His friends called him “Sam.” His wife called him “Lyss” or “Victor.” His initials inspired a nickname tied to one of his greatest battlefield triumphs: “Unconditional Surrender Grant.” He quietly told his brother in April of 1861, while walking home after a recruiting meeting in Galena, Illinois, “I am in to do all I can.” And so he did. The unassuming Grant never expected to play a significant role in the Civil War, yet by its end, commanded every soldier in the United States armed forces.
Born in a modest clapboard house at Point Pleasant, Ohio, on the banks of the Ohio River, he first made his military mark near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. His successes at Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, and eventually Vicksburg earned him the steadfast support of President Abraham Lincoln: “Grant,” he declared, “is my man and I am his the rest of the war!” After saving a Federal army in Chattanooga, he was promoted to lieutenant general and put in command of all Union forces. He made his headquarters in the field with the Army of the Potomac and oversaw the campaigns against Robert E. Lee, from the Wilderness through the prolonged siege of Petersburg and, finally, Appomattox Court House. His ultimate victory paved the way for two terms in the White House.
Unconditional Surrender invites readers to follow Grant’s journey with Dr. Curt Fields, the nation’s foremost Ulysses S. Grant living historian, and noted Civil War author Chris Mackowski. Drawing on years of extensive research, this book offers an ideal introduction to the “dust-covered man” from the Midwest who won the Civil War and preserved the United States.
