Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses Simpson Grant
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1822-1885

Born	27 April 1822	Point Pleasant OH
Died	32 July 1885	Mount McGregor NY
Pre-War Occupations		firewood pedlar, store clerk
Post-War Occupations		Career Army, U.S. President, businessman, writer
Pre-War Service		graduated West Point 1843, resigned 1854 Mexican war, garrison duty

Civil War Service Record	Position	Actions
1861	Commander, camp of instruction
June 1861	Col., 21st Illinois
May 1861	Brig. Gen. Volunteers	Belmont, Forts Henry & Donelson
February 1862	Maj. Gen. Volunteers, Army of the Tennessee	Shiloh, Vicksburg campaign
July 1863	Maj. Gen. Regular Army, District of West Tennessee	Chattanooga campaign
March 1864	Lt. Gen. Regular Army, General-in-chief	Overland campaign

Grant has often been characterized as a drunken and brutal butcher, heedless of the cost of men in battle. Nothing could be further from the truth. He commanded armies with ability, and defeated opponents with speed and guile, often adapting to situations as they were presented and employing a variety of battlefield methods, most of which proved successful. While not intellectual, he was an instinctive leader who formulated effective decisions under the high stress of battlefield command, and issued orders clearly and concisely. He had simple solutions for complex issues, was kind, and had a gentle wit. When he did drink, it was never due to any lack of battlefield courage. He is probably best summed up by Garvin Tate, who said ...

No person can be adequately measured by a single phrase, but all of Grant�s biographers emphasize a single defining characteristic -- resolute determination, regardless of the cost. Neither in his private life nor in the grim arts of his profession that he mastered so well, would Grant ever turn back. This is, no doubt, a principal reason for his high degree of success on the battlefield. This personal trait of Grant�s was so extreme that it is sometimes described in psychological terms as bordering on obsession.

QUOTES

Just wait til my Dudy is president. -- Julia Dent Grant, spoken while her husband was a struggling Missouri farmer and wood vendor.

War seems much less terrible to persons engaged in it than to those who read of the battles. -- Ulysses S. Grant, to John Lowe, June 26, 1846, Indiana University Libraries.

All I want is to be left alone to fight this war out; fight all rebel opposition and restore a happy Union in the shortest possible time. -- Ulysses S. Grant, to to his father and youngest sister, Letters of Ulysses S. Grant, Jesse Grant Cramer, 1912

He stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk; and now sir, we stand by each other. -- William T. Sherman, post-war interview

I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come - if alive. -- William T. Sherman, to Grant

He had somehow, with all his modesty, the rare faculty of controlling his superiors as well as his subordinates. He outfaced Stanton, captivated the President, and even compelled acquiescence or silence from that dread source of paralyzing power, the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. -- Joshua Chamberlain,Union General.

Yours of this date proposing Armistice, and appointment of Commissioners, to settle terms of Capitulation is just received. No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." -- Ulysses S. Grant, the famous "unconditional surrender" delivered to old friend and classmate General Simon B. Buckner in command at Fort Donelson and requesting an armistice to arrange terms of surrender, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, 1885

If the Vicksburg campaign meant anything, in a military point of view, it was that there are no fixed laws of war which are not subject to the conditions of the country, the climate, and the habits of the people. The laws of successful war in one generation would insure defeat in another. -- John Russell Young, Around the World With General Grant, 1879

I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. -- Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, 1885

The responsibilities of the position I feel, but accept them without fear. The office has come to me unsought; I commence its duties untrammeled. I bring to it a conscious desire and determination to fill it to the best of my ability to the satisfaction of the people. -- Ulysses S. Grant, from his first inaugural address, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents by James D. Richardson, 1898

It is impossible, where so many trusts are to be allotted, that the right parties should be chosen in every instance. History shows that no Administration from the time of Washington to the present has been free from these mistakes. But I leave comparisons to history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent. -- Ulysses S. Grant, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents by James D. Richardson, 1898

LINKS

The Ulysses S. Grant Homepage. A truly great site filled with information about all aspects of Grant's life, including his family. Contains photographs, some of his own writing, and what others have said about him.

Guide for students. Some good links including Grant's inaugural address, books, and images.

