In 1863 Horace Porter, then a captain, met Ulysses S. Grant as Grant commenced the campaign that would break the Confederate siege at Chattanooga. After a brief stint in Washington, Porter rejoined Grant, who was now in command of all Union forces, and served with him as a staff aide until the end of the war. Porter was at Appomattox as a brevet brigadier general, and this work, written from notes taken in the field, is his eyewitness account of the great struggle between Lee and Grant that led to the defeat of the Confederacy. As a close-up observer of Grant in the field, Porter was also able to draw a finely detailed, fully realized portrait of this American military hero - his daily acts, his personal traits and habits, and the motives that inspired him in important crises - rendered in the language that Grant used at the time. Porter intended to bring readers into such intimate contact with the Union commander that they could know him as well as those who served by his side. He acquits himself admirably in this undertaking, giving us a moving human document and a remarkable perspective on a crucial chapter of American history. Brooks D. Simpson is a professor of history at Arizona State University. He is the author of several books, including "Gettysburg: A Battlefield Guide", also available in a Bison Books edition.