessly losing territory and was refusing to counterattack or even discuss his plans with Davis. Just before the Battle of Peachtree Creek (July 20) in the outskirts of Atlanta, Jefferson Davis lost patience with Johnston's strategy and, fearing that Johnston would give up Atlanta without

42240-461: The ravine, capturing 125 men. Hood, concluding that he could not afford the casualties that would ensue from a full-scale assault, withdrew his army. He decided once again to move to the west, to attempt another crossing near Tuscumbia, Alabama , where Muscle Shoals would prevent interference by Federal gunboats. Hood waited for Forrest at Tuscumbia for almost three weeks while his commissary officers attempted to provide 20 days supply of rations for

42480-504: The real estate business as a bill collector, again without success and at Julia's prompting ended the partnership. In August, Grant applied for a position as county engineer. He had thirty-five notable recommendations, but Grant was passed over by the Free Soil and Republican county commissioners because he was believed to share his father-in-law's Democratic sentiments. In April 1860, Grant and his family moved north to Galena, accepting

42720-488: The right, away from the road, to face the new threat. Back in Columbia, Schofield became convinced at about 3:00 p.m. that the Confederates would not attack him there and he began marching his men to Spring Hill. As soon as the initial units departed, Stephen D. Lee coincidentally began an attack against the Union position. By the time the bulk of his two divisions were able to cross, the senior Union commander left behind at Columbia, Brig. Gen. Cox, began his withdrawal and

42960-479: The river because he had no pontoon bridges available that would enable his men to cross the river. Many described the day with clear afternoon skies and temperatures in the high fifties as a beautiful “Indian summer afternoon.” Schofield needed time to repair the permanent bridges spanning the river, but by mid-afternoon, nearly all the supply wagons were across the Harpeth and on the road to Nashville. By 12:00 p.m.

43200-554: The roads difficult. The final corps, under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart , crossed the Tennessee on the following Sunday, November 20. On November 16, Hood received word that Sherman was about to depart Atlanta for his March to the Sea. Beauregard urged Hood to take immediate action in an attempt to distract Sherman's advance, emphasizing the importance of moving before Thomas could consolidate his forces. Both Sherman and Thomas considered it likely that Hood would follow Sherman through Georgia. Although Thomas received intelligence that Hood

43440-432: The rugged mountains of northwestern Georgia, only to find that a trap had been set. Bragg started the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20, 1863) when he launched a three-division assault against Rosecrans's army. A command misunderstanding allowed a major gap to appear in the Union line as reinforcements arrived, and Longstreet was able to drive his corps into that gap and send the Union Army into retreat. If not for

43680-454: The sack of Holly Springs, Grant considered and sometimes adopted the strategy of foraging the land, rather than exposing long Union supply lines to enemy attack. Fugitive African-American slaves poured into Grant's district, whom he sent north to Cairo to be domestic servants in Chicago. However, Lincoln ended this when Illinois political leaders complained. On his own initiative, Grant set up

43920-412: The scattered Confederate defenders as to his first true objective, which was the state capital Columbia . He faced the smaller and battered Army of Tennessee, again under the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. On February 17, Columbia surrendered to Sherman. Fires began in the city, and most of the central city was destroyed. The burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming

44160-405: The second-largest remaining army of the Confederacy, ranking in strength only after Gen. Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia . The army consisted of the corps of Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham , Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee , and Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart , and cavalry forces under Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest . Confederate inspections produced after the fall of Atlanta, but before

44400-549: The start of a campaign prevented it). As he approached Perryville, Kentucky , he began to concentrate his army in the face of Confederate forces there. Bragg was not initially present with his army, having decided to attend the inauguration ceremony of a Confederate governor of Kentucky in Frankfort . On October 8, fighting began at Perryville over possession of water sources, and as the fighting escalated, Bragg's Army of Mississippi achieved some tactical success in an assault against

44640-464: The start of the new campaign indicate that while the Confederate Army of Tennessee's soldiers were poorly clothed, they were well equipped with modern weapons. At the beginning of the campaign, Union forces designated the Military Division of the Mississippi were commanded by Sherman in Atlanta, but his personal involvement in the campaign lasted only until the end of October. Reporting to Sherman

