Grant was not an inspired tactician. But Grant fought in a way that by the time he made contact, he had already ensured that the engagement would be fought on his terms, not his enemy's. He would bring his full force to bear--unlike some of the generals would couldn't even put more than half of their troops in the fight at a time--and at the time and place of his choosing, to boot. The only commander who could anticipate Grant was Lee. From Overland to Petersburg Lee was able to prevent Grant from turning his flank, at the cost of not doing anything else! Grant was fond of an aphorism that he coined: Think what you can do to the enemy, not what the enemy can do to you. He took the initiative, and never allowed it to escape his iron grasp.
Mike was born in Niagara Falls, NY grew up in Youngstown, NY and graduated from Lewiston-Porter Central Schools in 1995. He graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2002 with a History and a Education degree. He began this Civil War Blog in June 2007. His favorite athlete of all time is Marcus Allen and team is the Oakland/L.A. Raiders. His interests in Civil War history include 1. Abraham Lincoln 2. RE Lee, 3. Gettysburg, 4. The Lost Cause 5. Comparing and contrasting the Eastern and Western theatres of combat.
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Grant was not an inspired tactician. But Grant fought in a way that by the time he made contact, he had already ensured that the engagement would be fought on his terms, not his enemy's. He would bring his full force to bear--unlike some of the generals would couldn't even put more than half of their troops in the fight at a time--and at the time and place of his choosing, to boot. The only commander who could anticipate Grant was Lee. From Overland to Petersburg Lee was able to prevent Grant from turning his flank, at the cost of not doing anything else!
Grant was fond of an aphorism that he coined: Think what you can do to the enemy, not what the enemy can do to you. He took the initiative, and never allowed it to escape his iron grasp.
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