Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-31
WELL PLANNED EFFORT
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portunity in his life. to know the southern
people and discriminate in respect to
Them so as to understand that. while
they talked a great deal. they could also
do a great deal. He believed that the
only way of subdung the rebellion was
by fighting the armies of the rebellion.
and that. after all. the contest between
the two parts Of this nation was con-
test of resources of men and of wealth
And in the end it proved to be so. His
judgment was indicated.
1T is said that Grant was not man
of military genius. 1t is difficult to de-
fine what genius is. Some describe it as
the capacity for taking Infinite pains. II
so. Grant was a genius. Halleck was a
great authority military science and
grand strategy. and he never planned a
campaign unless like a lawyer with his
precedents, he could turn to the page of
the military textbook and justify his plan
by a reference to battle of Caesar. Ma
poleon or Frederick. Had he been able
to anticipate Grants plan for the taking
of Nicksburg he would certainly have
prevented 1t. And yet. i'm comparing the
strategic ability of Grant with that of
other generals. it can truly be said that
there IS no campaign i'm the civil war
that showed more originality. greater ce
lerity of movement. better calculation of
opposing forces and more effective re-
suits than the one beginning with the
capture % Grand Gulf continued by the
the Big Black. and ending with the
surrender Of Nicksburg. Equally well
wrought out. though not difficult Of
execution. was the battle of chattanooga
Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain,
Fought to Save Lives.
Grant was man of such a sensitive
nature that he could not hear To see even
animals subjected Ia pain. And yet his
conception of war and lis necessities was
50 clear that the dreadful losses sustained
by him in the Wilderness. at SpottSylvania
and at Cold Harbor and in the other CAM
paigns against Lee did not turn him from
his purpose lead him to change his
plan. which he had deliberately formed of
wearing Lee out. and by constant ham
nlering of ending the army of northern
Virginia. His purpose was. at the cost of
losses which the northern army was able
10 stand. to illfiict losses upon the south
ern army which. in the end meant its
destruction. a calculation of the losses
which the Army of the Potomac sustained
during the first three years Of the war
shows them TO have been far greater than
those sustained by Grant during his cam
paigns of "a and 80 against Lee. and 1t
Is certainly not too much TO say that had
Grants military career a general be-
gun in the east as 1t did begin In the
west the war would not have been length
ened out to a full four years.
The tenacity with which Grant con-
Quoted campaign. the speed with which
he followed W. victory. the promptnesS
with which he was on hand the next
morning with force ready to fight after d
drawn battle. If put into practice in the
Army of the Potomac during the first
three years of the war. would certainly
have brought about an earlier termina-
ton.
Grant idea of a war was a fight and
continuous series Of battles and his
theory Of winning victories was that the
side which was first ready the morning
the end.