Ulysses S. Grant ( April 27. 1822 – July 23. 1885 ) was a taking Union general in the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States of America ( 1869 – 1877 ) . As an ground forces commanding officer. Grant was a singular strategian who acted with a characteristic cool finding. As an inexperient politician. in many instances he turned out to be an indecisive and controversial president involved in several ill-famed dirts ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; httpwww. whitehouse. govhistorypresidentsug18. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) Biography Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant. Ohio. and grew up in the adjacent small town of Georgetown in Brown County.
His male parent. Jesse Root Grant. was a sixpence and his female parent. Hannah Simpson Grant. was from Pennsylvania. With his married woman Julia Boggs Dent who was the girl of a slave proprietor and whom he married on August 22. 1848. they had four kids ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . In 1843 he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with first-class classs in mathematics. basking success with horsemanship. demoing involvement in novels and art. but non in a military calling. Grant gained his first military experience in the Mexican-American War ( 1846 – 1848 ) .
After the war. he remained in the ground forces but because of a hapless wage he could non afford to take his married woman and kids with him to the West seashore. Business ventures that Grant tried in order to better back up his household all failed. Apparently. these household troubles and the climate’s boringness were the ground of his dependance on intoxicant. In July 1854. Allow resigned from the military service ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. u-s-history. com/pages/h102. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) . As a civilian. from 1854 to 1858 Grant labored on his wife’s farm in Missouri.
However. the farm did non thrive and he so started his existent estate concern which failed every bit good. Humiliated by all these failures. Allow asked his male parent to use him in his leather store in Galena. Illinois. where he worked as an helper until the eruption of the American Civil War. When the war broke in “Page # 2” 1861. Grant was appointed colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. When it ended. President Johnson appointed him General of the Army of The United States ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. u-s-history. com/pages/h102. hypertext markup language & gt ; ; “Ulysses S.
Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Grant was frequently opposed to President Johnson’s policies and had a bad working relationship with him. peculiarly in what concerned President’s moderate policies toward the Southern provinces. He was nominated by the Republican Party for the Presidency in 1868 and won the election against Horatio Seymour. former New York governor ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Grant was inexperienced in political footings and governed his Cabinet in this same manner as he had run the U.
S. Army. Although personally Grant was an honorable adult male. his disposal was involved in a series of corruptness dirts ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; httpwww. whitehouse. govhistorypresidentsug18. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) . Further dirts followed when he was re-elected in 1872. most notably Credit Mobilier. the Belknap dirt. or the Whiskey Ring ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. u-s-history. com/pages/h102. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) . When Grant retired from the Presidency in 1877. he visited major states in Europe and Asia and was acknowledged as a great hero by their leaders.
Old Guard Republicans ( Grant’s friends in the Republican Party ) even tried. although unsuccessfully. to put up him for a 3rd term in the presidential election of 1880. A fiscal company in which Grant was a spouse went belly-up. Trying to better supply for his household. Grant began to compose his Personal Memoirs which earned about $ 450. 000. Suffering from painful pharynx malignant neoplastic disease. he died in 1885 shortly after he completed the last page of the memoirs ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; httpwww. whitehouse. govhistorypresidentsug18. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) . Grant’s military calling Ulysses S.
Grant’s military calling started when he was 17 old ages old. He was nominated plebe through Thomas L. Hamer’s attempts. his U. S. Congressman. and entered the United States “Page # 3” Military Academy at West Point. New York. Hamer knew that the cadet’s mother’s maiden name was Simpson and erroneously nominated him as Ulysses Simpson Grant alternatively of Hiram Ulysses Grant which was his right name. He unsuccessfully tried protesting this alteration and subsequently had to follow the new signifier of his name with in-between initial ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. spiritus-temporis. com/ulysses-s. -grant/biography. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) .
In Grant’s sentiment. the Military Academy was unsavory and he hoped that Congress would get rid of it and that he would be freed ( “Ulysses Simpson Grant” ) . Grant impressed few of his instructors and ranked 21st in a category of 39 pupils when he graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in 1843. At the Academy. Grant had a repute for being a fearless and adept equestrian ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. spiritus-temporis. com/ulysses-s. -grant/biography. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) . But alternatively of prosecuting his calling in horse. he was assigned as a regimental quartermaster and was in charge of supplies. adjustment. and equipment ( “Ulysses S.
Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Mexican-American War Serving in the Mexican-American War which lasted from 1846 to 1848 under the bid of Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. lieutenant Grant. in malice of his assignment as a quartermaster. was really near to the lines of military action and took portion in the conflicts of Paolo Alto. Resaca de la Palma. Monterrey. and Veracruz. In the conflict of Monterrey he offered voluntarily to transport of import paperss on horseback through a street in the line of enemy sniper fire.
