Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Gives a Pass Through the Union Lines, Likely for the Wife of His Respected Adversary at Vicksburg, Conf. General John Bowen

Written by Grant while on a visit to his family in St. Louis, as he awaited his promotion to Lieutenant General

His great victory at the Battle of Chattanooga in November 1863 made Major General Ulysses S. Grant the most prominent Union general. Soon legislation would be introduced in Congress to revive the rank of Lieutenant General—previously held only by George Washington and Winfield Scott—specifically to give Grant command of all Union armies. This Congress did on February 29, 1864, and Grant would officially receive this promotion and the role of General-in-Chief on March 10.

In January 1864 Grant, fresh from his victories in the West, was still serving as the commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi, overseeing Union operations in the Western Theater of the war. His activities that month focused on administrative and inspection tours of Kentucky and Tennessee, and assessing supply lines. Finding the Cumberland Gap route for supplies unfeasible due to terrible road conditions, he favored using the Nashville & Stevenson Railroad and the Tennessee River instead. More importantly, he also concentrated on planning for the crucial 1864 spring campaign, and the development of a grand strategy for the war. In a letter of January 19 to Gen. Henry Halleck, demonstrating his proactive approach to ending the war, Grant suggested a bold plan to invade North Carolina from New Bern to cut Confederate supply lines through Wilmington and capture Raleigh. Amidst all these activities, Grant also took time to join his family in St. Louis for a short trip from January 27-February 3.

After his promotion, Grant’s subsequent strategy, implemented from the field with the Army of the Potomac, focused on simultaneous, relentless pressure on Confederate forces, leading to eventual victory.

Mrs. Bowen was the wife of Confederate general John Bowen, a fine military commander who battled Grant and his armies in the final defense of Vicksburg. Bowen would die of disease just as the battle concluded in 1863. The Bowens were from St. Louis, and when Gen. Bowen first left St. Louis to enter the war, his wife Mary was by his side, leaving their two young children at the family home to be cared for by Mary’s mother. It is known that Mrs. Bowen passed through the lines after her husband’s demise, and her passing back and forth to St. Louis and her access to Grant, suggest this pass was almost certainly. for her.

Autograph document signed, St. Louis, Mo., January 31, 1864. “Pass Mrs. John Bowen through the Federal lines at Memphis, Tenn. or Vicksburg, Miss.” It is signed, “U.S. Grant, Maj. Gen. commanding Mil. Div. of the Miss.” Grant was known to be helpful to southern women, so this would be consistent with his practice. This must be one of the few papers Grant signed while on the brief visit to his family.