Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant.
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Ulysses S. Grant
major
Also known as Grant, General Grant, U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General Grant, Ulysses, Lieutenant Grant
Grant narrates his own life from a long Connecticut lineage of soldiers and surveyors down to a hardscrabble Ohio boyhood, presenting himself as an ordinary man who happened to be present at extraordinary events. His plain, unhurried voice masks a stubborn refusal to dramatize himself, even as he quietly indicts the politicians and rival officers who underestimated him. The early chapters matter because they establish the temperament — patient, unromantic, allergic to display — that will later explain how he wins.
William T. Sherman
major
Also known as Sherman, General Sherman, General W. T. Sherman, Major-General W. T. Sherman, Old Sherman
Sherman commands the western army that cuts its own path through enemy country, and at the grand review his men appear with captured chickens and contraband families trailing behind their companies — a living rebuke to the spit-and-polish Army of the Potomac. He nurses a bitter grudge against Secretary Stanton and pointedly refuses the man's outstretched hand on the reviewing stand, a small act of defiance that reveals how much personal injury festers beneath his professional composure. His friendship with Grant, tested by distance and rank, anchors the memoir's portrait of loyalty among men who trust no one else.
Philip H. Sheridan
major
Also known as Sheridan, General Sheridan, P. H. Sheridan, Major-General Sheridan, Major-General P. H. Sheridan
When Grant complains to Lincoln that the cavalry has accomplished almost nothing, Halleck offers Sheridan's name and Grant seizes it instantly, telegraphing for him the same day. The appointment displaces Pleasonton and signals Grant's willingness to gamble on aggressive fighters over seniority. Sheridan's first raid opens the grand campaign, and his relentless pursuit of Lee in the final days — troops marching without rations, without rest, without straggling — becomes the instrument that makes surrender inevitable.
Robert E. Lee
major
Also known as Lee, General Lee, General Robert E. Lee, General R. E. Lee, R. E. Lee
Lee answers Grant's first note from Appomattox with formal courtesy, refusing to concede hopelessness while reciprocating the desire to spare blood — a careful performance of composure by a general whose army is dissolving around him. His soldiers slip away by the hundreds as the retreat crosses their home counties; one colonel reports himself the last man of his regiment. Lee matters because his restraint in these exchanges sets the moral tone for the war's ending, and because Grant's respect for him shapes the generous terms that follow.
George G. Meade
supporting
Also known as Meade, General Meade, Major-General Meade, Major-General George G. Meade
Meade leads the Army of the Potomac through the final campaigns, a general whose troops receive regular supplies from the North and whose review occupies six full hours of the grand parade. His army is disciplined and fit but lacks the feral resourcefulness of Sherman's western veterans, a contrast Grant draws without malice. Overshadowed by Grant's arrival and Sheridan's rise, Meade embodies the competent, unglamorous professionalism on which the Union war effort quietly depended.
Henry W. Halleck
supporting
Also known as Halleck, General Halleck, Major-General H. W. Halleck, Major-General Halleck, General H. W. Halleck
Halleck occupies the awkward position of a senior commander whose caution Grant finds frustrating, yet whose institutional knowledge and quiet competence make him useful once Grant takes overall command. He sits in on Grant's interviews with Lincoln and, almost offhandedly, supplies the name that solves the cavalry problem. His presence in the memoir is a study in how the war's machinery depended on men who were neither heroes nor villains but simply useful at the right moment.
John A. McClernand
supporting
Also known as McClernand, General McClernand, Major-General John A. McClernand, General J. A. McClernand
McClernand arrives in the western theater trailing political prominence and personal ambition, the senior major-general in Grant's department and therefore impossible to simply sideline. His insubordinate correspondence—more reprimand than protest—forces Grant to take the field himself rather than hand the command to Sherman, revealing how rank and ego can shape a campaign before a shot is fired. He matters because his presence turns every order into a test of authority during the Vicksburg approach.
James B. McPherson
supporting
Also known as McPherson, General McPherson, Major-General James B. McPherson, General J. B. McPherson
McPherson commands one of the three corps maneuvering against Johnston's forces in Mississippi, his advance reaching Clinton on the 13th and immediately tearing up the railroad. Grant positions him so that a single division at Clinton can reinforce either wing, a mark of how much the commanding general relies on his steadiness. He matters because his disciplined marches make the coordinated thrust on Jackson possible, embodying the professional trust Grant placed in his closest subordinates.
