What made Ulysses S. Grant tick? Perhaps the greatest general of the Civil War, Grant won impressive victories and established a brilliant military career. His single-minded approach to command was coupled with the ability to adapt to the kind of military campaign the moment required. In this exciting new book, Michael B. Ballard provides a crisp account of Grant's strategic and tactical concepts in the period from the outset of the Civil War to the battle of Chattanooga―a period in which U. S. Grant rose from a semi-disgraceful obscurity to the position of overall commander of all Union armies. The author carefully sifts through diaries and letters of Grant and his inner circle to try to get inside Grant's mind and reveal why those early years of the war were formative in producing the Civil War's greatest general.

U. S. Grant: The Making of a General, 1861-1863 (The American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era)

Biographies & Memoirs

Ballard, Michael B.

Historical

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Born the eighth child in a wealthy Mississippi plantation family in 1843, David Eldred Holt joined Company K of the 16th Mississippi Regiment in 1861 and served in the Eastern theater throughout the Civil War. Late in his life, at a time when many former soldiers, both Union and Confederate, were reliving their memories of that event, Holt penned this memoir, recounting the idyllic life of an affluent southern boy before the war and the exhilarating, sometimes humorous, often terrifying experiences of a common soldier in camp and in battle. This new edition has been expanded to include Holt's never-before-published diary entries from the last year of the war.

A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of Private David Holt

Holt, David

Cockrell, Thomas D.

Louisiana State Univ Pr

Michael Ballard provides a concise yet thorough study of the 1863 battle that cut off a crucial river port and rail depot for the South and split the Confederate nation, providing a turning point in the Civil War. The Union victory at Vicksburg was hailed with as much celebration in the North as the Gettysburg victory and Ballard makes a convincing case that it was equally important to the ultimate resolution of the conflict.

Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi (Civil War America)

History

Americas

The University of North Carolina Press

On May 22, 1863, after two failed attempts to take the city of Vicksburg by assault, Major General Ulysses S. Grant declared in a letter to the commander of the Union fleet on the Mississippi River that “the nature of the ground about Vicksburg is such that it can only be taken by a siege.” The 47-day siege of Vicksburg orchestrated by Grant resulted in the eventual surrender of the city and fulfilled a major strategic goal for the Union: command of the Mississippi River for the remainder of the war. In this revealing volume, Michael B. Ballard offers the first in-depth exploration of Grant’s thoughts and actions during this critical operation, providing a never-before-seen portrait of the general in the midst of one of his most notable achievements.
After an overview of Grant’s early Civil War career from his first battle through the early stages of the attacks on Vicksburg, Ballard describes in detail how Grant conducted the siege, examining his military decisions, placement of troops, strategy and tactics, engineering objectives, and relationships with other officers. Grant’s worried obsession with a perceived danger of a rear attack by Joseph Johnston’s Confederate army, Ballard shows, affected his decision making, and shows how threats of Confederate action occupied more of Grant’s time than did the siege itself. 
In addition, Ballard soundly dispels a false story about Grant’s alleged drinking binge early in the siege that has been taken as truthful by many historians, examines how racism in Grant’s army impacted the lives of freed black people and slaves in the Vicksburg area, and explores Grant’s strained relationship with John McClernand, a politically appointed general from Illinois. The book concludes with the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, the expulsion of Johnston and his army from the region, and demonstrates the impact of the siege on the outcome on the short and long-terms of Grant’s military career.
By analyzing Grant’s personality during the siege and how he dealt with myriad issues as both a general and an administrator, Grant at Vicksburg offers a revealing rendering of the legendary general.

Grant at Vicksburg: The General and the Siege

Southern Illinois University Press

A Long Shadow is a fascinating narrative account of the fall of the Confederacy told from the perspective of Jefferson Davis, his official entourage, and his family as they tried to hold the government together while staying one step ahead of their Union Army pursuers.
The "martyred" Davis is one of the most enduring symbols of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. Michael B. Ballard maintains that this image began to take form during the last days of Davis's presidency as the doomed leader rose nobly to adversity, handling sensitive political and military issues and devastating setbacks with dignity and faith. It was Davis's willingness to sacrifice everything, combined with his postwar imprisonment, Ballard contends, that cemented his status in the hearts and minds of southerners.

A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy (Brown Thrasher Books)

University of Georgia Press

What made Ulysses S. Grant tick? Perhaps the greatest general of the Civil War, Grant won impressive victories and established a brilliant military career. He never worried about what the enemy was doing, said Grant's friend and lieutenant. William T. Sherman. Grant concentrated instead on what he had to do and getting it done. His single-minded approach to command was coupled with the ability to adapt to the kind of military campaign that was required at the moment. Despite his memorable leadership, there is much to be learned about Grant. Michael B. Ballard explores the influences and thought processes that shaped Grant's strategic and tactical concepts during the first part of the Civil War in U.S. Grant: The Making of a General, 1861-1863. Ballard, whose Civil War books have been History Book Club selections, examines how Grant dealt with military and civilian politics and how the general put together effective command teams and motivated both officers and common soldiers. Following Grant chronologically - from his earliest service in the war to Donelson, to Shiloh, through the Vicksburg campaign (the pinnacle of Grant's military career), and finally to Chattanooga - this innov

U.S. Grant: The Making of a General 1861 1863 (The American Crisis:Books on the Civil War Era, 17)

Scholarly Resources

Dust Jacket in Very Good condition.

A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy

Univ Pr of Mississippi

Pemberton: A Biography

In the Civil War Mississippi experienced a protracted and devastating invasion, and Confederate and Union armies fought fiercely at Corinth, Holly Springs, Iuka, Port Gibson, Vicksburg, and many other sites throughout the state. With both tourists and Civil War buffs in mind, archivist Michael Ballard has written Civil War Mississippi: A Guide, the first comprehensive coverage of the war in the state. Containing easy-to-follow maps and a wealth of historical material, the book discusses the campaigns, the present-day battlefields, the battles, and the soldiers and generals who fought. The war was complex in Mississippi, for it involved sieges, trench warfare, naval bombardments, and brilliant cavalry engagements. Some of the most storied names of the war-- Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Pemberton-- experienced their most triumphant and harrowing moments on Mississippi battlegrounds. Ballard captures all the destruction, drama, and bravery of Mississippi's war. He examines the major campaigns, emphasizing why engagements occurred, how the battles ended, and how the war in Mississippi affected the ongoing struggle nationwide. Maps include current highways and Ballard has added present-day photos and recommendations about touring the sites. Both the novice and the Civil War expert will relish this tour of the state's war legacy. Michael Ballard is University Archivist and Coordinator of the Congressional Collection for Special Collections of the Mississippi State University Libraries. Author of numerous works on the war, he has published A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy, and Pemberton: A Biography with the University Press of Mississippi. Both were History Book Club selections.

Civil War Mississippi: A Guide

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ballard, Michael B.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ballard, Michael B.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ballard, Michael B.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

U. S. Grant: The Making of a General, 1861-1863 (The American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era)

A Mississippi Rebel in the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of Private David Holt

Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi (Civil War America)

Vicksburg: The Campaign That Opened the Mississippi (Civil War America)

Grant at Vicksburg: The General and the Siege

A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy (Brown Thrasher Books)

U.S. Grant: The Making of a General 1861 1863 (The American Crisis:Books on the Civil War Era, 17)

A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy

Pemberton: A Biography

Civil War Mississippi: A Guide