The History Book Club discussion

Hello Everyone,

This begins the fifth week's reading in our new Presidential Series group discussion.

The complete table of contents is as follows:

Table of Contents

Preface p.13

ONE: The Early Years p.21
TWO: Mexico p.34
THREE: Resignation p.70
FOUR: War p.98
FIVE: "Unconditional Surrender" p.133
SIX: Shiloh p.167
SEVEN: Vicksburg p.206
EIGHT: Chattanooga p. 258
NINE: General in Chief p. 284
TEN: The Wilderness p. 313
ELEVEN: Grant and Lee p. 340
TWELVE: Appomattox p. 369
THIRTEEN: Reconstruction p. 408
FOURTEEN: Let Us Have Peace p. 431
FIFTEEN: Grant in the White House p. 458
SIXTEEN: Diplomacy p. 491
SEVENTEEN: Great White Father p. 516
EIGHTEEN: Reconstruction Revisited p. 542
NINETEEN: The Gilded Age p. 573
TWENTY: Taps p. 606

Notes p. 629
Bibliography p. 707
Acknowledgments p. 747
Index p. 427

Syllabus

Week One - October 4th - October 10th -> Preface, Chapter ONE, and Chapter TWO p. 13 - 69
PREFACE, ONE - The Early Years, and TWO - Mexico

Week Two - October 11th - October 17th -> Chapter THREE and FOUR. p. 70 -132
THREE - Resignation and FOUR - War

Week Three - October 18th - October 24th -> Chapter FIVE and SIX p. 133 - 205
FIVE - "Unconditional Surrender" and SIX - Shiloh

Week Four - October 25th - October 31st -> Chapter SEVEN p. 206 - 257
Chapter SEVEN - Vicksburg

Week Five - November 1st - November 7th -> Chapters EIGHT and NINE p. 258 - 312
EIGHT - Chattanooga and NINE - General in Chief

Week Six - November 8th - November 14th -> Chapters TEN and ELEVEN p. 313 - 368
TEN - The Wilderness and ELEVEN - Grant and Lee

Week Seven - November 15th - November 21st -> Chapter TWELVE p. 369 - 407
TWELVE - Appomattox

Week Eight - November 22nd - November 28th ->
Chapter THIRTEEN and FOURTEEN p. 408 - 457
THIRTEEN - Reconstruction and FOURTEEN - Les Us Have Peace

Week Nine - November 29th - December 5th ->
FIFTEEN - Grant in the White House and SIXTEEN - Diplomacy p. 458 - 515

Week Ten - December 6th - December 12th - > Chapter SEVENTEEN and EIGHTEEN p. 516 - 572
SEVENTEEN - Great White Father and EIGHTEEN - Reconstruction Revisited

Week Eleven - December 13th - December 19th - > Chapter NINETEEN and TWENTY p. 573 - 628
NINETEEN -The Gilded Age and TWENTY - Taps

The assignment for this week includes the following segments/pages:

Week Five - November 1st - November 7th -> Chapters EIGHT and NINE p. 258 - 312
EIGHT - Chattanooga and NINE - General in Chief


We look forward to your participation; but remember this is a non spoiler thread.

We will open up threads for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers.

This book was kicked off on October 4th. This will be the fifth week's assignment for this book.

We look forward to your participation. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, or on your Kindle.

A special welcome to those who will be newcomers to this discussion and thank you to those who have actively contributed on the previous Presidential Series selection. We are glad to have you all.

~Bentley

TO ALWAYS SEE ALL WEEKS' THREADS SELECT VIEW ALL

Jean Edward Smith

In these two chapters, you really get a sense Grant is "in the zone." After Vicksburg, the Mississippi River is in Union hands. General Joe Johnston escapes, though, and the Confederates strike at Chickamauga beating General Rosecrans. Meanwhile, Grant is in New Orleans where he falls off his horse sustaining a pretty serious injury. He is ordered to Louisville where he talks with Secretary of War Stanton. Stanton puts the Armies of the Cumberland, Ohio, and Tennessee under Grant's complete command. Grant builds a great support with General George Thomas commander of the Army of the Cumberland, Sherman commanding the Army of the Tennessee, and Burnside the Army of the Ohio. Thomas holds the city of Chattanooga when Grant arrives to help reopen the route to Bridgeport to supply Thomas' army. Grant now plans to unseat Bragg out of the high ground near Chattanooga (Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain).

On November 23rd, the scene is set. We have Sherman on the Union left hoping to flank Bragg on Missionary Ridge. On the right we have Hooker hoping to take out Lookout Mountain, then Thomas in the center of Missionary Ridge. On the 23rd, Grant orders Thomas to push on the center to test Bragg and get him to draw men to the center. It works because on the 24th, Hooker takes Lookout Mountain. The next day Thomas attacks as Sherman gets bogged down on the left. In an incredible surge, Thomas moves his men up the center taking Missionary Ridge. They pursue Bragg towards Atlanta, and then head up to Knoxville to help Burnside hold that city. The chapter ends with Sherman striking Meridan MS and Grant wanting to strike Mobile, Alabama.

Chapter 9 begins with Grant's promotion to Lt. General, a post not filled since George Washington in 1798. He is pressed to run for president as a Democrat, but privately tells people no. Grant goes to Washington in March 1864 leaving Sherman in charge. He talks to Lincoln with Lincoln reassuring Grant he would not interfere with the conduct of the army. Grant visits Meade at the Army of the Potomac and is impressed by Meade that he keeps him in command of that army. So, Grant formulates a simple but effective plan: Sherman in charge of the West, Meade in charge of the Army of the Potomac with Grant near by in the field, and Halleck in charge of administration and organization in Washington. After a trip out West about a plan to attack Johnston while Grant attacks Lee, Grant begins to reshape the army. He gets more rear-area men to the front lines, concentrate troops around the country, and coordinate attacks: Banks to move on Mobile, Butler to City Point, VA to cut the railroad lines between Petersburg and Richmond, Sigel up the Shenandoah Valley, and Crook taking Lynchburg. Grant also puts Phil Sheridan in charge of Union cavalry.

Once in Culpeper with the Army of the Potomac, Grant begins a plan to attack Lee, who is entrenched below the Rapidan River. Grant can't go right because Lee could strike Washington and the land is devoid of crops to live off of. So, he decides to strike left but the Wilderness terrain will be tough to fight through. He hopes to just march through and hit Lee. However, Lee put together Grant's plan and waits for his attack.

I loved Lincoln's comment on Grant: Grant "doesn't worry and bother me. He isn't Shrieking for reinforcements all the time. He takes what troops we can safely give him...and does the best he can with what he has got." (p. 259)

This really sums up his work before his Lt. General promotion, doesn't it?

I was impressed by how Grant sized up things when he arrived at Chattanooga. He again goes and inspects the lines himself, listens to his corp commanders, and develops a plan. But a little different in that it was Thomas' plan Grant approved to open the supply lines! What does this say about Grant?

Grant watched as Thomas charged Bragg's center at Chattanooga as musket and cannon rain down on them. How would you feel seeing this?

You can also see Lincoln and Grant respect one another. I like Lincoln's statement: The only evidence you have that he's any place is that he makes things git! Wherever he is things move." (p. 307) Another great summation of Grant so far.