Overview

"Professor Frank P. Varney examines Grant's relationship with three noted Civil War generals and continues his study of Grant and that his memoirs have heavily shaped how the war is remembered (and written about) today. General Ulysses S. Grant is best remembered today as a war-winning general, and he certainly deserves credit for his efforts on behalf of the Union. But has he received too much credit at the expense of other men? Have others who fought the war with him suffered unfairly at his hands? In General Grant and the Verdict of History: Memoir, Memory, and the Civil War, Professor Frank P. Varney examines Grant's relationship with three noted Civil War generals: the brash and uncompromising ""Fighting Joe"" Hooker; George H. Thomas, the stellar commander who earned the sobriquet ""Rock of Chickamauga""; and Gouverneur Kemble Warren, who served honorably and well in every major action of the Army of the Potomac before being relieved less than two weeks before Appomattox, and after he had played a prominent part in the major Union victory at Five Forks. In his earlier book General Grant and the Rewriting of History, Dr. Varney studied the tempestuous relationship between Grant and Union General William S. Rosecrans. During the war, Rosecrans was considered by many of his contemporaries to be on a par with Grant himself; today, he is largely forgotten. Rosecrans's star dimmed, argues Varney, because Grant orchestrated the effort. In General Grant and the Verdict of History, Varney continues his study of Grant and that his memoirs have heavily shaped how the war is remembered (and written about) today. Unbeknownst to most students of the war, Grant used his official reports, interviews with the press, and his memoirs to influence how future generations would remember the war and his part in it. Aided greatly by his two terms as president, by the clarity and eloquence of his memoirs, and in particular by the dramatic backdrop against which those memoirs were written, our historical memory has been influenced to a degree greater than many realise. It is beyond time to return to the original sources - the letters and journals and reports and memoirs of other witnesses and the transcripts of courts-martial - to examine Grant's story from a fresh perspective. The results are enlightening, and more than a little disturbing. AUTHOR: Frank Varney earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University. He regularly leads student groups to Civil War battlefields and makes frequent speaking appearances before Civil War Roundtables and historical societies. Professor Varney is currently developing a course to be taught on-site at Gettysburg, and will do the same for a course on Chickamauga. He teaches U.S. and classical history at Dickinson State University of North Dakota, where he is also the director of the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program. 12 images, 7 maps"

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"""His writing exhibits deep knowledge of the people and events he writes about...it is evident he is a master of Civil War historiography.""-- ""The Journal of America's Military Past"" ""At a time when Grant's reputation continues to undergo a much-needed and much-deserved renaissance, it remains important to keep a critical eye open so that the pendulum doesn't swing too far into adoration. Borrowing a final assessment from Joshua L. Chamberlain, Frank Varney says ""We could not call [Grant] less than great,"" but Varney's willingness to look with unvarnished eyes at the documentary evidence also serves as an important reminder that Grant was not without his personal and professional jealousies. Varney invites us to better know Grant as a man, which helps us better understand Grant's greatness.""--Chris Mackowski, editor-in-chief, Emerging Civil War ""Dr. Varney's continued examination of Ulysses S. Grant's complicated relationships with many of his Civil War peers greatly deepens our understanding of that war, and how it came to be remembered. Grant is undoubtedly a complicated figure, and he shaped much of the history of that struggle. This unblinking examination of those complications and of that shaping should be devoured by all students of the Civil War. Highly recommended.""--David A. Powell, award-winning author of The Chickamauga Campaign trilogy ""The purpose of Frank Varney's book is not a per se attack on Ulysses S. Grant, although the general clearly emerges as tarnished. Rather, the book is a challenge to historians who have too often accepted and uncritically repeated Grant's own self-serving analysis of events. The book reminds historians of the complicated nature of careers, motives, and relationships.""--Larry J. Daniel, author of Conquered: Why the Army of Tennessee Failed ""Ulysses S. Grant expressed a decided distaste for fellow generals Hooker, Thomas, and Warren, although not to the level of his hatred for Rosecrans. Grant's wartime reports and his Personal Memoirs have been all-too-effective weapons with which to unduly demean such admirable commanders. In General Grant and the Verdict of History, Dr. Varney's second volume continues the task of the first: serving as an antidote to the exaggerations and falsehoods propagated by Ulysses S. Grant.""--Joseph A. Rose, author of Grant Under Fire"

At a time when Grant's reputation continues to undergo a much-needed and much-deserved renaissance, it remains important to keep a critical eye open so that the pendulum doesn't swing too far into adoration. Borrowing a final assessment from Joshua L. Chamberlain, Frank Varney says We could not call [Grant] less than great, but Varney's willingness to look with unvarnished eyes at the documentary evidence also serves as an important reminder that Grant was not without his personal and professional jealousies. Varney invites us to better know Grant as a man, which helps us better understand Grant's greatness. --Chris Mackowski, editor-in-chief, Emerging Civil War Dr. Varney's continued examination of Ulysses S. Grant's complicated relationships with many of his Civil War peers greatly deepens our understanding of that war, and how it came to be remembered. Grant is undoubtedly a complicated figure, and he shaped much of the history of that struggle. This unblinking examination of those complications and of that shaping should be devoured by all students of the Civil War. Highly recommended. --David A. Powell, award-winning author of The Chickamauga Campaign trilogy The purpose of Frank Varney's book is not a per se attack on Ulysses S. Grant, although the general clearly emerges as tarnished. Rather, the book is a challenge to historians who have too often accepted and uncritically repeated Grant's own self-serving analysis of events. The book reminds historians of the complicated nature of careers, motives, and relationships. --Larry J. Daniel, author of Conquered: Why the Army of Tennessee Failed Ulysses S. Grant expressed a decided distaste for fellow generals Hooker, Thomas, and Warren, although not to the level of his hatred for Rosecrans. Grant's wartime reports and his Personal Memoirs have been all-too-effective weapons with which to unduly demean such admirable commanders. In General Grant and the Verdict of History, Dr. Varney's second volume continues the task of the first: serving as an antidote to the exaggerations and falsehoods propagated by Ulysses S. Grant. --Joseph A. Rose, author of Grant Under Fire

Author Information

Frank Varney earned his undergraduate degree at William Paterson University and his MA and Ph.D. at Cornell University. He regularly takes student groups to historic sites—especially Civil War battlefields—and makes frequent speaking appearances before Civil War Round Tables, historical societies, and other interested groups; he has also been the keynote speaker at the dedication of several veteran’s memorials, and has made multiple TV and radio appearances. He is Professor of U.S. and Classical History at Dickinson State University of North Dakota, where he has won several teaching awards, including Distinguished Professor of the Year –the highest honor the university can bestow—and Outstanding Faculty Member, awarded by a vote of students. In addition to providing introductions, appendices, and articles for books by other historians, he is the author of General Grant and the Rewriting of History, published by Savas Beatie (2013). Ulysses S. Grant and the Verdict of History: Memoir, Memory, and the Civil War is his second book.

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