GRANT’S WRITINGS—THE ORDERS.

GRANT’S WRITINGS—THE ORDERS. Professor James M. McPherson argued years ago that Grant’s orders to the generals serving under him showed not only that Grant was an extraordinarily good writer, but also that Grant had written his memoirs himself: “The same stylistic qualities of action verbs and active voice [in Grant’s orders] characterize most of the Personal Memoirs.” (The article is in the New York Review of Books archives in the February 4,1999 issue). Written orders were important in the Civil War because of the need to coordinate the movements of very large bodies of troops, and McPherson points out a number of Civil War battles were affected by badly written orders. In contrast, Grant’s orders were models of clarity. Many of those who served with Grant commented on this. McPherson quotes General Meade’s chief of staff: “There is one striking feature of Grant’s orders; no matter how hurriedly he may write them on the field, no one ever has the slightest doubt as to their meaning, or even has to read them over a second time to understand them.” I have never seen anywhere else military orders quoted or treated as literature, bu McPherson demonstrates the clarity and vividness of Grant’s writing by quoting from the orders Grant wrote to four of his generals on a single important morning during the Vicksburg campaign.