A shy boy from Ohio found himself straying from his original career goals, propelled to a life in the military. Little did he know this appointment would rocket him to leadership of the entire US Army, securing his name in history books forever. Ulysses S. Grant led a life of adventure and challenges. He faced his share of controversy along the way but brought the United States through one of its most difficult eras, emerging as one of the most significant individuals in US history.
Early Days in Ohio
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born to Jesse and Hannah Simpson Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. The family moved to Georgetown, Ohio, when Grant was just a baby. His childhood was spent attending school, working on his family farm, and in his father’s tannery. The smell and filth of the tannery disgusted the child, and he much preferred to be assigned other chores to do instead. He loved horses and, as he grew, became an exceptional horseman. People, on the other hand, he could do without, earning a reputation as a shy, sometimes withdrawn child. Some of his favorite hobbies as a child included ice skating and fishing, and Grant himself later recalled that his childhood was a normal and “uneventful” one for the time.
Cadet Grant
As Grant aged, it was time for him to decide on a career path. The skinny 17-year-old didn’t seem to have clear ambitions, so his father determined the military was the way to go. Grant earned a spot at West Point, where the recognizable version of his name came into use. He transposed his first and middle names, embarrassed at his given initials that spelled H-U-G. Then, a clerical error resulted in his mother’s maiden name—Simpson—being listed as his middle name instead of Hiram. Ulysses S. Grant had emerged. His new initials led to a new nickname among the other cadets—”Uncle Sam,” later shortened to just “Sam.”
While Grant was a capable student, he wasn’t outstanding when it came to academics, graduating 21st in a class of 39. He did excel in math and hoped to be a math teacher upon completion of his four years of required military service. His horsemanship skills were allowed to shine at West Point.
As a senior, Grant roomed with another student named Frederick Dent. Dent invited Grant to his family’s plantation in Missouri, where he met Dent’s sister, Julia. The two were immensely attracted to one another, but their families opposed the match. The Grants despised the fact that the Dents owned slaves, as Jesse Grant was an abolitionist who had spent part of his early years living with John Brown. Mr. Dent did not see a future for his daughter if she married Grant, a new soldier with limited financial prospects.
Despite these objections, Grant proposed marriage to Julia in 1844, and they kept their plans under wraps, hoping to win over their parents, especially Julia’s father. In the meantime, the Mexican-American War broke out, and Grant was sent to fight under General Zachary Taylor as a member of the 4th Infantry Regiment. He remained in the Southwest until 1848, where he won two citations for gallantry and another for meritorious conduct. He was eager to be reunited with Julia after a long separation, and the two finally received approval from Mr. Dent to marry that year. They had their first son, Frederick, in 1850, and three more children—two sons and a daughter—would follow in the next eight years.
Working Through Struggles
After the war, Grant struggled to settle into his role as a military man. His postings took him far from home for great lengths of time, and he missed his family dearly. He and his wife had a close relationship, and being away from her took its toll. Grant invested in a few business ventures, hoping to be able to move his family out west to be with him, but these endeavors failed. During this period, he began drinking, and his thin build meant he succumbed to the effects of alcohol quicker than some of his compatriots. A few raucous episodes resulted in a reputation for drunkenness that would haunt him throughout his career. His loneliness and distaste for army life led to Grant shirking some of his duties, and combined with his drinking, he faced disciplinary action by the time 1854 rolled around. With his required service at its end, Grant decided to resign from the US military instead.
Grant and his family settled in Missouri, near Julia’s parents, and he attempted to start a farm on land that Mr. Dent had gifted him. These efforts failed within a few years, and Grant tried a number of other professions, including real estate, engineering, clerking, and selling firewood, but nothing stuck. In 1860, he reluctantly returned to work in his father’s tannery, working under two of his younger brothers.
Return to Glory
While the Civil War would fracture the United States, it breathed new life into Grant’s opportunities for success. Answering the call of the Union, Grant returned to the military, rejoining in 1861. He proved a success, leading the Union to its first major victory at Fort Donelson in Tennessee. He was awarded a new nickname that played on his initials: “Unconditional Surrender Grant.” Other victories would follow, notably success at Shiloh and Vicksburg. President Abraham Lincoln named him the Commander of the Union Army in 1864. He was willing to take risks on the battlefield, a trait that made him an excellent leader but which occasionally had negative consequences. Some called Grant a “butcher,” particularly after thirteen days of fighting at Cold Harbor, Virginia, in May and June 1864 resulted in almost 13,000 casualties. Grant himself regretted some of his actions at Cold Harbor, later writing, “No advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained.”
Regardless of the anger some felt for the losses, Grant remained a hero in the eyes of most American people. He was the first person to achieve the rank of lieutenant general since George Washington, and doggedly pursued the Confederate Army until its surrender in April 1865. Grant was the face of Union success, endearing him to the people of the Northern US.
President Grant
When it came time to nominate a Republican candidate for president in 1868, choosing Grant was an easy decision. He received nearly all of the votes from Black men in the first presidential election in which they were able to participate. Grant defeated Horatio Seymour and became the eighteenth president.
Grant was said to have run the presidency much like the army, and he brought many of his army staff members with him to the White House. The new president didn’t have an easy road ahead of him as he navigated his roles in office. Reconstruction, which Grant had been involved in from a military aspect since the conclusion of the war, was still in full swing. In addition to dealing with Reconstruction, Grant pushed the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, created the Civil Service Commission, oversaw the creation of the Justice Department, battled corruption, and dealt with the Ku Klux Klan. He established Civil War veteran Ely Parker as the first Native American director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs but struggled with Indigenous relations in the West. During his two terms as president, the attempted subjugation of the Plains peoples was in full force, with the president favoring a policy of assimilation.
Upon completion of his second term, Grant became the first US president to take a world tour. Accompanied by his wife, Grant greeted excited crowds and world leaders on the journey. He worked for a time as president of the Mexican-American Railroad company. In 1884, Grant lost his savings in a corrupt bank situation and decided to do some writing to earn money. He penned several short stories and articles about his life experiences and later tapped his friend Mark Twain to help him start his autobiography. As a result of a lifelong cigar-smoking habit, Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer. He finished his book just before passing away on July 23, 1885, at the age of 63. His funeral attracted a million and a half mourners, and he was interred in the largest mausoleum in the United States.
Ulysses S. Grant is not remembered as a perfect man, but a flawed individual who dedicated his life to his family and served his country in multiple ways. His reputation has seen its ups and downs in both his lifetime and remembered histories, but despite it all, has cemented his role as a leading man in the growth and development of the United States of America.
