GRANT, Ur,vssns SIMPSON (ante), the most famous of American soldiers, and presi dent of the United States from Mar. 4, 1869, to Mar. 4, 1877, won his great reputation in the war of secession, into which he entered as the col. of an Illinois regiment, and out of which he came as the successful leader of the national armies, and holding a place in the hearts of his countrymen hardly less exalted than that so long held by Washington. He is of Scotch ancestry, from which he no doubt inherited the qualities that fitted him to conquer the most formidable rebellion of either ancient or modern times. Educated at West Point, he did good service as a subordinate officer in the war with Mexico, resigning a few years afterwards and entering upon an inconspicuous career, first as a farmer in the neighborhood of St. Louis, and afterwards as a leather merchant in Galena. In the latter position he was found when the war of the secession began in 1861. He promptly offered his services to the government without stipulation or reserve, and of all those who knew him there was probably not one who had the slightest suspicion that he would develop a great capacity for military leadership. It may even be doubted that he himself had any anticipations of the career so soon to open before him. If his breast heaved with great hopes and ambitions, the reticent man kept them strictly to himself and went quietly to the discharge of whatever duty he was required to perform.. In looking now at the early stages of his career, we see an exhi bition of the pluck and pertinacity as well as the shrewd common sense that were after. wards so conspicuous. He was faithful in the few things he was at first called to undertake, thus proving his capacity for higher duties. There is no evidence that he ever sought to push his fortunes at the expense of other commanders, or that he was in haste to rise faster than the government discovered cause for his promotion. his victories were always modestly announeed, without the least sign of a purpose to draw attention to himself or win the applause of his countrymen. If lie was aware that such modesty on his part was more likely to kindle the admiration of the country than any amount of boastfulness, it is only another evidence of his high soldierly qualities and of his superiority over those who, for want of such perception, were constantly creating obstacles to their advancement. Ile went quietly and submissively to the discharge of whatever task was assigned him, never grumbling over difficulties, or asking to be placed in a more conspicuous or honorable position. In nothing more than this did he show the qualities of a great soldier, by nothing else did he more endear himself to his country men. He was in this respect a gen. after Lincoln's own heart, and it is no wonder that the latter discerned his merits and charged him with greater and greater responsi bilities, until at last he exalted him to the post of commander of all the forces in the field. Shortly after entering the service he was advanced from the position of col. to that of brig.gen. of volunteers and assigned to the command of the forces at Cairo. Sept. 6, 1861, he seized Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee, and on the 25th, Smithland, at the mouth of the Cumberland, two important strategic points. His next move, a month later, was to check the advance of a rebel force under gen. Jeff. Thomp son, which was successfully accomplished by two battles, one at Fredericktown, Mo., the other at Belmont, in the latter of which he had a horse shot tinder him. The dis trict of Cairo was now enlarged and gen. Grant continued in command thereof. In Feb., 1862, lie moved from Paducah with 15,000 men, aided by commodore Foote with a fleet of gunboats, for the purpose of capturing fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and fort Donelson, on the Cumberland The former surrendered Feb. 6, its reduction being mainly the work of the gunboats; the latter was taken on the 16th only after a severe battle in which the land forces were engaged. Buckner, who was in command of the fort, proposed the appointment of commissioners to settle the terms of capitulation, to which gen. Grant replied: "No terms other than an unconditional and intnualime sur render can be accepted. I move immediately upon your works." The cap ture of this fort was the first important and brilliant victory of the federal arms, and it made a great impression upon the country. Gen. Grant was at once made a maj.gen. of volunteers, his commission being dated on the day of the battle. The battle of Pitts burg Landing was next fought. The union forces at that point had lost their com mander by death, and while halting were attacked Feb. 6 by a large confederate force under Albert Sidney Johnston and beaten with heavy loss. Gen. Grant arrived on the field at the critical moment and reformed the broken union lines, and heavy reinforce meats under gen. Buell having arrived, ti battle was renewed on the 7th and the con. federates driven back to Corinth The loss on etich side in this battle was 12,000 men, and gen. Grant was slightly wounded. Gen. Unlink being called to 'Washington, gen. Grant was assigned to the command of the department of the Tennessee, with head quarters at Corinth, which the confederates had evacuated. Here he was much annoyed by spies and guerillas, against whom lie adopted the most energetic measures. Ile next fought the confederate gen. Price at Inka and defeated him. Ile then removed his head-quarters to Jackson, leaving Rosecrans with 20,000 men to hold he did successfully, though attacked by a force twice as great as Ins own. in Oct. gen. Grant's department was enlarged by a portion of Mississippi, including Vicksburg, the forces under his command being designated as the 13th army corps. After several unsuccessful efforts to capture Vicksburg, It was besieged May 18. and surrendered July 4, 1863, with about 27,000 prisoners. Gen. Grant was now appointed is maj.gen.