Ambrose E. Burnside
supporting
Also known as Burnside, General Burnside, Major-General A. E. Burnside
Burnside waits at Annapolis with over twenty thousand men, an admirable position whose purpose remains unsettled up to the last moment; he and the War Department both believed the corps was destined for a coastal expedition. Grant's grand plan of simultaneous movements across the whole line depends on commanders like him being placed where they can threaten Richmond or support the main army. He matters because his uncertainty mirrors the broader problem of coordinating vast forces before a single order is given.
George H. Thomas
supporting
Also known as Thomas, General Thomas, Major-General George H. Thomas, George H. Thomas, Major-General Thomas
Thomas belongs to the circle of generals Grant trusts to hold ground and execute without drama, the kind of officer whose name appears in the memoirs as a fixed point amid shifting campaigns. His reputation for unshakable defense—earned before these pages—makes him valuable precisely because Grant's strategy requires commanders who will not collapse under pressure. He matters to the middle arc as one of the dependable pillars on which the coordinated western movements rest.
John C. Frémont
minor
Also known as Fremont, General Fremont
Union general and explorer who commanded in the West early in the war.
Don Carlos Buell
supporting
Also known as Buell, General Buell, Brigadier-General Don Carlos Buell
Buell holds one of the principal Union commands in the West, operating in the same theater where Grant is fighting for coherence and initiative. His caution and his difficult professional relationship with Grant create the kind of command tension that repeatedly complicates coordinated action. He matters because the western campaigns turn as much on managing rival generals as on defeating Confederate armies.
John Pope
minor
Also known as Pope, General Pope, Brigadier-General John Pope
Union general who commanded the Army of Virginia.
Joseph E. Johnston
supporting
Also known as Johnston, General Johnston, General Joseph E. Johnston, Joe Johnston
Johnston assumes command of all Confederate troops in Mississippi on the night of the 13th, expecting reinforcements from the south and east while Grant's corps converge on Jackson. His presence shapes Grant's calculations about Pemberton, rear attacks, and the timing of the thrust against the state capital. He matters because he is the opposing mind Grant must outmaneuver, and his decisions set the tempo of the Vicksburg campaign's middle phase.
John B. Hood
supporting
Also known as Hood, General Hood
Hood commands the Confederate force Sherman must pin down in Georgia, weakened not only by battle but by Governor Brown's withdrawal of state troops to gather crops. Grant watches him through Sherman's dispatches, weighing whether Hood can be trapped or merely pressed until the war's end. His stubborn aggression shapes the campaign's middle arc, forcing Sherman to choose between holding a line and cutting loose across the state.
Braxton Bragg
supporting
Also known as Bragg, General Bragg
Bragg holds the fortified ridge above Chattanooga, shifting column after column against Sherman's flank while Grant reads the movement from a distance. His visible headquarters and constant staff traffic make him a general under observation, his dispositions exposed to an enemy who wants him to weaken his center. The fight on Missionary Ridge becomes the hinge of Grant's rise to supreme command, and Bragg is the obstacle standing in the middle of it.
Simon B. Buckner
minor
Also known as Buckner, General Buckner, S. B. Buckner, General S. B. Buckner
Confederate general who surrendered Fort Donelson to Grant.
John A. Rawlins
supporting
Also known as Rawlins, John, John A. Rawlins
Rawlins joins Grant as assistant adjutant-general, one of three staff appointments Grant makes early, and the only one who lasts. Where Hillyer and Lagow lack the soldier's temperament, Rawlins brings firmness and a refusal Grant comes to rely on, an officer who can shut down a request with a single emphatic word. He remains at Grant's side through the war, and his steady presence becomes the quiet counterweight to Grant's own looseness about discipline.
Edwin M. Stanton
supporting
Also known as Mr. Stanton, Secretary Stanton, Hon. E. M. Stanton
Stanton sits at the center of Union war administration, the man through whom Grant's requests for troops, transports, and reinforcements must pass. Grant writes to him and around him, negotiating the distance between field command and political oversight. His influence shapes how the war is supplied and sustained, and his relationship with Grant becomes one of the quiet pressures behind every major campaign.
