Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant

The Mexican War and the War of the Rebellion

Ulysses S. Grant

• Publisher: Aeneas Press
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9785501151574
• Subtopic: World History

Grant's account of Shiloh, Vicksburg, the Wilderness and Appomattox, written in the last year of his life while cancer of the throat was killing him and his family faced ruin. He finished the manuscript a week before he died; Mark Twain published it and the royalties left his widow rich. The prose is plain to the point of severity, and it is the plainness that has kept it the finest memoir ever written by a soldier. Sixty plates of paintings by Winslow Homer and Eastman Johnson, spanning 1770 to 1899, capture the American landscape and its soldiers that Grant's plain words bring to life.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Preface
• Chapter I. Ancestry—Birth—Boyhood
• Chapter II. West Point—Graduation
• Chapter III. Army Life—Causes of the Mexican War—Camp Salubrity
• Chapter IV. Corpus Christi—Mexican Smuggling—Spanish Rule in Mexico—Supplying Transportation
• Chapter V. Trip to Austin—Promotion to Full Second Lieutenant—Army of Occupation
• Chapter VI. Advance of the Army—Crossing the Colorado—The Rio Grande
• Chapter VII. The Mexican War—The Battle of Palo Alto—The Battle of Resaca de la Palma—Army of Invasion—General Taylor—Movement on Camargo
• Chapter VIII. Advance on Monterey—The Black Fort—The Battle of Monterey—Surrender of the City
• Chapter IX. Political Intrigue—Buena Vista—Movement Against Vera Cruz—Siege and Capture of Vera Cruz
• Chapter X. March to Jalapa—Battle of Cerro Gordo—Perote—Puebla—Scott and Taylor
• Chapter XI. Advance on the City of Mexico—Battle of Contreras—Assault at Churubusco—Negotiations for Peace—Battle of Molino Del Rey—Storming of Chapultepec—San Cosme—Evacuation of the City—Halls of the Montezumas
• Chapter XII. Promotion to First Lieutenant—Capture of the City of Mexico—The Army—Mexican Soldiers—Peace Negotiations
• Chapter XIII. Treaty of Peace—Mexican Bull Fights—Regimental Quartermaster—Trip to Popocatapetl—Trip to the Caves of Mexico
• Chapter XIV. Return of the Army—Marriage—Ordered to the Pacific Coast—Crossing the Isthmus—Arrival at San Francisco
• Chapter XV. San Francisco—Early California Experiences—Life on the Pacific Coast—Promoted Captain—Flush Times in California
• Chapter XVI. Resignation—Private Life—Life at Galena—The Coming Crisis
• Chapter XVII. Outbreak of the Rebellion—Presiding at a Union Meeting—Mustering Officer of State Troops—Lyon at Camp Jackson—Services Tendered to the Government
• Chapter XVIII. Appointed Colonel of the 21st Illinois—Personnel of the Regiment—General Logan—March to Missouri—Movement Against Harris at Florida, Mo.—General Pope in Command—Stationed at Mexico, Mo
• Chapter XIX. Commissioned Brigadier-General—Command at Ironton, Mo.—Jefferson City—Cape Girardeau—General Prentiss—Seizure of Paducah—Headquarters at Cairo
• Chapter XX. General Fremont in Command—Movement Against Belmont—Battle of Belmont—A Narrow Escape—After the Battle
• Chapter XXI. General Halleck in Command—Commanding the District of Cairo—Movement on Fort Henry—Capture of Fort Henry
• Chapter XXII. Investment of Fort Donelson—The Naval Operations—Attack of the Enemy—Assaulting the Works—Surrender of the Fort
• Chapter XXIII. Promoted Major-General of Volunteers—Unoccupied Territory—Advance Upon Nashville—Situation of the Troops—Confederate Retreat—Relieved of the Command—Restored to the Command—General Smith
