A difficult task of my current work on Ulysses S. Grant is analyzing his decisions from the theoretical or scientific study of warfare. The study of warfare in the 19th century was scientific and measurable. Henri Antoine Jomini's work significantly contributed to professional military thinking within the United States after it was translated by Henry Halleck and Dennis Hart Mahan and incorporated into West Point's curriculum. Jomini was later embarrassed by the idea that warfare does not have exact solutions to the ongoing friction in warfare, but it was the foundation for the American Way of War model. Since the 19th century, American military leaders, including Grant, focused on throwing massive firepower upon the "center of gravity" in a given space at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war. Therefore, it is indicative that I include this thinking in the book as a baseline for orders.
Grant's 202nd birthday was this past weekend, on 27 April. He was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. This small town sits right on the border with Kentucky. He was not born into wealth or of great status but into humble beginnings as the son of a successful businessman and a quiet mother. Grant is a study of "Great Americans." He never played identity politics or attempted to believe that he was anything other than "American." He worked hard and never found himself atop any business or antebellum rank. He was a humble man who remained committed to his family. No one thought he would rise to command all armies of the United States or be elected president for two terms. Nobody thought other international leaders would come to admire this unassuming man from the Midwest. However, when he died, they placed his body in a tomb that resembled Napoleon's at Les Invalides. Therefore, the memory of Grant at the time of his death resembled the same status as that of Napoleon. However, different revisionist memories altered the course of history and how the Civil War was remembered by the public following the death of many Civil War veterans. However, John Pershing never forgot Grant's writing years later: "I regarded him [Ulysses Grant] then and do now as the greatest general our country has produced." Another, more well-known General, Dwight Eisenhower, said of Grant, "he [Ulysses Grant] was one of the greatest American generals, if not the greatest." In the minds of some 20th-century generals, he was never forgotten.
Question of the Week: Who is the most prominent military commander of the 21st century?