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Ulysses S. Grant: A Brief Biography

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Ulysses S. Grant was a valiant and reliable person in the civil war. Born on April 27th, 1822, in Pleasant Point, Ohio, he moved to Georgetown, Ohio when he was 2 years old. He worked at his father’s farm until he grew up and his father forced him to attend West Point University. Grant did not like it there. Though his teachers said he was good at horse-riding, he failed in many subjects, including Math, Reading, and English. His classmates ridiculed him for his birth-name “Hiram”, which he later changed to “Ulysses”. There were also rumors that he was a drunk. This would explain some of his later unsuccessfulness in business and the stock market. After he graduated from West Point, he took up farming. Soon after, he went bankrupt. Eventually, he ended up working as a clerk in his father’s leather store. His father often “got at him” for having an unsuccessful lifetime, and for that, Ulysses resented him. His luck changed, however, when the Mexican War came along. On April 25, 1845, he was assigned under the command of General Zachary Taylor, and after, served with Winfield Scott in the campaign for Mexico City. After the war, he was assigned to garrison duty. However, he overindulged in alcohol, and was forced to resign. For the next 6 years (until the Civil War), his luck dwindled, until he ended up back in a leather store… again. In 1861, Grant’s luck was renewed again. The Civil War had begun. On February 1862, Ulysses captured Fort Henry with support from gunboats

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