Ulysses S. Grant and the Trials of Leadership Essay -- Ulysses S Grant

Ulysses S. Grant and the Trials of LeadershipOn June 3, 1864, the Union and Confederate armies met on a battlefield in Cold Harbor, Virginia. The Confederates were well entrenched and watchful to mount a defensive stand. The Union soldiers on the other align of the lines were preparing for an attack that would prove to be disastrous. They knew what the come to the forecome would be. In only 20 minutes of fighting, 7,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded. As the Yankees prepared to go into action, umpteen began sewing tags with their names on them into their clothes so their bodies could be place after their deaths. One dead Union soldier was found with a small diary in his pocket. The final entry, dated June 3, 1864, read simply, I was killed. Many workforce like him knew they were going to die that day, and yet they went ship anyway, and met their fates. Many people, military and civilian, questioned the intelligence of the attack, and rightfully so. But the decision was made, and the men carried it out. They carried it out because it was given by General Ulysses S. Grant, the man who was the first to continually win battles against Robert E. Lee, and the man who finally won the war for the United States. They carried it out because Grant was perhaps the most respected general ever to run in the U.S. Army to that point. They carried it out because Grant was a leader. Grant was non always the leader that won the war and became hot seat. He was first a failure in business, a quiet young soldier with light social life, a general whose peers criticized him and charged him with drunkenness, and later a president plagued by scandal and rumor. Ulysses S. Grant was born to Jesse and Hannah Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point P... ...ys mind. His logic in organizing supplies for the army was demonstrated early on in the Mexican War. But it seems that his intelligences only served him in wartime, making some another intelligence of their own, that of maki ng war. As President, he severely lacked social skills in picking and managing his cabinet. He showed little knowledge of safe silver handling strategies and lost most of his savings more than once. He was a great war leader and general, and seemingly not much else barely a kind man. Works Cited1. Barber, James G. U.S. Grant The Man and the Image. Confederate Illinois University Press. Carbondale 1985. 2. Carpenter, John A. Ulysses S. Grant. Twayne Publishers, Inc. New York 1970.3. Gardner, H. Creating minds. New York Basic Books, 1993.4. Goldhurst, Richard. Many are the Hearts. Readers condense Press. New York 1975.