Grant And Lee A Study In Contrasts By Bruce Catton

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Both of these men were bringing a stop to the Civil War. The way Grant and Lee led their army were different from each other. Lee was a nobleman who fought hard for his Confederate men. Lee became a symbol for which his men were willing to die for. On the other hand, Grant grew up the hard way through the toughness beyond the mountains. Catton says “ These frontier men were the precise opposites of the tidewater aristocrats”. Grant and Lee represented two different sides of the so called American life. Though having different personalities and beliefs, both Grant and Lee are actually quite similar. They are tremendous fighters who only want one thing--to

Another thing that stood out to me about General Lee was that he was not a big fan of slavery. He had command of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, so it does make sense. Lee through out this book shows his love for Virginia. Let’s face it, he is solely in this war because Virginia made the decision to leave the Union. He is very loyal to his home state, and it shows through out the

In the spring of 1861 as the nation leaned toward Civil War, both Grant and Lee would be forced to make very difficult decisions. Grant would only have to decide between being a patriot or a traitor. In a letter to Grant’s father he wrote: “There are but two parties now, Traitors & Patriots and I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter. . . (Grant p 957)"18 Lee was torn between a successful career in the United States Army, his devotion to the Union, an appointment as commander of the Union forces and the love he had for his family and homeland. In a letter to his sister, Lee wrote: “ With all my devotion to the Union…I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand

Robert E. Lee was a man of family, culture and tradition. Lee was a man who believed in the old English ways in chivalry. The Southern states fought for the same ideals that Lee stood for. Lee believed that this way of life made men to be of a higher class. He was convinced that these old values can build a better nation. Catton express the Confederacy loyalty to these values by saying: “For four years, the southern states had fought a separate war to up held the ideals for which Lee; as if he himself was the Confederacy… the best thing that the way of life for which the Confederacy stood could have ever had to offer” (410).

Lee, who is from Virginia, had very traditional and old fashioned beliefs. He strongly believed in the idea that having unequal, leadership, and social categories provided an advantage to society. The Confederacy embraced Lee as their leader as well. Furthermore, Confederate soldiers considered Lee

Lee was born in the slave state of Virginia on January 19, 1807; fifteen years before Ulysses S. Grant, who was born in Ohio, a free state, on the 27th of April, 1822. The two generals led very different lives: Grant came from a religious, hard working, and relatively poor background, Lee was from an honorable family with a respectable amount of money. The two generals studied in the United States Military Academy in West Point, but with very different intentions; Grant did not have any interest on becoming a soldier, but was forced by his father to enter the school and Lee had every intention on becoming a condecorated soldier. These differences ended up greatly defining their years on the Academy; Lee, who aspired to become a great soldier and future commander, graduated second in the class of 1829, while Grant, who was not very fond of military life, was 21st in a class of 39 students and was assigned to the infantry even though he was considered an amazing horse

Shaara, through his commentary on General Lee, explains that Lee did not want to fight the war but had to. Lee felt it was his duty to fight for his fellow countrymen, but not for a cause, land, or slavery. “So it was no cause and no country he fought for, no ideal and no justice. He fought for his people, for the children, and the kin, and not even the land, because the land was worth the war, but the people were,” General Lee says (Shaara 263). General Lee fights for himself and has no choice but to fight, knowing in the end that he might be wrong with his cause and pay the price someday. General Lee is not a proponent of war, but he will serve his country with honor and duty if necessary.

Despite the mistakes his father and brother made, Lee managed to grow learning the ways of a true Southern gentleman. The departure of his father and two older half-brothers made Lee the man of the house at an early age. His mother, Ann Carter, raised Lee in modest circumstances and helped him to learn standard of conduct. Lee grew up in modest conditions, and though he received the normal education for someone of his class, he had to earn his own living and didn’t live the easy-going plantation life that most members of his family did. Since his mother did not have sufficient cash to send Lee to go to college, he chose instead to enter West Point military and academy. He entered in 1825 at the age of 18. At West Point Lee excelled tremendously. He finished second in his class and didn’t receive one demerit during his four years there (A feat that has yet to be repeated since then). Lee entered Engineer Corps after graduation where he was employed to build and maintain military installations and assist the Federal Government in the enormous work of providing internal improvements in order to settle border disputes on the frontier lands.

In the end of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were considered as heroes. The two generals would earn a great reputation and will go down as one of the best generals for the years to come. These two changed, todays American History and how we can know better understand how the war actually came about. We know that these two made life decisions out on the battle field. We know that the both of them gave everything they had for their homeland. Though we know that their choices would represent each other.

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States. In the book, “Cigar, Whiskey and Winning”, it highlights his management skills during the Civil War as he lead the Union Army to defeat the Confederate Army. When he was younger, Grant attended West Point. He was not the brightest student, but he did enjoy reading. After he graduated, he became second lieutenant in an infantry regiment. In the book it showed him taking advantages of opportunities to rise to victory. He had gotten married and began to feel like his work with the Army was not important, so he resigned from the Army. He dabbled in farming and real estate, but was not very successful in either. It further shows

By the end of the Civil War, much of the country thought of General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses S. Grant as personal heroes. Despite the outcome of the war, both the Union and the Confederates looked towards their leader with admiration. Both men were viewed as spectacular fighters, who were smart and strategic during the war. However, despite similarities between the two Civil War generals their differences in background experiences, personality traits, and personal underlying aspirations made them not only opposites of each other but the perfect champion for the people they were chosen to lead.

Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were two major generals that participated in the United States Civil War. Through these two military masterminds a nation torn in two fought against one another to fight the other in what is known as the bloodiest war to ever happen on U.S soil, and the bloodiest war in U.S history. General Lee and General Grant both engaged and defeated enemies using their superior strategy. On and off the battlefield these two generals had many similarities, along with many differences.

We know for Robert E. Lee his major success leading up to this was success in the United States Army. What made Lee so remarkable was he carried a lot about what the United States government was doing and believed in a good relationship with the personal that are working for the government. We know that Lee held high standards. He was big on honor, and held people to high standards. He graduated West Point as a military commander. Lee was considered one of the bluest of Virginia blue bloods. Lee was a full blown southerner who would give anything he could to get a southern victory. Lee would be the general of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Lee first will take over and will be in charge from 1861-1865. What Lee’s first task will be to take his army at Second Bull Run and lead them to a Confederate victory (Eilenberg).

During the times of Civil War, there were many Commanding Generals that came along. But two stand out amongst all, Ulysses S. Grant of United States of America and Robert E. Lee of Confederate States of America. Both men had formally fought, not along side of each other, in the Mexican-American War. At one point Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant worked together in the Mexican-American War. They both gained a war time experience, Grant as a quartermaster and Lee as an engineer who positioned troops and artillery during their participation in the Scott’s march from the coastal town of Vera Cruz to Mexico City. Both men were vastly different with different styles and background who not only won the affection of their men but respect of

influential families in the U.S. "While Lee had misgivings about centering a war on the slavery