The Civil War Round Table
Of Chicago

Bill Farina
on
"U.S. Grant"

May Meeting At A Glance:

• 672nd Regular Meeting
• June 13, 2008
• "U.S. Grant"
• by Bill Farina
• Holiday Inn Mart Plaza
• Cocktails (Cash Bar) 5:30pm Dinner 6:30pm
• Dinner for Members/Non-members with reservations $35
  Roast Pork Loin, Catch of the Day
  Fruit Plate, Hot Vegetable Plate

For dinner reservations call 630 460-1865 or email chicagocwrtdinner@earthlink.net with your name(s) and choice of entree.

Non-members are welcome to attend.

On May 3, 1861, Illinois Governor Richard Yates appointed an obscure Mexican War veteran with Democratic sympathies and southern ties to be chief mustering officer at Camp Yates in Springfield. And so began Ulysses S. Grant’s reluctantly revived military career. Over the next three years, Grant would have a chance to display a myriad of talents few suspected, including a remarkable penchant for organization, decided skill at written communication and a quick understanding of military potential. By March 1864, Grant had risen to lieutenant general, a rank last held by George Washington.

On June 13th Bill Farina will explore the puzzle that is U. S. Grant. His talk is based on his recent book Ulysses S. Grant, 1861-1864:  His Rise from Obscurity to Military Greatness. Grant was indeed a hero -- a Civil War icon who deserves all of the attention and praise he receives.  But he was not a cookie-cutter warrior, nor a pillar of flawless leadership.  His personal chronicle in and out of uniform reads like a melodramatic fiction.  Even his name is an invention -- of his own, in fact.  From his academically undistinguished West Point tenure to his forced resignation in 1854 under suspicious circumstances; from his failed pre-war business ventures to his prominent post-war political career; from his military conflict triumphs to his agonizing death, Grant remains a figure surrounded by clashing opinions about his life and legacy.

Farina does not shirk the controversies as he dissects the 36-month timeline covered in the book.  It’s an exploration of Grant's alcohol abuse, his popularity vis-à-vis Abraham Lincoln, his own admissions that luck played a large role in his battlefield victories, and how his eccentricities were woven into America's Civil War narrative.  Farina asks and answers, "What happened in between the battles?"

A descendant of Confederate army soldiers, Bill Farina was born and reared in LaPorte, Indiana.  He earned a B.A. in English and Philosophy, and then a law degree, from Valparaiso University.  For the last 28 years, he has enjoyed a successful career in the real estate industry, specializing in the evaluation of affordable housing.  He is currently a principal of a Chicago real estate appraisal consulting firm, and has written a book on who wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Bill and his wife live in Evanston.