War of Northern Aggression or Civil War?

Throughout the Civil War, the northerners faced heavy casualties compared to the Southerners in many major battles. Many can argue this is due to the lack of respectable officers. However, General Ulysses S. Grant was to some a military genius and others preferred to call him a barbarous murderer. Grant, arguably the most prominent Union General was very witty because his great strategies did win battles, such strategies included the separating of the Confederacy, and his beliefs in total war. His idea of total war can also seemed as a horrible thing, he to many was a barbarous murderer. General Grant wanted to move as much of his power in to attack the Confederacy, and was often very ruthless in his conquests. Therefore, General Grant is equally a military genius and a barbarous murderer.

Grant can be considered a military genius because he understood most aspects of the war and the battles he was to fight. Grant unlike all of his predecessors knew the numerical advantage the Union had and understood all of the advantages of destroying several aspects of the Confederacy not just its numbers. His main strategy was to surround the Confederacy and to break it up and take over key positions, which would secure the Union of victory. Grants strategies worked out very well leading to the turning point battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg which lead to Union victory. Therefore, as J. F. C. Fuller said General grant was “the greatest general of his age and one of the greatest strategists of any age.”

Furthermore, Grant was very barbarous too because of the ways in which he attacked civilians as well as soldiers. Grant often went on long pursuits after Confederate armies, and along the path decided to encroach several civilian farms and rob the plantation, eventually burning it when he was done. This led to the starvation of some civilians during his Vicksburg Campaign and during the siege of Petersburg. Another time Grant stole would be when he needed supplies, and would rob the civilians of their hard work to supply his soldiers so they could kill their family. Additionally, Grant committed ruthless counterattacks when the Confederate army was retreating. In most cases, the Confederate army did not counterattack Union soldiers for nine days as the Union army did. Therefore, Grant was a barbarous murderer, but without his great strategic ideas the war would have turned in Confederate victory.