44880-631: The state. At the start of the Tullahoma Campaign, Morgan moved northward. For 46 days as they rode over 1,000 miles (1,600 km), Morgan's cavalrymen terrorized a region from Tennessee to northern Ohio, destroying bridges, railroads, and government stores before being captured; in November they made a daring escape from the Ohio Penitentiary, at Columbus, Ohio , and returned to the South. After delaying for several weeks in Tullahoma, Rosecrans planned to flush Bragg out of Chattanooga by crossing

45120-452: The surrender of the Union brigade stationed at Resaca and left Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee's corps there to invest the city. The 700 Union men under Colonel Clark R. Weaver refused Hood's ultimatum to surrender, which warned that no prisoners would be taken. Weaver replied "In my opinion I can hold this post. If you want it, come and take it." Hood declined to attack the Union position because he believed that it would be too costly, instead bypassing

45360-429: The threat of the Federal fleets. Forrest's guns bombarded the Union supply depot and the 28 steamboats and barges positioned at the wharf. All three of the Union gunboats were disabled or destroyed. The Union garrison commander ordered that the supply vessels be burned to prevent their capture by the Confederates. Forrest had caused enormous damage at very low cost. He reported only 2 men killed and 9 wounded. He described

45600-438: The town. On the morning of November 24, Forrest's cavalry began probing attacks in an attempt to break through two lines of fortifications. The Confederates bombarded the lines with artillery and a number of skirmishes occurred, but it became apparent to the Union defenders that only a single infantry division with some dismounted cavalry were participating in the attacks and that Hood was merely demonstrating , intending to cross

45840-552: The troops in the state. Sherman sent another division, under Brigadier General (Brig. Gen.) James D. Morgan , to Chattanooga. Sherman had some advance notice of the nature of Hood's proposed campaign. In a series of speeches given at stops along his way back to Richmond , President Davis rallied his listeners by predicting success for Hood, speeches that were reported in the press and read avidly by Sherman. In Columbia, South Carolina , his speech included: General Hood's strategy has been good and his conduct has been gallant. His eye

46080-595: The turnpike only by heavy fire from the IV Corps artillery. The first command miscommunication of the battle took place upon Hood's arrival. Cheatham had ordered his division under Maj. Gen. William B. Bate to move against Spring Hill in concert with Cleburne, forming up on the Irishman's left. Hood then personally ordered Bate to move towards the Columbia Pike and "sweep toward Columbia." Neither Bate nor Hood bothered to inform Cheatham of this change in orders. At about 5:30 p.m., Bate's lead element of sharpshooters fired on

46320-434: The two Confederate armies. His army headed swiftly northeast toward Jackson. Meanwhile, Grant brought with him a limited supply line. The conventional history of the campaign indicates that he cut loose from all of his supplies, perplexing Pemberton, who attempted to interdict his nonexistent lines at Raymond on May 12. In reality, Grant relied on the local economy to provide him only foodstuffs for men and animals, but there

46560-509: The upcoming campaign. This was a difficult assignment because the supply line was tenuous, requiring transport on two railroads, followed by 15 miles on poor roads to Tuscumbia, using wagons pulled by undernourished horses and oxen. Hood transferred his headquarters to Florence on the morning of November 13 and Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham 's corps marched across the river that day with the army's supply trains and cattle following on Monday, November 14. Heavy rains during this period made travel on

46800-501: The village of Spring Hill on three sides. The brigade of Colonel John Quincy Lane rushed forward and pushed back the dismounted cavalrymen. Forrest inexplicably never realized that his opponents had changed from cavalry to massed infantry, failing his mission as the eyes and ears of Hood. He also halted any further advance to wait for the arrival of Cheatham's infantry. Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne 's division of Cheatham's corps arrived around 3:45 p.m. on Forrest's left. His mission

47040-479: The war (and a classic campaign of military history). He knew that he could not attack through Mississippi from the northwest because of the vulnerability of his supply line; river-born approaches had failed repeatedly. So, after movement became possible on dirt roads that were finally drying from the winter rains, Grant moved the bulk of his army down the western bank of the Mississippi. On April 16, U.S. Navy gunboats and troop transports managed at great risk to slip past