In another conflict Grant rushed into the unfastened to deliver his friend Fred Dent who was lying on the battleground with a hurt leg. and brought him to safety. He was brevetted for courage at Chapultepec and Molino Del Rey ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Besides courage. Grant was highly interested in the art of war and observed closely the determinations and actions of his colonels and generals larning to justice and seeking to understand better their schemes and tactics. In his memoirs Grant subsequently confessed that the Mexican-American war
“Page # 4” was unfair as it was waged by a stronger state against its weaker neighbour ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . When the war between the United States and Mexico ended in 1848. Grant was assigned to several different places in the U. S. ground forces. He served for some clip in Mexico. a state which he admired greatly. and so was assigned to the West seashore ( “Ulysses Simpson Grant” ) . In 1853. he was moved to Fort Vancouver in the Washington Territory to function as a quartermaster in the 4th U. S. Infantry regiment.
In 1854. he was promoted to captain and commanded Company F. 4th Infantry. at Fort Humboldt in California ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . But on July 31. 1854. Grant all of a sudden decided to vacate from the ground forces offering no clear account for his determination. Harmonizing to some rumours which were ne’er confirmed. Grant was found drunk on responsibility and so offered the pick by his commanding officer. Robert C. Buchanan. between surrender and court-martial. Biographers suggest that Grant’s imbibing and surrender can be explained by the fact that he was in a province of profound depression.
Whatever the grounds of his surrender. the War Department stated that nil stood against Grant’s good name ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . American Civil War With the eruption of the Civil War in America. when in 1861 President Abraham Lincoln made a call for 75. 000 voluntaries. Grant took portion in the enlisting of a company of voluntaries and went with it to Springfield. the capital of Illinois. In Springfield. Illinois Governor Richard Yates made him responsible for the enlisting and preparation of voluntaries. a place which he accepted and accomplished with singular efficiency.
In June 1861. Grant was appointed by Yates colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry which was considered undisciplined and rebellious ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Grant and his military personnels were deployed to Missouri where they had to supply protection for the “Page # 5” Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. On August 1. 1861. Grant’s forces took control of Missouri by forcibly taking its pro-Confederate Governor Claiborne Jackson. In August 1861. President Lincoln. being lobbied by Congressman Elihu Washburne. appointed Grant brigadier general.
And by the terminal of the same month. Western Theater commanding officer Major General John C. Fremont selected Grant to be the commanding officer of the critical District of Southeast Missouri ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . When the Confederates seized Columbus. Kentucky. go againsting therefore the state’s neutrality. Grant took the enterprise to busy the Ohio River town of Paducah. Kentucky. In November 1861. he fought his first conflict at Belmont. Missouri. against Confederate Brig. Gen. Gideon J. Pillow. But this conflict turned out to be an indecisive action ( “Ulysses S.
Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Three months subsequently. with the assistance of Andrew H. Foote’s Navy gunboats. Grant successfully captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River which were two major Confederate fortresses. At Donelson. Pillow launched a surprise onslaught on Grant’s ground forces. Allow counter-attacked with the cool finding which characterized his leading in all future conflicts and won the conflict coercing the two senior Confederate commanding officers. General Floyd and Pillow. to fly. Brig. Gen. Simon B.
Buckner. the Confederate commanding officer who was besides an old friend of Grant’s and his schoolmate at West Point surrendered with more than 12. 000 of his work forces under Grant’s conditions of “no footings except unconditioned and immediate surrender” . The gaining control of the two enemy garrisons and so many war captives was the first major Union success in the war and gained Grant national acknowledgment every bit good as the nickname “unconditional surrender” Grant. Lincoln. who needed gifted generals in his ground forces decided to advance Grant to major general of voluntaries ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia.
org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . It was possibly because of Grant’s of import triumphs that he found himself at odds with Major General Henry W. Halleck. his superior. who did non like him from the really first and believed Grant was an alcoholic. In March 1862. Halleck relieved Grant of field bid after the “Page # 6” latter’s visit to Nashville. Tennessee. to run into with Don Carlos Buell. Halleck’s challenger. However. two hebdomads subsequently Halleck had to reconstruct Grant after President Lincoln’s intercession in the difference ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) .
In early April 1862. Confederate Generals P. G. T. Beauregard and Albert Sidney launched a violent onslaught at Shiloh. which surprised Grant and shocked the Union forces. However. Grant was determined non to withdraw. managed to stabilise his line. and on the 2nd twenty-four hours he organized countermoves and won the conflict. This conflict turned out to be the bloodiest 1 in the U. S. history up to that clip as the triumph at Shiloh cost over 23. 000 casualties. Major General Halleck responded to the disorganized combat by pass oning Grant to the place of second-in-command for the conflict at Corinth. Mississippi.
