4 stars

Our story begins at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. Ulysses S Grant’s forces have chased away the rebels led by Pierre GT Beauregard. Encircled at Corinth, Beauregard’s forces stole away under a brave and ingenious feint.

Following the victory at Shiloh, Grant’s attention and planning turn to Vicksburg. Vicksburg is a heavily guarded fort high atop some bluffs overlooking the Mississippi. This is a fort that is thought ot be impregnable and unassailable.

Grant doesn’t believe it to be so. Over a year of planning went into Grant’s seizure of Vicksburg and it stands as a turning point in the Civil War. The capture of the fort essentially divided the South into two parts and cut the Confederacy off from access to the Mississippi.

Following Vicksburg, President Lincoln appoints Grant the supreme commander of all of the Union armies. Lincoln was to have said: “I can’t spare this man. He fights.”

This book gives an accurate recounting of Grant’s victory, and introduces all those other personalities around Grant. The book does not elevate Grant to a pedestal, rather it describes both his actions – heroic and not so well thought out – of a man who some say won the war for the North.

This book is well written and enjoyable to read. The exhaustive research that must have gone into writing the book is impressive.

I want to thank Netgalley and Sunbury Press, Inc. for forwarding to me a copy of this remarkable book to read.