47280-485: The war progressed and William Tecumseh Sherman's Union armies moved southeast from Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1864 and 1865, the definition of the theater expanded to encompass their operations into Georgia and the Carolinas . The Virginia front was by far the more prestigious theater. ... Yet the war's outcome was decided not there but in the vast expanse that stretched west from the Appalachian Mountains to

47520-600: The way, similar to his march to the sea through Georgia. He was particularly interested in targeting South Carolina , the first state to secede from the Union, for the effect it would have on Southern morale. Sherman's plan was to bypass the minor Confederate troop concentrations at Augusta, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , and reach Goldsboro, North Carolina , by March 15, 1865, where he would unite with Union forces commanded by John M. Schofield and Alfred H. Terry . As with his Georgia operations, he marched his armies in multiple directions simultaneously, confusing

47760-448: The weakened Confederate right. Trapped in the fort and the town of Dover, Tennessee , Confederate Brig. Gen. Simon B. Buckner surrendered his command of 11,500 men and many needed guns and supplies to Grant's demand for "unconditional surrender". The combined victories at Henry and Donelson were the first significant Union victories in the war, and two major rivers became available for invasions into Tennessee. Johnston's forward defense

48000-463: The world. In 1880, he was unsuccessful in obtaining the Republican nomination for a third term. In 1885, impoverished and dying of throat cancer, Grant wrote his memoirs , covering his life through the Civil War, which were posthumously published and became a major critical and financial success. At his death, Grant was the most popular American and was memorialized as a symbol of national unity. Due to

48240-401: Was a constant stream of wagons carrying ammunition, coffee, hardtack, salt, and other supplies for his army. Sherman's corps captured Jackson on May 14. The entire army then turned west to confront Pemberton in front of Vicksburg. The decisive battle was at Champion Hill , the effective last stand for Pemberton before he withdrew into his entrenchments around the city. Grant's army assaulted

48480-570: Was a significant victory in a strategic sense because it broke the end of the Confederate Western defensive line and opened the Cumberland Gap to East Tennessee, but it got Buell no closer to Nashville.) In Halleck's department, Grant demonstrated down the Mississippi River by attacking the Confederate camp at Belmont to divert attention from Buell's intended advance, which did not occur. On February 1, 1862, after repeated requests by Grant, Halleck authorized Grant to move against Fort Henry on

48720-502: Was a two-pronged movement. William T. Sherman sailed down the Mississippi River with 32,000 men while Grant was to move in parallel through Mississippi by railroad with 40,000. Grant advanced 80 miles (130 km), but his supply lines were cut by Confederate cavalry under Earl Van Dorn at Holly Springs , forcing him to fall back. Sherman reached the Yazoo River just north of the city of Vicksburg, but without support from Grant's half of

48960-483: Was able to draw out significant Confederate forces, dispersing them around the state. Grant faced two Confederate armies in his campaign: the Vicksburg garrison, commanded by Maj. Gen. John C. Pemberton , and forces in Jackson , commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston , the overall theater commander. Rather than simply heading directly north to the city, Grant chose to cut the line of communications (and reinforcement) between

49200-448: Was able to link up with him on November 16. Hood departed from Gadsden on Saturday, October 22, en route to Guntersville, Alabama , where he planned to cross the Tennessee River. Learning that that crossing place was strongly guarded, and concerned that Federal gunboats could destroy any pontoon bridge he might deploy, he impulsively changed his destination to Decatur, 40 miles west. When Hood arrived at Decatur on October 26, he found that

49440-468: Was amassing supplies for a movement north, he discounted most of it—heavy rains during November made the roads almost impassable. By 8:00 a.m., Monday, November 21, however, Thomas had evidence that all three of Hood's corps were in motion and he directed Schofield to withdraw gradually to the north to protect Columbia before Hood could seize it. Schofield arrived at Pulaski on the night of November 13 and assumed command of all forces there, including

49680-446: Was apparent because no strategy for operations in the Western theater could be agreed upon. Buell, under political pressure to invade and hold pro-Union East Tennessee , moved slowly in the direction of Nashville , but achieved nothing more substantial toward his goal than minor victories at Middle Creek (January 10, 1862) under Col. James A. Garfield and Mill Springs (January 19) under Brig. Gen. George Henry Thomas . (Mill Springs

