Compare And Contrast The Actions Of Grant And R. E. Lee

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Both of these men were bringing a stop to the Civil War. The way Grant and Lee led their army were different from each other. Lee was a nobleman who fought hard for his Confederate men. Lee became a symbol for which his men were willing to die for. On the other hand, Grant grew up the hard way through the toughness beyond the mountains. Catton says “ These frontier men were the precise opposites of the tidewater aristocrats”. Grant and Lee represented two different sides of the so called American life. Though having different personalities and beliefs, both Grant and Lee are actually quite similar. They are tremendous fighters who only want one thing--to

     Throughout the course of my history career, which is not very long, teachers and professors have always focused on the point that General Grant was a butchering alcoholic who won the war solely on the account of his stubborn personality. And on the other hand, teachers portrayed General Lee as a masterful strategist, who used Christian values in order to win the rebellion. However, in Fuller’s account of the two Generals, he alleges through data and personal intuition that General Grant was actually a strategist and mastermind that not only won the war but also, lost fewer soldiers.

In the spring of 1861 as the nation leaned toward Civil War, both Grant and Lee would be forced to make very difficult decisions. Grant would only have to decide between being a patriot or a traitor. In a letter to Grant’s father he wrote: “There are but two parties now, Traitors & Patriots and I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter. . . (Grant p 957)"18 Lee was torn between a successful career in the United States Army, his devotion to the Union, an appointment as commander of the Union forces and the love he had for his family and homeland. In a letter to his sister, Lee wrote: “ With all my devotion to the Union…I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand

Grant and Lee are completely different when it comes to their views on what the American life style should be. Grants goals and standard are high, as the author says here in this statement: “Grant was the modern man emerging; beyond him, ready to come on the stage, was the great age of steel and machinery, of crowded cities and a restless burgeoning vitality” (411). I think that these values of a much larger and brighter future is a better choice. Thinking ahead rather than staying with the old ways is by far the greatest selection for the nation. Though Lee was a man of great class and noble causes he was forced to surrender to Grant. I suppose that the statement “out with the old and in with the new” is a true one. It would seem that Catton would agree with me when he said: “Lee might have ridden down

“Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts,” written by Bruce Catton compares and contrasts the characteristics and lives of two leaders of the Civil War. Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, two very strong and very different generals, met on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House in Virginia to bring to a close the Civil War. By this time, America had become a country that was starting over with the simple core belief in equal rights for everyone.

General Lee actually believed in some humans being above others, which was essentially slavery. Grant did not look towards the past, unlike Lee’s embodiment of old knighthood, and saw himself as a man who did not need to rely

Lee’s background supported his view of the United States. In the text Grant and Lee A Study In Contrasts by Bruce Catton it states on page 96 ”Lee was born privileged and and believed the upper class had strength and virtue.”He maybe thought full and high of himself. Lee was from Virginia and had old aristocratic concepts and was born privileged which gave him a better start in life in the beginning. Also in the text it states “Lee saw himself in relation to his own region.” Lee might’ve agreed to all the rules and all of his region because men were willing to die for Lee's beliefs. Lee's background supported his view of the United States because he was born

Lee was born in the slave state of Virginia on January 19, 1807; fifteen years before Ulysses S. Grant, who was born in Ohio, a free state, on the 27th of April, 1822. The two generals led very different lives: Grant came from a religious, hard working, and relatively poor background, Lee was from an honorable family with a respectable amount of money. The two generals studied in the United States Military Academy in West Point, but with very different intentions; Grant did not have any interest on becoming a soldier, but was forced by his father to enter the school and Lee had every intention on becoming a condecorated soldier. These differences ended up greatly defining their years on the Academy; Lee, who aspired to become a great soldier and future commander, graduated second in the class of 1829, while Grant, who was not very fond of military life, was 21st in a class of 39 students and was assigned to the infantry even though he was considered an amazing horse

One of the key factor contributing to the Civil War was States Rights. This refers to the struggle between federal government and individual states over political power. One side argued for greater state’s rights and those arguing felt that the Federal Government needed to have more control over states. The states felt they should have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. Meaning that states had the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. When nullification would not work and states felts that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession from the Union. The southern people were viewed as democratic and depended slaves for the plantations, they were devoted to agriculture and shipped cotton up north and favored low tariffs.

