Have you suffered a devastating defeat, maybe as a result of your own foolishness? Are you reeling from the sting if it, wondering if the casualties are too high, the opposition too stiff, the victory now too far out of reach? Are you pondering surrender, or thinking of striking camp and abandoning the field?
I am. But then I remember this:
In the second year of the American Civil War, the Union Army — despite having an overwhelming advantage in manpower, infrastructure, and superior weaponry — kept losing battles for one major reason: its commanders lacked the will to fight after significant losses.
But then there was Ulysses S. Grant.
Grant was different in that not only was he willing to fight when others delayed, he also refused to dwell on a defeat.
Shortly after taking command of the Army of the Tennessee, Grant suffered a major defeat during the Battle of Shiloh, which at that time accounted for the highest number of casualties in any American war. That night, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman met Grant outside his tent, figuring he would withdraw and reposition the Army. Surely the defeat was too great. How could anyone expect him to summon the will to fight on?
Sherman went to console him. “Well, Grant,” said Sherman, “we’ve had the devil’s own day, haven’t we?”
“Yes,’” Grant replied, “Lick ’em tomorrow, though.”
Do not withdraw. Do not despair, and by all means do not cede this ground to the enemy. Stand tall. Right the mistakes you made and learn from them. Enlist your allies and move forward together with humility, wiser and stronger than before. Because there is always another battle looming, and as long as you’re willing to fight, you can lick ’em tomorrow.
And Grant?
The Union armies routed the Confederates the next day.
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