US Grant

Sources:

• Grant: As Military Commander, James Marshall-Cornall, c. 1970. Barnes and Noble imprint. 
• Personal Memoirs of US Grant, complete and unabridged, includes appendix all original maps and illustrations, c.1995, Dover Publications.
• "On and Off the Pedestal," Victor Davis Hanson, The Claremont Review of Books, subscription required.

I have a one-inch binder, self-learning guide on US Grant.

Time to start posting some of this on the blog.

US civil war.

Appalachian Mountains running southwest to northeast, divided the war into the eastern theater, and the western theater.

The geography:

• western theater: broad Mississippi Basin
• eastern theater: Virginia for the most part; the Piedmont from New York down to Alabama; east to the Tidewater region, southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina;

We start with the western theater.

The western theater:

• an amphibious war
• rivers and railroads were critical
• US Grant: two strategic objectives --
• needed to cut the western theater confederates off from the eastern theater
• key: rail and water
• needed to "capture" the south in logical progression

Tactical:

• come south down the rivers
• four major rivers:
• Mississippi
• Tennessee
• Cumberland
• Ohio
• target the rail heads

Looking at the map, heading from the north to the south on western side of the Appalachian, first city of resistance: Nashville, TN --

• protected by two forts, both at same latitude, between the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River which both flow north into the Ohio river
• just south of the Kentucky-Tennessee state line
• Kentucky: nominally neutral or northern
• Tennessee: southern but among the original seven Confederate states 
• South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas
  
• which to attack first? Ft Henry or Ft Donelson
• from the map alone: attacking Ft Donelson first could put Grant's men between Nashville and Ft Henry; could end up trapped between confederates from the east and from the west
• other factors, of course

Ft Henry

Ft Donelson

On his way to Corinth: Confederates surprise Union with attack at Shiloh

• Union armies just getting organized for next push
• Savannah, TN, to the north on the east side of the river: initial HQ in this area
  
• Pittsburg Landing, TN, south of Savannah, TN, on the west side of the river; moved HQ here;
  
• Corinth: a bit inland south of Pittsburg Landing / Shiloh
• in addition to Tennessee River (north-south), also major east-west railhead

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Command Structure Of The Union Army 
Near End Of The US Civil War 

In early 1865, as General-in-Chief of all Union Armies, General Ulysses S. Grant directly oversaw major field commanders like General George G. Meade (Army of the Potomac, though Meade kept operational command), General William T. Sherman (Military Division of the Mississippi, campaigning through the Carolinas), and General Philip Sheridan(Army of the Shenandoah/Middle Military Division, operating in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia). 

Grant was often physically with Meade's Army of the Potomac, directing the final Siege of Petersburg and the drive on Richmond, with commanders like Meade, Warren, Ord, and Humphreys reporting closely, while Sheridan and Sherman executed strategic campaigns, all under Grant's overall plan. 

Key Commanders Reporting to Grant: 

Grant's Role: As General-in-Chief (a position Grant attained in March 1864), his command extended to all Union armies, making him the ultimate authority. 

In early 1865, Grant was focused on the decisive operations against Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, coordinating these attacks with Sherman's Carolinas Campaign to ensure the Confederacy could not recover. 

• General George G. Meade: Commanding the Army of the Potomac (the primary force in Virginia against Lee), Grant kept Meade in command but attached himself to the army, directing the overall strategy during the Petersburg Siege and the final Appomattox campaign. 
• General William T. Sherman: Leading the crucial campaign through the Carolinas, Sherman's forces (Military Division of the Mississippi) acted in concert with Grant's strategy to pressure the Confederacy. 
• General Philip Sheridan: Commanding forces in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia, Sheridan's cavalry and infantry efforts were vital in breaking Confederate lines and securing the final victory. 
• General George H. Thomas: The "Rock of Chickamauga" remained in command of the Department of the Cumberland, a significant theater in the West, reporting into the overall command structure.