No comments about Memoirs of General William T. Sherman.

No comments about Towards an Indefinite Shore: The Final Months of the Civil War December 1864-May 1865 (Towards an Indefinite Shore).

No comments about They went south: Biographical sketches of the Civil War veterans from Berlin, Wisconsin.

No comments about Civil War Generals (Looking Into the Past, People, Places, and Customs).

No comments about Loyal Mountaineers of Tennessee.

No comments about This War So Horrible: The Civil War Diary of Hiram Smith Williams.

1 comments about Latino Heroes of the Civil War.

1. From Back Cover:
   
   "Give your students a fresh, multicultural perspective on the Civil War while sharpening their reading, vocabulary, and critical-thinking skills. The unique book focuses on six individual Latino heroes who impacted this critical period in American history -- half of them in the eastern United States, and half in the West. Extensive, easy-to-read background information about the Civil War itself is also provided. Each chapter concludes with stimulating follow-up activities.
   
   The six heroes examined in this fascinating book are David Farragut, Loreta Velazquez, Federico Cavada, Santos Benavides, Rafael Chacon, and Manuel Chaves.

No comments about Star on Many a Battlefield : Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Kargce in the American Civil War.

4 comments about Captain Sam Grant/1822-1861 (Classic Biography of Ulysses S. Grant, Vol. 1).

1. It's a great pity in Grant scholarship that the author of this book, Lloyd Lewis, died prematurely and was not able to continue his trilogy of Grant. Though the able Bruce Catton continued the project, he was never the writer or researcher that was Lloyd Lewis. This book is a remarkably accurate and clear portrayal of Ulysses Grant as a young man. The book ends on the eve of the Civil War, when Grant was stuck in his father's leather shop, bored and aching for something meaningful to do with his life. At 39, the civil war found Grant (or Grant found the war, take your pick) and history was never the same.

   Lewis was known for his punctilious and dilligent research and it is a pleasure to read a book devoid of errors and rich in interpretation. He illuminates Grant as he *really* was: a decent, engaging, modest and clear-headed young man, destined for greatness but not quite knowing what to do with his considerable talents. This is one of the most outstanding Grant biographies and a must-read for anyone interested in the life and times of our greatest general.




2. As a student of Spanish American History, I wonder why this book was not assigned reading when I was in college. The first part deals with family and youth of a precocious lad whose father saw in the Military Academy the Chance for a free education for his son. Grant was a most capable horseman whose ability was appreciated. His first military assignments in the northwest were less than appealing to a man in love, and far from home. His reputation as a drinker began at this time. He was a virtual failure at whatever he attempted to do except crossing the Isthmus of Panama. And he proved his mettle during the Mexican American War along with other familiar West Point cadets who would subsequently become famous leaders on both sides of the Civil War and, later, wars of Indian reduction in the west. In Volume One, the boy becomes a man and soldier. But its greatest greatest contribution is its telling of the Mexican American War and the attitute of those who fought it.



3. "Captain Sam Grant" must rank with William McFeely's "Grant" and Brooks Simpson's "Triumph Over Adversity" as the most overrated USG biographies ever written. This look at Grant's pre-Civil War years simply is not as accurate and reliable as some previous reviewers would have us believe. Lewis frequently makes assertions without providing adequate evidence for these statements, and he occasionally cites dubious or discredited sources. The book, in many places, reads more like an speculative historical novel than a serious academic study. Also, in my opinion, Lewis spends way too much time on the Mexican war.

   That said, it is not without virtues. It is engaging and, in its folksy way, well written. Lewis' portrait of Grant's quietly complicated character generally rings true. The book is an enjoyable read, as long as the reader does not expect too much.




4. Lloyd Lewis's "Captain Sam Grant" is a well-written study of the young Ulysses S. Grant, from his boyhood in Ohio through his years at West Point to his service in the Mexican War and his hard times in the interwar years.
   
   U.S. Grant continues to be something of a mystery to students of the Civil War. Lewis's biography reveals a person who seems very ordinary and even unpromising in many respects; there are only a few hints of the man who would be the victorious commander of the Union armies in the Civil War. As a boy, Grant seems diffident and naive; the West Point cadet is average and unremarkable in his class rank; as a young officer, Grant performs with determination and even bravery against Mexico but dislikes the basis of the conflict. Posted to Calfornia after the Mexican War, Grant struggles with alcoholism and resigns from the Army in near disgrace. After the Army, Sam Grant wanders from business failure to business failure; his only obvious success is his marriage to Julia Dent. At the end of this volume, Grant seizes a chance for redemption by returning to uniform as the Civil War breaks out. The stage is set for his appointment with destiny as a successful Union general.
   
   After Lewis's untimely death, the two succeeding volumes of this study of Grant were written by famed Civil War historian Bruce Cattan from Lewis's notes and research. Lewis never had the chance to fully summarize his research into the growth of Grant's character. One may infer from this first volume that Grant was a man whose hard life had stripped his thinking down to the essentials and who was less likely than most to be distracted from his purpose. By 1861, Grant was very likely a man who understand that the best way to deal with hard times was with determination and relentless forward movement.
   
   The scholarship behind "Captain Sam Grant" may be a little dated, but this book is still highly recommended to the student of the life of Ulysses Grant and of the Civil War.

No comments about The Prairie President: Living Through the Years with Lincoln 1809 to 1861.