Abraham Lincoln
supporting
Also known as Mr. Lincoln, Lincoln, President Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln comes to Grant's headquarters after meeting the Hampton Roads peace commissioners, glad to leave the capital's cares behind for a few days. He tells Grant the story of Stephens's enormous overcoat, a moment of humor that Grant later repeats to a Confederate senator. Behind the ease lies the weight of a presidency steering the war's final winter, and his visits and telegrams frame the political stakes of every military decision Grant makes.
Jefferson Davis
supporting
Also known as Jefferson Davis, Mr. Davis, Davis, Mr. Jefferson Davis
Davis looms over the Confederate war effort from Richmond, his speeches and predictions traveling faster than his armies can. When he declares that Sherman's retreat would outdo Napoleon's from Moscow, the words reach Sherman and become intelligence Grant's side can use. His confidence in Confederate arms and his hold on the capital's symbolism keep the war grinding on long after the outcome is sealed.
Nathan Bedford Forrest
minor
Also known as Forrest, Subsequently Forrest
Confederate cavalry commander known for raids and brutality.
James Longstreet
minor
Also known as Longstreet, General Longstreet
Confederate general and corps commander under Lee.
Jubal Early
minor
Also known as Early, General Early
Confederate general who threatened Washington in 1864.
John Sedgwick
minor
Also known as Sedgwick, General Sedgwick, Major-General John Sedgwick
Union corps commander killed at Spotsylvania.
Winfield Scott
minor
Also known as Scott, General Scott
General-in-chief of the U.S. Army at the start of the Civil War.
Zachary Taylor
minor
Also known as Taylor, General Taylor, General Zachary Taylor
U.S. general and president, Grant's commander in the Mexican War.
John C. Pemberton
minor
Also known as Pemberton, General Pemberton
Confederate general who surrendered Vicksburg to Grant.
David D. Porter
supporting
Also known as Porter, Admiral Porter, Admiral D. D. Porter
Porter commands the naval wing of Grant's western campaigns, the ironclads and gunboats that pry open rivers the Confederacy assumed it owned. His partnership with Grant — sailor to soldier — is practical rather than sentimental, and the memoir treats him as a steady instrument of combined operations. When Richmond falls, Porter's flagship becomes the floating stage where Lincoln, Weitzel, and Virginia's anxious citizens improvise the war's awkward endgame.
Andrew H. Foote
minor
Also known as Flag-officer Foote
Union naval officer who commanded gunboats on the Mississippi.
Charles F. Smith
minor
Also known as General C. F. Smith, General Smith, C. F. Smith
Union general and early mentor to Grant.
William F. Smith
minor
Also known as General W. F. Smith, Smith, W. F. Smith, General Smith
Union general and engineer who served under Grant.
John A. Logan
minor
Also known as Logan, General Logan
Union general and politician who commanded a corps.
Benjamin F. Butler
minor
Also known as Butler, General Butler, Major-General B. F. Butler, Major-General Butler
Union general and politician, controversial commander in the South.
Nathaniel P. Banks
minor
Also known as Banks, General Banks, General N. P. Banks
Union general and politician who commanded in Louisiana.
Lew Wallace
minor
Also known as Wallace, General Wallace, Lew Wallace, General Lew Wallace
Union general and author of Ben-Hur.
Edward Ord
minor
Also known as Ord, General Ord, Major-General E. O. C. Ord, Major-General Ord
Union general who commanded a corps under Grant.
Gouverneur K. Warren
minor
Also known as Warren, General Warren, Major-General Warren, G. K. Warren
Union general and corps commander at Gettysburg.
Winfield S. Hancock
minor
Also known as Hancock, General Hancock, Major-General Hancock, Generals W. S. Hancock
Union general and corps commander known for his leadership.
Joseph Hooker
minor
Also known as Hooker, General Hooker
Union general who commanded the Army of the Potomac.
John G. Foster
minor
Also known as Foster, General Foster, General J. G. Foster
Union general who served in North Carolina.
John M. Schofield
minor
Also known as Schofield, General Schofield, Major-General Schofield, General J. M. Schofield
Union general who commanded in the West and later as Secretary of War.
Godfrey Weitzel
minor
Also known as Weitzel, General Weitzel, Major-General Weitzel
Union general who commanded the capture of Richmond.
Horatio G. Wright
minor
Also known as Wright, General Wright, General H. G. Wright
Union general and corps commander.
John G. Parke
minor
Also known as Parke, General Parke, Major-General Parke
Union general who served as chief of staff and corps commander.
