re: #306 pre-Boomer Marine brat

Just on that one point — refer to Bruce Catton’s books re Grant’s alleged alcoholism DURING the war itself. Catton saw no indication of it. If you want a citation/s, I can dig one/them up. The books are on the shelf here.

/I have heard rumors that Catton was an authority on the Civil War … :D

From what I read, the entire foundation of the Grant-is-a-lush stories is the documented drinking he did in California. He was depressed because he was half a continent (at the time, half a world) away from his family. His commander let him resign for the good of the service. When the war started, he raised a regiment in Illinois and got a colonel’s commission from the governor.

By all accounts, his chief of staff, Gen. Rawlins, was something of a nag and very watchful about anything that might be detrimental to Grant’s career.