Halleck took bid of the Union forces in the field himself. This reversal resulted in Grant’s determination to vacate. But he remained in the ground forces after William T. Sherman’s intercession who was his subsidiary and a close friend. On June 10. 1862. Grant became once more commanding officer of the Army of West Tennessee after Halleck’s publicity to general-in-chief of the Union Army. He commanded the ground forces in the winning conflicts at Corinth and Iuka ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) .
Fixing for the ictus of the Mississippi River fortress of Vicksburg. Mississippi. in the winter of 1862-1863 Grant organized and conducted several unsuccessful operations to entree the metropolis through the region’s bayous. Despite this failure. Grant’s scheme to capture Vicksburg in 1863 is considered one of the most singular schemes in universe military history. Grant deployed his forces down the west bank of the Mississippi and by traversing the river he moved inland. His military personnels began to run in the district of the Confederates that were commanded by John C. Pemberton.
They moved fleetly and tried non to give the enemy an chance to concentrate their military personnels against the Union ground forces. Grant moved his forces eastward and took the metropolis of Jackson. Mississippi. and besides captured the rail line to Vicksburg. In this manner. Grant’s ground forces prevented the Confederates from directing supports to the city’s fort. After Grant’s triumph in the conflict of Champion Hill. the Confederates had to withdraw inside the metropolis. Grant was cognizant that the munitions at “Page # 7” Vicksburg were inviolable and that any assaults against them would be ineffectual. So he surrounded the metropolis and started a six-week besieging.
On July 4. 1863. Pemberton decided to give up to Grant. This licking for the Southern cause was lay waste toing and became the turning point of the Civil War as the Confederacy was split in two and the Union ground forces besides won the conflict of Gettysburg the old twenty-four hours. After this important triumph. Grant was promoted by President Lincoln to major general in the regular ground forces. The president besides declared that he would back up Grant in all his attempts until the terminal of the Civil War. Some historiographers go so far as to indicate out that Grant’s superb military consequences and schemes may be compared merely with those of Napoleon ( “Ulysses S.
Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . After the conflict of Chickamauga. Confederate Braxton Bragg’s troops surrounded the Federal soldiers under General William S. Rosecrans’ bid on three sides at Chattanooga. Tennessee. Chattanooga was portion of the Military Division of Mississippi in whose bid Grant was placed on October 17. 1863. He instantly replaced Rosecrans with George H. Thomas and organized a new supply path to Chattanooga ( the Cracker Line program ) which improved the supply of the Army of the Cumberland.
Reprovisioned and reinforced. Union troops went on the violative in late November. The triumph in the conflict of Chattanooga enabled the Union ground forces to occupy Atlanta and Georgia ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . President Lincoln was impressed by Grant’s back-to-back successes and his willingness and ability to win and appointed him lieutenant general in the regular ground forces. And on March 12. 1864. Grant was awarded the highest rank in his military calling – general-in-chief of all the ground forcess of the United States ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia.
org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . General-in-chief’s constructs of entire war In March 1864. Allow appointed Major General William T. Sherman commanding officer of all the Union forces in the West and moved to Virginia where he concentrated on inventing a program to destruct the ground forces of Northern Virginia and take the Confederate capital of Richmond. Virginia. “Page # 8” Grant was cognizant that if the first aim was accomplished. the successful result of the 2nd aim would follow automatically. His scheme was based on a coordinated work stoppage at the Confederacy’s places from multiple waies.
Harmonizing to his program. some military personnels would travel on the violative against Lee near Richmond ; other commanding officers would at the same time occupy Georgia and gaining control Atlanta. cut off enemy railway supply lines in West Virginia. and gaining control Mobile. Alabama. Since so. Grant has been considered to be the first commanding officer in military history to invent such a co-ordinated scheme. He was besides the first general to understand that the devastation of the economic substructure which supplies an enemy’s ground forcess is as of import in the war as tactical triumphs on the battleground ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S.
_Grant & gt ; ) . In the Overland Campaign Grant fought against Robert E. Lee. one of the greatest Confederate commanding officers. The run began on May 4. 1864. with the Army of the Potomac traversing the Rapidan River and processing into an country that was known as the Wilderness and whose hard terrain the Confederates used to their advantage. The conflict of the Wilderness lasted for two yearss. was really obstinate and bloody. and resulted in heavy losingss on both sides conveying advantage to no 1. It was followed by similar unsuccessful conflicts in Virginia but Grant. disregarding the reverse. ordered an violative to destruct Lee’s wings.
His end was to have on down Lee’s ground forces and destruct it by contending changeless conflicts. However. after both Sigel’s and Butler’s runs at Shenandoah and James River failed. Lee was reinforced with military personnels that defended against these assaults ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . As the run continued. Lee beat Grant to Spotsylvania. Virginia. During the conflict of Spotsylvania Court House that lasted 14 yearss. Hancock’s 2nd Corps’ monolithic assault on May 12 slightly broke Lee’s line and resulted in the gaining control of 30 heavy weapon pieces and 4. 000 captives.
