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Reply With QuoteDo you suppose Buckner stayed behind with his troops expecting Grant to give him terms as was the custom in those days? Forrest got out of Donaldson with his troops. Surely Buckner could have gotten some out as well.
. . . courtesy of Unconditional Surrender Grant just over 150 years ago. A defining moment in the American Way of War.
"So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3
Do you suppose Buckner stayed behind with his troops expecting Grant to give him terms as was the custom in those days? Forrest got out of Donaldson with his troops. Surely Buckner could have gotten some out as well.
To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato
IIRC buckner and grant were fairly close friends before the war. perhaps that influenced buckner's thinking.
The human mind cannot grasp the causes of phenomena in the aggregate. But the need to find these causes is inherent in man’s soul. And the human intellect, without investigating the multiplicity and complexity of the conditions of phenomena, any one of which taken separately may seem to be the cause, snatches at the first, the most intelligible approximation to a cause, and says: “This is the cause!"
-Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace
They were. Buckner, in fact, loaned Grant money back in 1855 when Grant was on the outs.
In return, after the surrender was over at Donelson, Grant asked Buckner did he need money to get home while he was on parole. Buckner refused...he was upset over the terms...which turned out to be pretty lenient when all was said and done.
Shek, thanks for bringing this up. Its one of my favorite places on earth.
Remember that it is the Actions and not the Commission that make the Officer and that there is More expected from him than the title. – GEORGE WASHINGTON
What was Buckner expecting in the way of terms that he didn't get?Originally Posted by Albany Rifles
At Yorktown, the Redcoats got to march out and stack their weapons; officers kept their sidearms and could depart for England; soldiers were detained but allowed to keep their personal possessions.
To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato
It was the entire unconditional surrender part. It was considered ungentlemany per the Napoleonic idea of war. You would offer the surrendering force the "honors of war". Sam Grant didnt give a damn for the niceties of war.
Get it done and get it over was his point of view.
Remember that it is the Actions and not the Commission that make the Officer and that there is More expected from him than the title. – GEORGE WASHINGTON
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