• Chapter XXIV. The Army at Pittsburg Landing—Injured by a Fall—The Confederate Attack at Shiloh—The First Day’s Fight at Shiloh—General Sherman—Condition of the Army—Close of the First Day’s Fight—The Second Day’s Fight—Retreat and Defeat of the Confederates
• Chapter XXV. Struck by a Bullet—Precipitate Retreat of the Confederates—Intrenchments at Shiloh—General Buell—General Johnston—Remarks on Shiloh
• Chapter XXVI. Halleck Assumes Command in the Field—The Advance Upon Corinth—Occupation of Corinth—The Army Separated
• Chapter XXVII. Headquarters Moved to Memphis—On the Road to Memphis—Escaping Jackson—Complaints and Requests—Halleck Appointed Commander-In-Chief—Return to Corinth—Movements of Bragg—Surrender of Clarksville—The Advance Upon Chattanooga—Sheridan Colonel of a Michigan Regiment
• Chapter XXVIII. Advance of Van Dorn and Price—Price Enters Iuka—Battle of Iuka
• Chapter XXIX. Van Dorn’s Movements—Battle of Corinth—Command of the Department of the Tennessee
• Chapter XXX. The Campaign Against Vicksburg—Employing the Freedmen—Occupation of Holly Springs—Sherman Ordered to Memphis—Sherman’s Movements Down the Mississippi—Van Dorn Captures Holly Springs—Collecting Forage and Food
• Chapter XXXI. Headquarters Moved to Holly Springs—General M’Clernand in Command—Assuming Command at Young’s Point—Operations Above Vicksburg—Fortifications About Vicksburg—The Canal—Lake Providence—Operations at Yazoo Pass
• Chapter XXXII. The Bayous West of the Mississippi—Criticisms of the Northern Press—Running the Batteries—Loss of the Indianola—Disposition of the Troops
• Chapter XXXIII. Attack on Grand Gulf—Operations Below Vicksburg
• Chapter XXXIV. Capture of Port Gibson—Grierson’s Raid—Occupation of Grand Gulf—Movement Up the Big Black—Battle of Raymond
• Chapter XXXV. Movement Against Jackson—Fall of Jackson—Intercepting the Enemy—Battle of Champion’s Hill
• Chapter XXXVI. Battle of Black River Bridge—Crossing the Big Black—Investment of Vicksburg—Assaulting the Works
• Chapter XXXVII. Siege of Vicksburg
• Chapter XXXVIII. Johnston’s Movements—Fortifications at Haines’ Bluff—Explosion of the Mine—Explosion of the Second Mine—Preparing for the Assault—The Flag of Truce—Meeting with Pemberton—Negotiations for Surrender—Accepting the Terms—Surrender of Vicksburg
• Chapter XXXIX. Retrospect of the Campaign—Sherman’s Movements—Proposed Movement Upon Mobile—A Painful Accident—Ordered to Report at Cairo
• Chapter XL. First Meeting with Secretary Stanton—General Rosecrans—Commanding Military Division of Mississippi— Andrew Johnson’s Address—Arrival at Chattanooga
• Chapter XLI. Assuming the Command at Chattanooga—Opening a Line of Supplies—Battle of Wauhatchie—On the Picket Line
• Chapter XLII. Condition of the Army—Rebuilding the Railroad—General Burnside’s Situation—Orders for Battle—Plans for the Attack—Hooker’s Position—Sherman’s Movements
• Chapter XLIII. Preparations for Battle—Thomas Carries the First Line of the Enemy—Sherman Carries Missionary Ridge—Battle of Lookout Mountain—General Hooker’s Fight
• Chapter XLIV. Battle of Chattanooga—A Gallant Charge—Complete Rout of the Enemy—Pursuit of the Confederates—General Bragg—Remarks on Chattanooga
• Chapter XLV. The Relief of Knoxville—Headquarters Moved to Nashville —Visiting Knoxville—Cipher Dispatches—Withholding Orders
• Chapter XLVI. Operations in Mississippi—Longstreet in East Tennessee—Commissioned Lieutenant-General—Commanding the Armies of the United States—First Interview with President Lincoln
• Chapter XLVII. The Military Situation—Plans for the Campaign—Sheridan Assigned to Command of the Cavalry—Flank Movements—Forrest at Fort Pillow—General Banks’s Expedition—Colonel Mosby—An Incident of the Wilderness Campaign
• Chapter XLVIII. Commencement of the Grand Campaign—General Butler’s Position—Sheridan’s First Raid
