Compare the unexpectedly humble origins of some of these men with the more predictable military service of others. For instance, Ulysses S. Grant, while he had graduated from West Point in 1843, was actually a civilian at the outbreak of war and had suffered numerous failures in business. Robert E. Lee, on the other hand, also had graduated from West Point, but he served honorably in the U.S. Army right up until the beginning of hostilities. However, he had never commanded men in battle before the Civil War.
Investigate the generals' beliefs about slavery, one of the primary causes of the war. While Grant eventually commanded the armies that would defeat the slave-holding South, he himself was a slaveholder before the war. William Sherman, another Union general, was very conservative regarding the issue of slavery. Robert E. Lee considered slavery a moral evil, although he fought for the Confederacy. Students may be shocked by the violently pro-slavery outlook of Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was a slave trader prior to the war's beginning.
Analyze the generals' actions during the major engagements of the Civil War. Grant was promoted quickly at the outset and gained notoriety with an astounding victory at Vicksburg. He rose to command all of the Union armies in 1964 but suffered shameful losses at Shiloh that same year. All observers considered Lee to be a brilliant commander but questioned his decisions at Gettysburg. The South learned to hate Sherman and accused him of mistreating defeated confederates and burning down a Southern city. Forrest demonstrated personal bravery in several daring exploits.
Show kids brief summaries of these and other generals' lives after the war. Grant went on to become a two-term president of the United States, but Sherman, equally loved and well-known, turned down political opportunities after the war and remained in the Army. The South honored Lee's attempts to preserve the Confederacy, but he died in 1870. Forrest actually settled down after the war but never showed the genius he had for war in civilian, post-war life.