Ulysses S. Grant

When the Union needed a Commanding General during the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant met the challenge. When the United States needed a president during the Reconstruction period, Ulysses S. Grant answered the call. Grant beat the odds that were set out against him. Who was General Ulysses S. Grant? Let's take a closer look at the general who won the Civil War!

Ulysses S. Grant Biography

• Hiram Ulysses Grant - later Ulysses S. Grant - was born in Ohio in 1822
• He attended the West Point Military Academy in 1839, graduating in 1843
• He was assigned to an infantry regiment and went on to serve in the Mexican American war in 1846
• He served for several months in New York state and then again in Detroit as a quartermaster before being sent on a mission to Panama.
• While in Panama he helped organize a field hospital to serve people afflicted by an emerging cholera epidemic
• After his mission to Panama, he took several other assignments until being posted to Fort Humboldt, California, in 1854 as an infantry company captain
  • He developed an alcohol habit and was reprimanded for it; his superior officer Colonel Robert Buchanan asked him to either resign or reform, Grant chose to resign from the military.

Ulysses S. Grant: Civil War

On April 15, 1861, Abraham Lincoln made a call for 75,000 volunteers to join the United States Army to put down the rebellion of the Confederate States.

• Grant chose to volunteer the following day, hoping to be recommissioned as an officer despite the nature of his previous resignation.
• Though initially unsuccessful, Grant quickly climbed the ranks in the Illinois state militia, and in August was appointed the Commander of the District of Southeastern Missouri by Major General John Fremont, who himself oversaw the Union's forces in the West.
• In September of 1861, Grant moved to Cairo, Illinois, and began to plan a campaign down the nearby Mississippi River.

When Confederate forces advanced into western Kentucky, Grant informed his superior that he would be moving his forces into Kentucky as well. He did not wait for Fremont's reply or approval. When Fremont did reply, he ordered Grant to make a show of force but not to engage the Confederates.

Fig 1: Ulysses S. Grant

The Union and Grant's First Major Victory in the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln dismissed Fremont in November 1861, and Grant proceeded to attack the Confederates. He fought them first at Belmont, Missouri, and then at Columbus, Kentucky, but was pushed back both times. Grant then coordinated with the new commander of the Department of Missouri, General Henry Halleck, to attack the forts Henry and Donelson along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Halleck, and Union commander George McClellan, agreed with the plan. Fort Henry fell first.

Fort Donelson proved to be more difficult, with defensive gun batteries able to fight off the Union gunboats on the river, and a sizable infantry garrison to match the attacking army. The Confederates attacked the oncoming Union troops and met with initial success, but Grant rallied his divisions alongside fresh reinforcements and pushed the Confederates back to the fort.

Pursuing his enemy, Grant drove off the Confederate divisions and demanded the unconditional surrender of Fort Donelson, which the fort's commander accepted. Taking over 12,000 prisoners, Grant achieved the Union's first major victory in the Civil War.

Other Grant's Major Civil War Battles

Grant sought to capitalize on the victory at Fort Donelson and with the support of Abraham Lincoln gathered a larger force to move into Tennessee.

Battle	Important Events
Battle of Shiloh	Battle of Shiloh occurred between Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, and Corinth, Mississippi. Grant achieved victory at Shiloh by successfully coordinating with his generals and organizing reinforcements Halleck prevented Grant from continuing his advance, however, and after the battle the Confederates reoccupied Corinth. Grant also received criticism both for his drinking habits and for the very high casualty count at Shiloh. Though he considered resigning, he was encouraged by his fellow General William T. Sherman and was also defended from his critics by President Lincoln.1
Battle of Vicksburg	Union forces went on to take Corinth in late 1862 and in the spring of 1863, Grant prepared for the Vicksburg Campaign. The campaign saw Grant and Sherman working closely together, and through clever maneuvering, Grant defeated the Confederate armies near Vicksburg, Mississippi, and laid siege to the city. Following seven weeks of besieging the city, Vicksburg surrendered to Grant on July 4, 1863. With this victory, Grant had achieved a major strategic goal for the Union in that they now had complete control over the Mississippi River and had split the western Confederate states off from the rest of the Confederacy. As a result, Lincoln promoted Grant to the rank of Major General in the regular army.
Chattanooga Fig 2: Battle of Chattanooga	Grant's army continued to fight in Tennessee, and through more aggressive fighting they won several battles around Chattanooga, eventually gaining control over the whole of Tennessee and making the Confederate state of Georgia vulnerable to attack.

Lieutenant General Grant

With his success in conquering Tennessee, Grant was promoted on March 2, 1864, by President Abraham Lincoln to the rank of Lieutenant-General and was made the general-in-chief in overall command of all Union forces.

With over half a million men under his command, Grant believed he could overwhelm the Confederates across the entire front by using his superior numbers and taking advantage of the fact that the Confederates could not replace their losses as easily as he could. He launched the Overland Campaign in May of 1864, in which many bloody battles were fought against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Attempting to outflank his enemy in several locations, Grant's campaign culminated in the Battle of Cold Harbor, where the Union suffered heavy casualties attacking Lee's entrenched positions.

Ulysses S. Grant: Accomplishments

By March of 1865, Grant had worn down General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and in April Grant ordered an attack on Lee's entrenched positions. Grant's attack succeeded in capturing Petersburg, Virginia, and then Richmond. Grant's forces then outmaneuvered and captured Lee's retreating army, prompting Lee to meet with Grant at Appomattox Court House and surrender. Grant offered generous terms, allowing Lee's officers and soldiers to return to their homes, and they were even allowed to keep their horses at Lee's request. All other major Confederate armies proceeded to surrender throughout the rest of April and May 1865, ending the Civil War.

Fig. 3: Robert E. Lee surrenders

Ulysses S. Grant: Post-Civil War

Following Lee's surrender, Grant went to Washington, D.C. where Abraham Lincoln invited him and his wife to attend a play at Ford's Theater. Grant and his wife Julia had planned to travel to Philadelphia and so declined - a decision that may have saved Grant's life.¹ The President was assassinated at the play.

General of the Army of the United States:

After the war ended, Grant remained in overall command of the army, officially being promoted by the US Congress to a new position dubbed General of the Army of the United States in July 1866. He served in that capacity until 1869, during which time he oversaw Reconstruction efforts and worked in Washington with President Johnson to further the cause of Reconstruction and reconciliation with the South. He defended Robert E. Lee and other ex-Confederate officers from being tried for treason by saying that it would go against the surrender terms he had agreed to at Appomattox.

Ulysses S. Grant: Political Party

In 1868, Grant was unanimously nominated by the Republican National Convention to run for the office of President of the United States. Grant accepted the nomination and won the election by a large margin, entering office in March of 1869.

Fig 4: Ulysses S Grant as President

As President, Grant worked to reunite the North and South while also attempting to advance civil rights through acts such as the Fifteenth Amendment.

He faced challenges from the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization that regularly committed violence against African Americans and attempted to impede political action on civil rights matters. His "Enforcement Acts" established in 1870 provided a legal basis to defeat the Klan. Ultimately, his efforts had mixed results and the expansion and enforcement of civil rights would continue to be an issue throughout American history.

Ulysses S. Grant: Facts

After serving two terms in office, Grant left the presidency on March 4, 1877, and traveled around the United States and then around the world for several years. During his travels, he visited many foreign leaders. He returned to the US in 1879 and settled in Philadelphia after stopping in Chicago for a reunion with General Sherman.

Grant spent his last years of life writing and then publishing his memoirs, the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. During the process, he had fallen ill from throat cancer, and passed away on July 23, 1885, only a few days after his memoirs had been published.