Despite the mistakes his father and brother made, Lee managed to grow learning the ways of a true Southern gentleman. The departure of his father and two older half-brothers made Lee the man of the house at an early age. His mother, Ann Carter, raised Lee in modest circumstances and helped him to learn standard of conduct. Lee grew up in modest conditions, and though he received the normal education for someone of his class, he had to earn his own living and didn’t live the easy-going plantation life that most members of his family did. Since his mother did not have sufficient cash to send Lee to go to college, he chose instead to enter West Point military and academy. He entered in 1825 at the age of 18. At West Point Lee excelled tremendously. He finished second in his class and didn’t receive one demerit during his four years there (A feat that has yet to be repeated since then). Lee entered Engineer Corps after graduation where he was employed to build and maintain military installations and assist the Federal Government in the enormous work of providing internal improvements in order to settle border disputes on the frontier lands.

The American Civil War was a major conflict that occurred on April 12, 1861. This war was fought between the United States of America, led by Ulysses S. Grant, and the Confederates States of America, led by Robert E. Lee. On July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the city of Manassas, the first battle of the Civil War had begun. The first battle was called “The First Battle of Bull Run,” also known as “Battle of First Manassas.” The Civil War was fought mainly because of slavery and the unity of the nation. While the North was industrialized, the South remained agricultural, so, therefore, the South needed slaves to help work in the fields. The Union had around 2,100,000 soldiers and the majority of them were white boys and men that were generally aged between 18 to 45 at first. But, after a while, on May 22, 1863, the U.S. War Department enabled free escaped African-American men to serve as enlisted men in the war. With many struggles and concerns in the beginning, the African-American soldiers not only gained military skills, but they also gained courage, strength, support, and began to

Even though Lee and Grant both attended the US Military Academy at West Point, the backgrounds that sent them there as well as the events upon leaving differ greatly. The childhood experiences that worked to mold the two different individuals into men were completely different. Lee was the fourth of child of Ann Carter and Colonel Henry Lee, a poor Calvary leader during the Revolutionary War and an ex-Governor of Virginia. Despite being raised with the elite Lee worked hard but still had little money for college. He was left to follow father’s footstep in the military by attending West Point Academy (PBS.org 1). Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant to Hannah and Jesse Grant, a tanner. He failed at almost everything he attempted including chores. His only exception was his interaction with horses. His father quickly discovered he

Even though Grant and Lee had to come together and not only sign, but agree to sign the papers to end the Civil War, they are very contrasting individuals. Lee was so passionate about stopping the war because he felt as if he was defending everything that had meaning in his life. In contrast, Grant wanted to stop the war because he wanted to see growth and expansion of the nation. In the image provided of both Grant and Lee, it reveals them shaking hands, which shows that these two Americans were civil with one another. However, it seems as if Lee stands tall and proud of the man he is and all he’s accomplished. Grant on the other hand, seems sort of hesitant and not as confident as Lee. It’s almost as if Grant looks up to Lee in a way that

In Bruce Catton’s historical essay of “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts”, he focuses on the two generals who led opposing armies during the Civil War. Bruce was a respected journalist and his ascendancy influenced the American Civil War. The backbone of the Confederate forces, better known as Robert E. Lee, led the Army of Northern Virginia. Ulysses S. Grant, who became the commander in chief of the Union troops in 1864, would be the commander who finally ended the war. Despite the differences amongst Grant and Lee, they were both exceptional generals of their own armies.

The Civil War was a war between the union, and confederate states in the United States that occurred from 1861-1865. Many people believed that the Civil War was about slavery and southern states right to defend their states’ rights. The confederates were fighting for their liberty and independence under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, who they felt was a tyrant. However, the union, was fighting to preserve their territory, that was created by their founding fathers from chaos and dismemberment. President Jefferson Davis believed that the civil war was based on the confederate rights to secede from the union. Jefferson also felt that Abraham Lincoln was to blamed for the start of the civil war, since he was against slavery. Lincoln’s intended goal was to preserve the union, he claimed slavery was not the reason. “If I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it, and if I could slave it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that (Shi &Tindall, 2015, pg.465)”. Lincoln told everyone that if the southern states were to return to the union that slavery would still exist. However, many people believed that Lincoln wasn’t being truthful.