Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, From April, 1861, to April, 1865.

BADEAU, Adam.

$650.00

Item Number: 135243

New York: Appleton and Company, 1868.

First edition of the first volume in Badeau’s important “eyewitness estimation of Grant’s performance during the war”, the second and third volumes of which were published several years later. Octavo, original cloth, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Grant, illustrated with 17 maps, one folding. In very good condition. Period ownership inscriptions. Rare.

American Union Army officer Adam Badeau's abilities a writer led him to prominence within the ranks first as a staff officer for Thomas W. Sherman, and later for Ulysses S. Grant. Though Badeau’s admiration for Grant might suggest a lack of objectivity, historians have noted that “Badeau’s style is matter of fact without the embellishment or glorification typical of some early works. The accuracy is impressive… The author does not digress or reflect on matters, so the volumes have a technical precision that is both valuable for its truthfulness… and for delivering an eyewitness estimation of Grant’s performance during the war” (Eicher 486). First published between 1868 and 1881, this work has become particularly valuable for its first-hand accounts of the 1864 campaigns and the surrender at Appomattox.