49920-443: Was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. Major General John C. Frémont , Union commander of the West, passed over senior generals and appointed Grant commander of the District of Southeastern Missouri. On September 2, Grant arrived at Cairo, Illinois , assumed command by replacing Colonel Richard J. Oglesby , and set up his headquarters to plan a campaign down the Mississippi, and up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. After

50160-546: Was appointed military aide to Governor Richard Yates and mustered ten regiments into the Illinois militia . On June 14, again aided by Washburne, Grant was appointed colonel and put in charge of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment ; he appointed John A. Rawlins as his aide-de-camp and brought order and discipline to the regiment. Soon after, Grant and the 21st Regiment were transferred to Missouri to dislodge Confederate forces. On August 5, with Washburne's aid, Grant

50400-489: Was assigned to command Company F, 4th Infantry , at the newly constructed Fort Humboldt in California. Grant arrived at Fort Humboldt on January 5, 1854, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan . Separated from his family, Grant began to drink. Colonel Buchanan reprimanded Grant for one drinking episode and told Grant to "resign or reform." Grant told Buchanan he would "resign if I don't reform." On Sunday, Grant

50640-619: Was besieged at Petersburg . One of his goals was to take Nashville which had been under federal control since 1862. The historian, Eric Jacobson has written that by this time in the war, the Army of Tennessee also realized that the war had become a war of extermination for them.On October 21, Hood's plan received the reluctant approval of Gen. Beauregard, who was concerned about the daunting logistical challenges of an invasion. Beauregard insisted that Wheeler's cavalry be detached to monitor Sherman, and assigned Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry to Hood's advance. Hood set out toward Decatur, Alabama , with

50880-500: Was broken. As Grant had anticipated, Polk's position at Columbus was untenable, and he withdrew soon after Donelson fell. Grant had also cut the Memphis and Ohio Railroad that previously had allowed Confederate forces to move laterally in support of each other. General P.G.T. Beauregard had arrived from the East to report to Johnston in February, and he commanded all Confederate forces between

51120-450: Was considered by Jefferson Davis to be the most effective general in the Confederacy at that time. On the second day, April 7, Grant received reinforcements from Buell and launched a counterattack that drove back the Confederates. Grant failed to pursue the retreating enemy and received enormous criticism for this and for the great loss of life—more casualties (almost 24,000) than all previous American battles combined. Union control of

51360-533: Was done through a steady series of Union victories in major battles, interrupted by only a single defeat, which took place at Chickamauga. The Western Theater was an area defined by both geography and the sequence of campaigning. It originally represented the area east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachian Mountains . It excluded operations against the Gulf Coast and the Eastern Seaboard , but as

51600-691: Was facing Bragg's threat in Kentucky, Confederate operations in northern Mississippi were aimed at preventing Buell's reinforcement by Grant, who was preparing for his upcoming Vicksburg campaign. Halleck had departed for Washington, and Grant was left without interference as commander of the District of West Tennessee. On September 14, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price moved his Confederate Army of the West to Iuka , 20 miles (32 km) east of Corinth. He intended to link up with Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn 's Army of West Tennessee and operate against Grant. But Grant sent forces under Maj. Gens. William S. Rosecrans and Edward Ord to attack Price's force at Iuka. Rosecrans won

51840-488: Was finally relieved of duty and replaced by General Joseph E. Johnston . In March 1864, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and went east to assume command of all the Union armies. Sherman succeeded him in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi. Grant devised a strategy for simultaneous advances across the Confederacy. It was intended to destroy or fix Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia with three major thrusts (under Meade , Butler , and Sigel ) launched in

52080-620: Was formally commissioned by Lincoln the next day at a Cabinet meeting. Grant developed a good working relationship with Lincoln, who allowed Grant to devise his own strategy. Grant established his headquarters with General George Meade 's Army of the Potomac in Culpeper, Virginia , and met weekly with Lincoln and Stanton in Washington. After protest from Halleck, Grant scrapped a risky invasion of North Carolina and planned five coordinated Union offensives to prevent Confederate armies from shifting troops along interior lines. Grant and Meade would make

