From the Annals of the Civil War – In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as Lieutenant General in command over all Union forces.  Grant was promoted from Major General in command of the western front of the War (Armies of Tennessee and Cumberland).  From this point on, the fate of the Nation rested largely in the hands of one rather ordinary man who had a hatred and genius for war.  At the beginning of the war, if anyone had suggested that Sam Grant, the failed shopkeeper and farmer from Ohio, would rise to command the entire Union Army, you probably would have been laughed out of the room. In fact, Grant himself would probably have thought they he might aspire to be a Brigade commander based on his West Point training and experience in the Mexican-American War.  But Grant’s early victories at Forts Henry and Donelson secured him a promotion to Major General and command of the Army of the Tennessee.  And his victory at Shiloh, at almost unspeakable cost for both sides, secured him a top leadership position for the remainder of the war.  Grant understood that just being in the Army was more dangerous for his soldiers because of illness and disease than actually fighting in most battles and was determined to bring the war to a swift conclusion.  The 30 Days campaign was intended to do just that and it likely broke the back of the Army of Northern Virginia.  Even though the war on the Eastern front settled into trench combat for many months, the 30 Days Campaign assured ultimate Union victory.  Grant has been much maligned over the years as an incompetent general and corrupt politician.  There is some new thinking on Grant, exemplified by Jean Edward Simith’s tremendous biography Grant.  And if you are in the mood for an excellent read on Texas in the late 1840’s, read Grant’s Memoirs.