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Ulysses S. Grant at Cold Harbor - July, 1864. |
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant, hero of the American Civil War and President of the United States, is probably the most famous person to bear the distinguished name of Grant. An intensely modest, honest, unassuming, and inherently noble man, throughout his life he exemplified the characteristic Grant courage and tenacity represented in the Clan Grant motto, "Stand Fast!". Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, in 1822, the son of Jesse Grant and Hannah Simpson. Jesse Grant descended from Matthew Grant (b. 1601 in Devon, England) who emigrated from Plymouth, England to North America in the mid 17th century settling in Windsor, Connecticut where he worked as a town surveyor. |
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Though Grant's ancestor Matthew Grant appears to have been of a line long removed from the Highlands of Scotland, the family's oral tradition said they were of Scottish origin. Matthew Grant's grandson, Noah Grant, married a woman named Grace Miner, whose line supposedly descended from King David I of Scotland, thus Ulysses carried this distinguished blood from his great-great-great grandmother's line. Ulysses Grant's mother, Hannah Simpson, was of Scots-Irish extraction from Northern Ireland, and not much is known about her line. Ulysses S. Grant was actually born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but due to an error by the congressman who submitted his name to West Point, Grant's name was listed as "Ulysses S. Grant" on the academy registers when Grant entered West Point. Rather than contest it, Grant simply changed his name. He often said that the "S" stood for "Nothing". Senior cadets at West Point jokingly assumed the U.S. Grant on the roles stood for "Uncle Sam" Grant and this West Point nickname, "Sam", stuck with Grant for the rest of his life. His wife, however, always called him "Ulyss", "Lyss", or "Mr. Grant". Grant married Julia Boggs Dent a young woman from a slave owning family from Missouri. His relationship with his wife was a devoted and happy one, and Grant delighted in his wife and children - his family was the most important thing in his life, and many observers noted this throughout his life. (Grant once said to an aide, "Ah, you know my weaknesses, my children and my horses.") Ulysses S. Grant graduated middle of his class from West Point. He served with heroic distinction in the Mexican War of 1847 under Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor and much of what Grant learned of warfare came from his brilliant insights at his observations of the Mexican campaign, especially Taylor, whose informal style Grant seemed to model himself after. When the war ended, Grant was assigned to the remote outposts of California and the coast of the Pacific Northwest. It was here in California, isolated and away from his family, that Grant's reputation for drinking was formed. Grant suffered intense loneliness throughout his life, and this period in California, away from his wife and children, led him to one of the lowest points in his life. Suffering under the heavy hand of a martinet of a commanding officer, Grant indulged in drink. One of these drinking incidents during this assignment at Fort Humboldt, California led to his quiet resignation from the military, and Grant's life reached its nadir. For seven years after resigning from the army he tried his hand at various businesses and money making ventures, which all failed, due mostly to bad luck more than inept business sense. He was reduced to selling his pocket watch to buy Christmas presents for his children, one year, and ultimately to selling firewood on a St. Louis street corner. Finally, Grant humbled himself and, after swearing he would neverwork in his father's tannery and leather shop, asked his father for a job. He worked as a clerk in his father's leather goods store in Galena, Illinois, under the supervision of his two younger brothers, until the outbreak of the War. Grant's life seemed like one destined for obscurity until Confederate forces fired on Ft. Sumter in April, 1861. When war broke out, Grant's patriotism was reignited and he immediately re-applied for military service. Rumours of his drinking problems in California dogged him, however, and it seemed no one was interested in his service, until Grant received the unlikely patronage of Elihu Washburne, a congressman from Illinois and Grant's hometown of Galena. Washburne petitioned for a position for him and Grant was ultimately appointed commander of the 27th Illinois Regiment. |
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Grant's star rose rapidly
and his Civil War career is one of victory after victory. His campaign
in the West began with the victories at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donnelson
in Tennessee, and this brought him advancement to the rank of Major
General, and ultimately the command of the Army of the Tennessee.