Ulysses S. Grant. Photographs, papers, and chronology; including a history compiled by George W. Cullum for the U.S. Military Academy Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates.

The Rawlins Homepage. Site dedicated to John A. Rawlins, Grant's chief-of-staff. Contains good information on Grant's militay history.

STUFF

Grant was christened Hiram Ulysses Grant. His name was changed to Ulysses Simpson Grant through an odd chain of events. Upon conceeding to his father's wishes that he enter West Point, Grant felt the cadets would tease him about his first name. So, he switched his names to Ulysses Hiram Grant. However, the congressman who appointed him to West Point became confused about his name and put his mother's maiden name (Simpson) as his middle name. Since Ulysses Simpson had been appointed, and not Ulysses Hiram, the name stuck. His friends soon began calling him "Uncle Sam" or "Sam" for short.

Grant loved horses. He was an expert horseman, and set an equestrian high-jump record at West Point, his only accomplishment of note there. He used several horses throughout the war. Jack he rode until 1863 as an extra and for parades. Fox he rode early in the war, at the time of the battle of Shiloh. Kangaroo was a sorry-looking horse that had been left on the field of battle at Shiloh. Grant kept him and rode him at Vicksburg. Jeff Davis was a pony captured at Vicksburg from the home of Joe Davis, the brother of Confederate President Jeff Davis. Grant rode this horse when he was ill because the pony had an easier gait. Egypt was purchased late in the war. But Grant's favorite was Cincinatti, a horse he obtained in 1861 and was his battle charger until the end of the war. Grant thought he was the finest horse he had ever seen and allowed almost no one to ride him, though he did allow President Lincoln to do so once. Cincinatti was also the horse Grant rode to accept the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomatox. Cincinnati, Jeff Davis, and Egypt all lived to enter the White House stables when Grant became president. One horse that Grant did not like was the one he borrowed from General Banks in New Orleans while meeting with him to plan the Mississippi Campaing during August, 1863. The horse threw him, an incident that was used in an alternate history story called If the South had Won the Civil War.

Grant was constantly being underestimated. Early in 1861 he wrote to the Adjutant General, "I feel myself competant to command a Regiment if the President, in his judgement, should see fit to entrust one to me." Grant never received a reply. Two months later he visited George B. McClellan in Cincinnati seeking a staff appointment. McClellan did not receive him. Only a month later Grant had a command and was about to move against the enemy when General Benjamin Prentiss arrived to claim command. Grant returned to St. Louis where he was almost immediately replaced by General Jefferson C. Davis. Early in the war, in 1861, Confederate General Richard S. Ewell had this to say: "There is one West Pointer, I think in Missouri, little known, and whom I hope the northern people will not find out. I mean Sam Grant. I knew him well at the Academy and in Mexico. I should fear him more than any of their officers I have yet heard of. He is not a man of genius, but he is clear-headed, quick and daring." To Ewell's dismay, they eventually did find him. But even after achieving the highest rank, there were detractors. Confederate General James Longstreet (a fellow classmate, first cousin to Grant's wife, and a good friend ) upon hearing others downplay Grant's appointment as General of the Army said, "Do you know Grant? Well, I do. I was in the Corps of Cadets with him at West Point for three years. I was present at his wedding. I served in the same army with him in Mexico. I have observed his methods of warfare in the West, and I believe I know him through and through and I tell you that we cannot afford to underrate him and the army he now commands."

President Lincoln was a man of few words, to which his Gettysvburg Address attests. However, he may have met his match by Grant's brevity. On 9 March 1864, Lincoln presented Grant's commission with a short speech of only four sentences. Grant responded saying, "Mr. President, I accept the commission, with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought in so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me; and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men." Three lines -- one less than the President.

Grant's nickname of "butcher" largely came about as the result of his overland campaign against Lee in Virginia near the close of the war. There was indeed considerable loss of life, but Grant succeeded through flanking maneuvers while attempting to occupy superior ground. His sole misjudgement came at Cold Harbor when he thought he could make an end of it. It was the one regret he had in his military career. He stated in the Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made." Lee himself was guilty of such misjudgements, most notably "Pickett's Charge" at Gettysburg.

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