orn APRIL 27, 1822, into a Methodist family in Ohio, he was nominated at age 17 for a position at West Point by Congressman Thomas Hamer, who mistakenly added the middle initial 'S' to his name.
At West Point,
Ulysses S. Grant
set an equestrian high-jump record that lasted for nearly 25 years.
After graduation in 1843,
was stationed at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri. While visiting the family of a West Point classmate he fell in love with the classmate's sister, Julia Dent, and they secretly engaged.
Fourteen years before
Robert E. Lee
graduated from West Point, second in his class.
Ulysses S. Grant
Robert E. Lee
were both sent to fight in the
They participated together in
General Winfield Scott's march from the coast city of
Vera Cruz to Mexico City.
was stationed in
, New York, then he was sent across the
Isthmus of Panama
which was in midst of a gold rush and cholera epidemic.
, but intemperance in drinking led to his forced resignation in 1854.
Returning to his wife Julia in Missouri,
unsuccessfully attempted farming and struggled financially pursuing various business endeavors.
When the Civil War began,
responded to the call for volunteers.
He was quickly promoted to brigadier general and in February of 1862, he captured
, gaining the nickname
'Unconditional Surrender' Grant
Grant won the
Battle of Shiloh
, April 6-7, 1862, which was the costliest battle to that date, with 23,000 casualties.
He won the
Battle of Iuka
, September 19, 1862, and defended
He captured Mississippi's
, won the
Battle of Raymond
, captured Mississippi's State Capital of
, and won the
Battle of Champion Hill
America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations
After a seven week siege, Grant captured
, July 4, 1863, giving the Union control of the Mississippi and geographically splitting the Confederacy.
The loss of
was especially devastating to the South as it was just one day after the Confederate defeat at
in November of 1863, Grant was promoted by Lincoln to
Lieutenant General commanding all the Union Armies
South having limited manpower
, and the
North having a continual flow of immigrants
, the war became one of attrition.
Immense casualties followed the
in May of 1864, with the
Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Battle of the Bloody Angle, North Anna,
A nine month siege began at
, pinning down Lee's forces, and allowing
decimate the Shenandoah Valley, destroying Confederate supplies
surrendered to Union General Sherman on September 2, 1864, and the subsequent
march to Savannah
devastated the Confederate heartland.
In March of 1865, Grant captured
Lee surrendered at the
Appomattox Court House
on April 9, 1865, with Grant saying,
"The war is over. The Rebels are again our countrymen."
Five days later, April 14, 1865, Lincoln had invited Grant and his wife to the theater, but the Grants had plans to travel to Philadelphia.
That night, Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth.
At Lincoln's funeral,
wept, saying of Lincoln: "He was incontestably the greatest man I have ever known."
was elected the 18th U.S. President.
Considered a radical Republican,
worked to end the Democrat policies of racial discrimination in the South.
fought the Democrat-affiliated Klu Klux Klan.
supported the 15th Amendment guaranteeing freed slaves the right to vote.
stated in his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1873:
"Under Providence I have been called a second time to act as Executive over this great nation ...
The effects of the late civil strife have been
to free the slave
and make him a citizen.
Yet he is not possessed of the civil rights which citizenship should carry with it. This is wrong, and should be corrected.
To this correction I stand committed
Get the book Prayers and Presidents-Inspiring Faith from Leaders of the Past
Grant defended natural marriage
, stating December 4, 1871:
"In Utah there still remains a remnant of barbarism, repugnant to civilization ...
Neither polygamy nor any other violation of existing statutes will be permitted."
Grant ended the Democrat policy of Indian removal.
He appointed the first Native American to serve as Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
Ely S. Parker
of the Seneca Tribe.
continued his Second Inaugural:
"My efforts ... will be directed ... by a humane course, to bring the aborigines of the country under the benign influences of education and civilization ...
Wars of extermination, engaged in by people pursuing commerce and all industrial pursuits ... are demoralizing and wicked ..."
"Our superiority of strength and advantages of civilization should make us lenient toward the Indian.
The wrong inflicted upon him should be taken into account and the balance placed to his credit ...
If the effort is made in good faith, we will stand better before the civilized nations of the earth and in our own consciences for having made it."
Grant's 'Quaker Policy'
removed entrepreneurs from being Indian agents and replaced them with missionaries, stating in his First Annual Message, December 6, 1869:
"The Society of Friends (Quakers) ... succeeded in living in peace with the Indians in the early settlement of Pennsylvania ...
These considerations induced me to give the management of a few reservations of Indians to them."
stated in his 2nd Annual Message, December 5, 1870:
"Such religious denominations as had heretofore established missionaries among the Indians ... are allowed to name their own agents ...
and are expected to watch over them and aid them
as missionaries, to Christianize and civilize the Indians
, and to train him in the arts of peace."
President Ulysses S. Grant
addressed Congress, January 1, 1871:
"It would seem highly desirable that the civilized Indians of the country should be encouraged in establishing for themselves forms of Territorial government compatible with the Constitution of the United States ...
and it is highly desirable that they become
self-sustaining, self-relying, Christianized, and civilized
stated in his 3rd Annual Message, December 4, 1871:
"Through the exertions of the
various societies of Christians
to whom has been intrusted the execution of the policy ...
many tribes of Indians have been induced to settle upon reservations, to cultivate the soil, to perform productive labor of various kinds, and to partially accept civilization.
,,, They are being cared for in such a way, it is hoped, as to induce those still pursuing their old habits of life to embrace the only opportunity which is left them to avoid extermination.
I recommend liberal appropriations to carry out the Indian peace policy, not only because
it is humane and Christian-like
... but because it is right."
During the Siege of Vicksburg, Grant issued his
notorious General Order 11
expelling Jews from the military, which Lincoln immediately cancelled.
Later as President,
Grant appointed more Jews to high offices than any of his predecessors
, including governor of the Washington Territory.
He was the first President to openly condemn the persecution of Jews, specifically the anti-Jewish pogroms in Romania. He even sent a Jewish consul-general from America to Bucharest to "work for the benefit of the people who are laboring under severe oppression."
On June 26, 1876,
proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving to commemorate America's 100th anniversary:
"The founders of the Government, at its birth and in its feebleness, invoked the blessings and the protection of a Divine Providence ...
The thirteen colonies ... have expanded into a nation of strength and numbers ... for which fervent prayers were then offered.
It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country.
I therefore invite the good people of the United States ... to mark its recurrence by some public religious and devout thanksgiving to Almighty God
for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us as a nation during the century of our existence, and humbly to invoke a continuance of His favor and of His protection."