Cornell PhD Frank Varney Discusses "General Grant and the Rewriting of History"

What if U.S. Grant Wasn't as Honest as We Thought?

Cornell PhD Frank Varney visited the Cornell Club-NY on Monday, February 24. He was greeted by a sellout crowd, and discussed his book, General Grant and the Rewriting of History. Throughout his talk and dinner, Dr. Varney shared fond memories of Ithaca and Professors Joel Sibley, Barry Strauss, Walter LaFeber, and others. He is Professor of History at Dickinson State University.

U.S. Grant (his real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but he hated his initials H.U.G.) was a successful young military officer. He became fast friends with fellow West Point cadet James Longstreet, earned a reputation as a master horseman, and served with distinction in the Mexican War. He became a failure after his sudden departure from the U.S. Army in 1854, eventually working as a clerk in his father’s store, supervised by younger brothers. The Civil War gave him a second chance, and he seized it with both hands. Grant became known for a number of dramatic victories in the western theater, especially Vicksburg – which gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy. He became Commanding General of the U.S. Armies, beat the Army of Northern Virginia, and served two terms as a beloved but abysmal President of the United States, 1869-1877. Grant was known as a decent, affable, honest man – who let his “friends” take terrible advantage of him and the federal government.

After his tenure as President and an unprecedented hero’s tour around the globe, he again spiraled into failure and debt. Diagnosed with terminal throat cancer, Grant was approached by Mark Twain. Twain offered to publish Grant’s memoirs, if Grant would only write them. Grant raced his painful, fatal cancer to cheat death and finish his book. He won by just a few days in 1885, producing a best-selling masterpiece that erased all his debts, and provided a comfortable life for his family. The book has never been out-of-print, and remains a “must read” primary source for amateur and professional historians alike. In fact, it’s difficult to find a comprehensive civil war history that isn’t influenced heavily by Grant’s memoirs. Many civil war histories are full of footnotes citing Grant’s memoirs, or cite other books that are themselves based on Grant’s memoirs. This is due in large part to Grant’s astounding popularity as savior of the Union, his splendid writing and the “common knowledge” that he was a good and honest man – although a lousy judge of character.

But what if U.S. Grant wasn’t as honest as we thought? What if his memoirs are sprinkled liberally with distortions, inaccuracies, and outright fabrications that destroyed other men’s careers and lives?

Assuming this is true, it’s easy to rationalize that – as this international hero was dying of a very painful cancer – his agony, medication, and the passage of time led him to remember things in ways that were more comforting in his dying days.

Is that what happened?

 No.

Dr. Varney unearthed a long, persistent paper trail of Grant’s government and military records being revised, rewritten, replaced and “lost” as far back as the Battle of Belmont in November, 1861 – Brigadier General Grant’s first battle, where he attacked without orders and nearly suffered a terrible loss. At some later point, a false document was added to the records, ordering Grant to attack. Why would a man would become Commanding General of the Union Armies, and a two-term President of the United States, feel compelled to manipulate history? Was this a one-time aberration by an otherwise good, honest man?

No.

During his presentation, Dr. Varney outlined a disconcerting, documented record of Grant stretching the truth, and simply replacing it, at the Battles of: Iuka; Corinth; Stones River; Chickamaugua; and others. Varney focused this book on the conflict between Union Generals Grant and William Rosecrans, but has a second book on the way which will explore Grant’s relationships with other Generals as well.

Professor Varney compared Grant’s memoirs and action reports with other primary source documents and testimonies. He found a regular pattern of inconsistencies that led him to conclude Grant took credit from Rosecrans for the victories at Iuka and Corinth, refused to acknowledge Rosecrans’ victories at Stones River and throughout the Tullahoma campaign, and interpreted the Battle of Chickamaugua in a way to ruin Rosecrans’ reputation.

