[Bubba Ho-Tep]

And if not ruthless, at least tenacious. It was his dogged persistence, not any tactical brilliance, that won for the Union.

Every other commander of the Army of the Potomac, upon being defeated on a single day, would retreat back to their base. Grant, beaten at the Wilderness, didn't retreat, and instead began working his way around Lee, boxing him in. In a few weeks, Lee was reduced to end-game stalling.

[IronJack]

Exactly. Grant knew he could wear Lee down through sheer attrition. Lee knew it too.