Ulysses S. Grant Essay

     On August 7, 1861, President Lincoln appointed Grant Brigadier General of volunteers, and he took up headquarters in Cairo Illinois. Only a few days after he assumed his new command, he occupied Paducah, Kentucky at the strategic junction of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. On November 7th he attacked the Confederates at Belmont, MO in an assault that was neither well planned nor well executed. The arrival of Confederate reinforcements compelled Grant to retreat.

Grant and his running mate was Schuyler Colfax. Grant, was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His father was Jesse Grant and his mother was Hannah Grant. At age seventeen he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and after graduation he started serving at army posts in Missouri, Louisiana, and Texas. Grant was stationed at Port Isabel, Texas when the Mexican- American War broke out. During this war Grant learned of war strategies and the importance of food and ammunition in war. In 1848, Grant married Julia Dent, and later resigned from the army in 1854. Seven years passed and at the start of the Civil War Grant reenlisted in the army. He was appointed brigadier general four months after enlisting as colonel of an Illinois volunteer regiment. Grant won many victories for the Union, but the important ones were the capture of Vicksburg and Chattanooga. The capture of Vicksburg gave the Union control over Mississippi which split the Confederacy in half. These two victories secured Grant’s third star, which gave him supreme command of the Union armies, and a position only bestowed previously on one American---George Washington. Through all his successes Grant continue to state that “I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.” On April 9, 1865 Grant accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House ("Ulysses Simpson Grant." Encyclopedia of World Biography).

The battle of shiloh began early dawn on April 6 1862, In Hardin county ,The Federal penetration up the Cumberland and Tennessee in 1862, Albert Sidney Johnston the commander in the area, was forced to fall back giving up kentucky, and much of the west and middle tennessee . As an result of the fall of forts Henry and donelson. The army of the tennessee and army of ohio. During this 6 months prior to the battle of shiloh, yankee troops had been working their way up to the tennessee and the cumberland rivers. The u.s army controlled most of tennessee.

Grant continued his success in 1863. Ulysses S. Grant and his army captured a Confederate stronghold. The stronghold was located in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As Ulysses S. Grant continued to show his determination and ability to produce results he was promoted. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln decided to have Ulysses S. Grant to be the Lieutenant General of all the United States armies. With this new appointment, Ulysses S. Grant was able to more effectively combat the Confederates. Slowly he was able to successfully wear down the Confederate armies. With hard work and many bloody battles, the Confederate surrender neared. On April 9, 1865, Robert Lee, the general in charge of the Confederate forces surrendered to the Union. This was made official at the Appomattox Court House, which ended the brutal civil

Republican candidate Ulysses S. Grant was elected as President of the United States in November of 1868. Ulysses S. Grant by Hasseltine goes into depth about how the press and President-elect felt during such times, along with Grant’s actions. Specifically, these chapters go into great detail about Grant’s cabinet choices.

Grant. Grant was the final leader that led the Union to victory over the Confederacy in the war. Gant was in charge of a brigade and he handled his brigade extremely well during an “indecisive action” (Gale, 2008) in Belmont, Missouri. After his actions at Belmont, Grant had two plans to take over Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. These were two forts belonging to the Confederacy. Grant approached both with aggressiveness and by “naval river gunboats” (Gale, 2008). His tactics were different than the other leaders before him even though he shared some of their aggressiveness. Grant planned counterattacks and closely paid attention to the actions of the Confederacy. Grant knew the Confederacy would try to focus their efforts on him, so he split his army up (Gale, 2008). The armies were under control of William Sherman, George Thomas, and Philip Sheridan. This was one of Grant’s strategies in order to blind side the Confederacy and take them out little by little. Each of the men captured and crippled the Confederacy with these blind side attacks. Due to the destroyed Confederacy army, “Grant offered Lee terms as magnanimous” (Gale, 2008). He let Lee and his remaining men go home and keep their personal weapons and horses (Gale, 2008), thus ending the stalemate and making the Union

