[weikel]

I'm not sure the wilderness campaign was neccasary I think Grant could have outflanked Richmond rather than facing the confederate army right on( like Sherman would have almost certainly done Sherman understood the Sun Tzu philosphy of seeking victory before seeking battle) Grant was more simpleminded then Sherman. As Grant said about his military philosphy "I find the enemy and I attack them"( I'm not sure of the exact quote).

[Cleburne]

I don't know. Grant certainly made plenty of mistakes, but in Grant's case, mistakes didn't matter much. He possessed one key trait that few Union generals had: tenacity. He realized that he had an almost unendless supply of men and material, and as long as he could maintain the perception in the North that victory was at hand he could maintain the supplies needed to carry out the war. He realized that for the South, men were a precious commodity, as their male population was steadily dwindling. Grant could afford to lose ten thousand men; Lee could not. Although it would be unfair to label Grant a stupid blunderbuss who "banged his head against a brick wall" accumulating totally needless casualties- he did do this in some cases, but overall he was a fairly competent commander, though it might be said he wasn't stringent in his morals or respect for anyone's life. But, in the words of N.B. Forrest (I think!) "War means killin'", and Grant was an expert in it.