Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War

Arrived on time as described

Well written and holds your attention!

Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War by Charles Bracelen Flood examines the relationship between the two great generals. It provides much information, but little of it new, on the two individuals. It shows as Sherman is quoted, "that we are as brothers." The book gives the background of each man and his family prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. I enjoyed the coverage given of Grant's and Sherman's relationships with friends, family members, and their wives. The book shows the chemistry and respect the two have for each other. The book shows Grant as the commander and Sherman as the subordinate who managed to achieve loyalty and mutual respect. Neither would have been as great or accomplished nearly as much without the other. The book could have been titled from failure to success as it explains how each man came to his responsibilities in the US Army. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between the two develop. We see it grow as they had a nominal knowledge of each from their West Point days where Sherman was two years ahead of Grant to where Sherman's presence encourages Grant while he is writing his memoirs. The book achieves its point of showing they had a friendship. I remember examples at Fort Henry where Sherman was supplying Grant with what he needed even though Sherman had date of rank on Grant. Sherman and Grant talking at Shiloh were Sherman was ready to retreat and regroup and Grant to advance on the second day. Sherman encourages Grant not to leave after Major General Halleck takes field command of the Army from Grant following Shiloh. The Corinth Campaign, Military governorship of Memphis, Vicksburg Campaign, Grant in charge of the entire US Army, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia, and on to Raleigh for Sherman as well as the Wilderness, Petersburg, fall of Richmond and finally Appomattox for Grant. Their clear strategy in Sherman's words: "He was to go for Lee and I was to go for Joe Johnston." The chapter on Sherman in trouble was very interesting as it gave the most in depth record I personally have read of the controversy surrounding Johnston's surrender to Sherman. We see how Grant has Sherman's back and helps him through this time. It is a relatively short work of just over 400 pages. It was an enjoyable read. Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler

Bracelen Flood's writing is at once engaging and entertaining. Even as he approaches serious topics, he continually draws in the reader to his book. Where other biographies could have been boring, this one interests. It is a truly beautiful piece of writing, matched only by Bracelen's personality. The author is a man who comes alive when talking about his subject, and his enthusiasm is evident in every word.

Owning a rather extensive Civil War library, I tend to approach Civil War books with a certain skepticism; it's very difficult at this point for a book to avoid repeating historical information, and even emotional effects, that are already covered extensively in my collection. But this latest by Charles Flood is a gem. The author has an exceptionally rare narrative gift. If you haven't read of these events before, you'll be in excellent hands discovering them here. And even if you have several times over, you'll find them delivered in a fresh and powerful way. This book starts out as something like a dual biography, of Ulysses Grant and William Sherman. After fate brings these two men together, the narrative shifts to being about their relationship, about how each detected and reinforced the best qualities in the other, and how indispensable these two men together were to preventing the dissolution of the Union. Flood presents many scenes that enable the reader to take the measure of Grant. Towards the beginning of the book he tells an oft-recounted story of Grant's laconic determination to persevere after a disastrous day at the battle of Shiloh, and what an impression this made on Sherman. (I'd re-tell it here, but it's much better in Flood's hands.) Flood also gives wonderful glimpses of the touching lifelong romance between Grant and his beloved Julia. The story of her failure to get a surgical correction for her mis-aligned eyes, and of Grant's declaration of his love for her precisely as she was, will move all but the most callous readers. At the same time, Flood doesn't shy away from the ugly sides of Grant or Sherman. Marvelously admirable though they are in most respects, they voice expressions of both racist and anti-semitic attitudes that must make the modern reader cringe. Flood does a splendid job late in the book of detailing some delicate maneuvers in which Grant engaged, in order to rescue Sherman from some political difficulties others had created for him, and which Sherman's own irascible temperament had exacerbated. The story of the death of Sherman's son, of the love the boy had inspired among the Federal troops, and the touching letter that Sherman wrote to those troops, who had made the late son an honorary officer, is also told with grace and eloquence. So, too, are a few passages about Robert E. Lee. The moving surrender scene between Lee and Grant is encapsulated here, but there are also more obscure, but equally affecting, ones. One involves Lee's compassionate response, during the retreat from Gettysburg, to the taunts of a wounded Federal soldier. The book works, in the end, because it's a can't miss story. You have two men, an odd couple, facing up to the most momentous challenge imaginable. You also have the appeal of their surprising and sudden ascents from seemingly failed lives -- inspiring enough with one such man, but present here with two. And you have the unfolding of a relationship of touc

The Grant-Sherman strategy for ending the Civil War was straightforward. In Sherman's words: "He was to go for Lee and I was to go for Joe Johnston." When they did, starting in the Spring of 1864, it would all be over within a year. The Grant-Sherman approach was in fact a fundamental shift in Union strategy. Bringing the South to submission, they realized, did not require gaining and holding territory. It entailed annihilating Confederate armies and decimating Southern resources and infrastructure. The Grant-Sherman relationship was remarkably symbiotic, as author Charles Bracelen Ford makes plain, but not always in harmony. Lacking Sherman's vision, Grant initially argued against Sherman's March to the Sea. Lacking Grant's political acumen, Sherman went too soft when negotiating Johnston's surrender terms, only to have Grant make things right, deftly and without fanfare. In April 1861, both men were clearly failures -- former Army officers struggling to find a niche in civilian life. One would be labeled a drunk; the other a madman. By April 1865, together with Lincoln, they had saved the Union.