Lieutenant General Grant at his Headquarters (from "Harper's Weekly," Vol. VIII)

Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of the Union armies, is shown at his Cold Harbor, Virginia headquarters in June 1864. At this time he was directing the Overland Campaign and, despite heavy losses, maneuvering his forces close to Petersburg. An eight-month siege would follow, resulting in the fall of the latter city, the taking of the capital of Richmond, then General Robert E. Lee’s surrender. Based on a photograph by Mathew Brady, this portrait conveys dogged determination and a sense of personal isolation. The accompanying Harper’s Weekly text praises Grant’s brilliance, points out the doomed bravery of his Confederate opponents, and urges Northerners to replenish the army to bring the war to a conclusion:
The masterly skill and tenacity of General Grant, keep the mind of the country firmly fixed upon the army and the progress of the war...every man who knows the incalculable prize at stake, calls for the prosecution of the war and demands that this campaign, if possible, shall shake the rebellion to the heart. The desperate determination, the valor of the rebels in the field, nobody disputes. Their leaders have placed their names, their hopes, their pride, their fortunes, and their lives upon the hazard...For two months the great battle has been joined. Grant has steadfastly driven them to bay in Richmond.
A small colored label still affixed to the top of the sheet records the name and address of the Vermont subscriber who originally received the journal.