Leaders

Over 300 historical leaders are included, and most feature unique abilities based on their historical performance. Over 50 different abilities that can provide a crucial edge (or represent an additional situational obstacle) are in the game. Examples of these include Charismatic, Hated Occupier, Stealthy, Expert Seaman, etc. Good leadership and proper employment of these special abilities are essential to winning battles.

GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT

General Ulysses S. Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, and became an officer in the U.S. Army after graduating from West Point in 1843. He was appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1864 as Commander-in-Chief of the Union Armies. After the war-ending victory by the Union forces under his leadership, Grant served as president of the United States from 1868 to 1876.

As a general in the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant possessed the right qualities for prosecuting offensive warfare against the brilliant tactics of his Southern adversary Robert E. Lee. Bold and indefatigable, Grant believed in destroying enemy armies rather than merely occupying enemy territory. His strategic genius and tenacity overcame the Confederates' advantage of fighting a defensive war on their own territory.

Grant surrounded himself with brilliant generals such as William T. Sherman, George Thomas, and Philip Sheridan. With considerable strategic skill, he directed the bloody and brutal wilderness campaign against the forces of Robert E. Lee. In 1865, he contrived to cut Lee's army off at Appomattox, Virginia, effectively ending the war. A year later, Grant

GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE

Robert E. Lee was the most notable Confederate commander of the American Civil War, and a figure of mythic proportions.

In 1861, at the apex of a distinguished army career, including service in the Mexican War and a tour as superintendent of West Point, Lee was offered the most important command in the Union army after the lower South seceded. Instead, choosing to align himself with his home state, Lee resigned his U.S. Army commission to ally his fortunes with the Confederacy.

At first his military record was undistinguished, particularly when he mishandled Confederate forces in West Virginia, and lost that state to the Union. However, after reorganizing the Confederate army, Lee skillfully beat back the offensive of General George McClellan during the Peninsula Campaign, and went on to a year-long series of victories, albeit at the loss of irreplaceable troops and material. Indeed, his military leadership was sometimes marked by unconventional audacity. With the exception of a draw at Antietam in September 1862, his army won every battle until the stunning defeat at Gettysburg in July 1863.