The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-25
GRANT AS A GENERAL.
..orsSrrL ALWAYS IN THE OUT
COME OF HIS MILITARY
OPERATIONS.

a.taI.tlng Ice AItcf toIu NnrnOr-Erus
laced one or the Greatest Captains OF
a,.,o-, Comparison or Loo with Grant
,..urtrnra's clear Military Fcrccp items.
o,,nt was successful inally and on the whole
vi nj, military operations from the day
-h,n. as q Colonel. no set out after the Con-
,,.r.ts Harris, III Missouri. do yn to Apo.
-, Tits sweeping statement can be made
~, tew Generals In the history of al time.
a. +, 4, true OF Grant. Moreover, he was main
%'rccessful IN all MS battles. No army under
80. Immediate direction was ever defeated
s.,r,cbt. In the Yicksburg campaign he was
-. ponrlussed by tho natural difficulties of
Al. ,,.Ia;ion and the activity OF the enemy, hut
=. r.rsited in his object. and even :uhlly, In
~. ~ the finest campaigns in the history Of
,rma. captured the town, totally destroying an
a ,osinS force OF $4,000 men. In the campaign
=, 1s64.g5 against tho seasoned veteran, Leo,
Grants army was several times ropulsed and
checked, but he was never beaten or delayed
a. the extent Of changing his plans or reliev-
Inc the Confederate army from pressure. FL
r.llv. at Five Forks, Petersburg, and..A ppomat-
toy overwhelming victory crowned his efforts
IN n gigantic campaign lasting through eleven
months. Under other leadership I doubt II
zee would have been overcome at all.
In all his campaigns Grant was never moro
,hap temporarily checked, IL checked Mt all. and
was neve. swerved from his object. This can
not be said Of McDo we'll, Mcclellan, Fremont,
pope, Burnside, Hooker. Buell.. Rosecrans,
Banks, and others of the Union commanders.
Nor eau it be said of Lee, Johnston, Beaure-
gard, Hood. Bragg, and others of the Confed-
erates. Aside from this negative view of his
successes In general, Grant won some of the
most sweeping victories of the civil war. or any
othev, for that matter. Fort Donelson, vickr-
burg, and CHATTANOOGA will always rank high
IN military Annals; so will the campaign against
Lee. These are important facts In the consid-
GRAFTON Of OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
Yet from first to last doubt has been ex-
pressed If all this long series o. successes was
NOT, after all. largely due TO mere laundering
luck. That was a pr valant notion: at first,
especially Just after Shiloh, but as time has
progressed. and the inside history of the war
the r~ecords-have been made public, IL has
gradually died away: very.little Of 1t remains.
Grant Is taking his true place In history as the
ablest. most comprehensive. and successful
General Of the war. An examination of his
career and his achievements at once convinces
the:most .skeptical that luck" had little to do
with his triumphs. They were all won after
hard and persistent struggles and tho bring
Ing into play of the highest order Of military
art and science. coupled with courage and great
good Judgment.
. TliI view of Grant Is illustrated In tho cam
paiSn Of ls64-65. Hissstyle of campaigning
and fighting was n new sensation in Virgins.
Instead OF fighting q drawn battle aud then
withdrawing in regular form to the:north side
Of the Rapidan Tho continued.to fight and to ad-
vance. He manifested no timitity whatevar
IA front of Gen. Lee: It was said that he would
Inv 'na' IN nooo n"u uoTo ~
um.ten' vi .ioA - 10"
""e =
'""'e. ~ ~ - " 80
es VI IL army o~uou u W LOG. Ai'
uran,' oAmpa.en oHa' iopoi',
:. -, uDNI~" "N"
- ~ 80.
- IN"N,
80 = -
e.. -, gu - 81. 80 "a ...h.,
=. $50 -, -. s,h..h.,s -
= -
go" ~ htrn e., w..
o. thans.ns. whHo -. ~. h,Ss..S.
pn,,h.tara 49,. - c., -.
lrcrv IN bIs I-rion .dye-s,-,.s NJ y. ia
met n General Who understood his hr,i,s...
uho III. hims.,, ENTHUSIASTICALLY - -,
a,Ivs obances. rho IIts bimssIf 80 aaht.r.
wbo tns,v hov 10 ntuiz. tho w.,oh, 90 -
hnrg nf his whn1a armv and rhn finally uuhan
msrs,y ronr,s.d Ala NJ, Ios. - 80 -
os IN rstreat under the snddan Imnr,s. -, 80
that all was lot No srcb se-,.s ~ ran,d .nd
.hIs nanpuvres as tbosa ,ronnd snottsrIr.n,.
we're seen nm .nv other field y, The Uar W.
ware skufn,Iv met Al. thsv bad n ~ ., -.
IN awe the ron-edsrate army. I'm, IN. ooonIo.
imnress,on that Ia, stood Gront "a ~ -.
Wilderness and Sno,tsvlvani. nj lbort 80
inv .anv seriops 1osses b;msa1, g.. v.rv 49,.
ou. Careful students ~ sncb matters H.
Lee, Io,ses from the 6,b ~ Nav 20 tho o,o.a~s
the snottsvlv.nia onero ton. a, not La ,han
%. ooo non
II was 7 40 who tooI tha o1.r.r. u. g..
day In the WiIdernss.. cront dtd ~, s.s,.a
battle untu aftar he bsd na.sad 60 49,
dense ,unyles inc The on.n .orntr' 49,
Lee attemntad The .,m. 1000 -. VIZ.
ness ON Gran thu, h. b.d nrao,,.as -, H..
ut Chance,lor,viII. wb.r. y. 80 se,...os w.
army larger nv On ooo m.n e. ~. 80
which Grant had na...d ~. r,r.- o. -
10 drive Grant bacE acro.s -. p.,,aan -
had driven Hooker IN. y..r 800 - -
ly those same voods .nd er.,.td. - -
ericskb,rp In D.cemh.r 1seo TN. 49,