DK - The American Civil War

“I have never advocated

war except as a means

of peace.”

ULYSSES S. GRANT, FROM HIS PERSONAL MEMOIRS,^1886

Dogged fighter

Grant is pictured outside his headquarters after the

Union defeat at Cold Harbor in June 1864. With his

qualities of aggression, determination, coolness under

fire, and clarity of purpose, he finally achieved his goal

to “get possession of Lee’s army.”

U

lysses S. Grant was the

top commander of the

Union Army for much

of the Civil War, leading it to

victory in the most bitter conflict in

American history. After the war, in

1868, he became the 18th president of

the United States, but his administration

was blighted by reports of corruption,

scandal, and impropriety.

Humble beginnings

Born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27,

1822, in a two-room log cabin in Point

Pleasant, Ohio, the future general

grew up working on his father’s

farm—though even as a young man he

had ambitions for greater things. He

attended West Point, where his name

was mistakenly recorded as Ulysses

Simpson Grant, and he kept the

erroneous middle initial for life.

At West Point he excelled in

horsemanship but was not the best

scholar, nor was he considered an

exceptional military mind. He

eventually graduated 21st out of

a class of 39. Grant’s early military

experiences echoed his relationship

with his former instructors: He did not

take orders well and he often clashed

with his superiors. He also had a

tendency to drink to excess when

feeling “blue and depressed.”

An “unjust” war

While serving in the War with Mexico

(1846–48), Grant was outspoken in his

criticism of the conflict. Feeling it to be

unjust, he stated publicly that he was

“bitterly opposed” to it. Yet he showed

great bravery and cunning when, during

the Battle of Chapultepec, he climbed

Ulysses S. Grant

to the top of a church bell tower with

a howitzer and brought devastating

fire down on an enemy battalion,

which resulted in its surrender.

Grant married Julia Dent, the sister

of a fellow West Pointer, in 1848, but

after the War with Mexico was posted

to California. He was so lonely that he

resigned his commission in 1854 and

returned east to join his family. His

various business ventures did not

prosper, and when Civil War broke

out, Grant was working as a clerk in

the family leather store in Illinois. He

immediately re-enlisted, but was

unable to get a commission again in

the U.S. Army, and was appointed to

command the 21st Illinois Infantry, a

volunteer regiment.

He soon rose to the rank of brigadier

general due to his previous military

experience. Based in Tennessee, he led

UNION GENERAL-IN-CHIEF Born 1822 Died 1885

THE UNION TIGHTENS ITS GRIP 1863

At Chapultepec

A woodcut by Thure de Thulstrup shows Lieutenant

Grant directing howitzer fire from the bell tower of San

Cosme church toward Mexican defenders during

fighting for La Verónica and San Cosme causeways,

outside Mexico City.