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Lee & Grant: Leadership in Bondage

by Maj. Charles R. Bowery, Jr.

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About the Author

MAJOR CHARLES R. BOWERY, JR., a United States Army officer, brings a proud heritage and personal experience in military command and combat positions to his study of leadership in the Civil War. Counting three Confederate Army soldiers among his storied ancestors, he was born and raised in New Kent County, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond on the outskirts of the Army of Northern Virginia's first battlefields. His early fascination with the War Between the States led him to the field of military history.

Bowery received his undergraduate degree in history in 1992, as a Distinguished Military Graduate of the College of William and Mary, and earned his Master's in history from North Carolina State University in 2001. Upon completing his graduate studies, he clinched the position of military history instructor at the army's prestigious academy at West Point. During his two-year tenure, he wrote several book reviews and encyclopedia articles on the Civil War, as well as co-edited the official Academy correspondence of Superintendent Robert E. Lee. In January 2004, Gettysburg Magazine published his article, "Encounter at the Triangular Field: The 124th New York and the First Texas at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863."

"Some authors have attempted to boil down the war's battles and leaders into sets of aphorisms, and many have attempted to shoehorn them into modern management theories. That is not the intent of this book," Bowery asserts. "LEE & GRANT is intended to be a concise, readable, exciting account of the 1864 Overland Campaign. Throughout this amazing story, the reader will find a succession of leadership lessons that are as pertinent in the 21st century as they were in the 19th."

Bowery has been called upon to apply those very leadership lessons throughout his career as an army aviation officer with the First Infantry Division. Since July 2004, he has been stationed in Tikrit, Iraq, serving as the Operations Officer for 1-1 Aviation. A qualified and accomplished AH- 64 Apache Attack Helicopter pilot, he is currently responsible for supervising day-to-day operations and planning combat missions for a battalion of 24 attack helicopters. Known as the "Gunfighters," his battalion provides support to ground troops fighting against Iraqi insurgents.

Before his combat tour in Iraq, Bowery completed the Command and General Staff Officer's Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and served with the First Infantry Division in Ansbach, Germany. He is scheduled to return to Germany sometime in early 2005. He looks forward to rejoining his wife, Mary Ann, an Army lawyer with the Judge Advocate General's Corp, and resuming their weekend travels through Europe with their Great Dane, Frederick. About the Book

LEE & GRANT: Profiles in Leadership from the Battlefields of Virginia by Maj. Charles R. Bowery, Jr. Published by AMACOM Books ISBN 0-8144-0819-2, 272 pages, illustrated, bibliography, indexed, hardcover, $24) Available through this site or directly from the publisher: http://www.amacombooks.com/books/catalog/0814408192.htm

Endorsements for LEE & GRANT:

"In Lee & Grant, Charles Bowery offers some timely, perceptive, and deftly presented observations on nineteenth century leadership and followership skills that apply equally well to managers, military and civilian, of our era. This well-researched and thought-provoking study is a model of its kind." -- Edward G. Longacre

"Lee & Grant offers a judicious and compelling command- level overview of the 1864 Overland Campaign, as well as thoughtful consideration of how an understanding of the events of over 140 years ago can be of value to businessmen, military officers, and anyone else who faces the challenge of leadership today. Highly recommended." -- Ethan S. Rafuse, Professor of Military History, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and author of George Gordon Meade and the War in the East

"Charles Bowery's book is a remarkably interesting and useful analysis of the challenges Grant and Lee faced as leaders. Bowery identifies the qualities, skills, and methods that enabled them to succeed, and he skillfully translates their experiences into 'Leadership Lessons,' readily transferable to the modern business world." -- Robert A. Doughty, U.S. Military Academy, West Point

Business is a Battlefield. Learn from Two of America's Greatest Generals.

The Overland Campaign of 1864 brought together the Civil War's two greatest commanders, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, in the longest, hardest-fought, and most destructive military campaign ever waged on the North American continent. Locked in deadly combat, Lee and Grant plotted, maneuvered, and pushed ferociously to win control of each conflict‹the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, the North Anna, Cold Harbor‹and, ultimately, the nation.

LEE & GRANT combines a riveting historical account of the Overland Campaign with a fascinating, eye-opening study in leadership -- as powerful and relevant today as it was on the battlefields of Virginia. Stripping away many of the myths and hyperbole, LEE & GRANT delivers a clear-headed account of their successes and failures, along with dozens of leadership lessons that managers and executives can put to use in any organization.

Lee and Grant approached challenges in a fundamentally similar way. They called on skills learned through a lifetime of intellectual and practical preparation, applied those skills through carefully selected subordinates, and drove their armies forward with indomitable will and persistence. Imagine an organization headed by someone who combines the best traits and skills of these two exceptional generals -- unstoppable!

Copyright ©2005 by Charles R. Bowery, Jr. All rights reserved. Reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Amacom Books, http://www.amacombooks.org. Please feel free to duplicate or distribute this file, as long as the contents are not changed and this copyright notice is intact.