The Blue and The Grey

370
January 17th, 2019
Back The Blue and The Grey
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The two best known Civil War generals were as far apart in temperament, as Mars and Jupiter are in distance.

Robert E. Lee, who headed the Confederate army, was a strait-laced general who believed in family and honor, and who was a patriotic Southerner who hated drinking and gambling.

U.S.S. Grant was the exact opposite. While he was considered a patriot...

...he loved to drink and his gambling at cards and horse racing scandalized his family.

Grant was a lifelong military man who was stationed at many different Army forts during his first 15 years in the army. The boredom of serving at those forts caused him to drink, until a higher ranking officer demanded his resignation.

He studied at West Point from 1839 to 1843 and played poker during his military training. He and 11 classmates formed an exclusive club called 12 In One, which regularly played Brag, a forerunner to poker.

Several of his fellow classmates served under him during the Civil War, and they continued their poker playing while cannons and muskets roared.

He finally wrote a letter of resignation and purchased a farm. That didn't work out well and when the Civil War erupted, Grant appealed to a member of Congress who was a friend and he was reinstated to the military as a Colonel.

An aggressive military leader, Grant came back full of fire, proved himself on the battlefield, and was promoted to the rank of general.

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He continued playing poker in the Army.

During one poker session of five card draw, he drew three cards against a pat hand held by General Phil Sheridan. They got into a raising contest and Grant called Sheridan with a pair of nines, winning the hand.

"Good play," Sheridan said admiringly. "You'll do well on the battlefield."

When war ended and following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Grant went on to be elected President twice!

He continued drinking in office and when his terms ended, Samuel Clements (aka Mark Twain) published his memoirs, a ponderous length manuscript that failed to sell. Grant ended up bankrupt after investing nearly $250,000 in a company headed by his son. The company turned out to be fraudulent, and his son was sentenced to prison.

When critics of Grant pointed out to President Lincoln that Grant was an excessive drinker, Lincoln reportedly smiled and said he wished all of his generals drank like Grant, as long as they held his military ability.

After General Lee surrendered his sword to the Union Arm y, he went back to teaching and lived the rest of his life in peace.The

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