On the Trail of Grant and Lee

Two of the titans of the American Civil War came from different backgrounds but shared similar ancestral roots. It apparently was the conflict between the English king and the English parliament that drove their forebears to America at about the same time. Grant’s family reached Massachusetts in 1630 while almost simultaneously Lee’s found a new home in Virginia. Though neither man knew the background of the other, it turns out that U.S. Grant who commanded the Union army was the grandson of Captain Grant who served with “Light Horse Harry” Lee during the American Revolution. Robert E. Lee, the confederate general, was “Light Horse” Harry’s son.

“On the Trail of Grand and Lee” traces the boyhood years of both men, to their military training, and through their days in military service, including the Civil War and Lee’s ultimate surrender to Grant at Appomattox.

This historical account was written by Frederick Trevor Hill in the early 1900s. Hill was a lawyer and author of several dozen respected history books. The book was originally published in 1911 and is now in the public domain.