At Shiloh, Grant turned
a surprise attack by Confederate forces, and what almost became
a total Union rout, into a victory. He pursued the Confederate forces
through Mississippi and his brilliant campaign and siege of the
fortress city of Vicksburg, called "The Gibraltar of the West",
led to a victory that is considered by most Civil War historians
to be the turning point of the Civil War - it cut the Confederacy
in half,
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| closed the Mississipi to them, and forced the Rebels into a defensive campaign through the end of the war. Grant was next called to Chattanooga, Tennessee where Union forces were under siege, and on the verge of starvation. Within one week of taking command, Grant had broken the siege and reopened the supply lines to feed the army. With the supply lines now open, Grant next organized the assault of Lookout Mountain, south of Chattanooga. Union forces took matters into their own hands at Missionary Ridge where they stormed the Confederate positions and ended up driving the Rebel forces back into Georgia. Grant's victory at Chattanooga left the Union army now poised to strike straight straight into the heart of the deep south. | |
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Grant had now developed the
reputation of being a fierce fighter. An intensely modest, unassuming
man, one who would go unnoticed in a crowd, and described by one
author as "a rumpled, quiet, little man", Grant's inner character
was one of great intellect and bulldog tenacity. He had an almost
superhuman ability to concentrate even with the chaos of war all
about him. Nothing much seemed to scare him, and he had an almost
preternatural calmness no matter the situation. Most of all though,
Grant was a fighter. Whereas the Army of the Potomac in the east
had gone through commanding general after commanding general (McClellan
twice, Burnside, Pope, Hooker, and George Meade) and had retreated
even after a victory, or worse, failed to pursue and follow through
on a victory, Grant's campaigns in the West had been intensely aggressive
and offensive. Abraham Linclon took notice
of this man in the west, a man who fought, and when those jealous
of Grant's success and recognition tried to curb his advancement,
claiming Grant had been drinking, and calling for his removal from
command (vicious rumours mostly fueled by Grant's rivals), President
Lincoln flatly stated, "I cannot spare this man! He fights!".
When a group of officials came
to see Lincoln about the rumors of Grant's drinking, Lincoln is supposed
to have said, "If it [drink] makes fighting men like Grant, then find
out what he drinks, and send my other commanders a case!". In the
end, almost none of the gossip and rumors of Grant's supposed alcoholism
were true. First hand accounts by his closest associates, as well
as numerous visitors to his headquarters, and accounts of those that
saw him throughout the War, speak to Grant's complete sobriety, polite
manner, and intense concentration. Grant suffered from intense migraine
headaches due to stress, and he was often nearly disabled by them.
It is thought that much of the rumor of Grant's drinking stem from
the misunderstanding of his headaches as signs of "hangover". In fact,
when Grant's wife was in camp with him she often tended to her husband's
headaches by giving him mustard foot baths and warm compresses for
his head.
After his victory at Chattanooga,
Tennessee, in 1864, Grant was promoted to the rank of Lt. General
of the Armed Forces, a position only ever held by George Washington.
This put Grant in overall command of all Union forces. Abraham Lincoln
had finally found the general he had been looking for. "Grant is
my man. And I stand by him the rest of the war", said Lincoln. The
President assured Grant that so long as Grant fought, he would stay
out of Grant's way, support him, and insure he had all the manpower
and equipment needed to finish the job. For Lincoln knew, as Grant
did, that the objective was not the capture of Richmond, the objective
was Robert E. Lee and the destruction of his Army of Northern Virginia.
On this Grant and Lincoln saw eye to eye. I t was never in Grant's
nature to retreat, or to fight a defensive war. He is said to have
had a superstition about ever retracing his steps, and for Grant
this meant no retreat, and no giving up of ground. He would go out
of his way to sidestep, or take any other route, than to fall back.
Grant's philosophy of war was one of seizing the initiative, keeping
the enemy off balance, and constantly staying on offense with his
force's momentum continuing forward. Grant also differed from the
other generals that preceded him in one other important way; Grant
knew that the objective was not territory, but the Confederate armies
themselves. Whereas other commanders had been concerned with maneuver
- flanking enemy armies and seizing cities - Grant knew that seizing
a city meant nothing with enemy armies still in the field. The only
sure way to end the war was to destroy the Confederate Armies in
the field and in 1864 Grant set out to do just that. In May, 1864, Grant launched
an invasion of the south with the intent of luring Lee into the
open by moving against the Confederate capitol of Richmond. Lee
anticipated this, and Grant battled Robert E. Lee to a draw in the
Wildnerness where, for the first time, the Army of the Potomac marched
south after a battle in Virginia, instead of retreating, as all
previous Union generals had done. Grant forced Lee onto the defensive,
and as William Tecumseh Sherman began his march to the sea, from
Atlanta in the west, Grant pursued the Army of Northern Virginia
until the siege of Petersburg, which lasted for nine months. Grant's
disastrous assault at Cold Harbor, which left thousands of Union
soldiers dead within just half an hour, was the only mistake to
which he ever admitted, after the war. "I have always regretted
the second assault at Cold Harbor was made. No advantage whatsoever,
was gained, to make up for the terrible loss of life", said Grant.
