America Is Introduced to the Hero of Donelson

[@rpm12091]

Growing up in St. Louis seeing Grants Farm was a common thing. There was a restaurant in South St. Louis my family would go to and I was told Grant would walk from his job in a store to the farm and would stop there on his long walk home. I asked the owner one day if he knew where Grant would set when he had his meal and he said he never ate here, he couldn’t afford it. He only stopped there to rest and get warm on cold nights. I was about 10.

[@wolfpack4694]

He was quite a fellow. I’m proud to say I graduated from the same school for soldiers.

[@jaylerman7864]

Recognized him immediately.

[@allanburt5250]

Great stuff Ron 👏

[@conradnelson5283]

He looks young. Love the beard!

[@amadeusamwater]

No wonder Lincoln liked Grant, they shared the same fine taste in hats.

[@directionallycorrect2027]

Great pod!

[@jerryodell1168]

Years ago, (probably in the 1960s), we watched those silos being poured with a slip form. My Uncle farmed hundreds of acres and we were helping Him deliver grain to be shipped by the Andersons. Get fun learning home they were built.

[@1961OnRock]

From the picture I wouldn't have guessed Grant.

[@susanschaffner4422]

Stovepipe hat. I'd love to see a photo of that.

[@hisoverlorduponhigh90]

My first name is Grant. I was named after him, according to my Mom.

[@RichardDCook]

At 1:09 the most striking thing about Grant to me is the extreme asymmetry of his eyes- the upper lid of one is nearly level with the lower lid of the other. It's this that led some people to describe him looking unremarkable- we tend to regard asymmetrical faces as ordinary-looking and perfectly symmetrical faces as being handsome or beautiful. (However Shannen Doherty is regarded as attractive though her eyes are as offset as Grant's.)

[@TermiteUSA]

I knew it was him and himself in the thumbnail.

[@KevinCave-rj8eq]

I knew it was him right away the eyes gave it away

[@alabamabandofbrotherscampb8777]

I like Grant 👍

[@kennethswain6313]

I can understand not wearing military dress in the field. My own experience was you didn’t want to make yourself to be a target for a sharpshooter. The stove pipe hat would kinda negate that

[@Chris-ut6eq]

I'm not a civil war history hobbyist, so it took a bit to work out who this was. I went from who is this, to he looks familiar to finally, is that grant? It was something in the eyes/face but still took 30ish seconds for me to ask the question.

[@busylifechilllife4026]

I did too the eyes.

[@LeopoldCyril-v5p]

Lopez Kenneth Gonzalez Kenneth Martin Sharon

[@historyandhorseplaying7374]

Out of the last 50 or so videos on this channel, all or almost all have been about Union. Am I detecting a slight bias?

[@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail]

What you're detecting is the course of my research, which is driven by original, wartime photography. I have yet to evaluate the balance of the more than 625 C.S. and U.S. videos on this channel, but I suspect you'll find more Northern than Southern videos due in large part to surviving images, and the vast differences in wartime population and post-war writings.

[@donhooper6439]

@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail Ron- your video vignettes are all outstanding! I look forward to a new one everyday! And, I knew Grant's early image instantly.. I've been studying him for the last couple years. Speaking of Rebel subjects, and General/President Zachary Taylor, maybe you could do something on his only son, Rebel General Dick Taylor.. With an old photo.. His Memoir is a fascinating read. An outstanding General, and writer. Thank you, Don H

[@historyandhorseplaying7374]

@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail I believe it can mostly be explained by the fact that it is the course of your research. Don't get me wrong, I love your work, but I'm from Virginia and could provide hundreds if not thousands of photos of Conf. soldiers, many of whom desperately need identifying. The idea that photos of rebels are rare or non-existent is just not true. And writings? Good gawd, one could find millions of printed pages on it. Please don't take it personally and it's mostly not even your channel, but others which are not photo-driven and purport to be about the "Civil War" in general, or "battlefields" in general, but are really only about one side. It's almost eyeroll-inducing-- "Oh here it comes again, yet another video about Union troops". As if the other side never existed. There's one channel in particular which I won't mention but which at one point asked for donations or participation, can't remember which, for "wreath-laying" on Civil War dead. I was about to enthusiastically contribute, until I found that they were exclusively wreath-laying on Union graves. I for one just don't like to see one-sidedness.

[@RichardDCook]

Practically every time I post an overview of a historical topic people will say "but you're only showing ________ (things we have historical images of) what about _________ (things we don't have historical images of) ?" I have to reply that I stay within the realm of existing historical images, which like it or not is the evidence we have. Once we pass the outer borders of the evidence we leave the realm of history and enter the realm of guesswork, assumptions, theories, even wishful thinking and fantasy. I have no interest in these latter. So what's the proportion of surviving Union to Confederate photos? Ten to one? Fifty to one? I have no idea. But that ratio will dictate the ratio of discussions, if we're discussing the photographic evidence.

[@NorthCentral-cm5sl]

​@@RichardDCookto say that "we have no historical images of rebel soldiers" is rubbish.