"Rarely have a people fought so well for a cause I believe to have been so wrong."
Have you read Grant's memoirs? They are posted in their entirety online, although I can't find the link right now.
In them, Grant wasn't above telling a story or two that did not necessarily promote the glory of the Union:
In north Georgia, following the battles for Chattanooga, Grant was staying at a farmhouse owned by an elderly widow woman. (Several times, I have read accounts by the folks Grant stayed with in the South who were unexpectedly won over by his humility and kindly manner.) Anyway, as Grant sat with this elderly lady on her front porch watching miles and miles of Union troops march by, one of the more pompous generals in blue (I seem to recall it was Meade or Hooker) stopped by, tipped his hat to the lady and asked her if she had ever seen so many live Yankees before.
She answered sweetly, "Why yes sir, I have. In Richmond, as prisoners." |
