Most students of the Civil War are aware—at least in broad strokes—of the deep working relationship forged between Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the final year of the conflict. Lincoln, after cycling through a number of generals to lead operations in Virginia against Robert E. Lee, finally found his man in Grant. Grant, in turn, came to respect the president as a man who possessed the military acumen to understand his plans to end the war—and the good judgment to stay out of his way as he executed them. Examples of their mutual understanding on military matters can be found in their communications during this period. In the midst of the Overland Campaign, for instance, a steadfast Lincoln looked beyond the growing casualty lists, which would soon rattle northern public morale.
“I begin to see it,” he wired Grant in mid-June. “You will succeed.”
A month later, as Grant’s campaign against Petersburg settled into siege operations—diminishing the chance of a quick, war-ending victory—Lincoln’s firm understanding of his top general’s strategic vision prompted him to encourage Grant to stay the course, no matter how long it took: “Hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke, as much as possible.”
Today, Lincoln is widely considered the country’s greatest wartime president. And yet he was no natural in the role of commander in chief. As Kenneth W. Noe details in this issue’s cover story, “The Military Education of Abraham Lincoln,” our sixteenth president’s military knowledge and instincts at the outbreak of the war were limited at best. It took Lincoln several years, during which he made myriad questionable martial decisions, before he became the man who would partner so effectively with Grant and see the war to a successful conclusion.
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Thanks to all of you who have listened to the first season of our podcast Civil War Curious. We’ve had fun putting it together, and look forward to a second season next spring. If you have a Civil War question you’d like answered by an expert, email it to [email protected], and we may include it in a future episode. In other podcast news, John Heckman, who helmed our podcast The 1864 Project last year, is back this fall with a new series on Civil War technology. We think you’ll enjoy it.
