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Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was the first of six children born to religious and hard-working parents. His father was a tanner who took animal hides and processed them into leather. He made a good living, but the work conditions were horrible -- skinned and raw animal carcasses everywhere, their hides tossed into kettles of stinging, stinking chemicals. Although Grant occasionally worked in the tannery as a child, he hated the work and swore to his father that once he was an adult, he would never do it again.
Ulysses was a small, sensitive, quiet youth. The simple local schools bored him, and other children mistook his quietness for stupidity, nicknaming him "Useless." The boy, however, had an incredible knack in what was a critical skill in that time and place -- horsemanship. On the family farm, his father often gave him the responsibility of taking care of the horses and the other farm animals, and he was renowned in the area for managing unruly horses.
Grant's father supported his son's ambitious nature to go beyond the tanner lifestyle. The family had little money for college, but the United States Military Academy at West Point, then as now, offered a deal: a superior free education in return for Army service after graduating. Without telling Ulysses, his father applied for an appointment to the Academy for his son, who was accepted. Told of his acceptance, the shy Ulysses did not want to go. His father stated that he thought his son would go, and Ulysses “thought so too, if he did.” With his father’s encouragement, Grant decided to go to West Point to fulfill his own desire to travel and take advantage of the education being offered to him.
When his congressman applied for Grant’s appointment to West Point, he supposedly wrote his name as Ulysses S. Grant instead of Hiram Ulysses Grant. Although Ulysses tried to correct the mistake when he arrived at West Point, it was too late, and thereafter he was known as Ulysses S. Grant.
West Point was difficult for the tanner’s son from the Midwest. He was good at math and drawing, but his prior education was limited, leaving him an otherwise unexceptional student. His skill with horses, however, was unmatched, and he amazed everyone with his riding abilities. He seemed sure to win a coveted spot in the Army's cavalry, its horse-soldier elite, but he was assigned to the infantry after graduating twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine.
First Army Career
The United States Army of the 1840s was a small one, with about 7,000 men. Grant was assigned to the Fourth Infantry at the Jefferson Barracks, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. His West Point roommate, Frederick Dent, had grown up nearby, and Grant often visited the Dent home, where the family’s hospitality made him comfortable. One day while visiting, Grant met Frederick’s sister, Julia Dent. Julia was short, plump, warm, and sociable, and Grant fell for her immediately. She took a little longer to reciprocate but over time she grew to love him. Their mutual devotion was total.
Lieutenant Grant's regiment moved further south, first to Louisiana and then Texas, to prepare for the conflict with Mexico that was brewing over the Texas territory. From 1846 to 1848, the young lieutenant fought in the Mexican War and was twice cited for his bravery. He was appointed quartermaster for the Fourth Infantry and was responsible for providing supplies and transportation as his regiment moved through the Mexican countryside. This post gave him valuable experience in the logistics of war. He also greatly admired General Zachary Taylor and his calm, confident leadership. Grant, however, did not glory in the ideals of war. He mourned his lost comrades and the waste that war created.
When the war ended, Grant traveled back to St. Louis to marry Julia. Unbeknownst to the groom, all three of his Southern attendants would fight against him as Confederates during the Civil War. The Army then transferred the young lieutenant to Detroit and New York. At first, Julia was able to travel with him, but the Army then sent Grant to the Pacific Northwest, first to the Oregon Territory and then to California. He could not take his family to these distant locations and he hated being separated from them. He also ran into financial problems, became depressed, and, according to some accounts, began to drink to excess. In 1854, Grant resigned suddenly from the Army. It is still unclear what precipitated his resignation.
Hard Times
After leaving the Army, Grant returned to his wife and children in Missouri. Julia's father had given her some land, and Grant tried to farm it with only limited success. Even with slave labor supplied by his father-in-law, he could not support his family, which eventually grew to four children. He also attempted a half-dozen other lines of work over the next several years. One bleak Christmas, he pawned his watch for $22 to buy presents for his family.
