Grant Takes Command: Union Victory Secured

Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general on March 9, 1864, a rank previously held only by George Washington, and placed in command of all Union armies. Grant immediately implemented a coordinated strategy that no previous Union commander had attempted: simultaneous offensives on all fronts to prevent Confederate forces from shifting troops between theaters. He personally directed the Army of the Potomac against Lee in Virginia while Sherman drove through Georgia and lesser commands pinned down Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley and along the Gulf Coast. The Overland Campaign that followed produced staggering casualties at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, but unlike his predecessors, Grant refused to retreat after setbacks. His relentless pressure trapped Lee in the siege of Petersburg and forced the evacuation of Richmond. Grant's willingness to absorb losses that would have broken earlier commanders reflected his understanding that the North's manpower advantage would prove decisive if sustained pressure was maintained.