Wherever the enemy goes let our troops go also.

The line expresses a core element of Grant’s operational style: relentless pursuit and continuous pressure. Rather than allowing an opposing army to disengage, regroup, and choose the next battlefield, Grant’s maxim implies matching the enemy’s movements immediately so that retreat becomes costly and initiative remains with Union forces. In a broader sense, it reflects a shift from episodic, set-piece engagements toward sustained campaigning—treating the enemy army as the primary objective and denying it rest, supplies, and freedom of maneuver. The quote is often invoked to summarize Grant’s determination to keep contact and force decisive outcomes through persistence.