The beginning of the end for the Confederate States of America didn’t come at the capture of Richmond or even the fields of Gettysburg. It came from the west, where one Union general came to prominence for his aggression and his critical victories. Ulysses S. Grant and his leadership broke the back of the Confederacy and elevated him to the highest level of the Union Army.
Grant’s rise to fame and power might never have come without those critical victories in Tennessee, and there was one officer whose leadership is as responsible for Grant’s wins than Grant himself: Gideon Pillow.
