“The art of war,” he maintained, “is simple enough. The Virginia Overland Campaign of May and June 1864 reflected Grant’s audacious military philosophy. His decision about the conduct of the war was founded on the goal of honoring and respecting the enemy even after a war that left hundreds of thousands dead. The campaigns of 18 brought very heavy casualties for the Union Army, causing many to question Grant’s strategy and label him a “butcher.” But in seeking that costly victory, Grant also had to decide how to contribute to healing the country and reconciling the sections after the war. Grant was the brilliantly strategic general Lincoln had been searching for, and the decision to give Grant command of the eastern theater reflected Lincoln’s commitment to achieving victory. As general in chief, Grant chose to accompany Meade as he took on Lee. While three smaller armies in peripheral theaters tied down significant Confederate forces, preventing them from shifting troops from one theater to another, the two main armies, Meade’s Army of the Potomac and William Tecumseh Sherman’s army group at Chattanooga, were to lock horns with, respectively, Lee in Virginia and Joseph Johnston’s Army of Tennessee on the road to Atlanta. Grant believed that up to that point, Union armies in different theaters had “acted independently and without concert, like a balky team, no two ever pulling together.” Accordingly, his strategic plan for 1864 called for putting five Union armies into motion simultaneously against the Confederacy. Grant’s successes at Vicksburg and Chattanooga, Lincoln appointed him general in chief of the armies of the United States. Grant at Appomattox Court House.Īfter General Ulysses S. Use this Decision Point at the end of the Civil War unit to summarize Robert E. Explain the various factors that contributed to the Union victory in the Civil War.
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