Question of the Week: What would you tell Grant?
If you could go back in time and give Ulysses Grant one piece of advice or factual information, what would it be and when would you want to tell him?
If you could go back in time and give Ulysses Grant one piece of advice or factual information, what would it be and when would you want to tell him?
Don’t linger at Spotsylvania Courthouse- move sooner to eliminate the wasted bloodshed- they won’t call it the Bloody Angle for nothing!
Take it easy on the cigars.
Continue on this line til the end of the War.
Don’t start smoking!
Sidestep Cold Harbor
Don’t attack at Cold Harbor.
If you commit to an attack on Cold Harbor, do it on June 2; communicate to Hancock, Smith, and Butler the objective is Petersburg; use the Ferrero’s division for the main attack on the Crater,; exploit Burnside’s position on May 9-10, 1864; coordinate the attack against For Gilmer on September 29, 1864; ensure Wright and Brinery stay connected as they extend the line out to the Weldon Railroad on June 22-23, 1864; entrench your men on April 5, 1862; Rosecrans is under attack at Iuka; have Wright and the Sixth Corps stay out at the Weldon Railroad after June 30; Early has gone north and is headed to Washington, waste no time in sending the Sixth and 19th Corps; do not attack Vicksburg on May 19 or May 22; get word to Sherman to not attack at Chickasaw Bayou. I think that is it.
Vicksburg is clearly the key!
At Shiloh, do not send off your top officer in charge of forwarding & distributing ammunition as a mere messenger to Lew Wallace early in the battle. But if you insist on taking that ordinance officer out of his proper place for a critical period do not blame Wallace for your front line units then running out of ammunition.
Dont listen to any one else! You’re doing just fine.
On July 29, 1864, the day before the battle of the Crater, I would tell Grant to side with Burnside in the command scuffle with Meade. Let Ferrero’s trained division take the lead, this opportunity cannot be wasted!
Join AA
Go to the play with the Lincolns, leave Julia behind if you must. Grab a few orderlies, arm them, and have them guard the box!
Keep in mind that even though his family had spent extended time with him during the war, they hadn’t spent time with them that was uninterrupted by the war in 4 years, so while heavily influenced by Julia, he probably desperately wanted to see his children again in a capacity in which they could receive his undivided attention. If he had gone to the play even with the increased security, given his status as a general, he may have been injured, but Lincoln still would have died since the shot was at point-blank range.
Do not get caught in the Wilderness and have to fight a battle where you can’t bring your superior resources to defeat Lee.
I would tell Grant…”Stop persecuting Jews under your military control, driving them from their homes, and stealing from them. Also, stop profiting from participating in illegal sales of cotton from Southern brokers to Northern brokers.”
In 1862, I would tell Grant, after being relieved of command by Halleck, to talk to Sherman about his classmate George Thomas to learn what makes Thomas “tick.” I would also encourage him to talk to Thomas himself so he can better understand why Thomas is so deliberate in his movements and use that to his advantage. I would also say that being aggressive isn’t always best, sometimes you need someone who’s willing to “hold the town till we starve” instead of aggressively besieging yet another southern city.