President Lincoln Meets with General-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant

November 23, 1864

President Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton meet with General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant and his staff. Brooks D. Simpson wrote in Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865: “Even away from City Point there was no rest for the commanding general. At Washington he countered an effort to replace Stanton with Butler; he also met with Alabama unionist J.J. Giers, who had some ideas about rousing opposition to Confederate authorities there; at Burlington he prodded Sheridan to take advantage of any changes on his front and kept a careful eye on enenmy movements to make sure there was no concentration against Sherman’s column. With the election over, he urged that several generals who had long annoyed him be mustered out of service, including Franz Sigel, John McClernand, and James Ledlie of Crater infamy; and that others, notably William S. Rosecrans, be relieved of command. Nor would he consider returning Nathaniel Banks to field command in Louisiana – and this time Lincoln heeded his wishes.”

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