Unconditional Surrender

His friends called him “Sam.” His wife called him “Ulyss.” His initials inspired a nickname tied to one of his greatest battlefield triumphs: “‘Unconditional Surrender’ Grant.”

Ulysses S. Grant never expected to play a role in the Civil War, yet by its end, he commanded every soldier in the United States Army. Along the way, he secured impressive victories, learned from critical mistakes, broke the Confederacy’s resolve, overcame the criticism of his immediate superior, and earned the steadfast support of the president. “Grant is my man and I am his the rest of the war!” exclaimed Abraham Lincoln after the pivotal victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Born in a modest clapboard house along the Ohio River, Grant first made his military mark near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He later used “the Father of Waters” to split the Confederacy in two. This success propelled him to Chattanooga, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, the prolonged siege of Petersburg, and finally Appomattox Court House—some of the war’s most intense and infamous battles. In under three years, the unassuming colonel of an Illinois volunteer regiment rose to become the army’s highest-ranking officer and the first permanent lieutenant general since George Washington. His ultimate victory paved the way for two terms in the White House.

Ulysses S. Grant’s meteoric rise from obscurity made him a figure of profound irony: unassuming, unpretentious, yet resolute. “There will be no turning back,” he once famously declared.

Unconditional Surrender invites readers to follow Grant’s journey with Dr. Curt Fields, the nation’s foremost Ulysses S. Grant living historian. Since February 2010, Fields has portrayed Grant in first-person reenactments. Drawing on years of extensive research, this book offers an ideal introduction to the “dust-covered man” from the West who won the Civil War and preserved the United States.