The Sweet Science

The following is a slightly changed version of a posting I made at the History Channel website in 2004.

Grant had one of the most important attributes of a fighter, determination.
“Grant fights” said his manager, President Lincoln. U.S., or “unconditional surrender”, Grant had starting gaining attention in Tennessee, winning some
undercard bouts in 1862 at Fort Donelson and Fort Henry and stepping up in class by a win at Shiloh that spring. During that encounter, he had lost a lot of blood, it being the costliest victory for the Union at that time. In 1863
he became a contender for the title by taking Vicksburg. The north then had control of the Mississippi River. At the same time, Meade had won a major fight at Gettysburg. But it was only a decision against the south’s most clever boxer, Lee, although an important one. Meade had been helped by the death of Lee’s trusted cornerman, Stonewall Jackson, two months before. But Meade had disappointed the manager Lincoln by not pursuing Lee. Grant got a higher rating as a contender later in 1863 with his victory at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In March 1864, Lincoln showed gratitude for Grant’s persistence and for being the best boxer in his stable of gladiators by making him commander of the Union Army. He was now ready for the title bout with Lee.

Lee landed hard punches in the Wilderness Campaign and Spotsylvania Courthouse. His one terrific punch was a powerful cross to Grant’s head at Cold Harbor. Grant went down for the count. He got up before five and went to his corner, dazed and weak. Lee had stood in a neutral corner during the count with a concerned look on his face. He had given this guy his best shots but had not been able to stop him.

Despite being disappointed that his strategy of massive agression had resulted in a great loss of life, Grant was determined to fight the only way he knew how, just surging forward. When the bell rang for the next round
Grant, revitalized, charged after Lee, who backpedaled. Then, Lee made the worst mistake a boxer can make, he got cornered. MORE LATER

GRANT, LEE, SHERIDAN, SHERMAN AS BOXERS, CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS COMMENTS

Sheridan and other of Lincoln’s fighters charged into the auditorium where Lee and Grant were having their long, exhausting slugfest. Grant, looking over Lee’s shoulder, yelled to Sheridan to attack the Confederate boxer’s cornermen. Sheridan, with one-mindedness and skill that had helped him recover after running away from the ring where he had worked the corner for Rosecrans, when he had been knocked out at Chickamauga, sprang into action. He and his fellow fighters ran into Lee’s trainer and cutman, fists flying, knocking them on the floor. Lee, seeing this happen, decided that his legs, as weak as they were, could be of more help than his fists. He managed to duck Grant’s punches for a few seconds and finally get out of
the corner where Grant had had him trapped.

Both Sheridan and Sherman had employed the new tactic of total war that I mentioned before. After defeating their opponents in the ring, they and their cornermen had gone into the part of the audiences where their opponents had cheering sections. There, they had robbed people of their wallets, watches and jewelry, and some clothing. They also took with them some people who had been forced to work for these spectators without pay.
Sheridan and Sherman wanted to make it clear who had won and that those people in the audience whom they attacked would never cheer for the losing southern fighters again.

So demoralized were the fighters managed by Jefferson Davis that Sherman, continuing his path of destruction from Georgia into South Carolina, was able to get easy, first round KOs. Weeks after Appamattox,
Sherman met with a tired, battered southern general, Joseph Johnston. The latter was convinced that he and no other Confederate boxer could go the length of a fight with Sherman. Against the wishes of his manager, Davis, Johnston negotiated an armistice with Sherman.

Perhaps the best example of perserverance students are taught is Thomas Edison inventing the light bulb. But Grant is an equally good way of showing that determination can pay off. Both Grant and Lee had learned boxing at the same gym,. West Point. But Grant had advantages that Lee, with his priveleged background, lacked. He was like a fighter who came up from the slums, who knew failure and struggling. There was his frustrating first time in the army. There were the failed careers, one of them as an insurance salesman. There was the farm his wife called Hardscrabble. Here was someone whose butt had already become familiar with the ground.

As some of you may have noticed, there is an error in my wording of the sentence about Johnston meeting with Sherman. The sentence is “The latter was convinced that he and no other Confederate boxer could go the length of a fight with Sherman.”

It should read The latter was convinced that neither he or any other Confederate boxer could go the length of a fight with Sherman.

Also, some readers may wonder why I described Meade’s victory at Gettys-
burg as a decision and not a KO. Lincoln pleaded with Meade, after Lee’s retreat, to go after him. But after three days of fierce fighting, the Union troops were exhausted. Many of them had to recover from wounds. Meade understood this fact in a way Lincoln couldn’t. The President was then being as unrealistic as Davis was when the southern leader proposed guerilla warfare to Lee. Until rather recently, I had agreed with Lincoln, wondering why didn’t Meade chase Lee’s army? But when a member of the History Channel discussion board explained why, it became clear to me.

So, in the third round of the Gettysburg bout, you could envision Meade knocking down Lee when the latter jabbed at him with Pickett’s charge. But he missed that brief chance of giving him a harder hit when the weakened Lee got to his feet because Meade was as tired as Lee.

The metaphor of being too timid in the ring was what I used for McClellan.
If one could defend Meade’s decision not to pursue Lee after Gettysburg, is it fair to criticize McClellan for the same reason after Antietam? On one side of the argument, more Americans died in one day at Antietam than any other day. But that takes into consideration the totals for both armies. Meade won at Gettysburg after three days, Antietam lasted one day.