Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

After the War, a friend would like to give a set of books on military strategy and tactics to Gen. Grant, and checked his bookshelves to ensure no duplication. The friend expected he would find Jomini, Clausewitz, Napoleon, Caesar, Alexander and Hannibal. To the visitor's surprise, he found none.

Grant never blindly imitated the great mind of the military strategists, but rather, he learned by observation and absorbed his lessons with his own critical thinking and evaluation. He utilized what he had learned when the time and circumstances warranted it. Other Generals in the Eastern Theater tried to copy Jomini's maneuvers, not knowing they were not fighting European kings with professional armies. The Civil War is a war based on ideology, fought by hordes of volunteers, with mass-produced rifles. Whereas in the 18th century European War, when one side won a big battle, the other side would pursue peace. It didn't happen in the Civil War. It was owing to the Europeans' incapability to launch a comeback, since they could not manufacture hand-made smoothbores fast enough in the 18th century. The cost would be enormous. In 1860, machine-made rifles made by mass production cost very little per gun and little training were required on turning civilians into soldiers. Hordes of volunteers kept up the replacement on the fallen soldiers. In the Civil War, both sides were fighting for their ideal. The fighting would not stop until all the resource; men, guns, food etc. were exhausted. Both sides fought to the finish. After Shiloh, Grant understood that. That's why using Jomini blindly in the 19th century America would not work. The Swiss Baron, Henri Anton de Jomini, wrote the Art of War, which was based on the Strategy and Tactics of Frederick the Great and Napoleon. Henry Halleck, a false 'friend' of Grant, even translated Jomini from French to English. Yet, Halleck who read the text but learned nothing from it. The "Old Brain" was only a "first rate clerk"----- a polite way to say that he was an incompetent General-in-Chief. The Prussian Karl Von Clausewitz wrote "On War" which was also based on his study on Napoleon warfare.

Grant used Grant to win his battles.

Great General attacked enemy's weakness. The ability to see enemy's weakness and the ability to act swiftly makes Great General.

In Holly Springs, Confederate Earl Van Dorn destroyed Grant's supplies. Elsewhere in Tennessee, Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest raided the Union's depots. This apparent setback was really a blessing in disguise. Undeterred on his misfortune, Grant was compelled to subsist on the land ---- Necessity is the Mother of Invention. He found out his army could survive by foraging if he kept on moving. In 1846, as a Quartermaster and Commissary officer serving under Gen. Zachary Taylor in the first Mexico campaign, Grant was able to subsist in Matamoros. In 1847, in the second Mexico campaign, Gen. Winfield Scott abandoned his supply base in Vera Cruz, and marched inland. Scott foraged and was able to supply his army. Grant learned it well, since he was also the commissary and ordinance officer under both Taylor and Scott. With this unique knowledge, Grant could plan his Vicksburg campaign accordingly, using rapid movement, surprise maneuvers, and the concentration of his army to win his battles, in the marshy land that favored the defenders. Sherman also used this method to march to the sea.

Grant had exceptional faculty. When a sudden crisis arose, he would be "as cool as a cucumber" (quoting Shelby Foote) and knew exactly what to do. When Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston attacked him in Shiloh, he immediately ordered his men to move ammunition to the front line, and exclaimed that he would lick them the next day. He did exactly what he had planned and achieved a victory. He learned this lesson way back in the battles of Palo Alto and Monterey, Mexico. Other Union commanders would not know what to do in a similar crisis. He also learned that number of soldiers alone was not a determinate factor for victory. The Mexican had twice the number of soldiers and yet Gen. Taylor won in 1846-47. Scott faced even more Mexicans and also won in 1847-48, taking Mexico City. He again learned that a flashy military uniform alone didn't make a General. Only the "real stuff" would make a real General. When Grant graduated from West Point and put on his flashy uniform, people in the street teased him and he determined not to care for outward appearance anymore. His observation on his first Commander, "Rough and Ready" Gen. Taylor confirmed this decision. The same held true with pomp and ceremony. Grant wanted no part in that. Grant had learned from his experience in Mexico that military etiquette, decorum, full dress, really meant nothing. That is why Grant wore a Private's uniform with except his three stars, to see Lee at Appomattox. That is why Grant did not care for a military ceremony to receive Lee's surrender in 1865. He cared not for his personal glory. Only true deed would speak for itself. Instead he rushed back to Washington to stop the contracts of vendors-suppliers in order to save Government's money, since it costs the Government million dollars a day ------ an unglamorous move!

Grant thought of the lesson on the prairie wolves while stationed in Texas. The loud howling noise made Grant thought that there must be at least 20 to 30 wolves in the pack. When Grant's army friend Calvin Benjamin took him to take a look, Grant found only two wolves. Benjamin and Taylor taught him that the strength of the enemy was not to be judged by the noise or the apparent size.

