Lincoln throughout the Civil War had vainly sought a general who could match Robert E. Lee. In Grant he had found his man, but he found him late. Unless the Union seemed on the verge of victory, Lincoln knew that he would not be re-elected in 1864 and the war lost. Once Lincoln had chosen Grant to be the commander of the Union army, Lincoln realized that he was committed and that there was no time to change his mind. Lincoln thus resisted the fire storm that arose over the Union casualties, the bloodiest period of the War, from Grant’s Overland Campaign, and trusted in Grant’s ability. It was a successful wager, but it was a near run thing.
Thank the Lord for the victories at Mobile Bay, Atlanta and Cedar Creek.
Yeah. Once it became a siege it was a matter of time as General Lee observed, but that was not going to produce a decisive result until after the election, although Grant kept trying with numerous battles that are obscure to most students of the Civil War.
I would mention that Grant’s friend, Gen. Sherman, supported and encouraged him during the dark days of his Civil War service. Keeping Grant in the fight was a great contributor to final victory.
I think the main difference between Grant and the eastern Union commanders was that Lee couldn’t “put the skeer” in Grant. He had been through adversity both in life and in combat and wasn’t shaken by a battle plan gone wrong or an enemy’s surprise manuever. The quote that best captures the man was during the chaotic slugging match in the Wilderness:
“An [AoP] officer accosted Grant, proclaiming, ‘General Grant, this is a crisis that cannot be looked upon too seriously. I know Lee’s methods well by past experience; he will throw his whole army between us and the Rapidan, and cut us off completely from our communications.’
Grant seemed to be waiting for such an opportunity and snapped:
‘Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.'”
Sherman to General James Wilson about Grant:
“I know more about organization, supply and administration and about everything else than he does; but I’ll tell you where he beats me and where he beats the world. He don’t care a damn for what the enemy does out of his sight but it scares me like hell.”