Many generals made names for themselves in the American Civil War. I’m not just going to talk about the generals that fought in the war but also some political figures. I have chosen six people in total to talk about. I’m going to talk about Robert E. Lee, the famed general of the south; Stonewall Jackson, who earned his name in the Battle of Bull Run on the side of the Confederates; Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy; Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States; George McClellan the over-cautious general; and Abraham Lincoln. Today I will take an in-depth dive into their lives during the war, but also some things about their lives that don’t have anything to do with the Civil War.
First I will talk about some of the famous figures of the Confederacy. Robert Lee was born in 1807 in Virginia. His family was poor, but he was able to find a way into military school despite all of the financial roadblocks that he faced to enroll in the school. (Gallaher, 2023) Before Robert Lee had the chance to fight in the Mexican-American War, he worked as a military engineer for the United States Government. (Gallaher, 2023) During the Mexican-American War, Lee fought under Winefield Scott when Scott attacked and captured Mexico City, abruptly ending the war. (Gallaher, 2023). When Lee’s home state of Virginia seceded in 1861, Lee was offered command of the Union army. “He declined, with the explanation that he opposed secession but could not take the field against the southern states. ‘Save in the defense of my native State,’ Lee wrote to General in Chief Winefield Scott, ‘I never desire again to draw my sword.’†(Gallaher, 2023) So Lee decided to side with the confederates instead of the Union. Pretty much every general decided to join the war on the same side as their own state, and this was no different with Lee. Since Virginia had left the Union, Lee joined the Confederacy as well. Lee was appointed to the position of General for the Confederates almost immediately (Gallaher, 2023) because the southern states recognized Lee’s skill in war and knew that he was their best shot at beating Ulysses Grant and George McClellan. Although Lee lost the Civil War, he wasn’t charged for treason, and was allowed to go about his life as normal. Lee became a professor at Washington College (Gallaher, 2023) and worked there until his death from a stroke in 1870. I enjoyed studying Lee because he was very determined for his cause, much like Ulysses Grant. Lee was a man of honor, and he believed his men could do anything.
The second Confederate General I will be talking about is Stonewall Jackson. Jackson had a very hard time in military school but ultimately was able to pass and become a great general. (History.com, 2009) Jackson spent his time before the war as a professor of artillery tactics at the Virginia Military Institute (History.com, 2009). Though Jackson was originally born in what would become West Virginia, he still sided with the Confederates when the time of war came. “Jackson accepted a commission as a Colonel in the Confederate army and went off to war, never to return to Lexington alive.†(History.com, 2009). In the first Battle of Bull Run (or the First Battle of Manassas), Jackson earned his nickname, Stonewall Jackson. “During the firing and confusion of the battle, Confederate Gen. Barnard E. Bee said, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall’†(Thomas J. Jackson). Jackson died in 1863 to Confederate troops because he was riding in the dark and was mistaken for a Union soldier. He was fired upon and died. (History.com, 2009) Throughout his life, Jackson was stern and believed in strict discipline in his troops; however, this instilled more trust in his troops, and they became very loyal to him. Unlike McClellan, Jackson was fearless and unmoving and offensive. I admire Jackson for his bravery more than any of the other people in this essay.
I’m next going to talk about the only President of the Confederacy himself, Jefferson Davis. Davis’ home was Mississippi, although he was born in Kentucky. Jefferson was the youngest child of Samuel Davis, who had fought in the Revolutionary War (Jefferson Davis [Battlefields.org]). He grew up in Mississippi around slavery and it was perfectly normal to him. Davis served in the Black Hawk War in 1832. “While stationed under Colonel Zachary Taylor (future President of the United States) the following year [1833], he met the colonel’s daughter, Sarah. Jefferson Davis married her in 1835 against her father’s wishes. Sadly, the couple came down with bad cases of malaria only three months after the wedding, and the young bride died.†(Jefferson Davis [Battlefields.org]). Davis spent the next eight years on his cotton plantation. After this period of time, he was elected to the House of Representatives for Mississippi. Jefferson served a very short tern in the House of Representatives before resigning in 1846 to go fight in the Mexican-American War. He was offered a position as a general, but declined as he was elected to the senate. (Jefferson Davis [Battlefields.org]). Davis always wished he could be a general. He wasn’t nearly as strong a president as Abraham Lincoln, and that was one of the factors that caused the defeat of the confederate forces. He didn’t do a very good job as a leader. Grant did a better job when he became president a few years later. Regardless, Davis was very ambitious and worked very hard during the time he worked in the House of Representatives.
