Life of Charles A. Dana

Charles Anderson Dana (August 8, 1819 - October 17, 1897) was an American journalist, author, and senior government official. He was a top aide to Horace Greeley as the managing editor of the powerful Republican newspaper New-York Tribune until 1862. During the American Civil War, he served as Assistant Secretary of War, playing especially the role of the liaison between the War Department and General Ulysses S. Grant. In 1868 he became the editor and part-owner of The New York Sun. He at first appealed to working class Democrats but after 1890 became a champion of business-oriented conservatism.'The author, a Major-General of U.S. Volunteers, first met Dana during the Vicksburg campaign, and 'it was my good-fortune to serve with him in the field during three of the most memorable campaigns of the Civil War, and for a short period under him as a bureau office of the War Department. As a journalist and as Assistant Secretary of War, Mr. Dana was one of the most influential men of his time. Weighed for the strength and variety of his faculties, and for his power to interest and impress upon men's minds, he must be considered as the first of America's editors. Yet it happened that in the great era of the Civil War his energies were so vigorous and effective, that he must also be classed among the real heroes of that unequalled conflict. He exerted a tremendous influence upon both the men and the measures of his day. As field correspondent, and office assistant to Stanton, the great War Secretary, he was potent in deciding the fate of leading generals as well as shaping the military policies of the Administration. With the possible exception of John A. Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff to General Grant, Dana exerted a greater influence over Grant's military career than any other man.'-Preface.