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General Ulysses S. Grant
St. Louis played an important part in Ulysses S. Grant's early life, and he in turn helped St. Louis in a significant way when he was president.
Grant comes east : a novel of the Civil War
Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen, and Albert S. Hanser, contributing editor.
Waterville, Me. : Thorndike Press, 2004.
#60; b #62;A New York Times Bestseller #60; /b #62; #60; P #62;The second book in the bestselling series, #60; I #62;Grant Comes East #60; /I #62; continues the story of a Confederate victory at Gettysburg. The first book, #60; I #62;Gettysburg #60; /I #62;, examined the great "what if" of American history: Could Lee have won that pivotal battle? It is from this departure point that the story moves forward, as General Robert E. Lee launches an assault against one of the largest fortifications in the world.
The training ground : Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848
Martin Dugard.
New York : Little, Brown and Co., 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 421-430) and index.
Men of fire : Grant, Forrest, and the campaign that decided the Civil War
Jack Hurst.
New York : Basic Books, 2007.
"Prior to the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant had yet to win a battle and barely clung to command of his army. His commander was already seeking to replace him when, just days before this campaign, Grant was officially charged with chronic drunkenness. Grant's Confederate opponent, an obscure lieutenant colonel named Nathan Bedford Forrest, was similarly untested in battle. Politically, the two men could not have been more different. Forrest had made himself rich before the war trading slaves, while Grant had freed the only slave he ever owned. But the two had something in common: a desperate, unrelenting desire for victory at any cost." "Ill-clad Union and Confederate soldiers endured horrific combat in rain, snow, and sleet. Blood ran thick on both sides; wounded soldiers froze to death on the battlefields. After ten days, Grant won the victory he needed to keep his army and, ultimately, to save the Union itself. It was a turning point for Forrest as well. He had fought bravely but was undone by his superiors: a quarter of history's most flawed generals led the Confederate command. Nonetheless, Forrest emerged from these battles with fifteen bullet marks on his coat and an aura of iron. Forrest was beginning to win the renown that would later account him the continent's greatest horse soldier and one of its most wily, ruthless raiders." "The Fort Henry and Fort Donelson battles forever changed the course of the Civil War - and American history. Grant's dogged aggressiveness opened Tennessee to the Union armies and gashed a wound in Dixie from which the Confederacy would never recover. And, most importantly, Grant saved and launched the career of the individual on whom Federal triumph in the Civil War most depended: himself."--BOOK JACKET.
The doom of Reconstruction : the liberal Republicans in the Civil War era
Andrew L. Slap.
New York : Fordham University Press, 2006.
"Based on close readings of newspapers, a wide range of party documents, and other primary sources, Slap analyzes the election to confront one of the major questions in American political history: how, and why, did Reconstruction come to an end? His focus on the unintended consequences of Liberal Republican politics is a provocative contribution to this important debate."--BOOK JACKET.
Iron ties : [a Silver Rush mystery]
Ann Parker
Scottsdale, AZ : Poisoned Pen Press, 2006.
In the Colorado boom town of Leadville in 1880, Inez Stannert has mixed feelings about President Ulysses S. Grant's upcoming visit to celebrate the arrival of the railroad. She fears that the actions of some folks with wicked memories of the war just might signal a return of lawlessness to the town.
Grant
John Mosier.
New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
"In this second installment of the Palgrave Great Generals series, John Mosier breathes new life into the brilliant career of military strategist Ulysses S. Grant. A modest and unassuming man, Grant never lost a battle, leading the Union to victory over the Confederacy during the Civil War, and ultimately becoming President of the reunited states." "Grant revolutionized military warfare by recognizing the changes in conflict and creating leadership tactics that integrated new technologies with classical military strategy. In this compelling portrait of Grant's generalship, Mosier reveals the man behind the military legend, showing how Grant's creativity and genius off the battlefield shaped him into one of our nation's greatest military leaders."--BOOK JACKET.
Key command : Ulysses S. Grant's district of Cairo
T.K. Kionka.
Columbia : University of Missouri Press, c2006.