52320-431: Was found influenced by alcohol, but not incapacitated, at his company's paytable. Keeping his pledge to Buchanan, Grant resigned, effective July 31, 1854. Buchanan endorsed Grant's resignation but did not submit any report that verified the incident. Grant did not face court-martial, and the War Department said: "Nothing stands against his good name." Grant said years later, "the vice of intemperance (drunkenness) had not

52560-557: Was from Georgia militia and home guards, although Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps from the Army of Tennessee and some troops from the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida were also present but scattered. At Savannah on December 17, Sherman encountered about 10,000 defending troops under Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee . Following lengthy artillery bombardments, Hardee abandoned the city and Sherman entered on December 22, 1864. He telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present you as

52800-578: Was held in the Union. The state of Kentucky, with a pro-Confederate governor and a pro-Union legislature, had declared neutrality between the opposing sides. This neutrality was first violated on September 3, when Confederate Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk occupied Columbus , considered key to controlling the Lower Mississippi . Two days later Union Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant , displaying the personal initiative that would characterize his later career, seized Paducah . Henceforth, neither adversary respected

53040-573: Was in Panama, a cholera epidemic killed many soldiers and civilians. Grant organized a field hospital in Panama City , and moved the worst cases to a hospital barge offshore. When orderlies protested having to attend to the sick, Grant did much of the nursing himself, earning high praise from observers. In August, Grant arrived in San Francisco. His next assignment sent him north to Vancouver Barracks in

53280-423: Was killed and command fell upon Beauregard. One Union line held the Confederate attack off for several hours, giving Grant time to assemble artillery and 20,000 troops near Pittsburg Landing. The Confederates finally broke and captured a Union division, but Grant's newly assembled line held the landing, while the exhausted Confederates, lacking reinforcements, halted their advance. Bolstered by 18,000 troops from

53520-518: Was not forced to attend church by his Methodist parents. For the rest of his life, he prayed privately and never officially joined any denomination. To others, including his own son, Grant appeared to be agnostic . Grant was largely apolitical before the war but wrote, "If I had ever had any political sympathies they would have been with the Whigs. I was raised in that school." At Jesse Grant's request, Representative Thomas L. Hamer nominated Ulysses to

53760-495: Was not only militarily foolish, but Hood was observed to be determined, not angry, by the time he arrived in Franklin. Regardless of Hood's personal motivations, his specific objective was to try to crush Schofield before he and his troops could escape to Nashville. In addition, his army, angry at the missed opportunity saw an opponent that for a change did not outnumber them and were eager to destroy them. The Confederates began moving forward at 4:00 p.m., with Cheatham's corps on

54000-470: Was not until earlier that day, Tuesday, at dawn on November 29, that Schofield believed the reports and realized the predicament he was in. He sent Stanley north with portions of the IV Corps to protect the trains, but also to hold the crossroads at Spring Hill to allow the entire army to withdraw safely to Franklin. Forrest's cavalrymen ran into pickets from the IV Corps; Stanley had moved north rapidly and formed up positions with Wagner's division that protected

54240-552: Was promoted the next day to brevet second lieutenant . He planned to resign his commission after his four-year term. He would later write that among the happiest days of his life were the day he left the presidency and the day he left the academy. Despite his excellent horsemanship, he was not assigned to the cavalry, but to the 4th Infantry Regiment . Grant's first assignment was the Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri . Commanded by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny , this

54480-611: Was relieved of command of the Army of Tennessee and Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor was appointed temporary commander of the army. Sherman's Savannah Campaign is more popularly known as the March to the Sea. He and Grant believed that the Civil War would end only if the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken. Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth , ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path. This policy

54720-465: Was reluctant to develop this situation because he was outnumbered by Buell; if he had been able to combine with Kirby Smith, he would have been numerically equal, but Smith's command was separate, and Smith believed that Bragg could capture Louisville without his assistance. Buell, under pressure from the government to take aggressive action, was almost relieved of duty (only the personal reluctance of George H. Thomas to assume command from his superior at

54960-427: Was risky because, east of the river, his army would be distanced from most of its supply lines, and would have to rely on foraging. On April 16, Grant ordered Admiral David Dixon Porter 's gunboats south under fire from the Vicksburg batteries to meet up with troops who had marched south down the west side of the river. Grant ordered diversionary battles, confusing Pemberton and allowing Grant's army to move east across