By 1860, Grant was forced appeal to his father for help, and he went to work for his younger brother in an Illinois leather shop. Soon thereafter, the South seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. The Civil War had begun, and, suddenly, the North needed experienced Army officers like Grant. The governor of Illinois appointed the former captain to lead a volunteer regiment that no one else had been able to train. Grant instituted badly needed discipline, focusing on the regiment’s main goals and overlooking minor details. He gradually won the men’s respect and allegiance and was subsequently appointed to brigadier general.
American Civil War
At the outset of the war, the South had the advantage of fighting on its own territory. It also had more support from its citizens and, initially, superior commanders. But over the years, the industrial capacity of the North proved more consequential. The North had more factories, money, and manpower to fill the battleground with better weapons and more soldiers. It also could marshal a Navy that kept the South from importing materiel (equipment and supplies).
But a war, like a forest fire, is much easier to start than stop. Incompetent Northern military leadership and strong Southern fighting ability continued to fan the flames for four long years. During the early phases of the conflict, the North lacked a commander with the nerve and logistical skills to take the offensive against the outgunned rebels. President Lincoln grew frustrated with his ineffective, overcautious commanders who fought not to win but to avoid losing. In time, he would settle on Grant as the man to lead the North to victory.
Grant displayed his military prowess early in the conflict. In 1861, he led troops into his first major engagement. The fight in Missouri was a draw, but he showed a rare Union trait at the time -- a willingness to fight. In early 1862, he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, two critical Confederate installations in Tennessee. They were the first real Union victories of the war, and Grant became known nationally overnight.
But the good press did not last long. That April, the press blamed Grant for massive losses at the Battle of Shiloh, also in Tennessee. He had been surprised by an early morning Confederate attack that pushed the Union line back, resulting in the capture of many Union soldiers. At the end of the day, however, Grant had managed to hold his position. Supported by reinforcements, he launched a counterattack on the second day that led to a Southern retreat. Although the battle was a strategic success for the Union, it came at great cost, and many held Grant responsible.
But Lincoln stood by his general. Grant was the first Union commander to truly take the war to the South and put the region on the defensive. His calm during battle astounded everyone who witnessed it. He quietly issued clear, concise orders while puffing cigar after cigar, giving his commanders simple instructions and staying out of their way in the heat of battle. Lincoln promoted Grant to major general in 1862.
In 1863, Grant orchestrated the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which sat high on a bluff above the Mississippi River. Grant first attempted to capture this key installation from the north, but eventually decided to march his troops down the other side of the Mississippi and cross over it. Once they landed south of Vicksburg, Grant disregarded convention and cut his supply lines, using enemy resources to feed his troops. After defeating Confederate troops at Jackson and Champion Hill, Union forces settled into a siege of Vicksburg. Six weeks later, Confederate commanders surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863. This Union victory ended the rebel’s stranglehold on the Mississippi River.
Not long afterward, Grant was running the entire western theater of the war. Along with General William Sherman, Grant won victory after victory. In early 1864, Lincoln named Grant lieutenant general and commander of all Union forces. Grant was thus transferred to Washington, D.C., to oversee the war effort, especially the defeat of General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Rather than stay in the capital and direct the war from afar, Grant traveled to the field and joined General George Meade and his armies. The Union Army suffered setbacks and high casualties in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and Grant’s direct, relentless battle tactics led to numerous casualties. The Democratic press began calling Grant, "The Butcher."
Still, Grant pressed on until the invaded, decimated South lost the means and will to fight. Union troops trapped the main Confederate Army west of Richmond and forced a surrender on April 9, 1865, at the little village crossroads of Appomattox Court House. General Lee’s surrender to Grant effectively ended the war.
In four years, Grant had gone from a leather-shop clerk to the most revered soldier in the Union. In 1866, he was named general of the armies, a rank that had been achieved by no one other than George Washington. Along with the military promotion came political opportunity, a development largely due to the war’s centrality to American life. The Civil War dominated public discussion and the media for generations afterward. It was therefore far from surprising that a man widely credited with keeping the nation together was seen as a possible presidential candidate.
