Civil War: Fact and Fiction

Ulysses S. Grant III, grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1903, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. In his army career he has had various assignments here and abroad; this paper is an expression of his strong interest in the Civil War. Civil War: Fact and Fiction* ULYSSES S. GRANT III ? appreciate more than i can say the privilege and honor of being your guest tonight and of being permitted to address you on a subject very close to my heart. As I am not a historian, but only an interested reader and student of history to the limited extent that a busy professional life has permitted, I speak to you with humility and deference for the superior exact knowledge I know many of you have. And yet, having inherited a certain family connection with the Civil War and a special interest in its history, I venture to put before you some thoughts that have come to me as an amateur, hoping that you may find them worthy of your consideration as students of the great events that occurred in 1861 to 1865. While in Cincinnati last summer for the annual Encampment of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, a newspaper reporter asked me: "Why all this interest in the Civil War? Why are so many books and articles being written about it?"—Well, I gave him the obvious answer: the Civil War was OUR war, it all took place right here, where we can visit the battlefields and the countryside in which it occurred. It is a little like the hometown of the man who, in singing its praises and pointing out its importance, concluded with the statement '"and most important of all, it contains my home!" Then it was the first MODERN WAR, the first war in which a nation as a whole was engaged, in which everyone had some part or connection; the first war in which the invention of the telegraph permitted quick communication and the simultaneous control of armies in widely sepaAn address delivered before the Civil War Round Table of New York City, January 24, 1956. 29 30ULYSSES S. CFANT III rated theaters of operation with timely reports of events in the newspapers ; the first in which the existence of railroads made possible the shifting of large bodies of troops from one theater to another, and the supply of large armies over great distances; the first in which improvements in small arms and cannon called for men in battle to seek cover immediately; the first in which ironclads and submarine mines (then misnamed torpedoes) took an effective part; the first in which cavalry fought effectively on foot, and was used in mass as a fast moving striking force, the precursor of the armored division; the first in which army and navy operated jointly in winning victories; the first in which many new inventions in arms appeared and played an important part, such as the rifled musket and cannon; and finally, the first in which systematic and organized provision was made for the care and evacuation of the wounded. We might add that it was probably the last in which a general could command his army personally on the field of battle, and the last in which official records were sufficiently few and so scattered that you and I can in our busy days cover the records of an event or operation more or less comprehensively. All of these facts make its study fascinating and interesting, as the salability of books and articles on the subject proves; but aside from this it was an epoch-making event in our history and in the history of the development of popular government. As such it is most important that it be taught and taught correctly in our schools and colleges. In the world crisis in which we find ourselves today, it is most important that knowledge of the sacrifices and suffering, which the preservation of our representative form of government cost and our fathers and grandfathers thought worthwhile for its preservation, should be appreciated by all Americans and should be learned by those citizens of today...