Ulysses S. Grant

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Hiram Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) - born 27 Apr 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio, died 23 Jul 1885, Mt. McGregor, New York.

At the age of 17, Grant received a cadetship to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, through his U.S. Congressman, Thomas L. Hamer. Hamer erroneously nominated him as Ulysses Simpson Grant, and although Grant protested the change, it was difficult to resist the bureaucracy. Upon graduation, Grant adopted the form of his new name with middle initial only, never acknowledging that the "S" stood for Simpson. He graduated from West Point in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 39. At the academy, he established a reputation as a fearless and expert horseman. Grant drank distilled liquor and smoked huge numbers of cigars (one story had it that he smoked over 10,000 in five years) which may have contributed to his throat cancer of later life.

Grant married Julia Boggs Dent (1826–1902) on August 22, 1848. They had four children: Frederick Dent Grant, Ulysses S. (Buck) Grant, Jr., Ellen (Nellie) Grant, and Jesse Root Grant.

Mexican War

Grant served in the Mexican-American War under Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, taking part in the battles of Battle of Resaca de la Palma, Battle of Palo Alto, Battle of Monterrey, and Battle of Veracruz. He was twice brevetted for bravery: at Battle of Molino del Rey and Battle of Chapultepec. On July 31, 1854, he resigned from the army. Seven years of civilian life followed, in which he was a farmer, a real estate agent in St. Louis, Missouri, and finally an assistant in the leather shop owned by his father and brother.

U.S. Civil War

On April 24, 1861, ten days after the fall of Fort Sumter, Captain Grant arrived in Springfield, Illinois, with a company of men he had raised. The governor felt that a West Point man could be put to better use and appointed him colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry (effective June 17, 1861). On August 7, Grant was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers.

Assignments:

• (????-1843) (Cadet) United States Military Academy
• (1849-1851) (Lt.) Detroit, Michigan
• (1852-1854) (1st Lt.) 4th Infantry, Fort Vancouver, Washington
• (1854-1854) (Capt.) Fort Humboldt, California Resigned his commission & went back east.
• (1861-1861) (Col.) 21st Illinois Infantry (17 Jun 1861)
• (1861-18??) (Bg. General) (17 Aug 1861)
• (1864-1866) (Lt. General) General-in-Chief of all the Armies of the United States
• (1866-1869) (General of the Army)
• (1869-1877) (President of the United States) Washington, DC

Personal Description:

• Height: 5' 8"
• Build:
• Hair Color: Nut Brown
• Eye Color:

Links:

• Grant Homepage
• First Inaugural Address
• Second Inaugural Address
• Full text of Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, (1885) from Project Gutenberg
• Grant and Slavery
• White House Biography

Books:

• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Fuller, Maj. Gen. J. F. C., Grant and Lee, A Study in Personality and Generalship, Indiana University Press, 1957, ISBN 0-253-13400-5.
• Smith, Jean Edward, Grant, Simon and Shuster, 2001, ISBN 0-684-84927-5.