Andrew A. Humphreys
minor
Also known as Humphreys, General Humphreys
Union general and chief of staff of the Army of the Potomac.
George Crook
minor
Also known as Crook, General Crook
Union general who fought in the Shenandoah Valley.
Wesley Merritt
minor
Also known as Merritt, General Merritt
Union cavalry general who served under Sheridan.
James H. Wilson
minor
Also known as Wilson, General Wilson, General J. H. Wilson, Colonel J. H. Wilson
Union cavalry general who led raids in Alabama.
George A. Custer
minor
Also known as Custer, General Custer
Union cavalry general known for his flamboyant style.
Edward R. S. Canby
minor
Also known as Canby, General Canby, Major-General Canby
Union general who commanded in the West and later in the South.
Henry W. Slocum
minor
Also known as Slocum, General Slocum, General H. W. Slocum
Union general who commanded a corps under Sherman.
Oliver O. Howard
minor
Also known as Howard, General Howard, General O. O. Howard
Union general who commanded the Freedmen's Bureau after the war.
Joshua L. Chamberlain
minor
Also known as Chamberlain, Colonel J. L. Chamberlain
Union colonel who defended Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
James Ewell Brown Stuart
minor
Also known as Stuart, Stewart
Confederate cavalry commander under Lee.
Richard S. Ewell
minor
Also known as Ewell, General Ewell
Confederate general who succeeded Jackson as corps commander.
John B. Gordon
minor
Also known as Gordon, John B. Gordon
Confederate general and later senator.
Wade Hampton
minor
Also known as Hampton, Wade Hampton, General Wade Hampton
Confederate cavalry commander and later governor of South Carolina.
Stephen D. Lee
minor
Also known as Stephen D. Lee
Confederate general and later president of Mississippi State University.
John B. Floyd
minor
Also known as Floyd, General Floyd
Confederate general and former U.S. Secretary of War.
Gideon J. Pillow
minor
Also known as Pillow, General Pillow
Confederate general who escaped from Fort Donelson.
William J. Hardee
minor
Also known as Hardee, General Hardee
Confederate general and author of a famous infantry tactics manual.
Thomas J. Jackson
minor
Also known as Jackson, Stonewall Jackson
Confederate general known as Stonewall, killed at Chancellorsville.
John S. Mosby
minor
Also known as Mosby, Colonel Mosby, Colonel John S. Mosby
Confederate partisan ranger who operated in Virginia.
Samuel R. Curtis
minor
Also known as Curtis, General Curtis
Union general who won at Pea Ridge.
George Stoneman
minor
Also known as Stoneman, General Stoneman, Major-General Stoneman
Union cavalry general who led raids in the South.
David Hunter
minor
Also known as Hunter, General Hunter, Major-General Hunter, General D. Hunter
Union general who issued emancipation orders in the South.
Quincy A. Gillmore
minor
Also known as Gillmore, General Gillmore, Major-General Gillmore
Union general who commanded in the Department of the South.
Alfred H. Terry
minor
Also known as Terry, General Terry, General Alfred H. Terry, A. H. Terry
Union general who commanded the capture of Fort Fisher.
John Gibbon
minor
Also known as Gibbon, General Gibbon, Major-General Gibbon
Union general who commanded the Iron Brigade.
Alexander S. Webb
minor
Also known as Webb
Union general who defended the Union line at Gettysburg.
George E. Pickett
minor
Also known as Pickett
Confederate general who led the famous charge at Gettysburg.
Ambrose P. Hill
minor
Also known as Hill
Confederate general and corps commander under Lee.
Henry Heth
minor
Also known as Heth
Confederate general who started the Battle of Gettysburg.
John C. Breckinridge
minor
Also known as Breckinridge, General Breckinridge
Confederate general and former U.S. vice president.
Samuel Cooper
minor
Also known as Cooper
Adjutant general of the Confederate army.
Josiah Gorgas
minor
Also known as Gorgas
Chief of ordnance for the Confederacy.
Edward Johnson
minor
Also known as Edward Johnson, Johnson
Confederate general captured at Spotsylvania.
Leonidas Polk
minor
Also known as Polk, General Polk, General (Bishop) Polk
Confederate general and Episcopal bishop.
Alexander P. Stewart
minor
Also known as Stewart
Confederate general who commanded a corps in the West.
John B. Magruder
minor
Also known as Magruder
Confederate general who delayed McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
