About Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant Ohio, on April 27th, 1822
to a modest middle class family. His father worked as a tanner, thus he
developed a proficiency in the handling of equestrians, which was one
of his only meritable traits during his appointment to West Point. He
graduated in 1843 ranking 21st out of 39 graduating students. Grant
then served in the Mexican War. Although he served effectively with
Zachary Taylor's army at Monterey and with Winfeild Scott's army in the
campaign for Mexico city, where he won two brevets for meritorious
conduct, he detested the war. Grant once said of the Mexican war, "one
of the most unjust ever waged on a weaker country by a stronger."
After the war, Grant married Julia Dent, the daughter of a rich
plantation owner in Missouri, on August 22, 1848. Grant was initially
assigned to garrison duty in the central northeast United States in the
Great Lakes region. He was transferred to the Pacific Northwest where
he has unable to have his family with him. In 1854 he resigned from the
military after rumors of drink clouded his name. He returned to the
east only to fail in one business venture after another. In the April
of 1861, Grant was clerking in his brothers leather shop, in Galena
Illinois.
Despite any of his acquaintances at West Point, he was unable to obtain a position on General George B. McClellan's
staff. His first duty in the Civil War was as Colonel of the "Governor
Gate's Hellions" which he soon shaped up. After his success with the
Illinois Hellions, he was appointed a Brigadier General on August 7th,
1861. In November of 1861, he launched an ill prepared and ill fated
attack on Belmont, Missouri. Despite having the advantage, he fell back
with acute loses. Three months later, however, with the heavy
assistance of the navy, he took Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. His
success with the forts earned him the promotion to Major General. In
early April of 1862, Grant moved carelessly down the Tennessee river to
Pittsburgh Landing, or Shiloh, Tennessee where one of the most
devastating battles of the war took place. Taken by surprise, his
forces were nearly defeated on the first day. Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston was mortally wounded at the height of the Confederate charge. Thanks to reinforcements from General Don Carlos Buell,
the tide was turned on the second day. The Federalists slowly pushed
the Confederates back to Corinth, which was already evacuated. General
Henry Halleck took personal command of the forces, and Grant was
shelved for several months after biased rumors of his drinking again
surfaced.
On October 25th, 1862, Grant was again restored to a command
post of prominence, with his appointment to the Army of Tennessee. He
was soon ordered to take Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Vicksburg campaign
started off on the wrong foot, with the capture of his base camp at
Holly Springs, which caused his retreat in December. However in the
spring of 1863, he executed a largely effective campaign and crossed
the Mississippi south of Vicksburg. He defeated the forces of
Pemberton, leading to the surrender of 20,000 troops. After a fierce 42
day siege, Vicksburg fell on July 4th 1863.
In September of 1863, Grant went to the rescue of William
Rosecran's army at Chattanooga. He reinforced this army, and replaced
Rosecrans with George H. Thomas opening up new lines of supply and
communication. At the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge,
Grant defeated Braxton Bragg opening a new path for Sherman's March to the Sea.
Although attempting to remain distant from politics, Grant impressed Abraham Lincoln
with his tenacity and self-reliance. Thus, early in 1864, he was placed
in charge of all Northern Armies and promoted to Lieutenant General. He
put Sherman in charge of the west, and worked closely with George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac. Together they led the driving advances against Lee,
who out generaled both of them, and forced the toward Spotsylvania.
After several months of blundering around the south, Grant was finally
able to corner Lee at Appomtox Court House. Lee quickly agreed to
Grant's generous terms of surrender.
After the war, he was advanced to General in Chief, and served
momentarily as Secretary of War under Andrew Johnson. Grant's attempts
to protect the southern occupational army soon earned him a
presidential candidacy in the radical Republican party. In 1868 he won
the election and served for 2 terms. After his terms in office, he went
on a two year cruise, and returned to fail to receive the Republican
party nomination. After years of cigars, Grant was finally stricken
with throat cancer, and during this time, he wrote the Personal Memoirs
of U.S. Grant, which netted his family $450,000, and became an American
classic. Grant died at Mount McGregor, New York on July 23, 1885.