The writer hereby acknowledges his indebtedness to all those historians whose scholarly research has made it possible to trace the careers of these two great commanders with confidence in the accuracy of the facts presented. Where equally high authorities have differed he has been guided by those who, in his judgment, have displayed the most scrupulous impartiality, and wherever possible he has availed himself of official records and documents. The generous service rendered by Mr. Samuel Palmer Griffin in testing the vast record upon which these pages are based, his exhaustive research and scientific analysis of the facts, have given whatever of authority may be claimed for the text, and of this the writer hereby makes grateful acknowledgment. To Mr. Arthur Becher he is likewise indebted for his careful studies at West Point and elsewhere which have resulted in illustrations conforming to history. Frederick Trevor Hill. New York, September, 1911. Contents Chapter I.--Three Civil Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 II.--Washington and Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 III.--Lee at West Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 IV.--The Boyhood of Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 V.--Grant at West Point . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 VI.--Lieutenant Grant Under Fire . . . . . . . . 35 VII.--Captain Lee at the Front . . . . . . . . . . 44 VIII.--Colonel Lee After the Mexican War . . . . . 52 IX.--Captain Grant in a Hard Fight . . . . . . . 59 X.--Grant's Difficulties in Securing a Command . 67 XI.--Lee at the Parting of the Ways . . . . . . . 75 XII.--Opening Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 XIII.--Grant's First Success . . . . . . . . . . . 93 XIV.--The Battle of Shiloh . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 XV.--Lee in the Saddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 XVI.--A Game of Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 XVII.--Lee and the Invasion of Maryland . . . . . . 133 XVIII.--The Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg . . . . 141 XIX.--Lee Against Burnside and Hooker . . . . . . 148 XX.--In the Hour of Triumph . . . . . . . . . . . 163 XXI.--Grant at Vicksburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 XXII.--The Battle of Gettysburg . . . . . . . . . . 180 XXIII.--In the Face of Disaster . . . . . . . . . . 193 XXIV.--The Rescue of Two Armies . . . . . . . . . . 201 XXV.--Lieutenant-General Grant . . . . . . . . . . 213 XXVI.--A Duel to the Death . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 XXVII.--Check and Countercheck . . . . . . . . . . . 238 XXVIII.--The Beginning of the End . . . . . . . . . . 248 XXIX.--At Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 XXX.--The Surrender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 XXXI.--Lee's Years of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 XXXII.--The Head of the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . 294 List of Illustrations Illustrations in Color