"I have had nearly all of the Southern Generals in high command in front of me, and Johnston gave me more anxiety than any of the others. I was never half so anxious about Lee. By the way, I saw in Joe Johnston's book that when I was asking Pemberton to surrender Vicksburg, he was on his way to raise the siege. I was very sorry. If I had known Johnston was coming I would have told Pemberton to wait in Vicksburg until I wanted him, awaited Johnston's advance and given him battle. He could never have destroyed that Vicksburg army, and thus I would have destroyed two armies, perhaps. Pemberton's was already gone, and I was quite sure of Johnston's. I was sorry I did not know Johnston was coming UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE (capitals mine d.u.- I doubt that Grant did not know Johnston's whereabouts- the job of watching Johnston was given to Sherman). Take it all in all, the South, in my opinion, had no better soldier than Joe Johnston- none, at least, that gave me more trouble."

U.S. Grant

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This last quote from the New York Times interview really sparked my interest. I think Grant was drinking again when he gave it. He sounds like a drunken braggart. Grant was just toying with the Confederate armies...he could have won the war anytime he liked.
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"I had a wretched headache—headaches to which I have been subject —nervous prostration, intense personal suffering (probably hung-over, d.u.). But, suffer or not, I had to keep moving. I saw clearly, especially after Sheridan had cut off the escape to Danville, that Lee must surrender or break and run into the mountains—break in all directions and leave us a dozen guerilla bands to fight. The object of my campaign was not Richmond, not the defeat of Lee in actual fight, but to remove him and his army out of the contest, and, if possible, to have him use his influence in inducing the surrender of Johnston and the other isolated armies. You see the war was an enormous strain upon the country. Rich as we were I do not now see how we could have endured it another year, even from a financial point of view. So with these views I wrote Lee, and opened the correspondence with which the world is familiar. Lee does not appear well in that correspondence, not nearly so well as he did in our subsequent interviews, where his whole bearing was that of a patriotic and gallant soldier, concerned alone for the welfare of his army and his state."

U.S Grant

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Grant sounds childishly jealous of Lee- must have been the hang-over.
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David Upton