Why this antipathy? Dr. Varney places some of it on an ingratiating letter to Grant's chief of staff from a Col. Mortimer Leggett, who claimed Rosecrans was behind rumors Grant was drinking to excess. This claim was entirely unsubstantiated but profoundly powerful. Perhaps more importantly, Grant believed that a commission chaired by Rosecrans found unintentionally proof that Grant’s father (Jesse Grant) was involved in the highly lucrative black market in seized southern cotton. Northern and European industries relied on southern cotton; smuggling became a huge international flash point. General Grant ordered the expulsion of Jews from his theater of command as a response to the scandal… or as a way to eliminate his father’s competitors? It’s entirely possible Jesse Grant was operating without his son’s knowledge, but Jesse’s actions were a political powder keg, nevertheless. It’s also undeniable that the highly popular, intelligent, successful, and effective Rosecrans could have been seen as an obstacle in Grant’s meteoric rise to power.

Within the military, Rosecrans was held in high esteem by his Confederate opponents. He rose to prominence early in the war, fighting in what is now West Virginia, and was transferred to the west. Rosecrans was eventually given command of what became the Army of the Cumberland. His June-July 1863 Tullahoma campaign drove the Confederate Army of Tennessee out of Tennessee under atrocious conditions, and with amazingly low casualties. Rosecrans' preparation (and courage not to move until prepared), maneuvering in heavy rain & mud, and coordinated command of the Tullahoma campaign is considered a masterpiece by experts, and is still studied in military academies. President Lincoln wrote: "The flanking of (Confederate General) Bragg at Shelbyville, Tullahoma and Chattanooga is the most splendid piece of strategy I know of." The astonishing bloodlessness of the victories, however, as well as the simultaneous triumphs at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, have kept Tullahoma one of the Civil War's greatest secrets.

President Lincoln wrote: "The flanking of (Confederate General) Bragg at Shelbyville, Tullahoma and Chattanooga is the most splendid piece of strategy I know of."

Seen as nettlesome by his superiors, it’s clear Rosecrans made some unintentional enemies, such as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Grant removed him from command of the Army of the Cumberland after the Battle of Chickamaugua, cataloging a list of Rosecrans' faults. Nevertheless, the entirety of Rosecrans’ staff insisted on being reassigned to his new post, wherever it might be – quite a sign of the loyalty and faith Rosecrans inspired. Would these combat veterans risk their lives and careers by insisting on putting themselves in the hands of a man who was incompetent, ineffective, confused, cowardly, or too absorbed by his Roman Catholicism?

How popular was Rosecrans to civilians during the war? Professor Varney revealed that Republican President Abraham Lincoln asked the Democrat Rosecrans to be his running mate in the 1864 Presidential election, as a sign of national unity. Rosecrans accepted via telegraph – but his telegraph was intercepted (most likely by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton), and never delivered to Lincoln. History may have turned out very differently had William Rosecrans been Lincoln’s Vice President in 1865, rather than Andrew Johnson.

Rosecrans was successful in mining and engineering before the war, and held many patents. He volunteered as engineer in constructing St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island while assigned there. It was one of the country's largest churches at the time, and where then Senator John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953. After the war, he served as U.S. Minister to Mexico until Grant became President, and after Grant’s Presidency was a two-term Congressman from California, and Register of the U.S. Treasury for both U.S. Presidents Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison, consecutively. He refused other offers in government as they may have conflicted with his business interests, earning the nickname, “the great decliner.” 

After the lecture and a lengthy question-and-answer session, Professor Varney and his wife joined Club members and their guests for dinner. The discussions and camaraderie lasted well into the night, and continued further in the Tap and Grill.

Frank Varney earned his undergraduate degree at William Paterson University and his MA and Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is a Professor of US and Classical History at Dickinson State University of North Dakota, where he has been the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Member Award (voted by students) and of the Distinguished Professor Award. He regularly takes student groups to historic sites - especially Civil War battlefields - and makes frequent speaking appearances before Civil War roundtables, historical societies, and other interested groups; he has also been the keynote speaker at several veterans' memorial dedications, and has made numerous radio and TV appearances. 

This presentation and dinner on February 24, 2020 was an exclusive event for Cornell Club-NY members and their guests. In 2019, it programmed 85 events. The Cornell Club-New York is a private city club that serves as a hub for its Members, and is located at 6 East 44th Street in midtown Manhattan – steps away from Grand Central Terminal. To learn more about the Cornell Club-NY, please visit its website at: www.cornellclubnyc.com