Booknotes: Soldier of Destiny

New Arrival:

• Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession, and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant by John Reeves (Pegasus Bks, 2023).

This is a focused Grant biography that appears rather unique in its main theme. Unfortunately, there isn't an introduction to provide a more detailed summary of the narrative thrust, but the table of contents reveals that the period of Grant's life and career covered in the book begins with his resignation from the army in 1854 and ends with his promotion to lieutenant general in March 1864. The text is divided into three parts: "Fort Humboldt to Galena (1854-1860)," "Galena to Shiloh (1860-1862)," and "Shiloh to Washington, DC (1862-1864)."

Though the book is obviously not intended to be a detailed description and analysis of Grant's campaigns, it nevertheless "reveals that Grant always possessed the latent abilities of a skilled commander—and he was able to develop these skills out West without the overwhelming pressure faced by more senior commanders in the Eastern theater at the beginning of the Civil War. Grant was a true Westerner himself and it was his experience in the West—before and during the Civil War—that was central to his rise."

Presumably, the volume's "redemption" angle is connected to Grant's Old Army exit from the service under a cloud, his unsuccessful run of civilian pursuits, his association (an outgrowth from his wife's side of the family) with slavery, and the religious/ethnic bigotry infamously displayed in his General Orders No. 11. Among those (and perhaps more), the slavery theme appears to be most prominent.

More from the description: "From 1861 to 1864, Grant went from being ambivalent about slavery to becoming one of the leading individuals responsible for emancipating the slaves. Before the war, he lived in a pro-slavery community near St. Louis, where there were very few outright abolitionists. During the war, he gradually realized that Emancipation was the only possible outcome of the war that would be consistent with America’s founding values and future prosperity. Soldier of Destiny tells the story of Grant’s connection to slavery in far more detail than has been done in previous biographies."

According to Reeves, "Grant’s life story is an almost inconceivable tale of redemption within the context of his fraught relationships with his antislavery father and his slaveholding wife. This narrative explores the poverty, inequality, and extraordinary vitality of the American West during a crucial time in our nation’s history. Writers on Grant have tended to overlook his St. Louis years (1854-1860), even though they are essential for understanding his later triumphs."