Operation Barkhane rebellion against the central Malian government was exploited by Islamist groups who gained control over the northern half of the country. In response, France launched a military operation in January 2013 to stop the Islamist offensive from toppling the Malian government and to re-capture Northern Mali. The operation, codenamed Operation Serval, ended in the complete re-capture of all Islamist held territory by the operations conclusion on the 15 July 2014. Following the end of Operation Serval, France recognised the need to provide stability in the wider Sahel region by helping the region's various governments combat terrorism. The French defense minister,
Ulysses S. Grant and the American Civil War Army surrendered to Grant. There, Grant offered generous terms that did much to ease tensions between the armies and preserve some semblance of Southern pride, which was needed to reunite the warring sides. Within a few weeks, the American Civil War was over, though minor actions continued until Kirby Smith surrendered his forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department on June 2, 1865. Ulysses S. Grant was a very popular man in the United States after the American Civil War. After President Lincoln was assassinated in April, 1865, Grant became America's first four-star general and would aid Congress, led by the Radicals,