06/26/2025
Leadership is built on patience, and good judgement, and then the courage to act when action is needed.
Have you ever had a co-worker that gets on your nerves, no matter how hard you try to tolerate them?
June 26, 1863: Day 40 of the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. After years of dealing with his "difficult" corps commander Major General John A. McClernand, General Grant had finally had enough.
Grant and McClernand had started the Civil War as peers, and the two had been together since the Battle of Belmont in 1861. But by June 1863, Grant held positional authority over McClernand and had gotten thoroughly sick of McClernand's behavior and bad attitude, which included spreading rumors about Grant's drinking habits, taking credit for Grant's successes, and even going over Grant's head to request a meeting with President Lincoln about getting command of his own army.
Grant, normally a patient man, had had enough. In a letter to Brigadier General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant General of the U.S. Army, Grant writes: "A disposition and earnest desire on my part to do the most I could with the means at my command made me tolerate Gen. McClernand long after I thought the good of the service demanded his removal. It was only when almost the entire Army under my command seemed to demand it, that he was relieved. The enclosed letters show the feelings of the Army Corps serving in the field with the 13th Corps. My action in relieving Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand from the command of the 13th Army Corps, and the assignment of Maj. Gen. E.O.C. Ord to that command, I trust will meet the approval of the President."
Read more about Grant and McClernand's contentious relationship in the article "General John A. McClernand: General Grant's Work Nemesis" on our website. Link to article is in the comments below.
