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Grant ignored Southern cities, rail junctions and other strategic points (me: hardly a Genghis Khan) and concentrated on destroying the enemy army.
I do not believe this to be an 'either-or' situation.
Grant's mission was to defeat the Confederate armies. Frequently the way to do this was to target the infrastruture: Corinth, Vicksburg, Richmond, Petersburg - these towns were, if nothing else, important supply and transport centers. To capture them means a major loss in the CS' ability to supply it's armies.
Look at the siege operations at Petersburg: they are mostly attempts to cut the rail lines supplying Lee from the south.
BTW, I was convinced on another forum that the Fort Donelson garrison did not constitute an army. Others mileage may vary
HankC