The Decision Was Always My Own
Ulysses S. Grant and the Vicksburg Campaign
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Southern Illinois University Press
Published:13th Nov '25
Should be back in stock very soon
The Vicksburg Campaign, argues Timothy B. Smith, is the showcase of Ulysses S. Grant’s military genius. From October 1862 to July 1863, Grant tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate river city. His final, daring move allowed him to land an army in Mississippi and fight his way to the gates of Vicksburg. He captured the city and Confederate garrison on July 4, 1863, opening the Mississippi River for the Union.
This volume presents a fast-paced reexamination of Grant’s decision-making process during the Vicksburg maneuvers, battles, and siege. Smith details the course of campaigning on military, political, administrative, and personal levels. The successful military campaign required Grant to handle President Lincoln’s impatience, as well as to deal with troublesome general John A. McClernand, all while juggling administrative work. In addition, Grant was more than a military genius—he was also a husband and a father, and Smith shows how Grant’s family played a role in every decision he made.
Grant’s nontraditional choices went against the accepted theories of war, supply, and operations, as well as against the chief thinkers of the day, such as Henry Halleck, Grant’s superior. Yet Grant pulled off the victory in compelling fashion. In the first in-depth examination in decades, Smith shows how Grant’s decisions created and won the Civil War’s most brilliant, complex, decisive, and lengthy campaign.
“This is a fine study of Grant and how he tackled the Vicksburg dilemma. It is well researched and written and uses often the words of those involved to move the story along. Smith’s analysis is even-handed. If you ever had doubts as to Grant’s ability as a commander or perhaps thought him overrated, this book should shatter those conceptions. Grant was the pinnacle of Civil War commanders, Vicksburg was his masterpiece and Timothy B. Smith nails it.”— Greg Biggs, Civil War News
“The Decision Was Always My Own is an excellent read for anyone who wants to see how Grant evolved as a commander, and how a Civil War army was commanded.”—StrategyPage
“Timothy B. Smith’s detailed study of Ulysses S. Grant prior to and during the Vicksburg Campaign will satisfy the most demanding historian, yet it is both readable and entertaining. Refreshingly, the extensive use of primary sources in this work does not rely solely on Grant’s excellent, but humanly biased, memoirs. Instead, Dr. Smith digs deeply into contemporary correspondence to ferret out contradictions or inaccuracies that have been overlooked by many previous authors. What emerges is a narrative of how Grant deals with the complexities of leadership, to include strategy, administration, public affairs, logistics, and politics. Grant’s human side is also revealed through his family relationships. This is definitely a meaningful addition to the Vicksburg bibliotheca.”—Brig. Gen. (Ret.) J. Parker Hills
“In this fine volume, Smith thoughtfully and skillfully examines the Civil War’s most decisive western campaign and analyzes the man, the decisions, and the lessons that defined a compelling leadership style in the war’s most important Union victory.”—Stephen D. Engle, author, Gathering to Save a Nation: Lincoln and the Union’s War Governors
“The Decision Was Always My Own is a finely constructed reassessment of U.S. Grant's already widely celebrated direction of the Vicksburg Campaign. Maintaining the initiative throughout the process, Grant's chain of decisions together comprised what some historians consider the finest operational performance of the war by any army commander on either side and an informed evaluation of them is one of the book's major strengths. Recommended.”—Andrew J. Wagenhoffer, editor, Civil War Authors and Books Blog
ISBN: 9780809339877
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm
Weight: 68g
274 pages