Mississippi seceded from the Union in 1861. Like Lee and Jackson, Davis also left when his state seceded. Davis didn’t want to be the President of the Confederacy; he would have much rather been a general in the army. However, Davis was elected to the position, and he determined to take it. (Jefferson Davis [nps.gov]) Davis wasn’t the most popular president; the people liked him at first, but as the war continued on, he became less and less popular. At the end of the war, Davis was imprisoned for two years, but then released without a trial. (Jefferson Davis [Battlefields.org]) Davis believed that the secession of the southern states had been legal and constitutional, but he also encouraged the southern states be loyal to the Union in the years before his death. (Jefferson Davis [nps.gov]) Davis wrote his book titled “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government†and it was published in 1881. Davis died in 1889. (Jefferson Davis [Battlefields.org])
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822. Grant’s real name was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant, and not Ulysses S. Grant. The ‘S’ doesn’t actually stand for anything. This change of Grant’s name was caused by an error when he enrolled in military school, and the name stuck. His classmates called him Uncle Sam Grant, U.S. Grant, and eventually just Sam Grant. (NCC staff, 2023) Like most of the generals in the Civil War, Grant fought in the Mexican-American War, and so gained experience there. Grant went on to fight for the Union in the Civil War. (Ulysses S. Grant, 2022)
Grant was the first veteran of the Civil War to become a President of the United States. Grant won the 1868 election and became the Eighteenth President of the United States. As President, Grant pushed for and passed the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave the African-American citizens the right to vote. Grant also wrote his “Memoirs of the Civil War†after he lost his fortune to make some money, and they are now some of the best military records in history. (Ulysses S. Grant, 2022) Grant was by far my favorite person that I got to learn about for this paper as well as history class. He was a great general, had great military strategies, and was popular enough to become president. The only ones who could challenge his military prowess at the time were Stonewall Jackson and Robert Lee.
George McClellan was the top general for Abraham Lincoln for the majority of the war in the East (Grant was doing great work for the Union in the West at the time). McClellan had not fought in other wars before the Civil War, aside from helping to build roads and bridges for the army in Texas during the Mexican-American War. (George McClellan). McClellan was quite a cowardly general, and was always afraid that the force he was opposing was larger than his. This made him extremely cautious and careful. It also caused him to be quite unwilling to take chase after the enemy. McClellan could have easily finished Lee’s army off, but instead went back to Washington D.C. This eventually made Abraham Lincoln fire McClellan because McClellan wasn’t winning battles. McClellan would go on to run against Lincoln in the next election (George McClellan), and McClellan got absolutely whipped into the ground by Lincoln. I guess losing battles and being cowardly doesn’t help your campaign. After the Civil War, McClellan became the President of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, Governor of New Jersey, and some other positions. He died from a heart attack when he was 58. (George McClellan) In stark contrast to Grant, McClellan was by far my least favorite general from this week. McClellan was way too cautious to be of much use to Lincoln.
Lastly, I’m going to talk about Abraham Lincoln. Since I’ve already written an essay about his life, I’m only going to talk about him with the same level of detail that I did the others. If you want to read more about Abraham Lincoln, you can check out my essay for lesson number sixty-five of my eighth grade history class (H8#65).
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but he moved between Indiana and Illinois, eventually settling there. Lincoln was very close with his stepmother after his mother died. Lincoln made a name for himself in Law at a relatively young age, and was fairly quickly elected to the House of Representatives for Illinois. The newly formed Republican party took Lincoln and elected him as their nominee for President. The moment Lincoln knew there was going to be a war, he started to read up on war strategies. Lincoln was probably one of the best strategists that could have been employed during the war because of this knowledge that he gained from reading about the famous men of wars long past. Lincoln gave many famous speeches as well, greatly boosting the morale of his armies. Shortly after being inaugurated to his second term, he was assassinated in a theater.
I enjoyed my study of the Civil War. I got to learn about Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, George McClellan, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Abraham Lincoln. I liked learning about the famous figures in the war, especially Grant and Lee; however, I have written eight pages about the Cvil War, and I’m quite ready to learn about some other, new topics.
Works Cited
“Jefferson Davis†American Battlefield Trust. 6 Nov. 2018. Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/jefferson-davis]
“George B. McClellan.†American Battlefield Trust, 26 July 2018. Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/george-b-mcclellan]
Gallagher, Gary. “Robert E. Lee – Slavery and Racial Attitudes†Britannica. Britannica.com. Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-E-Lee/Slavery-and-racial- attitudes]
“George B. McClellanâ€. National Parks Service. Nps.gov, 2018, Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.nps.gov/people/george-b-mcclellan.htm]
‌History.com Editors. “Stonewall Jacksonâ€. HISTORY. A&E Television Networks, 11 Sept. 2018. Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/stonewall- jackson]
‌“Jefferson Davisâ€. National Parks Service. Nps.gov, 2018, Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.nps.gov/people/jefferson-davis.htm]
NCC Staff. “10 Fascinating Facts about President Ulysses Grant†Constitutioncenter.org, 2019. Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about- president-ulysses-grant]
“Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson†National Parks Service. Nps.gov, 2016, Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.nps.gov/people/thomas-j-stonewall-jackson.htm.]
‌“Ulysses S. Grant†National Parks Service. Nps.gov, 2017, Web. 19 Dec. 2023. [www.nps.gov/people/ulysses-s-grant.htm.]