On the Trail of Grant and Lee | Page 4

the brilliant victories which the confederate armies were

then gaining in the field. "I think they have been won by my fellow
countrymen," was the quiet answer.
Almost half a century has passed since that reproof was uttered, but its
full force is only just beginning to be understood. For nearly fifty years
the story of the Civil War has been twisted to suit local pride or
prejudice in various parts of the Union, with the result that much which
passes for American history is not history at all, and whatever else it
may be, it is certainly not American.
Assuredly, the day has now arrived when such historical
"make-believes" should be discountenanced, both in the North and in
the South. Americans of the present and the coming generations are
entitled to take a common pride in whatever lent nobility to the
fraternal strife of the sixties, and to gather equal inspiration from every
achievement that reflected credit on American manhood during those
years when the existence of the Union was at stake. Until this is
rendered possible by the elimination of error and falsehood, the
sacrifices of the Civil War will, to a large extent, have been endured in
vain.
In some respects this result has already been realized. Lincoln is no
longer a local hero. He is a national heritage. To distort or belittle the
characters of other men who strove to the end that their land "might
have a new birth of freedom," is to deprive the younger generations of
part of their birthright. They are entitled to the facts from which to form
a just estimate of the lives of all such men, regardless of uniforms.
It is in this spirit that the strangely interwoven trials of Grant and Lee
are followed in these pages. Both were Americans, and widely as they
differed in opinions, tastes and sympathies, each exhibited qualities of
mind and character which should appeal to all their fellow countrymen
and make them proud of the land that gave them birth. Neither man, in
his life, posed before the public as a hero, and the writer has made no
attempt to place either of them on a pedestal. Theirs is a very human
story, requiring neither color nor concealment, but illustrating a high
development of those traits that make for manhood and national
greatness.
The writer hereby acknowledges his indebtedness to all those historians
whose scholarly research has made it possible to trace the careers of
these two great commanders with confidence in the accuracy of the

facts presented. Where equally high authorities have differed he has
been guided by those who, in his judgment, have displayed the most
scrupulous impartiality, and wherever possible he has availed himself
of official records and documents.
The generous service rendered by Mr. Samuel Palmer Griffin in testing
the vast record upon which these pages are based, his exhaustive
research and scientific analysis of the facts, have given whatever of
authority may be claimed for the text, and of this the writer hereby
makes grateful acknowledgment. To Mr. Arthur Becher he is likewise
indebted for his careful studies at West Point and elsewhere which have
resulted in illustrations conforming to history.
Frederick Trevor Hill.
New York, September, 1911.

Contents


Chapter Page
I.--Three Civil Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II.--Washington and
Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 III.--Lee at West Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IV.--The Boyhood of Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 V.--Grant at West
Point . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 VI.--Lieutenant Grant Under Fire . . . . . . . . 35
VII.--Captain Lee at the Front . . . . . . . . . . 44 VIII.--Colonel Lee After
the Mexican War . . . . . 52 IX.--Captain Grant in a Hard Fight . . . . . . .
59 X.--Grant's Difficulties in Securing a Command . 67 XI.--Lee at the
Parting of the Ways . . . . . . . 75 XII.--Opening
Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 XIII.--Grant's First Success . . . . . . . . . . .
93 XIV.--The Battle of Shiloh . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 XV.--Lee in the
Saddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 XVI.--A Game of Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . .
125 XVII.--Lee and the Invasion