Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian

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Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian (eBook) Pub. Date: 12/30/2007 Publisher: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
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Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian (New Edition) Pub. Date: 12/30/2007 Publisher: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated

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Overview

Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian is a comprehensive, multi-theater, war-long comparison of the commanding general skills of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Unlike most analyses, Bonekemper clarifies the impact both generals had on the outcome of the Civil War - namely, the assistance that Lee provided to Grant by Lee's excessive casualties in Virginia, the consequent drain of Confederate resources from Grant's battlefronts, and Lee's refusal and delay of reinforcements to the combat areas where Grant was operating. The reader will be left astounded by the level of aggression both generals employed to secure victory for their respective causes, demonstrating that Grant was a national general whose tactics were consistent with achieving Union victory, whereas Lee's own priorities constantly undermined the Confederacy's chances of winning the war.

Building on the detailed accounts of both generals' major campaigns and battles, this book provides a detailed comparison of the primary military and personal traits of the two generals. That analysis supports the preface discussion and the chapter-by-chapter conclusions that Grant did what the North needed to do to win the war: be aggressive, eliminate enemy armies, and do so with minimal casualties (154,000), while Lee was too offensive for the undermanned Confederacy, suffered intolerable casualties (209,000), and allowed his obsession with the Commonwealth of Virginia to obscure the broader interests of the Confederacy. In addition, readers will find interest in the 18 clean-cut and lucid battle maps as well as a comprehensive set of appendices that describes the casualties incurred by each army, battle by battle.

What People Are Saying

Bruce Allardice Past president

"Ed Bonekemper's Grant and Lee: Victorious American and Vanquished Virginian compares the generalship of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee and draws what many might consider a heretical conclusion--that the victor was a better war leader than the loser. He ably backs up this conclusion with a detailed analysis of the war, featuring a groundbreaking study of wartime casualty statistics. This thorough, well- written and passionate look at our Civil War's two military icons should become a must read for students of the war."

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Bruce Allardice Past president, CWRT of Chicago Author, More Generals in Gray

Dr. Jon R. Carleton

"The value of this book is that the history behind Grant and Lee reveals what it means to be a strategic commander. One general understood the total nature of war and the utility of force at a time when changes in weaponry, transport, and communications materially altered the course of the Civil War."

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Dr. Jon R. Carleton, Department Chair, History & Military Studies Fellow, World Association of International Studies

Ed Baldrige Professor of History

"In this sequel to his Lee, Grant and McClellan books, Ed Bonekemper has created a controversial but compelling comparison of Grant and Lee. Although I have always been an admirer of Lee, this book sets forth a convincing case for Grant's superiority."

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Ed Baldrige Professor of History, Emeritus, Muhlenberg College

James L. MacDonald Great-Grandson of four Civil Veterans

"Bonekemper throws the spotlight of rigorous scholarship on this riddle, and in doing so, illuminates the era and the men. Thoroughly exploring the details of their adverse relationship, Bonekemper makes a strong case that, indeed, the outcome of the war was attributable in large measure to their differences of temperament and contradictory approach to strategy and tactics. Bonekemper's very readable text plus a wealth of superb maps and illustrations makes this handsome book a must in every Civil War enthusiast's collection."

Larry Jesse Clowers Ulysses S. Grant Living Historian Gettysburg

"Instead of following the same old tired pattern comparing the generals during the Campaigns of 1864-65, Bonekemper follows the path each general took comparing and contrasting their successes and failures from the beginning of the Civil War to the outcome at Appomattox. Providing a rich resource of background data, footnotes, and references, data is summarized for the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. A must read for all who study these two generals."

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Larry Jesse Clowers Ulysses S. Grant Living Historian Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Editorial Reviews

". . . this most recent work is the strongest of his previous three. He has sharpened his controversial argument to a fine point. Passionately and accurately, he makes point after point in favor of his notion that Grant was the superior strategist . . . This work is sure to rile the most ardent supporters of Robert E. Lee, but it is a worthwhile read. The book not only provides new perspectives on the two generals as adversaries, it also makes the reader think and rethink about his perceptions of the two generals. . . . Bonekemper's book is filled with excellent maps that reinforce what the reader is focusing on. . . . The author doesn't just dangle a carrot and expect the reader to know every detail. The chapters are well-written and analytical. . . . If you give Grant and Lee a fair chance, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If for nothing else, the book is a great, thought-provoking conversation piece for any Civil War buff."

The Free Lance-Star

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780313349713
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date: 12/30/2007
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 460
Sales rank: 910,081
Product dimensions: 6.60 (w) x 9.40 (h) x 1.70 (d)

Meet the Author

EDWARD H. BONEKEMPER, III is an adjunct lecturer of U.S. military history at Muhlenberg College. For over 34 years he served as a Federal Government attorney , including 11 years of active duty with the U.S. Coast Guard and 17 as the senior hazardous materials transportation attorney for the U.S. Department of Transportation. He is a retired commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. He is the author of How Robert E. Lee Lost the Civil War (1998), A Victor, Not a Butcher: Ulysses S. Grant's Overlooked Military Genius (2004), and McClellan and Failure: A Study of Civil War Fear, Incompetence and Worse (2007).

List of Maps

Introduction Why Grant Won and Lee Lost

1 Tough Beginnings and Mexican War Experience 1

2 1861: Open and Closed Doors to Civil War Command 11

3 Late 1861 / Early 1862: Lee's First Loss and Grant's Early Victories 17

4 March-June 1862: Grant Wins at Shiloh While Lee Stymies McClellan 29

5 1862-63: Lee Conducts a Costly Offensive While Grant Aims for Vicksburg 60

6 May-July 1863: Lee Loses Gettysburg as Grant Captures Vicksburg 96

7 Autumn 1863: Lee Lends an Assist as Grant Saves Chattanooga and a Union Army 153

8 Early 1864: Both Generals Prepare for Confrontation 167

9 Spring 1864: Grant Attacks and Besieges Lee 177

10 Late 1864: Grant and Sherman Move Toward Victory 199

11 Early 1865: Lee Surrenders to Grant 215

12 A Comparison of Grant and Lee 233

App. 1 Casualties in Grant's Battles and Campaigns 267

App. 2 Casualties in Lee's Battles and Campaigns 302

Notes 323

Selected Bibliography 407

Index 417

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