Most of Lee’s old triumphs owed their success to the violative with surprise manoeuvres and ferocious assaults. In the Overland Campaign. despite turning Union casualties. Grant “Page # 9” forced Lee to invariably contend on the defensive. In this conflict Grant’s forces were good supplied and well outnumbered the Confederates while Lee had no chance to reorganize his military personnels ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . However. the conflict of Cold Harbor turned out to be possibly the most controversial one in Grant’s military calling.
On June 3. 1864. he launched a monolithic assault without forming equal reconnaissance on the enemy’s defensive places. The effects were hideous: approximately 7. 000 killed and wounded within the first hr and over 12. 000 casualties for the twenty-four hours. The Confederate losingss were much smaller. Later Grant would compose in his memoirs that he regretted holding ordered this assault which resulted in such heavy losingss. But he continued to travel on and maintain up the force per unit area. Finally. his military personnels crossed the James River ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S.
_Grant & gt ; ) . When Grant arrived at Petersburg. Virginia. he failed to capture the rail junction metropolis because of the indecisive actions of William Smith. his subsidiary. All of Union assaults over the following three yearss to prehend the metropolis failed. When on June 18. 1864 Lee’s supports arrived. Grant was left with no pick but to beleaguer the metropolis ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . A little Confederate ground forces commanded by Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early detached from Lee’s chief forces with the intent of withdrawing Grant’s forces.
The Confederates invaded the Shenandoah Valley and came closely to the outskirts of Washington. D. C. . and. unable to capture the metropolis. merely threatened its dwellers. This state of affairs was disadvantageous to Abraham Lincoln and his reelection chances in the extroverted presidential election in the autumn ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . However. by September Grant’s coordinated scheme showed consequences. After Sherman seized Atlanta. Grant was able to direct Sheridan to contend against Early’s little ground forces.
In late November. both utilizing Grant’s scheme of entire war they destroyed the economic substructure of the “Page # 10” Shenandoah Valley. Georgia. and the Carolinas ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . In early April 1865. Lee evacuated Richmond under Grant’s house force per unit area and on April 9 followed Lee’s army’s resignation at Appomattox Court House. As Grant was concerned about the issue of easing the tensenesss between the warring sides and maintain in head the demand for the future rapprochement between all the provinces. he offered generous footings of resignation which did non ache much Southern pride.
A few hebdomads subsequently the American Civil War was over. Shortly after Lee’s resignation. Grant received the sad intelligence of Abraham Lincoln’s decease. his greatest title-holder ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Some generals frequently called Grant’s contending manner “that of a bulldog” . a term which simplifies to a great extent his military scheme and tactics. He frequently ordered direct assaults when the enemy itself was on the violative. On the one manus. these tactics wore down enemy forces and inflicted on them considerable losingss.
But on the other manus. they caused heavy casualties for Grant’s military personnels every bit good. That is why the general-in-chief was frequently denounced by many in the North as a “butcher” . Grant persevered in go oning his sometimes controversial military schemes and Lincoln refused to replace him in malice of force per unit area and tensenesss within the authorities. All in all. Grant won all his runs despite failures in some conflicts in 1864. As an ground forces commanding officer. Grant ne’er underestimated the significance of supply lines and understood the importance of uninterrupted progresss on the enemy places despite failures and casualties.
His strategic mastermind consisted in the imposition of widespread losingss on the enemy until the enemy interruptions ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) . Most military historiographers give Grant high Markss as a skilled tactician. but as a strategian he receives somewhat lesser Markss ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. u-s-history. com/pages/h102. hypertext markup language & gt ; ) . After the terminal of the Civil War. in July 1866. President Andrew Johnson promoted Grant to the rank of General of the Army of the United States which was merely created and is tantamount of a “Page # 11”four-star general in the U. S. Army at present ( “Ulysses S. Grant” & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; ) .
Bibliographies:
1. Ulysses S. Grant. 24 February 2008 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ulysses_S. _Grant & gt ; 2. Ulysses S. Grant. 24 Febraury 2008 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. u-s-history. com/pages/h102. hypertext markup language & gt ; 3. Ulysses S. Grant. 24 Febraury 2008 & lt ; httpwww. whitehouse. govhistorypresidentsug18. hypertext markup language & gt ; 4. Ulysses S. Grant. 24 Febraury 2008 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. spiritus-temporis. com/ulysses-s. -grant/biography. hypertext markup language & gt ; 5. Ulysses Simpson Grant. 24 Febraury 2008 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www. civilwarhome. com/grantbio. htm & gt ;