in the regular army, and in Oct placed in command of the milittlry division of the Ten nessee, comprising the departments commanded by Sherman, Thomas, Burnside, and Hooker. His next exploit was the defense of Chattanooga by driving the forces of Bragg from Missionary ridge and Lookout mountain. Gen. Halleek, in his annual report to the war department, said that in view of the strength of the rebel position and the difficulty of storming his intrenchments, "the battle of Chattanooga must be considered the most remarkable in history. Not only," he continues, the officers and men exhibit great skill and daring in their operations on the field, but the highest praise is due to the commanding gen. for his admirable dispositions for dislodging the enemy from a position apparently impregnable." Congress at its next session promptly returned thanks to gen. Grant and his army, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in his honor. Congress also revived the grade of lieutgen. in the army, whereupon gen Grant was nominated by president Lincoln for the position, and the nomination promptly confirmed by the senate. lie came to Washington, received his commission at the hands of pfesident Lincoln, and returned with• all speed. to Tennessee. In a letter to gen. Sherman, written after his appointment, he his success in the field was " due to the energy, skill, and the harmonious putting forth of that energy and skill, of those whom it has been my good fortune to have occupying subordinate positions under me." His first general order as commander was issued Mar. 12, 1864, and announced that his head-quarters would be iu the field, and, until further orders, with the army of the Potomac. The war, which had existed for three years, and been attended with immense sacrifice of life and property, and an unwavering hope of final victory for the union and liberty, was now approaching its culmination. The successes of gen. Grant in subordinate positions had awakened among the northern people a per fect assurance that, as commander of all the union forces, he could not fail to bring the conflict to a speedy and honorable conclusion. His quiet confidence in himself was sustained by the hearty devotion of the army and the support of a united people. The battles of the next year, which had for their object the capture of Richmond, at which point the secessionists had concentrated their main army for a last and desperate resis tance, were the bloodiest of the whole war. The first movements of gen. Grant, though unsuccessful as to his main design, resulted in crippling the enemy preparing the way for final victory; but they were attended with great loss of life. ,In the cam paign from the Rapidan to the James, between May 3 and June 15, the union loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was 54,551. The confederate losses are estimated at =32,000. Gen. Grant, having failed in his movements, saw at last that his only hope of seizing Richmond depended upon first taking Petersburg, and to this object he now addressed himself with his usual pluck and pertinacity. Lee attempted to create a division by a movement on Washington, but was foiled and driven back by Sheridan. Sherman meanwhile had forced Hood to evacuate Atlanta, and was on his famous march to the sea. Lee was so effectually beleaguered by Grant in the approach to Richmond that he was unable to send reinforcements to his generals at other points, and the confederacy was rapidly falling to pieces. At length, on April 2, 1865, Petersburg fell, and on the 3d the union forces entered Richmond, the confederates fleeing as they advanced. Grant pursued the flying army, caught and surrounded it, and forced it to surrender at Appomattox court-house, April 9. Lee, with 27,000 men—all that remained of his army—was captured, and the confederacy over thrown. Grant's entire loss in the campaigns of the year was 12,663 killed, 49,559• wounded, and 20,498 missing; total, 82,720. In the same time he had captured more than 66,000 confederate soldiers; how many he had killed and wounded is not known. The terms granted to Lee were most magnanimous, and all the forces of the confed eracy made haste to disband on similar conditions. The rebellion was put down, the uniou restored, and Grant was the hero of the day. The assassination of Lincoln and the accession of Andrew Johnson quickly followed, and then came the excitement of the period of reconstruction, iu which gen. Grant, for whom congress had created the rank of the army, bore a loyal and honorable part. In 1868 he was elected president, receiving 214 electoral votes, to 80 cast for Horatio Seymour. In spite of unfortunate divisions in the republican party, he was re-elected in 1872, receiving 286 electoral votes, while but 42 were cast for the opposing candidate. At the close of his second term, in 1877, he made the tour of the whole civilized world, visiting especially all the great nations of Europe and Asia, and receiving, as a great soldier and civilian and the first citizen of the United States, all the honor which rulers and people could bestow. As the unofficial representative of his country, in the nations he visited his bearing was such as to win universal admiration and respect. His intercourse, more over, with the rulers and other representative men abroad, was, no doubt, calculated to remove the prejudices and conciliate the good-will of foreign nations toward the great republic of the new world. On his return home in the spring of 1880, a large and mita .ential portion of the republican party sought to make him a candidate for the presidency once more; but the movement was defeated, not because the people did not still admire and trust him, but on account of the formidable opposition to bestowing the office upon any man, however eminent or noble, for more than two terms.