Though Grant was labeled a "butcher" for this (by Mary Lincoln,
who despised Grant, whom she thought hard and cruel) most historians
have pointed out that the losses of Grant at Cold Harbor were no
worse than any others, in some cases much less (such as "Pickett's
Charge" at Gettysburg which was ordered by Lee), than many of the
other ferocious battles fought throughout the war. It is important to point
out, at this point, that while Grant has gone down in history maligned
as a "butcher" and Lee as a "great general", a simple review of
the losses of both armies during each of the major engagements shows,
percentage for percentage, Lee suffering equal, or greater, loses
than Grant. It is partly on this basis, as well as many other details
too numerous to include here, that most civil war and military historians
have had a complete reassessment of Grant as both a general, and
a tactician, and most have a completely different opinion of him
than the reputation that has maligned the man, and which has filtered
down to the public through popular legend. Yet, surprisingly, this
change in historical opinion seems to have not done much to change
popular public opinion. The myths of "Grant the drunk" and "Grant
the butcher", still persist, even today. It is also worth noting
that the reputation Grant suffered as both an "alcoholic" and a
"butcher" seem to have been ideas vigarously promoted and promulgated
by southern historians who had a vendetta, or historians sympathetic
to the southern cause, in the years after the war. Even a cursory
study of the quotes and opinions of those from Grant's own time,
those who campaigned with him, and those who fought against him,
will show a radically different opinion of the man, of his generalship,
and of his character - almost a complete 180 degree difference in
most cases - than his reputation as it has developed in popular
public opinion. (See the quotes and ancedotes at the bottom of this
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Ulysses S. Grant accepted
the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, and in effect the
surrender of the Confederacy, from General Robert E. Lee at Appamattox
Courthouse on April 9th, 1865. "There is nothing for me to do, but
to go and see General Grant. And I would rather die a thousand deaths",
said Lee. Lee, understanding that his position of responsibility
meant he would suffer the harshest punishment, was prepared to be
Grant's prisoner and to be severely humiliated in defeat. Grant,
however, understood that reconciliation was the order of the day.
Therefore Lee was stunned at General Grant's magnanamity and his
generous terms of surrender. Grant later wrote that he was "depressed
at the defeat of a foe who had fought so valiantly", though he believed
it was for "the worst cause for which anyone ever fought". Grant
refused to humiliate Lee by demanding his sword (which Lee had expected
he would) and he agreed to a parole of Lee and his army. Grant even
offered up 25,000 rations to Lee's army, which was on the verge
of starvation. He allowed all of Lee's officers, and any man who
owned a horse, to keep their mount, as well as their side-arms and
personal belongings.
