I always wondered where the term ‘unconditional surrender’ came from during World War II. After reading a biography of U.S. Grant as an undergraduate in the early 90s I learned. When attacking Fts. Henry and Donelson on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively, when the commaders of the Confederate forts requested terms Grant replied, “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender,” which earned him the sobriquet ‘Unconditional Surrender’ Grant–at least until the aftermath of the bloodbath at Shiloh.
Why do I bring this up? I just completed the Ron Chernow biography of Grant. As a work of popular history it’s good; however, Geoffrey Perret’s biography is much more rigorous and drips with historical sensibility. Still, credit to Chernow for a related reason: his biogrpahy led to a docu-drama miniseries about Grant. I cannot recommend this series enough. It’s also had the knock on effect of launching a much needed reappraisal of the man, the general and the president. Also, know this: I’m a born Southerner, native Texan. The Confederates were traitors. Grant and Sherman gave them what they deserved.
The “Lost Cause” revisionist history movement at the turn of the 20th century reframed the Civil War from a war to end slavery into a war about states rights. Moreover it did grievous damage to Grant’s reputation as a general and president and elevated Lee to divine heights. Both balderdash, mind you. But, the damage was done. Grant was the better general. He was a genius who conceived of operations and strategy two orders of magnitude greater than Lee. And, well, you know, there would be no 14th and 15th Amendments without a Grant presidency. So, read Chernow’s book or watch the series.
Both will learn you some good knowledge.
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Stormcrow
This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Probably because I don’t own a TV in the first place. The problem isn’t the cost, it’s the content. Although the last decade or so has seen better improvement in the upper tier of programming than I could have dreamed of 20 years ago, when I waited for my gall bladder to come out with nothing better to do than lay in a hospital bed and watch endless advertisements.
Thank you.
marku52
Reading Grant’s “Memoirs” I was struck by a comment late in the book (Which only covers the war years). I wish I’d bookmarked it. The jist of it:
As Grant’s HQ pulled into a new position, his comms officers would send out mules with rolls of wire to each divisional HQ. These were all tied into a telegraph operator in a comms wagon. Thus once hooked up, Grant had immediate comms with all his divisional commands. This was late in the war, but still struck me as remarkable that no other history had commented on it.
Also, from “Grant’s Quartermaster”, biography of a remarkable polymath named Meigs, the story of 2 Rebs chatting at the end of the day how wrecking a railroad tunnel would slow down Sherman, the other commented. ” Oh, that won’t slow him down much. Ol’ Sherman, he carries a spare one….”
Meig’s quartermaster division was amazing in how quickly it could repair a RR, or build a new one. The logistics in the war of the west an south put incredible strain on them, and it was surprising that the war in the 1870’s Europe seemed to have learned little from them.
Feral Finster
Grant and Sherman’s biggest advantage was not so much in maneuver or brigades but in recognizing what it would take to win and then doing it – breaking the enemy’s *ability* to fight, whether by killing soldiers or wrecking infrastructure.
Jan Wiklund
I don’t know enough to say if “unconditional surrender” was the right option for Grant. But when it was repeated during the WWII it was wrong – it probably prolonged the war for one or two years because the Germans didn’t dare to give up.
They imagined that they fought for their survival as a people – easy enough to believe if one has tried to enslave or exterminate others. The Allies didn’t make it better when they launched the Morgenthau Plan in 1944: to close all German industries and drive Germany to starvation.
Of course the Germans fought as long as they could. It was clear after Stalingrad that they would lose, and if the Allies had allowed serious generals to give up on reasonable terms the war had stopped and some million lives had been saved.