Lincoln liked Grant because Grant never complained and never demanded he must have this and this in order to do that and that, like some Union Generals in the East did. Grant always does his best with the available resource given, and bring victory for Lincoln. Again, Grant learned this from Gen. Taylor, who improvised his limited resource in Matamoros, Buena Vista and Monterey. Taylor was not an officer to trouble the Administration much with his demands, but was inclined to do the best he could with the means given him, without parading his grievance before the public.

At Belmont, Grant learned a lesson that when your side is successful in routing the enemy, don't stop and don't give the enemy a chance to re-group for a counter-attack. He learned the lesson well. Shiloh was the reverse of Belmont. Grant took his opportunity and repeated Belmont in reverse at Shiloh. While the Confederate paused, he and his reinforcement, Don Carlo Buell's army of the Cumberland, launched a counter-attack and snatched another victory.

In early 1861, Grant led his green regiment for a test run. As he approached the Confederate encampment, Grant's heart was beating fast. When he reached the summit of the hill and looked down, the field below looked empty. The Confederates had retreated. It dawned on Grant that his opponent was even more scared of him than he of them. He is a quick study and learns his lessons well. And from then on, he no longer feared his opponent anymore.

Sun Tse said, "The best offense is to attack where the enemy doesn't defend." Sun Tse also said, "Move thy troops rapidly and surprise thy enemy." (Sun Tse's Art of War, written in about 400 B.C.) Grant knew transportation by boats were the quickest way to move from one river port to another. He liked to use amphibious attack. He used it in Belmont. He saw Gen. Scott used them to Vera Cruz. When Grant heard from a scout that the Confederates were about to occupy Paducah, he immediately ordered his troops to take the gunboats and moved to take Paducah, and reached there before the arrival of the Rebel army, surprising the stunted Kentucky citizens. Paducah bisected the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, an important transportation center. By taking Paducah, Grant could launch from this new base, his campaign against Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson, and transformed himself into "Unconditional Surrendered Grant." That movement forced Albert Sidney Johnston to abandon Bowling Green, Kentucky and retreat south all the way to Corinth, Mississippi.

Grant could instill confidence to his men. Rosecran's army was cut off and was starving in Chattanooga. Within a few days after Grant took over the command of the West, he immediately opened up the "cracker line" when he ordered some surprised attacks on the Rebels at Brown's Ferry. His men knew they could beat the Confederate any time under Grant. While Hardee, Bishop Polk and Longstreet showed no confidence with Bragg, Davis ignored their appeal and stood with his friend Bragg, placing personal friendship ahead of State's interest. So, you see, the outcome is already known even before the battle of Chattanooga had begun, despite Bragg was holding the high ground: confidence on one side versus no confidence on the other side. In Mexico, Grant learned that it was not difficult to attack a hill because the defenders could not depressed their cannons. The defenders could only fire the cannonballs in projectiles which were not as effective as firing horizontally on flat land. Grant knew this when he was preparing the battle of Chattanooga.

In his youth, Grant developed a habit of not retracing his route even though he took the wrong road. He would continue to go forward until he would re-adjust his direction to the correct destination. This habit served him well in war. Other Union generals either retreated or stayed on where they camped, when they faced Lee. Not Grant. He won't retreat. He saw victory while others saw defeat. He won't look back and kept flanking his army southward. He understood it is a people's war based on ideology. Shiloh taught him that winning a battle won't win the war and only through the destruction of the Confederate army and their resource would final victory be achieved. As General-in-Chief, Grant ordered simultaneous attacks on different Theaters so that the Confederate could not shift or concentrate their limited resource to their advantage, like what they did in Chickamauga. Grant further ordered relentless and continuous attacks so that the Rebels would have no breathing space in between battles. The strategy works. Grant approved Sherman's March to the Sea and the strategy to destroy the Confederate resource. As Grant moved southward in his Overland Campaign, he shifted his bases of supply to his advantage. City Point, Virginia, became a humming 'city' where supply ships arrived daily. He used the railroad along Petersburg's front to supply his army. All these, he learned from the days of the Mexico war and carried him through the Civil War all four years.

He learned. He experimented. He evaluated critically and used the available resource to bring victory. He is a practical and unassuming man who rose to the occasion to save his country from dissolution. He treated Lee with respect, and gained himself respect. He became the Father of modern warfare, and later generation of commanders studied his strategy. (Reference several books.) (1999)

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Author and Webmaster, Gordon Kwok (gordonkwok@aol.com)

March 10, 2001