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L ee was said to be "overcome" by Grant's generous terms and his magnanimity. Tears formed in Lee's eyes as he read the terms of surrender, and he said with great emotion, "General Grant, this will have the most happy effect upon my men". When General Lee left Appamattox Courthouse, the Union soldiers outside began to celebrate. Grant rushed outside and ordered the celebration stopped, saying, "The war is over, the Rebels are our countrymen again." and that they were gallant men that were feeling their defeat bitterly and "we shall not glorify in their downfall." G eneral Grant's magnanimous terms to General Lee were a principal source of reconciliation between North and South, and years later, as General Grant was dying in his home in upstate New York, old Confederate veterans would go to see him, or walk past his home and salute. They never forgot this act of generosity by a foe they thought would imprison and humliate them. Grant gave the honor of accepting the official surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, to Brigadier General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - the hero of Little Round Top, at Gettysburg. Of like nature with Grant, he would not glory in the downfall of the enemy. When the Confederate soliders stacked their weapons and furled their colors for the last time, Chamberlain ordered his men to present arms - the snap-to of which surpirsed General Gordon of the Confederacy. This simple, honorable salute - solider to soldier - deeply moved Gordon. He turned on his horse and presented his sword, touched it to the toe of his boot and bowed, saluting Chamberlain in return. After Lincoln's assassination, coming only a few days after the signing of the terms at Appamattox, it was General Ulysses S. Grant who literally held his bleeding, dying, country together. A panic set in, in Washington, and assassins were thought to be everywhere, and those in high office looked to punish the south. But it was Grant who kept calm and enforced order. He refused to take vengeance on the south, or to allow his terms of parole for southern officers, as presented to Lee, to be overridden. In defiance of President Andrew Johnson, Grant swore to resign in protest if Johnson attempted to try Robert E. Lee for treason. A Federal Grand Jury had already indicted Lee, and Lee made a personal appeal to Grant's honor, and his terms, and Grant put his career on the line in defiance of Johnson and those government officials who were bent on vengeance against Lee and the rest of the southern leadership. Johnson needed Grant's support, and Grant knew his popularity would not allow Johnson to accept his resignation due to the popular protest that would result. Johnson knew this too. President Johnson backed down, and all talk of trying southern officers, or Robert E. Lee, for treason, was quietly dropped. For this act, amongst his many others, Grant won the eternal affection and admiration of the south, and those who had once fought against him. Shortly after, Grant was nominated for the Presidency on the Republican ticket. He was virtually swept into office. As President, Grant's administration came under a cloud due to corruption amongst his cabinet members and their associates. However, Grant himself was never truly tainted by this, and anyone who knew him even a little recognized that Grant was guilty only of an almost childishly naive faith in the goodness and honesty of others, and he was often taken advantage of for these reasons. Personally, he was as modest, honest, and incorruptable a man as any of them had ever known. As one person put it, "Grant was so honorable, that he was incapable of seeing intentional dishonor or intentional deceit in anyone else. It was unthinkable to him". This allowed many scoundrels to take advantage of Grant during his administration. This naivety in Grant, as to the deceitfulness of others, seems to have been a strange character flaw in the man. |
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History has besmirched Grant's
character for drinking, and his presidency for corruption, but many
recent biographies and historical studies have come to Grant's defense.
Not only have they dispelled most of the rumours of his drinking
as slander (Grant only ever drank when he was lonely and away from
his family and many, many associates, including his staff and the
various newspapermen and commanders who knew him, often defended
him at the time, protesting to the President and his superiors that
such rumours were outrageous slander by jealous rivals and that
Grant himself was completely sober throughout every battle which
he fought) but later reassessment of his presidency has also shown
that it was Grant's policies that led to a peaceful reunion and
reconciliation with the south during the Reconstruction era. |
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Grant was also symapthetic to the plight of the American Indians in the West and it was his peace policy towards the Indians that earned the enmity of those opposed to any peace with the Indians and which drove a wedge between him and his former comrades William Tecumseh Sherman and Phil Sheridan who wanted to brutally subjegate the Indians, applying their policy of "total war" to the tribes of the west just as they did to the Confederacy. In 1872, it was Ulysses S. Grant that established the National Park System in the United States when he signed the bill that created both the park system itself, and the first national park in the United States, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Upon leaving the presidency, Grant embarked on an around the world trip with his wife Julia and two of their sons. During his travles Grant met all the world's royalty, and received lavish receptions and gifts (Grant even went to Scotland, and to Grantown, but a meeting with the Earl of Seafield who was the Chief of Clan Grant, and a trip to Castle Grant, was only missed due to a conflict in invitations. Grant thoroughly enjoyed his meeting with the Duke of Argyll and he talked often about his stay with the Duke, saying it was one of his fondest memories). Everywhere