Ulysses was a small, sensitive, quiet youth. The simple local schools bored him, and other children mistook his quietness for stupidity, nicknaming him "Useless." The boy, however, had an incredible knack in what was a critical skill in that time and place -- horsemanship. On the family farm, his father often gave him the responsibility of taking care of the horses and the other farm animals, and he was renowned in the area for managing unruly horses.
Grant's father supported his son's ambitious nature to go beyond the tanner lifestyle. The family had little money for college, but the United States Military Academy at West Point, then as now, offered a deal: a superior free education in return for Army service after graduating. Without telling Ulysses, his father applied for an appointment to the Academy for his son, who was accepted. Told of his acceptance, the shy Ulysses did not want to go. His father stated that he thought his son would go, and Ulysses “thought so too, if he did.” With his father’s encouragement, Grant decided to go to West Point to fulfill his own desire to travel and take advantage of the education being offered to him.
When his congressman applied for Grant’s appointment to West Point, he supposedly wrote his name as Ulysses S. Grant instead of Hiram Ulysses Grant. Although Ulysses tried to correct the mistake when he arrived at West Point, it was too late, and thereafter he was known as Ulysses S. Grant.
West Point was difficult for the tanner’s son from the Midwest. He was good at math and drawing, but his prior education was limited, leaving him an otherwise unexceptional student. His skill with horses, however, was unmatched, and he amazed everyone with his riding abilities. He seemed sure to win a coveted spot in the Army's cavalry, its horse-soldier elite, but he was assigned to the infantry after graduating twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine.
First Army Career
The United States Army of the 1840s was a small one, with about 7,000 men. Grant was assigned to the Fourth Infantry at the Jefferson Barracks, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. His West Point roommate, Frederick Dent, had grown up nearby, and Grant often visited the Dent home, where the family’s hospitality made him comfortable. One day while visiting, Grant met Frederick’s sister, Julia Dent. Julia was short, plump, warm, and sociable, and Grant fell for her immediately. She took a little longer to reciprocate but over time she grew to love him. Their mutual devotion was total.
Lieutenant Grant's regiment moved further south, first to Louisiana and then Texas, to prepare for the conflict with Mexico that was brewing over the Texas territory. From 1846 to 1848, the young lieutenant fought in the Mexican War and was twice cited for his bravery. He was appointed quartermaster for the Fourth Infantry and was responsible for providing supplies and transportation as his regiment moved through the Mexican countryside. This post gave him valuable experience in the logistics of war. He also greatly admired General Zachary Taylor and his calm, confident leadership. Grant, however, did not glory in the ideals of war. He mourned his lost comrades and the waste that war created.
When the war ended, Grant traveled back to St. Louis to marry Julia. Unbeknownst to the groom, all three of his Southern attendants would fight against him as Confederates during the Civil War. The Army then transferred the young lieutenant to Detroit and New York. At first, Julia was able to travel with him, but the Army then sent Grant to the Pacific Northwest, first to the Oregon Territory and then to California. He could not take his family to these distant locations and he hated being separated from them. He also ran into financial problems, became depressed, and, according to some accounts, began to drink to excess. In 1854, Grant resigned suddenly from the Army. It is still unclear what precipitated his resignation.
Hard Times
After leaving the Army, Grant returned to his wife and children in Missouri. Julia's father had given her some land, and Grant tried to farm it with only limited success. Even with slave labor supplied by his father-in-law, he could not support his family, which eventually grew to four children. He also attempted a half-dozen other lines of work over the next several years. One bleak Christmas, he pawned his watch for $22 to buy presents for his family.