55200-568: Was sent back to his quartermaster job in Detroit. When the discovery of gold in California brought prospectors and settlers to the territory, Grant and the 4th infantry were ordered to reinforce the small garrison there. Grant was charged with bringing the soldiers and a few hundred civilians from New York City to Panama, overland to the Pacific and then north to California. Julia, eight months pregnant with Ulysses Jr., did not accompany him. While Grant

55440-465: Was the Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas (the "Rock of Chickamauga "), the force previously commanded by Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans . Thomas was the principal Union commander after Sherman's departure. Subordinate to him was the Army of the Ohio , commanded by Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield . It consisted of 34,000 men, made up of the IV Corps under Maj. Gen. David S. Stanley ,

55680-436: Was the 18th president of the United States , serving from 1869 to 1877. As commanding general , Grant led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865. Grant was born in Ohio and graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1843. He served with distinction in the Mexican–American War , but resigned from the army in 1854 and returned to civilian life impoverished. In 1861, shortly after

55920-424: Was the nation's largest military base in the West. Grant was happy with his commander but looked forward to the end of his military service and a possible teaching career. In 1844, Grant accompanied Frederick Dent to Missouri and met his family, including Dent's sister Julia . The two soon became engaged. On August 22, 1848, they were married at Julia's home in St. Louis. Grant's abolitionist father disapproved of

56160-429: Was to assimilate Indians into Anglo-American culture. In Grant's foreign policy, the Alabama Claims against Britain were peacefully resolved, but the Senate rejected Grant's annexation of Santo Domingo . In the disputed 1876 presidential election , Grant facilitated the approval by Congress of a peaceful compromise. Leaving office in 1877, Grant undertook a world tour , becoming the first president to circumnavigate

56400-410: Was to attack Vicksburg overland, while Sherman would attack Vicksburg from Chickasaw Bayou. However, Confederate cavalry raids on December 11 and 20 broke Union communications and recaptured Holly Springs, preventing Grant and Sherman from converging on Vicksburg. McClernand reached Sherman's army, assumed command, and independently of Grant led a campaign that captured Confederate Fort Hindman . After

56640-443: Was to intercept the Columbia Pike to block Schofield's withdrawal. The cavalrymen, low on ammunition, pulled out of the line and moved north to be ready to cover a further advance of Hood's army. As Cleburne advanced, despite Forrest's presence on the field, he had no knowledge that to his right was a brigade of U.S. infantry (Bradley's) in a battle line. When his right flank was taken by surprise by heavy fire, he wheeled his division to

56880-623: Was to invade Kentucky in a joint operation with Maj. Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith , cut Buell's lines of communications, defeat him, and then turn back to defeat Grant. Kirby Smith left Knoxville on August 14, forced the Union to evacuate Cumberland Gap , defeated a Union force at the Battle of Richmond (Kentucky) taking over 4,000 prisoners, and reached Lexington on August 30. Bragg departed Chattanooga just before Smith reached Lexington, while Buell moved north from Nashville to Bowling Green. But Bragg moved quickly and by September 14 had interposed his army on Buell's supply lines from Louisville . Bragg

57120-419: Was to stay on the hill until dusk or pressed by the Rebels. Wagner, perhaps misunderstanding his orders, ordered his three brigades to stop halfway to the Union line and dig in as best they could on the flat ground a few hundred yards in front of the main line. Colonel Emerson Opdycke considered Wagner's order to be ridiculous and had already been directed by Stanley into the works; he marched his brigade through

57360-461: Was under miserable conditions, with freezing winds and sleet, which made progress difficult for the underfed and underclothed army. Nevertheless, Hood's men were in good spirits as they returned to Tennessee. Because of Forrest's relentless screening, Schofield had no idea where the Confederate Army was headed. The aggressive Forrest had a slight advantage over his Union cavalry opponents, commanded by Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson . Wilson had arrived from

57600-450: Was visited by Confederate President Jefferson Davis . The two men planned their strategy, which called for Hood to move toward Chattanooga, Tennessee , and operate against Sherman's lines of communications. They hoped that Sherman would follow and that Hood would be able to maneuver Sherman into a decisive battle on terrain favorable to the Confederates. During the conference, Davis expressed his disappointment in Hood's performance during

#415584