Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant · Chapter
LIII explained
Grant describes the assault on the Confederate salient at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864, where Hancock's corps captured thousands of prisoners and numerous guns.
What happens
Grant describes the assault on the Confederate salient at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864, where Hancock's corps captured thousands of prisoners and numerous guns. Lee counterattacked furiously, leading to intense hand-to-hand combat and heavy losses on both sides. Grant later reduced the army's artillery, issued orders for a left-flank movement toward Richmond, and noted the arrival of Confederate reinforcements.
Themes in this chapter
The Horrors and Cost of War
The chapter vividly describes the brutal hand-to-hand combat, a tree cut down by musket balls, and troops under fire for twenty hours, illustrating the immense human cost.
Leadership and Humility
Grant's willingness to relieve Warren for slowness, his personal attention to a Union family, and his strategic reduction of artillery demonstrate decisive yet humble leadership.
Personal Integrity and Self-Reliance
Grant's orders emphasize self-reliance in the ranks, and his decision to reduce artillery reflects a practical, integrity-driven approach to command.
Characters to notice
- Ulysses S. Grant
Author and commander, orders the assault on the salient, passes along the line, writes to Washington recommending promotions, and issues orders for the flank movement.
- Winfield S. Hancock
Leads the assault on the salient, captures thousands of prisoners and guns, and is recommended for promotion to Brigadier-General in the regular army.
- George G. Meade
Army of the Potomac commander, orders Humphreys to remain with Warren, and is recommended for promotion to Major-General in the regular army.
- Gouverneur K. Warren
Commands the 5th Corps; is slow to move, prompting Grant to threaten relief; his corps is temporarily broken up.
- Horatio G. Wright
Commands the 6th Corps, supports Hancock, is wounded but remains in command, and is recommended for promotion to Major-General of Volunteers.
- Ambrose E. Burnside
Ordered to attack on the left of the salient; his division under Potter briefly gets over the parapet but cannot hold.
- Robert E. Lee
Confederate commander; counterattacks furiously to regain the lost salient and later moves his line to cover the new Union front.
- Richard S. Ewell
Leads an attack on the Union right; is repulsed with heavy loss and barely gets back to his intrenchments.
Key passages
“In one place a tree, eighteen inches in diameter, was cut entirely down by musket balls.”
A tree eighteen inches thick was completely felled by the sheer volume of musket fire.
Illustrates the intensity of the fighting at Spotsylvania.
“She said she had not seen a Union flag for so long a time that it did her heart good to look upon it again.”
The elderly woman expressed how long it had been since she last saw a Union flag and how uplifting it was to see one now.
Shows Grant's personal interaction with a Union sympathizer.
“I believed that, if one corps of the army was exposed on the road to Richmond, and at a distance from the main army, Lee would endeavor to attack the exposed corps before reinforcements could come up; in which case the main army could follow Lee up and attack him before he had time to intrench.”
Grant reasoned that if he placed a corps in a vulnerable position on the road to Richmond, Lee would likely attack it before reinforcements arrived, allowing the main army to then strike Lee before he could fortify.
Explains Grant's strategic thinking behind the flank movement.