he went, Grant was treated as a conquering hero - he was rated on par with a Napoleon or Frederick the Great, by Europeans, and he was received with awe and respect wherever he went, much to the General's great surprise. Late in life, Grant's wealth was wiped out in a devastating business venture, when a partner committed gross acts of fraud and left his partners, of which Grant's eldest son was one, and Grant himself a significant investor, completely bankrupt. Honest to a fault, and repaying every debt he ever held to anyone throughout his life, Grant was forced to borrow $150,000.00 from the Vanderbilts. Demonstrating the great affection Mr. Vanderbilt held for the general and former president, he wrote him a check without question, as a personal loan to Grant himself. Grant used the money to try to salvage the failing business venture. But when the depth of the fraud was discovered, the loan from Vanderbilt didn't even make a dent. Ulysses S. Grant was devastated. He sank into a depression that he never truly recovered from. Associates of the firm remember seeing the General sitting in his office the day the terrible news was discovered, staring at the floor, close to a complete breakdown. To repay the loan from Vanderbilt, Grant would turn over almost all the personal gifts presented to him on his around the world journeys by the world's dignitaries. Many of these items were later donated to the Smithsonian Institute by Vanderbilt. It is a testament to the fiercely honest character of Grant, as a man, that he felt compelled to turn over everything of value, all his personal gifts and property, even his shoulder straps from the Vicksburg Campaign, to attempt to repay a debt he owed. This characteristic is attested to throughout Grant's life. Once, during his near impoverished state in St. Louis, James "Old Pete" Longstreet (Later one of Lee's most trusted Generals) met Grant on the street. Grant pressed a five dollar gold piece into his hand, as repayment for a debt nearly 15 years old. Longstreet tried to refuse it, telling Grant that he was more in need of it than himself, but Grant replied saying, "No, you must take it, Pete. I simply cannot live with anything in my possession that is not mine!" Now destitute, and fearing for his family's future, U.S. Grant set to work on his personal memoirs in the hopes it might generate some income for his family. It was at this time that Grant was also diagnosed with the throat cancer that would claim his life. Ulysses S. Grant fought his final battle against death itself. Showing the same "Stand Fast" determination he had displayed throughout his life, racing against death, Grant worked feverishly on his memoirs as the cancer ate away at him. So sick some days he could barely sit in a chair, he continued to write. There were no drugs he could take for the pain. He couldn't tolerate a drop of alcohol. He refused morphine or other narcotics because they "fogged" his mind, as he put it, and thus he wouldn't be able to write. He was in excruciating pain while he wrote his memoirs. His suffering was terrible. Frequently he sat on the porch of his home at Mt. MacGregor, in upstate New York, to write, a knit cap on his head and a scarf around his throat. Old civil war veterans would salute him on his porch, as they passed by his home, not wanting to disturb him, but wanting to see their old commander one last time. His old friends and comrades would visit him at Mt. MacGregor in his last days and try to cheer the old General up with talk of days gone by. Even his former foes, from the Confederacy, would stop to visit and pay their respects to the man who had showed such magnanimity to them at their downfall. As one veteran said, "there were many tears shed". |
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Ulysses S. Grant died just
three days after laying down his pen for the last time. His son
Fred reached over and stopped the clock on the mantle at the moment
of his death. 8:06 a.m., July 23, 1885. Then he returned to his
father's bedside to stroke his forehead one last time. Across the
country, church bells rang out, 63 times, once for each year of
the general's life. The general's completed memoirs were published
by his good friend, the author Mark Twain, and Twain personally
presented Julia Dent Grant with a check for $200,000.00 as her advance
for the book, the largest sum ever for a book at that time. Grant's
last battle had been with death, and his courage and determination
had saved his family from poverty. Eventually his memoirs went on
to earn the family over $450,000.00, assuring their financial security.
The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant have gone on to be considered
one of the greatest, historical, military accounts ever written,
and they hey have been called the "one of the greatest works of
literature in American history". Mark Twain himself said they ranked
above Caesar's Commentaries. |
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The General's funeral drew
over 1.5 million people as it paraded, six miles, through New York
City. Winfield Scott Hancock, called "Hancock the Superb", and the
greatest corps commander in the Union Army, led Grant's funeral
procession. Union and Confederate veterans were pall bearers (Union
General William T. Sherman and Confederate General Joe Johnston
among them) and hundreds of Confederate veterans were present in
the funeral procession along with old veterans from Grant's armies.
A newspaper the day after the funeral said of it all, "if the war
didn't end in 1865, it certainly ended yesterday". Ulysses S. Grant
was buried in a temporary mausoleum in New York's Riverside Park,
until the permanent mausoleum called "Grant's Tomb" was later erected
in its place. The words over the doorway of the mausoleum are taken
from Grant's first presidential campaign, "Let Us Have Peace". |
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Ulysses S. Grant Quotes & Anecdotes
Grant's "Stand Fast!" Determination and Fighting Spirit
Quotes & Anecdotes About Ulysses S. Grant
What His Friend's Thought of Him What His Enemies Had To Say Some Anecdotes |
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