In prose nearly as coolly precise as his subject's own, Michael Ballard . . . sets out to do what he says hasn't been done in nearly 50 years. He analyzes Ulysses S. Grant as a military leader.

Rosemary Michaud, Post and Courier

The evolution of Ulysses S. Grant as an army commander during the Civil War is as significant as the victories he gained from Shiloh to Vicksburg to Chattanooga. Understanding that evolution is vital to an appreciation of Grant and his conduct of the war as general-in-chief. Yet popular historians and idolaters have only presented Grant in his final form and fail to analyze the often painful evolutionary process by which he developed as one of the great battle captains in history. Michael B. Ballard skillfully peels away the mask crafted by standard biographies and reveals Grant the man who struggled daily with his strengths and weaknesses to achieve his destiny. In so doing, Ballard provides readers with a powerful analysis of this American military icon.

Terrence J. Winschel, historian, Vicksburg National Military Park, author of Triumph and Defeat, Vicksburg: Fall of the Confederate Gibraltar, and Vicksburg Is the Key

How did Ulysses S. Grant rise from obscurity when the Civil War began to become President Abraham Lincoln's choice to lead all the Union armies? Historian Michael B. Ballard skillfully answers with a thoughtful narrative and analysis of Grant's western campaigns. Ballard explores Grant's versatility, resilience, equanimity, and originality in campaigns from Belmont to Chattanooga by guiding the reader through bloody battlefields where Grant mastered the art of war.

John Y. Simon, professor of history, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

I recommend this book to those interested in the military career of Grant. It contains some fine analysis on his development as a commander.

Robert L. Durham, Civil War News