Who won, Grant or Lee?

Grant. He forced Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, ending the war in a Union victory, though Lee had won many of the earlier battles between them.

Who was the better general, Grant or Lee?

A long-running debate. Lee is admired as a bold tactician who won against larger armies; Grant is credited with the strategic grasp and determination that actually won the war.

What was Grant's greatest victory?

The capture of Vicksburg in July 1863, which gave the Union control of the Mississippi and split the Confederacy in two.

What was Lee's greatest victory?

Chancellorsville in 1863, where he beat a much larger Union army, though at the cost of his lieutenant Stonewall Jackson.

Did Grant and Lee respect each other?

Their meeting at Appomattox was famously dignified, with Grant offering generous terms, and both men were remembered for the restraint they showed at the war's end.

Grant vs Lee: who was the greater Civil War general?

They are the two faces of the American Civil War: Robert E. Lee, the celebrated defender of the Confederacy, and Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general who finally beat him. Lee won the more dazzling battles; Grant won the war. Here they are, side by side.

Head to head

	Ulysses S. Grant	Robert E. Lee
Lived	1822 to 1885¹	1807 to 1870²
Role	General-in-chief of the Union armies	Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Greatest victory	Vicksburg, 1863	Chancellorsville, 1863
Strength	Relentless strategy and overall command	Bold manoeuvre and defensive genius
Battle record	Won in the West, then ground down Lee in the East	Brilliant victories, but lost at Gettysburg
The end	Accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox, 1865	Surrendered at Appomattox, 1865
Lasting legacy	Won the war and became the 18th president	The Confederacy's revered, and defeated, general

Grant: the general who won the war

Ulysses S. Grant made his name in the West, capturing Vicksburg in 1863 to split the Confederacy, then came east as general-in-chief.³ In the brutal Overland Campaign he accepted enormous casualties to pin Lee's army and never let go, forcing his surrender at Appomattox in 1865.⁴ He later served two terms as president.⁵

Grant in uniform standing by a tree in front of a tent — Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at his headquarters at Cold Harbor, Virginia, in June 1864, during the Overland Campaign. Photograph from the Mathew Brady studio. Public domain

Lee: the Confederacy's great commander

Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia to a string of famous victories, above all Chancellorsville in 1863, often against larger Union forces.⁶ But his invasions of the North were turned back, decisively at Gettysburg, and once Grant took command Lee was slowly worn down and forced to surrender in 1865.

Oval portrait photograph of Robert E. Lee in Confederate uniform — Robert E. Lee photographed by Mathew Brady in Richmond on 16 April 1865, a week after his surrender at Appomattox. Public domain

The verdict

Lee is often remembered as the finer battlefield tactician, winning stunning victories against the odds. But Grant fought the wider war, in the West and the East at once, and understood that the Union's advantages in men and material had to be pressed relentlessly to win. Lee won battles; Grant won the war, and history gives the larger prize to the man who finished it.

Painting of Lee and Grant seated in a parlour surrounded by officers — Thomas Nast's painting Peace in Union, completed thirty years after the event, shows Lee surrendering to Grant at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865. Public domain

Compare more in Napoleon vs Wellington, or meet the field in the greatest American commanders.

Sources

Each commander above has a full biography on this site, with its own sources. Judgements of who was "greater" are ours and openly a matter of debate; the facts and dates follow established histories. See our editorial approach.