Analysis of a Robert E Lee quote about slavery seems pertinent to today's conversation

[Yupster]

39. Yes, Grant was pushing Lincoln to do what he thought he wanted to do anyway

Congress was completely radicalized at this point and wouldn't accept any compromise from anyone.

For Grant you have to look at the war situation. In February of 1865, the war had become trench warfare much like World War I. The Confederates were dug into the trenches around Petersburg and Richmond. War was blowing each other up with artillery. There wasn't any technique or art left. Grant could see how it would end. The south couldn't replace its losses and its men were being mangled and killed in handfulls while the north could replace its losses until the inevitable happened and the lines would snap. Grant wasn't at all a bloodthirsty man and he wanted to do everything in his power to avoid the horrible casualties coming in every day for no reason other than to run the south out of men. The top Confederate generals saw it just as well as Grant did.

Lee did everything he could to retain some freedom of movement for his army, but he was good at math. Lee's senior corps commander James Longstreet was good friends with Grant and they remained in contact throughout much of the siege. If it was up to the generals, the war would have ended earlier, but Lincoln wouldn't stop until unity was restored, and Davis didn't believe he had the Constitutional power to negotiate his nation out of existence even if he wanted to.