• Chapter XLIX. Sherman’s Campaign in Georgia—Siege of Atlanta—Death of General McPherson—Attempt to Capture Andersonville—Capture of Atlanta
• Chapter L. Grand Movement of the Army of the Potomac—Crossing the Rapidan—Entering the Wilderness—Battle of the Wilderness
• Chapter LI. After the Battle—Telegraph and Signal Service—Movement by the Left Flank
• Chapter LII. Battle of Spottsylvania—Hancock’s Position—Assault of Warren’s and Wright’s Corps—Upton Promoted on the Field—Good News from Butler and Sheridan
• Chapter LIII. Hancock’s Assault—Losses of the Confederates—Promotions Recommended—Discomfiture of the Enemy—Ewell’s Attack—Reducing the Artillery
• Chapter LIV. Movement by the Left Flank—Battle of North Anna—An Incident of the March—Moving on Richmond—South of the Pamunkey—Position of the National Army
• Chapter LV. Advance on Cold Harbor—An Anecdote of the War—Battle of Cold Harbor—Correspondence with Lee—Retrospective
• Chapter LVI. Left Flank Movement Across the Chickahominy and James—General Lee—Visit to Butler—The Movement on Petersburg—The Investment of Petersburg
• Chapter LVII. Raid on the Virginia Central Railroad—Raid on the Weldon Railroad—Early’s Movement Upon Washington—Mining the Works Before Petersburg—Explosion of the Mine Before Petersburg—Campaign in the Shenandoah Valley—Capture of the Weldon Railroad
• Chapter LVIII. Sheridan’s Advance—Visit to Sheridan—Sheridan’s Victory in the Shenandoah—Sheridan’s Ride to Winchester—Close of the Campaign for the Winter
• Chapter LIX. The Campaign in Georgia—Sherman’s March to the Sea—War Anecdotes—The March on Savannah—Investment of Savannah—Capture of Savannah
• Chapter LX. The Battle of Franklin—The Battle of Nashville
• Chapter LXI. Expedition Against Fort Fisher—Attack on the Fort—Failure of the Expedition—Second Expedition Against the Fort—Capture of Fort Fisher
• Chapter LXII. Sherman’s March North—Sheridan Ordered to Lynchburg—Canby Ordered to Move Against Mobile—Movements of Schofield and Thomas—Capture of Columbia, South Carolina—Sherman in the Carolinas
• Chapter LXIII. Arrival of the Peace Commissioners—Lincoln and the Peace Commissioners—An Anecdote of Lincoln—The Winter Before Petersburg—Sheridan Destroys the Railroad—Gordon Carries the Picket Line—Parke Recaptures the Line—The Line of Battle of White Oak Road
• Chapter LXIV. Interview with Sheridan—Grand Movement of the Army of the Potomac—Sheridan’s Advance on Five Forks—Battle of Five Forks—Parke and Wright Storm the Enemy’s Line—Battles Before Petersburg
• Chapter LXV. The Capture of Petersburg—Meeting President Lincoln in Petersburg—The Capture of Richmond—Pursuing the Enemy—Visit to Sheridan and Meade
• Chapter LXVI. Battle of Sailor’s Creek—Engagement at Farmville—Correspondence with General Lee—Sheridan Intercepts the Enemy.>
• Chapter LXVII. Negotiations at Appomattox—Interview with Lee at McLean’s House—The Terms of Surrender—Lee’s Surrender—Interview with Lee After the Surrender
• Chapter LXVIII. Morale of the Two Armies—Relative Conditions of the North and South—President Lincoln Visits Richmond—Arrival at Washington—President Lincoln’s Assassination—President Johnson’s Policy
• Chapter LXIX. Sherman and Johnston—Johnston’s Surrender to Sherman—Capture of Mobile—Wilson’s Expedition—Capture of Jefferson Davis—General Thomas’s Qualities—Estimate of General Canby
• Chapter LXX. The End of the War—The March to Washington—One of Lincoln’s Anecdotes—Grand Review at Washington—Characteristics of Lincoln and Stanton—Estimate of the Different Corps Commanders
• Conclusion
• Appendix. Report of Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, of the United States Armies 1864-65
• About the Author