Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Lookout Mountain, aka “The Battle Above the Clouds”, fought in 1863, in which the Union Army under Gen. Grant cracked an important link in Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg’s close siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee. (The siege would be effectively lifted the next day when Grant attacked the other Confederate strong point on Missionary Ridge.)
I mention this because recently I have returned to Bruce Catton’s works on Grant’s Civil War (I am currently half way through Grant Moves South and will tackle Grant Takes Command again in due course), and have been mulling on ol’ Ulysses Sam.
I find it interesting that while both Grant and Lee’s war records are known (to a greater or lesser extent) in the popular mind, it seems that it is only in Lee’s case that the character of the man behind the record ever comes up for any kind of praise. We read and speak of Lee being a tragic hero, a true Gentleman, which is all perfectly fair. But the only thing we really associate with Grant’s name, apart from the persistent rumors about his drinking, is his ruthlessness in unleashing the overpowering Yankee machine on the Southern states (with his rayther hapless and corrupt Presidency coming a close second).
I think this is unfair. Grant may not have been the towering figure that Lee was, but in his own quiet way, he had many sterling personal qualities as well. He was loyal, honest, beloved by his family and an inspiration to his troops. He possessed about him a sense of humor, as well as of fairness and compassion for a foe once beaten. (Indeed, nothing illustrates the latter quality better than Grant’s treatment of Lee and his men after the surrender at Appomattox.)
In short, I like ol’ Sam Grant. And I guess it bothers me that more people don’t seem to do so as well.
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November 24, 2008 at 9:56 pm
GroovyVic
Hey, she’s wearing my dress!
November 24, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Robbo
What? I thought you stole yours from Mrs. Strong Vincent!
November 25, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Michael
Ahem,
Do allow me to opine my opinion on the “Battle above the Clouds.”
As a part of the greater battle of Chickamauga, the blood letting ranks second only to that of Pennsylvania. Sigh.
To my knowledge, I know of no other place other than Point Park, Lookout Mountain wherein one may find etched in stone a comment said to have been made by the American Ulysses wherein he believed that the “battle above the clouds” was the “most romantic” of the war. A different day, I guess.
Certainly, the location of the inscription is apt as at the apex of that particular point of the horseshoe shaped esplanade of the mountain, a commanding view might be had to this day, not that any cannon then available might have made any difference from that height in blocking access to the city of Chattanooga via that particularly spacious valley below or the still rather narrow cut that is the (I-24) freeway crammed between the Tennessee River and Lookout Mountain.
I am told the hang gliding is superior for the region and the eagles appear to agree. But, to brass tacks: Grant is continually overlooked as a logistician. It is true, the grape was perhaps a problem but certainly not so much as a good Chattanoogan might have hoped. Grant was a logistics man. He knew how to move (lots of) things around on the field, quickly.
If you think about it, the exalted Lee, et al, was no different.
Now, riddle me this: what father/son team in America’s pantheon of heroes can don their mess dress and respective Medals of Honor come time for the Sunset Parade as result of that singular battle?
Hint: two different wars.
Too easy?
OK. Tell me which Navy man didn’t have a clue about logistics but wanted it?
Sorry for taking so much space.
November 25, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Robbo
No trouble at all. Long comments are always welcome.
As far as teh Medals of Honor questions, I dunno. Please do tell.
November 26, 2008 at 4:14 am
The Abbot
That would be the MacArthurs.
I know this because of the Arthur MacArthur Memorial in Chicopee, Massachusetts, which is where the elder MacArthur was born.
Their Medals of Honor were won more than seventy years apart, too — though if Wikipedia is correct, Arthur’s Medal was not awarded until 1890.
Douglas probably deserved the Medal of Honor for his service in World War I, but he got the DSC instead.
November 26, 2008 at 4:16 am
The Abbot
As for the Navy man question, I’m guessing Farragut.
November 26, 2008 at 4:25 am
Robbo
Maybe – certainly Farragut had some issues about timing and cooperation with the Army during his time on the Mississippi.
Are we confining ourselves to Civil War Navy men here?
November 26, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Michael
Drum role … and … the Abbot answered the Medal of Honor question correctly. Pa, Arthur, and the chip off the ol’ block, Doug, both received the medal low those many years apart which is now apparently exclusively reserved for those who have given their all.
Arthur received his medal for charging Missionary Ridge. Believe me that was no small feat as that particular bulge or promontory along what is a generally steep and almost straight as an arrow ridge was then and still is a stair case of what is called in the business, military crests where sharp eyed sons of the confederacy were stationed but stretched rather too thin for defense against a concerted attack.
Whether Arthur’s award was dispensed in 1890 is a mystery to me. For the industrious, I would suggest a quick scan of William Manchester’s American Caesar. Manchester was by the way not very taken with the cityscape of Chattanooga.
Fey, I say.
He visited in the winter of all times and Chattanooga as viewed from the, ahem, well-known “dildo,” erected at the very site of the battle and more correctly described as a quite tall pillar with an acorn as its truck dedicated to the valor displayed there was not resplendent with the spring bloom, summer green or fall explosion of the seasons. Still the lack of foliage did provide Manchester with a panoramic view of a stretch of the Tennessee as well as the massive silos of Con Agra, now long gone, along with various other industries and slums also happily gone, at least the slums anyway. But, I digress.
Douglas, I thought, was given a “consolation prize” so to speak for the successful evacuation of person and family from the Philippines—the nation needed a hero. Yet, as the Abbot notes, Dugout Doug probably did rate the Medal of Honor for action in WWI. I mean this seriously, would you mount the ramparts in your finest uniform complete with riding crop and at the whistle, command “Follow me!” (Yeah, right.) So, I have long considered the award a retroactive recognition of past service.
As for the logistics question, I’m afraid I owe all an apology; for rightly, Robbo questioned the scope and limitations of the arena of the guess work. The logistics side of the way of America’s war making might be best viewed against the foundation laying experience of the Mexican-American War and Veracruz, America’s first genuine amphibious landing under the combined direction of Winfield Scott, David Conner, and Matthew C. Perry.
For those of you who are interested in the Civil War, did you realize that … most of the shining lights of the Civil War cut their teeth here, or rather, there? Grant was ashamed of the whole thing and said so. But, it did not stop them from “assaulting” the beach in row boats. Sheesh. In fact, lucky cannon shots might have ended the careers of company and field grade officers like Lee and Grant and …
No, this whole logistics question revolves around King and Nimitz and I confess I have um … lapsed… (yeah, lapsed, that’s it, lapsed) into a fifties moment. I simply cannot remember whether it was King or Nimitz who said and I paraphrase, “I don’t what logistics is, but I want it.” I need track down Barbara Tuchman; she knew and said so.
Happy hunting.
Oh, by the way, what was King’s nick name?