"During the Civil War, Cairo, Illinois, held a uniquely strategic position: it was not only the southernmost northern city, but it was also located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Union strategists believed that the importance of securing it could not be overestimated, and Cairo was occupied by the first volunteer regiments organized in the western theater of the war. Arriving six months later, an underappreciated general named Ulysses S. Grant decided that the Union could do more with Cairo than simply guard it, and using the town as his headquarters, he set about reclaiming the Mississippi valley from Rebel forces. This book reveals the story of how Grant honed his strategic skills in those campaigns while also telling of the changes that came to Cairo." "Key Command examines Grant's tenure at his first district command from both military and administrative perspectives. T. K. Kionka has written the first book-length study of the district, exploring the town's Civil War legacy while shedding new light on Grant, the war in the West, and other important Union generals such as Logan and McClernand. From this command post, Grant led troops to the first great Union victories at Belmont, Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson, and Kionka explores their role in Grant's military evolution while highlighting the contributions of civilian volunteers through first-person accounts." "More than a military history, Key Command gives readers a glimpse of the social and cultural atmosphere of an important military base that proved to be the decisive training ground for the most successful general in the war. With its insight into a polarized society and wartime corruption, Kionka's account sheds new light on our own times as it tells the story of a town struggling to survive and a man fighting to succeed."--BOOK JACKET.
Never call retreat : [Lee and Grant, the final victory]
Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen.
Hampton, NH : BBC Audiobooks America, p2005.
- Unabridged.
- Narrator: Boyd Gaines.
- "Sound library."
Grant came to St. Louis when he was posted to Jefferson Barracks after graduating from West Point.
Grant soon met and fell in love with Julia Dent, who lived at White Haven on Gravois Road. The couple were married in St. Louis in 1848, and Grant continued in the army until 1854.
Grant's father-in-law gave him farmland on Rock Hill Road, and Grant built a house, called Hardscrabble, which still stands. But the farm was not successful, and the family moved back to the Dent's White Haven.
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Hardscrabble
Grant's log cabin, 1868 |
Grant still struggled, working first in real estate, then trying to become a teacher at Washington University. At last, in 1860, the Grants moved to Illinois.
Grant kept his farm, though, and planned to retire to it after the Civil War. In fact, he only sold the farm in 1885, shortly before his death. After several owners, August Busch Sr. acquired the cabin and had it restored. Today visitors can tour the home at Grant's Farm.
Rising tide : the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed America
John M. Barry.
New York : Simon & Schuster, 1998, c1997.
An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known -- the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Lillian Smith Award.
Rising tide : the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed America
John M. Barry.
New York : Simon & Schuster, c1997.
"In 1927, the Mississippi River swept across an area roughly equal in size to Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined, leaving water as deep as thirty feet on the land stretching from Illinois and Missouri south to the Gulf of Mexico. Close to a million people - in a nation of 120 million - were forced out of their homes. Some estimates place the death toll in the thousands. The Red Cross fed nearly 700,000 refugees for months." "Rising Tide is the story of this forgotten event, the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known. But it is not simply a tale of disaster. The flood transformed part of the nation and had a major cultural and political impact on the rest. Rising Tide is an American epic about science, race, honor, politics, and society." "Rising Tide begins in the nineteenth century, when the first serious attempts to control the river began. The story focuses on engineers James Eads and Andrew Humphreys, who hated each other. Out of the collision of their personalities and their theories came a compromise river policy that would lead to the disaster of the 1927 flood yet would also allow the cultivation of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta and create wealth and aristocracy, as well as a whole culture." "In the end, the flood had indeed changed the face of America, leading to the most comprehensive legislation the government had ever enacted, touching the entire Mississippi valley from Pennsylvania to Montana. In its aftermath was laid the foundation for the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Grant was able to help St. Louis when he was president. While James B. Eads was building his bridge across the Mississippi, steamboat operators objected because it would cut into their transportation revenues. They banded together to have the bridge removed, and had supporters on a government commission declare the bridge a threat to navigation.
But Eads, who had built the Union's gunboats, was a friend of Grant. Grant intervened in the dispute, and the bridge was completed.
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff.
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