Who was the better general, Grant or Lee?
It is a long-running debate. Lee is admired as the bolder tactician, winning against larger armies, above all at Chancellorsville in 1863. Grant had the strategic grasp and determination that won the war, capturing Vicksburg in 1863 and forcing Lee's surrender at Appomattox in 1865. Lee won battles; Grant won the war.
They are the two faces of the American Civil War: Robert E. Lee, the celebrated defender of the Confederacy, and Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general who finally beat him. Lee won the more dazzling battles; Grant won the war. Here they are, side by side.
Head to head
| Ulysses S. Grant | Robert E. Lee | |
|---|---|---|
| Lived | 1822 to 18851 | 1807 to 18702 |
| Role | General-in-chief of the Union armies | Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia |
| Greatest victory | Vicksburg, 1863 | Chancellorsville, 1863 |
| Strength | Relentless strategy and overall command | Bold maneuver and defensive genius |
| Battle record | Won in the West, then ground down Lee in the East | Brilliant victories, but lost at Gettysburg |
| The end | Accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox, 1865 | Surrendered at Appomattox, 1865 |
| Lasting legacy | Won the war and became the 18th president | The Confederacy's revered, and defeated, general |
Grant: the general who won the war
Ulysses S. Grant made his name in the West, capturing Vicksburg in 1863 to split the Confederacy, then came east as general-in-chief. In the brutal Overland Campaign of 1864 he accepted enormous casualties to pin Lee's army, then held it under siege at Petersburg for more than nine months and never let go, forcing Lee's surrender at Appomattox on 9 April 1865. He later served two terms as president.3
Lee: the Confederacy's great commander
Before Grant came east, Robert E. Lee had beaten a run of Union generals with the Army of Northern Virginia. His finest win was Chancellorsville in 1863, and he often won while outnumbered. But his invasions of the North were turned back, decisively at Gettysburg, and once Grant took command Lee was slowly worn down and forced to surrender in 1865.4
The verdict
Lee is often remembered as the finer battlefield tactician, winning stunning victories against the odds. In May and June 1864, from the Wilderness and Spotsylvania to Cold Harbor, he checked Grant again and again, and estimates of Union losses in those two months run from about 55,000 to more than 60,000, against roughly 33,000 for Lee; critics labeled Grant a butcher. Many historians reject that label, and most treat the Lost Cause image of a Lee beaten only by numbers as a myth; Gordon Rhea points out that Lee lost more than half the army he began the campaign with, while Grant lost about 45 percent of his and could replace those losses far more easily. But Grant fought the wider war, in the West and the East at once, and understood that the Union's advantages in men and material had to be pressed relentlessly to win. Lee won battles; Grant won the war, and by that measure the larger prize goes to the man who finished it.5
For another duel that ended a long war, read Napoleon vs Wellington. To see where Grant and Lee rank among their countrymen, try the greatest American commanders.
About this comparison
Grant and Lee each have their own biography here, sourced separately. The battles, dates and the surrender at Appomattox come from standard histories of the Civil War. Our verdict on the better general is an opinion, and plenty of historians would argue it. Read how we work in our editorial policy.
