They were both prewar failures--Grant, forced to resign from the Regular
Army because of his drinking, and Sherman, holding four different jobs,
including a much-loved position at a southern military academy--in the
years before the firing on Fort Sumter. They began their unique
collaboration ten months into the war, at the Battle of Shiloh, each
carefully taking the other's measure. They shared the demands of family
life and the heartache of personal tragedy. They shared similar
philosophies of battle, employed similar strategies and tactics, and
remained in close, virtually daily communication throughout the
conflict. They were incontestably two of the Civil War's most important
figures, and the deep, abiding friendship they shared made the Union's
ultimate victory possible.
Poignant, riveting, and elegantly written, Grant and Sherman is a
remarkable portrait of two extraordinary men and a singular friendship,
forged on the battlefield, that would change the course of history.