By 1860, Grant was forced appeal to his father for help, and he went to work for his younger brother in an Illinois leather shop. Soon thereafter, the South seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. The Civil War had begun, and, suddenly, the North needed experienced Army officers like Grant. The governor of Illinois appointed the former captain to lead a volunteer regiment that no one else had been able to train. Grant instituted badly needed discipline, focusing on the regiment’s main goals and overlooking minor details. He gradually won the men’s respect and allegiance and was subsequently appointed to brigadier general.
American Civil War
At the outset of the war, the South had the advantage of fighting on its own territory. It also had more support from its citizens and, initially, superior commanders. But over the years, the industrial capacity of the North proved more consequential. The North had more factories, money, and manpower to fill the battleground with better weapons and more soldiers. It also could marshal a Navy that kept the South from importing materiel (equipment and supplies).
But a war, like a forest fire, is much easier to start than stop. Incompetent Northern military leadership and strong Southern fighting ability continued to fan the flames for four long years. During the early phases of the conflict, the North lacked a commander with the nerve and logistical skills to take the offensive against the outgunned rebels. President Lincoln grew frustrated with his ineffective, overcautious commanders who fought not to win but to avoid losing. In time, he would settle on Grant as the man to lead the North to victory.
Grant displayed his military prowess early in the conflict. In 1861, he led troops into his first major engagement. The fight in Missouri was a draw, but he showed a rare Union trait at the time -- a willingness to fight. In early 1862, he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, two critical Confederate installations in Tennessee. They were the first real Union victories of the war, and Grant became known nationally overnight.
But the good press did not last long. That April, the press blamed Grant for massive losses at the Battle of Shiloh, also in Tennessee. He had been surprised by an early morning Confederate attack that pushed the Union line back, resulting in the capture of many Union soldiers. At the end of the day, however, Grant had managed to hold his position. Supported by reinforcements, he launched a counterattack on the second day that led to a Southern retreat. Although the battle was a strategic success for the Union, it came at great cost, and many held Grant responsible.
But Lincoln stood by his general. Grant was the first Union commander to truly take the war to the South and put the region on the defensive. His calm during battle astounded everyone who witnessed it. He quietly issued clear, concise orders while puffing cigar after cigar, giving his commanders simple instructions and staying out of their way in the heat of battle. Lincoln promoted Grant to major general in 1862.
In 1863, Grant orchestrated the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi, which sat high on a bluff above the Mississippi River. Grant first attempted to capture this key installation from the north, but eventually decided to march his troops down the other side of the Mississippi and cross over it. Once they landed south of Vicksburg, Grant disregarded convention and cut his supply lines, using enemy resources to feed his troops. After defeating Confederate troops at Jackson and Champion Hill, Union forces settled into a siege of Vicksburg. Six weeks later, Confederate commanders surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863. This Union victory ended the rebel’s stranglehold on the Mississippi River.
Not long afterward, Grant was running the entire western theater of the war. Along with General William Sherman, Grant won victory after victory. In early 1864, Lincoln named Grant lieutenant general and commander of all Union forces. Grant was thus transferred to Washington, D.C., to oversee the war effort, especially the defeat of General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Rather than stay in the capital and direct the war from afar, Grant traveled to the field and joined General George Meade and his armies. The Union Army suffered setbacks and high casualties in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and Grant’s direct, relentless battle tactics led to numerous casualties. The Democratic press began calling Grant, "The Butcher."
Still, Grant pressed on until the invaded, decimated South lost the means and will to fight. Union troops trapped the main Confederate Army west of Richmond and forced a surrender on April 9, 1865, at the little village crossroads of Appomattox Court House. General Lee’s surrender to Grant effectively ended the war.
In four years, Grant had gone from a leather-shop clerk to the most revered soldier in the Union. In 1866, he was named general of the armies, a rank that had been achieved by no one other than George Washington. Along with the military promotion came political opportunity, a development largely due to the war’s centrality to American life. The Civil War dominated public discussion and the media for generations afterward. It was therefore far from surprising that a man widely credited with keeping the nation together was seen as a possible presidential candidate.