With the support of Navy gunboats who had forced their way through a blockade, Grant brought these forces forth to help in the isolation of the Confederate troops. When they finally struck on May 22, 1863, Grant found himself with losses up to 3,200 men, but began to discover his own strategy, one that helps lead him in the direction of victory. He began to show signs of slight napoleonic tactics by following through his battle plans with the knowledge that he had more men to lose than the Confederates did, and plunged into battle knowing many would be lost, but still had ensured victory. He used brutal assault, and these battles lasted until the Confederates, amongst them an old friend from West Point - John Brown - gave an unconditional surrender. This took two years of bloody battles and amongst them the battle of Gettysburg before the Union began to experience their first spark of hope, and for Grant to reclaim his title as a hero yet again. Lincoln, from the very beginning, adored Grant for his efforts and undying determination for Union victories and causes.The first time they had met was on March 8, 1864. Horace Porter had described Lincoln as a rather worn out man, “face wore a general expression of sadness,

Grant’s family had limited money for college. The United States Military Academy at West Point offered Grant a deal: free education in return for Grant’s Army service after graduating. Grant’s father applied for an appointment at the Academy for his son, without telliing Grant. Grant was accepted. When Grant was told that he had been accepted, Ulysses, being so shy, did not want to go. Grant’s father said he thought Ulysses would go and since his father wanted him to go, he would want to go too. Grant eventually decided to go to West Point, due to his father’s encouragement. He wanted to fufill his own desire to travel. Grant also wanted to take advantage of the free education being offered to

Only to reach Savannah and find it well defended. On December 13 a Union division lead by William B. Hazen captures Fort McAllister located on the coastline of Georgia. This allowed Sherman’s men to link up with the Navy Ships holding supplies. They prepared to surround the town of Savannah and the Confederate forces escaped, forcing the city to surrender to Sherman on December 21.

Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was the first of six children born into a religious and hard-working family. His father was a tanner who took animal hides and processed them into leather (Gordon 2). He made a good living, but the work conditions were terrible. Although Grant occasionally worked in the tannery as a child, he hated the work and swore to his father that once he was an adult, he would never be around tannery again.

Grant began his military career in the West during the war, and this is where all of his success started. Although he was successful, he did not start off successfully. In his first battle he lost control of his troops and he had to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrived. He was noticed when he captured Fort Donelson and Fort Henry. He started off with Fort Henry and immediately captured Fort Donelson afterward. The Confederate commander requested terms of surrender, but Grant would only accept unconditional and immediate surrender. The next two major victories for Grant were at the Battle of Shiloh and his capture

Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio. He grew up on a farm with his three sisters and two brothers. His parents were Jesse Root Grant, a tanner/businessman, and Hannah Simpson Grant, was a housewife.

Grant was the union's general in the civil war. “Grant graduated twenty-first out of thirty-one people in his class at the United States Military Academy.” Ulysses S. Grant www.Battlefield.org. Grant was a lot more aggressive than the confederate general McClellan. “During the war Grants aggression payed off when the union attacked the city of Atlanta on july twenty-second 1864. When the city fell on September second it marked the confederate march to the sea. But the city of atlanta gave Lincoln a boost to help fight against the confederates. The Civil War and Reconstruction: Major Battles and Campaigns of the Civil War

His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but an error when he went to West Point changes his name to Ulysses Simpson Grant, Simpson being his mother’s maiden name. He allowed the error to stand and became U.S. Grant. To friends he was known as Sam. Graduating 21st in his class at West Point in 1843, he served as a quartermaster during the Mexican War, and developed a reputation for getting things done. Grant resigned from the Army and tried his hand at several businesses and was a failure. At the beginning of the Civil War, Ulysses did not receive a commission but with the help of Congressman Elihu B. Washburne was named a colonel of the 21st Illinois Regiment on June 7, 1861. In February 1862, he was promoted to Major General. Ulysses had victories at Shiloh, Vicksburg and the battle of Chattanooga. In the winter of 1864 Congress reinstated the rank of lieutenant general, a rank no field officer had held since George Washington – promoted Ulysses to it and put him in charge of all the Union armies. Ulysses’ objective wasn’t about winning every battle but that they could win the war by continuing to advance, wearing down their outnumbered enemies. His object was not to capture the Confederate capitol at Richmond but to destroy the rebel

Ulysses S. Grant. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Key events in the life of Ulysses S. Grant. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (born April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio, U.S.—died July 23, 1885, Mount McGregor, New York) U.S. general, commander of the Union armies during the late years (1864–65) of the American Civil War, and 18th president of the United States