3 ms·

The Silent Type: On Ulysses S. Grant

49 points by samclemens 8y ago

randcraw 8y ago
Now THAT is how to write a book report. I'm pretty sure I already own Grant's memoirs, but this review makes me think I need to own the newly annotated one as well. Outstanding.
rmason 8y ago
I always felt that Grant's accomplishments had been given short shrift. Only in America could a man with multiple failures in life rise to greatness. But someone that I'd like to see reevaluated by historians is Grant's friend William Sherman. Here's a reluctant warrior, running a Louisiana military academy and accepting of slavery. But when asked to turn against his country he resigned. He then met with President Lincoln and considered him hopelessly naive about what was to come. But when he did engage he excelled. Along the way he suffered a mental breakdown only to come back to command. When his friend Grant tasked him with conquering Atlanta and then marching North to attack Gen Lee's flank he became a legend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman
- benbreen 8y ago
  My favorite little factoid that I gleaned from reading Grant's memoirs last summer was that his goal in young adulthood was to move to Northern California and become a math professor. [1] It felt strangely anachronistic and also completely changed my perception of his personality. [1] Went ahead and dug up the quotes in his memoirs to fact check myself on this. Here's one: "My idea then was to... obtain a permanent position as professor in some respectable college; but circumstances always did shape my course different from my plans." And then a bit later: "I left the Pacific coast very much attached to it, and with the full expectation of making it my future home."
- lowken10 8y ago
  Sherman would have been nothing without Grant. He was a complete failure as a general (he spent time in a mental hospital) before serving under grant. And another thing I don't like about Sherman is he was a racist event by 19th century standards. Just about every white person in the 19th century (Lincoln & Grant included) was a racist by our modern sensibilities, but Sherman was very racist).

49 points by samclemens 8y ago

Now THAT is how to write a book report. I'm pretty sure I already own Grant's memoirs, but this review makes me think I need to own the newly annotated one as well. Outstanding.

rmason 8y ago

I always felt that Grant's accomplishments had been given short shrift. Only in America could a man with multiple failures in life rise to greatness. But someone that I'd like to see reevaluated by historians is Grant's friend William Sherman. Here's a reluctant warrior, running a Louisiana military academy and accepting of slavery. But when asked to turn against his country he resigned. He then met with President Lincoln and considered him hopelessly naive about what was to come. But when he did engage he excelled. Along the way he suffered a mental breakdown only to come back to command. When his friend Grant tasked him with conquering Atlanta and then marching North to attack Gen Lee's flank he became a legend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman

benbreen 8y ago
My favorite little factoid that I gleaned from reading Grant's memoirs last summer was that his goal in young adulthood was to move to Northern California and become a math professor. [1] It felt strangely anachronistic and also completely changed my perception of his personality. [1] Went ahead and dug up the quotes in his memoirs to fact check myself on this. Here's one: "My idea then was to... obtain a permanent position as professor in some respectable college; but circumstances always did shape my course different from my plans." And then a bit later: "I left the Pacific coast very much attached to it, and with the full expectation of making it my future home."
lowken10 8y ago
Sherman would have been nothing without Grant. He was a complete failure as a general (he spent time in a mental hospital) before serving under grant. And another thing I don't like about Sherman is he was a racist event by 19th century standards. Just about every white person in the 19th century (Lincoln & Grant included) was a racist by our modern sensibilities, but Sherman was very racist).